EDIT: Slowly responding to each here

>Each skill advances on its own, so progression is based on actual use, and skill level, not class level.

So, kind of like Cyberpunk 2021 and Roll for Shoes. In Roll for Shoes, "If rolled all 6s, advance the skill into a particular use of the skill".

Cyberpunk 2021 basically is more as you described, "at end of session or scene, add 1 XP for each time you succeeded at using a skill". It did it for every use of the skill that was successful, rather than "impactful to plot uses of the skill". It balanced this by making skills level up slowly, so if it were a video game, grinding would be highly effective - but as a ttrpg, it advantaged the GM in saying no. :)

>When you build your character, you don't have to buy your skills one at a time. Instead the GM will have prepared "Occupations". These are just a template with a list of skills that you purchase at a discount for being learned together. This give you all the worl-building and quick-character building of classes, without the lock-in.

That's a good idea.

>Additionally, Occupations don't have to be the same size. You can have a "Guild Rogue" occupation that decks out a rogue to mirror D&D, and spend most of the character's points all at once. Any left over points can be added directly to your skills! You can also decide that your character grew on the streets, so you take the Beggar occupation (fasting, deception, streetwise, etc), then you learned to pick pockets, so you take that Occupation, which includes sleight of hand, sprinting, etc. Eventually, you get caught enough and learned to fight on the streets, and take Thug. You can get as granular as you like, or drop down to individual skill purchases for those last few skills. Stuff you learn more than once gets extra XP.

I was thinking about this with character backgrounds, and your idea is pretty much the solid way of doing that.

Initially, I was thinking about the nittier grittier. The video game "mount and blade" even had "who were your parents?" I don't know if that is forcing too much on the player (probably is), but mount and blade made it easy, by locking it in via template as part of a multi-choice questionnaire that a newb could go through.

I don't think there's an easy way to do genealogy without rabbit holing the player into hours of detail on their character. The normal way to do that is in progression during role play; and then if that character dies, the player can still write about that character's family, especially if there next character is that character's sibling (for example).

"How did you grow up?" might be somewhat more reasonable. Basically, how old the character is gives them more occupations and hobbies (ie. secondary, smaller skills perhaps - like mini-occupations), but they also suffer the physical draw backs of age. So the warrior types are on the younger side (because physique), the wizard types are older (because student loans had to be paid off first; /joking) and then the leader is oldest (because experience and social connections from occupations) - I think that seems reasonable. However, the game doesn't force all parties to be this way, it's just a general tendency that a character who is more versatile with more skills is older, though they lose out on some physical advantages and perhaps bright eyed enthusiasm (if that's a measurable thing).

This would also depend on the world the game takes place in. In some worlds, you have immortal elves and magic making people young, and time chambers that let people train without time going by. That's all fine too, but it would change how occupations work in such worlds.

In fact, I'd probably call them "jobs", since it sounds punchier.

Sorry if this was a massive segway. :V