... combat is unfortunately going to have to be the most detailed system in the game. It's just unavoidable. But to encourage players to downplay combat in the game, the following sets of skills/rules are currently slated to be very expansive, encouraging different types of challenges and adventure hooks than fantasy RPG characters may be used to. After all, characters want two things: Money and Knowledge, because each of those leads to Power! And force is not always the best way to get that...:
Academics
Archeology (fantasy characters are always traipsing through ancient ruins... there should be some depth there)
Government (Characters want power, and what signifies power more than rulership?)
Merchant (financial empires aren't very heroic to go into in depth, but a working system of how to set up a business offers some interesting maneuvering possibilities, a place for adventurers to dump large treasure hauls, and better yet a steady income for when they're laid up or otherwise not out on the adventure trail!)
It was watching Raiders of the Lost Ark and reading Cerebus that made me think of different types of adventure possibilities and character focus. As with having autopsy rules, the mere presence of such rules will hopefully make GMs look at their game just a bit differently, and hopefully some of this stuff will actually be used.
And I'll say this til I'm blue in the face... if this projects works out well enough that there are followup supplements, woe be the player who designs a one-dimensional character and expects to get far in any officially published adventures!
Academics
Archeology (fantasy characters are always traipsing through ancient ruins... there should be some depth there)
Government (Characters want power, and what signifies power more than rulership?)
Merchant (financial empires aren't very heroic to go into in depth, but a working system of how to set up a business offers some interesting maneuvering possibilities, a place for adventurers to dump large treasure hauls, and better yet a steady income for when they're laid up or otherwise not out on the adventure trail!)
It was watching Raiders of the Lost Ark and reading Cerebus that made me think of different types of adventure possibilities and character focus. As with having autopsy rules, the mere presence of such rules will hopefully make GMs look at their game just a bit differently, and hopefully some of this stuff will actually be used.
And I'll say this til I'm blue in the face... if this projects works out well enough that there are followup supplements, woe be the player who designs a one-dimensional character and expects to get far in any officially published adventures!
