Ok, I''m just trying to link a few ideas that I like the sound of here, and I was wondering if you all could pick out the flaws for me... 1. Static (or near static) Character ''statistics'' I was reading "What makes campaigns fun? Not levels:" by felonius, and I like the sound of a character which doesn''t go from super weakling to mega death god 60,000 over the course of the game. So character levels are gone, and the character almost never advances stats. Where is the reward for the player now??? [it''s coming...] 2. Pattern based combat A lot of combat in RPGs is simply flailing wildly at your opponent. If you are Role Playing a cool fighter, then you should perhaps learn something of your world''s fighting techniques. To this end, I was thinking that your opponents have access to a bank of pre-defined attack sequences based on multiple hit locations, & timing. The tougher opponents would have access to a wider range of more complex sequences. 3. Player training Here''s where the new reward comes in. Instead of the trainers improving your statistics, they tell you about attack patterns and show them to you, and allow you to practice these techniques with them, and that is where the player gets the rewards from: learning to spot and counter these attacks. Make the player feel like they are actually doing this thing and I think the came could be a lot more immersive. comments? (I have to go now, peak phone rates just kicked in) -Life''s not just beer and skittles. Sometimes there''s karaoke too.