Variant with diverse character combos and great item system?

[taptap]

Imho Sils "if you grind, I kill you" approach completely misses the point.

To have optimal play coincide with fun play is simply good game design. If you don't consciously do it, you end with a divided player population (fun players vs. efficient players). When game development is community driven efficient (and usually more active) players push the games in a direction where fun play isn't even possible anymore. In my opinion this is what has happened to many roguelikes (certainly to both Vanilla Angband and Nethack), pointless complications, weapons race, tougher monsters, faster kills... and MORE of them. All this caters to a certain kind of players.

I find it very refreshing how Sil allows for "roleplaying" not as a handicap mode for experienced player but as good way to come up with viable new builds. It is probably not working as well for people who are used to or even addicted to grinding, but I doubt those who arrive to the genre from elsewhere (as I do) will complain about implicit penalties on grinding.