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(hypothetical conversation before an RPG group starts )
Gamemaster: We'll let's get this going, what you guys want to play as?(hypothetical conversation before an RPG group starts )
Player 1: I want to play as a strong Fighter type like Conan the Barbarian.
Gamemaster: Very well, your class is Barbarian Warlord, however keep in mind you won't be able to use magic or shields.
Player 2: I'd rather be some sort of archer, like Legolas.
Gamemaster: So you are a Sniper, keep in mind your melee defenses aren't very good.
Player 3: I want to make a magician with powerful healing and offensive spells.
Gamemaster: You can't. Either choose to play as Priest, with healing magic or as Magician, with offensive spells.
Player 3: Bummer.
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Part 1 What are character class
Part 2 Multi classing
What's a character class in an RPG?
- Well... it depends on the setting.
- There are a few types:
- Occupation / Career - he's a expert that studied magic all his life.
- Category / Archetype - he's a half-dragon, thereof, can breathe fire.
- Job / Program - he's training as soldier now, before this he trained as Archmage.
- Achievement / Title - he's become a Light Lord Magician, the highest type of Light Magic caster.
- Wikpedia puts it this way:
- "In role-playing games (RPG), a common method of arbitrating the capabilities of different game characters is to assign each one to a character class. A character class aggregates several abilities and aptitudes, and may also sometimes detail aspects of background and social standing or impose behavior restrictions."
Refer to Tvtropes for some character archetypes.
Keep in mind that while what you will consider a class can vary, you must keep coherence after picking a type of class to use.
Psychology
- One could say classes are Schemas, frameworks that represents a complex idea.
- For instance, instead of saying "I'm a Paladin" one could say:
- "I'm a well trained Warrior from an organized religious order, capable of using several holy powers to aid me and others both in combat and outside it. Also I'm bound to a severe code of conduit and may never never abide by evil in any form."
- Well, just "Paladin" is just as good, if people share what's it supposed to mean.
- So if you call a class Ninja, and give him no assassination skills, but focus on spying. People won't go well with it. They'll call it Spy, Spymaster or Infiltrator.
- If a character that is a Spy is good at finances, he's would be considered good on those due to particular interest and not because he's a ninja. i.e. in order to accommodate an unexpected information people make adjustments on how they interpret things.
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Aversion: Classless System
- This kinda of system offers, in theory, great versatility. You pick/learn/get your abilities differently, here a few examples:
- Point system- Fallout (regarding perks) and Path of Exile (regarding passive skills)
- Tends to be somewhat prevalent, in the sense you have points to determine some numerical aspects of the character regardless of class, like Strength score.
- Stat/Skill Grinding - unusual nowadays, Final Fantasy 2 and Vagrant story had it.
- Basically you improve a skill the more often you use it, it tends to be aversive when it come to improve skill that use a % chance of success.
- Equipment grants abilities - like Path of Exile and Vandal Hearts 2.
- What you character can do is defined by his equipment, give him a spell tome and he can cast spells.
- Regardless of the approach, under this kind of system, it requires specialization, so instead of a jack of all trades or you become a Master of None.
- In fact those system usually put requisites to learn the better skills, forcing specialization.
- However you could design the game so the player eventually becomes a master of everything. Consider the old Zelda games, most skills and items had it's uses even late game (and some are just obsolete).
Subversion: Class change
- This can be done in several ways:
- Class upgrading: Common in strategy rpgs, like Shining Force, Vandal Hearts and Battle for Wesnoth - A Squire Becomes a Knight when he gets enough experience, superior in every way to the former class and with additional abilities.
- Pros:
- Sense of achievement "I managed to earn that class" "I'm more powerful"
- Tasks/objective "I have to promote that unit"
- Cons:
- Chore "I have to use this lousy class to earn it upgrade"
- Make some units unusable "C'mon this character is tier 1, he useless"
- Job system: Your character has a current class, that he can change outside battle. Best represented by Final Fantasy Tactics.
- Pros:
- Versatility / Strategic depth - "I suppose I could use Warriors instead of mages in this mission"
- Extended gameplay - "I have to master that class now"
- Cons:
- Less sense of individuality "I'll make this fighter a mage now"
- Also combines with a class tree, creating class tiers, like needing to master both cleric and wizard to become an Archmage (which incidentally is similar to class upgrading).
- Change skill bar / skill reset: Guild wars and Diablo 3 use this kind of system (even if not purely), it's somewhat similar to a limited job system (each class have some role options depending on build, but each character tend to do differently).
- Pros:
- Like a job system, it adds versatility, since you can change your character to overcome a challenge - "I'll change my build to ice magic instead"
- Cons:
- It removes the feeling of making a unique character - "They need a Mage with fire magic, I'll just swap my build"
- Might require lots of clicking and swap - "I have to reset all my 120 skill points" (easily averted with a skill profile save, like GW did)
- Optimization will be mandatory - "C'mon, use the build from the wiki!"
- So, if you have variated enemies and levels and high game length, some sort of skill bar / reset design would fit nicely (like Guild Wars 1). However it's quite hard to design good levels and take care of Power Creep in expansions, GW 1 actually failed at that, unless you do the content in order of release.
- In the other hand, Diablo 3 does this poorly, because the progression is mostly gear based (it's more like a slot machine than anything), and the level and monster design doesn't really incentive to change builds.
- On the other hand, class upgrading doesn't go well in strategy games where units are lost (it's quite aversive to lose something you put some effort to upgrade) - for example Civilization and Battle for Wesnoth - resulting in Save Scumming
- However Seiken Densetsu 3 did this in an interesting way, you have a party of three character out of 6, each one get a class upgrade twice, with two options each time. While the game length wasn't optimal for so many options (about 10-20 hours) most people would like to see at least 2 final classes of each character, resulting in about 3-4 playthrough.
- Which make much more sense than Diablo 2, with it's prohibitive hour demand for each playthrough if you want to make a sorcerer for each elemental.
- Job systems tend to be difficult to balance, often resulting in gameplay stagnation or becoming too similar to skill reseting, like in Final Fantasy Tactics.
- Ironically, FPS where you can pick a limited set of weapons are similar to this - In counter Strike, if you pick a AWP you are a slow deadly sniper, if you pick a Automatic shotgun, you are a quick deadly at close range
References:
Wikipedia
TVtropes