[crossfire] race/class lacks distinctions

[Mark Wedel]

  It has long been discussed that with a few exception (the non humanoid races 
and the classes that prohibit weapons/armors), a lot of race/classes tend to 
blur together.

There are several reasons for this:

- There are not really any race/class restrictions for objects (or conversely, 
not any objects that only clerics can use, or that only fighters can use, etc). 
  While there is a 'ring of the paladin', you don't need to be a paladin to use 
it for example.

- Pretty much all the skills are learnable, so what skills you start out with 
are not very important - you can learn everything else later.

- Most differences in stats can be overcome fairly easily by use of items that 
improve your stats.

  In terms of these issues, I think the first could be fixed by adding new items 
and a little code - use a key/value to store what class/race can use an object, 
and add some code in the apply logic to check for it.

  For the skills, my thought would be there should be different levels (for lack 
of better term) of skills.

  For example, there may be 4 different skills of sorcery - basic, expert, 
advanced, mastery.  However, these all tie in with the same skill.

  The sorcery class starts with the mastery skill.  Some of the other classes 
(if they get several casting skills) maybe get those at advanced.  Skill scrolls 
would give you basic skill, and perhaps quests or other harder to do things give 
you expert.

  What exactly these differences mean would have to be worked out.  At a most 
basic level, it could determine the rate of exp you gain in the skill (basic 
gets 25% of normal or something). There could also be level caps - mastery caps 
at 110, advanced 75, expert 50, basic 25 (however, the fact there really aren't 
many spells above level 20, this may not mean a lot).

  Maybe for fighting skills, it means you get some extra hp (1/x skill levels?) 
  Maybe only experts/masters get that bonus?  Or get a better bonus?

  I think various cool bonuses for different skills could probably get worked 
out.  But what this does it make your class selection more important - you can 
choose a wizard and really play them as a fighter - sure, you can still fight, 
but a person who plays a fighter will become a much better fighter.

  I don't really have any good solution to the stat problem - I don't think that 
is really solvable.