The stats system used in Trailed Alliance is a custom hybrid system that uses a mix of character classes and skills that can be combined. It’s not a completely free form skill-based system but instead will introduce professions (classes) from which the player and NPCs can posses one or more. Every profession features a tree of boxes. There’s a novice box, a master box and four tiers where each has four boxes. Each of these boxes can contain a selection of skill mods and/or abilities (and sometimes crafting schematics) that are granted when buying the box with skill points. The skill points are a pool of a set amount of points that every character possesses. So buying tier boxes will draw skill points from this pool and once the pool reaches zero the player will not be able to buy any more levels.
This way the player can invest skill points into one or more professions but only novice professions are accessible from the beginning. On top of that are the advanced professions and for these it’s required to complete several tiers of a related novice profession and for some specific advanced professions it will even be necessary to complete all tiers of a novice profession (which means that for some very powerful advanced professions you will need to learn all 16 boxes of a related novice profession, of course incl. its novice and master boxes).
If this system sounds familiar, chances are that you have been a player of the earlier versions of Star Wars Galaxies because this is exactly how the excellent hybrid system worked in Star Wars Galaxies before the NGE overhaul dumbed down the game to a very basic class-based system that was based on WoW.
I might be doing some modifications to the system but generally TA will feature a very similar system like explained.
The idea of this system is that the player can learn as many professions and skills as the skill points limitation allows him. Like this the player can for example learn two full tiers of the Marksman novice profession to be able to start the Commando advanced profession while at the same time he can learn the Pilot novice profession to start any of the advanced professions that are based on Pilot, for example Navigator or Gunner.
The player can always dispose any finished tier boxes later to regain back the skill points invested into it. Like this it’s possible to try out different skills and professions. Experience gained for the tier box will not completely be reset but neither will stay at the reached amount, otherwise one could switch around between professions too easily without any challenge.
Some advanced professions will require to have full tier boxes in two novice professions. This is to balance out some advanced professions that can be quite powerful.
With this hybrid system the player can create his own character template consisting of one or more professions. You could for example create a Marksman/Spy/Assassin, a Pilot/Scout/Survivalist or a Psychic/Telepathist/Rogue.
If this all still sounds too confusing check out this diagram of the Artisan novice profession tier structure. While not yet complete it illustrates the structure quite nicely …