[MUD-Dev] Classless systems

[Ryan P.]

A year or two ago, a friend of mine suggested a classless system for the
mud I am currently developing. I told him it was crazy and too far-fetched
to be playable. However, as I continue to design and develop my mud, I'm
becoming more and more open to ideas I once thought ridiculous. Now, I
am seriously considering switching to a classless design. I've come up with
a few ideas on how to do this, but I'd like to ask help from all of you for
any ideas or pointers to older messages on the list. =)
The major point I think needs to be decay and dampeners. By decay I mean
that stats/skills/whatever needs to decay quickly when not in use. If
skills can be trained, why can't stats? If you start working out big time, why
wouldn't your strength stat increase? If you left your studies alone, didn't
read, or do anything to stimulate your mind, why wouldn't your intelligence
decrease? I want to make it possible to be two classes (or more) at once
while paying the price of spreading yourself thin. As well, there needs to
be "dampeners" in place. One easy example is that spellcasting is
greatly hindered while wearing heavy armor. Even if you were a straight
wizard, you'd still be allowed to wear platemail, but your skill in armor-use
(or something similar?) would be way down and you would not have the
freedom of movement of wearing robes, thus spellcasting abilities are
much worse. What kind of ideas does everyone have for a classless
system? Has anyone implemented a successful version of it?

Thanks,
--Ryan



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