norolim

And I'm sure there will be. I think separating combat and non-combat skills into two trees is a great idea. And I'm certain there is no need to worry that it won't be possible to make a one-sided character. Anyone who trained to do some physical sports e.g. martial arts will know that you just can't have more than two two hour training sessions a day (and that is during a relatively short training cycle that is designed to prepare you to an event). You need to let your body recover. Otherwise you will just overtrain. In case of our RPG character, that leaves a lot of time for other activities, e.g. lockpicking trainig. So it seems natural that RPG characters should be more or less equally skilled at combat and non-combat techniques. The trade-offs should between the skills in one of the two paths. You shouldn't be able to achieve excellence at both wielding a sword and casting spells and similarly you shouldn't be alowed to become a master thief and a fantastic swimmer at the same time. If, however, you want to create a dumb fighter, that will never talk his way out of a conflict, just give him door bashing and e.g power lifting as his main non-combat skills. If you want a silver tongue pacifist, make him a bard or a cleric specialising in defensive and healing spells. Well, at least I hope Obsidian has a system like this in mind.

Wasn't this one actually by Inon Zur? And on the topic, I chose the last poll option. I'm sure Obidian now how important music is for this project and they will choose wisely. If they go for an external composer instead of Justin, Michael Hoenig would be a great choice, I think.

The best solution is to do it the way Baldur's Gate did it. A definitive NO to fully voiced.