Core Classes: More or Less? General or Specific? Static or Customizable?

[Altalazar]

I have no problem with more core classes. So long as they are well designed and fun to play, why not? That's the beauty of table-top, pen-and-paper RPGs - we are not limited to some finite set of classes like you would be in, say, a computer game.

I'm already working on making essentially a differnet core cleric class, one for each of the dieties in my world. They will all be clerics, true, and many will be similar, but each will be uniquely suited to the god. And the only special limitation is that you must stick to only one. (But then there are always PrC).

 

[Desdichado]

I say that CoC BRP feels like Hawkmoon. And ElfQuest. Yeah, it feels like ElfQuest. And like Glorantha, too.

While CoC d20 feels like D&D, Wheel of Time, Judge Dredd, d20 Modern, and Star Wars d20. Oh, and like Mutants & Masterminds too.


And you know, either all this is true, or all this is false. Or both at the same time. After all, they all feel like RPGs...

Hey, I'm not saying I agree with all those folks, just that a lot of people say that. I'm with Psion; I think most of those people haven't really played other d20 games. For that matter, I believe a lot of them don't play D&D either for that matter.

 

[Wraith Form]

Gimme core classes. LOTS of 'em. Make new ones up, if you have to. I'd prefer a larger range of core classes vs. a mountain of PrCs. (We've all seen a thousand variations of the same PrC in products made by different companies.) Is that encouraging the corruption the "archtypes"? Sure! Change is good! This is a role-playing game--make up new classes, new archtypes! How do you think the current archtypes came about?!?

An example? I feel that there should be a series of "jack-of-all-trades" combos like Bards (and, to a certain extent, Monks), that merge aspects of several different core classes into one. We'll use a Rogue offshoot (since I like rogues)--take all the "sneaky bastard" elements of Rogues, Rangers, Barbarians and any spellcaster class (spider climb x3 day, for example) and you have a powerful assassin/ninja type jack-of-all-trades. Has this been done before? Sure! Kingdoms of Kalamar has an infiltrator, as does Mongose's Power class series. I'm just throwing out ideas.

Another example? Why can't certain monster Special Attacks be attached to elements of a core class to create something new and different? Add some rogue abilities (i.e. sneak attack) to teleport without error (which was the essence of a monster's Special Attack that I was looking at 10 minutes ago) as a class ability and viola--you now have a class that can pull stunts like Kurt "BAMF" Wagner, the Nightcrawler of X-Men fame!

Naturally, these would have to be written in such a way that game balance is achieved--I'm merely trying to throw some ideas out there to overcome paradigm paralysis and get the collective brain cells stimulated.