Characters
Characters are the core of any RPG, including this one. Players represent one or more characters, called Player Characters (PC); the Game Master (GM) or Dungeon Master (DM) control the Non-Playing Characters (NPC). Most of the plot involves the interaction among PCs and NPCs.
All characters have a name, genus and species, and class and specialist.
Names
Names are usually only assigned to PCs and important NPCs. Unimportant NPCs are usually
referred by their species or class. Players should pick meaningful names for their PCs or NPCs.
Since this is a Role-Playing Game, players are encouraged to role-play their character as if they
were in their character's shoes.
Genus and Species
A character's Genus and Species are sometimes referred in others RPGs as races. What this means
is that some 'races' cannot have babies with other 'races'. Also, each genus and species have
special powers and abilities that are unique to that genus and species.
Class and Specialist
Class and Specialist define a character's profession and specialization. Some examples are warriors,
magicians, priests, etc. These general profession can be specialized; for example, warriors can
include such specialists as Soldier, Weaponsmaster, Knights, etc. Each class and specialist also
has its own skills and powers that differentiate it from other classes.
List of Genus and Species
I thought of classes, templates, paths, etc., and other ideas, and it seemed to incorporate a bit of each GB Saga.
First, take the same four types of characters: humans, robots, mutants, and monsters. Now, for each type, we get to choose a class or a path. We can call them different names, like humans pick their classes, robots are built on different models, mutants set on a path, and monsters are inherited from various biological families. Like Saga 1, we have an adventurers' guild where we can hire/replace party members (like when they die) and where we can change their classes. This way, we get to try out different party constitutions during the same game, that is, without starting a new game. As we progress through the game, we get to uncover newer, more powerful classes. If you uncovered a mutant path, but you don't have a mutant in your party, you can hire a mutant to replace an old party member and put that mutant on that path right away. However, the mutant will start with low stats because he was newly created.
Each character type gets stats in different ways. Humans have to practice to get better, just like they are in Saga 2. Robots' strengths depends on the equipment they have, also like Saga 2. Mutants have to buy pills to grow, like humans in Saga 1 and robots in Saga 3. Not decided on monsters yet, but probably something like Saga Frontier, but also taking into account what family it belongs to.
Human classes--When a human chooses a class, he gets better chances to raises certain stats. Like fighters have an easier time gaining STR and mages can easily earn MANA. They also get a bonus when using weapons that match their class: fighters fight better with swords and mages fight better with spellbooks.
Mutant paths--Mutants follow a path that determine what skills he can learn and use. Say he follows the path of the white mage, then he can learn to use white magic, light magic, etc, and following the black mage path, dark magic, earth magic, or whatever. Gaining new skills is like Saga 2, but more like Saga Frontier since we can pinpoint what type of enemies to fight to get the skill we want.
Robot models--Robots are built based on blueprints or templates that represent a model type. Say Model A allows us to equip 4 swords and 4 armors; with Model B we can wield 2 swords, 2 guns, and 4 armors.
Monster families--Families are general groups of similar monsters. We have Water family, Plant family, etc. It's still undecided how to evolve into another form within the family. It's easy to copy Saga Frontier's method: the monster's skills determines the species within that family. If you then change family, you will get a different monster. To make this worthwhile, we will need to make lots and lots of monsters. Or we can take the Pokemon approach.