There will be an even dozen character types to choose from -- and in 3rd edition, multiclassing is an option as well, but it works differently. Any race can multi-class, but some races have 'preferred classes' which are easier for them to multi-class in. Instead of progressing simultaneously in more than one class, what happens is there is only one table for experience, which determines the character's overall level -- and each time a new level is gained, you can add a level in a class you already have, or you can add level 1 in a new class. There is a possible experience penalty if one has too many classes and they are not all balanced within one level of each other. The preferred class doesn't count for that purpose, and a human's preferred class is whatever happens to be his highest level class.
As an example, say a dwarven character is 5th level total, 3rd as a fighter (preferred class for dwarves) and 2nd as a cleric. He makes it to 6th level. He can add 1 level to either fighter or cleric, or he could add rogue at level 1. As any of these, he would not have an experience penalty -- 4th/2nd or 3rd/2nd/1st are both fine, because fighter is preferred, so the level difference between that class and any other doesn't matter. However, if he was 2nd fighter and 3rd cleric, he could still add a level to either fighter or cleric without a problem, but if he added rouge level 1, then between his cleric (3rd) and rogue (1st) levels there would be a level difference of 2 or more, and he'ld have an experience penalty. (The penalty is 20% for each pair of non-preferred classes which are 2 or more levels apart.) So basically, anyone can have two different classes without difficulty -- as long as one is the preferred class... In Oriental Adventures, some humans might actually have a specific preferred class, rather than it being whatever they have the most levels in.
So, speaking of the Oriental Adventures class choices. All characters will start out 2nd level, so they can have one class at level 2, or two classes at level 1 -- and I intend to make multi-classing a little more difficult during play than simply deciding when you go up that you want to add some new class. So, if multi-classing appeals to the player, then the character should start off with 2 classes at level 1, since levels in a class already taken will be easy to advance in, while totally new classes may require game time for training, possibly meaning missed expeditions etc. Anyways, the following is mostly from OA, but modified already for my particular campaign ideas etc.
The first class taken, at character level 1, and to a lesser extent the class selections available at character level 2, will depend in part on what social background a player selects. There are four overall social rankings -- Imperial, Noble, Common, and Barbarian. Rather than roll social rank, a player may simply choose, based on role-playing preferences and character classes desired.
Imperial characters belong to one of the vassal families serving the Imperial family -- not the semi-divine Imperial Family itself -- and at 1st level must take Aristocrat class. This class is from the DMG, rather than a standard class, it primarily gives the character access to a wide variety of skills, and a decent quantity of points to spend on skills. That class has few special benefits from advanciong within it, other than a decent number of skill points, so most Aristocrats will multi-class I expect. At higher level, an Imperial character is allowed to select one of a few different regular classes -- the vassal families serving the Imperial Family have very high status but also have some restrictions on the type of training they provide for their members...
Noble characters have three classes from which they may select at first level, after which they can continue to advance in that one class, or add a Common class as a second class. The three Noble classes are Aristocrat, Samurai, and Shugenja. Both Samurai and Shugenja characters will have been in training for many years, in organized schools, while Aristocrats are those nobles who have trained less strictly, with tutors or whatever, with more flexibility in their upbringing, aiming towards a life as a courtier mostly, but able to dabble in other fields of study as they choose. A Noble character will belong to one of the 7 Great Clans, which will determine one or two classes which can be selected as their 'preferred' class (for example, the Crab clan is noted for their Fighters and Rangers, while the Phoenix clan is famous for its powerful Shugenja). An Aristocrat may take any Common class as multi-class at 2nd level, or take a 2nd level in Aristocrat -- but a Samurai or Shugenja, due to his or her more rigid training, may only select a second class at 2nd level if it is 'preferred' by their clan (so a Crab character might be a Samurai/Fighter or Shugenja/Ranger, but not a Samurai/Monk).
Barbarian characters have but one class, Barbarian, at 1st level, and come from outside the borders of the empire. Like Aristocrats, Barbarians have a decent selection of Common classes allowed at 2nd level -- i.e. it is assumed in that case that the character has left home some time ago and wandered within the empire, gaining a level in a more civilized class, although it is also possible for some common classes to be picked up outside the empire as well.
Common characters don't have access to the special social-rank-based classes (Aristocrat, Barbarian, Samurai, Shugenja) -- but the eight classes which are available to them make all type of characters possible nonetheless; a Common character may select from the following classes: Fighter, Monk, Ranger, Rogue, Shamam, Sohei, Sorceror, Wu Jen.
A one-line description of the different classes:
So there is some food for thought! You can be anything you want, basically, with a few exceptions as mentioned above. Among the nobles, all the common classes and the three noble classes are available to one clan or another as a preferred class, so various combinations are available. A common character can pretty much combine any two common classes... The four social-rank-based classes (Aristocrat, Barbarian, Samurai, Shugenja) may only be advanced in if taken at level 1 -- so for instance Aristocrat/Samurai is not possible -- since each of these four classes represents the character's early upbringing. But most other combinations can be had one way or another...
As for characteristics, the 3rd edition made all ability scores the same in terms of what level of bonus a given number in the ability provides, and bonuses start earlier -- all characters will be guaranteed to have some amount of bonuses. The bonusses change by +/-1 for every two points, with 10/11 being +0:
2/3 = -4
4/5 = -3
6/7 = -2
8/9 = -1
10/11 = +0
12/13 = +1
14/15 = +2
16/17 = +3
18/19 = +4
20/21 = +5
etc.
With a witness looking on, players will roll 4 dice and take the best 3 six times, and allocate to the six abilities as desired. The whole set of numbers can be scrapped and rerolled if the character's total bonusses don't add up to at least +1, OR if there is no bonus of at least +2 (although if I had a character with six +1s I might keep it anyways).
In addition, I am allowing anyone who has a set of stats they would have to keep under that rule to dump that set of stats and take a default set of stats: 15 14 13 12 10 8. The default set has two +2s, two +1s, a +0 and a -1 -- decent overall total of +5, with only one handicap (-1) stat and two decent (+2) stats. (This avoids the worst case scenario, a 14, 4 10s and an 8 -- i.e. a +2 bonus, and a -1 -- with a positive total and at least one +2 the character would have to be played...yuck!)
So basically, all starting characters will have a certain amount of bonusses, so nobody gets stuck playing a 'loser' character, but players could still get lucky and roll a 'grossity' as it were. And being 2nd level to start with means that characters will have some extra abilities and hit points to work with, but won't be so advanced that minor monsters can be safely ignored...