2E did have a ton of options up front, but I think the line Hussar's drawing that it mostly didn't have decisions as you leveled up is a legit distinction. No feats. No prestige classes. Dual-classing was incredibly restrictive and difficult; I think I saw it used two or three times in total over all the years I played AD&D. When 3E-style multiclassing was introduced it was an explosion of new possibilities. "Character Build" being a thing you plotted out over many levels as opposed to just referring to what you had at first level functionally wasn't a thing before 3E.
The Bard Prestige Class. They were literally the -origin- of the term Prestige Class.
In AD&D 1e to be a bard you had to hit at -least- 5th level as a fighter, and swap to Rogue before 8th level (so you could be a Fighter 5/Thief 1, or a Fighter 7/Thief 1 but not a Fighter 8/Thief 1). Then you had to get a Druid level before 9th. So you could be a Fighter 7/Thief 1/Druid 1. Or a Fighter 5/Thief 3/Druid 1.
THEN you would become the bard with Druid spells, get limited in weapon proficiencies, gain your poetry, sing to negate sonic attacks, etc.
Also you had to be a Human or Half-Elf with a 15 Str, Dex, Wis, -and- Cha. With at least a 12 Int and 10 Con.
And then in AD&D 2e it was just a whole class. Just like it was in Basic D&D.
So for these classes you -literally- had choices to make for every level after 5th that really had an impact on what your progression was going to be. Then they shifted that away, and sort of brought it back in 3e but you were picking Feats and Multiclassing in a more holistic manner.
It was an improvement on material that had come before, but not a whole cloth invention of something wholly new no one could ever have dreamed of before that point. (And also the Prestige Classes got revamped, too, but still focused on 'you must be a 3rd level x 5th level Y' as a structure)
Dwarf was a race, not a class, in OD&D before AD&D. The racial classes didn't come around until 1981 with Moldvay Basic and only ever existed in that offshoot game line. They were a simplification aimed at least in part at younger players.
Sure. Point is that it happened and 3e went with one version of what came before, not all of them.
Skills, feats, and multiclassing, yeah. Every level you gain in 3E and 5E always gives you at least a couple of choices, which was a distinct change from AD&D. Absolutely, picking up a new class meant a mostly set package of abilities, but every time you leveled up you had the option to add one.
Character Points.
Introduced in Skills and Powers you would gain Character Points every time you gained a level (number determined by your class) which you could use to gain new Weapon Proficiencies for 3-5 points and Nonweapon Proficiencies (skills) for 2 to 5 points.
Could also improve your Proficiency Score itself by a permanent +1 bonus for a single character point.
Points can also be used to gain Racial Traits like an Elf's Infravision for 5-10 points. Or new Class Abilities such as a Paladin's "Lay on Hands" which generally cost 10 points. You could also save some of your racial character points for weapon and nonweapon proficiencies. (Humans got 10 extra character points for Weapon/Nonweapon 'cause they didn't get racial traits)
Priests and Wizards could buy extra spells. Anyone could spend points on extra HP. And could even use Character Points during gameplay to buy extra attempts at picking locks, reroll failed attacks or saves, new proficiency checks, or even reroll damage.
That's right: Character Points also functioned like 5e's Inspiration mechanic.
So... I'll say it, again: 3e was building on what came before it. Refining earlier ideas. Including the idea of making meaningful choices as you gained levels.
