As Stabbey said, for Option 3 to work, they should add Racial Points or something to the mix, which I don't see as a big issue.
That said, maybe it could work the old way. Rather than being a branching skilltree, you could invest your racial point in whatever is available to you, with the only restriction being the level. You would have a preview of what you will be able to unlock later on.
I believe regular talents ( leech, etc ) worked that way in DOS1 ?
So it would actually be a mix of 1, 2, and 3.
Either you start with 1 or 2 preselected passives, or you can invest 1 or 2 racial points in whatever you like ( passives or actives ).
Along the road, you can select, every X level, an ability in an evergrowing list that includes the starting choices.
