For a pve model I would like to see something like uo back in the day. Full on skill based, classless system. The more you use something you level up that skill, thus opening up new branches upon reaching certain milestones. Everyone could have, say 3-5 major skills and 3-5 minor ones. So for instance you put one point into fireball, you continue to level up the fire ball making it more powerful and at the same time opening up new paths on a skill tree to take that fireball skill and mod it, for example fireball becomes forked fireball with 3 projectiles, or it becomes a meteor, etc... This system of course would have to have some sort of balance, for example the more in magic you spec, the less weapon choices are available to you, same with armor. Maybe layer in a stat system, so that in order to have good magic skill you need tons of wiz or int, but then you cannot have so much str to wear that heavy armor, or use 2h swords efficiently, etc...
One of the things you could work with is the dual Path-Skill system underlying the Legend of Randidly Ghosthound litrpg webnovel.
It's an hybrid classless/class system.
- You discover basic skills by doing stuff, like Cooking by cooking recipes, Running by... running, etc.
- You gain skill points by using them, based on the circumstances vs your skill (you gain more progress on Dodge if you are in melee with lighter armor; you gain more XP doing cooking in the field than if you're grinding in the city on a professional grill but the product is lower quality)
- Each skill point gives you a Path Point
- You unlock Paths by multiple means. You start with Path of the Newbie (10PP); some paths are unlocked by killing special mobs, some paths are unlocked when you reach a specific skill level in a skill, etc, etc
- You inject PP into a Path, which may give you stats, or skills, or "stats per level", or another Path
The thing is, the higher your stats/skills, the more you suffer from Aether Starvation, which means your skill growth slows (that's a soft version of the UO-type skill cap). If you're a newb, starting, getting Cooking from 20 to 21 could require cooking 20 Pepperoni Pizzas at uncommon quality. However, if you're already 100% over Aether Starvation cap, it takes 40 instead. So at one point, you need to switch to a Class:
- Available classes are based on Skills you have unlocked.
- Having a class stop Aether Starvation (so your skill gains return to normal)
- Each level gives you stats/hp/mana/stamina, and the +XXX/level of your paths
- Levels can give you class skills at 5/10/15 intervals
- But you can unlock a limited number of skills. If you're full, you can drop a skill to learn a new one
You can add periodic respecs, which let you get a newer class, with different advantages (at the cost of losing all the PP of your class skills, which means your current path gets very long suddenly).
It works well in the context of the webnovel, since the MC is going to be overpowered and cheats by having incredible skills unlocked and ultrarare paths and OP classes. In a real game, it would require a massive balancing effort (for example classes can give you better stats, but less skills, or vice versa, or even have negative stats/level). But it would be fun.
Example: You start the game with nothing, and 3-5 in all stats. You have no skills and the only Path unlocked is the Path of Newbie (5PP cost). So, you run around, find some mob, and unlock the Mainhand Dagger skill, and the Endure Hits skill, but manage to kill the mob with 1 HP remaining.
You now have 2 PP to spend, and due to the borderline kill and getting a defensive skill, you now have three paths: Path of the Newbie (5PP), Path of Physical Defense (7PP) and Path of the Risk Taker (15PP).
Let's say you do newbie, so put all 2PP and get 1 Free stat per PP. So you can now increase your starting stats. Fight another mob, and blam, you get +1 skill in Mainhand Dagger, +1 skill in Endure Hits, and unlock Dodge skill, so you complete the Path... and that gives you +1 to all stats, +1 stat/level, and unlock the Mana Bolt skill and Heavy Blow skill (which will allow you to start to specialize in melee or magic combat based on which you use).
etc, etc.
www.businessinsider.com
