• Ability Scores: gain 10 at character creation plus 1/level, divided as you see fit. (no change from 7.5)
• Skill Points: gain 5 per level. Each adds +1 to a skill or power. Max rank = level.
• Feats: gain 1 at level 1 and 1 every even level.
• Race: depending on choice, gain up to +20 in "background" bonuses to skills and powers (max +4 for any given skill or power) and up to 2 bonus feats.

Also, see Aspirations (work in progress). This will determine how new levels are gained.

• Dodge and Parry are now passive DCs. Between Focus and Action Points, there are plenty of ways to be an active agent in your own defense, and these rolls were just getting tedious.

• No more "auto-succeed". That's what Focus is for.
• Split "edit the scene" into Fate Points or somesuch: a currency that lets a PC be the DM for just a moment. Not just for combat anymore (e.g. "why yes, there does happen to be a magic shop in this town" or "omg, a random encounter happens, so we can get xp!")
• Use as a currency to transcend limitations (like treating your Telekinesis or Earth power as several sizes larger)
• Use as a currency to gain rounds of Super Saiyan (Espers, etc)
• Use as a currency to use powers you don't have, but are kinda close to something you could pull off
  • Powers of the same school, but higher rank: just add 1 Hero Point per rank!
  • Powers of similar school that you don't have: DM adjudicated
  • Interesting use of power that you already have: DM adjudicated, usually just Spellcraft/Concentration/Willpower, but may involve Hero Points

• Select 3 (or maybe 5) traits, such as Anti-hero, Honor-bound, Knowledge Seeker, etc
• Each of those has a hand of cards hard-coded into the system (i.e. not hand-written for each character by the DM)
• Each session, pick one card from each pile. That's your deck.
• If you achieve an aspiration, you immediately claim the rewards, and can draw a new one from that deck. The achieved card doesn't go back in the pile until next sessions.
• Aspiration Cards grant XP, as well as Hero Points (in their various incarnations; see above)

See Aspirations for work in progress.

Feats to help round off a character at creation (especially those without a fancy race). Similar to Legacy?

All uses are possible at rank 1, but advanced uses cost extra Mana or add +x (where x is a multiple of 5) to the Spellcraft DC. Ranking up adds +5 to Spellcraft checks and +1 Mana efficiency, effectively neutralizing higher-level uses.

Power feats probably don't need to exist, because they are baked into the power as advanced uses.

Some advanced uses cost way more Mana or DC, and are intended for ritual use.

Also see 7.6 Gating

Every 5 levels, you get certain bonuses, such as:

• Damage die upgrades (level 1-4, one die; level 5-9, two dice, etc)
• Tier bonus to stats (+1 to all)
• Perhaps some others according to a "path" that you specify, such as the 5/10/15/20 level abilities in System 6?

Revisit Resource Points with updated numbers to provide mapping between Powers and Equipment. Basically, any power can be turned into equipment at a given price, regardless of source. No more ambiguity about alchemcy, inscription, echantment, power suits, etc. They're both powers and equipment.

For all skills and powers, there are 5 ranks of proficiency and use:

Proficiency

Use

Just to jot them down:

• 1-9: regular leveling
• 10-19: paragon path. gain key ability at 10, paragon traits (per chosen path) at 12, 14, etc
• 20+: epic. similar to system 6 epic

How to balance generalists vs specialists:

• Advancement mechanic is BP only
• Start with a bunch. Let's say 10 plus an amount per race (10 for human, 5 for mid-power races, etc)
• 1 BP = 1 ability score point
• 1 BP = 1 skill/power (7.5 style numbers)
• Each level, gain 1 BP. That's all.
  • Power generalists dump BP into more powers, so their ability scores (and thus numbers) stagnate.
  • Power specialists dump BP into ability scores and have better numbers, and may get deeper mastery of powers earlier (if using the above 5-rank system)
  • Non-power users (fighters, rogues, etc) happy with their mundane skills can just focus on ability scores (or deep mastery, as above)
• Feats still happen every even level (possibly alternating with a path-based ability)

Revisiting paths:

• Tier 1
  • Level 1-9: Hero
  • Key mechanic: Hero Point
  • Choose a basic hero type, such as Strong Hero, Smart Hero, etc.
  • Gain a starting ability, such as:
    • Smart Hero: spend a Hero Point to think of a clever idea, such as modulating the deflector dish to emit anti-gravitons to neutralize the enemy phase barriers
    • Tough Hero: spend a Hero Point to negate any injury or loss-of-control effect.
  • Every odd level thereafter (3-9), gain an additional trait, such as:
    • Strong Hero: +2 damage with melee weapons
    • These might be like Draenor perks, where you pick them in any order, but by the end of the tier, you have them all.
• Tier 2
  • Level 10-19: the Turn (better name TBD)
  • Concept: a change in destiny, discovering something unexpected about oneself. Choose a new power source, orthagonal to heroic type, often resulting from a change, such as acquiring a curse, losing a friend, gaining an item, etc.
  • Key mechanic: TBD (something like Artifact Power in Legion)
• Tier 3
  • Level 20+: Epic Destiny
  • Key mechanic: