Roles

In an action-adventure RP such as this, characters tend to fall into certain story roles. Sometimes this is intentional, and sometimes it's coincidental; while it isn't crucial to plot out your character's precise involvement and role, it can be helpful to consider, as it may give you new insight and even help you find ways to better involve your character in the story.

What roles are there?

It's hard to cram any character into a tiny little box and say, "He fills this exact role!" But, for the sake of discussion, we're going to divvy character roles up into a few exaggeratedly-simplified categories.

Drivers

Drivers are characters who "drive" the story along. It is their presence that really makes the story move forward and go somewhere. They're necessary to have around almost all the time lest everyone just... stand there and look at one another. Included in the list of drivers are...

• Leaders

These are the characters with verve and drive who see problems and act on them. They solve problems easily, aren't afraid to make decisions on their own, and they're smart or cunning enough that other characters are willing to have faith in their abilities. Because of this, they're able to utilize the skills and abilities of others in their party to accomplish goals. It's usually necessary to have a Leader in every single thread. Don't let the name fool you, either — there can be several in a party at any given time. (Things usually get more interesting, too, since Leader characters often butt heads.)

• Antagonists

Antagonists give reasons for protagonists to leap into action. Without them, there's usually no one to fight. They don't typically appear in every single thread, though.

Participants

These characters follow the drivers and participate actively in the story, and include...

• Specialists

Specialists have some sort of invaluable utilitarian skill, talent, or power that they bring to the table. In order to truly be a Specialist, though, it can't just be an attack ability — being a good shot with a gun won't cut it. Think of things such as technological proficiency (possibly including story-important tools or gadgets), power that enables obstacles to be overcome (such as extreme strength, or anything else that can be used to open paths), unique mobility (sometimes such as flying characters who can and often do carry others), unique knowledge or access to important places or things, etc.

• Supporters

Though they may not have anything super-special or unique to offer, they follow along and try to help any way they can. Some may be good fighters, or some may be completely inept, but nonetheless, they can be very important and bring a lot of extra flavor to the story if they're played actively and well. There's a fine line between being a true "Supporter" and just being dead weight, though, and with that being said...

• Dead Weight

Whether active or inactive, characters who seldom say anything insightful or do anything significant may end up becoming the dreaded Dead Weight. If you feel your character slipping this direction, try talking more to other players to better plan out how your character interacts with others. You can also talk to the folks running the story to try to figure out better involvement, and thereby use him or her more significantly. Usually, Dead Weight-ism is just caused by not being very involved OOC, and can especially be caused by erratic activity (especially long stretches of inactivity between posts, or general slow posting).

• Comic Relief

There's nothing wrong with having some comic relief in the cast, but it probably shouldn't be a character's sole purpose. The character should either be a Supporter or Specialist first and foremost, or the player should refrain from having him or her appear in every single thread.

Enablers

So-called Enablers typically don't show up in every single thread but tend to be very important to the story because they "enable" others to do what they do. They're usually played by the people who are running the story. Included are...

• Benefactors

Benefactors supply characters with the stuff they need, be it knowledge, plot-important items, vehicles, weapons, etc... They're usually not the kind of character you see out adventuring, though.

• Planners

Planners are protagonist masterminds who plot out the course of action and sometimes even give the "call to arms" that bands the heroes together in the first place. They're often also Benefactors, and sometimes can even be Leaders, if they're particularly hands-on.

Loners

While not automatically a "bad" character type, these have to be used very carefully in order to get good results. An RPer should never have a Loner as their only character. They're purely extras.

• Disruptors

Usually lesser (or at least less-seen) antagonists, Disruptors have a propensity for popping in to cause trouble and generally make everyone's day worse. They can add flavor to the story and be interesting as long as they have a real, tangible goal, serve some sort of purpose in the story, and don't appear too often.

• Vigilantes

The opposite of Disruptors, Vigilantes have a tendency to pop in right when they're needed by the good guys, do something important, and vanish again. This can get old very fast.

• Lone Wolves

Those characters who have no goals and are played by a player who doesn't try very hard to attach to the rest of the cast easily end up as Lone Wolves. They'll usually appear in one thread, brood or wander aimlessly, fail to interact meaningfully with anyone, and never be seen again. Try to coordinate with other RPers and come up with ideas for your character's involvement with theirs to avoid this fate.

What role is most needed?

Leaders, by and far. Leaders, Antagonists, and Specialists can always find use, while active and well-played Supporters are also always welcome (though usually not in short supply).