The way I see it, the world should be permanent. Your decisions stick with you. People you interact with remain in your life. I hate "journey" RPGs where the only people you ever see again are the villians and a travelling merchant.

Now what can we base the system on? Do we just want combat, or do we want a more rich and varied world? We could evn make an entirely political RPG if we wanted. Once we have this, we can develop the component systems needed to interact with this world (classes, attributes, skills, equipment, ...). Also, is the system computerised or pen-and-paper? If it's pen-and-paper, we must consider that big numbers are intimidating and difficult to work with.

So looking at what makes an RPG:
  1. Universe: What period and setting are we in? What is the world like? How much technology and magic exists and who controls it?
  2. Character: What statistics determine them. What statistics differentiate them? How much of the character is multiple choice (classes, feats) and how much is variable (attributes, skills)?
  3. Purpose: Do we need to provide the purpose? Will it be an open design system, like D&D, or will the purpose tie in with and determine the characters and Universe?
  4. Combat System: How in depth is it? How important is it? What can be done within this Universe?
  5. Skill System: How much weight should each skill be given? What skills are necessary for the Universe and the style? How much do skills tie into each other? How do they differ from each other? Can all skills be improved or are there binary skills (you have it or you don't)? What restricts someone from learning a skill? Are base attributes necessary? How much do they influence skills?
  6. Equipment: How important is it? How hard is it to obtain? How is it different from other equipment? How much can you use?
    In D&D, every base weapon and armour has a purpose that isn't provided by any other. Certainly magical weapons are better, but most weapons of a similar size and difficulty are equal in strength, and at the same time distinctly different.

Now if we start at the top of the list, we can work our way though each category.

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i'd say for the first, it will only exist if there is purpose to it. meaning, if the game has combat as part of purpose & gameworld as well as character, it's definitely in. but what if u want to make an RPG of say, private investigator in futuristic time where all weapons are banned & all equipment, appliances etc are made with safety in mind (not sharp, child-safe etc), what can u say about weapons & violence? none!

That's right. Instead you still have skills like "Intimidate", "Lie", and "Chatting Up". You have friends in high places. You have people trying to kill you in ingenious ways that don't involve guns. It's certainly doable.

Combat is necessary if you want combat in the system. If you want a system based around combat, then it needs to take a very high priority in it. If combat is a small part of the system, then keep it simple and quick.

Any further thoughts on this?