Archetypes Compendium

The archer is dedicated to the careful mastery of the bow, perfecting his skills with years of practice honed day after day on ranges and hunting for game, or else on the battlefield, raining destruction down on the enemy lines.

All fighters have two main tools of their trade—weapons and armor.

All melee is up close and personal, but some warriors bring it as close as they can get.

In combat, most fighters have some sort of code of honor.

The crossbowman has perfected the deadly use of the crossbow, a simple but cruelly efficient weapon, as a craftsman mastering a lethal tool.

These gallant lancers serve in the vanguard of many armies or as knights-errant.

The free hand fighter specializes in the delicate art of handling a single weapon in one hand while using his free hand to balance, block, tip, and distract his opponents.

Most fighters battle out of necessity, with each battle a contest of life and death.

Where some fighters focus on strength and raw power, the mobile fighter relies on swiftness and mobility, gliding across the battlefield like a steel whirlwind and leaving destruction in his wake.

The phalanx soldier specializes in defensive tactics, using his shield to guard himself and his allies and forming a shield wall like an unbreakable anvil against which his enemies break.

The polearm master is schooled in the ancient wisdom that enemies are best faced at the end of long striking pole, lashing like a serpent before clumsy swords and axes can even be brought to bear.

Roughriders study and practice the fine points of mounted combat, drilling endlessly with warbeasts—from noble thoroughbreds to trained monsters—to form a perfect synergy between rider and steed.

Warriors' might is not measured only by their skill with steel, but also by their ability to inflict death with fang and claw, horn and hoof, and every exotic appendage the natural and unnatural world has to offer.

A shielded fighter focuses on both offense and defense, blending weapon and shield in perfect balance to impede his enemies while delivering deadly blows, and even turning the shield itself into a formidable weapon.

While many fighters focus on the fundamentals of melee and ranged combat, there are those who are trained to view the bigger picture on the battlefield.

The thunderstriker adopts an unusual fighting style, gripping a heavy weapon with both hands and switching to a defensive posture with weapon and buckler, lashing out with the shield with surprising speed and power.

Many fighters believe the tower shield is a tool suitable only for troops on the battlefield, claiming it is too large and bulky to use in skirmishes or within dungeon corridors.

Some fighters focus their efforts on finding the biggest, heaviest, most imposing weapon they can find and training to manage and harness the weight of their massive weapons for maximum impact.

Trained under great masters who preached the simple truth that two are better than one when it comes to weapons, the two-weapon warrior is a terror when his hands are full.

Not all fighters need weapons to make their mark on the world.