Here's the current draft of my house rules document (RMSS).
House Rules and Clarifications
R. Dan Henry, January 10, 2010
1. CHARACTER GENERATION & DEVELOPMENT
A. Initial Character Creation
i. Player characters are created by the player and GM in collaboration. The player will handle the non-mechanical parts of creation with guidance from the GM to assure the character fits into the game world and the character's expected role. The GM will handle the mechanical part of character creation.
ii. All characters will be built with 660 stat points.
iii. A character may switch one pair of weapon categories in Adolescent development (e.g., a Dwarf could take his four ranks in a 1-H Edged weapon and category instead of 1-H Concussion weapons) or switch out one cultural language for a another language or take an atypical hobby skill for 1 Talent Point (subject to GM approval, although that's a moot point while I'm making them myself).
iv. Races, Cultures, and Training Packages have been revised for this campaign world.
v. Talents and Flaws will be handled through a Talent Point system, but the reference document for all Talents and Flaws is Flaw Law, my own revision of Talent Law drawing on multiple sources for additional material and modifications.
B. Level Advancement
i. All characters get 90 DPs per level.
2. COMBAT
A. Armor
i. The encumbrance penalty from armor can be reduced by 3 x Strength Bonus. If there is positive Strength Bonus left over after deducting that necessary to negate encumbrance, it may be used to offset the Armor Quickness Penalty to DB. (This cannot reduce the penalty below 0.)
ii. The statistics for armor as listed in RMSR and Arms Law are for the state of the art for most advanced cultures around the time of the end of the Fourth Age and beginning of the current one. Armor designs have improved since then and plate armor is available which causes less encumbrance due to design improvements. However, many older suits are still in use and it will be cheaper to find old armor and have it adjusted than to have a new suit made.
B. Parrying
i. Your parry counts against all attacks from the foe you are parrying this round. This includes attacks from two weapons or multiple attacks due to Haste. Significantly larger foes (Large or Super Large for a man-sized opponent) with multiple attacks can often attack from multiple angles. This does not negate the parry, but may gain flank or rear attack modifiers. (This last ruling is a house rule and contradicts an official ruling. My rule is harsher on low-leveled characters, but more generous to high level characters who ought to face such foes.)
ii. Even if you are parrying multiple blows from a foe, you only roll one attack unless you have multiple attacks anyway.
C. Stun
i. A stun result is “stun†or “stun, no parryâ€. These are the only results that count as being stunned.
ii. A character who is Frenzied may continue to attack despite suffering stun results. He suffers a -25 penalty during what would be a “stun†round or a -40 penalty during what would be a “stun, no parry†round.
iii. A Frenzied character who suffers a "must parry" result will have this combine with any stun rounds, so if Bob the Berserk has three rounds of stun accumulated and takes a "must parry" result, his next round will be a parry ("must parry" is the only time a character can parry when Frenzied) at -25. After that, he will have two rounds of stun left.
D. Spears and Javelins
i. Spears and javelins are require one hand in normal use.
ii. A spear may be used two-handed, using Pole Arm skill and the Pole Arm table at -10 or the Spear skill and Spear table at +10.
3. MAGIC
A. Arcane Magic
i. There is no Arcane Realm in this game.
ii. I am working on my own “Alternative to the Arcane Companion†to deal with three-realm hybrid magic and will reintroduce the Archmage.
B. List Modifications
i. The Bard's Base lists are modified as in my article "The Ranger and the Bard (Revised)", which appeared in the Sept. 2009 issue of the Guild Companion.
ii. Per the author's original MS and the RMFRP restoration of the wording, the following spells on the Seeming Memories list in the Mentalism Companion are as follows:
12 Remove Experience. The caster can remove one thought or memory from the target's mind each round.
14 Copy Experience. Caster can copy one thought or memory from the target into his own mind each round.
19 Implant Experience. As Copy Experience, except the caster can copy one thought or memory from his mind into the mind of the target.
C. Spell Casting
i. This is not D&D and the spell-casters are not easily-distracted wimps, nor is a spell of glass-like fragility. You need to stun or otherwise render the caster incapable of acting in order to disrupt spell casting.
ii. Special Modifiers to SCSM rolls:
Realm
Condition
Modifier
Channeling
Ceremonial Robes (if appropriate) (AT 2)
+15
Channeling
Sky-clad (if appropriate)
+5
Essence
Ceremonial Robes (AT 2)
+10
Essence
Sky-clad
+15
Any
Caster has Spell Mastery in the list (ranks ≥ level of spell)
+15
D. Channeling
i. All Channeling Realm users “hear†one or more voices in their heads. For many, this is a singular daimon, either the voice of the god they serve or some servant thereof. Some have an ancestral spirit or spirits as their guide(s) and adviser(s). Nature-worshipers typically hear spirits of plants, animals, rivers, mountains, the sun, the moons, clouds, etc. This is the only direct manifestation of the spirit world in our own.
E. Unconscious Characters and Spells (esp. Utility spells)
i. The default assumption is that if a character is asleep, he will automatically resist any spell that is not a Utility spell designed for use on a sleeping target (i.e., those that wake the target or make contact through dreams).
ii. The default assumption is that if a character is unconscious for other reasons, the subconscious is looking for help (the character is in trouble) and will accept Utility spells (it still resists Force spells as these are typically unhelpful).
iii. These assumptions can have exceptions. (Example: Kvarl the Mad Raider hates and fears magic. He will resist any spell cast on him when unconscious, even if a healing spell is the only thing that could keep him alive.)
iv. Many mental spells will simply not work on an unconscious individual. Surface thoughts are disorganized or surreal and can only be interpreted by specialist (dream) magic. Deep probes may still work, but require Spell Mastery. Mental attacks will generally fail because they are designed to work with or exploit the normal function of the mind, which is in a largely dormant state.
F. Hybrid Spells
i. Hybridized spells can be Canceled or Dispelled by "any realm" magic normally or by a spell specific to one component Realm, but if only one Realm is affected, the hybrid spell resists as if 50% higher level (if a two-realm hybrid) or double level (if three-realm hybrid).
G. Specific Spells
i. Teleportation is noisy, because it displaces considerable quantities of air. Spell Mastery can mute the noise to diminish it, but not eliminate it. There is no risk of arriving in solid material, because the spell is not powerful enough to insert solid matter into solid matter. Teleporting to an underwater destination is possible, but the spell requires double power points in order to have the strength to displace liquid matter.
ii. On the Mana Warriors list, the command spells (Move, Attack, etc.) were written as instantaneous. ICE changed them in editing, but the author disagreed with the change. I will honor his intent. These spells are instantaneous.
iii. The Armsmaster's Weapon Enchantment spell does not make the weapon "magical".
4. SKILLS
Reminder: Outside of combat, there is almost never a reason not to make a maneuver Deliberate. This will provide a +10 bonus.
A. Available Skills
i. This game uses a revised skill list, documented separately. This includes a modified version of the changes suggested in Steven Carpenter's Guild Companion article "Crafting Skilled Professionals". This also includes the two skills from his other Guild Companion article "Formation and Shipboard Combat". The Lore • Magical skill category is mostly changed to a new division of skills.
i. Underlined skills on the revised Skill Summary Table T-2.5 are only applicable to certain non-human forms, either being special skills of beasts or natural weapons using non-Martial Arts tables. Either belonging to an appropriate species, possessing the proper Talent, or shape-changing abilities may make these available.
ii. Some skills may not be available in certain cultures. In an arctic environment, nobody will be learning to swim, for example.
B. Stalk/Hide v. Perception Skills
i. Both (or all) character's roll and add applicable skill bonus and any modifiers. The higher roll wins. In a close case (-10 to +10 difference), the perceiving character gets a sense of "something there", but doesn't have any more exact clue. However, this gives that character the option of going from passive to active sensing and he can try to get others to do the same ("Did you hear something?"). Normally, sneaking is fairly easy, as it goes up against Alertness unless an active search is on or someone has an appropriate Situational Awareness skill.
ii. Other skill v. skill rolls will generally be handled similarly, with the GM deciding what skills are applicable to the situation.
iii. A Stalking character most roll twice: once for distance traveled and once for how stealthy he actual was in crossing that distance. The first is rolled as a moving maneuver, the second is rolled as a static maneuver. A Hiding character need only make the usual static maneuver.
C. Spell Mastery
i. Spell Mastery is learned separately for each spell list.
ii. Spell Mastery cannot increase the range, area of effect, number of targets, or duration of a spell. Spell Mastery is for changing a spell within its normal parameters or altering qualitative aspects of the spell. It can be use, for example, to Fire Ball the kidnappers around the hostage, while leaving the hostage untouched.
D. Static Maneuvers
i. The Unmodified results on the Static Maneuver charts are treated as follows: UM 66 is an Unusual Event, which means it will created by the GM on the fly, depending on the situation and the actual success/failure of the maneuver as rolled with all modifiers applied. Unusual events mentioned in the tables are examples only. UM 100 is a Unusual Success only if the roll is actually a success after modifiers are applied
5. OTHER
A. Items
i. Bonus Stacking: When bonuses are stacked, the bonuses are ordered from highest to lowest and count full bonus for the first, divide the second bonus by two, divide the third bonus by 3 and so on. Total for the final bonus. Using +10 arrows with a +30 bow results in a +30 + 10/2 = +35 bonus. Negative modifiers and positive modifiers are stacked separately if necessary and then combined.
ii. Adders and Multipliers: A Hybrid can use a Spell Adder keyed to either of his realms, but only for casting spells of that realm. He needs a Spell Multiplier keyed to his specific combination of realms in order to use a spell multiplier.
B. Overweight Characters
i. An overweight character's excess weight does not count towards its weight for determining how much it can carry without an encumbrance penalty.
ii. The excess weight itself counts as weight carried for encumbrance purposes.
iii. Total weight is still used as per standard rules for spell-casting purposes.
C. Movement
i. The base for calculating movement rate for human(oid)s is 40' per round rather than 50'. This gives more realistic values with no increase in complexity.
ii. Negative racial Strength modifiers are ignored in calculating Weight Penalty. Hobbits are punished enough on what they can carry based on size alone; there is no need to pile on the Strength penalty as well.
