Different RPG systems

[Willie the Duck]

There certainly are. Traveller (the original) which I have noted previously in this thread has a different take on chargen and on having back ups handy, in our experience. Avoiding a lot of lethal situations was how we found the team stayed together better. Games with level advancement models often induce a level of investment that I have seen turn unhealthy (in some cases - separate topic, for a lot of reasons).

Also on the concept of character advancement.