To be more specific on what I mean about RPG elements.
First off, there are too many skills compared to the skill leveling opportunities. You could go as reductive as taking it down to the three pillars (Combat, Exploration, Social Interaction).
Skill checks also are poorly implemented. They are largely small content gates; you pass a skill you get additional content, you fail, you get some small disadvantage and the event pretty much ends. There is no activity in the system. Failing checks should always be about getting a different resolution instead of just getting nothing (to be fair, it sometimes does this).
Moreover skill use should be more active. It shouldn't just be passive rolls on the background and you should get to choose how you resolve things most of the time instead of rarely. I think the game should have had a stamina system for each week that is shared between traveling to more hexes on the map and taking actions during events (and it should be enough to resolve at least multiple events per week. Maybe there could be active skills that also share that system.
And Rowan shouldn't really be leveling. He is a legendary adventurer already and that is reiterated at multiple points. You could be picking his specialty during character creation; while he should be good at what he does (skirmish combat, stealth and scouting, social interaction) you could pick what he is best at. I think the game already has a successful leveling system that improves Rowan's power and that's Castle Research.
That doesn't mean Rowan cannot gain more power but it shouldn't feel like he is a lvl 1 scout. Perhaps there should be opportunities for him to get an additional specialty. And I do wish that down the line the Chaos priest could train him into a caster. Or Arzyl!
BUT I would not want anything actually changed. It is functional already and I am here for the story to advance, not for the devs to fool around with their gaming system.