new/edited optional/house Rules

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    • new/edited optional/house Rules

      Alright, we all have house or optional rules that we tend to make up to either make the game more balanced, or more fun, and I'm wondering, what rules have you guys made up?

      I've never played the game, but even so, that doesn't mean I haven't looked at the rules and thought "Would the game be more fun if I did this."

      1. Extraordinary attributes: Basically, at every power level this is a maximum attribute rank, but (if I were to run some sort of game), I'd allow either 1 attribute to be 2 above this max OR 2 attributes to be one above this maximum. The reason behind it is because everyone's talented somewhere, some are slightly stronger then the norm, some more agile, some just seem to know how to talk to people better then others, and this is basically that. It allows for a PC to show that his strength, essence, perception or whatever is slightly better then the norm. Now, thinking about this (just now), I realized how much even one die is... so i'm thinking of just making an allowance of just one attribute one possible point higher, to try to make it a bit more even (and to make it so that min-maxing is still to a minimum.)

      2: No more then three: you can only have three attributes maxed out for the power level. This not only makes it so that players just spend all of their points on attributes, but it also saves them points to put elsewhere (whether they know it or not).

      3: Max skill rank: Yet one more way to try to put min-maxing to a minimum. By adding a Max skill rank equal to the max attribute rank +2, I'm able to avoid people trying to max out one attribute, then take a skill that uses that attribute, and buy that skill up to impossible levels. So someone won't be able to get a maxed out agility for the power level, and then throw his attack and evade up to 12 dice, at a lower power level (alright, bad example, but you get what I mean.) This caps that so that I don't run into anyone trying to break the game (Like my roommate, who seems to do that to every RPG), and it also helps the player flesh out his/her character more by almost forcing him to spend the excess points either in OTHER skills, or in other places in general.

      4. Further Skill specialization: This came up when I thought you could already do this, but it turned out you couldn't. With this, I'd allow anyone to specialize in their skills, allowing them to spend the normal "Rank-up" cost, but instead specialize in said skill, making a normal "rank-up" equal to 2 ranks instead of one (at the cost of making that rank-up situational). So, lets take the skill "Brawling." I was saddened, while reading the book, that you took a penalty for doing maneuvers while brawling. With this, I could spend 3 points to "rank up," and specialize in doing head shots while brawling. Now, I get my normal brawling dice for when I just want to make a general attack, but if I call a shot for his head, I get +2 dice (as opposed to a +1 all round), effectively removing the penalty I get for doing so using brawling! (normal penalties are still applied for doing the maneuver though). Another example could possibly be "while attacking from behind" for any attack skill, "while flying" for most paksin, "Party talk" for conversation, or "while reading lips" for any language you may know, etc, etc. Also, if rule 3 is in practice, you can specialize a maxed out skill to effectively have an added +2 while doing that skill under it's specialization. I like the idea of this rule because it fleshes out character even more, and gives a lot of characters something new and unique, and I believe it would give some VERY imaginative moments in trying to figure things out to the best of a characters abilities "hmmm... well, I'm good at pole vaulting... so maybe if I use this spear, I could, possibly, jump the gap..."

      Those are some Ideas I have, as I said, I haven't been able to play the game with my group as of yet (some are a bit iffy on the whole "you're an animal" thing, and the rest don't know enough about the setting to actually, get into it, and I make for a horrid GM...) What do you think? AND have you guys tooled around with some of the rules to make them better fit your game?
    • Originally posted by joewolz
      Mine are much simpler.

      1. I ignore maximum attribute levels after character creation.


      Heh, yea, I've never gotten past Character creation, I'd probably do that too, though.

      Originally posted by joewolz
      2. I use roleplaying dice as stunt dice, explained here.


      Interesting and neat! How's that workin' out by-the-by?
    • Stubs, I think those are great ideas to try and play around with during character creation. Especially the idea of allowing one of the Characteristics to go beyond the Max Ranking. If I were doing that, though, I'd make that something more expensive to do (perhaps twice as expensive as normally raising that Characteristic). This would help keep balance to a better extent, in my mind.

      As far as the Max Skill Rank goes, that's already built in (at least at Character Creation time). The Basic rules suggest that players aren't allowed to have ANY Attribute go higher than the Max Attribute Ranking during character creation, and that applies to Skills and Animal Abilities as well as Characteristics. This keeps the Action Dice for everyone on a fairly even keel as far as their top attributes go,...at least at the start of the game.

      Please feel free to employ extra skill specialization in any way you guys find fun and enjoyable, but remember you can also achieve that (to some extent) by picking groups of Skills that complement one another exceptionally well. By doing ths, during actual game-play you can us the Complementary Skill rolls to add extra successes to your original skill rolls by using other compleentary skills with them! Don't forget that doing this in combat costs an extra Action, though (it's always about balance).

      Originally posted by joewolz
      Mine are much simpler.

      1. I ignore maximum attribute levels after character creation.


      Our rules do too! Read the beginning of the last paragraph on page 45. We assume that once character creation is over, players can spend any newly earned Story Points any way they wish within the ranges indicated by their Animal Templates.
    • My thoughts

      Personally I wouldn't ignore Zoic maximums.

      After the start of a game I wouldnt have any problem with characters maxing some of their attributes, It would just seem odd if every character had every ability maxed out.

      One thought I had is allowing PCs to have one attribute above their racial max. This way it sets them apart from every other member of their zoic breed.
      "One without crystal is without life"
    • My Houserules UPDATED

      I did like the idea of some of the house rules in this thread, so I adapted some of them, namely limits to characteristics distribution.
      Here's the stuff I added so far, their effects and what I'm also planning:

      World Houserules:

      1 Dalan Equals Roughly 50€ (~70$)
      I did this to make the Dalan seem more like a valuable currency that was introduced to easily handle mass transactions between the richer castes, and largely unavailable to the poor folks.
      This had the following effects:
      • To save their valuable money, players try to collect items to trade in, or use wit and their abilities.
      • Players use Dalan mostly to pay for expensive items or services, buying in bulk (such as paying for one week spent at an inn in advance, or buying a month's stock) or for very expensive bribing.
      • The GM has a little more work tracking items and making sure the players don't get their hands on valuable ones too easily.


      Character Creation Houserules:

      Skills have an Effect on the Starting Inventory
      Once the players had sent me their finished character sheets, I sifted through their chosen skills, profession and caste and used them as an inspiration for what the character might have in their possession at the start of the game and subtracted the value of these items from their starting money.
      Then I would show my players their list and discuss it.
      Of course, if they had special wishes that were reasonable, I added those as well!
      For instance, one of my players had the skill "Trapping", but rather low, so I gave him an old and blunt leghold trap assembled from the chitinous parts of various suthra.
      This had the following effects:
      • It had a positive effect on roleplaying, as the players had a definitive list of things they could "use" with some of their skills.
      • As they noticed bonuses in certain situations, they really started being on the lookout for useful items that could enhance other skills as well. This made items become more important overall.
      • Creative use of items is also encouraged.


      Monthly Income and Starting Money is Calculated via a few Factors
      I calculated their monthly income via:
      (Wit + Presence) x (Status Bonus + Profession Bonus)

      Outcaste usually have a negative Status Bonus, and mostly do not own/earn money but items with the collective worth of their starting money.
      Depending on how long a character works, they earn a rough percentage of this monthly income.

      The "Wealth" Advantage must be bound to a certain facility, business or other source of sorts and produces:
      (Wit + Presence) x (Advantage Rank)

      Per Month, lest the facility ceases to exist/produce/whatever.

      Player starting money equals roughly 2 monthly incomes, with valuable items subtracted from their starting money.
      This had the following effects:
      • Players try to manage their Dalan more carefully, more emphasis is put on the worth of this currency.
      • Adventuring in style (guards, servants) can be VERY expensive.
      • Because fleeting, players will actively seek opportunities to make money on the side, or pursue profitable activities harder, which in my opinion enriches the game.
      • Players who are poor WILL loot their enemies. Players who swim in money will usually keep souvenirs or the most expensive item in the lot.


      General Game & System House Rules & Ideas:

      The Story Candle
      Inspired by an awesome article on Gnome Stew, I will try to introduce an object onto our game table that symbolizes the start of the game. May it be a candle or some object, it gives everyone the sign to focus on the game.

      The "story candle" that I at first used was an actual candle, but then it struck me:

      [Blocked Image: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v356/Philot/Stuff/Shard/salt_crystal.jpg]
      Everyone around here at some point gets one of these cheesy salt-crystal lamps! And it's only until you play Shard that you really begin to appreciate crystals! :D

      It was really handy because it had a switch which could easily be toggled. The candle I always had to light and blow out and light...

      This had the following effects:
      • Jokes were made about the story candle/crystal at first, you just have to be persistent about the idea.
      • In just two rounds, the players accepted the story candle as a sign that indicates game time and 'relaxing' time and found themselves regularly looking if it was lit (I did at times, too).
      • With every time candle turned on, I really felt how everyone and myself snapped into "RPG-mode", and back out when it was turned off.
      • It was really helpful, definitely a worthwhile suggestion!


      Generally More Props

      Combat Action Markers & Ritual Discipline Markers
      I have heard this often enough, that it helps players to keep track of something if they have something REAL that symbolizes these objects.
      So I gave out small color coded glass nuggets (1 color per player) to symbolize Combat Actions.
      This had the following effects:
      • Players really liked having physical objects to count their combat actions.
      • One player, for instance, used a leftover box of glass nuggets to count his remaining ritual disciplines


      (Just an idea, won't probably try)Status Cards
      Cards with status effects written on them to players who suffer from this effect or are buffed by it, etc.
      Not sure if I need to try this, as I have maptool to keep track of statuses. Also I'd feel cruel for handing out these cards. :/

      Safety Dice
      Also, I introduced the Safety Dice!

      [Blocked Image: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v356/Philot/Stuff/Shard/awesomedice.jpg]

      We call it the safety dice because it's soft, but also because it seems to roll a lot of successes! :D
      That's why we use it for rolls that are so hard that all that's left is one dice.
      This had the following effects:
      • The Safety Dice is really silly, but it's fun to play around with it and roll it, and it sometimes underlines the hopelessness and/or foolishness of a situation when you have to resort to it.
      • I see how it could sometimes damage the immersion, but it adds to the fun and suspense.


      (MAYBE will test next round)Roleplaying Props
      When some rounds in the past in Serpentus' campaign, one of his players, Entropie said that his character would try to aid my magic ritual by providing music from his flute, I was really surprised when he packed out a real flute and started whistling some really beautiful tunes! That made me think about roleplaying props...

      Maybe having a range of curious items that players can physically touch can help them better imagine what their character is doing.

      My idea is just to have these items on display on some shelf and open up the possibility for everyone to grab and use them... Not sure though!

      (No chance to really test it) Weapons with different Pros and Cons
      I planned to have certain weapons grant you definitive bonuses to some actions, but also certain maluses on others.

      For instance, one of my players uses a cord weapon which would give him:
      Attack from 1 meter (or Half-Move?) possible.
      +1 Bind/Grab, Disarm, Sweep
      -1 Break Bone/Joint, Disable
      -2 Sever Appendage


      Maptool-Inspired Rules
      Maptool of course, allows me to easily keep track of certain things that would be impossible to without a battle map and even with a battlemap it would be rather hard.

      [Blocked Image: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v356/Philot/Stuff/Shard/steff_testkampangne_ende.jpg]

      For instance, in this test-scenario I played together with one of my players to come up with interesting house-rules for combat, I used an aura to display the sight and range of his companion character, a bowman, so he knew when this character was able to take a shot with what penalty.

      I used similar auras to display standard Echolocation Range (which has a blind area of ~10ft/5m, where the distance is too short to create an echo) and a total range of about 110ft/35m (which is roughly the normal range bats detect their prey at)

      [Blocked Image: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v356/Philot/Stuff/Shard/steff_testkampangne_echolocation.jpg]

      Thermal Sensing Range for snakes (which I deemed to be around 10ft/5m, a normal-sized pit viper can sense it's prey at about 3ft/1m) I display via a "personal light" which allows the player alone to see enemies in complete darkness at low range.

      This had the following effects:
      [*]Makes keeping track of so many statuses and variables easy!
      [*]Is only limited by my ability to create a framework. (Currently working on advanced charactersheets)
      [*]There is moments when use of a Battle map can slow things down! Sometimes it's better to just give narrative instead of shifting tokens around!
      [/list]

      More in Progress...

      The post was edited 10 times, last by Sherbie ().

    • RE: My Houserules

      You've put a lot of great thought into these Sherbie!

      I especially love the "Skills have an Effect on the Starting Inventory" house-rule you have used, which I think is an absolutely excellent answer to helping starting players decide what items they have to begin with... The skills players have directly reflects their profession, their hobbies, and any other interests they may have, which certainly gives weight to their character's decision to collect stuff throughout their life, and to keep certain items close at hand at any given time...

      One could go a step further and actually have the players create their own list by having to decide on several items (say 1-5) that they should choose for each skill they possess, which they would later discuss with the GM before game-play commences... Later during the game, when players buy new skills, they could be called upon to do it again, this time using their existing funds or other abilities to gather the new items they need whenever they learn new skills requiring them... Great role-playing potential, depending on what the items might be...

      Additionally, the idea that having a low rank in a skill means that items a character may possess pertaining to it could be of low quality or of an "amateur" nature, while items reflecting high-ranking skills might be of a high quality/professional-level nature, can add a lot of variety to the types of things a character might call his or her own...

      Great stuff!

      Scottie ^^
    • RE: My Houserules

      Updated my thread with effects new houserules had on yesterdays' campaign and some new untested ones! :D

      Originally posted by Scott Jones
      You've put a lot of great thought into these Sherbie!

      Thanks! :D

      Originally posted by Scott Jones
      I especially love the "Skills have an Effect on the Starting Inventory" house-rule you have used, which I think is an absolutely excellent answer to helping starting players decide what items they have to begin with...

      Thanks! It indeed helped them with imagining how a certain skill could be performed, but also inspired creative use of those items beyond the range of their actual use (which is even more awesome)!

      Originally posted by Scott Jones
      The skills players have directly reflects their profession, their hobbies, and any other interests they may have, which certainly gives weight to their character's decision to collect stuff throughout their life, and to keep certain items close at hand at any given time...

      I also orientated myself by reading the little bio of the character each player told me.

      Originally posted by Scott Jones
      One could go a step further and actually have the players create their own list by having to decide on several items (say 1-5) that they should choose for each skill they possess, which they would later discuss with the GM before game-play commences...

      The reason I chose the items myself was, because I wanted to spread them evenly among skills in a way that describes the character they made. I thought that players maybe would just populate them around "adventuring skills" or fighting skills.

      Originally posted by Scott Jones
      Later during the game, when players buy new skills, they could be called upon to do it again, this time using their existing funds or other abilities to gather the new items they need whenever they learn new skills requiring them... Great role-playing potential, depending on what the items might be...

      I haven't reacted to newly purchased skills in such way yet, but it's a good idea! :D
      Will so from the next round on!

      Originally posted by Scott Jones
      Additionally, the idea that having a low rank in a skill means that items a character may possess pertaining to it could be of low quality or of an "amateur" nature, while items reflecting high-ranking skills might be of a high quality/professional-level nature, can add a lot of variety to the types of things a character might call his or her own...

      Another reason why I distributed items myself, because then players might just assign items to highest ranking skills?

      What about if certain items, depending on their quality could only be used with a certain ranking.
      Depending on their quality, they don't only give bonus dice.

      They could allow you to re-roll dice while using them, use exploding dice, do a separate roll to determine if a certain rule (such as "If you roll a 6, poisons mixed with this appliance last one round longer") applies and many more effects, depending on their use!