So I've decided that I want the professions for Townsfolk to be kind of over the top.

Mineral Runner = Merchant (bring resources and goods to other towns to do business. You can solve any problem by throwing enough money at it... sometimes literally.)
Water Runner = Ferryman (transport goods, resources, and goods across water. Use your oars to beat down aquatic monsters.)
Plant Runner = Trailblazer (clear away tree monsters to build roads. Chop down enemies much taller than you, pull tree trunks from the ground, and pound the ground until level.)
Animal Runner = Postman (ride your trusty steed to deliver mail and parcels. You can ride like the wind through rain, sleet, and snow.)

Mineral Collector = Miner (dig through defenses and use your pick to chip away at ore monster HP. Make alliances with the Tommy-Knockers for extra power.)
Water Collector = Fisherman (use bait and traps and lots of patience to catch fish monsters. Make alliances with the Water-Trolls for extra power.)
Plant Collector = Farmer (use your scythe the mow away at fields of veggie monsters. Make alliances with the Halflings for extra power.)
Animal Collector= Hunter (use stealth and tracking skills to find and kill beast monsters. Make alliances with the Elves for extra power.)

Mineral Processor = Blacksmith (use fire to weaken ore monsters then beat them into submission with your hammer. You can craft metal tools and mechanical monsters to aid you and your allies.)
Water Processor = Distiller (seperate impurities and create brews from liquid monsters. You can brew potions and spirit monsters to aid you and your allies.)
Plant Processor = Carpenter (saw and hammer wood monsters to create items. You can craft wooden tools and monsters to aid you and your allies.)
Animal Processor = Butcher (slaughter beast monsters with your knives then carve up their meat for good eating. You can cut up meat and make skeletal monsters to aid you and your allies.)

Mineral Maintainer = Banker (use your vault to guard the money. Did I mention that the vault is a giant suit of armor?)
Water Maintainer = (still working on this one.)
Plant Maintainer = Miller (You keep the mill running so that people can make grain. Did I mention that the windmill is a mechanical giant that grinds enemies to dust?)
Animal Maintainer = Shepherd (Domesticate monsters and herd them around the pastures. When something goes wrong, you can send your flock to stampede.)

My question for you guys is: What would you want to do with these professions?
How would you want to role-play these characters?
How would you want to use the skills from each profession for combat?

I have ideas of my own, I just want to get some opinions from others. :)

I guess I'd like to emulate console rpgs, that's what this reminds me of so strongly. So clearly itemized special attacks, like the current D&D, but simpler.

It also seems to me that you'll want to have a character stable to have all those classes present in a single group. Or perhaps characters can switch classes like in some Final Fantasy games.

Roleplaying-wise, I guess I wouldn't do that much roleplaying based on the professions. It'd be more a question of whether my character can be useful for the village - the profession is a source of confidence, but it doesn't matter which one it is as long as the character can consider himself a valuable part of the village.

Kevin,
 Maybe you should ditch water. You always have the hardest part filling those in. Fisherman can go in with Hunter, and Ferryman can either go with Trailblazer or Postman, depending on the kind of ferry.

 As to your original question, I guess I would go with Distiller, they have the most potential for group dynamics. I could make fertilizers for the Collectors, healing potions for the Processors and Endurance Potions for the Runners, etc...

Well, now that you've laid out everything like this, I'm actually a lot more interested in your idea now. :)
Okay, the major vibe I get about the characters is "Oh, mannn! I hate my job!" and a little "The world is a terrifying place" thrown in for good measure. I'm excited about the Collectors - racing down roads and over rivers, or trying to clear thickets as quickly as possible, before They Getcha!, sounds like a cheer-worthy event.
Any way that you could somehow include the different sorts of characters in a particular scene or event might be good, to keep interest up. Otherwise, play sounds like it might involve lots of one-at-a-time scenes, with regard to PCs, and that could be tricky to sell to a group of players. Eero's suggestion of a "character stable" sounds like a smart move.
Or! You could have players draw up multiple characters, maybe based on the class of profession (mineral, water, etc.) - the same player who fights like Hell to beat the ore monster into submission could then switch up and wield fire to beat and shape the captured ore-ons into usefulness.
So that's what I'd want to do with these professions. How would I role-play them? Well, I'd act as though every single mundane job in the village was right up there with lion-taming! Also, there should be a lot of brow-wiping, a lot of "Oh, thank God we didn't die that time" among the characters, as if clearing a hedge was up there with Normandy or something!
I question the Processors' ability to create monsters - that sort of makes the natural monsters running around seem less scary somehow. I do like their buff-role for combat, though - creating tools, potions, and good food could all result in edges in combat and other tasks.

Dude, no sweat for Water Maintainer - irrigation. Maybe irrigated areas are less monster-enriched? It sounds like Maintainers are sort of the home-base defenders, the flag-guardians, in a way. Shepherds, then, are one spot where I'm cool with calling up nasty beasts to fight for you. The Windmill Monster is cool and all, but I'm not sure how I feel about it. Like, what sort of enemies are ground to dust by him? Oh, wait, wait - it'd be totally awesome if the Maintainers can summon up enormous creatures as a sort of last-ditch defense, so yeah, I can see the Millmonster swallowing creatures to grind them up, and knocking bad guys down with his huge sweeps. That's for a sort of "Oh no! We're under attack and the Runner, Collector, and Processor are away! Argh!" moment.
If you decide to go with irrigation for the Water Maintainer (Maintenance?), then you could have a mighty Aqueduct! A creature capable of sucking up huge quantities of water to sweep foes off their feet, and rapidly debuffing any kind of water-based monster. Awesome. It could probably also hit things with its mighty columns, too!
Using the last-defense creatures could come at a cost, too - you might have to choose between continuing production (with weakened defenses) and maximizing defenses at the cost of more or less stopping production. Kind of like the Ancients in the Night Elf army in Warcraft 3 (I hope that analogy didn't ruin it for ya ^_^).
How do the Collectors' alliances come into play? What sort of extra power do they provide? Combat support? Tips and tactics? Given that Tommy-Knockers and Water Trolls were, traditionally, creatures that sought to thwart miners and boatmen, respectively, what do they have at stake now? I mean, the natural world has gone mad, so maybe their priorities have changed.
This game sounds pretty exciting to me, and I'm interested in hearing your take on the questions you posed. Feel free to PM me if you decide you don't want to post them directly - I'd be happy to hear them!
I'm not sure about getting rid of the Water category, but Dindenver makes some good points. Still, the Distiller seems to be a fundamental support-class, and even if the Ferryman idea feels a little thin (the oar part, mainly), I wonder what exactly the Carpenter could contribute, for example. Ladders? Um, wooden mallets? Stakes and fence posts? They seem thin, too, and with that, I would strongly encourage you to not worry so much about having exactly sixteen classes. If we take out the Carpenter, then the Miller seems like more of a Processor role - after all, the goal of the game is to produce enough stuff to last the winter, right? For that matter, the Banker and the Shepherd make sense to me for Maintenance, but that's about it, unless the Carpenter was a sort of fortifications guy, Maintaining the barricades, fences, and buildings of the village. Again, yeah, water seems like an unnecessary category.

To answer your question the way that Dindenver did, I'd be interested in building a stable that consisted of the Hunter, the Butcher, the Shepherd, and the Merchant. I almost went for the full Animal set, but throwing money at problems sounds fun!

Thanks guys!
I like the irrigation idea.
I also like the idea of having a stable of characters. Since I want character creation to be very fast and easy for this game, and I want to keep book-keeping minimal, I don't think it should be to much of a problem for people to play multiple characters.
I was also thinking that it should be very easy for people to "dual-class".

I don't think I would want to cut out the water resource, but I do agree that it might not be neccessary to have exactly sixteen classes, at least for the first edition (if and when I decide to publish).
Perhaps I can get more done by breaking the problem up a little.
I'll figure out all the easy combinations now and leave the more difficult ones for "second edition".
Carpentry, like cooking, can be a universal skill that any profession can become highly skilled at.

I added in the 'magic-folk' alliances because I wanted to add more meat to the collectors, but now I don't think that will be neccessary.
Heres a different take on it:
Anybody can gain the friendship of "magic-folk" by spending story points and following certain rules (don't cut down certain trees, etc.)
Magic-Folk Allies:
Elves (these elusive creatures sometimes leave coins, treats, and trinkets hidden under bushes for their human friends to find.)
Goblins (if you are nice to them, they just might help you with your househole chores when you aren't looking.)
Dwarves (it is hard to gain the trust of dwaren folk, but if you do, they can help you by sharing enchanted items with you and showing you magical doors.)
Trolls (these normally nasty creatures can become household protectors if you treat them right)
Demons (it is rare to gain the friendship of a demon. When you do, an invisible pair of hands can work miracles for you and protect you from harm.)

The idea of crafting monsters was kind of a lame idea, I'll admit. Most of the processors are quite useful as they are, so I see where you guys are coming from.

I'll post more later!

Thanks for the feedback guys! :)

OK, so I think I'll devote my attention to eight of the sixteen professions for now and figure out the rest later.

These are the jobs I'm most interested in developing right now:

Water
Fisherman (Collector)
Distiller (Processor)

Mineral
Miner (Collector)
Blacksmith (Processor)

Plant
Farmer (Collector)
Miller (Processor)

Animal
Hunter (Collector)
Butcher (Processor)

The Runners and Maintainers can wait for "Vol. II" when your town becomes advanced enough that you have surplus goods that need to be defended so that you can trade them off.

...So the basic breakdown...

Fishermen are fighters who use patience and sometimes bait and traps.
Hunters are fighters who use stealth and sometimes bait and traps.
Miners are fighters who chip away at big enemies with huge defense.
Farmers are fighters who mow down groups of enemies.

Distillers are supporters who boil enemies to make potions.
Butchers are supporters who chop up enemies to make food.
Blacksmiths are supporters who beat enemies to upgrade weapons and armor. 
Millers are supporters who grind enemies to make food.

The basic breakdown is good to say that it was nice and they made of a lot of experience if what would you want to do.?



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