Ability Ideas for my Tabletop RPG

[blaklighte]

So I'm in the process of making my own tabletop rpg. Sort of similar to dnd but the mechanics are different and I have lots of classes. Pretty sure I have nearly 80. In general you would start from 1 of 12 Tier 1 classes and at certain levels you would "class up." I'm having a hard time coming up with enough abilities for each of them both passive and activated.
An example would be footworkslightly increases chance to not be hit. More for the Warrior class or the Singer class(acts similar to the Fire Emblem singer) is be happy to provide more info if needed. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

[Koo Rehtorb]

In my experience, abilities which provide some small static bonus feel kind of boring.

[Knaight]

We'd need to see your system in a bit more detail to provide any real suggestions.

[Thrawn4]

If you have many classes but not enough feats, I suggest you reduce your number of classes. This also gives players the opportunity to individualise their character. It is better to have a few classes with many options than the other way around.

[Grod_The_Giant]

What do you have now, and how many would you ultimately like? I recommend starting with broad categories (physical, mental, social) and sub-dividing based on what feels too broad or too important to your game to be a single category.

[Anonymouswizard]

So I'm in the process of making my own tabletop rpg. Sort of similar to dnd but the mechanics are different and I have lots of classes. Pretty sure I have nearly 80. In general you would start from 1 of 12 Tier 1 classes and at certain levels you would "class up." I'm having a hard time coming up with enough abilities for each of them both passive and activated.
An example would be footworkslightly increases chance to not be hit. More for the Warrior class or the Singer class(acts similar to the Fire Emblem singer) is be happy to provide more info if needed. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

So ~6 tiers of classes? Maybe it would be better to work on abilities in categories and then split those abilities between certain classes. So you have say twenty 'martial' abilities, twenty 'performance' abilities, twenty 'arcane' abilities, and so on (twenty being an arbitrary number). Multiple classes getting the same ability (at the same level or different levels) isn't the end of the world in any way, shape, or form, in fact having a couple of basic abilities everybody in a certain area gets (like Extra Attack in 5e) ca be nice for cohesion.

Remember that sometimes passive abilities don't have to be actual abilities. Larger hit point pools, more skill points, and inherently better attack, defence, and initiative bonuses are all examples of 'abilities' that don't have to be presented as such.

At the same time, not being stuffed with abilities isn't bad. Each class only having a couple of abilities makes everything easier to remember (a LotFP simply gets +1 Attack per level up to a maximum of +10, and is much easier to remember than 5e's Extra Attacks, Second Wind, Action Surge, and Indomitable), and simplicity is a design philosophy I recommend.

[blaklighte]

Here's all the classes in each tier. Most are self explanatory but some will prolly need explanation of what distinguishes one from another. Some classes really focus on a more specific fighting style while others are broader like the Fire sage vs th archmage in tier 3. Archmage doesn't focus only on fire but can't get the higher powered spells of each element. Hopefully this give a better idea. I really like the idea of lots of classes to choose from but hey maybe you could convince me otherwise.

Another thing I didn't mention is that class up is not linear.
Here's an example

Thief- a sneak proficient in hiding and backstabbing. Better
at stealth than combat
Can class up to: Assassin, Bandit, Brawler, Pirate

Base Classes
Adept, Archer, Apprentice, Healer, Mercenary, Savage, Scout, Singer, Soldier, Thief, Thug, Warrior
Tier 2
Angel, Assassin, Bandit, Barbarian, Beastrider, Brawler, Cleric, Firemage, Frostmage, Hero, Knight, Medium, Myrmidon, Lord/Lady, Pirate, Priest/ess, Ranger, Samurai, Shadowmancer, Shapeshifter, Solamancer, Sorcerer, Stone Mage, Summoner, Tribe Chief, Wanderer, Windmage
Tier 3
Archangel, Archmage, Bard, Battlemage, Beastlord, Berserker, Bishop, Brigand, Champion, Changeling, Commander, Conjuerer, Crusader, Defender, Duelist, Elder, Hunter, Fire Sage, Lightspeaker, Martial Artist, Necromancer, Nightblade, Ninja, Prince/ess, Psychic, Ronin, Sentinel, Sniper, Stone Sage, Voidcaller, Water Sage, Warlock, War Priest/ess, Wind Sage
Tier 4
Archbishop, Bowmaster, Dark Blade, Death Knight, Demon Lord, Druid, Eclipser, General, Grandmaster, Guardian, Infernal Maester, Inquisitor, Juggernaut, King/Queen, Lich King, Minstrel, Monk, Nightingale, Oceus Lord, Predator, Reaver, Saint, Seraphim, Shaman Lord, Shogun, Solus Master, Templar, Terracaster, Thunderkin, War Mage,Warmonger, Weaponmaster, Wyrmcaller

[Avonar]

Here's all the classes in each tier. Most are self explanatory but some will prolly need explanation of what distinguishes one from another. Some classes really focus on a more specific fighting style while others are broader like the Fire sage vs th archmage in tier 3. Archmage doesn't focus only on fire but can't get the higher powered spells of each element. Hopefully this give a better idea. I really like the idea of lots of classes to choose from but hey maybe you could convince me otherwise.

Another thing I didn't mention is that class up is not linear.
Here's an example

Thief- a sneak proficient in hiding and backstabbing. Better
at stealth than combat
Can class up to: Assassin, Bandit, Brawler, Pirate

Base Classes
Adept, Archer, Apprentice, Healer, Mercenary, Savage, Scout, Singer, Soldier, Thief, Thug, Warrior
Tier 2
Angel, Assassin, Bandit, Barbarian, Beastrider, Brawler, Cleric, Firemage, Frostmage, Hero, Knight, Medium, Myrmidon, Lord/Lady, Pirate, Priest/ess, Ranger, Samurai, Shadowmancer, Shapeshifter, Solamancer, Sorcerer, Stone Mage, Summoner, Tribe Chief, Wanderer, Windmage
Tier 3
Archangel, Archmage, Bard, Battlemage, Beastlord, Berserker, Bishop, Brigand, Champion, Changeling, Commander, Conjuerer, Crusader, Defender, Duelist, Elder, Hunter, Fire Sage, Lightspeaker, Martial Artist, Necromancer, Nightblade, Ninja, Prince/ess, Psychic, Ronin, Sentinel, Sniper, Stone Sage, Voidcaller, Water Sage, Warlock, War Priest/ess, Wind Sage
Tier 4
Archbishop, Bowmaster, Dark Blade, Death Knight, Demon Lord, Druid, Eclipser, General, Grandmaster, Guardian, Infernal Maester, Inquisitor, Juggernaut, King/Queen, Lich King, Minstrel, Monk, Nightingale, Oceus Lord, Predator, Reaver, Saint, Seraphim, Shaman Lord, Shogun, Solus Master, Templar, Terracaster, Thunderkin, War Mage,Warmonger, Weaponmaster, Wyrmcaller

My first reaction to all of that: Daunting.

I can easily see players seeing a list like that and not even knowing where to start. You want to make things intuitive and this looks anything but, if I picked up a book and saw this, planning a character where each tier makes me choose from ANOTHER 4 classes, that is just intimidating. You don't have to cut out the class up feature but trim it down HUGELY. Combine some. Assassin and bandit don't need to be different, hero and knight could go together etc.

[Grod_The_Giant]

In general you would start from 1 of 12 Tier 1 classes and at certain levels you would "class up." I'm having a hard time coming up with enough abilities for each of them both passive and activated.

If I'm understanding this right, it's intended to work sort of like d20 Modern, where you take 5-10 levels of a base class, then 1-10 of an advanced class? So Thug would be a five-level class that would qualify you for Assassin, Bandit, Pirate and Wanderer? And you'd take five levels of Assassin, than choose from Champion, Duelist, Nightblade, or Ninja for your next five levels?

[Anonymouswizard]

Here's all the classes in each tier. Most are self explanatory but some will prolly need explanation of what distinguishes one from another. Some classes really focus on a more specific fighting style while others are broader like the Fire sage vs th archmage in tier 3. Archmage doesn't focus only on fire but can't get the higher powered spells of each element. Hopefully this give a better idea. I really like the idea of lots of classes to choose from but hey maybe you could convince me otherwise.

Another thing I didn't mention is that class up is not linear.
Here's an example

Thief- a sneak proficient in hiding and backstabbing. Better
at stealth than combat
Can class up to: Assassin, Bandit, Brawler, Pirate

Base Classes
Adept, Archer, Apprentice, Healer, Mercenary, Savage, Scout, Singer, Soldier, Thief, Thug, Warrior
Tier 2
Angel, Assassin, Bandit, Barbarian, Beastrider, Brawler, Cleric, Firemage, Frostmage, Hero, Knight, Medium, Myrmidon, Lord/Lady, Pirate, Priest/ess, Ranger, Samurai, Shadowmancer, Shapeshifter, Solamancer, Sorcerer, Stone Mage, Summoner, Tribe Chief, Wanderer, Windmage
Tier 3
Archangel, Archmage, Bard, Battlemage, Beastlord, Berserker, Bishop, Brigand, Champion, Changeling, Commander, Conjuerer, Crusader, Defender, Duelist, Elder, Hunter, Fire Sage, Lightspeaker, Martial Artist, Necromancer, Nightblade, Ninja, Prince/ess, Psychic, Ronin, Sentinel, Sniper, Stone Sage, Voidcaller, Water Sage, Warlock, War Priest/ess, Wind Sage
Tier 4
Archbishop, Bowmaster, Dark Blade, Death Knight, Demon Lord, Druid, Eclipser, General, Grandmaster, Guardian, Infernal Maester, Inquisitor, Juggernaut, King/Queen, Lich King, Minstrel, Monk, Nightingale, Oceus Lord, Predator, Reaver, Saint, Seraphim, Shaman Lord, Shogun, Solus Master, Templar, Terracaster, Thunderkin, War Mage,Warmonger, Weaponmaster, Wyrmcaller

First thought, I have no idea what any of these mean.

Second thought, I have no idea that classes up to what.

Third thought, I'm fairly certain most of these are redundant with each other.

Fourth thought, what happened to not caring and just rolling Bob the Fighter?

Fifth thought, I still have no idea as to the structure of this (I assume it's like Shadow of the Demon Lord where I begin with a basic class then at level X pick an advanced class and then level Y a master class, and not like Fantasy AGE where I pick specialisations while continuing in the class I picked at level 1).

Sixth thought, I'm going back to Lamentations of the Flame Princess.

[tensai_oni]

Is this a fantasy heartbreaker? Sounds like a fantasy heartbreaker to me.

[Anonymouswizard]

Is this a fantasy heartbreaker? Sounds like a fantasy heartbreaker to me.

This might sound weird, but it doesn't quite sound inventive enough.

There's this line games have to cross to become a FH. Lamentations of the Flame Princess is still a retroclone even if the spell lists have been altered (although it's edging closer to heartbreaker, it depends on what happens with this new magic system). Alternatively Fantasy AGE isn't a fantasy heartbreaker because it dies put it's unique thing (stunts) front and centre, although it hasn't crossed the second line into 'unrelated fantasy game'.

Here my interpretation is 'D&D but Fire Emblem'. Which is cool for running with your group, but of you're going for a commercial venture most D&D players won't be interested and most non D&D players won't be interested (because such games often miss out on four decades of development, or at the very least one).

[blaklighte]

This might sound weird, but it doesn't quite sound inventive enough.

There's this line games have to cross to become a FH. Lamentations of the Flame Princess is still a retroclone even if the spell lists have been altered (although it's edging closer to heartbreaker, it depends on what happens with this new magic system). Alternatively Fantasy AGE isn't a fantasy heartbreaker because it dies put it's unique thing (stunts) front and centre, although it hasn't crossed the second line into 'unrelated fantasy game'.

Here my interpretation is 'D&D but Fire Emblem'. Which is cool for running with your group, but of you're going for a commercial venture most D&D players won't be interested and most non D&D players won't be interested (because such games often miss out on four decades of development, or at the very least one).

Your definitely on the right track with the Fire emblem idea and that at X level in base class you change to tier 2 until level Y and so on. I was fully inspired by the class up system. Final fantasy tactics pulled me to want lots of classes.
I'm definatley open to suggestions. I can easily see classes needing cut out or maybe renamed.or perhaps cut out a whole tier. Im hoping the combat makes it stick out more than anything. Again, open to comments/criticism. Tell me what you think!

[JBPuffin]

I think you need to decide if this game is going the FE or FFT route: is each class simply a gateway to different weapons and stat growths with periodic perks (FE), or are they full-fledged ability trees (FFT)? The latter works best with a smaller list of classes and making some class-like options (element specialization being the biggest one) based around your ability choices, while the former can work with a large list provided that each class is rather short. Based on the size of the list, FE-style probably would work best, and from a mechanical standpoint it's an easier game to match (at least, the ones I've played certainly feel easier to make tabletop than FFT), but most of the abilities characters get in those games are passive and/or luck-based (the weapons really do make the man in that series) which does get boring on a tabletop.

Actually, you know what this reminds me of most? Take a look at how Warhammer 40K (and maybe Fantasy, but I don't have books for that) or Dungeons: the Dragoning (same progression) deals with classes. You have ~4 tiers, each of which makes purchasing some things easier and opens some new options. There's some crossover between classes, and definitely a pool of abilities the designers stuck multiple places, but the mix of passive and active perks sounds like what you might be looking for. Not recommending any/everything else about the system - only read it, after all - but it might help you structure things better and give you an idea of how tabletop games approach an FE-style progression of Base-Advanced-Master classes.

[Arbane]

Actually, you know what this reminds me of most? Take a look at how Warhammer 40K (and maybe Fantasy, but I don't have books for that) or Dungeons: the Dragoning (same progression) deals with classes. You have ~4 tiers, each of which makes purchasing some things easier and opens some new options. There's some crossover between classes, and definitely a pool of abilities the designers stuck multiple places, but the mix of passive and active perks sounds like what you might be looking for. Not recommending any/everything else about the system - only read it, after all - but it might help you structure things better and give you an idea of how tabletop games approach an FE-style progression of Base-Advanced-Master classes.

Yeah, Dungeons: the Dragoning (and WH) are exactly what this made me think of.

OP: Any reason you're going with classes instead of a point-buy (or similar) system?

[blaklighte]

I suppose the classes just explain the players choice of fighting style. I've been really thinking about reducing the number of classes after seeing everyone's reaction. I honestly thought it would be a better idea.

[Knaight]

I suppose the classes just explain the players choice of fighting style. I've been really thinking about reducing the number of classes after seeing everyone's reaction. I honestly thought it would be a better idea.

You listed Fire Emblem as a major source of inspiration, and it's a pretty good example of how to have a lot of classes that don't get confusing. Depending on the game you generally have a set of standard infantry classes in different roles (Myrmidon, Warrior, Soldier), some heavy infantry classes (Generals), some cavalry classes (Knights), some flying cavalry (Pegasus Riders, Wyvern Riders), healers, archers, and mages. Then there might be a few that are a bit odd, like the Laguz units or the dancers. It's about twenty classes including edge cases, which ends up somewhere between doubled and tripled depending on how class change is handled - and that number is a bit inflated by the likes of Axe General, Lance General, and Sword General all being different classes entirely, which doesn't need to be the case for a tabletop game.

Looking at your list, there's 12 tier one classes, which increases to 27 in tier two. Several of these look like something spread out over too many classes (three subtly different elemental mages) in a way analogous to the [Weapon] General of FE. This list also continues to get bigger.

Some of these also look like pretty direct advancements, basically working out to Archer, Archer II, Archer III, Archer IV. That's three classes you don't really need, and just having the tier one classes run from tiers 1-4, the tier two run from tiers 2-4, the tier 3 from tiers 3-4, etc. the total number of classes gets reduced dramatically. It's a bit like repeating a lifepath in a lifepath system (and you should take a look at some of those, they might have some design worth stealing - particularly Burning Wheel).

[Grod_The_Giant]

I suppose the classes just explain the players choice of fighting style. I've been really thinking about reducing the number of classes after seeing everyone's reaction. I honestly thought it would be a better idea.

4e D&D's Paragon Paths/Epic Destinies and, to a lesser extent, 5e's Archetypes seem like a good way to simplify? You have a limited number of base classes that provide a general guideline for how your character works, and at levels 5/10/15/20 (or whatever) you pick a subclass that customizes that for the next few levels. Some might be unique to the base class, while others might be available to multiple base classes.

[2D8HP]

So I'm in the process of making my own tabletop rpg. Sort of similar to dnd but the mechanics are different and I have lots of classes. Pretty sure I have nearly 80. In general you would start from 1 of 12 Tier 1 classes....
.......Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Yet another FRPG?

And you're asking for suggestions?

Sure.

80 classes?

Tiers?

The 1977 Dungeons & Dragons "bluebook" rules had 48 pages, are you going much beyond that?

If yes why?

In less it's really big type, so I may read it better, try to keep it to less than 120 pages, pleade.

I'd enjoy playing characters similar to Robin Hood (or most any character portrayed by Errol Flynn), Sinbad, Indiana Jones, Tonto, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser from fiction, and as long as my PC's may sometimes (non-magically)

Fire arrows

Swing swords

Track

Sneak

Hide

Climb

Swim

Convince,

Run,

Walk,

Speak,

and

Heal

I'm good.

Otherwise unless the rules are close to the 1970's D&D or RuneQuest derived rules that I'm familiar with, I have difficulty learning them if they're too complex, and I definitely place "D20/3.x D&D/Pathfinder" in the category of too complex for me.

I enjoy playing 5e D&D but most of the classes have too many mechanics for me to keep track of especially at high levels, and I quickly get "options fatigue" (I almost exclusively play Champion Fighters and Rogues in that system).

Old D&D characters feel too fragile to me, I enjoy the 21st century' novelty of having new characters that mostly survive gaming sessions, high-level D&D PC's feel too powerful and "comic book" to me.

Naruto and Bleach like characters are what I don't want to play.

I no longer much enjoy the "mini-game" of character creation which in most RPG's takes far too long for my tastes, please give me the option to avoid most of that.

In fact just give me pre-gens of PC's I'd want to play, that I may copy and paste.

If I had my way as a player, my "character sheet" wouldn't have any "stats" for me to keep track of, just personal info and what's in their pockets, I don't even want to know what a "modifier" is, just what my PC perceives.

As a GM? Minimize any time I'd have to spend searching for rules.

An enticing adventure is paramount.

What first got me hooked on RPG's was this set-up:

Spoiler: A call to adventure!

Show

100 years ago the sorcerer Zenopus built a tower on the low hills overlooking Portown. The tower was close to the sea cliffs west of the town and, appropriately, next door to the graveyard.
Rumor has it that the magician made extensive cellars and tunnels underneath the tower. The town is located on the ruins of a much older city of doubtful history and Zenopus was said to excavate in his cellars in search of ancient treasures.

Fifty years ago, on a cold wintry night, the wizard's tower was suddenly engulfed in green flame. Several of his human servants escaped the holocaust, saying their rnaster had been destroyed by some powerful force he had unleashed in the depths of the tower.
Needless to say the tower stood vacant fora while afterthis, but then the neighbors and the night watchmen comploined that ghostly blue lights appeared in the windows at night, that ghastly screams could be heard emanating from the tower ot all hours, and goblin figures could be seen dancina on the tower roof in the moonlight. Finally the authorities had a catapult rolled through the streets of the town and the tower was battered to rubble. This stopped the hauntings but the townsfolk continue to shun the ruins. The entrance to the old dungeons can be easily located as a flight of broad stone steps leading down into darkness, but the few adventurous souls who hove descended into crypts below the ruin have either reported only empty stone corridors or have failed to return at all.
Other magic-users have moved into the town but the site of the old tower remains abandoned.
Whispered tales are told of fabulous treasure and unspeakable monsters in the underground passages below the hilltop, and the story tellers are always careful to point out that the reputed dungeons lie in close proximity to the foundations of the older, pre-human city, to the graveyard, and to the sea.
Portown is a small but busy city 'linking the caravan routes from the south to the merchscant ships that dare the pirate-infested waters of the Northern Sea. Humans and non-humans from all over the globe meet here.
At he Green Dragon Inn, the players of the game gather their characters for an assault on the fabulous passages beneath the ruined Wizard's tower.



None better for me, even after 39 years!

I hate looking up any rules, and if I have to look up a "stat" on my character sheet that breaks immersion, and I dislike it.

My favorite setting genre's are (in order):
1) Swords and Sorcery
2) Swashbuckling
3) Arthurian
4) Gaslamp Fantasy
5) Planetary Romance
6) Steampunk
7) Raygun Gothic
8) Viking

My least favorite genres are:
1) Modern-day anything
2) Dystopian Near Future
3) Dystopian Far Future

What I like/want:
1) Exploring a fantastic world.
Playing a superpowered PC in a mostly mundane world leaves me cold (I didn't like Villains and Vigilantes, Champions, Cyberpunk, or Vampire).

2) Reasonably quick character creation without giving me options fatigue (GURPS and HERO, and a little bit in early D&D with initial equipment shopping).

3) The fantastic world should not be too surreal or seem like a cruel joke (Paranoia,Toon).

4) Random character creation should not result in widely disparate starting power levels (Runequest, Stormbringer, and sometimes rolling for HP or starting gold in old D&D).

5) Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, Robin Hood, the Seven Samurai, and Sinbad?: Yes!

6) Avengers, James Bond, and the X-Men?: Eh nah.

7) Swashbuckling? Yes!

8) Steampunk/Gaslight Fantasy? Sure.

9) Space Opera? Sometimes.

10) Time Travel/Alternate realities (Sliders)?: I'm intrigued.

11) Dark Future?: seldom.
(though I did have some fun playing a few sessions of Shadowrun but I never bought the rules!)

12) Archers, Dragons, Knights, Magic, Pirates, and Swords: Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!, and Yes!

13) Lots of dice rolling!
No I don't want to necessarily know why, I just like the sound, the feel, and most of all the suspense!

14) The rulebook should provide a template for character creation, as I find a catalog better sparks my imagination than a blank page.

Aftet character creation I'm fine with "rules" like this:

1) GM describes a scene.
2) Player says an action that their PC attempts.
3) GM decides if the PC has no chance of success, no chance of failure, or a partial chance of success.
4) If a partial chance of success, GM makes up on the spot a percentage chance of success.
5) Player rolls dice.
6) GM narrates the immediate consequences until it's time to again ask, "what do you do".
7) Repeat.

[Anonymouswizard]

4e D&D's Paragon Paths/Epic Destinies and, to a lesser extent, 5e's Archetypes seem like a good way to simplify? You have a limited number of base classes that provide a general guideline for how your character works, and at levels 5/10/15/20 (or whatever) you pick a subclass that customizes that for the next few levels. Some might be unique to the base class, while others might be available to multiple base classes.

Yeah, when I heard that 5e had subclasses I'd hoped they'd be like 4e's Paragon Paths. They were bursting with flavour by PhB3 (and I remember the PhB2 ones being good as well). But most of them were boring and generic, which was a real shame (I could understand each class having a boring and generic one like 4e seemed to [but they still had flavour!], but do we really need eight boring wizard subclasses?).

I enjoy playing 5e D&D but most of the classes have too many mechanics for me to keep track of especially at high levels, and I quickly get "options fatigue" (I almost exclusively play Champion Fighters and Rogues in that system).

I should really tell you when I've sorted out my Basic Fifth hack, although I'm still trying to work out how to do spellcasting.

My favorite setting genre's are (in order):
1) Swords and Sorcery
2) Swashbuckling
3) Arthurian
4) Gaslamp Fantasy
5) Planetary Romance
6) Steampunk
7) Raygun Gothic
8) Viking

My grumpy old man, have you discovered Rocket Age yet? It might be the science fiction gamesetting for you, dashing men and women in their gleaming rocket ships who explore the solar system and might both beautiful and terrifying aliens. It's one of my favourite games, and most of the rules are simple (the only problem is that most people are going to end up buying several traits that do different things).

Fight Nazis with ray guns on Mars*, explore ancient ruins in the asteroid belt, bring treasure back from Venus, and hope that the Europans don't notice you sneaking past to explore Saturn. I significantly prefer hard science fiction and postcyberpunk, and even I squee at this game with childish glee.

* The answer to who has the ray guns is yes.


Actually I do have to wonder 2d8HP, what's your view on more hopeful cyberpunk and similar settings, such as Transhuman Space (if we ignore the fact that it runs on GURPS).

[2D8HP]

My grumpy old man, have you discovered Rocket Age yet? It might be.....

I haven't yet discovered Rocket Age, but from your description it sounds AWESOME!

....Actually I do have to wonder 2d8HP, what's your view on more hopeful cyberpunk and similar settings, such as Transhuman Space (if we ignore the fact that it runs on GURPS).

I'm not familiar with the genre. I really don't read much post '70's SF (while I did enjoy When Gravity Fails, Neuromancer bored me, "Cyberpunk" of the 1980's mostly made me stop reading future setting stuff, it just seemed little different from the present, and what it was good at I could get from Dashell Hammett and Patricia Highsmith), I remember enjoying The Integral Trees by Niven, which had a far-future setting, but I mostly switched to Fantasy by the late 1980's, and since the first "grown up" novel I read was Asimov's Foundation that's a little sad.

[blaklighte]

I appreciate everyone's input. Definitely gonna rethink some things with all the classes and def reduce them. Thanks everyone!

[Bruno Carvalho]

I think the biggest advice we can give you is:

GO PLAY

If you can't play, at least READ as many systems as you can. See how other game designers have tried and succeeded (or failed). This way you won't repeat their mistakes and can borrow a huge deal of inspiration.