Build your engineering team like a dungeon party

A framework for building balanced engineering teams using RPG dungeon party roles as a metaphor. The approach advocates for complementary skills over hiring only top performers, suggesting five archetypes: the warrior (senior problem-solver), the tank (reliable junior executor), the healer (people-focused and business-oriented), the wizard (architect/designer), and the rogue (versatile full-stack developer). Engineering managers should identify team gaps and adapt their own contributions to fill missing roles, whether that's handling small tasks, stakeholder management, or hands-on coding.