I'm looking to build a list of talking points when discussing A:RPG with potential new or returning players. Given that most of those potential players are familiar with Path Finder Society, or DnD 3.x, I'm going to make PFS/3.x the "Standard Fantasy RPG" for a compare and contrast discussion. First I'd like folks feedback as to what those talking points would be. Some examples are:

The Clock
A bell curve for skill checks and attacks
A classless character creation system
Deities have no Alignments, but churches have viewpoints
Mages are hunted
Plots are political, not bar gossip
It isn't what your PC owns, but what your PC does that matters
Story first, dice rolls second
Elves are Bio-Constructs
Dwarves are cursed Celestial Giants
There are no halves (Half Elfs, Halflings, or Half Orcs)
Dungeon Run, no Dungeon Crawl
Tricks and Maneuvers make combat versatile
Six types of magic
No useless spells as you advance in tier
Combine Spells to create new ones
Decisions have Consequences
No "Random" Encounters
No rolls without consequences policy doesn't let rules interfere with the plot

So, what strikes you as important to express to potential new or returning players? I'd like to hear everybody's top three. Oh and don't limit yourself to mechanics or crunch. Idea's about the races, story and plot are fair game. Most importantly please add things that I have missed.

Decisions have consequences!

Hello,

I can think of a few other talking points:

1. Combats, even epic ones, don't take hours to complete. In fact, I say that in Arcanis, we don't Dungeon Crawl, we Dungeon Run!

2. Combat is versatile, with weapon tricks and maneuvers giving the player a variety of options.

3. Different types of magic, each with its own particular flavor.

4. No useless spells at higher play levels; all spells can be augmented so that even your very first spell remains not only usable, but desirable.

5. Spell Combos - You're able to take certain types of spells and combine to create new and more potent ones.

How's that?

That is GREAT Henry and thanks for playing!

Arcanis is like an onion, the surface layers seem simple and uniform , but on closer inspection you see a layer underneath that contains more complexity and intrigue and begin to see the layers underneath that.

and if you think about it too long it will make you cry /wink

My 2 second speech, is, its not D20, its a good system and the best story your going to see

Cakes have layers too!

My Belisarda tattoo?

For me the biggest things are on the story side and not the mechanical side:

1) Consistent good story telling and meta-plot, with a cast and crew of interesting NPCs who return and intersect with the choices of the PCs.
2) A world with a history that makes sense and often intrudes upon the present.
3) A world where the politics between nations makes sense, and thus where you stand on the issues depends in part on which country you sit down in at the end of the day.
4) *NO ONE* has a monopoly on "white hats" despite prevalent NPC beliefs to the contrary.
5) Fewer bags of coins to go fight orcs.

I personally would highlight the mechanical similarities between systems before talking differences...make it seem like a smaller jump to experiment with a new system.

1) "You roll 2d10 and an attribute die (plus skill ranks, plus any bonuses) to resolve success or failure. High rolls are still good. It a lot like your d20, but produces a bell curve of probability."
2) "Attacks still target one of three defenses, Avoidance, Fortitude or Discipline ... which mirror Ref, Fort, and Will. You weapon attacks now target Avoidance. Your armor gives you 1-5 points of damage reduction called AR instead of making you harder to hit."
3) "You don't have a class anymore you but you do get a more 'organic' combination of Archetype and Background which pretty much does the same thing in summarizing what you are."
4) "Your hit points are now Stamina. You get them back after each fight if you can rest 5 minutes. You will also have a few Wounds. Try not to loose them, having and healing them at low level pretty much sucks."

Then I'd note how its honestly different.

1) The initiative clock is more like Shadowrun where each action has a speed cost. Big heavy weapons and complicated spells do more damage but take longer to execute attacks with.
2) Magic exists and spell casters are still cool, but many "utility" or save or die style spells are missing from the repertoire. Things like finger of death, fly and teleport are gone or scaled back ... re-balancing the power of casting magic versus becoming a weapon master with many special kinds of attacks.
3) All spell casters are tapping residual energy left over from Creation. Divine casters do this in the rigid Church approved away of their Temples. Arcane casters experiment on their own.
4) Finally its not a plain Vanilla world, so not ever choice you could make actually makes sense. There just aren't any acknowledged gnomish nobles *anywhere*. The elorii nations do not condone elorii who worship to Illiir..

Eric,
You might want to separate these into the "A:RPG Mechanics" and the "Legends of Arcanis Story"

A few of the things listed above are dependent upon what you're playing (Campaign or Home Game) and some are common to many games.

I think this is a valuable list, but you might want to target it to the 'key differentiation' so that the list doesn't get diluted. When talking to new players you'll want to grab them with a few high points then start in on a discussion. Otherwise, there may be items on the list that invite a "Well, *this* system does the same thing" and that can invite conflict.

A few from your list that stand out as 'true differentiators' to me are:
Core Mechanics
1) Clock Initiative: This helps characters participate in combat throughout a fight and not just once every round. This also means that your weapon and spell choices have a direct correlation with how often you act, doing lesser impact attacks more often or more powerful attacks infrequently. This also helps combats move much faster than in other games.
2) Advanced Maneuvers: Each weapon has 'tricks' that you can learn with it, as well as more common maneuvers. You can combine these into advanced maneuvers which give your character a unique way of fighting and also scale in power as the character advances.
3) Advanced Spells: Many spells are considered a 'base' spell and can be used as a building block to create advanced spells. These advanced spells give you the benefit of simultaneously casting 2 spells at once, and augmenting the effects to suit your unique character feel.
4) Unique Take on the Races: As you've stated, Elves were a bioconstruct servitor race that escaped their masters; Dwarves are a cursed race of celestial giants at one time charged with protecting humanity; Gnomes are the reviled offspring of humans and dwarves; Val are descended from the blood of gods; dark-kin are the unfortunate manifestation of devil-blood in the family's ancestry; and Ss'ressen are a race of human reptiles who were bred for ferocity of which some have aligned with the nations of man.
5) A "Layered" Approach to Character Creation: While Arcanis is "Classless" in that you get no set list of automatic abilities you advance, you build your character from various pieces (Race, Nation, Archetype, Background, and Talents/Skills). Each Archetype provides a menu of advancement options that you can use to truly customize the type of character you want to play, including 'paths' which focus your character mechanically based upon a story role.
6) 2d10 Approach: Rather than a flat, uniform distribution of probability that a single die offers, Arcanis uses a 2d10, producing a bell curve. This means that extremes of luck are rare and that with the appropriate bonus, you can be more assured of at least average performance over time, resulting in less of a feeling of hopelessness against higher enemies.
7) No Alignment: You play your character with your own moral and ethical code and it may change over time. The deities themselves have no alignments and each has positive and negative aspects, representing the full breadth of humanity.

Campaign
1) Rich Story: The overall story can be affected by the players in the campaign. The history of the world is rich and has evolved over time. There are many mysteries still to uncover and even the 'facts' are always told from a particular point of view.
2) Nations: Each nation has a distinct feel and history.
3) Decisions have Consequences: Not every decision you will make at character generation or in the game will be to your benefit. There will be times when the decisions you make will have unforeseen consequences in game and for your character. There are rarely obvious answers or choices in the game.

That's what I have for now. Personally I would avoid some of the claims above as either it's very subjective, found in many games, or hard to defend when pressed. Things like: No Random Encounters (Dependent upon game), Six Types of Magic (Many systems have types of magic), No Useless Spells (Too subjective), Not What you Own that Matters (Not true at higher tiers, items are factored in), Mages are Hunted (True but maybe not something you want to use as a selling point), Story First Dice Second (True, but not uncommon with other systems and dice are still needed for a lot).

John

Just saw you want a top three ...

1) Plots are usually political, not bar gossip
2) True Deities have no alignment, but churches have viewpoints (this is true for all organizations and major NPCs ...)
3) Clock