Why take a Character Role?
This isn't explicitly stated in the rules, as such, but most character classes are created around the idea of taking one or more roles in the party - that is, classes have specific things they are effective at doing. For example, the basic Fighter tends to have the Damage-Dealing role - they're good at hurting enemies (and, alas, not much else). On the other hand, Clerics tend to be excellent at healing and buffing allies. Subclasses/Archetypes sometimes change what role(s) a class normally has.
Spheres of Power is an open-ended system that's very helpful for creating characters in almost any role - but if you spread your talents too thinly, you may find that you're less-effective at your role than you'd really like. This guide introduces the basic roles in the game, their associated sub-roles, the important concepts of the role, and offers some suggestions for creating characters who are effective in that area.
Spheres of Might focuses mainly on combat roles, but it's still possible to create a character capable of fulfilling almost any role the party needs. (Healers are the most limited with this system, but everything else is easy enough.)
Note that the majority of characters are not limited to taking just one role - most good classes have at least two roles they perform well in, and will often want to invest in doing well at both of those jobs instead of one to the exclusion of the other.
A traditional, well-balanced party typically consists of a Damage Dealer/Tank, a Damage Dealer/Skill Monkey, a Healer/Buffer, and a Battlefield Controller/Debuffer, with each character offering a little bit of Utility. To put it another way, this is how the iconic Fighter/Rogue/Cleric/Wizard party functions.
How Much Do We Actually Need To Care About This?
That depends on the way your game is run. Some GMs will adapt things to fit your party - others will create the game world and expect you to deal with it. However, you may feel that your party is significantly lacking if you're missing one of the roles. For example, without anyone acting as a Tank, you could be very vulnerable to enemies simply rushing up and annihilating characters. Similarly, if nobody's actually focused on doing damage, many fights could drag on far longer than expected.
If you have to ditch anything, Buffer, Debuffer, and Skill Monkey are the most 'disposable' roles. Skill Monkey can be accomplished by the joint efforts of the party (and some mundane gear), so you don't need to have someone there. Similarly, buffs and debuffs are nice, but not absolutely necessary.
Tank, Damage Dealer, Healer, Battlefield Controller, and Utility are all quite important, and should be present in most games.
Getting Creative
There are many ways of accomplishing each role. For example, a Conjuration specialist can call new allies out. These allies will take up space on the battlefield (which can help provide battlefield control, especially if they are good at threatening the area around them), can often deal damage, and they can be used as disposable HP sponges (letting them act as tanks). It's not as reliable as having a dedicated Tank-type character around, but it will suffice.
Similarly, you can use potions and wands for many healing needs and scrolls for battlefield control spells. At higher levels, a reusable item can provide regular use of your favorite spells. Mundane gear is excellent for most utility needs.
The point is this: A little creativity goes a long way towards filling out a party. There are many ways of accomplishing most of your needs, ranging from useful magic items to hiring NPCs to help you. It helps to have each role covered by a PC, but don't feel like you have to play something you don't want to play just to meet the group's needs. Instead, try to find another method that still lets you play what you want to play.
Newcomers may be overwhelmed by the number of options available, so GMs should consider putting together a list of helpful, low-cost items that explains their effects and why a character might want to have them. This kind of shopping list can go a long way towards helping a party fill each role.
Maximizing Your Effectiveness In A Role
Each Role in the game can be improved by adding new abilities or increasing the power of existing abilities. For example, a Damage Dealer can improve in their role by dealing more damage each round, while a Tank can improve by getting more HP and raising their defenses.
It's important to make a distinction between actually improving in your Role and just keeping pace. PCs aren't the only things that grow in power - so do enemies. To actually do better, a character needs to improve faster than enemies do. (This is not a recommendation to min-max your character - just a note on what actually getting better requires.)
There are many ways to get better in your Role. For example, a Damage Dealer who uses a melee weapon may invest in ways of hurting damage-resistant foes like swarms, while a Battlefield Controller might learn to create hard-to-pass barriers. In many cases, diversifying your abilities can be more helpful than improving the same abilities (as long as they improve enough to remain viable, at least). If you're really good at using a longsword to hurt foes, you probably don't need to invest in also mastering the short sword. However, you may find it helpful to grab a club (which deals bludgeoning damage instead of slashing damage), or pick up a bow (to target flying foes).
Base Concept: All Day Character
Roles That Are Commonly This Include: Damage Dealer, Skill Monkey, Tank
An All Day Character, as the name implies, is a character that is capable of performing its role reasonably well, regardless of how many encounters and opportunities to spend resources that character has had. For example, a well-made Tank with sturdy armor and some good bonuses to their Saving Throws is probably going to be able to perform their role as long as they can get healing on a regular basis.
To compensate for the value of being able to perform their role over and over, All Day Characters tend to have a lower power ceiling than Limited Adventuring Day Characters. Spheres of Power characters typically fall under this, regardless of role - while it's possible to burn through all of your Spell Points in a day, such characters will likely still have a number of free abilities to use.
Spheres of Might characters also tend to fall into this, as few combat talents have limited uses per-day, and even classes with limited resources can fall back on their talents.
Base Concept: Limited Adventuring Day Character
Roles That Are Commonly This Include: Battlefield Controller, Buffer, Debuffer, Healer
A Limited Adventuring Day Character has some kind of significant limit on how effective they can be each day in the game, usually represented by a cap on the use of their abilities. For example, there may be a limit to the amount of Hit Points they can heal each day, how many buffs they can provide, or how many negative effects they can inflict on their enemies. Limited Adventuring Day Characters tend to have powerful abilities, but the cap on uses means they need to carefully decide when and where to expend their energy.
Casters in the standard magic system of Fifth Edition Fantasy (often referred to as "Vancian" casters) tend to fall into this category.
Warlocks under the core rules are an interesting mix. While they can theoretically be all-day characters with sufficient rest, the unpredictability of that in many games mean that Warlocks tend to be in this category instead due to a low number of resources to spend and minimal utility otherwise.
A character is not a Limited Adventuring Day character just because it has some resources that it can only get back on a long rest. To be in this category, a character must have a demand for resource expenditure that is noticeably higher than what it would prefer, and it must lose a significant part of its overall effectiveness when it is out of those resources. Spherecasters can usually continue casting and concentrating on things even when they're out of spell points, remaining generally viable (if less effective), so they mostly aren't limited.
Base Concept: The Ability Triad
As a game, Fifth Edition Fantasy roleplaying broadly consists of three parts: Combat, Exploration, and Interaction. Each of these has different objectives and ways of defining success.
Regardless of role(s), a well-built character will have at least some ability in each of these three fields. Characters do not need to be equal in every area, nor does every member of a party need to have the same amount of ability in each area. However, having talent in each area will ensure a character is almost always capable of contributing, regardless of what's going on.
Which category is most important depends on your game, but in general, Combat tends to be especially important because it's a large part of many sessions. If you can't contribute to a specific interaction or exploration scenario, it may be over in a few minutes as the group moves on to something you can help with. If you can't contribute in combat, you may end up waiting an hour for your turn just to say "I can't do anything here". Most people don't find this very fun, so ensuring your character has at least a minimal ability to effectively contribute in combat is wise.
Below are some example options for each category. Note that this list is not exclusive - there are roles and options outside of these, so you shouldn't feel limited by this list.
Combat: Dealing HP damage, buffing allies, debuffing enemies, and controlling the battlefield.
Exploration: Disabling traps, planar travel, overcoming environmental dangers, using stealth, and providing food and drink.
Interaction: Talking enemies out of fighting, gathering rumors, mind-controlling targets, and performing for pay. Downtime activities (including crafting) fall into this category.
Note that many mundane tools and options make these easier. You don't necessarily have to have class abilities for each of these areas, either - a little creativity with your options can go a long way.
Base Concept: Action Economy
Action economy is the most valuable resource in the game - far more so than spell slots, gold, or a character's equipment. This is most apparent in combat, where the number of actions you can have and when you can spend them in the turn's order can heavily impact your strategies. If enemies can surprise you and get off a bunch of attacks, you're at a disadvantage. If you can surprise them, you can get that advantage (often literally).
About the only thing worse than losing your action economy through effects like paralysis is getting dominated by the enemy and turned against your friends. That means your party just lost a bunch of power and the enemy gained the same.
Any abilities that can affect action economy are strong by default, often moreso than most other powers. Consider: A bow that deals 1d10 damage, or a spell that can banish an enemy to another plane for the duration of the battle. While damage is both useful and necessary, one of those options will have a much greater impact on the fight if it's successful.
Base Concept: Character Shaping Choices
Character Shaping Choices (or CSC) are anything you get to choose as part of making and leveling your character. This includes ability score distribution, archetypes/subclasses, sphere talents, and class options, but not abilities that are fixed at a given level and obtained as part of choosing to level a class. For most classes, fixed abilities are intentionally limited in power - this helps to ensure that the class isn't incredibly powerful all the time. Instead, the real power is usually limited to your CSC since this allows for more flexibility and a variety of power levels in the same class.
The Incanter is pretty much nothing but CSC. It has very few fixed abilities (especially compared to core classes), which means that two different incanters could have incredibly different playstyles.
In general, a class' maximum power level is often tied to the number of CSC it gets. Core classes like the Fighter and the Monk have a relatively low number of CSC. These classes are also considered some of the weakest and least flexible. In contrast, high-CSC classes like the Wizard and Cleric (who get many, many spell choices) are frequently considered some of the most potentially powerful classes.
Note that in this context, "power" does not refer exclusively to damage in combat. The Fighter, for example, can still deal quite a lot of damage to most enemies. They are a Damage Dealer and they are very good at that. However, with minimal flexibility, the Fighter doesn't even have the chance to solve most problems in ways that don't involve stabbing or brute-forcing them. When the Fighter stands on the front lines against an invading army, the Wizard might be busy raising walls of stone to protect and encircle the entire city - a significantly greater effect on the story. Through things like this, CSC is intimately tied to Narrative Power (discussed below).
Most CSC are split into three categories:
- Daily (Things you can change each day, including some class abilities or talents if you took certain options)
- Levelup (Things you choose when you gain a level, including normal talents and most class options when you're able to select from a list of different options)
- One Time (Things you select once, usually at Level 1 or Level 3, such as a subclass; note that these may grant additional benefits at higher levels)
Of course, choices alone don't make a character strong - it's quite possible to build a terrible Wizard by making spell choices that aren't very good, and some players even intentionally choose sub-optimal choices in order to make things more challenging for themselves. That's not inherently bad, and we're not saying that you should only make mechanically-optimal choices. Quite the opposite - you should make choices that are fun for you and your group.
In the end, however, the entirety of the Spheres system is built on the idea of offering CSC. You can choose talents, class abilities, and even entire playstyles based on the choices you make.
If this sounds a little intimidating, don't worry - classes are also set up to guide you through the process. For example, both Spheres of Power and Spheres of Might have these important choices slotted into specific categories. If you want to be mobile, you might look at the Warp. If you want to use more gear, you look at the Equipment sphere.
You can also smooth this process by choosing a character theme. Having an idea of the sort of character you want to play - including its role(s) as described below, whether it's magical or martial (or a blend), and what their personality is - can help you choose the options that best fit your personal goals for playing that character.
If you want to try out the Spheres systems before you start making choices about them, this Wiki has a collection of first-level sample characters on the front page. Each includes information about how to play them and what to focus on when leveling up.
Base Concept: Narrative Power
Narrative Power is the ability of a character to impact the ongoing story of a campaign, and is loosely possible to define as "your ability to succeed at things you want to do to affect the story". For example, perhaps you want to persuade the King to offer you a great reward for rescuing the Princess. If you roll well on your Persuasion check, you may successfully argue for that - and you've exercised the narrative power that comes with investing in a particular skill.
Narrative Power comes from a variety of sources, including the backstory for your character, the way your group plays, your class(es), and your Character Shaping Choices (see above). CSC have Narrative Power because they give you ways to choose how you can affect the story of the game. If you choose to learn Destruction and take the Explosive Orb talent so you can attack large groups of enemies at once, your ability to blow apart hordes of weak foes becomes your Narrative Power and something you can do to affect the outcome of a battle (and ultimately that battle's impact on the ongoing story).
Options are generally considered more powerful when they have greater Narrative Power. For example, if you can raise a wall of dirt, you can use that to hide from enemies that need to see you to attack you… but you can also use that to raise fortifications around a town and transform its defenses when it's under attack. The most powerful options are those that tend to be effective in a variety of circumstances. The more of an effect you can have, the stronger the ability is. This is why "Save or Lose" powers - where one failed saving throw can mean a character is incapacitated or even killed - are so potent. In one moment, they can completely change the story.
Don't try to run the numbers and determine the exact Narrative Power of every choice you have - there are too many variables and you'll never have adequate answers. However, do consider the way your role(s) and CSC impact your Narrative Power and whether or not you're comfortable with the result. Some people are completely satisfied with doing lots of damage in combat and don't want more Narrative Power than that - and that's okay! Everyone has different preferences, and what's important is whether or not you and your group are having fun. That's why the reason to consider Narrative Power is to determine whether or not you're playing the character and having the effect you want to have.
Of course, as experienced gamers know, sometimes the dice just don't cooperate. Don't get too down if luck doesn't go your way (though if you don't like relying on luck, there are many options that don't rely on d20 rolls to succeed - consider those).
Concept: Rider
A "rider" is an effect that triggers when you do something else. For example, if you poison your weapon, that poison "rides" your attack and triggers when you successfully hit an enemy. Riders are usually debuffs or additional damage, but in rare cases - like the Vitality talents of the Life sphere or a bonus that triggers when you hit something - they can be beneficial instead. It's possible for a rider to trigger from another rider, although it's rare to see a chain more than 2-3 abilities 'deep'.
The key difference between a rider and a normal effect is that a rider is not normally part of whatever you're doing. You need to have invested in some additional option (a talent that adds an effect, poisoning your weapon, taking a feat, etc.) that adds to what you normally do. Most riders do not require any additional actions or payments at the time they're used. Abilities that require you to do things like take an additional penalty on your attacks to activate them should not be considered riders.
Abilities that only change your basic numbers or give you advantage are not riders. However, they may be prerequisites for learning or activating a rider.
The Destruction sphere explicitly uses a form of Rider in its Blast Type talents, which give you a lot of flexibility for affecting enemies in different ways.
Concept: Targeting
Most abilities in Fifth Edition Fantasy Roleplaying target one or more of several specific defenses. It is extremely rare to find an ability that won't be resisted by at least one of the following options. A well-built character will often have ways of attacking at least two of these defenses. That way, if an enemy is extremely resistant to at least one of them, you can try something else that has a reasonable degree of success.
Most creatures do not have good defenses in all of these areas. Knowing which defense to attack against can make a character much better than they'd otherwise be. Casters, for example, often target saving throws, and knowing which one is most likely to work on a foe is key to optimal play.
(This is not meant to imply that trying to make an optimal character is the only way to play the game. However, it is appropriate to consider how your preferred playstyle will affect the fun of your table.)
- Normal AC: A creature's defense against normal attacks. Most weapons in the game target this. 5E has few ways to deal with high AC other than gaining advantage on attacks against a target and using magical weapons, so characters with lower attack rolls are noticeably penalized in many combat scenarios.
- Saving Throws: Magical abilities, in particular, often target a saving throw. Most abiltiies target the three "traditional" saves, which in this edition of the game are Dexterity, Constitution, and Wisdom. Many creatures are much weaker against Strength, Intelligence, and Charisma saves. This means that abilities that target Intelligence saves, for example, are considerably more reliable against most foes and therefore fundamentally more powerful. Smart decisions about targeting saves
- Distance: This isn't a defense, per se, but some enemies cannot be easily engaged in melee. This is why your group may need some form of ranged attacks, even if it's just backup weapons (like crossbows) for rare situations.
Aside from the types of defenses, it's also good to consider the damage types in the game, as well as the effect types of spells. Some types of damage (like poison) are resisted far more often than others. Similarly, certain campaigns may feature defenses more often than others. For example, an undead-heavy game will probably have many foes that are resistant to necrotic damage, so a character who specializes in that will probably be less effective than one who specializes in radiant damage.
Role: All-Rounder
All-rounder isn't a totally separate role in its own right. Instead, this category reflects a character that is at least moderately competent in most (if not all) other roles within the party. They may not be super durable, but they can tank a few hits. They may not do the most damage, but they can contribute a meaningful amount. And so on. Not every character class or build has the potential to be an all-rounder. In fact, most characters aren't close to actually fulfilling the criteria for this role. However, All-Rounders are essentially always able to help in a situation and can take specific roles as the game requires, which makes them generally useful to have in a team.
Many all-rounders can fit into this role better by flexibly gaining specific powers or abilities as the situation demands.
A character is probably overtuned if they are both an all-rounder and better than other characters who specialize in specific roles. 5E is a team game, so one character who is better than everyone at everything usually doesn't go over well. For that reason, people interested in being an all-rounder should pay particularly close attention to their character's balance.
Role: Battlefield Controller
Main Things To Raise: Type of Control Abilities, Number of Control Ability Uses
The Battlefield Controller is a character focused on somehow affecting the battlefield and pushing enemies to act in certain ways. They may do this by creating areas that are difficult for foes to move through, summoning physical obstructions that force enemies into particular areas, or even calling up additional allies to fill space.
The common trend here is that the battlefield is something they want to manipulate in different ways. Ultimately, the Battlefield Controller acts in a supporting role, and they're at their best when they manipulate things to help everyone else accomplish their roles more effectively. If one party member does great damage but has low accuracy, a battlefield controller could summon and position allies to grant advantage on attacks to their friend.
In short, Battlefield Controllers should know what other people want to do before they make their ability selections.
Enemy Battlefield Controllers: Enemy battlefield controllers tend to fall into three categories. First, some of them call forth minions for players to fight (think of a lich calling out waves of skeletons). Second, some aim to slow the party down and restrict your movement. Finally - and generally the worst - there's mind control. Given the amount of harm a mind-controlled damage dealer can do to the party, avoiding this tends to be high on most people's list of priorities.
Sub-Role: Combat Maneuver Specialist
The combat maneuver specialist focuses on some of the game's alternative combat options, such as grappling or shoving foes. Characters who do this may want to occupy a foe's attention, limit their actions, or otherwise interfere with specific characters. Combat maneuver specialists usually focus specifically on targeting creatures, whereas general battlefield controllers also affect the environment.
Enemy Combat Maneuver Specialists: Rare. When they do appear, they usually take the form of monsters that specialize in grappling foes. They may be more common in a game that draws heavily on Spheres of Might and has a variety of custom-made NPCs.
Role: Buffer
Main Things to Raise: Types of Buffs, Number of Buffs per Day
The Buffer is a supporting character who focuses on directly improving the abilities of their allies, usually allowing them to be more effective at whatever their role is. Buffers often prefer to help their allies right before a battle begins, then switch to another role once the battle actually starts - for example, after giving everyone some added defense before they open a door, they might switch to dealing damage once the fight starts.
Some classes are Self Buffers who can only raise their own abilities. Others are Group Buffers who can affect anyone in their party with their abilities. Buffers usually have a limit on the number of strong buffs they can provide each day, and this is true in Spheres of Power. If they're not concentrating on maintaining one buff, they're probably spending their Spell Points to keep things going for awhile.
Most class-based buff options in Fifth Edition Fantasy Roleplaying are very limited per day. To fit in this role, a character must be capable of buffing themselves and/or others throughout the day. Having the ability to gain advantage on attacks one or twice per long rest is not nearly enough to make a character a buffer. Similarly, smart positioning to give allies advantage on attacks isn't the same as being a buffer.
Enemy Buffers: Relatively rare. Some enemies are able to buff before fights, and bosses often have a number of effects active. When an actual buffer shows up, it's usually as a supporter that helps their boss out, and they may need to be defeated quickly to make the fight more manageable.
Role: Damage Dealer
Main Things To Raise: Attack Accuracy, Damage Per Round
The Damage Dealer is focused on causing HP damage to enemies, and will usually be the most capable member of the party at doing so. However, regardless of type, no Damage Dealer can afford to focus solely on increasing their damage - after all, they need to be able to hit opponents, or they won't be able to fulfill their role.
This is especially true in Fifth Edition Fantasy Roleplaying, which offers very few ways to increase accuracy aside from raising ability scores (to a maximum of 20), getting enchanted weapons, gaining advantage on attacks, and increasing one's proficiency bonus through levelups. The tight math of the system means that raising accuracy is often more important than doing a little more damage.
Damage Dealers come in a few different forms, which are described below.
Enemy Damage Dealers: Most foes are ultimately this. However, it's important to draw a distinction between something that merely does damage - like a common goblin swinging for 1d4 damage - and a true damage dealer that can take off half the party's health in one blast (hi, Dragons). The latter tend to require smarter strategies to bring down before they murder the PCs.
Sub-Role: AoE Damage Dealer
An Area of Effect Damage Dealer specializes in attacking large areas at once. Many damage dealers - especially magical ones - can do this to some extent, but it doesn't qualify as fulfilling the role unless it can be done throughout an adventuring day. Even if nobody specializes in this role, it's good to have at least one or two character options capable of dealing AoE damage. This will help the party versus hordes of weak enemies and foes that are difficult to hit with single attacks.
AoE damage dealers often target Dexterity saves (or, rarely, other saves) instead of AC.
Sub-Role: Blaster
A Blaster is a Damage Dealer who specializes in dealing energy damage instead of physical damage - this is usually, but not always, magical in nature. Blasters tend to attack from a distance (making them generally similar to a Ranged Damage Dealer), and often have to contend with damage resistance/immunity or saving throws from enemies.
The basic Destructive Blast of the Destruction sphere is a good example of a Blaster ability (although, without other talents, it deals physical damage).
Sub-Role: Melee Damage Dealer
The Melee Damage Dealer specializes in close-combat, usually from one square away from their opponents. Some melee damage dealers may be able to attack foes who are two squares away instead, but this is still considered melee instead of true ranged combat.
Many enemies can only attack in Melee, which means that a Melee Damage Dealer is likely to take more attacks than most party members. For that reason, they often try to get the Tank role as well, allowing them to endure whatever their foes throw at them.
Melee Damage Dealers tend to make multiple attacks per-round, or in Spheres of Might, make attack actions with several rider effects.
Sub-Role: Ranged Damage Dealer
The Ranged Damage Dealer focuses on attacking enemies from a safe distance. They may or may not be limited by ammunition, though most characters who rely on ammunition have a large reserve on hand. Ranged Damage Dealers generally don't have to worry about surviving enemy blows, so they're able to select more offensive options - while doing even more damage can be appealing, it's important to remember that without someone to block the enemy's advance, foes could simply run up and cut right through their weaker defenses.
The main difference between ranged damage dealers and blasters is that ranged damage dealers usually target a creature's AC and don't have to worry too much about damage resistances (except to nonmagical weapons) or enemy saving throws.
Concept: Attack Accuracy
Attack Accuracy refers to the chance that a Damage Dealer will actually hit a foe with their attack. If a character is only able to hit their target half of the time, their effective Damage Per Round is halved - which, of course, is clearly a bad thing for anyone in this Role. Attack Accuracy is typically expressed as a percentage (as in 'With your attack bonus, your first strike has a 75% chance to hit').
Generally, your accuracy is minimally viable if you need at least an 11 to hit an average foe of the same CR as you. This means about 1/2 of your attacks will hit. Anyone who's actually in the Damage Dealer role will want to hit on a roll of 7 or higher, which is accurate with about 2/3rds of hits. Past this point, you may start to see diminishing returns on your effectiveness. Fifth Edition Fantasy Roleplaying broadly assumes you will have an 18 or a 20 in the stat you use to calculate attack accuracy. Being 16 or lower, except at the earliest levels, usually results in far more attacks missing.
Note that accuracy should only consider frequent or continuous bonuses. If you have an item that gives you advantage to one attack roll per day, that's not factored into your average accuracy.
Concept: Damage Per Round
Damage Per Round is an expression of the average amount of damage that a particular character can do if they get off as many attacks as they'd like. Damage Per Round is strongly affected by Attack Accuracy.
Concept: Full Attacker
The Full Attacker is a Damage Dealer who tries to make as many attacks as they can each round. Each additional attack that they manage to land offers a chance to increase their Damage Per Round, often by a significant amount. In general, making more attacks is better than increasing the damage of one attack because having one attack is all-or-nothing, whereas making several attacks means you have several chances to do at least some damage.
Concept: Nova
A 'Nova' is when a character expends a fairly limited resource in order to significantly increase their offensive power for a short period of time. Many martial classes have at least a little bit of Nova potential, such as the Action Surge ability the Fighter has. A Barbarian's Rage ability is not actually a Nova power since it can often last for the entire combat and the Barbarian may essentially have it up for all combat time each day. In other words, despite being limited, it's not limited enough to be a true Nova. Instead, it's a regular part of their combat behavior.
Role: Debuffer
Main Things To Raise: Types of Debuffs, Strength of Debuffing DCs, Number of Debuffs per Day, Ways to Identify Weaknesses
The Debuffer is the opposite of the Buffer - they're focused on inflicting various effects on foes to make them more vulnerable and easier to defeat. Debuffers often use abilities that target their foes' Saving Throws. Knowing what saving throw is 'bad' for an opponent is a key part of being a successful Debuffer, so they (or someone else in the party) need to have the ability to identify the traits of foes. Otherwise, a Debuffer will be far less effective than they should be.
Much like Battlefield Controllers, Debuffers often want to hurt foes in ways that make their own allies more effective - for example, reducing the accuracy of a foe's attacks can help a Tank endure their damage, while limiting their ability to move can help a Damage Dealer get (and stay) in position.
Enemy Debuffers: Relatively common, especially among undead. Some foes have powers that damage or drain ability scores on strikes, inflict poison, tie you up, and generally make it harder to succeed. These are most dangerous at low levels, but even a high-level character can be quickly incapacitated if the group isn't prepared to handle this.
Role: Healer
Main Things To Raise: Effectiveness of healing abilities, types of things that can be healed
The Healer is important for every party because no recovery means the group will be quickly worn down by whatever they encounter - and it's a generally accepted fact of the game that in-battle healing is a poor use of the party's resources. Essentially, killing foes faster means less damage is taken in the first place, and thus fewer resources need to be spent on recovery. Every character in 5E has some self-healing ability during short rests.
Most Healers are focused on fixing Hit Point damage, but parties also need to be capable of recovering from various conditions and ailments (poison, disease, insanity, and so on). It isn't always worth spending Magic Talents or Spells Known on the ability to recover from various conditions. You may want to look into getting consumables (potions, scrolls, wands, etc.) for healing.
It's worth noting that a pure Healer may actually be a good choice in campaigns that feature undead as particularly common foes. Many healers are also quite good at harming undead through radiant damage.
Enemy Healers: Dedicated healers are relatively rare, mostly because they drag out combat and that tends to be a bit less fun for everyone. However, some enemies have significant amounts of natural healing and may be difficult or impossible to beat unless this can be overcome.
Role: Skill Monkey
Main Things to Raise: Number of Skills Proficient In, Advantage or Bonuses to Skills
The Skill Monkey is a character who has a particularly high number of skills that they have proficiency in. While some skills (such as certain uses of Athletics) are easily replaced by magic, other skills like Perception offer benefits that can't be easily obtained in other ways. Most parties will want to have at least one of them to help overcome any skill-based challenges they face.
Note that some 5E games allow you to gain proficiency in additional skills through training for a set period. This can help any character become more of a Skill Monkey, although they'll still fall a little behind any class that gets to add their proficiency modifier twice when making a check with their skills.
Enemy Skill Monkeys: Relatively rare. The most likely foes are rogues and assassins who try to sneak up on the party and steal things or slit your throats. On rare occasions, you may have to oppose their diplomatic skill, beat them at games, or otherwise interact with them in ways other than fighting. In most cases, though, enemy skill monkeys are not a serious concern.
Role: Tank
Main Things To Raise: HP, Defenses (Armor Class, Saving Throws); flight can also be good for tanking if you have a feat to stop enemies' movement
The Tank is a character who can get right up to enemies and endure their attacks, usually through some combination of high HP and a high Armor Class. Some may also take advantage of special abilities that make them even harder to hit, such as various powers from the Protection sphere or the After Image talent of the Time sphere. While Tanks are usually dealing with attacks that threaten their normal AC, they can't slack off on raising their saving throws, or they may find themselves paralyzed or otherwise rendered unable to help.
The Tank's main role on the battlefield is to threaten enemies and encourage attacks to come their way - every attack directed against them is something that's not threatening their allies. Simply standing ahead of everyone else can help encourage enemies to come their way, especially if they can attack anyone who tries to move past them. They also do well if they can take advantage of choke points (physically blocking enemies from moving past), and are most effective if they can work with a Battlefield Controller.
Some Tanks intentionally provoke attacks from enemies - for example, getting foes to make opportunity attacks against them so their friends can move safely past.
Enemy Tanks: What most bosses want to be and what few actually are. In general, a party is in a good place if it can take down a foe of the same CR as the party in one round of attacks. True tank opponents tend to be harder to hit (including flying foes, like dragons) and may have additional tricks or defenses to help them endure against the party's action economy.
Role: Utility
Main Things To Raise: Variety of Utility abilities
Utility characters are a little different from most roles. Unlike other classes, they have almost no focus on combat itself - rather, they're focused on overcoming various skill challenges (much like a Skill Monkey) and otherwise helping the party accomplish a wide variety of goals. Things like hauling vast loads of treasure, safely reaching esoteric destinations, and crafting magical items tend to fall into this role.
Utility is as much about creativity as actual character power. For example, even the basic Fighter can often carry a variety of tools and use those to help them get where they need to go, while intelligent use of spells and similar abilities can often be the key to resolving issues. As such, nearly any character can fulfill this role in addition to their other roles if they have the right equipment on hand. With that in mind, don't focus all of your attention on magical gear - review your options for mundane gear, too, because that's often where you'll find some of the best utility options.
Enemy Utility Characters: Very different from what player Utility characters tend to be. A Utility villain is one that plays smart and knows how to use their powers to their full advantage. This can include making particularly nasty traps, scrying on you to figure out your weaknesses, or just teleporting away when you get too close. A capable Utility enemy can be one of the most frustrating opponents you'll ever face, and you may have to out-think them.
Sub-Role: Face
The party "Face" is the member responsible for social interactions. This is something of a hybrid of the Skill Monkey and Utility roles - generally, a high Charisma score is needed to do it well (with proficiency in social skills on top of that), but its main use is helping the party in ways other than solving an immediate problem. For example, the Face may try to negotiate for a higher reward, gather information that can help the party make a decision, or negotiate with an NPC so the party doesn't have to fight them.