So I had an interesting thought last night...
In our current system Skill Points and Rank are related. Could this be changed?
I think it can.
Instead of basing Rank off of skill points, why not base it off of Starfleet Merits or the Klingon equivelent?
This way you could theoretically open up Time Travel (to the Abrams Universe or other sections without having to completely reset your character.)
As for a Death Penalty, you could lose X amount of Merits per death, with the possibility of being demoted.
To counter a freshly new Captain from going piff back to Commander, maybe build in a buffer of Merits to prevent an instant demotion.....or even limit the demotions to Grades instead of rank
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