Hey, thanks so much for your comment and investment in this project! Feedback is very much appreciated as there has been no playtesting yet!
Here is my pros and cons of using the different combat styles in version 1.0:
Melee weapon: Higher risk being on the front lines, but can get higher defense and offhand gear options than ranged or magic. Doesn’t have the utility of magic, but also doesn't have the backlash opportunity.
Ranged weapon: Less risk since you can hang back and shoot from afar. But you have less defense and less offhand use options. Doesn’t have the utility of magic, but also doesn't have the backlash opportunity.
Magic: Less risk since you can hang back and do magical attacks from afar. But you have less defense and less offhand use options. You have insane utility and combat potential with spells, but also take on insane risk when using them.
I am definitely open to changing how that "insane risk" manifests in the game, though I do not like that adding "1 risk" for magical effects makes it feel like risk is being discretized. For my interpretation of risk, the GM has to use common sense, fantasy know-how, and good improv to properly create/present risk to a player who has said what their actions will be. It is not that actions generate "risk points" which can be increased or decreased, it is that actions might have consequences due to poor execution, bad luck, or both!
My intention for the second result table is to...
First: make the odds of very strong, reality altering spells (like Divine Intervention or Time Warp) to have a lower chance of fully succeeding. Otherwise, every player would choose magic and have the same odds of success at warping spacetime as a guy swinging a sword.
Second: make sure that the GM and the players know that there should be serious risks involved with casting spells, with potentially character-killing effects if you roll poorly.
Third: to make it so that characters wielding ranged weapons are more effective at standard combat (using a basic attack against enemies) than magic users. Regular magic attacks are less effective because they have inherent injury risk (they can lose HP even if the user is completely safe from injury otherwise) and have less chance to succeed due to the increased success thresholds.
I do like the idea of sacrificing resources (gear, GP, time, etc.) to reduce risk on magic, that might be something I add! Thanks for the suggestion.
As for the quests/NPCs/places, that is my next step for sure! I agree, it is very necessary for something like a set of rollable tables with ideas that fit the type of game I want this to be, so that will be my focus for version 1.1!
Thank you again for your feedback, and let me know what you think of my reasoning. Point out any flaws, please!