Custom characters all the way. Just make sure that the character design system does provide some incentives to specialise. Ever classless pnp RPG I've played has still produced specialised players - but often specialised in unorthodox ways. A healthy system of prerequesites can produce specialisation even in a classless system. Take Diablo 1 for example - the class you chose was pretty inconsequential, the game could have just as easily been classless, with players specialising based on their choices rather than an initial decision.

A good approach is requiring groups of stats to be good at different tasks - players will develop stats X,A,B to function as clerics, or X,F,D to become pure wizards, etc.

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Original post by Wutalife37 The main benefit of a class system, as I see it, is to simplify things for the player. For example, It is a lot easier to look at a character and see "level X Archer" than to look at his weapons, see he has a crossbow in his inventory, then look at his stats and see he has a high dexterity stat, and then look at his skills and see he has quite a few skills an archer could use. Take FFT for example, where you could tell if an enemy was going to shoot you form a distance or charge at you with a giant sword just by looking at the sprite. Imagine how difficult it would be if you had to look at all 5-10 enemies and figure out exactly what they are capable of. This would also be a lot more difficult if those enemies could do multiple things, like a white mage that had a huge defensive stats or a slow knight that also had a crossbow. I think that free-form is better for the player because it gives the player more options in developing a character he truly wants. However, when it comes to enemies, I think that a static and straightforward class system is more appropriate. The main problem, then, is what to do in a multiplayer game where the enemies are also PC's. In that case I think that a class system is the best choice. It makes things much easier and faster for the character when he need only take a quick glance at an opponent or ally to understand their capabilities than to look through each stat and skill.

I think the big thing you'd have to do is a) make sure that character attirbutes are reflected in their appearances, and equipment is plainly visible and heavily effects fighting style. For example, heavy plate armor impedes dexterity and slows magic oriented actions, so a guy in heavy plate armor is probably not an archer or a combat wizard. Make equipment large and visible - a big longbow is hard to miss. Make the player's shape reflect his stats - the big no-neck-walking-mountain of a guy will probably kick your ass if you get too close, and may throw shit at you. The guy with glowing eyes holding the glowing staff (or has nothing in his hands) is likely some sort of spellcaster - and by his pallor and extensive tattooing, probably in the druidic and necromantic disciplines. A thief might be hard to pick out in a crowd - but personally, I think that's a good thing. What thief wants to look like a thief?

How about a system similar to that of Discworld MUD? You have a class and a specialization (perhaps best to make that optional); this gives you a set of primary skills on a skill tree. It's cheaper to advance primaries than non-primaries; skills related to primaries are also cheaper than other skills though more expensive than primaries. If you're a thief but your party needs a healer, you can spend experience points on healing skills. You could, potentially, sign up to be a thief but spend all your points on magic, though that would probably be stupid. Discworld's implementation of this system is not as I would like it, though; you're pretty much required to join a guild, even if you would rather not.