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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Obryn" data-source="post: 6285564" data-attributes="member: 11821">As far as I'm concerned, classes are a lot more central to D&D than simply convenient packages. That's what they devolved (decayed?) into during 3e, and it's why that edition feels the least like D&D to me of all of them.If all you want is a collection for convenience, look to other games like d20 Modern or Star Wars Saga, where classes were filed down into flavorless packages. That's just a step removed from point-buy, though, and at that point classes might as well not even be present. Now, those are fine for what they're worth, but they're pretty clearly not D&D - witness the persistence of independent classes like Paladin and Druid in any list of D&D classes despite the former being "cleric/fighter" and the latter being "nature cleric."Classes in D&D are best, IMO, when they are a combination of what a character does and who they are. Some built-in flavor helps a great deal. If used properly, they allow for powerful & flavorful characters, with weak abilities at some levels balancing out strong ones later. Neutering classes (or allowing for free multiclassing) eliminates this awesome game design and play perk.Yes, they are convenient. And yes they are accessible. But if you use them right, they can be way more than that.</blockquote>