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Message: <blockquote data-quote="boredgremlin" data-source="post: 2309046" data-attributes="member: 31646">Yes options are good. I ran a game once before 3.5 where are the classes abilities where feats. Every 3 levels you got to pick 2 feats from the class feats list. For free. The classes in the book were just a few examples of how  you could progress.   Drawbacks of this system. 1) It took forever and a day to create characters.2) leveling up took longer because you had a ton of options and they actually made all the difference in the world as to who you are as a character. 3) Players, especially new ones often min/maxed a certain ability to the point where they were lethal with that one skill but the first situation it wouldnt work in left them totally helpless.    Advantages of the system.1) Total freedom2) total freedom, you can make whatever concept you want. Everything is feat based. 3) Total freedom. Players get what they want, no DM bannings, no rules lawyer whining. 100% player satisfaction. If it bit them in the butt, well then its what they made and there is no one to blame what themselves.    Observations after trying it.1) holy crap does this take forever. Every character made and every level up takes forever. Players turn old and grey before things are ready to continue. 2) When faced with nothing but options most players make horrible characters. I covered this above in min/maxing.  Apparently its really hard to make a halfway balanced character with so many options in front of you. 3) smart players rule the game. Lets be honest, characters aside. Some players just rolled higher INT's with god before coming to this world. The people who can really look forward and balance out things while maxing the most likely possibilities absolutely rule this game. Not that there is anything wrong with smart people being good at stuff like this. But you raise the bar for your players intelligence a great deal with a free form system.4) It makes choices when levelling up the most important thing. Then the DM has to work harder to play to the group. hammering an abusive powergammer is fun, but you have to really look at everyones skills to make your game. Players make choices based on what they have seen so far. Its only fair as the DM to reward good observational skills instead of punishing them. 5) This system makes everyones job harder. Players have to think more, DMs have more to figure, monsters with classes are a nightmare for the DM. But if everyone is bright, and interested in trying it then the whole thing results in a great game for all. Once in a while.</blockquote>

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