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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Andor" data-source="post: 5865775" data-attributes="member: 1879">If you are talking about a universal system like Gurps or the Hero system that is true, because there are no basic assumptions. You can define the magic system, the baseline human level, divine responses, etc.. You can build your world from the ground up without interference from the system.That is not the case in a class based system. Assumptions are built in. You know what starting heros look like and the threats they are expected to deal with. If the NPCs are all stronger why did they bother hiring you? Because you are expendable? You know how many hp a goblin or orc has, you know what a fireball does. You may reasonably expect a rogue with a maxed out climbing stat + skill to be better than the average NPC at climbing. So your knowledge of climbing DCs lets you know if Joe NPC can climb that tree too.Frankly the problem of D&D is usually that it has lots of cultural baggage built into the system but never 'fesses up to it. Paladin restrictions, Cleric non-edged weapons, druids, bards, wizards who can't heal, clerics who channel positive energy, fighters proficient in plate mail and composite bows. Exotic weapons lists. Monks.These things all contain massive amounts of cultural baggage and world building assumptions built into them. And they should really, that's part of a class systems job. If you are making a game about a nomadic herding culture it should have classes that reflect it's needs and skill sets. If you include a class that has no riding skills and instead makes architectural scale magic-items you should probably realize it's a poor fit and requires some explanation.Again, as GM you can alter anything you please. "This is a mongol based campaign. All classes have riding as a base skill. Heavy armour proficiency is exotic, but the foot bow is a martial weapon. Clerics and Druids are equally respected and represented. Sorcerers have djinn blood and are not trusted. Wizards write spell books in the form of horsehide scrolls."If you are making a game based on ancient rome then plate armour doesn't exist. Druids are a barbarian class. Warhorses haven't been bred yet, so mounted combat isn't done (light cav exists actually, but not heavy), but chariots are used. Skills lists, spell lists, race lists, class lists, equipment lists. All of these things portray the world. All of them may need to be altered for any given campaign. But a lance or polymorph spell or sorcerer class are no more or less setting neutral than a bolt-action rifle.*edit* And therefore the base rules, with equipment lists, race lists, class lists, etc... are actually portraying a setting. If you include gnomes then your setting has gnomes. If it has polymorph spells then there are people who know what it is like to soar like eagles.</blockquote>

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