(work in progress) Many more skills for fighters. I also really like the idea of having specific combat skills with positions and concentration and such. This would probably still be compatible with what I've got below here, but this is mostly focused on simpler extension and rebalancing -- particularly with respect to armor which I think is a pretty important change for the better in terms of making combat more evocative and differentiating fighters from casters. The skills I'm talking about below can have those various positions or stats of course. And I think it'd be cool to allow players to define their own styles, "charge then feint then slash then regroup" or something, and let them save them. ---- Defensive skills would do much to make the warrior the useful tank he should be. They should probably just happen naturally in combat and both avoid damage or attenuate it, depending on what makes sense -- it should depend on the size/weight/skill of the opponent. The majority if the thief's staying ability in combat will rely on this kind of defense, as opposed to armor. These will work more often at higher levels. Warriors: dodge, duck, parry, block, deflect, feint Thieves: dodge, duck, deflect, spin, roll, flip? The other half of the warrior's tanking ability should be armor. Warriors should be able to wear heavier armor, and more layers of it, and it should do much more to stop the effectiveness of blows. This ability should increase with level and the affect of the armor should depend heavily on its presence and layering and less on the stats on the armor (although certainly without making better armor pointless). Once we do this, a fighter could still get by naked with his defensive combat skills, but any blows taken wouldn't be hugely less damaging than if done to a wussy mage. Once this damage rebalancing is done, mage defensive spells should be dramatically rebalanced to allow the mage to perform the majority of his self-preservation with held spells, which should be much more effective on himself than others. Offensive skills would probably require actuation by the player. They will increase in damage at higher level. We may also want to have some offensive skills more effective against certain defenses, both skill-based and magical. I can also see practice of general skill at using various weapon types. We should allow for placing limits on when these can be used, such as only to start combat, only when the enemy isn't vastly larger or smaller, maybe even only when the enemy is below a certain health or far enough below your level/strength (for things such as slit throat) Warriors: kick, bash, punch, charge (slashing, pounding, shooting etc.) Thieves: kick, backstab, gouge, slit Skills should be practicable between two fighters out of combat, so if a group is standing around while a mage is meditating, fighters can keep their skills up.