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Message: <blockquote data-quote="tglassy" data-source="post: 7471866" data-attributes="member: 6855204">I've often thought like this, where we could simply have Fighters, Rogues and Wizards, and everything else keys off them.If you want to be able to fight, you have to be a fighter.  They're the only ones with proficiency in Martial Weapons and Heavy Armor (and maybe medium), and the only way to get "Extra Attack."  Make "Unarmored" a Feat, where you can select a secondary stat to add to your Dex bonus when calculating your AC, be it Constitution, Wisdom, Intelligence or even Charisma.  Only Fighters can get this feat, so only they can go Unarmored and still have a beastly AC.  But the ability to choose which stat it keys off of makes one feat work for a Barbarian type, who can simply shrug off the hits that hit him, the Monk type who is more observant and can dodge them easier, the Sherlock Holmes type who is so intelligent they know where the blows will land and therefore can not be there when they do, and the Jack Sparrow type who can either charm you or frustrate you so much you usually miss.  Or deceive you in some way, I guess, thus causing you to miss.  Drunken master, anyone?For Rogues, They get Sneak Attacks and all the skillz.  You wanna be a skill monkey, you gotta take some Rogue.  They're the ones with the scouting, the evasions, the stealthing and such.  All the sneaky, dextrous things as well as the persuasive, charismatic things and the perceptive, wisdomy things.  For Wizards, I would switch them back to Magic Users, and have a Feat you choose, sort of like an Archetype, at Level 1 that determined which stat you keyed your spells off of: Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma.  Go Int, you get a spell book and you're a bookish, learned Wizard.  The power isn't yours, you are merely learning how to manipulate it.  Go Wisdom and you're channeling your power from an outside force, be it a Deity, Nature, or some other person (Note, the power itself is not yours, you are channeling it from somewhere else).  Go Charisma and you are doing the magic innately, be it from your bloodline or bestowed upon you by a higher power, such as a deity, a higher power or powerful being (The difference is, the power is yours, not channeled from somewhere else).  Each Magic User archetype can have major effects on the class, including what spell lists they are able to choose spells from, but the spell mechanic would be the same for all of them.  So in this, I would wrap up the Bard, Cleric, Druid, Wizard and Sorcerer.  Now Multiclassing would be an integral part of character creation.  I would say that your starting class would be your main class, and certain features would be obtainable only by someone who started in that class, such as third and fourth attacks for fighters or being a full castor for Magic Users.  But, you are able to take a secondary class, perhaps by sacrificing a Feat, as with the new Pathfinder, or something to that effect.  Effectively, what this would do is allow you access to some of the basic features of the second class, allowing you to take Feats that require that class.  Perhaps there would be a Multiclass Feat.  You could take it twice, to make a triple class, if you like.  the Fighter/Rogue/Magic User, or Fighter/Mage/Thief of old.  In fact, I'd say you could take the feat twice, choosing to either take the third class, which you didn't chose before, or strengthening your second class further.  For example, I'm a fighter, at level 2 I forgo my class feature and grab "Magic User-Wizard" as a multiclass feat.  Because I only have one Magic User Multiclass Feat, I am a 1/3rd caster and can only cast cantrips until I get to lvl 3, where I can start casting lvl 1 spells.  At level 3 (or sometime thereafter), I can take the Multiclass Feat again, and can either choose Rogue, where I get access to sneak attack or skillz, or I can choose "Magic User - Wizard" again, making myself a half caster.  Keying my magic off Wisdom could make me a Paladin, Int could make me the Eldridge Knight, and Charisma could be either a Warlock Pact or Innate Magic of a Sorcerer ingrained in my Fighter. But either way, it frees me up to choose where that magic comes from.With this, every archetype can be represented.If you want a Barbarian, you take Fighter with Unarmored keying off Constitution and taking a "Rage" feat only granted to fighters.  Take some Rogue skills for outdoors survival, and maybe some Magic User keying off of Wisdom if you want to have a connection with either ancestors or nature.  Key everything off Strength or Constitution, and take Feats that grant advantage to these things, and you're set.Bards are the Triple Class.  Depending on what kind of Bard you want to play, you'd pick a different class to start with.  Blades start as fighters, normal bards start as Magic Users keying off charisma, flavoring it that their magic is in their songs, or words.  Or if you're more of a Skill Monkey, start with Rogue and grab the other two at levels 2 and 3, keeping in mind that only those who start with Magic User will be full casters.  Clerics are just Magic Users keying off Wisdom, flavored that their power is channeled from a God.  Multiclass Fighter for the armor and weapons proficiencies, and you're golden.Druids are full on Magic Users keying off Wisdom, flavored that their power is channeled from Nature. Make Wild Shape either a Feat or a Spell.Fighters are Fighters all the way, with maybe one multiclass in Rogue or Magic User to add versatility.Monks are Dextrous Fighters with Unarmored keying off Wisdom, with Rogue multiclass, or maybe Magic User keying off Wisdom or something if you really want Ki powers.  Paladin are Fighters with two multiclass Feats in Magic User keying off Wisdom or Charisma, depending on how you see it. Basically the opposite of Clerics.Rangers would be Rogues with two Multiclass feats in Magic User, or if you don't like Rangers to use magic, Rogues with two Fighter multiclass feats.  Rogues are Rogues, with maybe some Fighter or Magic User thrown in for fun.Sorcerers are easy.  Magic Users keying off Charisma, flavored as in born power.Warlocks are a little trickier, but you can either have them be Magic Users keying off of Wisdom, if you see them as channeling their patron's power, or as I see it, it would be keyed off one of the other two stats as they are either learning the power (int), or being granted the power (cha), instead of channeling it (wis).  Either way, multiclass Rogue or Fighter for Hexblades and/or skills.And Wizards are Magic Users keying off Int, with either some fighter or rogue multi classed in for kicks and giggles, if that's what you want.  But there are numerous other archetypes, as well.  With this system, Flavor and Fluff is all up to you.  Pathfinder 2 is doing something similar, but I still think it's too complicated.  Yeah, fluff in a class can be cool, I mean being a Warlock who made a pact with a Great Old One sounds awesome, but in the end, it's just mechanics, and I can fluff that however I want.  My Great Old One is a Space Hamster, and I channel his power by going into a rage.  Even though I'm a Ranger.  Go figure.  Being allowed to pick which stat things key off of frees up the player to craft their character how they want, eliminating builds that are too MAD.</blockquote>

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