Fwd: Proposed House Rules

[Telas]

Forwarded from the Anomaly group...

KOS, GM

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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Telas <tel...@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Oct 28, 2011 at 12:56 PM
Subject: Proposed House Rules
To: anomaly-adju...@googlegroups.com

House Rules

I'm borrowing from SWEX, SWD, and Agents of Oblivion for this section.  I'm trying to use the rules to reflect both the horror and action genres, and allow for flexibility along the way.  These are proposals, so please feel free to chime in.  The new Arcane Background/Powers section is a merger of Agents of Oblivion and some options from SWD.  

A Trait roll of 'snake eyes' may not be re-rolled with a Bennie.  This does not mean that 'snake eyes' is any worse than (say) a 1 on the Shooting roll, but it does mean that it can't be Bennied.  I chose this rule because it's a horror genre.  (And as your GM, I won't abuse it; this rule applies equally to the NPCs.)  Note: I'm pretty firm on this one, but not fixated on it.

Sanity:  I was toying with the Sanity system from Realms of Cthulhu, but have decided against it.  The Sanity system (and all its baggage) would be the only thing we pull from RoC, and would tremendously change the game for little benefit in this genre.  Besides, your characters are more likely to be exsanguinated, torn limb from limb, or eaten alive than go crazy.  

Arcane Backgrounds:  Magic, Sacred, Weird Science, and Psionic backgrounds are available, and all use the Channeling skill where appropriate.  Unlike traditional SW rules, each Arcane Background only grants one Power, but also grants a knowledge skill equal to the character's Channeling skill in their area of expertise: Mysticism, Religion, Weird Science, and Parapsychology.  Each suffers consequences for rolling a 1 on the Channeling die.  They may also have RP restrictions, depending on the background.  Although it is not recommended, characters may take multiple Arcane Backgrounds, but must have a second Channeling skill for it.  

Powers:  Characters may take Powers above their Rank, but suffer a -1 penalty per difference in Rank to their Channeling roll.  Some offensive Powers have been rewritten to reflect the increased difficulty of using the more powerful versions of them.  Characters may concentrate for a round (no movement or other actions) and reduce their Channeling penalties by 2 points on the next round.

No Power Points:  Powers which are not instantaneous require maintenance immediately.  Each subsequent use of a Power is done at a -1 to the Channeling roll.  If someone wants to put Deflection on himself and another, the second use is at -1.  Also, anyone maintaining a Power must make a Channeling roll against any damage taken, or a simple Smarts (or Spirit for Sacred) roll to maintain the Power if Shaken.  

Languages: Characters know up to half their Smarts die in languages.  The secondary languages are spoken with an obvious accent, and interactions are generally at a -2 in them.  Characters may reduce that penalty by using additional slots for fluency, reducing their penalty by 1 step per slot.  For instance, a character with a d8 Smarts may speak English and Spanish fluently, but no other languages (his slots were English, Spanish -2, Spanish -1, Spanish fluently).  The Linguist Edge doubles the number of slots a character has available, so the previous character with the Linguist Edge could speak English, Spanish, Japanese, and German, all fluently.

Catchphrases and One-Liners:  In the spirit of 1980s action films, a player will receive a Bennie when their PC uses their catchphrase appropriately (once per encounter).

Brownie Points:  At the beginning of each session, each PC receives one Brownie Point per Rank. BPs may be spent to requisition equipment, services, or favors from the Agency, or they may be saved for later.  Requests made mid-mission are twice as expensive as requests made beforehand.  Unlike Bennies, BPs are yours until spent; they are not lost if not used by the end of a session.  Players may chip in for more expensive requests (such as an emergency airlift from a remote location).

Player Box:  The group will have a 'player box', and the GM will give them an index card for each organization or named NPC encountered, and for favors the party has earned from them.  The party is encouraged to make notes on the NPC cards.   

Let me know what you think; I'll try to have a revised list of Edges and Powers up sometime today.

Kurt

Got plot?  Try Eureka, 501 adventure plots to inspire game masters.

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