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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tony Vargas" data-source="post: 7164865" data-attributes="member: 996">Obviously, because you're specifying a system that looks like D&D.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />  That means a class system, in which killing things and taking their stuff is of prime importance.  Otherwise, not going to much look like D&D.  Archetypes are out there in force.  It's rare that a class does 'em well, though, because RPG classes tend to be a lot less broadly-drawn than genre archetypes, but more broadly-drawn than specific examples, so, whether you're building to an original concept or ripping a specific one, the class will tend to clash - and because RPG archetypes must fit the kind of troupe play expected, while most genre archetypes tend to be closer to loners or Hero + sidekicks than an ensemble cast. Interestingly, that happens with classless systems, too, because archetypes still exist, and people still play them, they just have the freedom to play just the spin on it they want. Classes can end up being /bad/ for balance.  Your example, above, that the strong warrior can't be stealthy, even though strong warriors in genre are often extremely stealthy, is illustrative.  In AD&D, the Fighter & Thief were both imbalanced - the fighter was arguably too strong in the early game, utterly outclassed by casters, later, while the thief was just egregiously underpowered at all levels.  The Thief was niche-protected into relevance, 'needed' in any party, by hard niche-protecting his skills, thus, so that the under-powered Thief would be needed by the party, the Fighter was stripped of archetype-appropriate abilities.  Class thus wasn't used to correct imbalances, but to paper over them with arbitrary niche protection.</blockquote>

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