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Hack Or Heartbreaker?
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<blockquote data-quote="The Crimson Binome" data-source="post: 7718411" data-attributes="member: 6775031"><p>The biggest strength of a class-based system is that it tells us (at least in part) how the world works. If you have a class that is Vindalan Pirate, and it grants certain abilities and skills and whatnot, then we know what Vindalan Pirates are and what they can do in the world. It helps the player to engage with the setting, and hopefully there's at least one class that grabs the player and makes them more excited to play the game.</p><p></p><p>While you <em>could</em> theoretically get much of that benefit in a point-based game, by defining a class-template which includes those particular aspects, it tends to not work in practice. If a point-based class-template is just a pile of aspects, then a player can usually just take those aspects by paying the points for them, without actually joining whatever group those aspects are supposed to represent - instead of being a Vindalan Pirate, they're just a freelance pirate, and they aren't engaged with the setting anymore - and in practice, that's almost always going to be the route they take, because it lets the player focus on the specific aspects they want instead of taking the whole package. If Vindalan Pirates have a fearsome reputation that grants them a bonus in certain social situations, then a player who <em>doesn't</em> take the template will instead have more points to spend on swinging a sword or piloting a boat; in fact, a player might even <em>want</em> to take that class-template because they <em>would</em> enjoy that minor social perk, but they may not be able to justify it if they haven't also invested heavily in Charisma or whatever. Leave the social bonuses to the social character, because <em>your</em> job is to swing a sword and pilot the boat, is the common wisdom.</p><p></p><p>Class-based systems force players to engage with character archetypes in an all-or-nothing manner. If you don't want to be a Vindalan Pirate, or maybe a Corsani Pirate, then you're not going to be a pirate or anything like a pirate. You <em>must</em> be something that holds significance within the setting. And that character archetype probably <em>will</em> include some features that you wouldn't have otherwise chosen (or been able to justify spending the points on), which you now gain the full benefit from. You may not get to carefully pick which ribbons you get, but neither will you be penalized by taking abilities outside of your party role.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="The Crimson Binome, post: 7718411, member: 6775031"] The biggest strength of a class-based system is that it tells us (at least in part) how the world works. If you have a class that is Vindalan Pirate, and it grants certain abilities and skills and whatnot, then we know what Vindalan Pirates are and what they can do in the world. It helps the player to engage with the setting, and hopefully there's at least one class that grabs the player and makes them more excited to play the game. While you [I]could[/I] theoretically get much of that benefit in a point-based game, by defining a class-template which includes those particular aspects, it tends to not work in practice. If a point-based class-template is just a pile of aspects, then a player can usually just take those aspects by paying the points for them, without actually joining whatever group those aspects are supposed to represent - instead of being a Vindalan Pirate, they're just a freelance pirate, and they aren't engaged with the setting anymore - and in practice, that's almost always going to be the route they take, because it lets the player focus on the specific aspects they want instead of taking the whole package. If Vindalan Pirates have a fearsome reputation that grants them a bonus in certain social situations, then a player who [I]doesn't[/I] take the template will instead have more points to spend on swinging a sword or piloting a boat; in fact, a player might even [I]want[/I] to take that class-template because they [I]would[/I] enjoy that minor social perk, but they may not be able to justify it if they haven't also invested heavily in Charisma or whatever. Leave the social bonuses to the social character, because [I]your[/I] job is to swing a sword and pilot the boat, is the common wisdom. Class-based systems force players to engage with character archetypes in an all-or-nothing manner. If you don't want to be a Vindalan Pirate, or maybe a Corsani Pirate, then you're not going to be a pirate or anything like a pirate. You [I]must[/I] be something that holds significance within the setting. And that character archetype probably [I]will[/I] include some features that you wouldn't have otherwise chosen (or been able to justify spending the points on), which you now gain the full benefit from. You may not get to carefully pick which ribbons you get, but neither will you be penalized by taking abilities outside of your party role. [/QUOTE]
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