Some house rules I'm considering

[bighara]

Bear in mind a lot of this has to do with how my group plays, so they may not be for everyone.

Starting off, here's some ideas about armor and shields inspired by recent threads:
ARMOR: Instead of using the full list in the PHB, armor is broken down into three categories: Light, Medium, and Heavy. Each category grants a different bonus to AC and has its own EV (encumbrance value). Players are free (within reason) to describe their armors appearance how they wish. The examples given in the table below are not the only options.

[quote]Code:

SHIELDS: There are three kinds of shields: Buckler, Small, and Large. Each confers various advantages and disadvantages to the wielder.
Buckler: Held in one hand. The buckler gives a +1 AC v. one opponent per round. Nothing else can be held in the same hand as the buckler, but it may be dropped as a free action. A buckler can be used as a bashing weapon for 1d2+1 damage. Off-hand penalties apply to to-hit rolls. Bucklers are always metal.
Small Shield: Strapped to the wielders arm and steadied with the hand. A small shield grants +1 AC v. up to two opponents per round. The wielder may hold a relatively small object in their shield hand as well; i.e. a torch, a dagger, one end of a rope, etc. (GMs discretion). Removing a small shield is a full round action and requires both hands. A small shield can be used as a bashing weapon for 1d3 damage (+1 for metal shields). An additional -1 to hit is added to any off hand penalties.
Large Shield: Strapped to forearm and steadied with the hand. A large shield grants +1 AC v. up to three opponents per round. Nothing larger than a tiny object (a coin, etc.) can be held in the shield hand. Removing a large shield is a full round action and requires both hands. A large shield can be used as a bashing weapon for 1d4 damage (+1 for metal shields). An additional -2 to hit is added to any off hand penalties.

[quote]Code:

[bighara]

CRITICAL HITS: If an attacker rolls the maximum die result on his damage roll, he rolls to hit again. If he succeeds, he re-rolls his damage and adds it to the previous total. If the result is the maximum die result again, he adds & keeps re-rolling until he doesnt roll the maximum. The to hit roll is only re-rolled once. For example: Ufgar with a 17 strength- hits a troll with his battle axe (1d8) and rolls an 8. The player rolls to hit again and succeeds. He then rolls another 8! He adds that to his previous roll and rolls again, getting a 6. The weapon deals 22 points of damage, +2 for his strength bonus, for a total of 24 points against the troll. Strength bonuses, pluses from magic weapons, etc. only apply once.
LUCK: Each PC receives one Luck Point per session. Luck Points can be spent to re-roll any player roll, taking the best of the results. He can also use a luck point for an extra action in a round. The GM may on occasion- award a character an extra luck point during the session.
INITIATIVE: Each player declares his intended action for the upcoming round. Then the GM deals each player a card from a deck of playing cards. Highest cards goes first, suits rank in reverse alphabetical order (Spade, Heart, Diamond, then Club). Jokers grant either +2 to hit, +2 damage or, in the case of non-damaging spells, -2 to opponents' saves v. the spell (or a +2 to overcome SR, players choice). The player must declare which bonus hes taking before he rolls. New cards are dealt each round.
Class Notes: Barbarians get the Survival ability (as per Ranger) at 1st Level. Also, their fatigue from Primal Fury only lasts 1 hour.

[Philotomy Jurament]

bighara wrote:
CRITICAL HITS: If an attacker rolls the maximum die result on his damage roll, he rolls to hit again

Are you using only one type of damage die? This will work, in that case. Otherwise, you're going to have 1d4 weapons that crit 25% of the time, while 1d8 weapons crit 12-1/2% of the time, et cetera.
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http://www.philotomy.com
Lost City Campaign Log

[bighara]

Philotomy Jurament wrote:
Are you using only one type of damage die? This will work, in that case. Otherwise, you're going to have 1d4 weapons that crit 25% of the time, while 1d8 weapons crit 12-1/2% of the time, et cetera.

No, I'll use the various damage dies. The increased odds of a critical is offset by the lower die type. Similar to aceing in Savage Worlds, I don't think it'll be a big problem. I'm not sure what to do with 2d4 weapons, etc. They might need to be converted to 1d8s, or some such.

[rabindranath72]

bighara wrote:
No, I'll use the various damage dies. The increased odds of a critical is offset by the lower die type. Similar to aceing in Savage Worlds, I don't think it'll be a big problem. I'm not sure what to do with 2d4 weapons, etc. They might need to be converted to 1d8s, or some such.

Actually, it may be a problem. I did some calculations, and on average d4s tend to do sligthly more damage than d6s! For increasing die sizes the problem tends to disappear, but you should expect an overall increased number of criticals for smaller weapons.

To solve the problem, you would have to "fix" a percentage for each die, or establish an increasing scale. For example, a critic might be scored when the die is on the upper 25% of the die scale (rounded up). This means:

d4 crits on 4

d6 crits on 5,6

d8 crits on (6,) 7,8

d10 crits on (7,) 8,9,10

The number in parenthesis correspond to the model in which there is an increasing scale.

Or, like in Warhammer 1e, use a d6 for all weapons, adding a fixed modifier to account for the different averages.

d4 = d6-1

d8 = d6+1

d10 = d6+2

d12 = d6+3

[bighara]

rabindranath72 wrote:
Actually, it may be a problem. I did some calculations, and on average d4s tend to do sligthly more damage than d6s! For increasing die sizes the problem tends to disappear, but you should expect an overall increased number of criticals for smaller weapons.

To solve the problem, you would have to "fix" a percentage for each die, or establish an increasing scale. For example, a critic might be scored when the die is on the upper 25% of the die scale (rounded up). This means:

d4 crits on 4

d6 crits on 5,6

d8 crits on (6,) 7,8

d10 crits on (7,) 8,9,10

The number in parenthesis correspond to the model in which there is an increasing scale.

Or, like in Warhammer 1e, use a d6 for all weapons, adding a fixed modifier to account for the different averages.

d4 = d6-1

d8 = d6+1

d10 = d6+2

d12 = d6+3

The mechanic is basically lifted from WFRP's (2e) "Ulric's Fury" rule. In WFRP, everything is d10 with modifiers, so the probabilities aren't an issue. I'm not sure whether the slight skewing of the odds is worth complicating the system or not. I'll have to think about that one a little. Changing the d4 weapons to a d6-1 might do the trick, though.

[Philotomy Jurament]

Personally, I like using 1 type of damage die.

You might take a look at Gary's system in Lejendary Adventure, too. In that system, all weapons use a d20 for damage, but different weapons have different minimums to the range. And 20 points is enough to kill the average guy on the street. He also uses "exploding" damage dice. If you roll a 20 for damage, you roll an additional d10, et cetera.

In D&D terms, this might translate to a d6 or a d8 for the damage roll, with different weapons having different minimums. You could stick with your critical system (max damage on the damage die == roll attack again).

Just random thoughts...
_________________
http://www.philotomy.com
Lost City Campaign Log

[Matthew]

bighara wrote:
LUCK: Each PC receives one Luck Point per session. Luck Points can be spent to re-roll any player roll, taking the best of the results. He can also use a luck point for an extra action in a round. The GM may on occasion- award a character an extra luck point during the session.

I have been using a similar one to this off and on for about fifteen years, but we refer to them as Destiny Points (having ripped off Fate Points out of Advanced Hero Quest and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay). Generally, they allow rerolls. I stopped using them for a while, but there was almost a TPK a couple of years ago when the Barbarian Character failed to roll above 5 for the duration of a crucial combat, whilst his companions had similarly poor luck, which led to their reinstitution.

[bighara]

I've consolidated my house rules and weapon/armor charts into one doc that also has PC generation info. It's for a Karameikos based game. Rather than try to format it all here, I've provided a link to the pdf:
Bighara's C&C House Rules

Comments welcome. Enjoy.