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I don't. Absolutes keep things nice and simple on both sides of the screen. As soon as you put it on any sort of sliding scale of penalties, though, players will gradually find ways of expanding the borders and-or reducing the effects of those penalties over the years. Picking locks is not...

The first and most important thing a city (or any settlement, for that matter) needs is a reliable source of fresh water, usually a river.

Except aren't the game mechanics there to abstract and reflect that universe as best they can? Isn't that their job? If so, then if in-universe there's no difference that should be reflected by there being no game-mechanical difference.

Correct. I also don't support kickstarters or the like.

I always read it that a 16th-level Illusionist casts these as if a 1st-level MU, with the caster level increasing as the Illusionist's level increases (1.e. 17 = 2, 18 = 3, etc.).

Illusionists rock! Unless you're in a dungeon where the foes are all undead, in which case you brought the wrong character. :) What can work really well is, in tandem with a Magic User, doubling up on the damage spells: you cast a real fireball, then I'll follow up with a fake, then you do...

We converted Druids to Nature Clerics in about 1983 to save having to design a whole other class that would be the same as Druid but pray for spells etc. like a Cleric. "Druid" as a name is also very much tied to one specific culture, which doesn't make sense when many different cultures can...

By RAW they could. I've never seen it played that way, though; IME usually the most restrictive armour option takes precedence (in contrast with weapons, where the most permissive takes precedence). Same rationale as Fighter-Thieves not being able to do any useful Thieving while in heavy armour.

Great song, but I don't buy things until I've seen them in person. I also prefer to support local businesses when there's a choice.

Exactly. My whole outlook is predicated on this very point. And this contradicts your sentence above. If there's no such thing as PC or NPC then NPCs shouldn't have things PCs don't/can't have and vice versa, when the access to those things is solely based on their status as PC or NPC...

We added in an armour enchantment - I call it "Arcane Aid" - that allows mages to cast while wearing it. Mithril armour (a.k.a. Elven Chain, Drow Chain) comes with this feature built in, but such armour is extremely rare. Needless to say, even the most basic armour with Arcane Aid is...

It is absolute. That's why mages "can't wear armour"; they actually can, but it kills their main class ability dead. If a commoner can wear it, anyone should be able to wear it. Note, however, that wearing it and being able to function in it as your class expects are different things...

Perhaps, but if the combat engine could cover all of this, that's better - right? If it's to the point where you're seeking healing for it then IMO it's well within the abstraction layer for combat, never mind that we're looking to reflect more than just combat here. Fair, and that's IMO a bit...

Are they on the shelf at my FLGS for me to flip through before I decide to buy or not? If no, not interested.

In 3.x the key factor was removal of interruption. There was still a pretty big difference in to-hit and damage between Fighters and Wizards once you got past the very low levels. Another factor is that combat spells no longer take in-game time to cast, making them faster within the round on...

We've softened it such that on reaching the required xp for a new level you can keep gaining xp while adventuring as "untrained" in your new level; the main benefit of this is that if you meet a level-drainer the untrained level is lost first. If you keep going too far into the new level...

How can I not be one of the blood when I'm one of the blood? As for the Rogue-Assassin, the PC shouldn't get abilities the NPCs don't/can't have any more than the reverse.

As does D&D. I mean, in any edition a MU can put on plate mail if she wants to; she just can't cast spells in it.

Not all injuries have to be life-threatening in order to count as injuries, though. I mean, were I to badly mash my fingers in the car door my life wouldn't be in danger but my hammer-wielding prowess would be reduced for a few days; which in pure game-mechanics terms would mean my to-hit and...

How, then, can the game model the infliction and curing of injuries such as being shredded by a housecat or clonked in the head by someone throwing a rock? Because to a commoner, those can be serious; and IMO the game system is there to reflect everyone in the setting, not just adventurers...