House Rules Last Updated: 3-30-04 -=Stating penalties and bonuses=- Penalties will be +'s and added to the dice roll. Bonuses will be -'s and subtracted from the dice roll. This method makes it easier on both the GM and players. ^^ -=Penalties=- The two weapons option of attacking with one and defending with the other only helps in situations that the defender can use the other weapon to block or parry. The minimum the called shot penalty and two weapon penalties can be reduced to is +2. This reflects the fact that even someone skilled at making such shots will still be more skilled at hitting the center of mass or utilizing just one weapon. Two Weapon skill can still be brought higher, but it reduces the penalty only for attacking different opponents. Extra Defenses after the first (or after you've run out of Extra Defenses) give a +3 penalty instead of +4. -=Shadow Penalties=- (new) The GM reserves the right to impose "shadow penalties" at any time it is deemed appropriate. A shadow penalty is basically an unknown modifier based on a certain situation that the PC may be unaware of or that they may be aware is more difficult but not know HOW much more difficult the task is. This is put in the rules so people don't complain if they suddenly fail something they think they should have succeeded. Please note that "shadow bonuses" (aka hidden bonuses based on certain factors) may be granted as well to keep a sense of suspense and the unknown in the game. -=Defense Clarification=- (new) Not all defenses are created equal. Depending on the nature of the attack, some tactics may be more viable than others. If a particular attack style is deemed foreign to defend against using the character's normal tactics, a penalty may be imposed to that defense. A character can compensate for this by taking either DCM (which trains in all general defensiveness) or by getting a style of defense more appropriate to the nature of the attack. -=Block Defense=- Only in rare cases will I tell you when Block Defense will fail. You are free to attempt a block defense at any time, but use your judgement. Certain attacks will cause the block defense to fail, even if you succeed in the roll. I'm sure once these occur, the reasons for it will be obvious ^_^ Three examples of when I will tell you that you cannot block defend (and this is because it simply is not capable) are defending from Leap Attacks (not impossible, but more difficult to block defend against), defending against a disarm attempt (since being able to block with the weapon or shield they're trying to get rid of is silly), and being attacked from multiple directions at once (unless you want to pull your defenses away from the first person and let them continue their attack ^_~) -=One-on-one=- One on one fights will use HKAT rules (made defense by less than the margin of success makes for half damage). This is to prevent one-on-one fights from lasting forever. -=Variable Damage=- Variable damage will be used, but the rules in dX will not be used. Instead, for every 4 points of max damage an attack does, roll 1d4. Thus, SAs will use 5d4 per level (plus weapon damage if it's a tech). ACV will be added straight. -=Massive Damage=- Massive Damage will provide a straight +5 damage. This will be added like ACV so it won't be variable. The averages should work out to about the same. -=Ship combat=- Each ship will get one initiative number. The things you can control to alter this initiative are Boating Skill, having people with a good Sailing skill manning the sails, and having a ship fixed up with a good maneuver bonus. Other factors, such as sailing against the wind and current, will affect it as well. After that, it's down to either getting a clear shot, maneuvering to grapple the other ship, or just getting the heck out of there. ^^; People on deck are free to do actions at any time unless it involves something targetting the other ship. Then the captain and whoever else is involved will roll init and the order of the ship's action versus the other PCs action will be decided. Of course, once the ships grapple, it's every man and woman for themselves. ^_^ -=AP versus Low Penetrating=- AP attacks are unchanged from the book. Low Penetrating, however, is going to use the BESM rule that armor stops double. It seems silly that a leather jacket will suddenly stop 22 points of damage simply because a weapon is LP. If a target is barely armored, then LP won't change that. -=Damage cap=- Damage cap is only in place for magic and IoP attributes. It is not in place for techniques -=Combat & dice rolling=- Dice rolls will be made in another channel to keep the logs 'clean.' Unless you forfeit it to me, /msg the GM what you want to attempt first. You'll get to describe your own attacks and defenses (if you defend). Damage will be rolled completely seperately and determined by me. This is to keep a sense of mystery on how much health each person has. Especially in a variable system. -=Magic system summary=- It seems some people are unclear on the magic system. Here's a summary of what is being attempted. If you think it doesn't quite compare to the actual rules, feel free to make suggestions: Adepts: Pros- can be potent in their element (provided the elemental form is rare) Can take attributes without using EP so long as it is "elementally appropriate" Cons- some of the adepts abilities are vastly unknown and/or unreliable The abilities one can get as an adept are limited and MUST make sense for their element Adept is at a loss when their element is countered Elemental Techique users (assuming they are not adepts as well) Pros- A little more diversity in elements they can use can actually get some attributes that only certain adepts are allowed most powerful attacks and can be used without drawing from EP if the character chooses. Attacks can be linked to the weapon Only magic user that can mix elements in one attack. Mixing elements can be particularly powerful and give benefits that aren't just seen in the numbers. Cons- Abilities gained must be limited to the attacks or defenses used Note on this: It may have been unclear. It's not that Tech users can't use other attributes. Creative usage of linking the attack to their style can create some interesting effects. And if the instance calls for it, the style may be able to be used in other ways Sorcerors Pros- Most diverse in the abilities they can obtain Cons- Burn EP like crazy Special Attacks are less potent because they can't utilize the full advantage of the weapon In short, more abilities may be allowed than you realize. The main con to being a sorceror is you can't pick and choose which abilities burn energy. If one burns energy, they all have to. The only exception to this "one burns, they all burn" rule is Special Attack as a tech user. -=CP gain and advancement=- Certain types of CP will be gained at certain times. It'll depend on the type of CP where it'll go, so I'll list it here. General CP - This CP can be placed or saved for anything you'd like. There are only a few exceptions that NO CP can be used to get after game start: Stats, Highly Skilled, Gadgets, Item of Power, Organizational Ties, and Own a Big Ship. Highly skilled will be handled instead by periodic SP given over the adventure. The rest will have to be purchased and/or found after character creation ^_~ Note: Gadgets may be waived if somehow your character has a 'special' way of obtaining things. Some of these ways include knowing a fixer, having organizational ties, or possibly having the appropriate craftsman skills and materials. Having the skills means it'll still take time for the items to be built (moderated by the Gadgeteer attribute). Tech CP - This CP can only be used a couple ways: - It can be used to up the levels of your techs or to create new techs - It can be used to create a new spell if you're a mage or power up your existing spells - It can be used to up the Adept attribute or any related attributes - It cannot be applied to HS, Stats, or Combat Mastery CP or Cash - The type of CP will usually be specified. You can choose to take the CP or you can take Drachs as an equivalent. SP - I think this is obvious. You get SP to put into skills. ^_^ Preferably non-combat, but it's your choice. Stat CP - Once two of these CP are saved up, you can get a stat point. Hurrah for stat points. These are all I can think of at the moment. If I can think of any others, I'll let you know.