[Dickie]

The only two games I've played that had keyword systems were Fallout and Shadowrun for the SNES. In Fallout, it was more of a novelty thing. I never got any useful information, I was just trying to guess the exact phrases that the NPC would understand and respond to. This would be quite a chore as a real dialog system. I'd say picking from a list would be better. It'd also require the character to find information before he could discuss it, so player knowledge wouldn't allow you to skip steps. Your character walking up to the first guard you see in a town you've never been to and saying, "Tell me about captain's debt," doesn't make sense to me.

Shadowrun used a list of keywords that was updated whenever you encountered a new subject. The words would disappear from the list whenever you completed whatever task that keyword existed for. I can't remember any specific examples, so here's a made-up example using Fallout: "Rad scorpion cave" wouldn't be in the list after you cleared it or sealed the entrance.

The list of keywords method introduced a different kind of tedium from the free-form keywords. Each dialog consisted of selecting every single keyword in every conversation. About 90% of the time, you'd get, "I don't know anything about that." I think it would be better to hide the options that would lead to the "idk lol" response. It wouldn't be as realistic, but I think it'd be more fun.

I'm not sure I understand the polite, blunt, and normal tones. What effect would these have besides putting different words on the screen?

For the skills, would it be cool to make them check boxes that apply to the current keyword query? Let me use saving a hostage from raiders as an example. Your keyword might be "Tandi." Maybe you have skills like intimidate, bluff, and barter. In most games, you get to choose one of these.

Intimidate:
If you check just intimidate, you try to be imposing: *pull gun and point it at raider* "Don't make me use this."

Bluff:
If you just check bluff: "She's got a communicable disease."

Barter:
If you just check barter: "I'll give you 300 dollars for the girl."

Checking multiple items allows for combos. This gives a lot more options.

Intimidate/Bluff:
If you check intimidate and bluff, you say something like a threat that you make up: "I have 50 armed men outside your camp."

Intimidate/Barter:
Intimidate and barter might make you give them a choice: "I'll give you a bullet or 200 dollars for the girl. Which will it be?"

Bluff/Barter:
Using bluff and barter may make you offer something useless: *hold up canteen of ordinary water* "I'll trade you this magic elixir for the girl."

I'd advocate letting the user see what his choice will make his character do/say before clicking accept. One problem with this is not all combinations would necessarily make sense. I assume there would be more skills than this. What would intimidate/bluff/barter do? Another thing is that I don't think it would work with just "tell me about" and "where is" options. I can't think of a good way to word it, but something like "execute non-query" is the gist of it.

It's about three hours past my bedtime, so I may not be coherent. I'll add more later.