Capping character points and further customization?

[finn]

I could see this working, if the players are happy with it. A game's focus can move away from to advancing a character to playing the same, established characters (with slow changes over time).

However, being absolutely necessary to lower some ability to gain another sounds stressful. Adding one or two skills from time to time should not always require you to lose another ability.

How about giving out less character points after reaching a certain point (such as 300)?
Since their characters are "advanced enough" and "established themselves", you can limit the points you hand out to 1 point per session, or even 1 point per every other session.

As for losing some ability to gain another, I think heavy GM oversight is unavoidable. Combined with guidelines such as:

• You can reallocate up to 5 points per every other session, or 15 points between campaigns.
• The lost skill or ability should be ones not used recently, preferably never used.
• The change should not invade the niche covered by another PC.

Another option would be to require them to "burn" an unspent character point to reallocate a set amount of points (maybe 10 points?). This might work with giving out small number of points as I suggested above.

However, this would all depend on how the players feel. If they enjoy advancing their characters, you should not deprive them of that fun.