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<blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 5732323" data-attributes="member: 177">Here's the thing - you have an idea of what &quot;the variations&quot; are.&nbsp; Joe over there has a different idea.&nbsp; Sam will have yet a different set of what &quot;the variations are&quot;.&nbsp; And there's no particular reason for me to take your variations, and not Joe's, right?Gamers are a creative bunch.&nbsp; If you add them up, the list of variations becomes very, very large.&nbsp; Ah.&nbsp; You see, I think the standard fictional archetypes usually imply their role naturally.&nbsp; They are &quot;archetypes&quot; because we've seen them frequently in fictions - and in those fictions, they tend to play certain roles.&nbsp; The archetype is, in large part, defined by the role commonly played!Step away from fantasy fiction, and look at comic book superheroes for an illustration.&nbsp; There are many examples of &quot;the brick&quot; as an archetype in comics - The Thing, The Hulk, Superman, the Tick - the big guy with lots of muscles who;s nigh invulnerable.&nbsp; The archetype is primarily a melee combatant.If you want to play that archetype, but have him be in the role of &quot;support&quot;, you aren't playing the archetype.&nbsp; You're playing *against* the type.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Umbran, post: 5732323, member: 177"] Here's the thing - you have an idea of what "the variations" are. Joe over there has a different idea. Sam will have yet a different set of what "the variations are". And there's no particular reason for me to take your variations, and not Joe's, right? Gamers are a creative bunch. If you add them up, the list of variations becomes very, very large. Ah. You see, I think the standard fictional archetypes usually imply their role naturally. They are "archetypes" because we've seen them frequently in fictions - and in those fictions, they tend to play certain roles. The archetype is, in large part, defined by the role commonly played! Step away from fantasy fiction, and look at comic book superheroes for an illustration. There are many examples of "the brick" as an archetype in comics - The Thing, The Hulk, Superman, the Tick - the big guy with lots of muscles who;s nigh invulnerable. The archetype is primarily a melee combatant. If you want to play that archetype, but have him be in the role of "support", you aren't playing the archetype. You're playing *against* the type. [/QUOTE]

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