Mentors

Basic Information

Mentors are characters whose role in the story is to impart their knowledge, wisdom, and/or ultimate fighting moves to their students.

List of Mentor Archetypes

• Big Brother Mentor
• Broken Pedestal
• Cynical Mentor
• The Dumbledore
• Dungeon Master
• Evil Mentor
• Fair Weather Mentor
• The Judge
• Magical Nanny
• Magical Negro
• Mr Exposition
• Mr Fixit
• The Obi Wan
• Old Master
• Older And Wiser
• The Professor
• Sink Or Swim Mentor
• Spirit Advisor
• Stealth Mentor
• Treacherous Advisor
• Trickster Mentor
• Wasteland Elder
• The Watcher
• Witch Doctor
• Zen Survivor

Sources

Bibliography

1. TV Tropes Wiki entry

2. Wikipedia entry

Game and Story Use

• In many game systems, the PCs cannot simply improve and/or learn new skills on their own, but need to seek out a mentor to teach them. Finding the right mentor can be a quest on its own.
• Mentors don't have to be limited to specific skills and game mechanics, either. A mentor may be very necessary as an introduction to an unfamiliar culture or social class.
• In some situations, the PCs themselves might end up as mentors.
  • The stereotypical case is when a group of veteran adventurers tries to teach a village how to defend itself from bandits.