Character Class - Variations On The Classes Concept

Variations On The Classes Concept

Some RPGs feature another variation on the classes mechanic. For example in Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, players choose a career. The career works like a class with added bonuses or skills related to the selected career. However, as the player advances and gains more experience he or she may choose a new career according to a predefined career path. A player might start as a warrior and choose a career path to become a mercenary or choose a different path to become a dragonslayer. The warrior's available career paths do not allow the player to become a mage, similar to the restriction that one cannot change classes.

In White Wolf's World of Darkness games, rather than picking a career, one picks an affiliation (such as a vampire clan, werewolf tribe, or magical order) which grants a minor affinity and some bonus abilities, but otherwise has little effect on overall capability. Typically player groups represent only one kind, be they vampires, werewolves, or other.

Another way to differentiate within character classes is the use of skill points such as in the MMORPG World of Warcraft. As players advance in levels, "talent points" are awarded and used to branch skills and abilities within an archetype. A warlock for example can choose to specialise in affliction (skills that inflict small continuous amounts of damage that add up over time), demonology (skills that summon demons that fight for the caster) and destruction (skills that inflict large instantaneous amounts of damage). As a result, a warlock with talents in affliction plays very differently from a warlock of the same level with destruction talents.

Rolemaster uses a skill-based class system in which no absolute restrictions on skill selection are employed. All character abilities (fighting, stealth, spell use, etc.) are ultimately handled through the skill system. A character's profession represents not a rigid set of abilities available to the character, but rather a set of natural proficiencies in numerous areas. These proficiencies are reflected in the costs expended to purchase the skills themselves.

Some class-based systems allow options as the player progresses in level. These options include advanced classes (a form of class that is only available to characters who meet certain prerequisites, such as advancement in another class), multi-classing (advancing a character in two or more classes), and hybrid class/skill systems..