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Message: <blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 8564454" data-attributes="member: 6790260">As a further extension of the stuff I mentioned before, I personally loved the conception 4e built into it's Themes, Backgrounds, Paragon Paths, and Epic Destinies, and would have rebuilt that system into something more cohesive, comprehensive, and able to augment the baseline features of each character class.Class would provide fairly basic tools and resources for the aforementioned dispute rules--I would try to go very very light-touch with any dispute role assignment via class, since it is very likely that different folks will have different ideas of what the inherent "social combat" goals would be for each class (that is, even moreso than with combat roles). So Wizards might get ways to use their Intelligence outside of just having high Wits, Fighters could get bonuses for high Wisdom (since that was a build path in 4e) or possibly some tools for weathering arguments in the same way they weather fights, etc., but overall that stuff would be very soft touch.I would then integrate Background, Theme, and possibly even Race into a single mechanical package: Heroic Origin. Every hero's journey starts somewhere. Heroic Origins would cover where a character came from and how they grew from a green, wet-behind-the-ears novice to a fully fledged (albeit still budding) adventurer. (This would also tie into the Novice Level rules: players who want to play through the ultra green stage would have rules for how to do that, essentially "building up" a Heroic Origin piece by piece.) Each Heroic Origin would offer a mix of combat and non-combat benefits, including stuff for setting one's dispute role and ways to interact with the exploration pillar as well. Physiology and culture would either be factored into this, or modular components that slot in.This would then lead on to one's Paragon Path (or some equivalent term if copyright BS threatens to muck things up), where one would narrow in on a specific focus and style of play, in all pillars of play, just as the Hospitaler PP lets Paladins become excellent Leaders despite that not being their default focus. Epic Destiny would then set you on a journey to a final apotheosis or transcendence of some kind, providing a solid and satisfying clear "end" to the journey that began with your Heroic Origin. This HOPPED system would thus cleanly encapsulate mechanics, thematics, and both the "I just want to play ordinary folks striving and struggling against down-to-earth problems" AND the "I want cool people doing awesome things and overcoming great adversity" crowds without denigrating either preference.</blockquote>

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