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Message: <blockquote data-quote="jmucchiello" data-source="post: 1637712" data-attributes="member: 813">This is the basis for the argument for and against classes in RPG design. D&D is the foremost class based system and it has survived the longest of all RPGs with that design. Classes provide a noun you can attach to a character that focuses the player on what the character is. He is a Fighter or a Wizard. Classless systems don't have that noun. You have to explain what your character is in sentenses: He's a fighting dude with a couple of spells and nasty gut-stab that he specializes in.When you are first explaining D&D to a newbie, you can describe how fighters differ from wizards. In a point system, like GURPS or HERO, you need the newbie to know what he wants to play out of the infinite possiblities available to the system. You find yourself asking silly questions like Do you envision your character holding a sword? If you are trying to explain the concept of RPing at the same time, this can be too much take in. To eleviate that problem, GURPS and HERO have "templates/package deals" that you can add to characters to give them a few nouns you can grab ahold of.Now, for the advanced player, infinite tweaking can be a godsend but that doesn't mean classes are useless. While I can imagine players using Sig's book to make exactly what they want, I can't imagine a DM sittting down and doing the villains the same way. He's gonna just create a group of 10 7th level rogues (with similar stats most likely) and be done with it. I see my own book as more of a DM book sometimes. I imagine the DM creating a set of class variants and offering them for certain areas of his world in place of the some of the standard classes. (Or a player creates the variant and the DM retrofits it into the campaign world.) And at some point the party will meet someone with X levels in the class variant. Point based characters are unique and you won't meet someone with a build similar to the character's build.I know many people who hold the opposit view. XPs are based on combat.* In straight up combat a sorcerer is worth more than wizard of equal level.* Yes, I know you can generate XPs any way you want. The default game assumes the challenges overcome are combat challenges.</blockquote>

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