I like Xordan and Chaos\' ideas (not that I didn\'t suggest them too at some point)...
But I too agree that a person using a sword (day in and day out) will gain knowledge by simply using it. I also agree that a tutor should increase the learning curve.
So how about this? Simply swinging the blade teaches something - maybe one tenth what would have been learned if one had a trainer?
So without paying for knowledge, one must swing the sword ten times to gain the same knowledge he would have received with one swing had he chosen to study under a trainer.
Note: the numbers are arbitrary as is the skill and sex of the character. (I don\'t want to offend or exclude)
You could make this more interesting if the amount gained from performing an activity were tied to the character\'s intelligence - smarter learn faster with or without a trainer. So give the base training value a multiple that either adds or subtracts knowledge learned based on INT. That\'s right, low INT, hard to train...
But I would also like to see Primary Stats training changed. It should be very hard to increase these stats as they are the limitations of the character. You shouldn\'t be able to train away low INT. For example, you won\'t see many people with an 80 IQ raising their IQ to 120 in their lifetime.
Same goes for the other Primary Stats. In PS, the Primary Stats are easier to max then the skills. This is just goofy and makes NO sense whatsoever. It also removes the need to form groups to go after monsters as everyone will be able to take on anything eventually. An Ulber should require a group to hunt it. A ranger (huntsman) to find them and hitting the target from a range, a couple of strong warriors pounding in the damage, a couple of healers (magic actually doing something Xordan!), and a mage or two hitting with fireball or some other offensive spell (again the magic comment). Then the loot value must be rebalanced to actually be worthwhile for the group to go after an ulber. The game needs to be changed so that it is more worthwhile to go after an ulber than sitting in the arena fighting unarmed glads (what\'s with that anyway?)
The crazy Primary Stat maxing also encourages people to \"roll up\" characters that are incredibly strong from the beginning, damning the other stats as they aren\'t a handicap. Just make a super strong character, be able to take on unarmed glads from the beginning which drop longswords. Sell the longswords and train away the handicaps.
Another thing this discourages is roleplaying. If you can do everything just as well as another character, you don\'t need them. You are a one man gang. You don\'t need a character like Satayne, who guides and trains parties how to kill ulbers in the first place. This robs PS of the character interactions. In \"my\" system (the one I\'ve just described, not that it is an \"original\" thought) Satayne could go to Isra\'s Job Agency and post that he leads parties on these adventures for a share of the loot. The ad would also say where Satayne could be found etc... There could also be ads by other characters, \"skilled Mage needed/available\", on and on.
Anyway, I\'ve left the topic and I\'m sure Kary is going to yell at me.
Araye
