An End to the Classes System?

[Iorword]

After using the classes offered in about 10ish D&D books I've realized an interesting problem which I'm eager for solutions to. The people I play with and I asked the question, "What is a ranger?" We began trying to come up with basic ideas as to what any member of a class was.
Fighter- Customizable warrior
Wizard- Spellcaster who sacrifices armor for more powerful spells
Cleric- Weaker more defensive spellcaster, with healing magic
You get the general idea. So, we find that many times we don't want all of the abilities in a given class, others we did. Anyway, is there an existing rule system where abilities can be bought? Sort of a point-buy system so as to make one's character very customizable. I've seen similar systems for creating your own class, but they not to work out too well.

 

[Crothian]

Buy the Numbers PDF does exactly what you want.

 

[Geron Raveneye]

Look around for Buy the Numbers, sounds like what you are looking for.

Edit: *tips his hat to Crothian*..your honors, sir.

 

[Li Shenron]

Unearthed Arcana generic classes are a bit like that, except that the fundamental features (BAB, ST, skill points, HD) still depend on the class.

 

[Darklone]

You forgot the rouge. And the rogue. And the bard. The trickster classes. Skillmonkeys.

I'd rather have Fighter, Skillmonkey and spellcaster.

Yet I don't see D&D being so generic yet. There are too many class abilities out there to be included in feat trees for just three classes.

And even if they did it... they would have to provide the standard core classes as archetypical examples for players who don't want to invest all the work necessary to build a class from scratch.

 

[Drawmack]

There are some classless systems on the market, just like there are levelless systems on the market. If you're interested in classless DnD you may want to pick up CoC d20. Also take a look at the expert class, then apply those rules to class abilities as well as skills. I have not seen the buy the Numbers pdf but that's probably because I like the classed system. YMMV

 

[JoeGKushner]

BESM d20 has a class that's highly customizable in it as well as being more 'open' than the d20 system.

 

[GlassJaw]

That's why I really like the Grim Tales/d20 Modern system. It's a little more varied than just warrior/caster/skill monkey but doesn't force into set archetypes.

 

[RFisher]

While I understand that you may wish to stick with d20, I'd suggest taking a long, hard look at Gurps, Hero, BESM, BRP, the Action System, the Mongoose RuneQuest (or its SRD), GORE, Legends of the Ancient World, &c. There's probably a non-class system out there that is close enough to what you want.

 

[GlassJaw]

While I understand that you may wish to stick with d20, I'd suggest taking a long, hard look at Gurps, Hero, BESM, BRP, the Action System, the Mongoose RuneQuest (or its SRD), GORE, Legends of the Ancient World, &c. There's probably a non-class system out there that is close enough to what you want.

Shadowrun, especially the new 4ed, has a very good non-class system. I also like the WEG d6 Star Wars.