Nexus Analysis

  My Roles: So, with all of that out of the way, here are the combat roles in my own TTRPG:  Strikers (also known as Melee DPS ) are the close-ranged damage dealers of the game, but they don’t have to be fragile speedsters. They are also allowed to have medium amounts of health and limited agility. Their goal is just to deal damage up close, and the nuance between different classes lies in how they go about this goal. Think of them as this game’s equivalent to Rushdown characters in fighting games.  Defenders (also known as Tanks ) are fighting alongside Strikers, blocking attacks and soaking up damage. They have low mobility, high health, and lots of endurance to make them fit for this role. While they can also deal damage (and usually average-to-high damage, at that), this is only a last resort, and their main goal is to let other people do that on their behalf. They also make extensive use of “Reactions” that can be taken during the opponent’s turn, specifically Block...

  In my previous essay, I discussed the five “main” fantasy RPG classes (Ranger, Rogue, Fighter, Cleric and Mage), as well as other RPG classes (including those in sci-fi and contemporary settings) and how video games have reinterpreted tabletop ideas. In this essay, I will be focusing on something different: roles of each class in a party. Basically, whereas a class defines the general tools of your character, how they got those tools and what their background is, a role defines what they use those tools for . Roles are an interesting concept in RPGs, because they vary so much game-to-game, and opinions about them vary from person-to-person.  I am currently designing my own tabletop RPG, and I wanted roles to play a big part in it, like D&D 4E . In this essay, I’m going to analyze how many other games, writers and content creators have handled the concept of these roles, and then I’m going to put forth my own framework at the end. This essay will be divided into four part...