More Building Blocks

I'm using the Odyssey and Beowulf as primary inspiration in terms of character archetypes and abilities, just to keep things more iconic.

I'd like to condense to five attributes and five classes. For the five attributes, I think that CON and STR can be combined into Might. Each of these attributes gets tied to a class.

- Intuition is your awareness and perception; use it for nature magic. Druid/Warden.

- Lore is your knowledge and learning; use it for arcane magic. Mage/Sorcerer.

- Might is your attack with heavy weapons or ability to endure. Fighter/Warrior. Maybe go with hero?

- Persona is your strength of personality, charisma, willpower; use if for faith magic. Cleric/Friar.

- Reflex is your attack with light weapons or ability to perform feats of coordination. Rogue/Thief.

There are only two tiers of armor and weapons... light and heavy. If we go with light weapons being D6 damage, and heavy weapons being D12 damage, we end up with fighters being significantly better than others in terms of dealing damage (which makes sense). Only warriors will invest in Might, making them much better than others at it. 

This also means that a character like a thief can be equally good with a short sword or bow... and they are effectively the same mechanically. I actually like that, because I always want my scout type characters to be able to move between sword and bow. 

I am almost thinkng that the game could get down to two dice: the D6 and D12. I really don't see the need for anything else. I would need to completely rebuild the tally system for spells, although that wouldn't be awful...

A couple things:

- Your armor allows a check to cut damage in half on each physical attack that hits you. 

- Your hits are how much damage you can sustain: Might +1d6 per level.

If it's a point-build system, a player character could be built on 15 points (or 1d6+12). You can have from +0 to +6 in an attribute. Let's try a human hero:

Grym, the Human Hero 1 (Armor +4; Hits 10)

Int +2; Lor +0; Mgt +6; Per +3; Ref +4

Chainmail armor; Great sword (1d12); short bow (1d6)

Acumen; Bonus attack; Renown

As a human, has +1 edge peer encounter.

Let's figure out what an archetype write up might look like:

The Hero 

- Trait: Might

- Gifts: Heavy Armor; Heavy Weapons; Acumen; Bonus Attack; Renown.

As a hero, you are an exemplar of strength and combat. Your acumen allows you to deal critical damage (+1d6) on a natural attack roll of 11 or 12. Your bonus attack allows you to check level on a successful melee attack; if successful, attempt an immediate second attack under the same conditions as your first attack. Your renown allows you to use Might in place of Persona when attempting checks to manipulate, intimidate, or persuade others. 

You should be able to customize your character in some way... maybe Acumen is not automatic, but is one of the options for a gift. You could have:

- Acumen: You are expecially effective with melee weapons. Deal critical damage on a natural attack roll of 11 or 12 with a melee weapon.

- Battle Frenzy: You enter a battle rage that makes you more powerful. Enter a frenzy level times per day for 1 turn each. Receive +1 to Might and +1 edge to melee damage while frenzied.

- Captain. You are a leader of others. Grant +1 edge to another character who can hear you, once per turn.