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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ry" data-source="post: 3176720" data-attributes="member: 8314">This occurred to me quite a while ago, but I think it's something worth sharing.  Obviously this will only be considered worthwhile to those interested in moving to something a bit more rules-light, but not at the cost of character description & customization.  Also be advised that this is a game theory piece; it's an arrow towards what a rules-lighter d20 system would be, not the whole system itself.OK, disclaimers done.  Onto the idea:A currency is a specific type of rules information that provides some kind of benefit (or combination of benefits and penalties) to a character.  In D&D, currencies include Attributes, Racial Benefits, Level-dependent Abilities, Save progressions, Base Attack Bonus progressions, Hit Dice size, Feats, Spell Slots, Spells Known, Magic Items, Skill Points, Class Skills, and a few I'm sure I missed.The point is, when two items in the same currency have the same cost and are perceived to have the same value, then the items are considered balanced (relative to each other).  When they have different values, then they are considered unbalanced.  For example, two feats with no prerequisites have the same cost, and if they are comparable to each other in power level, then we call them balanced feats.  If one of them had a prerequisite that took 5 levels to attain, then they would be considered unbalanced.When a benefit in one currency (say a feat) interacts with elements in another currency (say a spell), it becomes more difficult to tell what is balanced and what is not.  Rules become a headache, however, when the same item (say a level in a prestige class) gives values in multiple currencies at once.The classic example of this is when the DM doesn't know when to say "no", and allows feats, prestige classes, and spells from many, many sources into his game.  The rules workload starts to get out of hand (and balance breaks down) because the combinations involved - even when the individual feats, prestige classes, and spells smoothly interacted with each other, and were balanced in their own context.So, we clearly know how to make the rules burden heavier.  But what if we are trying to make it lighter?My approach (or at least the very, very first part):Reduce the number of currencies and the interactions between them.  When I look at the available options, the first thing I look for is a good "base currency" - something that other rules might be reducible to.  For me, the answer is Feats.  Then I look for other things that could be reduced to Feats.  Now I look for things that I don't think can be reduced to the base currency - things that are elemental in defining characters, but which Feats don't cover - and here, I'll float Attributes and Level as candidates.So what else in the system can boil down to Feats, Attributes, and Level?  Quite a lot, actually, but I'll leave it till next time and see if there's any interest in seeing me continue.</blockquote>

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