>I'll grant that point-based systems are interesting, but I actually
>like the way the Earthdawn system ended up working out. Having to
>train to a certain level in a number of talents before you get
>to learn new ones I see as reasonable. And Circle is really only a
>measure of how many talents you have access to.

Earthdawn does handle the concept better than others, but I still see the class paradigm as fundamentally flawed if you're trying to run an even remotely realistic campaign. I mean, D&D is fun and all, but it's about as flexible as cast iron, and I haven't found a class system that overcomes the basic straightjacketing that using a class-based system does to you. It's always "These are the abilities you get. Period. You do not get these abilities. Ever. No matter what." And systems that allow you to eventually pick up other abilities (like, say, D&D) in a class-based paradigm also force you to pick up a bunch of abilities you may not want, or may not be appropriate to your character concept.

>Some point-based systems I find go way overboard.

Like what? I'm a big GURPS fan, personally, although I concede that chargen can take forever in that system (it's no Runequest, but I know it's rough). When I was running a GURPS campaign for a bunch of people with little to no experience in the system, the entire first session was chargen. Yes, they were 200-point characters, but I can generate a 100-point character in half an hour, and I didn't think it would take three hours to create these characters. I guess it's that you have to have a pretty solid character concept in mind before you even start in GURPS, while in most systems (like, say, Storyteller) you can just muddle your way through.

>Regardless, I think Earthdawn's system fits the world. Heroes don't
>start out knowing everything - they have to build their legends.

You can say that for the recommended starting point for any system, though. I do like that Earthdawn actually measures the amount of fame you get, but I don't like the degree to which it plays into your character abilities.

>I'll grant it can be confusing. I like it, but that doesn't mean it's
>simple. ;)

It's unnecessarily complicated.

I think the main reason GURPS is my system of choice is because, once you get past chargen, it's amazingly simple. Roll 3d against a target number. That's all. And even combat can be as complicated or as simple as you like. That, and it adapts far better to multiple settings than many other "universal" systems (like, say, d20). (I admit that it doesn't work very well for really high-powered -- like, say, Superman, Green Lantern, or Flash -- superheroes, but for characters like Black Canary, Green Arrow, Batman, or most Marvel heroes, the supers rules work very well.)

-- Sean --

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