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drpete
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House Rules

#1 Post by drpete »

Various House Rules

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Re: House Rules

#2 Post by drpete »

Rations : 1 item/day or 1 stone/week
Water: waterskin are 1 item empty, 1/2 stone full. Need 2 skins of water/day. May be packed or worn on belt or shoulder strap.
Alternatively, 1 days food & water is 1 stone, and empty skins for 1 days water compress down to 1 item.
Torches: 1 item/2 torches
Coins: 1 item/150 coins or 1 stone/1000 coins

Containers:
Backpack: up to 4 stone
Large sack: up to 6 stone, over shoulder
Small sack: up to 2 stone, tied to belt or spearhead
Pouch/purse: up to 1/2 stone, on belt or shoulder strap

Retrieving something from a container takes a move or attack action, with initiative roll 1dX, where X is the number of stone the container can carry

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Re: House Rules

#3 Post by drpete »

Characters must pay an "upkeep" cost to represent their lifestyle costs, equivalent to the monthly or weekly fee for a henchman of their level. For first level, this corresponds to 7 gp per week, which will provide simple food, lodging (sharing a private room in a reasonable inn with 1-2 others), maintenance of clothing, etc. As you go up in level, the cost and the lifestyle amenities go up. Your lifestyle largely determines how henchmen see you, and how people view you. Also, generally security and sanitation improve with lifestyle.

You can go with different amounts than this, and you will get an xp bonus or penalty to adventuring actions based on your spending habits. Your recent lifestyle spending will be compared to henchman monthly wages to determine the level you are living at. For each level above (below) your actual level, you will get a 5% bonus (penalty) to adventure xp.

For purposes of the prodigality rule, characters may seek solace in pinnacles of good. At least 8 waking hours must be spent there per day contemplating art, music, nature, poetry and/or divinity.

For each week spent in solace in an illuminated pinnacle of good, it counts as if the character spent 1/4 of the character's equivalent henchman monthly wage on lifestyle. Each week spent in a hallowed pinnacle of good counts as if the character spent half his equivalent henchman monthly wage on lifestyle. For a sacrosanct pinnacle, each week counts as a full wage.

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Re: House Rules

#4 Post by drpete »

We'll use the reputation rules. For now, this means keeping track of what the most awesome things characters do each level, as stories about these exploits will get around.

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Re: House Rules

#5 Post by drpete »

Wisdom bonuses/penalties apply to all saving throws.

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Re: House Rules

#6 Post by drpete »

On gaining a level, choose one prime requisite, and one other stat, and roll 3d6 for each. If you can match or beat your chosen stat, increase it.

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Re: House Rules

#7 Post by drpete »

Initiative

At the beginning of each round of combat, characters may declare a move action and/or an attack action. These happen for each character in this order in each round. Engaged characters may not move, except as “defensive movement” but they may perform alternative move actions.

Each of these actions requires the roll of an initiative die, determined by the nature of the action.

Counting upward from one, actions are resolved in order of initiative. The movement action occurs on the number rolled for the movement action. The attack action occurs on the count equal to the sum of the movement and combat initiatives.
Movement Initiative Rolls:
No movement: 0
Lightly encumbered (40 ft/round): 1d4
Moderately encumbered (30 ft/round): 1d6
Heavily encumbered (20 ft/round): 1d8
Extremely Encumbered (10 ft/round): 1d10

Attack Action Initiative Rolls:
Attack Initiative Rolls: As damage die
Spells: 1d12 for highest spell level available to character.
Reduce die for each spell level below maximum for the character

(Example: a first level mage casts Sleep, a first level spell. This requires a 1d12 initiative roll because the mage may only cast 1st level spells. If a 5th level mage attempts to cast sleep, it requires only 1d8 initiative, because a 5th level mage can cast 3rd level spells, and a 1st level spell is 2 levels below his maximum spell level.)

Note: Spellcasters may not move and cast in the same round.

In place of either a movement or an attack action, characters may perform an alternative action.
Alternative Actions (either move or attack action)
Drawing a “readied” item: free
Getting a stowed item out of a pack or bag: 1dX where X is the number of stone of storage in the pack or bag (pack is 1d4, large sack is 1d6, etc)
Drinking a potion: 1d4

Characters with class powers that improve initiative reduce one die each round on the above tables by one step (d8 reduced to d6, d6 to d4, etc).


Notes on Movement:
Characters may move up to their movement allowance to move at a walking pace during a movement action.

Alternatively, they can run at up to three times their regular movement rate during their movement action. Running movement needs to be more or less in a straight line. Trying to do a sharp turn or encountering an obstacle requires a save vs petrification or you fall down.

Running combatants are not normally able to attack, unless they charge. When a character charges, roll both attack and movement initiative, and take the higher of the two rolls. To set against charge, defender must have equal or better initiative for his attack.

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Re: House Rules

#8 Post by drpete »

THIEVERY

From the Gray Mouser to Cugel the Clever, one of the most common archetypes in heroic fantasy is the thief. Thieves in heroic fantasy are bold risk-takers who infiltrate impenetrable fortresses, steal the crown jewels, and kidnap the princess on the way out.

Thieves in ACKS and other d20 retro-clones tend to be much less bold, because they are harshly penalized for failure, and fail quite often. For instance, a thief in ACKS a thief may only try to pick a particular lock, or find and remove a particular trap, once. If he fails, he may not try the same lock or trap again until he reaches a higher experience level. In order to allow thieves (and related classes) to better engage in heroic adventures, use the following rules.

ENCUMBRANCE AND THIEVERY

Thieves, and other classes which use thief skills, benefit from being light on their feet. If the character’s encumbrance is 5 stones or less, he gains a +2 bonus on proficiency throws to climb walls, hide in shadows, and move silently. If the character’s encumbrance is 2 stones or less, the bonus is increased to +4. The bonuses do not apply to hijinks.

REVISED THIEF SKILLS

Open Locks: Picking a lock requires one turn and a successful proficiency throw. (Characters with Lockpicking proficiency can pick locks in one round at a -4 penalty.) The thief may try again if the throw fails. However, if the thief ever fails the throw by 10 or more, or with a natural 1, he immediately breaks his thieves' tools. Broken thieves’ tools are useless.

Find Traps: Finding a trap requires 1 turn (per 10 square feet searched) and a successful proficiency throw. (Characters with Trap Finding proficiency can find traps in one round at a -4 penalty.) The thief may try again if the throw fails. If the thief ever fails the throw by 4 or less, he suspects a trap exists (if there actually is one), but does not know its exact nature. If the thief ever fails the throw by 10 or more, or with a natural 1, he has fumbled the search. If a trap exists, he sets it off. If no trap exists, he believes one does, but he thinks he does not know its exact nature.

Remove Traps: A thief may only remove a trap he has found, not one he just suspects to exist. Disarming a trap requires one turn and a successful proficiency throw. The thief may try again if he fails to disarm a trap. However, if a thief fails a disarming throw by 10 or more, or with a roll of a natural 1, he sets off the trap.

Pick Pockets: A thief can try to suddenly grab a worn item without regard to being noticed – doing so grants a +4 bonus to the proficiency throw, but the intended victim automatically notices regardless of whether it succeeds or not. The item may not be an item in the target’s hand (that is a disarm special maneuver).

EQUIPMENT FOR THIEVES

The following new items, found in the Equipment section (p. XX) are of benefit to thieves and related classes: adventurer’s harness, ear trumpet, padded shoes, thieves’ garb, thieves’ tools companion kit, superior thieves’ tools, and masterwork thieves’ tools.

Adventurer’s Harness: Also known as a burglar’s harness, this is a set of belts, straps, sheaths, and cases designed to securely fasten items to one’s body without hampering movement. A character wearing an adventurer’s harness can ignore 1 stone’s worth of equipment when calculating encumbrance. It cannot secure heavy items, or coins and similar items. It cannot be worn over armor heavier than chain mail. Cost: 10 gp

Ear Trumpet: A funnel-shaped tube of silver, wood, shell, or horn that, when placed in its wearer’s ear canal, raises the apparent volume of sound. A character using an ear trumpet gains a +2 bonus to proficiency throws to hear noise. The bonus does not apply to hijinks. Cost: 15gp.

Padded Shoes: A pair of soft-heeled shoes with padding designed to dampen the sound of walking. A character wearing padded shoes gains a +2 bonus to proficiency throws to move silently. Padded shoes cannot be worn when traveling across the wilderness and do not work when wet. The bonus does not apply to hijinks. Cost: 15gp.

Thieves’ Garb: A suit of clothing, including hooded cloak, tunic, leggings, gloves, and scarf, woven in a camouflaging color. Thieves’ garb is available in different colors for use in various environments – brown for hills/mountains, green for forest/jungle, grey for settlements, white for tundra, etc. When wearing thieves’ garb appropriate to the environment, a character gains a +2 bonus to any proficiency throws to hide in shadows, avoid being spotted, and evade in the wilderness. Characters wearing thieves’ garb can always hide in shadows or avoid being spotted with a throw of at least 18+ (modified by encumbrance). Thieves’ garb imposes a -2 penalty when its camouflage color is inappropriate to the environment (e.g. white garb in the jungle). The bonus and penalty do not apply to hijinks. Thieves’ garb can be worn over leather armor, but not heavier types. Cost: 25gp.

Thieves’ Tools Companion Kit: A companion set of tools to use in conjunction with the standard set of thieves’ tools, this set includes drills, pliers, scissors, rods, blocks, pads, tweezers, shims, and a magnifying glass. A thief using this kit in addition to a set of thieves’ tools gains a +2 bonus to proficiency throws to open locks, find traps, and remove traps. The bonus does not apply to hijinks. Cost: 35 gp.

Thieves' Tools, Superior: Superior thieves’ tools grant a +2 bonus to proficiency throws to Open Locks, Find Traps, and Remove Traps. If the thief rolls a natural 1 while attempting to pick a lock, the tools may make a saving throw versus Death (at 1/2 thief’s level of experience) to resist breaking (see the Adventuring chapter, p. XX). The bonus does not apply to hijinks. Cost: 200gp.

Thieves’ Tools, Masterwork: Masterwork thieves' tools grant a +4 to proficiency throws to Open Locks, Find Traps, and Remove Traps. If the thief rolls a natural 1 while attempting to pick a lock, the tools may make a saving throw versus Death (at the thief’s level) to resist breaking (see the Adventuring chapter, p. XX). The bonus does not apply to hijinks. Cost: 1,600gp.

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Re: House Rules

#9 Post by drpete »

Dynamic Combat Maneuvers

Attack throw is normal, modified by +2 by the the appropriate Combat trickery proficiency, against a modified AC given by computing:

Level bonus: 10-Defender's Attack Throw (so a 5th level fighter, with Attack throw 7+ gets a 3 here).

Compute Physical Ability: Maximum of Str and Dex bonuses minus Minimum of Str and Dex penalties. (As with strategic ability).

MAC = Level bonus + Physical Ability + Allowed Modifiers

Allowed modifiers include those from graceful fighting ability, swashbuckling, magic items/spells "of protection" and spells that improve AC through luck, speed or divine favor.



Effects

Once the initial roll is successful.

Effect Damage roll: Die type is d4 for Fighting 0 classes (mage, etc), d6 for Fighting 1 classes (thief, cleric), d8 for Fighting 2 classes (fighter, explorer, paladin), d10 for Fighting 3 classes. Modifiers for strength and other class abilities are allowed.

Force Back: On success, opponent is pushed back by a number of feet equal to the Effect Damage dice. Opponent can save vs Petrification to halve distance. Being pushed into things is handled as in the main rules.

Knock Down: Attack throw is at -4. Opponent gets a saving throw vs Petrification to stay on his feet as in the main rules. Opponents being Knocked Down by a Force Back get a saving throw vs Petrification to keep their feet, as well.

Overrun: Opponent gets a saving throw vs Petrification to get the ability to block. Success on this saving throw allows opponent to stop progress, but opponent automatically takes Effect Damage roll in damage.

Note: The purpose of these maneuvers is to avoid going head to head with an opponent's armor, so straight up armor class is not used.

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Re: House Rules

#10 Post by drpete »

Grappling

Grappling will use the "dungeon grappling" system. The basic outline is...

Attacks are made against the MAC described for the other maneuvers. On a hit, roll an effect roll as described there. For one handed grappling, halve the effect roll.

The effect roll inflicts "control points", which lead to conditions:

Control Points:
Up to 1/5 hp: Grabbed
Up to 1/2 hp: Grappled. -2 to hit, -2 AC, half move
Up to hp: Restrained. -5 to hit, -5 AC, no move
Above hp: Incapacitated. No attack, no move

Control Points can also be used to generate effects, like hurting the foe, takedowns, etc. If you want to try it, we'll find a way to represent it.

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Re: House Rules

#11 Post by drpete »

On healing:

Everyone has a base healing rate, which depends on their max hp. Max, your mystic's BHR is 1d3. This is what you recover for a full day's rest. It also determines how much you benefit from various healing powers.

1-3 HP: 1d2
4-9 HP: 1d3
10-16 HP: 1d4

Laying on hands causes the recipient to heal their BHR x (your level/2) (rounding up). So it will heal them by their BHR when you do it at 1st or 2nd level, twice that at 3rd or 4th, etc.

Other low level healing:
Cure Light: as if rested 1 day
Cure Serious: as if rested 2 days, plus 1 per three caster levels (round up)
Comfrey: half as much as if rested 1 day
Healing: being under treatment causes you to recover one extra BHR per day.

We'll also play with the Heroic Breakfast Rule... once per day, you can recover your BHR by consuming a meal with tea, coffee or alcohol.

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Re: House Rules

#12 Post by tymir »

How much does coffee cost? Is it sufficient to have coffee with morning rations to have a heroic breakfast?
Jaskar 7/7

Hamiya 7/7

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Re: House Rules

#13 Post by drpete »

Hrmmm... based on the cost of bulk coffee, say you can get a week's worth of cups for one person for about 2 silver, so if you're buying rations, you can bump the weekly cost up by that much to include your share of the coffee. It would count as part of the rations. To benefit from the heroic breakfast, you'd need to eat a meal that involved sitting down, making a fire, brewing coffee, etc. That can certainly be part of the morning breakfast routine, it's just not really something you can do in a 10 minute rest in a dungeon, etc.

(same price for tea...)

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Re: House Rules

#14 Post by drpete »

LIGHT RULES
(Adapted From Dungeons of Signs http://dungeonofsigns.blogspot.com/2015 ... light.html)

Light Sources
  • Torch - The bright light of a torch brightly illuminates up to 3 people. It can also provide dim light to up to 3 more people. The torch has a useful illumination radius of 30 feet. Torches can be used to light fires or oil flasks.
  • Lantern - A Lantern provides a soft pool of light with a useful illumination radius of 40 feet. They brightly illuminate up to 2 people. It can also provide dim light to up to 2 more people. Lanterns may not be used to light fires or oil flasks.
  • Candle - A candle provides dim light for a single explorer. They provide a useful illumination radius of 10 feet.
Light Status

Darkness
  • In the Underworld, darkness strangles even hope. Without light sources, overworlders, no matter how skilled or resilient, are utterly lost. The darkness found beneath the earth is not like normal darkness, it is a nightmarish, almost sentient presence that clings and tugs before closing in completely.
  • The majority of the Underworld is dark. Unless otherwise noted, dungeon areas should be assumed to be shrouded in darkness.
  • In darkness, even the most skilled above ground explorer is at a grave disadvantage, capable of moving only by touch. Total darkness prevents the use of most skills such as searching or disarming traps. If a character has been in the darkness for the previous two turns, his Hear Noise ability is improved by +4.
  • Being in total darkness is psychically and physically taxing. Saving Throws are at -4.
  • Henchmen must undergo a loyalty check every turn or wander off, collapse into a pile of anxiety, or become lost, unless the party has deliberately doused its lights and is stationary.
  • Combat rolls and abilities suffer a -4 penalty, and initiative dice suffer a two dice size penalty. Opponents who are not impacted by the darkness gain +4 to hit surface dwellers in darkness. Wrestling and Damage rolls are unaffected.
  • Targets in darkness cannot be attacked with missile weapons.
Dim Light
  • Dim light is discouraging and not optimal for most surface dwellers, but it does not create the complete physical helplessness, and rarely induces the total mental breakdown that true darkness inflicts.
  • Dim light is provided when there are too few light sources for the number of explorers, and by certain smaller light sources (such as candles)
  • Some surface dwellers are at home in dim light. Characters with Alertness, Blind Fighting, Skulking, Hide in Shadows, Caving or similar skills or abilities suffer no penalties in Dim Light. Stealth skills are improved by +1 (if on d6) or +4 (if on d20) in dim light if they are at least 20 feet from light radius of illuminated companions.
  • Most from the surface suffer debilitating effects in dim light. For those affected, skill rolls and Saving Throws are penalized by -2.
  • Henchmen suffer -2 to loyalty or morale checks in dim light
  • Combat rolls and abilities suffer a -2 penalty, and initiative is penalized by increasing each die size by one. Opponents who are not impacted by the dim light gain +2 to hit those who are. Wrestling and Damage rolls are unaffected.
  • Targets in dim light may only be targeted by missile weapons in close range.
Bright Light
  • There are no penalties for acting while illuminated, though groups with a large number of lights tend to stand out.
  • When Illuminated, cannot surprise enemies, except when either you or the enemies are passing through a door.
  • No modifiers to combat abilities
    Targets in bright light may be hit by missile weapons from up to twice the range of the light source illuminating them.

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Re: House Rules

#15 Post by CharlesDM »

Is the "dungeon grappling" system you're using the OSR book of the same name? I would like to read it.

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Re: House Rules

#16 Post by drpete »

It is, indeed, that book. It isn't explicitly acks, but it has notes for various systems and I kinda ported it over.

The very short version is that its a parallel system to hp, designed to look very much like it. You recalculate AC and hit modifiers. "Damage" is a measure of the quality of grapple (in the system, they suggest control damage die be based off character hp die type, but I tweaked that to be based off fighting value. (Fighter 2 gets 1d8 damage, fighter 1 gets 1d6, etc)

You can then do various things with those control points... convert them to hp damage, do takedowns, stun, inflict pain, etc. It seems very cool, though this is my first attempt to use it. It's involved enough that if you don't want to read it, just assume that grappling "works" now and see if the system will support you :)

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