My House Rules (SDC/HU2 Oriented)

[NMI]

Been working on some of my house rules. Figure after 15+ yrs of both playing and GM'ing, I should have these in print. Some I have gotten from other people, some I have made up. NONE are perfect.

Initiative
I believe this Initiative modification is referred to as "Divided Initiative".
Roll Initiative, divide it by your number of attacks. Take the result and subtract it from your Initiative roll and those are "segments" you go on. If you roll too low, you may lose attacks.
(example: Harry rolls and 18 initiative and has 6 attacks. His attack/action segments would be on 18-15-12-9-6-3. If he had rolled a 4 for initiative, he would go on 4-3-2-1-0 and lose 1 attack for acting too slowly.)

Actions/Attacks:
As we know, in Palladium certain actions like "Power Punch", casting certain level spells, etc.. cost more then one attack. In those few situations, the 2nd or even 3rd attack will come out of your initiative roll. Ie... if you were to go on 18, 15, 12, 9 and 6 and were to cast a "spell" that would cost 3 attacks.. if you initated the spell on "18", it wouldnt go off until "12" as that is where you 3rd action comes in to play. If you cast the spell on "12", then it wouldnt kick in til 6. It is possible that the spell might not kick in til the next melee.
Addendum:
This would also allow for spell/power interuption. If a mage was casting a spell that would take him 3 melee actions and was going on 18-15-12, with the spell activating on "12", if the mage got interupted at "16", he wouldnt lose his action on "15" but would have to start over again with the previous spell.

Sniper skill:
normally counts as two attacks. However, adding Sniper to my modified Aimed/Called shots rule would make it now 4 attacks. Not really fair. As with Palladium critical strikes, I am simply making a Sniper shot combined with say a "Aimed", "WP Rifle" shot count as 3 attacks. Again, certain OCC's/Power Categories may reduce this. Giacomo as an example.

Dealing with A.R.
Note: this is still a work in progress. Constructive criticism wanted - everything else, keep to yourself!

An Armors "ADV" or Armor Defensive Value will be based on its A.R. (Armor Rating)

A natural roll on the D20 higher then the A.R. will be needed to penetrate the Armor.
For Articifical Armor (Body Armor for example), a natural strike roll below the A.R. that is not defended will do damage to the Armor, regardless of total bonuses to strike.
(ie. Bob is wearing armor with A.R. 14 SDC 50. Mike rolls a 12 + 4 to strike [16 total] - Bob fails/declines to dodge. Even though the total "strike" roll is over the A.R., the damage still goes to the armour and not Bob)

A natural roll over the A.R. will strike the victim.

However....

In situation #1: Mike is firing a .45 ACP pistol. Typical damage range is 4D6. If the damage rolled is 15 points or higher, then any damage over the AR number will go to the victim. (In the previous example, if Mike rolled 18 points of damage, then 14 would go to the armor and the remaining 4 points would be taken by Bob.) If Mike rolled 12 points of damage, then all 12 points would go to the armor.

In situation #2: All damage rolled would go to bob, but the weapons base damage would have to have the potential to do more then 14 points of damage (14 due to the AR of the armor). Even if Mike had rolled a 19 to hit naturally, if he was firing a 9mm Glock which typically does 2D6 damage, the rounds "energy" would have been absorbed by the AR). A critical strike would increase the base damage (so a natural 20 would turn the base 2D6 damage of the 9mm to 4D6.)

Advanced/Alien technology could affect this.
Armor Piercing rounds would lower the A.R. of armor Typically AR would be lowered by -1 per damage die of the round. A 4D6 pistol would lower AR by -4. A 2D6 Glock would lower the A.R. -2.

Certain types of AR/Armor would work differently. Natural/Vehicle/Robotic AR would increase the Armor Defensive Value.

Burst damage multiplies would <b>NOT</b> affect the ability to damage the ADV. If one bullet can not penetrate the armor, then 20 will not either.

Sounds complicated, but in theory should work out. Balanced.

Note: Natural D20 rolls are used to determine if A.R. is penetrated. If you roll under the A.R., but your weapon has the ability to damage the armor, then you will do full damage to the armor (assuming the target didnt dodge).

Dodging

Per Palladium rules, dodging will count as your next action unless you have "auto-dodge" and state you are using "auto-dodge". If you merely state that you are dodging, it will count as your next action in the initiative order.

ie: You act on 18-15-12-9-6-3
Badguy on "16" shoots you. You elect to dodge. Whether you succeed or not, you lose your action on 15. Your next attempt to "act" will be on 12. Now if the badguy gets a chance to shoot at you again before your action on "12", then it is possible that you could lose your initiative again. This is how you can put someone on the defensive.

If you have auto-dodge, and use it in an attempt to dodge, then you will not lose your next action, regardless of whether you are hit or not.

PPE/ISP Channeling
Note: Based off of of Jason Richard's article in Rifter #21. I am including ISP/Psionics into this as well.

Mages First:
What this means is that Mages will be able to channel 5 PPE per level of experience in 1 action. If said Mage was 4th level, they would be able to cast a spell with a cost of up to 20 PPE in 1 attack. Always round up. If a spell cost 40 PPE, it would take that same 4th level Mage, 2 actions for the spell to manifest. A 50 PPE spell would cost 3 actions.

"Instant Spells"
If the spells cost is less then 5 PPE, then that spell is casted as an "Instant Action" and does not cost an attack. Up to 1 spell per every odd level of experience may be cast in this way per minute. All PPE costs must be spent. 4th level mage would be able to cast 2 "instant spells" of 5 PPE or less per minute. 5th level mage: 3 instant spells per minute.

Note:
Some magical OCC's/creatures/supernatual beings will be able to channel more/less then the base 5 PPE per level.

Psionics:
ISP Channeling: Works the same as above. By fourth level, most Psi powers should be able to used in 1 action.

ISP Channeling: "Instant Attack"
Works the same as PPE Channeling.

Mages:
When casting spells outside of their expertise (Necromancers casting standard spell magic) channel PPE at a different rate. This rate is 3 PPE per level of experience.
IE: 3rd level Necromancer channels PPE for Necro spells at 15 PPE per action, but standard wizard spells at 9 PPE per action.

Psionics:
Same as above.

[Dog_O_War]

AR critiques.

Having to roll a natural number to not strike the armour is obsurd. For instance, to strike a normal human, you need an 8 to hit (with modifiers) in Rifts. If you wanted to strike that opponents' head, that is an additional -3, or an 11 needed.

So you run into an opponent that is wearing 19 AR armour; this armour covers everything except his head.

A modified roll of 11 should hit the naked head, but bounces off the armour because it wasn't a natural 19 - kinda cheesy.

Here is how I would fix this. Allow for a modified roll instead to be allowed to used. Use ARs as a positive number, not a whole number.
An example of this would be a kevlar vest; AR+3; <blank> SDC. That way a fast-moving character would see the protection of both his speed and his vest come into effect.
You can also personalize locations to be impossible to pick out (in addition). You might be wearing a helmet only for armour, and that might only add an AR+1 to the number needed to hit you, but it would render all head-shots as effecting the armour first, you second (regardless of roll). A called shot would hit the head, but affect the armour first.

It's kinda like AC in D&D (well, 3.x and up).

Also, using the modified roll to strike above AR means it's no longer a pure-luck thing. That and armours with an AR of 20 don't have that critical weakness flaw (where not only are you hit, but critically hit as well).

Finally, armours that have full coverage would simply have an AR-full.

[NMI]

Really? find me a standard suit of armor in Heroes Unlimited (which is what I GM for), that has an AR higher then 18? Note the keyword "Standard".
And nothing that I know of in Palladium has an AR of 20 (except for some psionic armor I am thinking of, and the rare magical item... extremely rare...)


but I do appreciate the feedback

[Natasha]

Dealing with A.R.
Note: this is still a work in progress. Constructive criticism wanted - everything else, keep to yourself!

I don't see where ADV is actually being used.

The idea of not using the strike bonuses to determine whether or not the armour was defeated is interesting and I can see a rationale for it, but players may become saddened by it when shooting and happy about it when being shot.

[Dog_O_War]

Really? find me a standard suit of armor in Heroes Unlimited (which is what I GM for), that has an AR higher then 18? Note the keyword "Standard".
And nothing that I know of in Palladium has an AR of 20 (except for some psionic armor I am thinking of, and the rare magical item... extremely rare...)

While the standard ARs in HU are fine, they don't mesh well with other factors of the game - like moving fast, for example. Characters that move fast are hard to hit; they have an AR (effectively) due to increased movement, but that is put null and void if you needed to hit them on a higher natural roll anyways. it's like punishing a character for not using the "superior" method of protection.

I was using an AR of 20 to offer an example, that and you can get an AR of 20 with one of the minor powers (hardened skin or something from one of the stinky-books), but it takes a few levels.

With going off of a modified roll-example, you can factor in greater protection, with 20 being an almost full suit, while above 20 (say to 30) being representative of thicker or stronger materials. This differs from a suit that is AR-full in that an armour-piercing attack would lower the AR, making hitting the target underneath easier. I don't think there are AP attacks, but you could devise a mechanic that allowed for such - like saying teflon-sprayed small calibre rounds had an AP value of 1.
This means that a character that moves fast isn't affected by AP rounds, unless he is also wearing armour.

Just a thought that you can work with and mull over anyways.

[NMI]

Really? find me a standard suit of armor in Heroes Unlimited (which is what I GM for), that has an AR higher then 18? Note the keyword "Standard".
And nothing that I know of in Palladium has an AR of 20 (except for some psionic armor I am thinking of, and the rare magical item... extremely rare...)

While the standard ARs in HU are fine, they don't mesh well with other factors of the game - like moving fast, for example. Characters that move fast are hard to hit; they have an AR (effectively) due to increased movement, but that is put null and void if you needed to hit them on a higher natural roll anyways. it's like punishing a character for not using the "superior" method of protection.

I was using an AR of 20 to offer an example, that and you can get an AR of 20 with one of the minor powers (hardened skin or something from one of the stinky-books), but it takes a few levels.

With going off of a modified roll-example, you can factor in greater protection, with 20 being an almost full suit, while above 20 (say to 30) being representative of thicker or stronger materials. This differs from a suit that is AR-full in that an armour-piercing attack would lower the AR, making hitting the target underneath easier. I don't think there are AP attacks, but you could devise a mechanic that allowed for such - like saying teflon-sprayed small calibre rounds had an AP value of 1.
This means that a character that moves fast isn't affected by AP rounds, unless he is also wearing armour.

Just a thought that you can work with and mull over anyways.

There are rules in place that take into effect moving/high speed targets.

[NMI]

Off topic posts moved to their own topic.

[Dog_O_War]

There are rules in place that take into effect moving/high speed targets.

I know, but as I said; a character moving fast and wearing armour recieves the benefit only for the best protection.
If you needed to roll a natural 14 to hit him, or a modified 20 due to speed, then rolling with a strike with a +6 bonus is redundant.
If you only had a +5, then the armour is redundant.
If you had a +14 to strike, then likely the movement is redundant.

Sure rolling above the AR scores a hit on the target and not the armour, but when it comes right down to it characters would rather take damage they can repair for free than replace a suit of (often) expensive armour. Either that or they want the armour to always take the hit, and never the character.

That's all I'm saying.

[NMI]

Outcome 1, Bob rolls an 8, high enough to hit, but bonus doesnt bump over Joe's AR.
Outcome 2, Bob rolls a 12, high enough to hit, and bonus makes it over AR.

In both of these cases, assuming the victim doesnt defend, the damage will go directly to the armor.

Outcome 3, Bob rolls a 16, High enough to hit, bonus is well over AR.
Outcome 4, Bob rolls a nat 20. Enough said.

In both of these cases, assuming the victim doesnt defend, the damage could affect the victim.

When Bob rolls damage for his 3D6 pistol, subtract the AR# from the damage rolled. Any remaining damage will affect the victim.
[ie: 3D6 rolled - comes to 16. 14 points of damage goes to the armour. The remaining points of damage will go to the victim. If the damaged rolled was equal to or less the 14 (the ar in this example), then all damage goes to the armor itself.]

A natural 20 will pretty much assure damage will get to the victim (unless you rolled pretty low for damage). With the natural 20, regardless of the amount of damage, a minimum of 1/2 damage will be applied to the victim.
[ie: 3D6 pistol. Damaged rolled is 13. x's 2 for critical = 26. 14 points of damage will go to the armor and 12 to the user. If for example the damage rolled was 6 x's 2 for the critical = 12. In this case the victime will take 6 points of damage. The armor still takes 12. (or 6 not sure how I want to work that.)]

Thanks for asking the questions. This will only serve to make my games better.

[Dog_O_War]

Hey, I got a question for you;

How do you handle power discrepancy between players, as well as power selection that is grossly out of proportion - like really, really, really strong characters - within a HU setting?

One of the problems I was having was that one player could basically reduce any villain to zero MDC with a single punch. This made it so that I basically couldn't use a certain type of enemy super. That and while the powers picked weren't out of proportion with the rest of the groups' abilities, they certainly out-shone most of the other players, mainly due to the strength line of abilities being front-loaded.

[NMI]

Hey, I got a question for you;

How do you handle power discrepancy between players, as well as power selection that is grossly out of proportion - like really, really, really strong characters - within a HU setting?

One of the problems I was having was that one player could basically reduce any villain to zero MDC with a single punch. This made it so that I basically couldn't use a certain type of enemy super. That and while the powers picked weren't out of proportion with the rest of the groups' abilities, they certainly out-shone most of the other players, mainly due to the strength line of abilities being front-loaded.

I take a strong part in the character creation. One, so that I can get a feel for where the player is wanting to take his PC, two so that I get a better feel for them as well. I also tend to take a copy of the character sheet and re-write it myself, allows me to get into the nitty-gritty of the PC.

Right now, my HU2 group is fairly well balanced. These are the current PC's I am GM'ing for

Sometimes "balance" is not an issue of "this number/stat" equal to "that number/stat". Sometimes balance comes out of the PC's background, lack of certain skills, etc..

I have disallowed certain powers in the past. The one that stands out the most is "Zombie Flesh". As it is written, it appears to me (IMHO) a tad bit broken.

Any other questions? I dont mind providing feedback or my opinion on situations. Mind you, HU2 is my preferred game of choice, followed by various other titles.