Unusual House Rules

[Rimmer]

After few decades of playing PB Fantasy, I thought I had encountered all the possible house rules, but was plesantly surprised when I joined a one shot last weekend with some freind of a freind sorts.

They play what is commonly refered to as 1.5 PFRPG, that is 1st edition rules with 2nd edition PPE tacked on, also there was no bonus die for stats (eg: 16-18 on 3D6 give you plus 1D6 bonus)

All stats used the same table for bonuses, from memory 10-12 +0, 13-15 +1, 16-17 +2, 18 +3, or something like that. This bonus was added to the roll whenever a skill was used that was governed by that attribute. If you used say Acrobatics, which is govered by your PP attribute, you got that bonus whenever rolling Acrobatics checks.

Skill selection was determined the same way, but once calculated, were converted to a straight number bonus. EG; Your thief PC has Acrobatics at 43% this becomes a straight +4 bonus (Rounded Down) When rolling skill checks, a difficulty number was assigned by the GM, you roll D20, plus Attribute Modifier, plus Skill Modifier to try to beat the difficulty.

The governing Attribute of each skill was not static, and could change depending on what you were trying to accomplish, EG; most skill check for the acrobatics skill would involve your PP attribute, but if you were trying to recognise a famous Acrobat, you could roll your Acrobatics skill modified by your IQ bonus and not PP in this case.

There were a few others as well but those were the main ones I picked up.

I may next game try these out for myself, opinions anyone ?

[Brewski]

I have been toying with the idea of a hybrid system. I like the feel of the pre player SDC. It get confusing sometime for the players expecially new ones when you tell them to take so much damage to their sdc and they take it off their armor. Then it becomes a issue that stalls the game for a few seconds.

[Severus Snape]

From your description of the skill checks and bonuses, it sounds as if whoever made up those house rules has a strong background in AD&D 1st and 2nd edition.

[Rimmer]

Yeah, i was getting a bit of a D&D vibe going, although my experiance is limited to KoTOR games.

[Cinos]

So you turn PF into D&D? While I'm sure this will likely streamline most of the rules into something more playable, not something I'd do.

[Severus Snape]

While there are similarities between the two games, it's a lot harder to do than you'd think. However, I can see it happening, especially if you are someone who has been playing one of the systems for a long time and then picks the other one up. Heck, I've taken things from both systems and combined them into my own PF campaigns. It just happens. But that doesn't make my PF campaign an AD&D campaign.

[Cinos]

While there are similarities between the two games, it's a lot harder to do than you'd think. However, I can see it happening, especially if you are someone who has been playing one of the systems for a long time and then picks the other one up. Heck, I've taken things from both systems and combined them into my own PF campaigns. It just happens. But that doesn't make my PF campaign an AD&D campaign.

Having done it, it's not harder to do then I think. It's rather simple and honestly about has hard as closing all the holes existing in Palladium.

It does take some time. But time investment =/= difficulty of task.

[Rimmer]

The main reason I like the above house rule was the single codified mechanic, eg: the D20, well that and the fact that the attributes now had some meaning to the game, I have always been annoyed that my PP:18 Assassin was as stealthy as a PP:4 one.

[Rimmer]

The main reason I like the above house rule was the single codified mechanic, eg: the D20, well that and the fact that the attributes now had some meaning to the game, I have always been annoyed that my PP:18 Assassin was as stealthy as a PP:4 one.

Impossible, An assassin is required to have a minimum PP of 14

Honestly i see a few wholes in the skill area but hey, no game is ever perfect. I dotn like the D20 idea but if it works it works

I was just using that to illustrate a point, but if you are more comfortable, imagine a PP:14 Assassin vs a PP:24 Assassin.

[Nightmask]

The main reason I like the above house rule was the single codified mechanic, eg: the D20, well that and the fact that the attributes now had some meaning to the game, I have always been annoyed that my PP:18 Assassin was as stealthy as a PP:4 one.

Impossible, An assassin is required to have a minimum PP of 14

Honestly i see a few wholes in the skill area but hey, no game is ever perfect. I dotn like the D20 idea but if it works it works

The assassin could be suffering from permanent or temporary crippling injuries that have reduced his PP lower than the starting minimum. He'd still be an assassin but would likely have problems because of it.

[Nightmask]

The main reason I like the above house rule was the single codified mechanic, eg: the D20, well that and the fact that the attributes now had some meaning to the game, I have always been annoyed that my PP:18 Assassin was as stealthy as a PP:4 one.

Impossible, An assassin is required to have a minimum PP of 14

Honestly i see a few wholes in the skill area but hey, no game is ever perfect. I dotn like the D20 idea but if it works it works

The assassin could be suffering from permanent or temporary crippling injuries that have reduced his PP lower than the starting minimum. He'd still be an assassin but would likely have problems because of it.

Touche but if he some how was injured to losiing 10+ PP, he must not have been good or had some bad luck

Wizard fireball and a lot of scarred skin would leave you pretty impaired, or a diabolist firetrap for that matter. As you note bad luck can come to anyone.