The rules for a general RPG should have no lore in them. Most RPG lore is just something that some people made up, and in order to really get into it you first have to learn the lore that some rando thought up.

But RPGs are all about the players creating a story. They, in concert with the game master, should be the ones coming up with the lore.

This doesn't mean that there can't be any lore, just that it shouldn't be part of the game's rules. In fact, having separate lore/world documents available for those who want or need it is fine. There might even be a market for fans to contribute their own.

If you are an adult and you think adding a small handful of single digit numbers together is a chore, you really need to grow up. Math is a basic function of everyday life.

And if you are still a kid you probably could use more practice.

The idea that a little bit of math that any competent adult should be able to do nearly instantly in their head is an issue is just ridiculous.

I am coming to believe that most people these days conceive of D&D campaigns that are too long. Characters advancing through twenty levels and campaigns lasting years can make for great podcasts, but most people don't have the time for that in their own games. And all the abilities and spells that characters can have at the higher levels is overwhelming for most people.

So I am thinking that character advancement to maximum abilities should take around 6 months of active regular play. That is something people are more likely to be able to handle.

I am also thinking that the amount of abilities should be much more manageable. In my current D&D classes I have been printing out cards for each of a character's abilities, and for some characters they have several dozen cards. That is way too much to choose from during gameplay, so another goal is to make the ability/skill system such that even if they have a lot of choices when creating and growing their character, they never have more than about a dozen things to actively choose from during play.

Using a skill should be required for getting better at it. Conversely, if you don't use something you shouldn't be getting better at it. In practice this means that something like a proficiency bonus should be tied to each individual feat/skill, and should only be increased when that has been used a significant amount.

It doesn't make sense that a rogue that never uses their Sleight of Hand skill, for example, would ever get better at it. In fact, it might make sense that something they have a proficiency bonus in but they never use, might get that bonus reduced - but I would limit that to maybe one point and only over a long period of time.

Perhaps the number of times you use a skill required to advance proficiency is tracked exponentially.

But the main point of this should be that proficiency should not be an overall effect. We should be aiming to get rid of it altogether.

====== Skilled ====== But on the other hand, if you are good at something then you should be good at it. Rolling a D20 and having the possibility of rolling a 1 being just as likely as rolling a 20 whether or not you are good at something just feels wrong.

Because of that I am desiring a system that has a bell curve while rewarding the choices the player makes for their character. If they put work into being good at something, that should lead to them being better at it.

====== Classes are too limiting ====== As I wrote in the *Why section of the landing page here, a system of classes limits the possible archetypes that players can choose from. Class systems require the developers to implement the classes, and if a player wants something that hasn't been developed yet, they are out of luck.

A better way to go is to make it so that every player can essentially develop their desired archetype on their own or with the help of their game master.

This same logic applies to race/species as well.

====== Levels rarely make sense ====== If we are getting rid of classes, then that makes levels harder to implement since they have nothing to apply to.

And if we are not using the traditional hit point system, we won't have hit dice or the need to add more HP each level.

====== Sheet plus Cards ====== The main character sheet should have all the info that every character needs, and nothing more. Everything else is a choice the player makes for their character and should be on separate cards. This should make character management easier.

With a card system players can separate them, keeping a hand of only the cards that are relevant to the current situation.

====== Allow for Player Differences ====== While Daggerheart has a cool initiative-less system that seems like a great way to make the game more narrative, it can create problems where some players are very outgoing and others are shy. For that reason, I prefer a system that has a turn order.

====== Rests should not be Total Resets ====== The Long Rest in traditional D&D resets/clears everything, which means players will want to long rest as often as possible. I prefer a more “gritty realism” version where instead of healing and restoring all your hit dice, it instead simply restores half of your hit dice, relying on the short rest mechanism of using hit dice to do the healing/restoring of HP.

But whatever the system, taking a regular rest should not be a “get out of jail free” card.