Dumpshock Forums > [SR3] House Rules

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Sphynx

Dec 14 2006, 12:23 PM

I have the annoying job of trying to find out what all our House Rules are, and get it on the web, so I thought I'd keep a memoir here as I think of more House Rules we have so I don't forget the ones I remember. Feel free to comment on some of them.

Character Creation:

128BP (always, we're binary types.

)
No Surge
Alternative Magic BP system used (seperate thread)
Gear limited solely by Availability of 8 (so Avail 3- cyber can be Beta Grade)
No Heavy Weapons allowed (including vehicles and drones).
No Gun Construction.
Vehicle Construction limited to Drones of Body 1 or lower.
No CyberDeck Construction.
Modifications of Guns, Spells, CyberDecks and Vehicles is permitted
Freebie Contacts are created as a Group and don't appear on character sheets.

CyberWare:
Mneumonic Enhancer provides NO karma bonuses to learning skills
CyberLimb ECU increases with Grade upgrades. Multiply the equipment's ECU by the Grade multiplier for calculating ECU.
- Ie: Something that takes 3 ECU will take up 2.4 ECU
- Treat all cyberlimbs as having the ECU capacity of Basic Grade. (Ie: pretty much treat cyberlegs like Cybereyes/ears)
- Reflex Trigger is automatically installed with Wired Reflexes. It costs no essence or nuyen.
- Reflex Step Trigger is still extra.

Magic:
Maximum of 1 Geasa for Magic Loss.
Maximum Initiate Grade is equal to uninitiated Magic Rating, for a grand maximum of Grade 6
Psionic abilities allow learning of any Spell, but most spells can only be cast while Astrally Projecting.
Psionicists suffer only Stun damage when casting from the Astral Plane
Foci Addiction rules are used.

Weapons:
Shotgun scatter damage can not be upgraded past Moderate damage for successes. Only the primary target may have to resist damage higher than Moderate.

House Interpretations
Trauma Dampener does help vs spell casting drain
Astral Beacon is a 2nd Edition term, no such thing in 3rd.

I'm sure there's tons more, but this will help me remember better (and with the nifty [edit] option, add to it)

ElFenrir

Dec 15 2006, 01:18 PM

Hmm...ill bite, here, why not

QUOTE

128BP (always, we're binary types. nyahnyah.gif)
No Surge
Alternative Magic BP system used (seperate thread)
Gear limited solely by Availability of 8 (so Avail 3- cyber can be Beta Grade)
No Heavy Weapons allowed (including vehicles and drones).
No Gun Construction.
Vehicle Construction limited to Drones of Body 1 or lower.
No CyberDeck Construction.
Modifications of Guns, Spells, CyberDecks and Vehicles is permitted
Freebie Contacts are created as a Group and don't appear on character sheets.

128 BP...nice. We ended up floating around 123-125 but 3 points for binary completeness, why not

No surge? Fine with me. The party doesnt need to consist of a bunch of blue furry people.

I need to read up on magic BP system.

As for Availability, since i started playing SR 12 years ago with SR2, we have never used Availability. And none of our games fell apart because of it, either. Perhaps because weve been friends for years(the crew i games with), and we know what we play like. If someone wants big bang-bang, we take it, knowing the negative concequences of having said bang-bang, and usually getting to use high Availability item once in a blue moon. However, youre rules at least open up the Availability some more.

No Heavy Weapons? Some large Awakened critter hunters would cry before getting horribly eaten.

We dont always use them, when characters allow for it of course, but the Ingram Valiant LMG, considered a heavy weapon, is not that over the top, and is under the normal Availibility limits, even. Also, Heavy Weapons have their own drawback....they are not quiet, or subtle, use at own risk! i think they balance themselves. but if it works in your games, great. (Besides, taking the skill at chargen wouldnt hold as much weight if you have to wait 10 sessions to even get to use it.)

No Gun Construction: At chargen, cool. In game its lots of fun.

Vehicle Construction limits: Again, chargen, cool. However, i think a tiny drone might be harder to design than a larger one...but i can see where you are coming from.

No Deck Construction: Neutral on this one. Again, ingame, lots of fun.

Mods Permitted: My techwiz and my weapons specialist would love your game. Tinkering is great.

Contact rule: Hmm...elaborate a bit?

Ok, next:

QUOTE

CyberWare:
Mneumonic Enhancer provides NO karma bonuses to learning skills
CyberLimb ECU increases with Grade upgrades. Multiply the equipment's ECU by the Grade multiplier for calculating ECU.
- Ie: Something that takes 3 ECU will take up 2.4 ECU
- Treat all cyberlimbs as having the ECU capacity of Basic Grade. (Ie: pretty much treat cyberlegs like Cybereyes/ears)
- Reflex Trigger is automatically installed with Wired Reflexes. It costs no essence or nuyen.
- Reflex Step Trigger is still extra.

MEnhancer: Well, i can see why people limit this one. We didnt, but neutral on it.
ECU ungrades: Very cool idea.
ECU capacity: Again, cool idea.
Trigger Included: Yes, like this too. From SR2 to SR3 ive forgotten to buy the damn trigger before...
Step Trigger extra: yeah, this is a good idea.

And next up:

QUOTE

Magic:
Maximum of 1 Geasa for Magic Loss.
Maximum Initiate Grade is equal to uninitiated Magic Rating, for a grand maximum of Grade 6
Psionic abilities allow learning of any Spell, but most spells can only be cast while Astrally Projecting.
Psionicists suffer only Stun damage when casting from the Astral Plane
Foci Addiction rules are used.

Geasa limit: Neutral on it but i can see why it would be there. (ie, cybermages taking a buttload of them at the start.
Initiate Grade Limit: Cool to me. Again, i can see the cybermage just blowing karma on initation after initation and getting even more powerful than a total meatmage.
I never played much with Psionics so im not sure about the psionic rules for the next two.
I like the idea of focus addiction, it makes sense.

And finally:

QUOTE

Weapons:
Shotgun scatter damage can not be upgraded past Moderate damage for successes. Only the primary target may have to resist damage higher than Moderate.

I can see what youre getting at here. Im still thinking at close range though, say, choke set to about a 3 person wide spread within 3 meters away...those people can still get cut up pretty damn badly.

Now, a 6 person spread from 15 meters wont be as bad and i can see this rule sticking.

And the last two sound good to me.

All in all, i dig or am cool with most of youre houserules. I might arrange a list of some of the houserules i used or we have used in the past. Generally, our houserules provided little limitations to players...but there is a lot of trust between all of us and stuff doesnt get abused. I like the idea in a game of....'dont tell me i CANT do something...tell me it will be damned hard, expensive, or will cost a lot in different ways, and it might not or probably wont be worth it, but at least tell me i can try'

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