The Modern-Day Party: Fighter, Cleric, Wizard, and Rogue

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by Mr_Sandman

Perhaps grifter, hitter, hacker, thief, mastermind?

I see someone watches Leverage.

[Skarg]

The idea of a party with those archetypes fairly annoyed me even circa 1980. So I'm not really motivated to try to extend a model I don't even use in fantasy games, to modern games, but I'm game anyway:

Fighter: Brawler, martial arts master, wrestler, maniac with chainsaw, bouncer, riot police, street thug, delusional partier / drunkard, tank crew...

Ranger: Anyone with guns, survivalist, sniper, hunter, ranger, soldier

Cleric: Actual clergyfolk, exorcist, shamanic practitioner, doctor, medic, paramedic, people who know first aid and/or CPR.

Wizard: Computer expert (hacker, info security, and/or spy), modern witches/warlocks etc, hypnotist, explosives expert/maniac, pyromaniac, people with heavy weapons (rocket launcher, mortar, flamethrower...)

Rogue: Burglar, thief, pickpocket, con artist...

[simply Nathan]

Originally Posted by Donny Brook

Earth - Cleric
Air - Wizard
Fire - Fighter
Water - Rogue

Earth - Fighter
Water - Cleric
Fire - Wizard
Air - Rogue

[SimonAce]

Person of Interest the "evil AI" suspense thriller on CBS meets this trope perfectly if you consider "magic" to be the ability to use networked computers to achieve goals

John Reese -- Ranger, preferred terrain (Urban) favored enemy (Thugs) has even shown him less effective in suburban environments and with an animal companion (a dog named Bear)

Harold Finch -- Wizard , mysterious, many identities, smart, physically weak

Lionel Fusco- Rogue with Cop archetype , much better in combat when sneak attacking, picks manual locks, stealthy and has used escape artist and bluff numerous times

Root- Cleric, interfaces with one of the shows "gods" who talks directly to her via implant, get various buff effects, called God Mode on the show from the machine as well

Shaw- Fighter with healer skill and sniper archetype. as effective as Reese in combat but lacks his subtlety

[Mr Frost]

Originally Posted by Skarg

The idea of a party with those archetypes fairly annoyed me even circa 1980. So I'm not really motivated to try to extend a model I don't even use in fantasy games, to modern games, but I'm game anyway:

Fighter: Brawler, martial arts master, wrestler, maniac with chainsaw, bouncer, riot police, street thug, delusional partier / drunkard, tank crew...

Ranger: Anyone with guns, survivalist, sniper, hunter, ranger, soldier

Cleric: Actual clergyfolk, exorcist, shamanic practitioner, doctor, medic, paramedic, people who know first aid and/or CPR.

Wizard: Computer expert (hacker, info security, and/or spy), modern witches/warlocks etc, hypnotist, explosives expert/maniac, pyromaniac, people with heavy weapons (rocket launcher, mortar, flamethrower...)

Rogue: Burglar, thief, pickpocket, con artist...

D&D3.5


Fighter: Cleric

Ranger: Druid

Cleric: Cleric

Wizard: Cleric

Rogue: Cleric

Druid: Cleric

[Mailanka]

Originally Posted by simply Nathan

Earth - Fighter

Because he wields metal, acts like a brick wall, and is the size of a mountain.

Water - Cleric

Air. The cleric wields incense, and speaks for the bearded man who sits on the clouds. He sprinkles heals like the gentle rains, and condemns enemies with the force of the whirlwind and speaks with thunder.

Fire - Wizard

The ability to wield fire requires knowledge, often arcane and esoteric knowledge. The original magi were priests of the cult of fire. Fire is powerful and dangerous, able to destroy, to heal, or to control, just like real fire, but if it gets out of hand...

Air - Rogue

Water. A rogue flows around problems and may actually swim as part of his infiltration. He wields poison, which is a water-based weapon. Water is also something that changes its state based on the situation, and a rogue also does that, always flexible and useful no matter the state of the game, though his role in the party might change depending on circumstances.

[Ashtagon]

Taking a leaf out of how D&D 4th edition interpreted the roles...

Fighter: The usual interpretations apply. This covers both the brawler and the shooter archetypes.

Rogue: D&D 4e takes this to be the "damage per second" guy, with a minor in getting past people and/or security systems in general. So, shooters, the "face", and sneaks.

Cleric: This is the "leader/supporter" class. That doesn't necessarily mean healer (although they can do that), but any class that makes the other classes do their jobs better. So, commanders, clergy, entertainers, "brains" (as in the A-Team), planners, and yes, healers too.

Wizard: These are the guys who use the tools. That means the wheelman, the artillery expert, the computer hacker, the guy who builds the robotic minions, the scientist, and the McGuyver.

[Icelander]

In our modern-day superhero/technothriller game, Project Jade Serenity, we've been joking about how the three PCs and an NPC of similar power they picked up more-or-less accidentally fit a fairly traditional D&D adventuring party.

We've got:

Warrior/Ranger: Chase Taylor (my PC), former US Ranger and Green Beret with extraordinary sensory acuity, Traps and the Tracking skill at astronomical levels and a minor in religious devotion and battlefield first-aid. All he's missing is an animal companion. Temperament: Sanguine.

Rogue/Thief: Danny O'Toole, surveillance and technical specialist for the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), who is actually just serving as a Fed to gain a security clearance and access to information he's looking for about his father and origin. Is extremely good at stealth, security systems and lockpicking, can use Telekinesis to pickpocket small objects and open locks and is prone to sneak around on his own. Temperament: Melancholic.

Rogue/Bard: Cherry Bell (NPC), a mental patient with extraordinary talents at manipulating people, mostly men, and gifts of illusion, glamour and emotion-control. Second best at fighting in the party, good at Stealth, but not as good as the Thief, pretty good at all sorts of things, but not professional at them, as befits the Bard, jack of all trades and master of none (except social engineering). She can sing, dance and tumble, but admittedly cannot play a musical instrument. Temperament: Choleric.

Cleric/Speciality Priest of Morpheus (could just as well be a Wizard): Dr. Michael Anderson. Psychiatrist who is also surprisingly good at hands on medicine, the main healer in the party. Aspiring horror novelist, failing stage magician and former researcher of things Man Was Not Meant to Know (or, at least, no ethics committee should ever have signed off on). Has mystical powers over sleep and dreams. As a former member of the staff of the Gothic asylum the first adventure is set in, has sage-like knowledge of the research work that was done there and the layout of the place. So far, appears entirely useless in combat. I guess that Dr. Anderson would really be a 3e D&D character, a wizard/cleric/mystic theurge. His uselessness in combat is pretty directly tied to the fact that he's keeping his mystical powers a secret from the rest of the party. Temperament: Phlegmatic.

Edit: Responding to Anders' TVtropes link to the Four-Temperament Ensemble, I've put down what humours each character corresponds to there.

[sir_pudding]

Rifleman, Automatic Rifleman, Assistant Automatic Rifleman, Fireteam Leader. :)

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Rifleman,

Rogue, single-target DPS combatant.

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Automatic Rifleman,

Wizard, area of effect attacks and battlefield shaping.

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Assistant Automatic Rifleman,

Fighter, defends the battlefield shaper.

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Fireteam Leader. :)

Obviously a Cleric, buffing other characters.