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Old 07-16-2018, 05:12 PM   #12
larsdangly
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Default Re: Another Approach to Spell/Talent Cost

Something like this will be required so that characters continue to evolve over the time scales of long campaigns. But it will be a bit tricky for two reasons: 1) If a 'typical' experienced hero has 10-15 talents, the game will start to take on the complexity of GURPS, which I think everyone agrees would damage TFT's unique feel. And, as the system of talents expands and folds in new, less play tested ideas, it becomes increasingly likely that you accidentally include an 'ideal build' to which all characters drift. This is a problem in many complex games. Your instincts in this regard are obviously pretty good, but as characters become more and more defined by their talents rather than their stats, it will become more and more important that those talents conform to a well defined 'trade space', such that any special advantage you get is in exchange for some opportunity cost of a similarly valuable advantage you didn't get. The concept is simple but there are tons of games that can't stick to it as characters become more complex.

So, short version: I think the decision to limit characters to 40 attribute points makes it absolutely necessary that talents provide a 'release valve' for character development. But don't make the release valve too big or all the gas will go out of the games tires! If I were in your shoes I'd be thinking about an additional ~2-3 dozen talents total, with few that 'stack' or progress to power levels much greater than equivalent to 2-3 stat points. That way a super experienced character might have a great diversity of interesting abilities, but can't just walk all over everyone else.
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