This is very interesting. I've been considering something similar (like a feat per level, capping out at 9th), to put more lateral advancement into the game. My group tends to play in the mid levels, and there is a tendency to "level out" of the game we enjoy into a game we enjoy less (or just takes more work than we're comfortable with). There is a facet of high level play-- when you're not used to it-- where you spend as much time figuring out how to play (looking up spells, abilities, feats, calculating numbers, etc), than you do actually playing.
Have you considered letting characters gain stat points in addition to feats? Maybe a point every 10k, or lower if you go with a lower overall level of magic. (I'm leaning towards giving pcs a stat point every level and taking permanent stat boosters out, but leaving charged items and spells that do it.)
Have any of your players tried races with LA's? It would seem capping out at 6 HD, that giving up even a level or two would be a much bigger deal than in a game that was running into high levels. I've always been a big proponent of making LA +0 versions of any race... maybe letting them take racial abilities as feats. What about characters gaining LA'd templates in play, like vampires or lycanthropes? Assuming you wanted to allow it, how much to you think it would throw off the numbers? If a group had capped at 6th level, and one of them got chomped by a werebear for what amounts to a free increase in CR, I could see that overshadowing the rest of the group. (There's all kinds of problems with that example, but if a character got a free increase in CR that you were cool with, how would you bring the other pcs up? Would you deficit the guy with increased CR until the group had earned enough feats to even it out, or just not worry about it?)
Edit: Thought of something else.
It seems like this system would benefit from being pretty transparent with creature CR's. In the case of the black dragon of Staunwark Isle, the players knowing roughly how far above their level the monster is will determine how much help, special resources and knowledge they will seek before going there. (Personally, I find tougher encounters the party can prep for to be more fun than easier encounters that are sprung on them, even if the relative level of difficulty is about the same.
Have you considered letting characters gain stat points in addition to feats? Maybe a point every 10k, or lower if you go with a lower overall level of magic. (I'm leaning towards giving pcs a stat point every level and taking permanent stat boosters out, but leaving charged items and spells that do it.)
Have any of your players tried races with LA's? It would seem capping out at 6 HD, that giving up even a level or two would be a much bigger deal than in a game that was running into high levels. I've always been a big proponent of making LA +0 versions of any race... maybe letting them take racial abilities as feats. What about characters gaining LA'd templates in play, like vampires or lycanthropes? Assuming you wanted to allow it, how much to you think it would throw off the numbers? If a group had capped at 6th level, and one of them got chomped by a werebear for what amounts to a free increase in CR, I could see that overshadowing the rest of the group. (There's all kinds of problems with that example, but if a character got a free increase in CR that you were cool with, how would you bring the other pcs up? Would you deficit the guy with increased CR until the group had earned enough feats to even it out, or just not worry about it?)
Edit: Thought of something else.
It seems like this system would benefit from being pretty transparent with creature CR's. In the case of the black dragon of Staunwark Isle, the players knowing roughly how far above their level the monster is will determine how much help, special resources and knowledge they will seek before going there. (Personally, I find tougher encounters the party can prep for to be more fun than easier encounters that are sprung on them, even if the relative level of difficulty is about the same.
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