The Campaign Builder's Guild

I love this, from what I've read, not least because it seems to have the same ethic as I used when I created my own system - that of aiming for flexibility and minimalism.

Although your creation seems a lot better thought-out, I might post my rules in this thread, just for comparison... and so I can get pointers :P

@ Kindling: If you have a different thread for your game system, we could use that too. I'd like to keep this thread about Mastery, so I'd prefer if you only post your mechanics with the topic of how they compare or could compliment it. ^_^

Quote from: snakefingIn most point buy games it really matters how points are doled out. If you get them in small bits, like three per session, there will be a fairly strong tendency to spend them now for an advantage, rather than save them for a six point buy later. So after five sessions, you'd have accumulated a number of one-, two-, and three- point buys. If I waited and gave you all fifteen points at the end, you'd probably spend them differently.

There is another factor at play here - to get maximally good at some particular thing, you'll eventually need both skills and abilities. Since you can't go higher than +4 in abilities, or +5 in skills, at some level it makes sense to buy both, at least for those skills that you are aiming to excel in. Just a question of what order you buy them in. (And how many dice is enough.)[/quote]
Right.

I confused Skills and Abilities.  With that cleared up, would my examples better serve as abilities?  

Assuming that the answer is yes, wouldn't character sheets quickly suffer from bloating?  In your example you list purchasing 3 new skills as a possibility after of 1 session of play, something that many players would likely do; particularly those interested in rounding out a character sheet to match a background.  Is that desirable, adding or increasing an attribute at every session?

I think it is desirable to add or increase an attribute every session. Veteran characters may likely have a wide range of skills and talents, but I don't see this as a bad thing. I haven't played more than a single game of Mastery, so I can't say how it would work in the long-run. "Bloating" though, is in the eye of the beholder.

Your examples are abilities, or at least Athletics, Archery and Subterfuge are. I tend to discourage making "melee" a single ability because it makes it temping to max out. It very well could be, though, depending on the setting and play-style.