On the first day...

Today marks the day that I begin turning notes into brilliance. I'm officially beginning my manuscript for my own RPG system. Beyond that announcement, there seems to be very little to talk about, so lets go into a couple of concepts I've been bouncing arround in my head for this game?

Feats:

Why feats? Why every three levels? What does the idea of limiting yourself to a certain few things every couple of levels round out the game? How does killing a bunch of kobolds teach you to get +3 to Profession: cook? Did you sautee the things and serve them to the party? How does disarming a couple of traps make you learn how to cast your spells without verbal components? Gaining feats with levels seems like a bad way to progress a character.

My ideal solution:

Why not have them gained through actual in game actions and progression? Your character wants a feat to be able to climb a wall with a +2 bonus? Well, why doesn't he use his climb skill more often? Perhaps even doing some strength training? Hitting kobolds wouldn't help much in itself right? Well that sword is mighty heavy and that must be able to tone his muscles and relate to climbing in some way, however sweet talking the bar wench would have absolutely nothing to do with climbing therefore the "XP" gained from that should have nothing to do with the other.

Individual progression:

What if there were different progression charts for spacific skills, feats, powers etcetera? If I use my strength to fight a monster or climb a wall, my strength would improve, but not neccisarily my charm.

Would this lead to alot of bookkeeping? Perhaps, but... how simple could one make a system like that? Mutants and Masterminds (www.greenronin.com) has a system of purchasing feats and stats, and powers and skills with XP, with levels bundled in packages of 15 xp. But my game isn't about Superheroes... or is it?