So I'm at the pretty early stages of development for my Sentient Steel game, and there are a couple ways I'm debating on going with character progression.

Option 1: traditional level&class based.  Characters go up in toughness (let's say HP for now), and certain classes go up higher in To Hit and Evade than others automatically.  For example, a Juggernaut class gets a +1 to hit and damage with each level, while an Infiltrator class might only get a +1 to hit every odd level with a +1 bonus to evade every odd level.  In addition to these automatic gains, at certain levels (depending on class), player gets to choose from a list of class based powers.  Similar to how feats work in 3e

Option 2: Class based/Level based Skill tree: Each class has a skill tree associated with it.  With every level, player chooses which option to select.  Sort of like Diablo II, or WoW skill trees.

Option 3: Skill based.  No classes, and no specialties.  Skills are broken down into Combat, Stealth, Mystic, and General.  Characters are awarded XP points in an adventure, which they use to purchase skills from the various groups.

Which of the above would you prefer, from a personal preference standpoint, as well as an ease of use standpoint?

Quote from: Sacrosanct;540945So I'm at the pretty early stages of development for my Sentient Steel game, and there are a couple ways I'm debating on going with character progression.

Option 1: traditional level&class based.  Characters go up in toughness (let's say HP for now), and certain classes go up higher in To Hit and Evade than others automatically.  For example, a Juggernaut class gets a +1 to hit and damage with each level, while an Infiltrator class might only get a +1 to hit every odd level with a +1 bonus to evade every odd level.  In addition to these automatic gains, at certain levels (depending on class), player gets to choose from a list of class based powers.  Similar to how feats work in 3e

Option 2: Class based/Level based Skill tree: Each class has a skill tree associated with it.  With every level, player chooses which option to select.  Sort of like Diablo II, or WoW skill trees.

Option 3: Skill based.  No classes, and no specialties.  Skills are broken down into Combat, Stealth, Mystic, and General.  Characters are awarded XP points in an adventure, which they use to purchase skills from the various groups.

Which of the above would you prefer, from a personal preference standpoint, as well as an ease of use standpoint?

I prefer option 2.

Depends. What is Sentient Steel about? What is the core game play you are going for?

My response is similar to Benoist's. I think any of those approaches can work, it is a matter of selecting the right one for what you are trying to achieve.

Without any other information, I voted #1 as it is the easiest to implement and comprehend by new players.  Out of the three choices, #2 is my least favorite.  I also like choice #3 but without any specific information about the skills and interaction with the rest of the system, I had to go with choice #1.

It could go either way, depending on your design goals.

As to which I prefer, well, it depends on the game.  And what I'm in the mood for.  And the group involved.

Fair enough questions.  For the record:

Sentient Steel in a nutshell is sci-fi sentient robots (think transformers, but without the transforming) in a fantasy bent universe.  Although technology does exist, and 99% of intelligent life is synthetic rather than organic (anything with a brain, basically, is synthetic).  Plenty of "fantasy" monsters, albeit in robotic form.  Dungeon crawls, overland exploration, kill them and take their stuff will be frequent.  There will be plenty of melee weapons, spells, and "magic" items.

Character "races" are broken down into something like a culture or clan.  For example, when a player is creating a character, they choose if they want to belong to:

* The Industrial Workers Federation.  A culture of robots with a heavy steampunk theme.  Certain skills, items, and other flavor aspects are tied to this culture

* Imperial Lotus Clan.  A culture of robots that have a feudal Japan style to them.  Armor plating has definite styling cues from feudal Japan Samurai.

*  Inyoni.  The theme here is African tribal, shamanistic, etc.  Specializes in alchemy, chemical explosive mixtures, etc

* Aldruin.  Alien-like style.  Very dark, very fluid, no harsh lines or edges.

* Urklander.  Has a European medieval theme and style.  

* Raven Clan.  Native American.  Has an animal totem that robot can transform into.

Those are just some general ideas.  Then of course the players would select a class (or not, depending on how I want to go with it).

Quote from: Sacrosanct;540957Fair enough questions.  For the record:

Sentient Steel in a nutshell is sci-fi sentient robots (think transformers, but without the transforming) in a fantasy bent universe.  Although technology does exist, and 99% of intelligent life is synthetic rather than organic (anything with a brain, basically, is synthetic).  Plenty of "fantasy" monsters, albeit in robotic form.  Dungeon crawls, overland exploration, kill them and take their stuff will be frequent.  There will be plenty of melee weapons, spells, and "magic" items.

I'm thinking that the concept of a robot getting better --say, by "replacing" parts of itself with newer parts-- lends itself better to the skill tree.  Purely skill based may be a bit too free flowing in this case, and purely level based w/feats doesn't capture the feel quite so much.

Quote from: flyerfan1991;540958I'm thinking that the concept of a robot getting better --say, by "replacing" parts of itself with newer parts-- lends itself better to the skill tree.  Purely skill based may be a bit too free flowing in this case, and purely level based w/feats doesn't capture the feel quite so much.

You have an excellent point.  There are really two types of "hit points".  One is physical damage threshold, which is based on chassis and armor plating (how much physical damage can I take) while the other is based on power core.  The power core is more of what you'd be familiar with in D&D in that it's possible to have your armor blown to bits, but as long as your power core still has energy, you're still alive.  On the flip side, you can have your entire chassis intact, but if your power core is destroyed, see ya.  Many skills and spells will be based on the power core, so you could, in D&D speak, sacrifice HP for more spell power.

However, also like D&D, if you go level based, there's the assumption that you can avoid deadlier attacks more frequently the higher level you are (experience, luck, etc), so you could have a higher level = higher HP and still make it work.

Ok based on your description of the game I'll go with option 1. Classes and levels can make sense in the universe with robots of different types/design based on their function (classes) and additional upgrades added to them selectively later on (feat like modules). Would work well for the type of adventuring intended IMO.

It looks like option 3 seems the runaway winner.  Of course I have some preconceived preferences, but I'm smart enough to know that sometimes when doing game design, you have to be prepared to shelf an idea you might like personally if most everyone else isn't fond of it.