Systole
First Post
Since this discussion has come up a couple times now, I'm submitting Streamlined Traits for discussion. The original thread is here, along with a spirited discussion and a rant or two by yours truly. The purpose behind these traits is really to cut through all of the complex rules and categories that I believe detract from using traits as a good RP tool, and the reskinning of the same damn trait over and over again.
I've used these traits in a home game, and I haven't seen any balance issues come out of it. RP-wise, I found that it actually gives players a lot more room to develop the characters they want without having to shoehorn themselves into published fluff. One player took a K:Engineering/K:Nature trait that made perfect sense given her character background, but doesn't actually exist in the SRD.
Note: I've changed the names of the traits from the original thread.
Putting these traits into play does bring up the secondary issue of how to categorize them. In my home game, I just threw away the idea of trait categories and allowed players to select whatever they wanted. (Again, no balance issues noted.) This may be a bit of a radical departure, and I'm not sure if this is a step LPF wants to take.
As I see it, there are three ways of incorporating these traits into the trait system. From least conservative to most conservative:
I've used these traits in a home game, and I haven't seen any balance issues come out of it. RP-wise, I found that it actually gives players a lot more room to develop the characters they want without having to shoehorn themselves into published fluff. One player took a K:Engineering/K:Nature trait that made perfect sense given her character background, but doesn't actually exist in the SRD.
Note: I've changed the names of the traits from the original thread.
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Putting these traits into play does bring up the secondary issue of how to categorize them. In my home game, I just threw away the idea of trait categories and allowed players to select whatever they wanted. (Again, no balance issues noted.) This may be a bit of a radical departure, and I'm not sure if this is a step LPF wants to take.
As I see it, there are three ways of incorporating these traits into the trait system. From least conservative to most conservative:
- Abolish trait categories.
- Keep the categories. Put these traits in a "General" category. Allow more than one selection from General but keep the limitation of one trait per category elsewhere.
- Keep the categories, and only allow a single selection from General traits, just like every other category.