What would League be like without items?

I know it sounds like a lot of work and this isn't an original idea by any means but having an equivalent to items for each champion would make champions MUCH easier to balance. Each character would build up personal runes or choices through out the game, getting personal passives. To me this seems like a way to balance the game, diversify champions, and allow people to look at what type of stats they need in the moment. What I mean by the last bit is that I think it would be immensely helpful for assassins and adc's who are falling behind to be able to buy health at the cost of some damage. This way they can stay alive a little, but not ruin their entire game by being forced to lose out on what would currently be an item-1200ish gold- 7ish minutes of the early game gone to waste costing potentially the rest of the game. Do you guys think this could help game healthiness?