Goodman Games

I have read the other posts and the samples are great, I am looking forward to the quickstart rules!

How about some details on how purchasing and encumbrance (if any) work in this system? Just curious.

Characters start out with whatever non-magical stuff they can imagine. GMs can approve less mundane equipment on a case-by-case basis. Money is dealt with in an abstract way, with a "coin" equaling a dollar. The GM decides on the value of services. If a beer costs $2, then a fantasy beer should cost two copper (if that is the equivalent to the dollar standard). If renting a car costs $50 a day, then renting a basic horse might cost about the same, and so on (there have been other games that deal with it in this manner, and I really like it). There are no encumbrance rules in the system, because movement does not require the use of a battle mat or minis (so why track encumbrance?). Reason and character concept would dictate an individual's "maximum load".

With many of the other popular rpgs putting more emphasis on battle mats, grids, combat manuouvers, etc, what made you decide to take a different approach?

Are combat manuouvers purely narrative?

Growing up I never used battle mats or minis in battle. I had fun with such props, but I didn't want to require them in my game. The ERP rules reflect this...

"Movement in ERP is abstract, players describing
such movement as necessary, while the GM tracks
how it will affect actions and timing. Occasionally,
judging movement over distances becomes
important for tactical or dramatic situations...". In the latter case there are rules based on Speed ratings, broken down into battle phases, and it's all very easy to arbitrate.