Post by reiphil on Mar 17, 2009 10:41:36 GMT -8
Hey guys,
To make the game a bit more fun and challenging, I am adding in a few house rules. If you guys don't want them in, please let me know. If you guys want to add in more, please let me know.
House Rules and Errata:
Stunt Rolls: Based on “stunting” rules, where the player describes a kickass maneuver in order to get a freebie bonus. Have the player roll a check of the relevant ability score to their attack. If they beat the easy DC for improvisations of their level, they get a +1 bonus to attack rolls. If they beat the Hard DC, they get a +2. This also helps attach something more firm to stunting rules than “good description” which can be terribly subjective, especially within an overdramatic group.
Plot Coupon: Every time a player spends two rounds in a row attempting to attack but without scoring any successful attacks, give them a guaranteed, free non-critical success on the first attack roll they do for the next At-Will power they try to use, without needing to roll. It helps somewhat to keep encounters from going to the drain just on bad luck alone.
Aim Action: If there are no adjacent enemies to you, you can convert your move action into a +1 bonus to your next basic ranged attack roll this round. The +1 bonus only applies to the first attack roll of an attack, secondary targets or targets not specified as a "primary" target in a burst/blast do not receive this bonus. Making an attack after aiming ends your turn.
KO Sustaining: Upon going unconscious any sustained powers last until the end of your next turn and you may not take any actions to sustain it.
The Homie Rule: If you roll your die and it knocks over a mini on the map, you take a -10 penalty to that roll. (Thank Alan for this)
Using feats/powers/classes outside of printed material: Since I like Joseph's idea of trying to keep games not completely bonkers, I am enforcing this one. If you are using a power/powers from the dragon magazines and not printed books, you must have it cleared with me. THIS INCLUDES DRAGON ANNUAL.
Short Rests - Unless otherwise stated, short rests will be limited to 10 minutes (two short rests strung together). In which you can recharge and use any certain powers once.
Weapon Break - (DARKSUN ONLY) - Changing the weapon break rules. A critical miss (rolling a 1) on an attack roll may cause your weapon to break. Player who rolls a critical miss rolls a d20. If the weapon is NOT metal, the weapon breaks on a roll from 1-5. If the weapon is metal, the weapon breaks on a roll from 1-2. You do not get a reroll on the attack. (This also means my creatures can break their weapons too!)
Armor Break - (DARKSUN ONLY) - A critical hit on an attack roll may cause your enemies armor to break. Player who rolls a crit rolls percentile die. If result is 95 (90, 5) - 100 (90, 0), the defender's armor bonus for the rest of the encounter decreases by 2 and breaks at the end of the encounter leaving it rendered useless. (This also means I can break YOUR armor)
--
Guidelines for a healthy DND Group:
I have noticed that a lot of you guys pay more attention to the combat aspect other than the story aspect of the game. Which is fine, but please realize that I, as a DM, have been adding things in to the story and creating a world for your characters to live in. All I can do is ask the players to, while playing, follow certain guidelines:
1) Be true to your own character: Follow how you feel your character would play, and not what would benefit the party most (unless the coincide). Each of you has written a back story with your own motivations. Be it camaraderie, treasure, or the want to take over the world, stay true to those aspects. It makes the game more fun and lively when you players follow how you want to play instead of play like a hive mind. You guys can add much more of a dynamic by following your created personas.
2) Be true to the game: I am really getting tired of the meta gaming that is going on DURING game play. All I ask of you players is to be true to what your character sees and hears in the game. If you guys have been walking for a few hours and suddenly one of your characters goes missing. I don't want to hear "I suddenly look around to check for him, even though I have never looked around before in my entire career to check for people." It's retarded, and takes away the enjoyment of the story. I'm also tired of the "I throw spells at this location (because I can see on the board that my teammates are not going to be in the blast though the whole area is covered in a fog)." If someone finds an odd relic in a room, I don't want you to suddenly be by his side rolling dice, and telling me numbers, unless the character who found it asks for assistance. Be realistic. Also, just because one character makes a perception/arcana/diplomacy/religion/history/etc check, doesn't mean everyone has to make a perception/arcana/diplomacy/religion/history/etc check. Follow guideline 1, play your character how he normally is.
3) Pay attention to your surroundings: When I take a step back and start explaining that suddenly spirit energy starts coalescing after the boss dies, don't go "Ok, so i take 3 surges and roll arcana check to look for magic items." Listen. There can be vital clues labeled in the plot that may eventually help you or change how your character feels/acts to the situation.
4) Pay attention to everyone else: When you guys are going through the dungeon, pay attention to everyone else. When you guys are healing. Don't cluster fuck the room with what you are doing, pay attention to your healer. When you guys are in the battle, don't run around like headless chickens, coordinate. A lot of issues could be solved if you guys paid more attention to how each character acts and the roles they fill. Also - remember the rules. A short rest is a rest you must take to spend surges. If everyone else is resting and you're off doing perception checks, I'm going to assume you haven't spent surges yet. As wizards says "Never split the party."
5) Be respectful to the DM: I'm not asking for much here. But guys, take turns in telling me what you guys want to do. Do it as a party, and don't jump around from one thing to the next. Be logical. Ask questions, figure limitations, but do so preemptively. Games go much more smoothly when the I am not getting battered by random numbers getting thrown at me.
--
Materials not allowed:
Eberron Dragonmarks
"Evil Races" - Drow/Minotaur (can be cleared with EXTREME good rping)
Races realm specific
Warforged - DS
Monster Races (must be cleared first)
Dragon Magazines (see house rules)
UPDATES -
7/28 - Short rests
6/28 - Added materials not allowed section
6/22 - Added guidelines section
5/17 - Stealing Joseph's rule.
5/01 - Aim action is now basically ranged charge.
3/22 - Aim action is now only for BASIC ranged attacks (basically it's like charge for casters/ranged)
3/28 - The Homie Rule
6/23/10 - Dark Sun rules
8/06/10 - Race fix
To make the game a bit more fun and challenging, I am adding in a few house rules. If you guys don't want them in, please let me know. If you guys want to add in more, please let me know.
House Rules and Errata:
Stunt Rolls: Based on “stunting” rules, where the player describes a kickass maneuver in order to get a freebie bonus. Have the player roll a check of the relevant ability score to their attack. If they beat the easy DC for improvisations of their level, they get a +1 bonus to attack rolls. If they beat the Hard DC, they get a +2. This also helps attach something more firm to stunting rules than “good description” which can be terribly subjective, especially within an overdramatic group.
Plot Coupon: Every time a player spends two rounds in a row attempting to attack but without scoring any successful attacks, give them a guaranteed, free non-critical success on the first attack roll they do for the next At-Will power they try to use, without needing to roll. It helps somewhat to keep encounters from going to the drain just on bad luck alone.
Aim Action: If there are no adjacent enemies to you, you can convert your move action into a +1 bonus to your next basic ranged attack roll this round. The +1 bonus only applies to the first attack roll of an attack, secondary targets or targets not specified as a "primary" target in a burst/blast do not receive this bonus. Making an attack after aiming ends your turn.
KO Sustaining: Upon going unconscious any sustained powers last until the end of your next turn and you may not take any actions to sustain it.
The Homie Rule: If you roll your die and it knocks over a mini on the map, you take a -10 penalty to that roll. (Thank Alan for this)
Using feats/powers/classes outside of printed material: Since I like Joseph's idea of trying to keep games not completely bonkers, I am enforcing this one. If you are using a power/powers from the dragon magazines and not printed books, you must have it cleared with me. THIS INCLUDES DRAGON ANNUAL.
Short Rests - Unless otherwise stated, short rests will be limited to 10 minutes (two short rests strung together). In which you can recharge and use any certain powers once.
Weapon Break - (DARKSUN ONLY) - Changing the weapon break rules. A critical miss (rolling a 1) on an attack roll may cause your weapon to break. Player who rolls a critical miss rolls a d20. If the weapon is NOT metal, the weapon breaks on a roll from 1-5. If the weapon is metal, the weapon breaks on a roll from 1-2. You do not get a reroll on the attack. (This also means my creatures can break their weapons too!)
Armor Break - (DARKSUN ONLY) - A critical hit on an attack roll may cause your enemies armor to break. Player who rolls a crit rolls percentile die. If result is 95 (90, 5) - 100 (90, 0), the defender's armor bonus for the rest of the encounter decreases by 2 and breaks at the end of the encounter leaving it rendered useless. (This also means I can break YOUR armor)
--
Guidelines for a healthy DND Group:
I have noticed that a lot of you guys pay more attention to the combat aspect other than the story aspect of the game. Which is fine, but please realize that I, as a DM, have been adding things in to the story and creating a world for your characters to live in. All I can do is ask the players to, while playing, follow certain guidelines:
1) Be true to your own character: Follow how you feel your character would play, and not what would benefit the party most (unless the coincide). Each of you has written a back story with your own motivations. Be it camaraderie, treasure, or the want to take over the world, stay true to those aspects. It makes the game more fun and lively when you players follow how you want to play instead of play like a hive mind. You guys can add much more of a dynamic by following your created personas.
2) Be true to the game: I am really getting tired of the meta gaming that is going on DURING game play. All I ask of you players is to be true to what your character sees and hears in the game. If you guys have been walking for a few hours and suddenly one of your characters goes missing. I don't want to hear "I suddenly look around to check for him, even though I have never looked around before in my entire career to check for people." It's retarded, and takes away the enjoyment of the story. I'm also tired of the "I throw spells at this location (because I can see on the board that my teammates are not going to be in the blast though the whole area is covered in a fog)." If someone finds an odd relic in a room, I don't want you to suddenly be by his side rolling dice, and telling me numbers, unless the character who found it asks for assistance. Be realistic. Also, just because one character makes a perception/arcana/diplomacy/religion/history/etc check, doesn't mean everyone has to make a perception/arcana/diplomacy/religion/history/etc check. Follow guideline 1, play your character how he normally is.
3) Pay attention to your surroundings: When I take a step back and start explaining that suddenly spirit energy starts coalescing after the boss dies, don't go "Ok, so i take 3 surges and roll arcana check to look for magic items." Listen. There can be vital clues labeled in the plot that may eventually help you or change how your character feels/acts to the situation.
4) Pay attention to everyone else: When you guys are going through the dungeon, pay attention to everyone else. When you guys are healing. Don't cluster fuck the room with what you are doing, pay attention to your healer. When you guys are in the battle, don't run around like headless chickens, coordinate. A lot of issues could be solved if you guys paid more attention to how each character acts and the roles they fill. Also - remember the rules. A short rest is a rest you must take to spend surges. If everyone else is resting and you're off doing perception checks, I'm going to assume you haven't spent surges yet. As wizards says "Never split the party."
5) Be respectful to the DM: I'm not asking for much here. But guys, take turns in telling me what you guys want to do. Do it as a party, and don't jump around from one thing to the next. Be logical. Ask questions, figure limitations, but do so preemptively. Games go much more smoothly when the I am not getting battered by random numbers getting thrown at me.
--
Materials not allowed:
Eberron Dragonmarks
"Evil Races" - Drow/Minotaur (can be cleared with EXTREME good rping)
Races realm specific
Warforged - DS
Monster Races (must be cleared first)
Dragon Magazines (see house rules)
UPDATES -
7/28 - Short rests
6/28 - Added materials not allowed section
6/22 - Added guidelines section
5/17 - Stealing Joseph's rule.
5/01 - Aim action is now basically ranged charge.
3/22 - Aim action is now only for BASIC ranged attacks (basically it's like charge for casters/ranged)
3/28 - The Homie Rule
6/23/10 - Dark Sun rules
8/06/10 - Race fix