No reason we can't put to work the things we ARE aware of. For instance, classes. Here's what I'm thinking. There are four classes. Each class has a number of "ability trees". These classes are very generic, with the ability trees used to make them a bit more specific. You then layer on feats to make them even more specific. So you have a Mage (a generic user of Arcane magic). You then layer on selections from the Wizard set of class abilities. If he is a specialist, say an evoker, you select feats that grant you evoker specific abilities like re-rolling saves for evocation spells or whatever.
SO, as I see it, we have something like....
Warrior
Weapon Specialist - Choose a weapon. Get significant bonuses with that weapon.
Tactician - You get abilities that focus on disarming, breaking an enemies' weapon, tripping, grappling, setting up and making the most of AoOs, etc.
Martial artist - Monk-like abilities
Commander - Gain abilities that make you an effective leader. Get some diplomacy and maybe something like the auras we've seen from other classes.
Duelist - Light fighter
Rogue
Stealth Specialist - Sneak Attacks, Move Silently bonuses, Hide bonuses, etc.
Jack-of-All-Trades - Gets a LOT of skill points.
Con Artist - Lots of Bluff, Sense Motive, Diplomacy type skills.
Ranger - Woodland based abilities
Mage
Wizard - Wizard based spellcasting.
Sorcerer - Sorcerer based spellcasting.
Warlock - Warlock based spellcasting.
Bard - Bard based abilities.
Priest
Cleric - Clerical abilities.
Druid - Druidic abilties.
Shaman - "primitive" abilities.
So, in short, a character consists of these things:
Race - What the character is.
Class - This defines the broad concept that the character falls into.
Class Ability Tree - This defines what the character can do.
Feats - This defines what the character specializes in.
Thoughts?