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One thing to point out is that the roles as envisioned for 4e D&D aren't arbitrary divisions of abilities, but reflections of the way people already play. Rather than asking us to play to the way they design, they are attempting to design to the way we play.
If you have a "Defender," that defender could be the classic tank-- a fighter/paladin in plate armor, or a summoner wizard able to put twenty goblins in between the party and the bad guys. Healing is a bit murky at the moment, but there will be more than one class able to do so effectively, and (if I'm understanding correctly) that sort of bean-counting resource management has been reduced in importance at any rate.
Social roles would be an excellent add as well, although I'm not sure that in the end the non-combat play breaks down that cleanly.
I am in agreement that it will be nice to have a smooth-talking fighter or a scholarly ranger. 3e went forward on breaking the classes out of their assigned roles (in and out of combat), and 4e looks to be doing more in that direction.
From what I'm reading, a lot of things that were fairly static, dull d20 rolls in 3e (Diplomacy, traps, etc.) are being fleshed out to make them more exciting and a bit more of an encounter in their own right.
In my groups, we tend to only use the social rolls as a last resort, or if we need to guage the relative efectiveness of somebody's role-play, but there are a lot of gamers who want to interact in the third person!
If you have a "Defender," that defender could be the classic tank-- a fighter/paladin in plate armor, or a summoner wizard able to put twenty goblins in between the party and the bad guys. Healing is a bit murky at the moment, but there will be more than one class able to do so effectively, and (if I'm understanding correctly) that sort of bean-counting resource management has been reduced in importance at any rate.
Social roles would be an excellent add as well, although I'm not sure that in the end the non-combat play breaks down that cleanly.
I am in agreement that it will be nice to have a smooth-talking fighter or a scholarly ranger. 3e went forward on breaking the classes out of their assigned roles (in and out of combat), and 4e looks to be doing more in that direction.
From what I'm reading, a lot of things that were fairly static, dull d20 rolls in 3e (Diplomacy, traps, etc.) are being fleshed out to make them more exciting and a bit more of an encounter in their own right.
In my groups, we tend to only use the social rolls as a last resort, or if we need to guage the relative efectiveness of somebody's role-play, but there are a lot of gamers who want to interact in the third person!
