Turn based combat system: Building the classes

My girlfriend and I are currently vacationing in Florida for the Thanksgiving holiday so I haven't been coding at all. This does however give me time to think about the game mechanics and how it's all going to come together.

My combat system is all in spreadsheets with all the stats, skills and other character attributes. Of course this is a raw system that I made up on my own and completely unproven. I have no doubt once I see it in action there will be a lot adjustments.

Since my game isn't fantasy based upon I felt I was really restricted on making classes. For fantasy classes you can have a fighter, mage, cleric, thief, barbarian, paladin and so on. My game setting is post apocalyptic so I originally decided to not have classes at all and let the player build up the character stats as they saw fit, four characters in all. I also originally had it real old school with basic stats such as strength, endurance, etc in their own separate container that would receive their own points to upgrade with on each level up.

So I got to thinking and the more I thought about it the more I realized I wasn't really thinking outside of the box. The above system would still be fun but it's kind of one dimensional and doesn't allow for a lot of possibilities or tactical decisions in a firefight.

Here is what I came up with so far that I think will really open up the possibilities. The classes will be soldier, demolitions, sniper, heavy weapons, and locksmith.

The soldier would have bonuses for automatic weapons and be well rounded. Demolitions would have a love for explosive weapons and be able to set and disarm traps. Sniper would excel at longer range fire. Heavy weapons will be for heavy fire support but you would have to use those weapons wisely since ammo use will also be an issue. A locksmith will be a key master, able to hack terminals, open locks, steal, etc.

In addition to each class having their own specialities I'm also going to make certain upgrades available to only that class in leveling up. I can also see designing missions where you can pass them no matter what you have but a particular class would help a lot. It might also allow the player to build a party that is suited to their playing tastes. I also like the fact that if I create 6 classes but only allow four characters in the group it will force some decisions to be made. I plan on having a dozen or so characters that can be picked up along the way.

I'm confident that this new system, even though it's still only on paper, will allow much greater playing choices. I can't wait to see it in action.