I've played a number of MMORPGs…some of which keep me invested for months on end, while others bore me within a few days or weeks. I've been a dwarf. I've fought orcs. I've seen too many elves to count. I've flown in space. I've shot lasers. Throughout my adventures, however, I've never ran across a true horror themed MMORPG (no, slapping a vampire or werewolf in as a playable race is not a horror MMO in my book). In this series of articles based around a theoretical trip through the world of building a MMORPG, join me as we discuss the creation and premise of our very own game: Dead End.

Last time, we focused on how players will be able to play as zombies in the game's PVP system and perma-servers. This time around we're going to focus on the various character classes we're eyeing for the game in terms of the human characters.

Dead End: Building A Horror MMORPG
Dead End: Combat Gameplay Mechanic
Dead End: Yes, Zombies Are Playable

First up, while this series of articles will follow the creation of our own MMO, it's strictly an idea and there is no game coming from any of this. If the idea got in the right hands, however, I'd certainly be down for collaborating on bringing the idea to life…just saying. I wouldn't mind becoming a famous game designer.

It doesn't seem to matter what the name of your MMORPG of choice is, because when it comes to character classes you're pretty much going to find the same guys used over and over. You know why? It's tradition. People like to know how a character will play based on previous experiences. If someone is listed as a healer, they know they'll spend most of their time healing people and getting little respect for it (especially when someone dies). Someone described as a tank knows it's their job to get hit so that others won't. While we diverged a good deal from standard MMORPGs, we're going to stick a little more close to the formula when it comes to Dead End.

HUMAN CHARACTER CLASSES

Soldier
You served your tour of duty in the war and are now back home to readjust and get back to normal life, but if you thought the war in Iraq was hard, wait until you're battling legions of the undead. Given your military training, you'll not only make a great leader – able to inspire other players to keep up the good fight even in the face of unsurmountable odds (aka providing stat buffs to yourself and your group) – but when it comes to ranged weaponry, you're the most proolific of everyone, able to wield the most deadly long-range weaponry available in the game.

The Soldier class will be the ranged-DPS of the game, able to not only charge towards the frontlines with assault rifles and other quick firing burst weaponry, but they can shoot from further back as well, keeping the enemy at bay while they help increase the morale of fellow players. Soldiers can wear medium-sized armor.

Physician
You just got off duty, having spent a massive shift at the hospital as a nurse or doctor. You hoped to take it easy after getting off, but now you find your medical talents being put to the test as you try to save survivors from the multitude of zombies. As a medical practioner, you'll be kept in the back of the group, only moving forward to help heal a comrade who has been injured in battle. You'll not only use a variety of bandages and medicines to help group members recover health, but you'll also give shots of adrenaline to help improve some stats, and be able to use shock paddles to bring back to life those whose heart has stopped.

The Physician class is the healer of the game. Physicians aren't well-trained or equipped for a zombie apocalypse, so Physicians are relegatted to using light armor and light weaponry, such as pistols and some shotguns.

SWAT
You started out as police, but wanted a more dangerous job that seriously put your skills to use. You didn't think signing up for SWAT would include putting yourself front and center in the face of undead, but that's exactly where you've found yourself. As a member of a SWAT team, you're the tank of the game, meant to take the damage so other players won't. You'll mainly be the punching bag of the zombies, but you can fight with the best of them, able to go melee style with batons and stun rods, but you can wield pistols and shotguns with a deadly accuracy.

Since you're going to be the one taking the most damage, you're going to need a lot of protection; it's a good thing then that as a SWAT member you can wear the heaviest armor, including bulletproof vests and riot shields.

Firefighter
You see the fires of hell every time you rush into a burning building to save a life or extinguish a flame, but your trips into hell never showed the zombies lurking within. As a firefighter, you'll be the mage/sorcerer of the game, as you are a master of fire and fire-based weaponry. You can be proficient with an axe when the zombies get too close, but you're primarily focused on dealing long-range AOE attacks, including being the only character class capable of handling explosives such as grenades. Your weapon of choice, however, is the flamethrower.

Firefighters often wear some pretty bulking clothing and helmets, so firefighters will be wearing most medium-sized armor. The greatest challenge of playing as a firefighter is needing to be wary of where your team is in relation to your abilities. While you won't be able to kill your team, you can cause bleed and burn damage thanks to your wild abuse of power. With great power comes great responsibility – a comic should use that phrase.

Lumberjack
Most people will tell you that lumberjacks have one of the most dangerous jobs out there in the world; with all the dangerous equipment at their disposal, it's only natural a few accidents would happen. It's not going to be an accident, however, when you take those skills to the undead and chop them into pieces. Lumberjacks are going to be the melee-DPS class of the game, able to get in close and mix it up toe-to-toe using a variety of melee weaponry, including your handheld axe, but also your most noteworthy weapon: the chainsaw.

Lumberjacks aren't known for wearing much in terms of armor or protective wear – besides a helmet – so you'll be using mostly light armor for the most part. It's going to be hard doing melee damage with light armor, however, so you'll further up your ability to withstand damage by your ability to block and dodge (hey, working around deadly machines for so long have enhanced your abilities), which comes by way of Paladin-esque buffs you can keep active one at a time.

Hunter
You're just a good ol' boy who likes to spend weekends hunting all-manner of animals, but you never thought you'd be able to put your skills to the test – well, legally – against actual humans. Okay, so they're dead humans, but still you're going to have fun hunting something a little more dangerous than a deer from a mile away.

The Hunter is the scout/rogue character class of the game. As a Hunter you'll primarily be concerned with not only laying a variety of traps meant to ensnare and crowd control the zombie herds, but you'll be using primarily your sniper rifle to deal damage from a distance as well. You're used to hunting from afar, so light armor is the best you're going to get; with the ability to slow and kill from a distance, however, you shouldn't need to be heavily equipped – you're that confident in your skills.

---

So there you go – the six human character classes of the game that you'll be able to play as if fighting for the side of humanity. What if you're one of the undead minions? Next time we'll cover the zombie classes of the game and how you'll be upgrading to constantly be a deadlier undead weapon.