OD&D Paths, Archetypes, and Traditions

One of the features that I do like about 5E is the idea that most characters start off as a "basic" member of his or her class, then at 2nd or 3rd level (after enough play to get a good feel for the character and their probable career path), they pick a path, archetype, tradition, etc., which modifies the class. So, for example, your basic fighter might become a physically-dominating champion, a "genius bruiser" battle master, or even a magic-wielding eldrich knight.

I think 5E missed a great opportunity here. As I noted in a previous post, the sheer number of demi-human magic-wielding options is so overwhelming that the idea of playing a human fighter--once the backbone (and probable leader) of the D&D adventuring party--is lost in the background.

So what if 5E had taken a slightly different approach?

What if character classes started with the "basic four," but with branching alternatives that opened up at relatively low levels?

You start as a fighter (with a background--that's one element that I think 5E did great), but then at 3rd, you decide which path you want to take: champion, battle-master, eldrich knight . . . or paladin, ranger, or barbarian.

You start as a rogue, and at 3rd level, decide to branch out to thief, assassin, arcane trickster . . . or bard.

You start as a cleric, one with a unique link to the gods, but only later do you have to decide which domain you make your covenant with, or whether you take up the path of the druid. (Given my thoughts on the entirely different origins of the cleric and druid, however, I could see letting these remain completely separate classes.)

For wizards, we could take a different path: Natural-born sorcerers later decide whether to continue to run off of raw (wild) talent, to embrace their draconic bloodline, to carefully study the art of magic as a wizard, or whether to make a pact with a seducing otherworldly power and thus continue on the path of a warlock.

All of this would work particularly good with the use of backgrounds: A fighter with the outlander background would be a natural fit for the barbarian, and folk-hero for ranger. But the backgrounds wouldn't lock in the character progression at all--perhaps the fighter with the acolyte background becomes possessed by a berzerker spirit and becomes a "barbarian" as a result. Or the outlander becomes a disciplined battle-master.

I actually considered doing something like this when Wizards released the "Basic" 5E rules, but was so annoyed by the incompleteness of those rules that I wrote off the project and went back to pre-2nd Edition versions. And since I've basically said, "If it's in the PHB, it's game" by way of testing the new edition on it's own merits, that ship has sailed. Still, I could see using the SRDs to work out a more "old school" version of the rules for some future campaign, perhaps one set a little closer to the "core lands" of Newold, where magic still works, but isn't nearly as strong as it is in the Ravensgate region.

Food for thought.