The Evolution of Fantasy Role-Playing Games - Michael J. Tresca [82]
RetroMUD allows multiclassing in three tiers: primary guilds (20 levels), secondary guilds (14 levels) and tertiary guilds (9 levels). All guilds bestow a combination of regeneration bonuses (to hit points, spell points, and endurance points), attribute, skill and spell bonuses, and access to new skills or spells. Primary guilds can generally be freely multiclassed, allowing player characters to advance in any of them. A few, however, like paladin, have alignment restrictions. One’s primary guilds determine eligibility to join secondary guilds, which in turn determine eligibility to join tertiary guilds. Tertiary guilds usually require a quest to join, with one skill or spell granted at ninth level.
The traditional tabletop roles are all present: the Tank (a fighter) takes damage and defends the party. The Healer (a cleric) heals the Tank to allow him to keep fighting. The Nuker casts powerful offensive spells that inflict punishing damage from a distance, a role traditionally handled by the Dungeons & Dragons–style wizard. In addition to the standard “squad” roles borrowed from tabletop play, there are also several roles unique to MUDs.
DPSER • DPSer stands for “damage per second.” Unlike the Tank, who just has to stand there and be punished for being in the wrong place at the right time, the DPSer takes the battle to the opposition. He inflicts damage frequently, although not necessarily every second. The DPSer can be an archer, a blaster who gets in frequent shots (instead of his Nuker companion, who unloads his artillery in massive blasts), or a stabby rogue. RetroMUD uses the assassin guild for this purpose.
MEZZER • The Mezzer controls the opposition. His means of controlling foes varies. It can be paralysis, it can be sleep, it can be draining an ability score ... whatever the effect, the result is the same: the target is impaired. Traditionally this is limited to casters with the ability to enchant the opposition; witches, wizards with access to charm spells, or bards who can dazzle their opponents. RetroMUD uses the psionicist guild to fill this role.
PETMASTER • The Petmaster has pets that fight on his behalf. These pets can be anything, from henchmen to killer beasts to summoned demons to the living dead. As with the Mezzer, this role was less well defined in tabletop RPGs. It was formalized in 3.5 with the druid class’s ability to spontaneously summon animal allies. RetroMUD has a variety of guilds that fill this role, including druids and cultists.
TRAPPER • The Trapper inflicts damage asynchronously. His strength lies in his ability to defend against a pursuing foe, laying traps behind him as he goes. This has never been tabletop role-playing games’ strong point, if only because the heroic nature of conflict doesn’t lend itself well to tricking a monster into falling into a pit. In games where monsters follow the players, Trappers become much more feasible.
JACK • Finally there’s the Jack, short for “jack of all trades.” The rest of that phrase is “master of none,” and that’s the Jack’s strength and weakness. In theory, it makes him a perfect role for the leader. Bards have traditionally filled this role in the past, and fourth edition Dungeons & Dragons made an effort to bring that role into the mainstream with the Warlord. RetroMUD uses the bard guild for this purpose.
Status
Castronova (2005:113) touches on status and advancement being important aspects of massive multiplayer online role-playing games. He calls the accumulation of power, levels, and experience “avatar capital”—the virtual equivalent of “human capital.” This inevitable climb through a level or pointbased system is seen by some as Sisyphean, an endless treadmill wherein the character acquires