I also agree with OGR that everyone is free to create a fearless PC, whose stats best match his character (probably a low wisdom - an 8 year old is fearless because she lacks awareness and comprehension of the world's dangers... anyway, abilities are always open to debate). There are limits as to what skills, abilities and feats you can possess at level 1 though, and that should reflect.
What I'm saying is, you cannot demand or expect that a fearless character is almost guaranteed to survive. Because then we're getting pretty close to sitting down as a board game only, where everyone can play whatever he wants. Would that be bad for roelplay? No, not at all, it allows even more concepts and roleplay opportunities than this limited-by-reality simulationism nonsense this Veilan dude is spouting, frothing from his mouth, wailing like a banshee!
So, yeah. All this having to gain levels to actually support the abilities I want is hindering my roleplay, since I want to roleplay having these abilities already, not gaining them! Let's all pick whatever level we want!
No, honestly, polemic exaggerations aside, I've played "free form" games like that, and they can be oodles of fun. They're not ALFA though.
But it's not really what we want anyway, is it? The most fun from ALFA comes from the fact that it is a simulated world. Characters usually are believable and plastic, and heroes heroes, because they are real heroes. Not jump-start-past-the-critical-phase decal pictures of heroes. Everyone has and had to take tough choices, in character. Does my inexperienced character's fear of drow outweigh her loyalty for her friends who want to go and hunt them? That's where the fun begins.
If you want to roleplay a fearless, violent character, you have that freedom. But why do you want to skirt the reality checks that are the lower levels - everyone's seemingly tougher than you, and the static spawns are scary - present? That's just... well, narrativism. If you want to tell a good tale, write down a good tale. In ALFA, however, the tale should emerge dynamically, and realistically, from what actually happens. I too agree that the low hit point, doubling at second level sucks - hence why I offered a reasonable compromise via the toughness feat, for instance - and I also agree that it's bloody risky to go out hunting orcs on level 1. The difference being that I think that's exactly what it should be.
Now maybe I'm just not as cool as you, but my fighter 2 was far from fearless and broke down and cried after an ambush in the Waterdeep sewers where she had only went out of loyalty to her friends. However, with time came abilities, and so she grew to tell an adult white dragon to get the fuck out of her way over a dozen levels later. The dragon did.
You can be anything you want in ALFA. You just have to earn it, through a believable and realistic, simulation-proof path of development. It's a chance, not a hindrance, and there is so much to gain if we allow ourselves to enjoy the journey, roleplaying each step, and not think we can "only roleplay properly if we have reached the destination". That's just not true, it's limiting your own roleplay and enjoyment.
Also, Jean-Paul Sartre.
Cheers,
