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I never had problems with combat in RPGs. I mean, sometimes I did not like the actual mechanics too much (sometimes too complex, sometimes too abstract, …) but the fact that RPGs are mostly about combat never really bothered me.
Violence is constantly present in novels, comics, films, tv … it is something that can make a story interesting, after all. And can be cathartic, or even satisfying on an intellectual level (like if a clever idea or tactic results in a big success).

But at the same time I never wanted all my games to be only about combat, either. So I always tried to inject some different things, like exploration, solving mysteries … one of my most memorable successes was about a medium scale “engineering problem” (forcing a sunken ship to resurface in the port of San Francisco, in 1932).

Since then I always mused on how to put together a system that would help me (or others) running similar projects as part of a larger campaign. But lack of an actual gaming group, along with plenty of other hobbies/distractions/time sinks prevented me from really make any progress on this.

So in the end I made the only thing you are supposed to do when you really want to accomplish something (and cannot make it yourself): I hired a pro.

Enters Zak Smith: a multitalented artist who is also a renowned RPG designer. I contacted him and he agreed to design a general purpose system to add “generic” projects to any RPG session.

Ladies and Gentlemen: please enjoy The Project Project.