Classes as Styles of Approaching Situations

Goober4473 · 09-17-2012, 09:32 PM

I'd like to make a sort of class system, as with Dungeon Fantasy, but what I'd like to do is, rather than specify exact abilities in the class description, and especially rather than design classes around their combat abilities, I want to base them around general styles of approaching situations, and how they deal with problems.

For example, rather than define a character by skills used, spells known, or weapons wielded, define a class by something like, "causes direct and aggressive changes in the world" or "waits until the time is right, then takes decisive action".

My intent is to combine a class with something more concrete. Anyone familiar with Homestuck might recognize the idea. Class + Aspect = abilities. So you could say be "causes direct and aggressive changes in the world" as your class, with "Earth" as your aspect, which could lead to abilities like causing earthquakes or rapid tunneling, whereas if your aspect were "Mind", you might instead have some sort of mind control.

The problem is, I'm having trouble coming up with many possibilities for classes, and I'd rather not just rip off Homestuck if possible. So does the hivemind have any suggestions?

09-17-2012, 09:32 PM	#1
Goober4473 Join Date: May 2008	Classes as Styles of Approaching Situations I'd like to make a sort of class system, as with Dungeon Fantasy, but what I'd like to do is, rather than specify exact abilities in the class description, and especially rather than design classes around their combat abilities, I want to base them around general styles of approaching situations, and how they deal with problems. For example, rather than define a character by skills used, spells known, or weapons wielded, define a class by something like, "causes direct and aggressive changes in the world" or "waits until the time is right, then takes decisive action". My intent is to combine a class with something more concrete. Anyone familiar with Homestuck might recognize the idea. Class + Aspect = abilities. So you could say be "causes direct and aggressive changes in the world" as your class, with "Earth" as your aspect, which could lead to abilities like causing earthquakes or rapid tunneling, whereas if your aspect were "Mind", you might instead have some sort of mind control. The problem is, I'm having trouble coming up with many possibilities for classes, and I'd rather not just rip off Homestuck if possible. So does the hivemind have any suggestions?