True20 House Rules doc

[DnDChick]

I am very taken with True20, so much so that I am considering converting my Lord of the Rings game to that system.

That is neither here nor there, though. The point of this post is to get some critiques of some house rules that I whipped up. It is so much easier for a DM ... er ... excuse me, a Narrator to tinker with the rules of True20 because they are so basic.

Attached is a Word document with my house rules ... an addition here, a tweak there, my own takes on the standard races, and a new role, the Professional. I added it to cover the "common folk" who are primarily skill-based but not nearly as good at combat as the Expert. The Professional is there to model scholars, craftsmen, aristocrats, and others who have good skills but lack combat training.

The addition of a Spellcasting skill and how it affects fatigue is the biggest change, and the one I feel needs the most critiquing.

EDIT: Re-upped the revised house rules, incorporating the changes suggested below, with a few other tweaks based on a playtesting session last night.

EDITx2: Re-upped another revised version. This time I added in a BUNCH of new feats from the 3.5e SRD as well as the d20 Modern/Future SRD.

Feats from the 3.5 SRD
Combat Casting
Extra Turning
Improved Rush
Improved Feint
Improved Grapple
Improved Overrun
Improved Shield Bash
Improved Turning
Leadership
Manyshot
Power Attack
Whirlwind Attack

Class Abilities from the 3.5 SRD
Bardic Knowledge ( which I renamed Esoteric Knowledge)
Turn/Rebuke Undead

Feats from the d20 Modern/Future SRD
Agile Riposte
Dead Aim
Elusive Target
Frightful Presence
Improved Knockout Punch
Knockout Punch
Low Profile
Nerve Pinch
Oathbound
Renown
Ultra Immune System
Urban Tracking

I also included the text from the clarification on how damage works. Thanks for the link!

Unfortunately, the document is now too big to attach in an EnWorld post.

If anyone wants to see the recent work, email me at:

countrygrrlhere (at) aol (dot) com

 

[Eternalknight]

I'm definately going to *yoink* your races section, and I like your archetypes section as well. The magic section looks interesting, but at this stage is not for me.

I haven't yet played True20 (in fact, I'm going to be running a True20 Age of Worms campaign beginning this weekend), and will comment some more after that.

Oh, the only house rule I have made up for it is adding the Profession skills back in, mainly as a character in my group is a mercenary (Warrior class) and none of the skills are really appropriate as a professional skill for him.

 

[Eternalknight]

Just noticed something with your races; with the smaller races, don't forget that being Small size also imposes a -1 Toughness penalty. Also, don't forget that by giving some of the races Wild Talents, that these powers can go off at random times...

 

[FickleGM]

I am very taken with True20, so much so that I am considering converting my Lord of the Rings game to that system.

That is neither here nor there, though. The point of this post is to get some critiques of some house rules that I whipped up. It is so much easier for a DM ... er ... excuse me, a Narrator to tinker with the rules of True20 because they are so basic.

Attached is a Word document with my house rules ... an addition here, a tweak there, my own takes on the standard races, and a new role, the Professional. I added it to cover the "common folk" who are primarily skill-based but not nearly as good at combat as the Expert. The Professional is there to model scholars, craftsmen, aristocrats, and others who have good skills but lack combat training.

The addition of a Spellcasting skill and how it affects fatigue is the biggest change, and the one I feel needs the most critiquing.

Well ... what do you think?

I guess that I am also taken with True20. I haven't had a chance to look over your house rules in any detail, but an initial perusal showed promise. I think that I can yoink some stuff (if you don't mind).

I you would like, I could post my house rules (not as many nor as detailed).

 

[DnDChick]

Just noticed something with your races; with the smaller races, don't forget that being Small size also imposes a -1 Toughness penalty.

I had not noticed that, thanks!

Also, don't forget that by giving some of the races Wild Talents, that these powers can go off at random times...

Yup. For the elves, that's not much of a big deal, since having Nature Sense or Second Sight go off at random times doesn't really do much.

With the gnome, though, it could add a touch of comedy ... I can envision a gnome getting hit by a weapon, and having a random illusion flare briefly into existance nearby. Like getting konked in the head with a hammer and having stars circle his head, etc.

 

[DnDChick]

I tried a little playtest last night. It was just a meaningless combat, three characters, one of each of the core roles, against three orcs.

One thing I did test was adding skill points back in. I discovered that if you do that, you really need to put class skills back in as well. With lots of skill points to spend and no class skills, it is VERY tempting for players to seriously cheese out just put a rank into every skill. Buncha cornballs ... :\

 

[DnDChick]

I guess that I am also taken with True20. I haven't had a chance to look over your house rules in any detail, but an initial perusal showed promise. I think that I can yoink some stuff (if you don't mind).

I you would like, I could post my house rules (not as many nor as detailed).

Yes, yoink away! And sure, post yours too!

 

[FickleGM]

Ok, I will post my house rules. Aside from applying one piece of Errata, I also tried to address a couple other issues (found during play or when reading the Green Ronin True20 boards). Also, you may find use in the damage clarification that I posted in the True20 Wound Clarification thread and Steve Kenson confirmed.

First, I found that without AoO, tripping an opponent is worthless unless you have friends to gang up on the prone individual. This didn't make sense to me, as I see tripping someone in one-on-one combat as being useful when followed up with a strike or grapple. Since trip is a standard action, the opponent is able to get up before I can follow up, unless conviction is used. So, I modified the Improved Trip Feat to allow the trip maneuver as a Move Action.

Second, I wanted to address the feats that allow extra attacks in a round (cleave, great cleave and two-weapon fighting). The Multi-Attack feat addresses any extra attacks used during the round, replacing cleave and great cleave. The Rapid Fire feat gives ranged weapon users a similar "multi-attack" feat. The Two-Weapon Combat feat addresses a secondary weapon's uses in attack, defense and damage; taking the place of both Two-Weapon Defense and Two-Weapon Fighting. My reasons for these changes are to try to keep the round to one attack roll per character.

Third, I found that wielding a weapon with two hands had no benefit, so I decided to apply a simple +1 to damage when wielding a One or Two handed weapon with two hands (not Light weapons).

Here are my house rules, hopefully they are easy to follow:

True20 House Rules & Errata

Chapter 1: Hero Creation
[Errata]
The adept chooses a single key ability for all his powers.

Chapter 3: Feats
[Modified General Feats]
Improved Trip
In addition to the benefits listed (+2 on Str and Dex checks to trip an opponent, and they do not get an opportunity to trip you if you fail), the character also treats the Trip maneuver as a Movement Action instead of a Standard Action.

Without the feat, the Trip maneuver is treated as a Standard Action.

[New General Feats]
Two-Weapon Combat
Prerequisite = +2 Dex or more
If wielding a second weapon or fighting unarmed (against an unarmed opponent or with the Improved Strike) the character can choose to gain a +1 to attack, to damage or to defense.

Without the feat, the character can gain the same benefit, but at a cost of -2 to the other two rolls.

[New Martial Feats]
Multi-Attack
Prerequisite = +2 Dex or more
The character can attack multiple opponents in melee by taking a -2 to attack for each additional opponent attacked. Each target’s defense is used to resolve the attack, with a toughness save being required for each opponent that is hit. If the character wishes to direct multiple attacks at one opponent, the penalty remains the same and damage is increased by +1 per additional attack.

Without the feat, additional armed attacks are made with a -4 per extra attack.

Rapid Fire
Prerequisite = +2 Dex and Quick Draw
The character can attack multiple opponents with ranged attacks by taking a -2 to attack for each additional opponent attacked. Each target’s defense is used to resolve the attack, with a toughness save being required for each opponent that is hit. If the character wishes to direct multiple attacks at one opponent, the penalty remains the same and damage is increased by +1 per additional attack.

Without the feat, additional armed attacks are made with a -4 per extra attack.

[Removed General Feats]
Two-Weapon Defense
Two-Weapon Fighting

[Removed Martial Feats]
Cleave
Great Cleave

Chapter 5: Equipment
[Rule Addition]
Light, One-Handed, and Two-Handed Melee Weapons
Wielding a weapon with two hands grants a +1 to damage. Only one-handed and two-handed weapons may be wielded with two hands.

 

[DnDChick]

Good ideas, thanks! I'll yoink these for myself, as well as the wound clarification.

 

[DnDChick]

Another idea I had was to make Tougness a Difficulty instead of a save, for those who insist on rolling damage.

Toughness is 5 + Constitution + armor. So, a guy in leather with a Con of +3 has a Toughness of 10. (Original rules: Toughness save +5).

Damage roll is 1d20 + Strength + Weapon damage. So a guy with a Str +2 wielding a short sword has a damage bonus of +5. (Original rules: damage 20).

Using the original rules, let's say the defender rolls a 10. That gives him a total toughness save of 15. He failed by 5, so he is hurt.

Using the new rules, the attacker rolls the same for damage ... a 10. That gives him a total damage roll of 15. Since the defender's Toughness is 10, the result is still the same ... the damage is 5 over the defender's Toughness so the defender is Hurt.



The wound levels are unchanged, but instead of escalating based on how badly you failed the Toughness save, it escalates based on how much the damage roll was over your Toughness.

The numbers all work out the same, but it puts damage rolls back into the hands of the attacker.

Again this is untested, but it's something that came up in the playtest I did as the players asked about how the system works and why it does things certain ways.