Hello Obsidian,
I was watching your new project with great interrest and was wondering if a rules system had been selected or not. If this is still open I was wondering you you might consider my project, the Red Ash World Engine.
Red Ash is something I have been working on over the last few years in my spare time and I have it far enough along that it may be of interest to your goals, best of all its a creative commons work and so the price is right...free.
The system I designed is made to build custom races (or species as I call them) and custom classes. This is done by using a point buy system that is based on a starting population. Various traits are bought with this population and the amount spent on traits or improving base ability scores is further used to add a bonus or penality to experience gained. The point buy rules do not need to be explosed to players and can be used strictly on the design side.
The turn-based combat rules are fleshed out, magic is treated as a skill and skills themselves are split into a multi-tree, multi-tiered system. When characters earn a new level they gain skill points that are used to pay for skill levels. Each level of a specific tier requires that you have already bought 2 levels of its parent skill, unless its the root skill which is only limited by class restrictions.
At any rate, I hope I have piqued your interest in the rules. You can read more at www.redash.org, or if you have any questions drop me a message.
All the Best,
Chris A Jokinen
Red Ash World Engine
PS: I have really enjoyed your games over the years and regardless of whether you take me up on the offer, I will always look forward to your next project.
