> Infinite Possibilities
>
> Ok, what are a class based games strengths? :-)
As I said before, balance and ease of play. The class serves to focus the
advancement of the character towards certain broadly defined goals, and
automatically balances the skill advancement to achieve those goals. In a
pure skill system the player gets to choose that balance, but also has the
responsibility not to screw it up. It is frighteningly easy to create a
completely unworkable character if you go too far down the wrong path.
Some would call classes 'training wheels', but once you mix in multiclassing
I think that phrase doesn't do them justice. Rather they are simply tools
to help you maintain a rounded balance of abilities common to those who
practice your chosen profession.
The new multiclassing system then allows you to customize your chosen
profession at will, allowing a fighter to dabble in magic, a rogue to
beseech the gods, or a barbarian to raise his comrades' spirits with a
fierce battle song. With multiclassing just about anything is possible, and
it builds entirely upon the 'training wheels' of the original classes.
> I see where you are coming from, but considering that skills are
> based on the
> class you take, I would have to disagree and say that it is a
> Class based system that makes good use of skills. :-)
I agree it looks that way on the surface too, and we might simply have to
'agree to disagree' here, but in pure skill systems some skills often are
harder to acquire than others, right? And usually you are on a relatively
fixed rate of progression (everybody earns new skills at the about the same
rate). Choices have to be made to decide which paths to follow, so you can
get all the prerequisites to get the top-level abilities. Classes are just
ways to balance the gaining of skills in bigger blocks, and freeing up the
player from a bit of administrative overhead.
If you look at the classes, you'll see a LOT of standardization. There are
only three combat advancement paths, which might be called Good, Average,
and Poor (+1 per level, +2/3 per level, and +1/2 per level). There are only
two saving throw advancement paths, which might be called Good and Average
(+2/3 per level and +1/3 per level). The metamagic feats and fighter feats
could be thought of as 1 rank of a skill rank per level, but only granting
new maneuvers every 4 and 2 ranks respectively. Spells are less
standardized, but they could easily be called
'Divine','Nature','Sorcery','Song', 'Wizardry' (Paladins and Rangers are
harder to classify, but I think I could if I thought about it for a while).
Class-abilities are simply skills that can synergistically be studied easily
while also learning your chosen combat and magical skills. Those that don't
mix well are harder to master.
In a pure skill-based system there need to be a LOT more prerequisites than
in a class-based one, because the classes take care of the prerequisites for
you. There is a lot less administrative overhead in a class-based system,
at the cost of some flexibility.
> > At 20th level He will
> > kill three normal orcs every round other round, and has a
> reasonable chance
> > of beating a gang of 4. If his back is to the wall and 5
> surround him, he
> > is lost.
>
> Not too bad for an old clock maker. :-) Now tell me again why an
> old clock maker
> knows how to use a weapon effectively enough to kill that many
> well trained orcs? :-)
The same way he earned 190,000 xp.
Like I said, a 20th level Expert is a highly distorted example. This would
be the best clocksmith the world would have ever known. It is FAR beyond
what he needed to be. Even 12th level Expert is overkill by about double.
Expert NPCs never need to get to 20th level. If they do, they've done some
highly unusual things in their lives. You don't get that many XP for
sitting at home making clocks, even over 30 years.
-Brad
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