Know Your Role Play : Archetypes

Archetype. –noun
the original pattern or model from which all things of the same kind are copied or on which they are based; a model or first form; prototype.

Every good role playing system has them. No matter the type of persona you've envisioned yourself as, you're likely to fall into a set series of statistics, characteristics, and cliches. I have done my best to synthesis a sort of blanket title for the four major archetypes. The Sword, the Sneak, the Spell, and the Shield. An easier way to recall these four figures is the Four S System. And I have yet to find an effective series of multiplayer role playing mechanics to which these four figures do not apply.

The Sword; Despite the name, this is your meat shield (not to be confused with a regular Shield, which will be described later). These are your fighters, soldiers, or more modernly, your Tanks. A Sword is designed specifically to hurt things and get in the way. They are designed to haul the most weight, and use the most force. Big armor, big blades, and big guns are essential to the Swords arsenal. Such cumbersome equipment will cause a noticeable lack in mobility, but this is made up for in the form of high health and protection benefits. Swords swing slowly, but hit hard, and are designed to soak up as much damage as they dish out.

Swords are ideal for cutting through paper thin characters like the Sneak and Spell. The Sneak is at a terrible disadvantage against a Sword, as the Sneak is required to get within the Swords threat range in order to deal a series of small attacks, which will either irritate the Sword or simply be ignored. Swords and Spells are pretty much on even grounds, as the Spell has maneuverability in favor of armor, and deals with a series of ranged attacks that often ignore the Swords stronger defenses. In that respect, Spells and Swords work great together, but it can go either way when they're against one another. A proper Shield is designed specifically to block a Sword. Sharing a love for encumbering armor, the Shields' Buff / Debuff abilities put the Sword as the strategic under dog. When your attack plan consists of "stand-in-the-way-and-swing", it's easy to be outclassed by someone that can alter the playing field to the point that either you aren't swinging hard enough, fast enough, or accurate enough to land those critical blows. And chances are that the Shield will be accompanied by a Sneak or another Sword, as Shields thrive in groups.

The Sneak; The Sneak is your stealth character. Your rogues, spies, and distributors of DPS (Damage Per Second). A Sneak gets in, causes a lot of havoc behind enemy lines, and gets out without anyone the wiser. They are fleet of feet and light of gear, allowing them to race circles around slower characters. They make the most of the smallest amount of equipment, sacrificing high damage output for multiple strike bursts. A Sneak doesn't trust armor to absorb the brunt of a massive damage attack. They instead rely upon not being anywhere nearby when the attack lands. Highly evasive and hard to keep track of, Sneaks make up for low health, defense, and damage by moving faster and striking often.

Sneaks are infiltrators and saboteurs. They specialize in getting past their opponents defenses, and making surgical strikes on the least protected members of a party. Sneaks are favorable in taking down Spells, as they can shorten the distance between themselves and their targets, rendering many of the Spells abilities ineffectual. Spells aren't designed to last long in close quarters, where the Sneak excels. Sneaks can also take care of distracted Shields, but an attentive Shield can still cause a stalemate or come out on top. A Buffed Sneak is practically unparalleled, so a Sneak and Shield combination is favorable. A Debuffed Sneak can try to hide and wait out their penalties, but this only buys the Shield time to regroup and track them down. Swords can outlast Sneaks with sheer fortitude, ignoring thousands of tiny pin-prick attacks until they are able to land that one devastating blow the Sneak was too clumsy to avoid.

The Spell; Spells are all about large damage over long distance. These are your wizards, snipers, and AoE (Area of Effect) specialists. A Spell changes the way their enemies approach the battlefield. Their lack of armor, weaponry, and over-all health makes them dependent upon seeing to it that their opponents never make it close enough to do harm. This can be done by altering the terrain around them, debilitating large groups at once or flat out decimating the biggest, baddest enemy that falls into their line of sight. This more often then not sends smaller enemies fleeing for cover or has them cowering at the back of their ranks. Not that it helps, in the long run...

Spells are perfect for bringing characters design to tank to a grinding halt. Targets that rely on health and armor tend to neglect mobility and evasive actions, and Spells are apt at picking off slower moving targets. Seeing as Shields rely on cover and grouping, Spells tend to catch them in AoE. Being one of the least mobile classes with average health and buff/debuff potential also makes them a prime target to be taken out early from afar. If a Sword is able to withstand the brunt of a Spells abilities early on or find a blind spot to advance upon, the Spell will find little to no chance of regaining the upper hand. Spells are better off standing behind their own Swords at a safe distance, picking away at opponents that can't reach them. Sneaks have the uncanny knack of covering large distances quickly and being ignored by anybody between them and a Spell. Even though they are both lightly armored (or not armored at all in some instances), the Sneak has better short range potential. Spells just aren't designed to survive close combat.

The Shield; Shields are used for support. They are often your healers, medics, and Buff/Debuff characters. Their position at the back of most formation isn't always due to encumbering armor or low mobility. Rather, it's the fact that they are better suited for saving or protecting lives, rather then taking them. Low damage and average health also make them less ideal for leading others into battle. This is not to say that a Shield is useless at the front lines, just that there had better be more then just the Shield leading the charge. The ability to restore health and bolster the effectiveness of allies while hindering their enemies potential has them fitting into large groupings quite nicely.

Shields are meant to block. They delay defeat long enough to earn a team a shot at victory. Shields were made to block Swords, relying on their buffering and rapid health recovery to wear down a Sword to the point that they are no longer able to strike. Though they are quick to recover, Shields had difficulty keeping up with the continual flurry of strikes the Sneak can dish out. They are also much slower then Sneaks. However, they rely less on damage and more on protection, able to drain what little health a lightly armored Sneak has. Working together, a Shield can bolster a Sword or Sneak beyond their natural potential, making them far worse threats then they originally were. Because they both tend to hang around the back of battles, Spells and Shields have little use for one another. And when pitted against one another, the Shield is often defeated before it has a chance to step out into the open, if it isn't currently cowering behind a buffed ally.

There are admittedly role playing games out there that work without the Four S System. Most often, they are single player games that omit the Shield entirely, or simply carve it up into equal portions of Buff, Debuff, and recovery that are then spread out amidst the other three archetypes. Be it First Person Shooter, Real Time Strategy, or Role Playing, you are likely to see all four S archetypes in full swing, each doing their part to provide for a team, group, party, army, or what have you.

There is also a fifth type of character that is less defined. Usually, they are a mash up of two or more archetypes, in an attempt to make something 'unique' from the originals. We'll save those character definitions for later scrutiny.