Re: Capping character points and further customization?
That seems like adding complexity that won't get you much benefit. I can understand the thinking. In real life, because I haven't practiced karate in a couple years, my karate skill probably lost a few points to time, but in that time I've been doing a lot of writing, so maybe my writing skill has gone up. It makes sense.
But in a game like this, the skills that the characters don't use are pretty much useless points anyway, and awarding points and allowing them to improve skills with those points is a bit like that anyway. And it doesn't require keeping track of which skills haven't been used in a while and which skills the character used in any given session. And does picking one lock in a session provide as much opportunity for skill advancement as someone using their Melee Weapon: Knife skill all through two separate battles for that session?
If you're fairly intent on do this because the realism appeals to you, you'll likely have to accept a fair amount of record keeping (maybe a spreadsheet to help?), so you can provide your players with a list of skills they're allowed to improve after each session.
I'm also focusing on skills a lot. I think Skills fit your idea best. I'm not sure I like the idea of advantages being swapped or attributes being adjusted like that.
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