I hope so , or else no one left in the universe would be flying anything else than the biggest ships . <| sep |> In tabletop games , when you select a class you know exactly what class features you are going to get and when . Doesn ' t the same happen in computer RPGs ? In Skyrim you don ' t have classes , but a list of abilities , and you have complete freedom over which one to improve and when . If you want to focus on making a stealth character you don ' t have to roll anything just choose the abilities you are interested in at the expense of those you ' re not . In Path of Exile you have classes that share the same skill tree hundreds of abilities everyone can get . You don ' t have to roll anything , you just have to choose your own path . In World of Warcraft you have to choose between three talents every nlevels . Again , you don ' t have to roll anything , you can plan ahead exactly how your character develops . The last point is the key of what makes RPGs so fun to me you can spend hours outside the game researching the best combination of abilities and items for your character , and still have fun . I play DD 3 . 5 , but 90 % of the time I spent interacting with the game has been about reading guides and planning ahead . That is fun , because the end results is something that I have personally created . If my DM suddently told me Nope , your character loses this trait and has to choose between these three random ones I won ' t like that one bit . Even if these three are somewhat related to what I want to do the Aspiration system you were talking about , I will never be satisfied because there is a reason I chose a specific talent . What you could do , though , is pair this system with a regular leveling system . Have so that your character levels up like in any other RPG , choosing your abilities and allowing your player to plan ahead . On top of that , give your player a random trait to add to his character .