Difference between revisions of "Archetype"

Revision as of 20:40, 12 August 2011

An archtype is a type of class or monster that has very many traits in common, like a group set of traits. Some classes or monsters may have multiple archtypes associated with them, often called a "hybrid".

Background

"Archtype" could really simply be another word for class, but also apply to monsters. It started decades ago with the first PnP RPGs and their character classes, all pretty straightforward. As players wanted more variance in their play style, more classes were added, and today you can find hundreds of variant classes in different roleplaying games.

Archtypes

These are the three main types of classes or monsters:

• Caster - All sorts of magical spells. Can be ranged or melee itself.
• Melee - Primarily in close quarter combat. With or without magic.
• Ranged - Primarily using ranged attacks. With or without magic.

All classes or monsters have attributes from either one, two or all three of these. In addition to that, they usually also have another attribute to define them: What they do with their archtype.

Sub-types

Sub-types of classes or monsters include:

• DPS - Dedicated to dealing damage of some sort.
• Healer - Dedicated to healing itself and others.
• Spawner/Summoner - Primary function being summoning and managing minions. Also known as "pet class".
• Utility - Can include buffing or debuffing, disarming traps or perhaps handling social situations; all depending on the game. The latter two are not really represented in ARPGs like the Diablo games.
• Tank - Handling enemies and taking damage (usually while being healed).

This is generally what you call the "role" of the class or monster: What it actually DOES. The main archtype is just HOW it plays its role.

See individual articles for more information.

"Pure" vs "Hybrid"

There has been some controversy in terms of "pure" classes and "hybrid" classes.

"Pure" refers to a class that has a role very close to the archtypes. "Hybrids" refer to a class with roles mixed between different archtypes, and then have less power in each field of specialisation.

Hybrid classes often either get neglected or overpowered in RPGs, and in either case, it's quite common for players who like "pure" classes to look down on the hybrids even more than they do on other "pure" classes.

This is a quite weird cultural phenomenon, but easily recognisable in many games.