Favorite House Rules? Why?

Ley Line walkers, Juicers, Coalition Troops, Samas, Tolkeen, & The Federation Of Magic. Come together here to discuss all things Rifts®.

Moderators: Immortals, Supreme Beings, Old Ones

User avatar
drazool
Wanderer
Posts: 70
Joined: Tue Jan 09, 2018 8:51 pm

Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by drazool »

As I've mentioned in several other threads, I'm preparing to run a rifts adventure for my gaming group. I've been spelunking my way through the books quite a bit, rolling up a number of NPCs, PCs, etc. What I'm curious about, though, are home rules.

What are some of your favorite home rules as a player, and what are some of your favorites as a gamemaster? Why?

Personally, I plan to allow my players to treat the "attitude" fluff regarding their chosen OCCs as a mere guideline. Personally, it has always bothered me that the books dictate that OCC "A" has attitudes X, Y, and Z, and feels some way about group 1, 2, 3. While that may certainly be the norm, and again, a good guideline, I think players should feel free to characterize their PC in a way that is satisfying and interesting to them.
User avatar
eliakon
Palladin
Posts: 9093
Joined: Sat Jul 14, 2007 9:40 pm
Comment: Palladium Books Canon is set solely by Kevin Siembieda, either in person, or by his approval of published material.
Contact:

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by eliakon »

My absolute favorite, and most popular with my players House Rule is that we abolished Physical Beauty. It is now a description not a stat and solves the whole problem of everything being rated on how attractive or hideous it is to humans and not its own species.

The second most popular rule is that we got rid of alignments. There is no easy short cut to tell who is good and who is evil, you don't have the mustache twirler problem of "well yes I AM evil muahahahha" that crops up, and allows for moral ambiguity. And it also means that people have to decide for themselves how they will behave from action to action. For things like Rune weapons and the like I simply have them have moral outlooks encoded and if you match that it works if not it doesn't.
The rules are not a bludgeon with which to hammer a character into a game. They are a guide to how a group of friends can get together to weave a collective story that entertains everyone involved. We forget that at our peril.

Edmund Burke wrote:The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
User avatar
drazool
Wanderer
Posts: 70
Joined: Tue Jan 09, 2018 8:51 pm

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by drazool »

eliakon wrote:My absolute favorite, and most popular with my players House Rule is that we abolished Physical Beauty. It is now a description not a stat and solves the whole problem of everything being rated on how attractive or hideous it is to humans and not its own species.

The second most popular rule is that we got rid of alignments. There is no easy short cut to tell who is good and who is evil, you don't have the mustache twirler problem of "well yes I AM evil muahahahha" that crops up, and allows for moral ambiguity. And it also means that people have to decide for themselves how they will behave from action to action. For things like Rune weapons and the like I simply have them have moral outlooks encoded and if you match that it works if not it doesn't.


Interesting. I remember my GM specifically explaining to us that the PB score was only a measure of how beautiful you were to other humans. We stopped short of rolling a separate PB for each dbee's own species, but he described that that is what would realistically be required. I think his example was that a Silhouette that looks like an ethereal beauty to humans might in fact be quite ordinary to other Silhouettes.

As far as alignments, I have to say that I agree. The "mustache twiddling villain" archetype is extremely prevalent in rifts, I think to its detriment. It seems to me that most characters would be better described in terms of their motivations, methods, mores. Honestly this is why basically every character I've ever run in Rifts has been of aberrant alignment.
User avatar
Vincent Takeda
Dungeon Crawler
Posts: 224
Joined: Sun Jan 04, 2015 2:16 pm
Comment: 44 years in denver, but now in grand rapids.
Location: Rifts Denmark

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by Vincent Takeda »

Edmund Burke's first corollary: The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is to make the definition of evil ambiguous and subjective
User avatar
drazool
Wanderer
Posts: 70
Joined: Tue Jan 09, 2018 8:51 pm

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by drazool »

Vincent Takeda wrote:Edmund Burke's first corollary: The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is to make the definition of evil ambiguous and subjective

I mean, there is definitely an argument to be made on either side, right? "Moral absolutism is the death of social progress", vs "The invention of moral relativity was the high water mark of culture", or something. But maaaaaybe this isn't the most appropriate venue. :-o
User avatar
Vincent Takeda
Dungeon Crawler
Posts: 224
Joined: Sun Jan 04, 2015 2:16 pm
Comment: 44 years in denver, but now in grand rapids.
Location: Rifts Denmark

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by Vincent Takeda »

I always thought the strength of the palladium alignment system was that objectivity/subjectivity was dealt with directly in pretty stark terms, though its true a deep dive into alignment isnt where the thread ought to be headed. On the other hand I've got probably in the neighborhood of two dozen houserules but they fundamentally change the nature of the game and tend to blow minds when they come up so I'm probably not of the mind to post them... Particularly since this is a rifts thread and my homebrew is for HU2 and sdc systems. 'Nothing stacks' and 'One attack per round' are a pair of teasers to the significantly altered system I'm using and are certainly among my 'favorite houserules'
User avatar
eliakon
Palladin
Posts: 9093
Joined: Sat Jul 14, 2007 9:40 pm
Comment: Palladium Books Canon is set solely by Kevin Siembieda, either in person, or by his approval of published material.
Contact:

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by eliakon »

Vincent Takeda wrote:Edmund Burke's first corollary: The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is to make the definition of evil ambiguous and subjective

That is not in any way, shape or form a corollary to Edmund Burke's statement
It is in fact a cop out.
And alignments are a WORSE cope out.
You can do the most horrible things... just as long as it doesn't break a certain list of do's or don'ts.
But if you want to play an honorable person? Sorry Honor is EVIL.
Evil triumphs only when Good people are not willing to stand up and say "This is wrong, this is evil and this must not be." If it is enforced from without (A universal list of rules that says that the morals of the 1980s America are the One True Set of Good and that no one else has any idea of good, they are all wrong and thus selfish at best and willfully evil at worst) that is simply slavery and there is no morality in coerced obedience to external authority.
Worse it means that there is no such thing as free will.
None!
If you have no choice in your actions, if you can not make a decision yourself if something is good or evil, you are not allowed to weight the situation and consider any extenuating facts, but are instead obligated to follow specific universal rules that control your every moral action and can never be violated no mater what sort of extenuating circumstances apply...
Then you are an automotan, a willess slave to some higher force that controls all your actions and absolves everyone of the guilt of their actions because evil people have no choice but to be evil.
If you believe that in war time there may be times when it will be required to use bombs or missiles on cities that have civilians in them and that no matter how hard you try to minimize it that you are going to have civilan causlties. Then the universe has decreed that you can not be good. And at best can be an Anarchist.
And woe betide the soldier that follows orders. Now they are obligated to be evil.
Congratulations the universe has just mandated that virtually every soldier in every military is Evil. Simply by being willing to defend their family even from foes who seek to kill them being a soldier is inherently evil.

Or we could look to the fact that as written slavery has no moral element. Nor does cannibalism, or conversion by the sword, or pedophilia, or incest, or forced marriages, or wife burning, or harems, or hereditary cast systems, or Hunger Games, or really a host of other things that we today would consider vile evils... are of absolutely no moral weight in Palladium.

But a consider the poor Police Officer or Criminal Judge who once again can't be good because it is impossible to take dirty money. Thus depriving a criminal of their ill gotten gains and turning it over to the state is inherently a violation of the conditions of being good.

Ponder this sort of thing for a while and then come back to me and tell me that Moral Absolutism is the best possible moral system that can exist and that there should never be any subjectivity at all in anyway shape or form when deciding who is good and who is evil.

And while you are at it you can explain to me why entire races can be born 'evil'. How does a baby make a moral decision to be evil?


In summery, yes I banned alignments because they were getting in the way of having any morality in the game. And I wanted characters to be held accountable for their own actions and to have to judge themselves if they were doing good or not. I wanted it possible for a CS soldier or a Nazi or a Splugorth minion tell themselves that this is all for the best and that these 'people' don't really count.
I want there to have to be a discussion in the Congress of the United States on if blacks are people or not and not have a simple test for peoplehood.
I want good soldiers and good judges and good governments. I want to not have the 7 samurai be evil.
THAT is what I want.
The rules are not a bludgeon with which to hammer a character into a game. They are a guide to how a group of friends can get together to weave a collective story that entertains everyone involved. We forget that at our peril.

Edmund Burke wrote:The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
User avatar
Killer Cyborg
Priest
Posts: 27954
Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2001 2:01 am
Comment: "Your Eloquence with a sledge hammer is a beautiful thing..." -Zer0 Kay
Location: In the ocean, punching oncoming waves
Contact:

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by Killer Cyborg »

Bonus XP to whomever brings the GM pizza, soda, and/or snacks.
Annual Best Poster of the Year Awards (2012)

"That rifle on the wall of the laborer's cottage or working class flat is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays there." -George Orwell

Check out my Author Page on Amazon!
User avatar
Killer Cyborg
Priest
Posts: 27954
Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2001 2:01 am
Comment: "Your Eloquence with a sledge hammer is a beautiful thing..." -Zer0 Kay
Location: In the ocean, punching oncoming waves
Contact:

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by Killer Cyborg »

drazool wrote:
eliakon wrote:My absolute favorite, and most popular with my players House Rule is that we abolished Physical Beauty. It is now a description not a stat and solves the whole problem of everything being rated on how attractive or hideous it is to humans and not its own species.

The second most popular rule is that we got rid of alignments. There is no easy short cut to tell who is good and who is evil, you don't have the mustache twirler problem of "well yes I AM evil muahahahha" that crops up, and allows for moral ambiguity. And it also means that people have to decide for themselves how they will behave from action to action. For things like Rune weapons and the like I simply have them have moral outlooks encoded and if you match that it works if not it doesn't.


Interesting. I remember my GM specifically explaining to us that the PB score was only a measure of how beautiful you were to other humans. We stopped short of rolling a separate PB for each dbee's own species, but he described that that is what would realistically be required. I think his example was that a Silhouette that looks like an ethereal beauty to humans might in fact be quite ordinary to other Silhouettes.


I kind of like the way it is now, where goblins are all ugly to each other, and angels are all virtually stunned by each other's beauty, and so forth.
Annual Best Poster of the Year Awards (2012)

"That rifle on the wall of the laborer's cottage or working class flat is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays there." -George Orwell

Check out my Author Page on Amazon!
User avatar
drazool
Wanderer
Posts: 70
Joined: Tue Jan 09, 2018 8:51 pm

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by drazool »

Killer Cyborg wrote:Bonus XP to whomever brings the GM pizza, soda, and/or snacks.


I coulda sworn that was in the books somewhere...
User avatar
Vincent Takeda
Dungeon Crawler
Posts: 224
Joined: Sun Jan 04, 2015 2:16 pm
Comment: 44 years in denver, but now in grand rapids.
Location: Rifts Denmark

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by Vincent Takeda »

Hmmm. I'm pretty sure that slavery and pedophilia would be covered under 'may or may not harm innocents or take advantage of them' and is covered quite appropriately in the good to evil spectrum of palladium alignments...

The written alignments have subjectivity and objectivity delineated on a case by case basis at least down to the level of words like 'innocent' 'harm' 'for pleasure' 'within the law' 'those not worthy of your respect' 'lie' 'cheat' 'betray' 'mock' are all part and parcel of defining certain things as objectively good or evil, and defining where an alignment is appropriate because it chooses to be subjective on either the element or object of the moral quandry, while at the same time leaving the idea of incest or forced marriage or harems or cast systems that well... at the end of the day... aren't necessarily inherently objectively evil.

And if you remember that alignments should be descriptive not prescriptive, I don't see palladium using the alignment system to beat you over the head with your characters moral and ethical choices. If you choose how you treat a person based on a subjectivity like 'do I personally think they are deserving of not being harmed or taken advantage of' then scrupulous aint for you and I think the system does a pretty good job of hashing that out.

Even spirited debate about alignment is mostly theorycraft, since I'd be surprised to find out that gamers are choosing that their evenings entertainment should be about exploring the moral relativity of forced incest harems and the babies who choose to be part of them. I'd like to think such campaigns are more on the fringe than not, and are certainly not the kinds of issues that come up in the games I'm runnin. But the moral questions that do come up within my games are handled pretty nicely by the alignment system as written, even with respect to the concept of 'honor'.
User avatar
Vincent Takeda
Dungeon Crawler
Posts: 224
Joined: Sun Jan 04, 2015 2:16 pm
Comment: 44 years in denver, but now in grand rapids.
Location: Rifts Denmark

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by Vincent Takeda »

drazool wrote:
Killer Cyborg wrote:Bonus XP to whomever brings the GM pizza, soda, and/or snacks.


I coulda sworn that was in the books somewhere...



I'd file it under 'heroic, clever or not', clever ideas and actions, good judgement, in character, and depending on how hungry we are, critical plan that saves the entire group.
User avatar
Shamrock 'Slinger
Wanderer
Posts: 72
Joined: Tue Feb 23, 2016 11:29 pm

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by Shamrock 'Slinger »

I lump a few skills together such as WP Heavy MD, WP Military, WP flamethrow in just a catch all WP Heavy Weapons. Sort of like Fallout.

I don't roll initiative after every melee round. What you get in the initial roll is it. Combat already goes too long, rerolling initiative makes it worse.

I'm tempted to nix Physical Beauty seeing the previous posts.
dreicunan
Hero
Posts: 1344
Joined: Wed Jun 25, 2014 12:49 am

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by dreicunan »

We didn't do this for the base stats, but for derived or partially derived stats like HP/SDC or MDC, PPE, and ISP, we always altered the roll so that if, say, it was something like 3d6x10+20, we instead did 3d6x5+110. Basically, we made sure that all results were in the upper half of the range set forth by Palladium. Especially for stats like ISP and PPE, our GM preferred for people to have enough points to be able to really use their abilities.

For base stats he always used "roll one extra die beyond what it says and drop the lowest die." If you were actually playing a baseline human (or a different race that was basically the same level of power), he also had you reroll any ones when generating stats (you didn't drop the lowest die until no ones were showing), but that was because he wanted characters skewed a bit more towards the exceptional (but if you rolled 4 2s for a 3d6 stat, you still ended up with a 6).

He also allowed you to swap any roll results that had the same base die code (so if you had one stat that was 2d6+8 and another that was 2d6+1, you could choose which 2d6 result went where). If you wanted the greatest flexibility in stats for a character, roll up someone whose codes are all 3d6!

Obviously this resulted in characters who were skewed to the above average at worst, normally, but it worked well for our group.
Axelmania wrote:You of course, being the ultimate authority on what is an error and what is not.
Declared the ultimate authority on what is an error and what is not by Axelmania on 5.11.19.
User avatar
13eowulf
Megaversal® Ambassador
Posts: 1150
Joined: Tue Nov 24, 2009 6:15 pm
Location: Ontario, Canada

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by 13eowulf »

A house rule I enjoy is after someone critically fails (natural 1 or natural 00) the GM has them roll another % to use as a guide for how bad it is.

Roll say a 23% on a critically failed sword swing and maybe your sword gets stuck in a tree. Roll an 87% and maybe it gets stuck in another party member....

There is no set list of specific outcomes, just a gauge for how 'bad' it should be beyond failing the attempted action/task/skill.
Oderint Dum Metuant.
User avatar
Natasha
Champion
Posts: 3161
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2008 7:26 pm
Comment: Doomed to crumble unless we grow, and strengthen our communication.

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by Natasha »

Giving Players responsibilities typically reserved for Game Masters, as in the InSpectres game. It's most fun when Players hose their own Characters.
User avatar
drewkitty ~..~
Monk
Posts: 17737
Joined: Sat Sep 30, 2000 1:01 am
Location: Eastvale, calif
Contact:

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by drewkitty ~..~ »

The one that I use is that bonus exp for those char who's players got to the chat room on time.
May you be blessed with the ability to change course when you are off the mark.
Each question should be give the canon answer 1st, then you can proclaim your house rules.
Reading and writing (literacy) is how people on BBS interact.
Sohisohi
Explorer
Posts: 169
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2017 11:13 pm

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by Sohisohi »

drazool wrote:[...] what are some of your favorite [rulings] as a gamemaster? Why?

Your gun cannot burst-fire or go fully-auto unless it's stated as a rule under the weapon
Keeps a particular type of abrasive player from even joining.
All palladium books are open/cannon for a Rifts campaign, though not the rules (unless I state otherwise)
I just like giving my players some options, though I often include other restrictions like an approximate max/min power level.
No alignments
It's a dumb system; character actions are dictated by their interpretations of their characters background.
Most R.C.Cs are treated as a race, leveled up along with whatever your chosen O.C.C is
Not all R.C.Cs are equal, some are barely better then just playing a level 0 race.
Every class/race has a chance for psychic/magic
I don't care if you are a fully converted borg or it outright states in both your class and race that you can not use psychic/magic. If it is a O.C.C related thing, the restriction is immediately removed. If it is related to your Race, just use the human roll/rule to determine psychics and just copy the same roll/rule for magic. P.C.C/R.C.C depends on one it is, but for the most part it is immediately removed.
Casting magic and using psychics can be done from inside a mech/armor; I also remove just about all rules on restricting magic
O.C.C specific spells or magic/spells that can't be used by a techno wizard is just dumb.
You can take an O.C.C, even if you don't have the attributes to use it properly
It mattered alot when I used to do random rolling for states, pretty much a rule I never use anymore.
Nightmartree
Adventurer
Posts: 497
Joined: Wed Aug 16, 2017 12:49 am
Comment: I don't know what i'm doing, that's for realities GM to figure out
Location: Garden of Dreams

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by Nightmartree »

VaderLike wrote:This change will also make players less squishy. Consider this:
Maybe an AK-47 can't penetrate personal M.D.C. armor, and a laser rifle can. That laser rifle might ultimately destroy the armor because of the style of the projectile, but after that, it only does S.D.C. damage to actual flesh, because why would a hand-held laser rifle that strikes someones shoulder necessarily turn them into a puddle?

We'll see how it plays out. I'm confident.


I got to see a youtube video on why lightsabers are unrealistic

besides everyone around you exploding into flames as you turn it on (ignore this for game purposes) the "elegant" bit they're described as and the nicely carterized wounds we see in the movies...are actually more like *lightsaber stabs guy, guys chest explodes as the moisture in his body evaporates instantly causing a steam explosion of his body in his body* and that is why MD weapons don't just pass through SDC targets.

but I can see why you'd do this but in that case why not just give them a robot/natural AR instead? over the AR and it hit a soft spot, if there is no soft spot give it full AR and then you have MD weapons ignore AR. Its a modified SDC system then
User avatar
Thom001
Explorer
Posts: 171
Joined: Thu Oct 09, 2014 1:22 am

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by Thom001 »

House rules we use are
in to hand to hand if person A has 8 attacks and person B has 4 attacks and person B has initiative it would go like this: person B strikes, person A then strikes twice before person B can strike again.

Then when it comes to landmines/high explosives in sdc combat roll to dodge (landmine has to roll above 16 to dodge) then if didnt dodge roll for damage and if damage is great enough (which it usually is roll percentile tile die to see which limb is lost)
Usually do not roll for NPCs, they are just dead.

We also usually jump out of the way when a gun is pulled and dont even wait for the other person to pull the trigger. If the character does this, shooter is effectively shooting wild, we use the idea that its hard to pull a gun and aim it accurately. Our games have lots of hiding behind things.

MDC Laser rifles burn holes in sdc people. Think a cauterized hole straight through the area that was hit. Other types of mdc beams make bigger beams, so bigger holes. We play that laser is the smallest beam.

Also damaged e-clips may catch fire, explode, get hot (like a cell phone, not a grenade)
nuclear powered equipment may get hot, leak radioactivity, etc if power supply is damaged during combat

you take fall damage when you fall. In mdc armor or power armor the amount depends on what you are wearing and the circumstances of the fall.

Sdc objects still can stop/knock you down in MDC armor- we had a player slam the door on a charging npcs face in armor. Getting hit in the face by the door didnt damage his face but did knock him off his feet.

alignments are more like guidelines for players, and are more meant for npcs.

we use the natural 20 rule. Meaning if you are in a situation you cant figure out or cannot escape from and roll a natural 20 for help, the energizer bunny might just save your life, or give you the answer.

everyone can be a undeveloped magic/psionic user. This means like harry potter making glass disappear or blimp his aunt if you have the juice (abundant p.p.e. or i.s.p.) you will be able to do things under stress, you don't know any spellls, abilities but may do random things like turn invisible, teleport, do a blinding flash, rot the ground around you, turn the enemies weapon/armor/bot into confetti etc.

if one player starts the fight that player has initiative.

the inside of your armor has to be maintained (cleaned) and players must attempt to remain clean to avoid things like rashes, and scurvy. We once had a player who left his armor on all the time. He bought a helmet with a face plate so he could leave his helmet on when he ate. The GM let it go but we felt it was a bit ridiculous. Also we once had an adventure to find a dentist. It was great.

My favorite house rule is extremely out of the box solutions get rewarded with extra gear somewhere in the adventure. We once had a player send the bad guy love notes that were only partially written in English via carrier pigeon from the one of his drug dealers to lure him out of his compound that we couldn't access.

We have others but I think this is probably enough
User avatar
Incriptus
Hero
Posts: 1255
Joined: Mon Dec 23, 2002 2:01 am
Comment: Hey, relaaaax. Pretend it's a game. Maybe it'll even be fun
Shoot the tubes, Dogmeat!
Location: Washington State

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by Incriptus »

House Rule: All MD melee weapons get P.S. Bonus
Why: Melee weapons become mechanically viable enough to justify the large number made for war.
Colonel_Tetsuya
Champion
Posts: 2172
Joined: Sat Nov 10, 2012 3:22 am

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by Colonel_Tetsuya »

Incriptus wrote:House Rule: All MD melee weapons get P.S. Bonus
Why: Melee weapons become mechanically viable enough to justify the large number made for war.


... they do as much damage as a laser rifle already - 2d6 MD for a Vibro-sword, and any character can add 1d6 with fencing - and thats just super common Vibro-swords. I dont see how doing equivalent damage to a gun means they are “unviable”.

TW Flaming Swords do 4d6 MD and are commonly available (and can add fencing..) if not commonly usable; and TW Lightblades, a bit more uncommon, do 1d4x10 (+fencing), and are usable by everyone.

And thats not even getting into the (much more expensive, albiet) magic weapons, TW enchanted weapons (from Federation of Magic), and Rune weapons.

Not poo-pooing the idea (i was thinking of something along these lines for my (very slow) ongoing re-write, but slightly different. (Still iterating, but more along the lines of MDC damage bonuses to melee being the province of Augmented, Robotic, and Supernatural PS, and reducing the “punch damage” of SN PS in particular to compensate).

I was more just kind of.. taking exception to/refuting the idea that melee MDC weapons are somehow super weak. I mean, yeah, theyll do less damage than most infantry guns that can pulse or burst fire, but... we issued bayonets through Korea for a reason. Did they do as much “damage” as a bullet? No, but they were far from useless and we produced them in the millions. We still issue long combat knives to all of our infantry soldiers.

Having an ammo-less melee sidearm that can do as much damage as a shot from a standard laser rifle is all the justification required formthem to be mass produced and issued en masse. The fact that theyre also an extremely useful tool (universal machette/trenching tool/saw/construction tool) is just a bonus.
Im loving the Foes list; it's the only thing keeping me from tearing out my eyes from the dumb.
User avatar
Vincent Takeda
Dungeon Crawler
Posts: 224
Joined: Sun Jan 04, 2015 2:16 pm
Comment: 44 years in denver, but now in grand rapids.
Location: Rifts Denmark

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by Vincent Takeda »

The less controversial houserules we use
- Nat 20 plus bonuses can be beaten by non nat 20 with bonuses
- On a crit, damage is max plus roll
- AR is no longer tied to the attack roll. AR is now DR, making armor both resistive and ablative.
- Alignments are descriptive. Your character's actions, beliefs, conditionals and justifications determines their alignment
- There's no such thing as an exclusive martial art
- Armor ablates deathblow, turning it into a critical hit instead
User avatar
(SHIFTY)
Adventurer
Posts: 407
Joined: Fri Sep 10, 2004 6:27 pm

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by (SHIFTY) »

I like the ideas on alignment guys! I always found that they were way to restrictive and made no sense. I think I will adopt that for my campaigns.
User avatar
Zer0 Kay
Megaversal® Ambassador
Posts: 13730
Joined: Tue Jul 06, 2004 1:59 pm
Location: Snoqualmie, WA

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by Zer0 Kay »

Killer Cyborg wrote:Bonus XP to whomever brings the GM pizza, soda, and/or snacks.


GM bribery... time honored tradition.

Demerits if no bribes are offered and the GM is hosting games in his domicile.
:thwak: you some might think you're a :clown: but you're cool in book :ok: :thwak:--Mecha-Viper
BEST IDEA EVER!!! -- The Galactus Kid
Holy crapy, you're Zer0 Kay?! --TriaxTech
Zer0 Kay is my hero. --Atramentus
The Zer0 of Kay, who started this fray,
Kept us laughing until the end. -The Fifth Business (In loving Memory of the teleport thread)
User avatar
Zer0 Kay
Megaversal® Ambassador
Posts: 13730
Joined: Tue Jul 06, 2004 1:59 pm
Location: Snoqualmie, WA

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by Zer0 Kay »

Vincent Takeda wrote:
drazool wrote:
Killer Cyborg wrote:Bonus XP to whomever brings the GM pizza, soda, and/or snacks.


I coulda sworn that was in the books somewhere...



I'd file it under 'heroic, clever or not', clever ideas and actions, good judgement, in character, and depending on how hungry we are, critical plan that saves the entire group.


LOL. That is vantastic
:thwak: you some might think you're a :clown: but you're cool in book :ok: :thwak:--Mecha-Viper
BEST IDEA EVER!!! -- The Galactus Kid
Holy crapy, you're Zer0 Kay?! --TriaxTech
Zer0 Kay is my hero. --Atramentus
The Zer0 of Kay, who started this fray,
Kept us laughing until the end. -The Fifth Business (In loving Memory of the teleport thread)
User avatar
Zer0 Kay
Megaversal® Ambassador
Posts: 13730
Joined: Tue Jul 06, 2004 1:59 pm
Location: Snoqualmie, WA

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by Zer0 Kay »

Attributes. It is stupid that only stats that get 3d6 get the possibility of bonus die. Only those who are average may be exceptional for their species? All others just are... don't think so.

So my "formula" is:

bonus die if your roll = (n*s)-n and an additional bonus die if the bonus die roll is s with a possible number of bonus die equal to n
Where:
n is number of die rolled
s is the number of sides
m is the multiplier
b is the additive bonus

so the n d s for human stats is 3d6 and usually but not always the additive bonus, if any, is included after any multipliers.

okay so lets look at humans, and any other species with a 3d6

if you roll higher than a 15 you get to roll a bonus die. Well that is (n*s)-n (humans 3*6 = 18, 18-3= 15) for the highest roll without bonus die right?
So why don't we just do that for everyone? Ignore the m and the b for bonuses die roll consideration and don't apply them until after adding the bonus die. The bonus die would be the same s as those rolled to produce the stat.
One step further, if the bonus die is the highest possible number then an additional bonus die may be rolled, and if that one is the highest another and so on maxing out at n number of bonus dice. So a human who rolls over 15 may roll another d6 and upto two additional d6 if the first two bonus die rolls are 6s.
Soooo a human score can range from 3 to 36
say something has a 1d4
they range from 1 to 8
or a 4d10x2-3
they range from 5 to a 157 if they rolled above a 37 or above and 3 10s on the first of the four bonus die
remember only the 4d10 means anything for the bonus dice and the x2-3 isn't applied until after the bonus dice.
some figure this can be broken but statistically the more dice there are and the larger the die the harder it is to get a bonus die so...
for 3d6 in an Excel array of 100,000 "rolls" just under 5000 get the first bonus die just under 800 get the second bonus die and only slightly more than 100 get the third with the average roll being just over 10 and the median being 10. It all comes to 4.65% 0.78% 0.12% for the first, second and third die rolls, respectively and only 2.75 getting the max roll. Does it open it up for abuse? Yup. But if it is going to be abused then what does it matter what the "rules" say?
:thwak: you some might think you're a :clown: but you're cool in book :ok: :thwak:--Mecha-Viper
BEST IDEA EVER!!! -- The Galactus Kid
Holy crapy, you're Zer0 Kay?! --TriaxTech
Zer0 Kay is my hero. --Atramentus
The Zer0 of Kay, who started this fray,
Kept us laughing until the end. -The Fifth Business (In loving Memory of the teleport thread)
User avatar
Zer0 Kay
Megaversal® Ambassador
Posts: 13730
Joined: Tue Jul 06, 2004 1:59 pm
Location: Snoqualmie, WA

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by Zer0 Kay »

Then there is weapons which have a ton of optional rules the players have to keep track of but provide a reason why someone would go with an Ion weapon over a plasma and differentiates between rail and coil guns.
:thwak: you some might think you're a :clown: but you're cool in book :ok: :thwak:--Mecha-Viper
BEST IDEA EVER!!! -- The Galactus Kid
Holy crapy, you're Zer0 Kay?! --TriaxTech
Zer0 Kay is my hero. --Atramentus
The Zer0 of Kay, who started this fray,
Kept us laughing until the end. -The Fifth Business (In loving Memory of the teleport thread)
User avatar
Zer0 Kay
Megaversal® Ambassador
Posts: 13730
Joined: Tue Jul 06, 2004 1:59 pm
Location: Snoqualmie, WA

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by Zer0 Kay »

Sohisohi wrote:
drazool wrote:[...] what are some of your favorite [rulings] as a gamemaster? Why?

Your gun cannot burst-fire or go fully-auto unless it's stated as a rule under the weapon
Keeps a particular type of abrasive player from even joining.
All palladium books are open/cannon for a Rifts campaign, though not the rules (unless I state otherwise)
I just like giving my players some options, though I often include other restrictions like an approximate max/min power level.
No alignments
It's a dumb system; character actions are dictated by their interpretations of their characters background.
Most R.C.Cs are treated as a race, leveled up along with whatever your chosen O.C.C is
Not all R.C.Cs are equal, some are barely better then just playing a level 0 race.
Every class/race has a chance for psychic/magic
I don't care if you are a fully converted borg or it outright states in both your class and race that you can not use psychic/magic. If it is a O.C.C related thing, the restriction is immediately removed. If it is related to your Race, just use the human roll/rule to determine psychics and just copy the same roll/rule for magic. P.C.C/R.C.C depends on one it is, but for the most part it is immediately removed.
Casting magic and using psychics can be done from inside a mech/armor; I also remove just about all rules on restricting magic
O.C.C specific spells or magic/spells that can't be used by a techno wizard is just dumb.
You can take an O.C.C, even if you don't have the attributes to use it properly
It mattered alot when I used to do random rolling for states, pretty much a rule I never use anymore.


WAIT... so you can cast a fireball from inside a mech? Call lightning I can understand, but fire ball travels from the casters fingertip to the target and there is something between the caster and the target in the case of a mech... its called the hull. Same goes for any spell described as coming from the caster.
:thwak: you some might think you're a :clown: but you're cool in book :ok: :thwak:--Mecha-Viper
BEST IDEA EVER!!! -- The Galactus Kid
Holy crapy, you're Zer0 Kay?! --TriaxTech
Zer0 Kay is my hero. --Atramentus
The Zer0 of Kay, who started this fray,
Kept us laughing until the end. -The Fifth Business (In loving Memory of the teleport thread)
User avatar
Cyrano de Maniac
D-Bee
Posts: 49
Joined: Sun Oct 29, 2006 2:26 am
Location: Eagan, MN
Contact:

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by Cyrano de Maniac »

OK, bear in mind it's been a **long** while since I've had an opportunity to play (anyone in the southern Minneapolis/St. Paul area around here?)

The one and only Rifts GM I had would have you roll three sets of basic stats, and you could choose whichever set you liked. This tended to prevent anyone from getting a hobbled character due to one really bad stat, but didn't tend to create a character with exceptionally good stats either (though this was certainly possible with some lucky rolling). If the player didn't like any of those three sets, they had the option of rolling a fourth set, but the player was required use the fourth set to build the character, no exceptions.
User avatar
Cyrano de Maniac
D-Bee
Posts: 49
Joined: Sun Oct 29, 2006 2:26 am
Location: Eagan, MN
Contact:

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by Cyrano de Maniac »

Oh, and from a different gaming group, a rule that applied across many different game systems. This group, for most game systems, had rotating GMs (i.e. some players would take turns as GM, running different adventures they came up with, but with the same core party).

If a situation came up that needed an on-the-spot house rule or GM interpretation, the GMs (not all players would participate as GMs) would give it a quick discussion, but the GM of that session had the final call. That GM would then do an official write-up of the house rule, and at the next session the GMs would discuss/amend/vote before that evening's session started. Every once in a while they'd revise what happened in the previous session based on the new house rule, but usually the previous session's results were left to stand, with the new house rule as adopted ruling from that point forward, for all the GMs. The house rules were printed and collected into a binder, so that everyone had access to them. These days I suppose they'd keep a Dropbox folder or shared Google Docs file to reference, but back in the day the binder method worked well.
User avatar
drazool
Wanderer
Posts: 70
Joined: Tue Jan 09, 2018 8:51 pm

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by drazool »

Cyrano de Maniac wrote:OK, bear in mind it's been a **long** while since I've had an opportunity to play (anyone in the southern Minneapolis/St. Paul area around here?)

The one and only Rifts GM I had would have you roll three sets of basic stats, and you could choose whichever set you liked. This tended to prevent anyone from getting a hobbled character due to one really bad stat, but didn't tend to create a character with exceptionally good stats either (though this was certainly possible with some lucky rolling). If the player didn't like any of those three sets, they had the option of rolling a fourth set, but the player was required use the fourth set to build the character, no exceptions.


I plan to offer very generous stat rolling. 4d6, drop lowest, re-roll 1s. Unlimited explodes. Similarly generous rules for non-humans. For secondary stats, such as PPE, you get half of the maximum automatically. For example, if the book says your roll is 2d6x10 plus PE, instead roll 2d6x5+60+PE.

I'm fully aware that this will distort the relative level of power upward, but I want my PCs to be near-superhuman.
Sohisohi
Explorer
Posts: 169
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2017 11:13 pm

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by Sohisohi »

Zer0 Kay wrote:
Sohisohi wrote:
drazool wrote:[...] what are some of your favorite [rulings] as a gamemaster? Why?

Your gun cannot burst-fire or go fully-auto unless it's stated as a rule under the weapon
Keeps a particular type of abrasive player from even joining.
All palladium books are open/cannon for a Rifts campaign, though not the rules (unless I state otherwise)
I just like giving my players some options, though I often include other restrictions like an approximate max/min power level.
No alignments
It's a dumb system; character actions are dictated by their interpretations of their characters background.
Most R.C.Cs are treated as a race, leveled up along with whatever your chosen O.C.C is
Not all R.C.Cs are equal, some are barely better then just playing a level 0 race.
Every class/race has a chance for psychic/magic
I don't care if you are a fully converted borg or it outright states in both your class and race that you can not use psychic/magic. If it is a O.C.C related thing, the restriction is immediately removed. If it is related to your Race, just use the human roll/rule to determine psychics and just copy the same roll/rule for magic. P.C.C/R.C.C depends on one it is, but for the most part it is immediately removed.
Casting magic and using psychics can be done from inside a mech/armor; I also remove just about all rules on restricting magic
O.C.C specific spells or magic/spells that can't be used by a techno wizard is just dumb.
You can take an O.C.C, even if you don't have the attributes to use it properly
It mattered alot when I used to do random rolling for states, pretty much a rule I never use anymore.


WAIT... so you can cast a fireball from inside a mech? Call lightning I can understand, but fire ball travels from the casters fingertip to the target and there is something between the caster and the target in the case of a mech... its called the hull. Same goes for any spell described as coming from the caster.


So for the most part it doesn't come up, my players just accept it but the idea is: Basically the mech and/or armor is treated like pretty much every other magical item i.e. a conduit to channel magic through. So the raw PPE travels from the mage, through the mech/hull and manifests as a fireball outside just like it would outside the mage.
User avatar
Zer0 Kay
Megaversal® Ambassador
Posts: 13730
Joined: Tue Jul 06, 2004 1:59 pm
Location: Snoqualmie, WA

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by Zer0 Kay »

Sohisohi wrote:
Zer0 Kay wrote:
Sohisohi wrote:
drazool wrote:[...] what are some of your favorite [rulings] as a gamemaster? Why?

Your gun cannot burst-fire or go fully-auto unless it's stated as a rule under the weapon
Keeps a particular type of abrasive player from even joining.
All palladium books are open/cannon for a Rifts campaign, though not the rules (unless I state otherwise)
I just like giving my players some options, though I often include other restrictions like an approximate max/min power level.
No alignments
It's a dumb system; character actions are dictated by their interpretations of their characters background.
Most R.C.Cs are treated as a race, leveled up along with whatever your chosen O.C.C is
Not all R.C.Cs are equal, some are barely better then just playing a level 0 race.
Every class/race has a chance for psychic/magic
I don't care if you are a fully converted borg or it outright states in both your class and race that you can not use psychic/magic. If it is a O.C.C related thing, the restriction is immediately removed. If it is related to your Race, just use the human roll/rule to determine psychics and just copy the same roll/rule for magic. P.C.C/R.C.C depends on one it is, but for the most part it is immediately removed.
Casting magic and using psychics can be done from inside a mech/armor; I also remove just about all rules on restricting magic
O.C.C specific spells or magic/spells that can't be used by a techno wizard is just dumb.
You can take an O.C.C, even if you don't have the attributes to use it properly
It mattered alot when I used to do random rolling for states, pretty much a rule I never use anymore.


WAIT... so you can cast a fireball from inside a mech? Call lightning I can understand, but fire ball travels from the casters fingertip to the target and there is something between the caster and the target in the case of a mech... its called the hull. Same goes for any spell described as coming from the caster.


So for the most part it doesn't come up, my players just accept it but the idea is: Basically the mech and/or armor is treated like pretty much every other magical item i.e. a conduit to channel magic through. So the raw PPE travels from the mage, through the mech/hull and manifests as a fireball outside just like it would outside the mage.


So a mage in a cardboard box on wheels... j/k KC

So in your game a mage in the back of a bus... no let's go with a long train can shoot a fireball out the front without it blowing up because the energy went through the vehicle and out the desired direction? What about in a submarine just using the periscope? Heck if that's allowed what is the difference between a giant robot and an environmentally sealed room with an exterior video display. What's the difference between that room and and outside and two people on a video call with a mountain/hill between them? What's the difference between all that stuff and 10 people between you and your target in open air?
:thwak: you some might think you're a :clown: but you're cool in book :ok: :thwak:--Mecha-Viper
BEST IDEA EVER!!! -- The Galactus Kid
Holy crapy, you're Zer0 Kay?! --TriaxTech
Zer0 Kay is my hero. --Atramentus
The Zer0 of Kay, who started this fray,
Kept us laughing until the end. -The Fifth Business (In loving Memory of the teleport thread)
User avatar
drazool
Wanderer
Posts: 70
Joined: Tue Jan 09, 2018 8:51 pm

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by drazool »

Zer0 Kay wrote:
Sohisohi wrote:
Zer0 Kay wrote:
Sohisohi wrote:
drazool wrote:[...] what are some of your favorite [rulings] as a gamemaster? Why?

Your gun cannot burst-fire or go fully-auto unless it's stated as a rule under the weapon
Keeps a particular type of abrasive player from even joining.
All palladium books are open/cannon for a Rifts campaign, though not the rules (unless I state otherwise)
I just like giving my players some options, though I often include other restrictions like an approximate max/min power level.
No alignments
It's a dumb system; character actions are dictated by their interpretations of their characters background.
Most R.C.Cs are treated as a race, leveled up along with whatever your chosen O.C.C is
Not all R.C.Cs are equal, some are barely better then just playing a level 0 race.
Every class/race has a chance for psychic/magic
I don't care if you are a fully converted borg or it outright states in both your class and race that you can not use psychic/magic. If it is a O.C.C related thing, the restriction is immediately removed. If it is related to your Race, just use the human roll/rule to determine psychics and just copy the same roll/rule for magic. P.C.C/R.C.C depends on one it is, but for the most part it is immediately removed.
Casting magic and using psychics can be done from inside a mech/armor; I also remove just about all rules on restricting magic
O.C.C specific spells or magic/spells that can't be used by a techno wizard is just dumb.
You can take an O.C.C, even if you don't have the attributes to use it properly
It mattered alot when I used to do random rolling for states, pretty much a rule I never use anymore.


WAIT... so you can cast a fireball from inside a mech? Call lightning I can understand, but fire ball travels from the casters fingertip to the target and there is something between the caster and the target in the case of a mech... its called the hull. Same goes for any spell described as coming from the caster.


So for the most part it doesn't come up, my players just accept it but the idea is: Basically the mech and/or armor is treated like pretty much every other magical item i.e. a conduit to channel magic through. So the raw PPE travels from the mage, through the mech/hull and manifests as a fireball outside just like it would outside the mage.


So a mage in a cardboard box on wheels... j/k KC

So in your game a mage in the back of a bus... no let's go with a long train can shoot a fireball out the front without it blowing up because the energy went through the vehicle and out the desired direction? What about in a submarine just using the periscope? Heck if that's allowed what is the difference between a giant robot and an environmentally sealed room with an exterior video display. What's the difference between that room and and outside and two people on a video call with a mountain/hill between them? What's the difference between all that stuff and 10 people between you and your target in open air?


GM approval....
User avatar
Zer0 Kay
Megaversal® Ambassador
Posts: 13730
Joined: Tue Jul 06, 2004 1:59 pm
Location: Snoqualmie, WA

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by Zer0 Kay »

drazool wrote:
Zer0 Kay wrote:
Sohisohi wrote:
Zer0 Kay wrote:
Sohisohi wrote:Your gun cannot burst-fire or go fully-auto unless it's stated as a rule under the weapon
Keeps a particular type of abrasive player from even joining.
All palladium books are open/cannon for a Rifts campaign, though not the rules (unless I state otherwise)
I just like giving my players some options, though I often include other restrictions like an approximate max/min power level.
No alignments
It's a dumb system; character actions are dictated by their interpretations of their characters background.
Most R.C.Cs are treated as a race, leveled up along with whatever your chosen O.C.C is
Not all R.C.Cs are equal, some are barely better then just playing a level 0 race.
Every class/race has a chance for psychic/magic
I don't care if you are a fully converted borg or it outright states in both your class and race that you can not use psychic/magic. If it is a O.C.C related thing, the restriction is immediately removed. If it is related to your Race, just use the human roll/rule to determine psychics and just copy the same roll/rule for magic. P.C.C/R.C.C depends on one it is, but for the most part it is immediately removed.
Casting magic and using psychics can be done from inside a mech/armor; I also remove just about all rules on restricting magic
O.C.C specific spells or magic/spells that can't be used by a techno wizard is just dumb.
You can take an O.C.C, even if you don't have the attributes to use it properly
It mattered alot when I used to do random rolling for states, pretty much a rule I never use anymore.


WAIT... so you can cast a fireball from inside a mech? Call lightning I can understand, but fire ball travels from the casters fingertip to the target and there is something between the caster and the target in the case of a mech... its called the hull. Same goes for any spell described as coming from the caster.


So for the most part it doesn't come up, my players just accept it but the idea is: Basically the mech and/or armor is treated like pretty much every other magical item i.e. a conduit to channel magic through. So the raw PPE travels from the mage, through the mech/hull and manifests as a fireball outside just like it would outside the mage.


So a mage in a cardboard box on wheels... j/k KC

So in your game a mage in the back of a bus... no let's go with a long train can shoot a fireball out the front without it blowing up because the energy went through the vehicle and out the desired direction? What about in a submarine just using the periscope? Heck if that's allowed what is the difference between a giant robot and an environmentally sealed room with an exterior video display. What's the difference between that room and and outside and two people on a video call with a mountain/hill between them? What's the difference between all that stuff and 10 people between you and your target in open air?


GM approval....


Are you saying as GM you approve it or that it should be on a case by case basis by the GM? And what should the GM use as a rule of thumb? Because if it is his whim then we may as well through the rules out.
:thwak: you some might think you're a :clown: but you're cool in book :ok: :thwak:--Mecha-Viper
BEST IDEA EVER!!! -- The Galactus Kid
Holy crapy, you're Zer0 Kay?! --TriaxTech
Zer0 Kay is my hero. --Atramentus
The Zer0 of Kay, who started this fray,
Kept us laughing until the end. -The Fifth Business (In loving Memory of the teleport thread)
User avatar
drazool
Wanderer
Posts: 70
Joined: Tue Jan 09, 2018 8:51 pm

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by drazool »

Zer0 Kay wrote:Are you saying as GM you approve it or that it should be on a case by case basis by the GM? And what should the GM use as a rule of thumb? Because if it is his whim then we may as well through the rules out.


I mean that since it's a house rule, the answer to your question is "the difference is GM approval". And you're absolutely right! If its up to the whims of the GM, you might as well throw the rules out, and that's what the GM did. I'm not convinced that I would allow that particular house rule, myself, though.
Sohisohi
Explorer
Posts: 169
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2017 11:13 pm

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by Sohisohi »

Zer0 Kay wrote:
Zer0 Kay wrote:
Sohisohi wrote:
Zer0 Kay wrote:
Sohisohi wrote:Your gun cannot burst-fire or go fully-auto unless it's stated as a rule under the weapon
Keeps a particular type of abrasive player from even joining.
All palladium books are open/cannon for a Rifts campaign, though not the rules (unless I state otherwise)
I just like giving my players some options, though I often include other restrictions like an approximate max/min power level.
No alignments
It's a dumb system; character actions are dictated by their interpretations of their characters background.
Most R.C.Cs are treated as a race, leveled up along with whatever your chosen O.C.C is
Not all R.C.Cs are equal, some are barely better then just playing a level 0 race.
Every class/race has a chance for psychic/magic
I don't care if you are a fully converted borg or it outright states in both your class and race that you can not use psychic/magic. If it is a O.C.C related thing, the restriction is immediately removed. If it is related to your Race, just use the human roll/rule to determine psychics and just copy the same roll/rule for magic. P.C.C/R.C.C depends on one it is, but for the most part it is immediately removed.
Casting magic and using psychics can be done from inside a mech/armor; I also remove just about all rules on restricting magic
O.C.C specific spells or magic/spells that can't be used by a techno wizard is just dumb.
You can take an O.C.C, even if you don't have the attributes to use it properly
It mattered alot when I used to do random rolling for states, pretty much a rule I never use anymore.


WAIT... so you can cast a fireball from inside a mech? Call lightning I can understand, but fire ball travels from the casters fingertip to the target and there is something between the caster and the target in the case of a mech... its called the hull. Same goes for any spell described as coming from the caster.


So for the most part it doesn't come up, my players just accept it but the idea is: Basically the mech and/or armor is treated like pretty much every other magical item i.e. a conduit to channel magic through. So the raw PPE travels from the mage, through the mech/hull and manifests as a fireball outside just like it would outside the mage.


So a mage in a cardboard box on wheels... j/k KC

So in your game a mage in the back of a bus... no let's go with a long train can shoot a fireball out the front without it blowing up because the energy went through the vehicle and out the desired direction? What about in a submarine just using the periscope? Heck if that's allowed what is the difference between a giant robot and an environmentally sealed room with an exterior video display. What's the difference between that room and and outside and two people on a video call with a mountain/hill between them? What's the difference between all that stuff and 10 people between you and your target in open air?


Are you saying as GM you approve it or that it should be on a case by case basis by the GM? And what should the GM use as a rule of thumb? Because if it is his whim then we may as well through the rules out.

to answer the bus question, yes; so long as its owned/piloted by the caster or party then they can indeed cast a spell from the back of a train, ship, or plane. Ownership is how I've always done it.

To the next part: Yes, welcome to literally house rules the thread: GM = GAME MASTER
Even the creators of this system have stated they use their own house rules (well/or, maybe it was the creators of D&D). Regardless, as I stated, I've removed just about all rules pointless restricting magic. I feel it should be stronger, so I just make it so for meta/game purposes. Very rarely will characters explore the very nature of magic and its lore, so I've yet to actually incounter any issues.
User avatar
drazool
Wanderer
Posts: 70
Joined: Tue Jan 09, 2018 8:51 pm

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by drazool »

Honestly, a character trying to research magic and really push the envelope with what is possible would be a really fun thing to GM. I'm thinking of a Nicola Tesla type personality who uses magic rather than technology.

Might have to create a new skill "Spell crafting" or "Technical: Magic" or something, and set up rules for how the character could create spells. Finally, implement the idea that any spell the character invents has a really excellent chance of being used against the party, to help curb the worst abuses. Magicians having a limited "menu" of spell effects that can be selected has always kind of bothered me. Thousands of wizards of varying levels of ability, but all magic nets are the same?

I recognize that there's a real chance of ******** gonzo beyond the impossible spell casting going on, but hey, rule it out if you don't want to allow it.

In D&D 3.5, the epic level spell creation rules are a good start, especially with the "All epic level spells, including the example spells in this book, are subject to DM approval". It could be really fun.

Of course, there's also the possibility that there are already rules for this established somewhere, that I've just never stumbled upon.
User avatar
Zer0 Kay
Megaversal® Ambassador
Posts: 13730
Joined: Tue Jul 06, 2004 1:59 pm
Location: Snoqualmie, WA

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by Zer0 Kay »

Sohisohi wrote:
Zer0 Kay wrote:
Zer0 Kay wrote:
Sohisohi wrote:
Zer0 Kay wrote:WAIT... so you can cast a fireball from inside a mech? Call lightning I can understand, but fire ball travels from the casters fingertip to the target and there is something between the caster and the target in the case of a mech... its called the hull. Same goes for any spell described as coming from the caster.


So for the most part it doesn't come up, my players just accept it but the idea is: Basically the mech and/or armor is treated like pretty much every other magical item i.e. a conduit to channel magic through. So the raw PPE travels from the mage, through the mech/hull and manifests as a fireball outside just like it would outside the mage.


So a mage in a cardboard box on wheels... j/k KC

So in your game a mage in the back of a bus... no let's go with a long train can shoot a fireball out the front without it blowing up because the energy went through the vehicle and out the desired direction? What about in a submarine just using the periscope? Heck if that's allowed what is the difference between a giant robot and an environmentally sealed room with an exterior video display. What's the difference between that room and and outside and two people on a video call with a mountain/hill between them? What's the difference between all that stuff and 10 people between you and your target in open air?


Are you saying as GM you approve it or that it should be on a case by case basis by the GM? And what should the GM use as a rule of thumb? Because if it is his whim then we may as well through the rules out.

to answer the bus question, yes; so long as its owned/piloted by the caster or party then they can indeed cast a spell from the back of a train, ship, or plane. Ownership is how I've always done it.

To the next part: Yes, welcome to literally house rules the thread: GM = GAME MASTER
Even the creators of this system have stated they use their own house rules (well/or, maybe it was the creators of D&D). Regardless, as I stated, I've removed just about all rules pointless restricting magic. I feel it should be stronger, so I just make it so for meta/game purposes. Very rarely will characters explore the very nature of magic and its lore, so I've yet to actually incounter any issues.


It is a house rule. But SAR says from finger tip to target. It is a direct fire spell and just like using a gun you can't shoot from the back of the train through the engine and at a target in front of it no matter how familiar you are with the train.

You can ask most of the other guys. I'm pretty liberal when it comes to magic, after all I am the imbecile who uses deck of cards: permanent, card dagger, endless deck of cards and 52 cards to the face to kill GOOs
Spoiler:
deck of cards can be temporary or permanent
card dagger enchants the top 2 or 3 cards, I can't remember, which can be thrown as regular cards but once it leaves the mages hand it becomes rigid and bladed... something like that
endless deck of cards makes it so the top card is drawn and the deck never diminishes only the faces on the cards change making it so all the cards are card daggers for the duration of the card dagger spell or the endless deck spell which ever is shorter
52 cards to the face is the spells name but the description states that it launches an entire deck (no card number given)
unerringly into the targets face so in the case of an endless deck of cards...
AND I've been allowed to draw faces on objects that have no face in order to use the spell.


I'm all for making magic more powerful than it is so that it is at least equal with tech but not better than.
:thwak: you some might think you're a :clown: but you're cool in book :ok: :thwak:--Mecha-Viper
BEST IDEA EVER!!! -- The Galactus Kid
Holy crapy, you're Zer0 Kay?! --TriaxTech
Zer0 Kay is my hero. --Atramentus
The Zer0 of Kay, who started this fray,
Kept us laughing until the end. -The Fifth Business (In loving Memory of the teleport thread)
User avatar
drazool
Wanderer
Posts: 70
Joined: Tue Jan 09, 2018 8:51 pm

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by drazool »

Zer0 Kay wrote:You can ask most of the other guys. I'm pretty liberal when it comes to magic, after all I am the imbecile who uses deck of cards: permanent, card dagger, endless deck of cards and 52 cards to the face to kill GOOs
Spoiler:
deck of cards can be temporary or permanent
card dagger enchants the top 2 or 3 cards, I can't remember, which can be thrown as regular cards but once it leaves the mages hand it becomes rigid and bladed... something like that
endless deck of cards makes it so the top card is drawn and the deck never diminishes only the faces on the cards change making it so all the cards are card daggers for the duration of the card dagger spell or the endless deck spell which ever is shorter
52 cards to the face is the spells name but the description states that it launches an entire deck (no card number given)
unerringly into the targets face so in the case of an endless deck of cards...
AND I've been allowed to draw faces on objects that have no face in order to use the spell.


I'm all for making magic more powerful than it is so that it is at least equal with tech but not better than.


I approve of these shenanigans, but I can't seem to find these spells anywhere? Where can I find them?
User avatar
Zer0 Kay
Megaversal® Ambassador
Posts: 13730
Joined: Tue Jul 06, 2004 1:59 pm
Location: Snoqualmie, WA

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by Zer0 Kay »

drazool wrote:
Zer0 Kay wrote:You can ask most of the other guys. I'm pretty liberal when it comes to magic, after all I am the imbecile who uses deck of cards: permanent, card dagger, endless deck of cards and 52 cards to the face to kill GOOs
Spoiler:
deck of cards can be temporary or permanent
card dagger enchants the top 2 or 3 cards, I can't remember, which can be thrown as regular cards but once it leaves the mages hand it becomes rigid and bladed... something like that
endless deck of cards makes it so the top card is drawn and the deck never diminishes only the faces on the cards change making it so all the cards are card daggers for the duration of the card dagger spell or the endless deck spell which ever is shorter
52 cards to the face is the spells name but the description states that it launches an entire deck (no card number given)
unerringly into the targets face so in the case of an endless deck of cards...
AND I've been allowed to draw faces on objects that have no face in order to use the spell.


I'm all for making magic more powerful than it is so that it is at least equal with tech but not better than.


I approve of these shenanigans, but I can't seem to find these spells anywhere? Where can I find them?


Rifter 1.5
:thwak: you some might think you're a :clown: but you're cool in book :ok: :thwak:--Mecha-Viper
BEST IDEA EVER!!! -- The Galactus Kid
Holy crapy, you're Zer0 Kay?! --TriaxTech
Zer0 Kay is my hero. --Atramentus
The Zer0 of Kay, who started this fray,
Kept us laughing until the end. -The Fifth Business (In loving Memory of the teleport thread)
User avatar
drazool
Wanderer
Posts: 70
Joined: Tue Jan 09, 2018 8:51 pm

Re: Favorite House Rules? Why?

Unread post by drazool »

Zer0 Kay wrote:
drazool wrote:
Zer0 Kay wrote:You can ask most of the other guys. I'm pretty liberal when it comes to magic, after all I am the imbecile who uses deck of cards: permanent, card dagger, endless deck of cards and 52 cards to the face to kill GOOs
Spoiler:
deck of cards can be temporary or permanent
card dagger enchants the top 2 or 3 cards, I can't remember, which can be thrown as regular cards but once it leaves the mages hand it becomes rigid and bladed... something like that
endless deck of cards makes it so the top card is drawn and the deck never diminishes only the faces on the cards change making it so all the cards are card daggers for the duration of the card dagger spell or the endless deck spell which ever is shorter
52 cards to the face is the spells name but the description states that it launches an entire deck (no card number given)
unerringly into the targets face so in the case of an endless deck of cards...
AND I've been allowed to draw faces on objects that have no face in order to use the spell.


I'm all for making magic more powerful than it is so that it is at least equal with tech but not better than.


I approve of these shenanigans, but I can't seem to find these spells anywhere? Where can I find them?


Rifter 1.5


Bummer, I don't have that one.
Post Reply

Return to “Rifts®”