   Spending caps on skill points
  Been playing Two Worlds recently, a solid RPG. But one little thing kept nagging at me, and it's not exclusive to Two Worlds: Spending Caps. So here it is, as far as I can see it.At level three, you have ten skill points to spend on a couple dozen possible skills. But you are not actually free to spend ten skill points among them, because there are caps that say "you must be at least level four to upgrade further".So here's the clean-up: Change the value of the skills.For instance, a level-three character goes to spend all ten points on the skill Archery. Instead of the player bumping into what feels like an arbitrary game mechanic, change the usefulness of Archery skill so that spending ten points on Archery achieves the same result.Here's a Before and After:Before: Each point spent in Archery gives a 2% bonus to hit, but player may only spend three points per level-up on Archery. Player gets five spending points per level-up.Formula: new_value = old_value * cap / allocationMultiply 2% bonus * 3 / 5 = .012 = 1.2% per bonus to hit per skill point.After: Each point spent in Archery gives a 1.2% bonus to hit per skill point, with no spending cap. Skill point allocation is free of unnecessary baggage, and player can spend any way they like.   
  So what do we do with the players who have spent all their skill points on archery every level and as a result have wasted most of their skill points and created a useless character that is incapable of completing the game?   ;  I'm going to hazard a guess as to the nature of this question: Who spends the skill points?If there are points that the designer wishes to spend, then just make those increases part of the level-up bonus. Maybe the player must have some Swordplay skill, and it should be better as the game progresses.So at each level-up, assign some amount of bonus to the Swordplay skill. The designer has effectively spent points, but the player doesn't need to know that.It could be represented as a special award for levelling up :)   ;Quote:Original post by stonemetalSo what do we do with the players who have spent all their skill points on archery every level and as a result have wasted most of their skill points and created a useless character that is incapable of completing the game?Respec.;  There are 3 answers that I can think of#1. Don't give the player points to spend if you want to dictate how he spends them.#2. Create an item that can be obtained that makes the monster defeatable by that character.#3. If you didn't listen to #1, place points yourself, as the designer that are default to make sure they have the proper stats needed...so change the circumstance, create a weakness, or do it yourself.   