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Message: <blockquote data-quote="I'm A Banana" data-source="post: 4530823" data-attributes="member: 2067">I think the easiest way would be to have it hard-wired into whatever cap system you choose. In the little box, when listing the Role of a class, it also lists the roles that the class occupies in the noncombat zone. Something like:Roles: Striker (Combat)/Infiltrator (Exploration)/Mudslinger (Social)/Investigator (Mystery).You could have more flexibility with it by choosing a different "cap." Maybe instead of skills, you select your noncombat roles at character creation. Perhaps your profession dictates it. These roles ideally, after all, are supported by class-specific powers. You probably wouldn't need many powers for a game like D&D -- maybe 3 per tier, and that's pretty generous, will give you enough to work with. You could always add more or use feats to get more or whatever. The central conceit is that something assigns you these roles at character creation, like your class assigns you your combat role. Sure we can. Why not? This plays to the old-school feel of "dungeon exploration roles," while making everyone still effective in every kind of encounter, and manages to adapt well to these different types because of it.A class can specify *all* of your roles, and, indeed, would probably be best at it. This would only enhance the archetypal nature of the class. Every ranger solves even social and exploration and puzzle problems in a uniquely "ranger-y" way. Now, I'll grant that a simplification system would be appealing on a certain level (reducing some of the sheer quantity of roles that you would get), but the idea behind noncomabt roles means, fundamentally, you want to complicate noncombat, because you're interested in the little details and variations, just like combat complicates what can be reduced to a single attack roll, because you're interested in the details and variations.Heck, it would even be OK to say that you get to pick your role each time. You want to take point on this discussion, you can be the Diplomat, next time you want take more of a support role, you can be the Wingman. The class-based nature of the system doesn't really affect it -- this is still very class-based, no matter when you get to select your roles. D&D would still be a very class-based game if my Fighter got to choose in every combat if he wanted to be a Striker or a Leader or a Defender or a Controller (and had fighter-y options for doing all of that). But I wouldn't expect that. I would expect the class to define all of your roles, just as it does your combat role. Fundamentally, the four roles in any combat-like system are disconnected from personality. They're mechanical, not archetypal. An archetype can and should use different mechanics for different things (at least if you want to keep the diversity of it). Not every situation a "trickster" is in would cause him to erode enemy defenses and enhance ally attacks (Role #2). If he was trying to resolve a riddle, for instance, I'd expect the trickster to take point and be the main one reaching a solution (Role #1), while perhaps a more scholarly character took the reigns of puzzling out ways around it (Role #2). You could link it to personality types, but all "personality type" is is another name for an archetype, which is what a class is already. You could be all "dual archetype," and there's a lot to be gained from it, but I think just assigning them to a class would be a simpler method.That said, this is mostly quibbling over details, I think. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> The point isn't so much how you get your non-combat roles, it's that you get them at character creation, and they don't change at your whim (though, like combat roles, you can have mild overlap in certain places). That, like the class system, reinforces the archetype of the character.</blockquote>

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