Are Classes now a must in an RPG?

[Anthony Terry]

Hi guys,

I am one of the million people lurking on the internet that fancies him self a budding writer and havve begun the labour of love of transferring our home campagain world and house rules into its own RPG. However one my major goals is prooving more dificult in practise than i expected.

Soon after i first started playing D&D one of my only issues with 3.5 (which was my first experience, discounting the handful of OD&D i had played with my dad) was classes, i disliked that a rulebook of a roleplaying game was telling me what was available by default. Its what lead me back to Od&d where its allot easier to develop alternative classes against fighting-man etc and eventually on to our own system that we believe removes the need for classes all together by using something similar to a point buy system and a list of feats/proficiencies.

My question is with joined campaigns and online play being supposedly the future of rpgs, is there a market for a game that almost discourages you from playing the same things to the level where literally no character weve made so far has been the same at level 1? Or will people feel put off by a product missing what has apparently become a core concept of an rpg.

As a last note we do give examples of characters that are common in our setting as a baseline, and do list circa 100 unique what were calling talents so were not telling people to go in completely blind, i am trying to sell them something after all! ^.^

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

There are many tabletop RPGs (TTRPGs) that do not use classes, so I don't see them as a necessary feature. But if well done, they're perfectly fine- they help guide players' choices, they can aid in conceptualizing world building, etc.

For an online RPG, where speedy character generation is almost always a plus, a classless system might deter casual gamers. But the hardcore gamer types will probably welcome the ability to customize.

I could be wrong, though: I am in a game group consisting mainly of computer programmers who largely favor non-Mac machines, whereas I'm more or less a "Mac" guy. They favor the customizability of their platform. I just want to plug things in and have them run.

But when it comes to TTRPGs, it is the exact opposite. My favorite RPG system is HERO, but they favor D&D almost exclusively. And most of the other games we have played have been class-based.

 

[Derren]

There are a lot of classless systems out there and thankfully so a in my opinion his is vastly superior to class based systems.
Just go away from D&D and D20 and you will find a lot of systems where the classes are either very open (Dark Heresy) or are completely classless (Shadowrun, Traveller,...)

 

[Riley37]

Even within d20, Mutants and Masterminds doesn't rely on character classes.

Point-based classless systems can easily have package deals which replicate the ability sets of classes.

I once played a Fantasy Hero character who was an acrobat, knife-thrower, stage magician, and on the side, a pickpocket and cardsharp. Later in the story, we came across a locked door (or maybe a locked chest). Another player was baffled that my PC did not know how to pick locks, because that player assumed that ANYONE who learns how to pick pockets also learns how to pick locks. In that moment, I was grateful for a system which let me implement a character exactly as I conceived the character (in this case, a wandering entertainer/trickster).

 

[nerfherder]

My question is with joined campaigns and online play being supposedly the future of rpgs, is there a market for a game that almost discourages you from playing the same things to the level where literally no character weve made so far has been the same at level 1? Or will people feel put off by a product missing what has apparently become a core concept of an rpg.

As a last note we do give examples of characters that are common in our setting as a baseline, and do list circa 100 unique what were calling talents so were not telling people to go in completely blind, i am trying to sell them something after all! ^.^

There are probably more RPGs that do not have classes than do. I suggest you do some research into BRP (Call of Cthulhu, Runequest), GURPS, Hero (Champions), Traveller, Savage Worlds so that you don't end up simply reinventing the wheel.

 

[GMMichael]

I don't know about Elder Scrolls Online, but Skyrim is classless. Or more accurately - organic class development. And it was, as far as I know, a smashing success.

 

[Zhaleskra]

It really depends on the flexibility of the classes. When it takes several classes to get to the idea of your character concept, I don't like it. They are helpful for "jump in and play".

There is a tendency for people in skill based to go toward something strongly resembling a class. I just fail to see a problem with this.

Another argument I get is leveled against advancement in skill based games. That's probably a GM problem, not a problem with the system. Class/Level based systems have you about the same until you get everything all at once (usually), whereas skill based systems ideally have smaller, more frequent advancement. Then there are systems that are in between: acting as class/level based while really being skill based.

TTRPGs aren't going anywhere. As useful as technology is, it is much more satisfying to meet in person.

 

[Samloyal23]

Also, check out the Basic Classes in Modern d20 that allow to gain special abilities of your choosing at each level, they are more flexible than the standard D&D classes.

 

[TrippyHippy]

In answer to the original question, no, but they can prove a useful means of:

a) providing easily digestible character options for new players
b) creating strategic ‘niches’ amongst adventuring parties so that everybody feels they have a distinct role
c) conveying a profile of the society of the worlds you want characters to be part of, in terms of group affiliations

Other games forgo Classes per se, but often replace them with other mechanisms that achieve the same thing - be that archetypes, careers, professions, cults, clans, tribes, societies or whatever.

 

[Umbran]

My question is with joined campaigns and online play being supposedly the future of rpgs, is there a market for a game that almost discourages you from playing the same things to the level where literally no character weve made so far has been the same at level 1?

I cannot tell what you are trying to express here. I am not actually sure it relates to classes, so much as to character progression, which can be a separate issue.