[David Bofinger]

Originally Posted by zot

I found that Attributes/2 is a fair approximation of this and could work well for all characters, not just those focused on IQ.

That's worth testing. Let's try a few characters, some with high IQ and some with low, each at say 35 points (and 17 talent/spell points?) to put them in the middle of the range that Legacy permits. I'll give each their core talents and spells, plus those it's pretty nice to have.

Hero (halberdier); ST 15, DX 11, IQ 9; Pole Weapons, Toughness I, Toughness II, Running +9 extra - Even with needing to pay for Toughness II, he's got plenty of talent points to burn on low IQ talents like Climbing, Streetwise, Diving, Swimming, Bard, Sex Appeal, Charisma, Literacy, Horsemanship, etc.

Hero (tank); ST 12, DX 13 (10), IQ 10; Knife, Sword, Shield, Toughness I, Expert Shield +10 extra - Again, a heap of extra talent points.

Wizard (basic hedge wizard); ST 10, DX 14, IQ 11; Blur, Light, Staff, Fire, Summon Scout, Summon Myrmidon, Create Wall, Illusion, Sleep, Staff II +7 extra - Lots of other spells you could buy, but not many that are hugely valuable.

Hero (skill monkey fencer); ST 9, DX 12, IQ 14; Knife, Sword, Literacy, Physicker, Tactics, Fencer, Assess Value, Scholar, Strategist, Master Physicker +4 extra less some languages - Even with keeping him pretty focused on the high IQ talents, not aiming for being a master fencer or a face or a Woodsman, he's blown most of his talent points on the core capabilities and has little left for customisation.

Wizard (sophisticated and classically trained); ST 9, DX 12, IQ 14; Detect Magic, Light, Staff, Summon Scout, Sleep, Staff II, 3-Hex Fire, Analyze Magic, Mage Sight, 3-Hex Wall, Staff III, Summon Gargoyle, 4-Hex Illusion, Glamor, Lightning +2 extra - It's not like I've given the wizard everything he'd like to have. You could add Alertness, Summon Giant, lots of other things.

You can argue with the exact choices I've made but the pattern seems clear: characters with low IQ have all the talent points they can eat and are staring at a pretty unpalatable buffet, characters with high IQ are in the cave of wonders and have been told they can only take one item.

Question is whether this is a good thing or a bad thing and whether it's what you want. I don't like it because I want those high IQ characters to be able to buy the silly skills like Boating that may never be relevant, without missing out on something really nice. But I'm not sure how to achieve it.