@Art: Preeeeeecisely. I'm not saying a karma counter is bad, but that having
just a karma counter
and nothing else as a basis for determining a character's...alignment, I guess you could call it, makes things too simple.
@Saturn500: I am not familiar with Iji or this...Scrambler. I am curious.
Regarding the afterlife, there's a reason a good...90-95% of people in-universe go to the neutral afterlife. We've all done both good and bad things, and they generally even eachother out. The neutral afterlife isn't a bad thing, its not like Purgatory or Limbo, its like life, just with some extra perks, like never needing to eat, drink, or even breathe. You're dead, its your chance to live it up for a while.
If you'd like I can do some of the artwork for you too. I've always wanted to do artwork for a fantasy piece but am unable to think of one myself.
So what is the setting and timeline? Is there going to be like a "Germanic", "Scandinavian" "Oriental" and "Persian" country in Gideon?
I'm not sure poisoning needs to be it's own skill, it seems simple enough to be a part of alchemy/smithing.
I'd certainly be interested in getting some artists together, I've already pretty much got my brother signed up to help with that part (I suck at it), but more's always welcome.
As for the feel in regards to culture...that's a more difficult beast to tackle. I suppose I can give a look into Gestalt's culture and politics...
Gestalt used to be a feudal monarchy, similar to England in the Middle Ages, or the Sengoku period of Japanese history. A king ruled the roost, and the peasants were shit-poor and couldn't do much of anything. As one would expect, the grinding poverty, civil strife, and general bullshit the commoners were subjected to broke them, and led to a civil war. The nobles wanted to continue their lives of unearned opulence while the serfs wanted to end the whole "being treated like shit" ordeal.
After the war was over, and the serfs won their freedom, they setup a new system of government. While the titles retained their feudalistic feel, the way they were setup bears more resemblance to a democratic republic. From the bottom up, you have the Mayors (city), Dukes/Duchesses (county), Lords/Ladies (state), and the Archlords/Archladies (federal). While the Archlord or Archlady is traditionally inherited, the child who inherits the position is chosen very carefully, and must win the support of at least two thirds of the Lords and Ladies before they're allowed to take office.
As for laws and such, Gestalt's rather liberal-leaning when it comes to actual regulations. While socially abhorred, prostitution is legal and has strict laws governing it. Marriage is only monogamous, and homosexual relationships and marriages are in a very grey area. Like the US, homosexuality is generally looked down upon by the society at large. While gay and lesbian people
do exist, I'm not about to pull that "invisible gays" bullshit, they're not exactly out-and-proud about it.
As for drugs, the only thing that's truly legal is alcohol. While apothecaries do occasionally sell narcotics, its not done out in the open, even though there are no laws either allowing or restricting their distribution and use.
Its a hodge-podge...but, that's what she be. They's more, I know it, but its not wanting to come outta my head at the moment.