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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mercurius" data-source="post: 5763803" data-attributes="member: 59082">I don't mean "classless" as in "lacking class," but in terms of alternatives to the class system that D&D in every edition has followed. I've dabbled in the past with the idea of a jack-of-all-trades class called the Polymath or Adventurer, but what I'm looking for is less of a jack-of-all-trades and more of a design-as-you-go approach.We all know how the traditional D&D class structure works in any edition: You choose a class during character creation which both A) is a template representing prior training and background, and B) forms the direction that your character will develop in (with the possible exception of multiclassing and some customization possible due to feats).I've been mulling around with an idea that, in the above formulation, re-visions classes as only the first part--the starting template--but not the latter part. A player would still choose a class for their character during creation, but it would only represent their "starting package" - essentially their previous training, with possible customizations due to background, culture, theme, and of course race. But at that point, well, the PC is free to develop pretty much as they want to, with some limitations of course. Some thoughts on that (this could work for any edition, but I'm using 4E in my ruminations):- The PC starts with access to only one or two power sources. Every 4-5 levels, they can "open up" a new power source if it fits the storyline and the DM is in agreement. - Feats and Powers would have prerequisites, whether mechanical (e.g. in order to have Y power, you must have X power already), or story-based (e.g. in order to open up the shadow power source you must have had an experience of contact with the Shadowfell).I realize that this approach would essentially be a more open-ended and "powerful" version of multiclassing/hybriding and has the potential to be way out of balance with the traditional character classes; it may be that this would only work the way I want it to work if it outright replaced the traditional class structure, although my preference is for it to be an add-on rules option for every character. In other words, some players would want to just follow the normal developmental pattern of their class, but others would want to customize as they go.So what do think? How to make it work? Has anyone done something similar?</blockquote>

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