diff --git a/backend/src/plugins/Roles.ts b/backend/src/plugins/Roles.ts
index 08734dc0..1355333e 100644
--- a/backend/src/plugins/Roles.ts
+++ b/backend/src/plugins/Roles.ts
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ export class RolesPlugin extends ZeppelinPlugin<TConfigSchema> {
   }
 
 
-  @d.command("role", "<action:string> <user:string> <role:string>",{
+  @d.command("role", "<action:string> <user:string> [role:string$]",{
       extra: {
         info: {
           description: "Assign a permitted role to a user",
@@ -60,20 +60,20 @@ export class RolesPlugin extends ZeppelinPlugin<TConfigSchema> {
   @d.permission("can_assign")
   async assignRole(msg: Message, args: {action: string; user: string; role: string}){
     const user = await this.resolveUser(args.user);
-    console.log(user);
+    const roleId = await this.resolveRoleId(args.role);
     if (user.discriminator == "0000") {
       return this.sendErrorMessage(msg.channel, `User not found`);
     }
 
     //if the role doesnt exist, we can exit
     let roleIds = (msg.channel as TextChannel).guild.roles.map(x => x.id)
-    if(!(roleIds.includes(args.role))){
+    if(!(roleIds.includes(roleId))){
       return this.sendErrorMessage(msg.channel, `Role not found`);
     } 
 
     // If the user exists as a guild member, make sure we can act on them first
-    const member = await this.getMember(user.id);
-    if (member && !this.canActOn(msg.member, member)) {
+    const targetMember = await this.getMember(user.id);
+    if (targetMember && !this.canActOn(msg.member, targetMember)) {
       this.sendErrorMessage(msg.channel, "Cannot add or remove roles on this user: insufficient permissions");
       return;
     }
@@ -86,14 +86,31 @@ export class RolesPlugin extends ZeppelinPlugin<TConfigSchema> {
 
     //check if the role is allowed to be applied
     let config = this.getConfigForMsg(msg)
-    if(!config.assignable_roles || !config.assignable_roles.includes(args.role)){
+    if(!config.assignable_roles || !config.assignable_roles.includes(roleId)){
       this.sendErrorMessage(msg.channel, "You do not have access to the specified role");
       return;
     }
-    //at this point, everything has been verified, so apply the role
-    await this.bot.addGuildMemberRole(this.guildId, user.id, args.role);
-
-    console.log("exited at the end"); 
+    //at this point, everything has been verified, so it's ACTION TIME
+    switch(RoleActions[action]){
+      case RoleActions.Add:
+        if(targetMember.roles.includes(roleId)){
+          this.sendErrorMessage(msg.channel, "Role already applied to user");
+          return;
+        }
+        await this.bot.addGuildMemberRole(this.guildId, user.id, roleId);
+        this.sendSuccessMessage(msg.channel, `Role added to user!`);
+        break;
+      case RoleActions.Remove:
+        if(!targetMember.roles.includes(roleId)){
+          this.sendErrorMessage(msg.channel, "User does not have role");
+          return;
+        }
+        await this.bot.removeGuildMemberRole(this.guildId, user.id, roleId);
+        this.sendSuccessMessage(msg.channel, `Role removed from user!`);
+        break;
+      default:
+        break;
+    }
   }
     
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/backend/src/plugins/ZeppelinPlugin.ts b/backend/src/plugins/ZeppelinPlugin.ts
index ce593a0b..65eecbaa 100644
--- a/backend/src/plugins/ZeppelinPlugin.ts
+++ b/backend/src/plugins/ZeppelinPlugin.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import {
   trimEmptyStartEndLines,
   trimIndents,
   UnknownUser,
+  resolveRoleId,
 } from "../utils";
 import { Invite, Member, User } from "eris";
 import DiscordRESTError from "eris/lib/errors/DiscordRESTError"; // tslint:disable-line
@@ -237,6 +238,16 @@ export class ZeppelinPlugin<TConfig extends {} = IBasePluginConfig> extends Plug
     return user;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Resolves a role from the passed string. The passed string can be a role ID, a role mention or a role name.
+   * In the event of duplicate role names, this function will return the first one it comes across.
+   * @param roleResolvable 
+   */
+  async resolveRoleId(roleResolvable: string): Promise<string> {
+    const roleId = await resolveRoleId(this.bot, this.guildId, roleResolvable);
+    return roleId;
+  }
+
   /**
    * Resolves a member from the passed string. The passed string can be a user id, a user mention, a full username (with discrim), etc.
    * If the member is not found in the cache, it's fetched from the API.
diff --git a/backend/src/utils.ts b/backend/src/utils.ts
index 9542c48b..f12a04e1 100644
--- a/backend/src/utils.ts
+++ b/backend/src/utils.ts
@@ -956,6 +956,32 @@ export async function resolveMember(bot: Client, guild: Guild, value: string): P
   return null;
 }
 
+export async function resolveRoleId(bot: Client, guildId: string, value: string){
+  if(value == null){
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  //role mention
+  const mentionMatch = value.match(/^<@&?(\d+)>$/);
+  if(mentionMatch){
+    return mentionMatch[1];
+  }
+
+  //role name
+  let roleList = await bot.getRESTGuildRoles(guildId);
+  let role = roleList.filter(x => x.name.toLocaleLowerCase() == value.toLocaleLowerCase());
+  if(role[0]){
+    return role[0].id;
+  }
+
+  //role ID
+  const idMatch = value.match(/^\d+$/);
+  if (idMatch) {
+    return value;
+  }
+  return null;
+}
+
 export type StrictMessageContent = { content?: string; tts?: boolean; disableEveryone?: boolean; embed?: EmbedOptions };
 
 export async function confirm(bot: Client, channel: TextableChannel, userId: string, content: MessageContent) {