Your House Rules

[Abraxus]

I was curious as to what house rules everyone was using, and what you think of mine... I'm going to post mine here, and everyone can comment and/or add their own here...
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#1: Fortitude Save for Telepaths: I felt that the rule that Telepaths automaticaly gain a subdual when using a power was too restrictive, considering how few hp they have. So I added a rule that when a Telepath uses a power, he/she rolls a Fortitude save vs a dc of 10+ the p-rating of the power. Success means he/she does not gain a point of subdual. The feats Great Fortitude and Endurance would greatly help a telepath suddenly, and encourages telepaths to have higher Con scores.
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#2: Healing Subdual/Non-Leathal: As it stands, a character can "Heal" 1 point of Subdual/Non-Leathal damage per hour. I can't find this rule in the main book, but in the Earth Alliance book it states such aon page 55 within the "Black Fist" section. I am allowing, as a test, to let players add their Con bonus to this. Thus, someone with a con bonus of +2 can regain 3 (1+2) subdual per hour to reflect those with stronger constitutions regaining Subdual damage faster then those who are not as healthier. I may make it "1+ 1/2 con bonus". Comments on this one?
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Those are the two main ones I've got going now. Add yours here, or comment on mine please..

Abraxus

 

[Anonymous]

I allow the Con bonus to apply to Hit Points just at first level... With out that it makes Con to much of a throw-a-way stat...


I also in the Techno-mage Book Eliminate several of the Spells from being availible. Time manipulation, and teleportation in the series, and novels was not posible, nor displayed as an ability they had...

Also i eliminate the need Techno-mages have of verble and somatic componets for spells.. Seeing as in both serise and novels they are never needed, and said even that such things were only for show, to make it LOOK like they use magic..

I have not fully worked it out yet either but the shield, and Damage power of Techno-mages seems a little weak compared to the series and books, but for the majority of game play does not seem to be to much of an issue yet..

 

[Sundog]

I like having low HP (makes combat nicely lethal, which is what I want) but I allow recovery at normal D&D rates for subdual, character's LEVEL in HP recovered per hour.

Also, I'm on the verge of ditching the space combat rules altogether and just going with B5Wars. The rules in the book just don't work for me.

 

[Eryx]

I also in the Techno-mage Book Eliminate several of the Spells from being availible. Time manipulation, and teleportation in the series, and novels was not posible, nor displayed as an ability they had...

I also don't think that fireballs, nor lightning bolts are appropriate. Thats too fantasy for my mind.

Also i eliminate the need Techno-mages have of verble and somatic componets for spells.. Seeing as in both serise and novels they are never needed, and said even that such things were only for show, to make it LOOK like they use magic..

I agree. They shouldn't need V and S, its all just of cast by mind isn't it. They think it and the technology does it.

 

[Abraxus]

Interesting Sundog...

Is anyone else using B5 Wars as their main space combat system? Does that not slow combat down?

Abraxus

 

[El Cid]

I added a feat and modified a feat.

NEW FEAT
Linguist: You have an exceptional ability to learn languages and decipher the meaning of unknown written languages. Cost for learning a new alien language is 2 points instead of the usual 4 and other languages of your race is 1 point instead of 2. Time to learn the new language is reduced to one-half normal. Gain a +2 synergy bonus when trying to break a code.

REVISED FEAT
Independently Wealthy: Increase the book’s values by 10 times.

I'm also using the PC's Constitution score as in place of the -10 for death.

Sidney

 

[Chobbly]

I added a feat and modified a feat.

NEW FEAT
Linguist: You have an exceptional ability to learn languages and decipher the meaning of unknown written languages. Cost for learning a new alien language is 2 points instead of the usual 4 and other languages of your race is 1 point instead of 2. Time to learn the new language is reduced to one-half normal. Gain a +2 synergy bonus when trying to break a code.

REVISED FEAT
Independently Wealthy: Increase the book’s values by 10 times.

I'm also using the PC's Constitution score as in place of the -10 for death.

Sidney

Food for thought, El Cid. Especially the Linguist feat. Doesn't seem particularily game unbalancing... (sound of grinding metal indicates that Chobbly is thinking....)

The independantly wealthy thing is an interesting one. Using the book values would imply that the money is from a character's initial class. The reworked version on the web-site, here, is less precise but doesn't depend on a character's class, instead being generic. It all depends where you want the 'independantly wealthy' thing to come from, I like the simplicity of the reworked one in the lifestyle pdf, IMHO.

Your last point, on the PC's constitution score in place of the -10 for death, I'm not sure on. It would make characters with a low constitution really vulnerable; if they picked a class with low initial hit points, a single unlucky roll could not just put them down, but put them down permanently. Equally, it might encourage players to max out on Constitution, which may(indirectly) make combat less deadly, which is one of my favourite things about combat in the RPG.

Still, if it works in the heat of battle, so to speak, then....

Chobbly.

 

[El Cid]

Food for thought, El Cid. Especially the Linguist feat. Doesn't seem particularily game unbalancing... (sound of grinding metal indicates that Chobbly is thinking....)

The independantly wealthy thing is an interesting one. Using the book values would imply that the money is from a character's initial class. The reworked version on the web-site, here, is less precise but doesn't depend on a character's class, instead being generic. It all depends where you want the 'independantly wealthy' thing to come from, I like the simplicity of the reworked one in the lifestyle pdf, IMHO.

Your last point, on the PC's constitution score in place of the -10 for death, I'm not sure on. It would make characters with a low constitution really vulnerable; if they picked a class with low initial hit points, a single unlucky roll could not just put them down, but put them down permanently. Equally, it might encourage players to max out on Constitution, which may(indirectly) make combat less deadly, which is one of my favourite things about combat in the RPG.

Still, if it works in the heat of battle, so to speak, then....

Chobbly.

I took the idea of Linguist from the Archeologist in Crusade.

As for the Independently Wealthy feat, I just felt the amounts in the rules were too low. I had a similar problem with the Fiery Trial module and how much Anderson was willing to pay. Just seemed too low for mercenaries when you look at the amount a Professional could earn in the rules of the basic book.

I like your write up for Lifestyle. You do good work.

As for the Constitution thing, an average PC will have a 10 which is what the basic rules use and a sickly character should IMHO have a greater chance of dying than a very healthy character so I think it is reasonable rather than one size fits all.

Sidney

 

[Chobbly]

Food for thought, El Cid. Especially the Linguist feat. Doesn't seem particularily game unbalancing... (sound of grinding metal indicates that Chobbly is thinking....)

The independantly wealthy thing is an interesting one. Using the book values would imply that the money is from a character's initial class. The reworked version on the web-site, here, is less precise but doesn't depend on a character's class, instead being generic. It all depends where you want the 'independantly wealthy' thing to come from, I like the simplicity of the reworked one in the lifestyle pdf, IMHO.

Your last point, on the PC's constitution score in place of the -10 for death, I'm not sure on. It would make characters with a low constitution really vulnerable; if they picked a class with low initial hit points, a single unlucky roll could not just put them down, but put them down permanently. Equally, it might encourage players to max out on Constitution, which may(indirectly) make combat less deadly, which is one of my favourite things about combat in the RPG.

Still, if it works in the heat of battle, so to speak, then....

Chobbly.

I took the idea of Linguist from the Archeologist in Crusade.

As for the Independently Wealthy feat, I just felt the amounts in the rules were too low. I had a similar problem with the Fiery Trial module and how much Anderson was willing to pay. Just seemed too low for mercenaries when you look at the amount a Professional could earn in the rules of the basic book.

I like your write up for Lifestyle. You do good work.

As for the Constitution thing, an average PC will have a 10 which is what the basic rules use and a sickly character should IMHO have a greater chance of dying than a very healthy character so I think it is reasonable rather than one size fits all.

Sidney

The Lifestyle thing is from one of Mongoose's PDF's, in the downloadable area of their site, so the credit is wholly with them - I had absolutely nothing to do with it, I just posted the link to the pdf in their 'Downloads' section in this thread. I wouldn't ever want to take credit for something that wasn't mine.

If you haven't checked out the Mongoose PDF's, I would do so. There's some great stuff there, in particular the changes to the Worker class. It gives some ideas about expanding the Worker class - in particular, I like the 'Enlisted Serviceman' for NPC's.

As for the Constitution thing, maybe I'm just a bit too concerned about min-maxxing. :?


Chobbly

 

[LoneStranger]

About the only thing that's not normal about our characters for the B5 game that's on hiatus for a bit now (or we're between seasons take your pick) is the GM gave us one level's worth of hit points after we got done with our characters. Other than that it's a pretty standard game.

 

[Abraxus]

I created a feat regarding languages but I see not that It was too weak. Simply put, it added +2 to any linguistics roll. Obviously, as I see things now, I did not give the feat enough strength... But I feel that Sidney's feat is a bit too powerful, at least for my campaign as my players have repeatedly run into language related problems. So i'm going to do it like this:

Natural Linguist
Languages cost 3pts, not 4. +2 to all language rolls, & Languages take 1 month less to learn then normal.

This gives a language based character the advantage & can take as few as 1 months to learn a language. That seems good to me.

Abraxus

 

[Ross O'Gallagher]

El Cid wrote
As for the Constitution thing, an average PC will have a 10 which is what the basic rules use and a sickly character should IMHO have a greater chance of dying than a very healthy character so I think it is reasonable rather than one size fits all.

Sidney

I tend to agree with this assessment. However, for those of you who wish to lessen the impact of a high stat, you could use the standard -10 + Con modifier.

 

[JonAcheson]

Also, I'm on the verge of ditching the space combat rules altogether and just going with B5Wars. The rules in the book just don't work for me.

Agreed. What I could figure out of the rules (there were hardly any examples) turned space combat into a D&D corridor crawl, which competely misses the feel of the show.

I've been basically "winging it," which I'm not happy with, because it gives my strategy-oriented players less to work with.

And using wargame rules is not an option.

Jon Acheson

 

[psyclonejack]

In regards to space combat and the published rules, they are quite well done. I only had to apply three house rules and everything works quickly for combat.

1) Aquiring target lock is a free action. Otherwise one would never be able to pursue, lock, and fire in one round.

2a) movement is vector based loosely on a 'borrowed' full thrust rule. You move half your current speed in distance, then make your turn, if successfull finish moving the other half at your new heading.

2b) In order to keep the starfighters on the table top when they are moving at speed 40 (40 inches.) I reduced speed/distance by a quarter. Thus speed 16 = 4" and speed 40 = 10", etc.

3) target specific systems. By taking a full round action and making a DC (defined by GM) sensors sweep, the player can next round lock on to a specific system and make a single attack hoping to disable it. I basicly allow a critical hit to the defined system. Thus most systems take 6 attacks by a fighter to disable. Still have to work to take out the engines on a ship, or the weapons systems.

Space combat is another aspect of roleplaying for B5. It can't be left out, nor can it be done half hazardly. My current group is all starfury pilots in the same squad. The campaign revolves around space combat, much like the series did at times. So far, They learned to work together to bring down targets, as well as have 'fun' roleplaying when a pilot screws up. I had two pilots splash there own fighters, one scratch the paint on docking procedures, and one go into an uncontrolled spin for several turns. Thus the callsign 'Maytag' (maytag, for those that don't know is a brand of washing machine) they are finally getting better and moving in formation and split breaks for targeting runs on larger targets. The even have a rivalry with alpha squad for most kills and the practical jokes on each other just keep getting better.

L8r,
Psyjack

 

[Abraxus]

After I write this, I am going to go downstairs and playtest out a battle using B5 wars. But I intend to analyze what bogs down the game to then get to the more important RPG feel of the game.

So I intend to remove a lot of the number crunching associated with B5 yet keep the strategy feel of it.

Has anyone done a similar thing with B5 Wars and are you using it successfuly in your game?

One problem I forsee is not having the ship sheets for B5 Wars if I end up using it for my space battles. And since AoG are kaput, how am I to get the stuff for it? I live in a moderately sized town that has no B5 Wars stuff. Has AoG offered up their ship sheets as downloads? or is there someone who will e-mail requested ships? ie: I need a Drazi Sunhawk ship sheet. Suggestions?

Abraxus

 

[Dag'Nabbit]

There's a guy on Ebay that is selling the CD ROMs for both Ships of the Fleet 1 & 2. He tends to post them fairly regularly so he may just be making copies of the CD and selling those, but it should still be able to provide you with a veritable plethora of SDCs. Or you can just go hunting for the actual books. '1' tends to sell for around $20-$30+ and last time a copy of '2' sold on ebay it went for over $50. But those two books will give you close to 700 SDCs.

As it is I am still trying to get a hold of SotF2.

 

[ronbogard]

I got both CD's from SotF Books some guy traded it in at my local game store and when I walked in the owner said 'Come he little boy I have some candy for you.' :wink: I can not wait to see what Mongoose will do with the Warlock class.

 

[redlaco]

I was curious as to what house rules everyone was using, and what you think of mine... I'm going to post mine here, and everyone can comment and/or add their own here...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#1: Fortitude Save for Telepaths: I felt that the rule that Telepaths automaticaly gain a subdual when using a power was too restrictive, considering how few hp they have. So I added a rule that when a Telepath uses a power, he/she rolls a Fortitude save vs a dc of 10+ the p-rating of the power. Success means he/she does not gain a point of subdual. The feats Great Fortitude and Endurance would greatly help a telepath suddenly, and encourages telepaths to have higher Con scores.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#2: Healing Subdual/Non-Leathal: As it stands, a character can "Heal" 1 point of Subdual/Non-Leathal damage per hour. I can't find this rule in the main book, but in the Earth Alliance book it states such aon page 55 within the "Black Fist" section. I am allowing, as a test, to let players add their Con bonus to this. Thus, someone with a con bonus of +2 can regain 3 (1+2) subdual per hour to reflect those with stronger constitutions regaining Subdual damage faster then those who are not as healthier. I may make it "1+ 1/2 con bonus". Comments on this one?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Those are the two main ones I've got going now. Add yours here, or comment on mine please..
Abraxus

Those are excellent and I also like El Cid take on dying characters. Basicaly, I've found that most tweaking that I feel necessary are CON related. It gives some crunch to an otherwise easily avoidable stat.

As for space combat, I'm waiting for "A Sky Full of Stars". I'm in no hurry as I'm still in the planning stage of my campaign. I have the B5 Wars revised compendiums 1 & 2 but the rules feels too heavy to blend in with a RPG, IMHO. Plus, my players are not wargamers...