Diogo Ribeiro
Erudite
Role-Player's RPG Roundtable #2: Classy Classless Class
First i'd like to state what this thread is about. For those of you that remember, i had made a thread some time ago about the importance of roleplaying (it was fairly well received), entitled RPG Roundtable #1: The Role and the Play. I was planning to make a second one about combat, but Feargie stole my sunshine. I considered talking 'bout magic, but Human Shield did it quite well.
Anyway, aside trying to give it some sort of ongoing series feel, i decided to also bring up another aspect, this time around, Classes. Usually classes in CRPGs only serve to stereotype characters, and are far too restrictive when it comes to skills and possibilities. On the other hand, classless (or skill-based) systems allow for a wider range of customizing possibilities. But sometimes, classless systems tend to make characters become jack-of-all-trades, and the possibility to focus on whatever we want dilute the character's possibilities. While a skill-based system works, and is better than a class-based system in theory, oftentimes when operating on a skill-based system you have to focus on a given set of skills to succeed in a game, and the kind of focus usually resembles that of a class-based system, as you usually have to specialize in something, not spread out.
And while we're at it, why not support a single system thats both class-based and skill-based, where you have starting classes, with their high and low points, but still can invest in other skills which are outside the class' initial skills? A character that goes with the class of Fighter could still invest in a skill which isn't covered by the class. Kind of like 3E, focusing on other skills would be possible, but it would take spending more skill points.
So what do you think is the best way to create and customize a character? What systems did you particularly liked?
First i'd like to state what this thread is about. For those of you that remember, i had made a thread some time ago about the importance of roleplaying (it was fairly well received), entitled RPG Roundtable #1: The Role and the Play. I was planning to make a second one about combat, but Feargie stole my sunshine. I considered talking 'bout magic, but Human Shield did it quite well.
Anyway, aside trying to give it some sort of ongoing series feel, i decided to also bring up another aspect, this time around, Classes. Usually classes in CRPGs only serve to stereotype characters, and are far too restrictive when it comes to skills and possibilities. On the other hand, classless (or skill-based) systems allow for a wider range of customizing possibilities. But sometimes, classless systems tend to make characters become jack-of-all-trades, and the possibility to focus on whatever we want dilute the character's possibilities. While a skill-based system works, and is better than a class-based system in theory, oftentimes when operating on a skill-based system you have to focus on a given set of skills to succeed in a game, and the kind of focus usually resembles that of a class-based system, as you usually have to specialize in something, not spread out.
And while we're at it, why not support a single system thats both class-based and skill-based, where you have starting classes, with their high and low points, but still can invest in other skills which are outside the class' initial skills? A character that goes with the class of Fighter could still invest in a skill which isn't covered by the class. Kind of like 3E, focusing on other skills would be possible, but it would take spending more skill points.
So what do you think is the best way to create and customize a character? What systems did you particularly liked?