2 hours ago, DarthDude said:

Especially the specialisation trees were the one thing that was most restricting and in the way of building a character you exactly wanted without a bloat of talents you wouldn't normally choose in Star Wars. I was delighted when I saw that Genesys went a more freeform approach to obtain talents.

But I might err and specialisation trees might be a good thing after all. How would you convince me of specialization trees instead of freely obtaining talents with only tiers as a prereq?

The big benefits to specialisation trees is the ability to include:

1. unique, powerful, talents that are not openly available to everyone.

2. Having multiple ranks of a talent at the same xp cost.

3. Having a higher cost pathway to a capstone talent by leading the character on a winding path.

I'd add

4. Cuts down on player min/maxing

5. Doesn't overload new players with 100+ things they can pick between


I kind of almost like the idea of Talent Trees with "open" spots where you can select any "Tier X" talent to slot into the spot, with the only caveat being they can't select something already in the Tree in a different location. It could open up some interesting design space.

Now if only I could find a good tool to create Talent Trees with.

5 hours ago, Cyvaris said:

Now if only I could find a good tool to create Talent Trees with.

That would be cool!

I'd say the values of talent trees are in providing a framework for players to help differentiate one from the next, and in providing multiples of the lower tier talents without jacking up the XP cost.

As an example, Star Wars characters routinely had more Wounds and Strain than Genesys characters.

How long did it take the book to get to you after you got the notice of it being shipped?

13 hours ago, Cyvaris said:

I'd add

4. Cuts down on player min/maxing

5. Doesn't overload new players with 100+ things they can pick between


I kind of almost like the idea of Talent Trees with "open" spots where you can select any "Tier X" talent to slot into the spot, with the only caveat being they can't select something already in the Tree in a different location. It could open up some interesting design space.

Now if only I could find a good tool to create Talent Trees with.

Does this mean, you can place talents anywhere in the tree, as long as prerequisites are met? Let's say a tier 5 talent on a tier 3 spot in the tree, assuming that the tier costs in the tree are increased in 5 xp steps like in Star Wars, meaning the tier 5 talent would only cost 15 xp in this example?

1 hour ago, DarthDude said:

Does this mean, you can place talents anywhere in the tree, as long as prerequisites are met? Let's say a tier 5 talent on a tier 3 spot in the tree, assuming that the tier costs in the tree are increased in 5 xp steps like in Star Wars, meaning the tier 5 talent would only cost 15 xp in this example?

No, I'd keep the "it has to be a Tier 3 Talent into a Tier 3 spot" requirement, just offer players a little bit of choice and flexibility in what makes up their Tier 3.