elements & concepts that need to be part of the game, for which I haven't been able to find satisfactory functions.

And even though it's easy to say "if it's not working just chuck it", I refuse to. Because then the game will be missing a crucial part of the Homeric ideas and aesthetics...
2/2

whether to have playbooks at all or replace them with a core playbook and a skill tree...

After a lot of back and forth, I'm now going for playbooks, BUT the core moves will carry the brunt of the Homeric flavour, whereas the playbooks will have moves and attributes that will be more personal.

and it's presenting this information in the most credible way it knows humans value: academic articles.

Soon it'll be spewing out articles saying, I tried to warn you, stupid...
2/2