House Rules v1

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Joe the Rat
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House Rules v1

Post by Joe the Rat »

This is the topic for rules and rules discussions. In addition to being able to flex on GMs, I also plan to use the between-adventures time to adjust rules if we find things aren't working, or we want to add something. The initial version of this is available here (in word format, 'cause I'm evil) http://db.tt/1PVjo5QN
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Joe the Rat
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Re: Setting and House Rules

Post by Joe the Rat »

Rules and Supplements:
Basic Fantasy Roleplaying Game (r75)
Equipment Emporium (Modification: Brigandine is excluded pending rewrite)
0-level spells (Using : Libram Magica progression)
Backgrounds and Specialties
Combat Options
Thief Options
Gnomes
Half-Humans

Character Creation
Attributes: Character scores will be selected from the provided array. You may exchange any two ability scores at character creation (BFRPG, p. 139). Be aware of race and class restrictions in your selections.

Character Classes: We are favoring the basic four for now. Please note the following tweaks:
Cleric: Flail, Chain, and Bola are added to permitted weapons. As a clarification, a cleric’s holy symbol is needed for casting spells, but not for orisons.

Fighter: Fighters have the option of weapon specialization (from combat options). I am also offering two other options: Shield Specialization (+1AC from shields, limited to one rank), and two-weapon specialization (Each rank reduces the attack penalties by 1 (to a minimum of 0/0 at rank 5).

Magic-User: Your starting spellbook includes 4 cantrips, Read Magic, 1 1stlevel spell, plus additional spell levels of spells equal to your Intelligence bonus. Cantrips count as ½ level.
Allowed weapons are club/wizard staff/walking stick, dagger (including defense), dart, and shuriken.

Thief: Be aware of the race and attribute bonuses from Thief Options. While any armor may be worn, anything heavier than studded leather is not recommended. Point assignment for thief skills (BFRPG, p. 142) can be used.

Multiclassing: You may take multiclass combinations as allowed by your race; other combinations require GM approval. We will be using the system as outlined for elves in the BFRPG book: You may take the best BAB, saves, and traits of each class (including hit die), and you must earn the combined XP needed to level up (e.g. a fighter-magic user needs 4500 XP to reach level 2: 2000+2500.

Starting Level/XP: Characters start with 3000XP – single class characters will be 2nd – 3rd level.

Backgrounds and Specialties: While it is not necessary, you may “select” a background. This is more detail about the character’s history or specific training, to get a sense of what you’ve done, and what you know how to do. You are considered proficient in these areas, and will have bonuses to any related attribute rolls. (Note this isn’t pick a skill, but pick an area or profession. Don’t say your character knows how to ride, say he was a “knight” or “courier” or “horse thief,” which covers other skills and tasks relevant to the background (heraldry, endurance, animal appraisal, etc.).
We are going to hold off on Specialties for now.

Starting Languages: Languages are available as normal. I am giving you the option of leaving one or more bonus languages “undeclared,” and declare they happen to know a language when it is first encountered.

Starting Hit Points: Maximum for 1st level, rolled thereafter. I will reroll any 1s.

Starting Items & Money: You have 400gp for gear, provisions, etc. You may “purchase” consumable magic items (scrolls or potions) for 150gp each (150gp per spell level for scrolls), subject to approval. If you’re feeling lucky, you can get a randomly selected consumable for 75gp. NOTE: This is for character creation, not market prices!

House Rules
General

Ability Rolls (BFRPG, p. 141): I intend to make liberal use of ability rolls to cover a wide variety of actions. In short, if you want to try and do something, go for it. Character background (and Backgrounds) will come into play here. When “raw ability” checks up, we will use “1 in x” rolls. The die size is determined by the difficulty, and the roll is modified by the attribute. Opening stuck or locked doors (Strength check) is a classic example of this type of action.

Intelligence as Knowledge: I am taking an interpretation of Intelligence as a mix of knowledge and reasoning, with the emphasis on knowledge. If you’re not sure if the character knows something, an Intelligence roll (modified for relevant backgrounds) will be used. You can use the attribute as a guide, but I leave it to the player to decide how quick-thinking, deliberative, clever, distractable, or whale-omelet thick they want to play the character.

Equipment: Belts and Braces and Boots: Do not count your clothing, belts, and pouches towards your encumbrance. Armor, exceptionally bulky garments, and anything held by said belts or pouches does count.


Magic
0-level Spells are in use. To clarify, Clerics and Magic-Users may cast a number of 0-level spells equal to their number of 1st level spell slots, plus one, plus their Requisite modifier. Example: A 2nd level magic-user with 16 Intelligence may cast (2 1st level spell slots, +1, +2 Int Modifier) 5 cantrips in a day. Cantrips and Orisons are quick and instinctive for the casting classes, and cannot be disrupted.

New cantrip: Mana bolt. 1d4 damage, 30’ range. Roll to hit, using better of Dex or Int to adjust AB.

New cantrip/orison: Ignite. This spell creates a brief, intense flash of heat, sufficient to light a torch, dry kindling, a prepared lantern, etc. The spark lasts but a couple of seconds, and can affect objects up to 10 feet away. Applied to a living thing, this will do no more than one hit point of damage. Unwilling targets (including items held by others) may make a save vs. Wands to avoid this. A group of candles (in a candelabra, in a magic a circle) can all be lit at once with a single use of Ignite.

Characters from non-casting classes (or a cleric wanting to learn cantrips, or vice versa) with a 13+ in the appropriate attribute may learn how to cast cantrips or orisons. They will start with one cantrip/orison known, and may cast one per +1 in the requisite ability per day (So a Thief with 18WIS may cast three orisons per day). Non-casting classes require a normal action to cast spells, and can have them be disrupted in combat. Learning how to cast these spells will take 1d4 weeks of study, and “cost” 500xp, plus whatever training costs are negotiated. Learning new 0-level spells will cost 100gp each (which includes the transcription costs for Magic-Users).

Unprepared Spells: If a character has any unprepared spell slots, they may cast them “from the book.” Casting a spell this way takes a full Turn (10 minutes).

Spell Disruption. We will be using the standard ruling, with the following modification: After being disrupted, the caster may make a Save vs. Spells (applying their Requisite modifier) to save the energy of the lost spell. If successful, the spell preparation is lost, but they keep the “unprepared” spell slot. Note that this is only applies to attacks on the exact initiative count.

Combat Rules:
Movement: You may make your move before or after your attack; you may not split your move.

Criticals: A natural 20 is an auto hit. We will use the “roll to confirm” approach for criticals. Criticals are max damage + additional damage die, plus modifiers. We may explore more options later.

Priority in Initiative: On a tied initiative, the priority goes to held actions, missiles, melee, then magic. After this, it goes to who has the best initiative modifier, then to simultaneous results.

Quarterstaff: The quarterstaff can be wielded as a reach weapon (held like a spear or a long club), or as a “double” weapon (using two-weapon fighting rules), striking for 1d4/1d4.

Shields: Large and Tower shields may provide a +1 savings throw bonus against directed effects (beams, rays, cones, etc.). This will depend on the specific situation (A small jet of poison gas from a trap could be blocked, and deserve a bonus, but a room-filling cloud would not).

Health & Death
A general note: I am taking the interpretation of hit points as “abstract ability to take a hit” close to heart. I also want to avoid having the party dragging their compatriots around for a week waiting for them to get above 0.

Healing: Characters heal 1hp per hit die overnight, plus/minus CON modifier (minimum 1).

Wound binding: A character’s wounds may be bound to stabilize in one round. Binding wounds adds the medic’s Wisdom Mod to any subsequent recovery (magical or overnight).

0 hit points: Important characters (i.e. PCs) reduced to 0hp or less in normal damage collapse, possibly unconscious. If the hit takes them below 0, they are at risk of bleeding out. Each round they must make a save vs. death, or lose an additional hit point. If they make a save, their wounds are bound, or healed via cantrip, they are stabilized. Characters may go as low as their HD size plus their Con modifier (d6, Con 15 = -7), after which they are too far gone, and will expire. After 1d6 turns (if they survived) the character will revive at 1 hp. Any Cure spell or effect will instantly revive the character (the character is treated as being at 0 hit points prior to rolling).
Magic-using characters reduced to negative hit points will lose any prepared spells, but retain the spell slots as “unprepared”. You do NOT gain castings from being brought to the Brink of Death.

Injury: The trade-off for easy recovery from 0 hit points is reduced effectiveness. When character takes a hit that puts them below 0 hit points, they have been injured, with some damage leaving the character at less-than-perfect performance. This could be a broken bone, cracked skull, torn ligament, bruised kidney, tenuously contained intestines, etc. When the character revives, they will be at -2 on all rolls, and move at half speed until they heal. Injuries are cumulative – getting Injured again takes you to -4, etc.

Natural healing reduces injury penalties by 1 per day of rest. A Cure Light Wounds spell will reduce an injury modifier by one (in addition to restoring hit points). More powerful healing effects will outright repair any Injury.
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Blazeguard
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Re: Setting and House Rules

Post by Blazeguard »

Just want to clarify the starting spells for the MU as I'm a little confused by the wording.
Joe the Rat wrote: Magic-User: Your starting spellbook includes 4 cantrips, Read Magic, 1 1stlevel spell, plus additional spell levels of spells equal to your Intelligence bonus. Cantrips count as ½ level.
Allowed weapons are club/wizard staff/walking stick, dagger (including defense), dart, and shuriken.
When it says ...plus additional spell levels of spells equal to your INT bonus. Cantrips count as 1/2 level... does that mean with a +2 bonus I could either have 2 more 1st level spells OR 4 cantrips OR some combination thereof?
If I'm level 2 is that besides the 2 1st level spells I normally get?
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Joe the Rat
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Re: House Rules v1

Post by Joe the Rat »

Good point there - yeah, that's 2 additional spells, a spell and two cantrips, or four cantrips. Or one second level spell you can't actually use yet. :D

And yeah, That's above the base "starting package."
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Blazeguard
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Re: House Rules v1

Post by Blazeguard »

Any restrictions/info regarding hirelings?
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Joe the Rat
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Re: House Rules v1

Post by Joe the Rat »

Hadn't considered them, actually. Give me a bit to think on it. I've got a nonstandard start point in mind, but it wouldn't be hard to make room or add a mercenary pick-up of some kind.
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jcm
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Re: House Rules v1

Post by jcm »

Who does the HP rolls?
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Blazeguard
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Re: House Rules v1

Post by Blazeguard »

Joe the Rat wrote:Hadn't considered them, actually. Give me a bit to think on it. I've got a nonstandard start point in mind, but it wouldn't be hard to make room or add a mercenary pick-up of some kind.
No worries. Just wondering if we were going to need them or not or if I could blow my fortune on other 'necessities'. ;)
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Hywaywolf
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Re: House Rules v1

Post by Hywaywolf »

its weird that some people always play with a horde of hirelings and some don't. I have rarely played with hirelings other than the occasional npc tag along.
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SmootRK
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Re: House Rules v1

Post by SmootRK »

Hywaywolf wrote:its weird that some people always play with a horde of hirelings and some don't. I have rarely played with hirelings other than the occasional npc tag along.
Sometimes it is nice to have a camp guard or two, or having a couple of red-shirt man-at-arms whose duties are mostly just torch bearing and trying to be a last ditch barrier for the low hp missilers and MU types to hide behind.
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