I'm not the best to guess on these but I love the idea of a hybrid... Structured paths that occasional creativity or skills can unlock variations or bypass bits. Skill based, but with limitations to keep them from being over powered.
I'd like to touch on the 'overpowered' comment...because you're not wrong, but it got me thinking...
Don't we have overpowered people in the world around us? Aren't the bad forces we have to contend with often overpowered, which is one reason we must contend??
What measures can we take or what things should we look for to avoid this overpowering?
D&D with its fixed paths is too simple (ignore multi-classing, that's outright bad) and GURPS is way too loose. I'd go with unique perks/traits that you gain over time, and a suggested list of skills you advance in. So you start with distributing points to a fixed set of skills and a given set of traits. And later you can continue that path or deviate from it to get a unique character. I like how Pathfinder 2e allows you to touch into a lot of topics by giving you a lot of feats ourside of your class path. A few skills could be given just by a trait, like the gnome tinkerer class that builds gadgets. You get something like Craft (Gadget), which no one else has/can roll on.
I wouldn't give any besides stuff like: if elves in your world are all kinda "good" characters, they'd not be warlocks. Or if you have some evil species, they wouldn't work well with a class "Paladin" except it's a paladin for an evil deity. I wouldn't add any additional hurdles. If you have fitting attributes, you should be able to pick it... fitting as in: if you have intelligence 5 and intelligence is what you need to cast, you better not be a caster then. :-P
Also again: flair. I like for everything if a play can put their flair onto it. I have an archetype/class "Warchef". That could be a flair of an "alchemist". Creating tiny cakes and snacks instead of potions.
I'm not the best to guess on these but I love the idea of a hybrid... Structured paths that occasional creativity or skills can unlock variations or bypass bits. Skill based, but with limitations to keep them from being over powered.
I'd like to touch on the 'overpowered' comment...because you're not wrong, but it got me thinking...
Don't we have overpowered people in the world around us? Aren't the bad forces we have to contend with often overpowered, which is one reason we must contend??
What measures can we take or what things should we look for to avoid this overpowering?
Oooh, I love that. But still... With great power comes great responsibility, and in many cases also weaknesses that keep us humble.
D&D with its fixed paths is too simple (ignore multi-classing, that's outright bad) and GURPS is way too loose. I'd go with unique perks/traits that you gain over time, and a suggested list of skills you advance in. So you start with distributing points to a fixed set of skills and a given set of traits. And later you can continue that path or deviate from it to get a unique character. I like how Pathfinder 2e allows you to touch into a lot of topics by giving you a lot of feats ourside of your class path. A few skills could be given just by a trait, like the gnome tinkerer class that builds gadgets. You get something like Craft (Gadget), which no one else has/can roll on.
So I'm curious, though -- are there boundaries as to what a PC CAN play? Are there any walls, or limitations as to what someone can choose?
Say like due to a race, or lower stats?
...or maybe you get bonuses for some races, but not weaknesses??
I wouldn't give any besides stuff like: if elves in your world are all kinda "good" characters, they'd not be warlocks. Or if you have some evil species, they wouldn't work well with a class "Paladin" except it's a paladin for an evil deity. I wouldn't add any additional hurdles. If you have fitting attributes, you should be able to pick it... fitting as in: if you have intelligence 5 and intelligence is what you need to cast, you better not be a caster then. :-P
Also again: flair. I like for everything if a play can put their flair onto it. I have an archetype/class "Warchef". That could be a flair of an "alchemist". Creating tiny cakes and snacks instead of potions.