You carry your experiences with you
Some musings about inventory systems, inspired by (though not exactly in line with) this post by K on cohost:
"The Lessons We Take With Us ... are treated very much like an inventory of useful items."
I like things that do a lot with little. So the notion that your inventory of gear is also your list of skills (and maybe also also your health system) appeals to me?
Also Colin reminds me that games like Cairn and Mausritter already have bad conditions (like exhaustion and spellcasting fatigue) fill inventory slots.
And that Iko's The Lost Bay has "Burdens", which represent both items and skills?
So I'm thinking: let's put skills, character abilities, and character advancement in the inventory, too. Your inventory is your whole character sheet.
Here's your character. The only character stat that matters for our purposes is Capacity, a measure of how much bandwidth you have: physically, mentally, emotionally.
Lets say you start with 7 Capacity slots:
Every piece of meaningful Gear (a bow and arrows, rations, etc) takes up a Capacity slot. This includes stuff meaningful in other ways---ie: valuable Treasure (a golden idol, etc).
Specific Training takes up a Capacity slot. But also adds two Capacity slots. Effectively, having Spear Training means you get to carry a spear without having it take up Capacity. If you have Spear Training, you are both good at wielding a spear and stowing it away so it doesn't encumber you in an adventure.
A Mastery takes up a Capacity slot. But also adds three Capacity slots. If you are a Master Thief you are so good at various thiefly trades that your tools are a part of you (so to speak), and you are always open for new opportunities.
An Ally (think henchmen, animal companions) takes up a Capacity slot. But also adds three Capacity slots. They are like Masteries, I guess? It's good to have skilled, loyal friends!
A significant Experience takes up a Capacity slot, and adds a Capacity slot. They are like Training---but where Training gives bonuses in a specific field (you are good at spear-fighting), Experience gives bonuses in general areas related to it (Fought A Dragon In A Riddle Contest gives you bonuses when encountering dragons and riddles contests, etc).
Stuff that hamper a character, like Injuries (broken limb, bleeding wound) or bad Conditions (scared, tired, hungry) take up one Capacity slot each. If you have a broken hand you'll think about it, favour it, try to keep it from getting wet, etc.
Carrying stuff you have no training in takes up Capacity, essentially. This is not just physical encumbrance, but mental also: "Man this bow is getting in the way." "Ok which pocket did I put my water bottle in again?"
If you have less than half your starting Capacity slots free, you are encumbered in mind and body. This should represent disadvantage in all areas, becoming more severe the more you go over the limit. All your stuff occupies you!
You could pick up Training or Mastery in things like Mindfulness or Packing---expertise specifically for increasing Capacity. (Since these fields don't have items associated with them, you basically get an extra slot.)
Things that are Storage (houses, wagons, etc) take up a Capacity slot, and give lots of extra Capacity---but you don't necessarily have them around you reliably. (You can't bring your house into the dungeon.)
Experiences should be malleable. If you riddled with a dragon, then entered a riddle contest with a demon, both experiences should get "upgraded"? Riddle Mastery? (That Training can get upgraded into Mastery is a given.)
Trainings and Masteries should be as bespoke as Experiences. Training: Master Qi's Spear Art and Training: Spear-wall Formation Fighting In The Vedocci Legion imply different things, and should lend you different ways of wielding your spear.
Yeah, so that's my quick and dirty "Experience Is Inventory" system. Thoughts?
Personally I'm torn. On the one hand: I'm pleased / stimulated by how simple and abstracted and (potentially) easy this is? Your character sheet is a mind map, basically. As you play, the sheet grows, becoming a record of your character's history and who they are, what friends they have, what stuff they value.
On the other hand: is this too abstracted, that it detracts from the concreteness of an imagined space? I know that when I play games my fun starts ebbing when I feel like I'm playing rules and jargon, not the fiction.
(Also I'm sure some maverick innovative indie game has done this kind of skills-are-gear thing before. What games handle things in similar ways?)
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