these are the house rules we use. they include ideas from sources such as the guild companion web site, HARP faq, the forums & our own stuff. it does show my groups origins in ad&d 1st ed & basic d&d so the rules we use arent for everyone. the collection includes some rules changes we found difficult to apply or weren't listed in the HARP rules, so some of these clarifications may be useful in the reprint [or maybe not!].
again - not for everyones taste!
Appearance STAT
Roll % [not open ended] & modify by the characters PR modifier. It is a reflection of the characters beauty [or ugliness]. It application is determined by the GM. It has no direct game mechanics impact. It may be affected by in game events such as massive facial trauma – such as being breathed on directly by a blue dragon......
Human Characters
Instead of the Professional Adaptability ability at first level a human character may instead take the Skill Flexibility Talent per HARP SF.
Gnomes/Dwarf
The Dwarf ability of Greater Dark Vision & the Gnome ability of Lesser Dark Vision is incorrectly described on p20-21. Instead use the description on p74 under Talents.
Two Weapon Combo
When using this skill for two weapons from the same group, or the same weapon in both hands apply the following. If using non-identical weapons from the same group take the Talent from Martial Law ~ Multiple Weapon Proficiency [DP5] for the off-hand weapon. The weapon group skill that they all belong to must have a minimum of x1.5 Ranks of the Two Weapon Combo skill. One attack with each weapon is made per normal for the Two Weapon Combo in HARP. This rule is different to Martial Law & replaces it.
Initiative
Roll 1d10, rerolling 10s adding the total together. Init is penalised by Man Pens from criticals rather than reducing QUI modifier.
Fumbles
When a character fumbles a skill or maneuver, they subtract the number of ranks that they have in the fumbled skill or spell from the roll used to determine the effects of the fumble. This can never reduce the fumble roll below a 1.
Development Points
Each level a character gains they gain a minimum of 50 DP. If the DP they would gain from their stats is greater than 50 they instead gain the higher number.
Healing
A Healing roll to stop bleeding takes 1d10+10 rounds when healing yourself & halve that amount when healing someone else. The bleeding is stopped midpoint during the total time. If the healing is interrupted in the second half of the time taken the bleeding resumes in 1d10+10 rounds.
Stun Effects
Instead of the Stun RR being Stamina RR 150 + 5/each round of Stun greater than the first, it is now RR 100 + 10/each round beyond the first. The character may roll once each round to break a Stun at the current RR.
Overcasting
A character can attempt to cast a spell they do not have sufficient ranks to cast, or may attempt a scaled version of a spell they lack the ranks for that level of scaling. Fumble range is increased to 1-10 from the normal 1-5 when Overcasting. The spell casting roll manoeuvre roll suffers a -10 per rank the the caster lacks that is necessary for the casting of the spell. This stacks with any of the -5/PP penalty for scaling a spell. So a caster that is attempting a spell that would normally have a -20 to the roll for +4PP worth of scaling that they lack 2 ranks from the minimum required would suffer a total penalty of -40 [-20 from scaling & -20 from 2 PP of overcasting]. In addition the fumble range would be 1-10.
Handling Subskills
The following skills & their subskills are handled differently with this rule change. Animal Handling, Beastmastery, Foraging/Survival, Riding & Signalling. Instead of each specialisation of the above skills being learned as a separate skill they are instead learnt as one skill with the player nominating one focus specialisation, all other focuses are treated as -20 to the manoeuvre roll. So a character takes Riding with Horses as his focus. With all other animals he applies the Riding skill at -20. A character can change the focus of their skill with one week of training.
Speak with Normal Animals Talent
When taking this Talent choose one type of animal as it states. The Talent is changed in that the character may converse with other types of animals at -20. The character may take the Talent Multiple Subskill proficiency in this Talent to remove the -20 penalty. This does not apply to Speak with Magical Creatures Talent.
Sub-Spells
Just as with the subskills described above any spell that has multiple forms [especially those of elemental nature such as Ball or Bolt], they are learned as a single subspell focus. All other elemental forms no longer need to be learned as separate skills rather they can be performed with the same skill at -20. It takes one week of retraining to change the subspell focus of the spell. For example a player may learn Fire Bolt then perform all other Bolts at -20 with the Fire Bolt skill. A directly opposed element is cast at -40. This also applies to Summoning & related spells where the spell states that a type of elemental or demon must be selected. All other beings can still be used with such spells at -20 or at -40 if of the directly opposed element.
Runes
When activating Runes the attack modifier is equal to Tiny +40, increasing by +20 each step. This is the same as traps per p.78 HARP. The RR for such Runes is always +50 then rolled on the RR table. Crystal Runes use the number of PP of the Rune as Ranks. When either form is activated no stat modifiers are added to the above modifiers. The stat modifiers only apply to the activation of the Rune.
PP Adders/Spell Adders
Only one Spell or PP Adder item may be attuned to at one time. It takes one 8 hour sleep cycle to detune such an item before another may be attuned to.
Holy Ground
On such ground that a creature considers to be Holy such as a priest in their own church, casters can handle an extra +1PP/Round. While those that would be harmed or inhibited on such ground such as a demon on the same church ground, may handle -1PP/Round. So the Priest takes 1R per 6PP of spell while the demon takes 1R per 4PP of spell. On particularly Holy ground such as the main Cathedral of a faith or a ceremonial site that has been desecrated with many sacrifices the modifier may be increased to 2.
Tough Hide
Any creature with Tough Hide that wears armour has an additional Movement Penalty equal to the MnMP Fitted for the Armour with equal DB. So for a +40 Tough Hide any Armour worn would also cause a -10MP. This may not be reduced by armour skill.
Manoeuvre Penalties
MP from criticals now apply to all maneoevre rolls regardless of that skills statistics. The MP in full also applies to initiative. The initiative modifiers for endurance damage to initiative are no longer used. The effect it has on DB is unchanged. Do not apply MP to RR nor does the existing methods of Armour MP change.
Armoured Casting
A casters Casting Penalty can be reduced with this skill. The lowest skill bonus of Armour or Armoured Casting skill is used. SD/Agi skill. CP of worn armour is reduced by the total skill bonus in this skill divided by 20, always rounded down. Granted mana casters with Combat as favoured group divide by 10. It is a Physical skill.
Crossbows
The crossbow details below supplant those in the HARP rules.
Wristband Crossbow 70sp TP 10' PB+5 reload 5r.
Hand Crossbow 50sp SP 30' PB+15 reload 3r.
Light Crossbow 11sp MP 50' PB+25 reload 5r.
Heavy Crossbow 25sp LP 70' PB+35 reload 10r.
Arbalest 50sp HP 90' PB+45 reload 30r.
Detect Spell Casting
A spell being cast may be detected by making a Medium Perception roll or a Light Sense Magic roll. The observer must be aware of the casting process to make this roll & such skills/talents as Combat Perception, Combat Awareness & Intuition are relevant. This roll is penalised by a caster who either has the Talent Subtle Casting or either applies the penalties from Table 4.1 p25 College of Magics for Casting Styles. So a Gestural/Verbal caster decides to whisper to hide their casting attempt taking the listed -20 penalty, any attempt to detect the casting process would also be reduced by -20. This does not apply to Sense Magic attempts of detection.
Power Projection
Mystical Arts - In/SD - All or Nothing
New Uses of the existing skill.
Assess Mana ~ Hard Difficulty ~ by touching a target & taking a single round the targets maximum or current pp is determined. The GM makes the roll secretly & the result is read off the percentage column with 100%+ meaning successful determination. Less than 100% is the accuracy of the reading with the rolls second die reading being even meaning low & odd meaning high to the indicated % accuracy. Example a base roll 13 + skill of 54 = 67 with -20 for hard is 47. this reads as 40% or 60% error, the odd end number [roll of 13] means erred high. So the amount of pp of the target is determined to be 60% higher than actually is. An unwilling target may oppose the roll with a RRW.
Project Mana ~ Very Hard ~ you may channel mana from a target to add to your own or channel your mana to a target to add to their own. You state an amount of pp to move & make an all or nothing VH roll 100+. The process takes 1r/5pp. increasing the flow rate incurs a -5/1pp/r increase. If the attempt fails by 1-20 then it is still successful but more or less pp than planned is moved. If the end total is even then less pp is moved, if odd more pp is moved. In either case 2d10 pp is the variation amount. If the If the amount of pp drawn from a target exceeds their current pp they take 1d10hit/excess pp. If you absorb more pp than your maximum you take 1d10hits/excess pp. Excess pp is shed at a rate of 1pp/minute back to the normal maximum. The maximum number of planned pp transferable [total in any direction & any number of projections] in a 24 hour period is equal to the casters Power Projection skill total. Variation from near success as described above may increase this beyond that maximum however. An unwilling target may oppose the roll with a RRW. A victim may be drained of more pp than they have as a deliberate act of draining their hits as pp, this may kill them, this is obviously an evil act.
Talents to affect above
Tap Projected Mana
This talent enables you to use projected mana either channelled to you by another or taken from another by you. If you do not have this talent you may not access projected mana without severe disruption to your mana matrix. You reduce the difficulty of Project Mana above by one step to Hard, in addition any hits caused by excess mana absorption is reduced to 1hit/pp. You may choose however to deliberately cause mana disruption damage & maintain the 1d10hit/pp excess on your victim.
DP Cost: 20.
Cascading Fear
per HARP Bazaar.
CLERICAL SPELL MASTERY
When taken, this talent allows the character to add all the selectable spells from the Clerical lists presented below [in their particular gods section] as spells in their sphere. Normally a cleric chooses 5 of the 15 suggested spells. Obviously one must be a cleric to take this talent.
Cost: 20
CLOAK CASTING LESSER
This talent enables the caster to scale any spell with a special scaling option. +2PP scaling causes a -20 to any attempt to detect the casting using Sense Magic. This may be applied as scaling only once. This does not penalise attempts to mundanely detect the casting process via a normal Perception roll. This penalty also applies to any attempt to use the Detect Signature spell against the casting. If the Detect Signature spell fails by 1-20 the caster of the Detect Signature knows the spell has been masked.
Cost: 5
CLOAK CASTING GREATER
To take this talent you must know Cloak Casting Lesser. It grants another scaling option. +4PP scaling causes a -40 to any attempt to detect the casting via Sense Magic. It functions as Lesser Cloak Casting but is more powerful a cloak. It penalises any use of the Detect Signature spell against the casting by -40. At the time of casting the caster specifies a false Signature which they have learned via the Study Target spell. They must have used Detect Signature spell on a casting by the studied caster. If a Detect Signature spell made against a spell with Greater Cloak Casting applied to it fails by 1-20 the caster thinks they have succeeded but in fact they have detected the false Signature. If it fails by 21-40 then the caster knows the spell being studied has been masked.
Cost: 10
MULTIPLE SUBSPELL PROFICIENCY
This talent may be taken multiple times, in the same spell or for another spell. When taken the player nominates one spell that has multiple forms [expecially those of elemental nature such as Ball or Bolt]. In that spell all non-focus subspells reduce the penalty by -10. The normal subspell penalty is -20 without this Talent. The Talent may be taken twice per spell to negate the penalty. The opposing spell element suffers an additional -20 penalty. Clerics may not be able to cast this opposing element depending on their faith & sphere of worship.
Cost: 5
SUBTLE CASTING
This talent may be taken multiple times. Each time it is taken, the character chooses one of the Casting Styles they know. The penalties for casting from that Casting Style per Table 4.1 College of Magics p25 are reduced by half. This doe not include a failed Mental Focus, Singing or Play Instrument skill roll for those Styles. This talent enables the caster to cast in such a way that it is harder to detect that they are casting a spell. The caster may penalise their casting roll by an amount equal to half the listed penalties on Table 4.1, any attempt to mundanely detect their casting attempt is penalised by double that amount. So a character with Subtle Casting Verbal could whisper at -10 or not speak at -25 causing a -20 or -50 to Perception rolls respectively. If they also knew Subtle Casting Gestural they could further penalise their roll by -25 for an additional -50 Perception penalty. These penalties do not apply to Sense Magic rolls to detect casting.
Cost: 10
Tattoo Magic
Tattoos can be inscribed on the skin of a being & imbued with magic. They can be placed upon living, undead & constructs as long as the being itself can activate the tattoo which is done by conscious thought &/or touching the tattoo. Tattoo magic follows all the rules for Blood Magic from College of Magics except where noted below. Only those spells able to be taken with Blood Magic may be inscribed as tattoos. The Active Blood Magic Talent is used except it is called Tattoo Magic [there is no Latent Tattoo Magic hence the Active is dropped]. Tattoos can be taken at any level unlike Blood Magic as long as a Magical Tattooist can be found & is willing to undertake the work. Each time the Tattoo Magic is taken in the same spell the user gains 3/day uses, this is contrary to Blood Magic where taking the same Blood Magic more than once grants only a second use per day after the initial 3. The DP cost of Tattoo Magic is 2xPP cost of the spell plus gold cost as described below. A being may have as many DP in Tattoo Magic as their CON stat [not modifier].
The process of inscribing Tattoo Magic is as follows.
1. A Tattoo roll is made to create the base tattoo. Tattooing is an Artistic Skill governed by In/In. It is a -20 subskill of Painting [HARP SF]. Like any subskill the character can take the subskill as the primary & apply the -20 to the ruling skill so in this case a character could take Tattooing at no skill roll penalty & Painting skill rolls are at -20. A Medium roll must be made. If this roll is failed the tattoo is incapable of supporting the magical matrix & can not be used. The tattoo however still counts towards the limit based on CON using the DP it would have cost. The tattoo costs 1gp/DP due to the fine inks required. It requires 1hour/PP to inscribe, this may be done over any time frame.
2. Imbue Exotic from College of Magics is used to enchant the tattoos. The PP cost of the Imbue Exotic spell is equal to 12 if the DP cost of the tattoo is 5 or less. If greater than 5DP then +1PP scaling per DP>5. If someone else inscribes the tattoo then additional +10 scaling. The casting time is 5min/total PP of Imbue Exotic spell. The number of Imprints required is 1+ 2xPP of Imbue Exotic spell with a minimum time of 2 days.
3. No PP or Spell Adders may be used with Imbuing.
4. Increase Duration & Increase Imprint scaling options do not count towards the total PP cost of Imbue Exotic for time & other calculations.
5. 1 Imprint must be completed successfully each day. See College of Magics for more details under Creating Permanent Items p111-114.
6. After final Imprint a Power Projection roll is made. If created own tattoo -20, if someone else then -40. The Power Projection takes 5 min/PP cost of Imbue Exotic Spell. The PP required for the Projection is equal to the PP of the Imbue Exotic spell & the creator must have as many ranks in Power Projection as the PP cost of the Imbue Exotic spell.
7. Just as certain Blood Magic spells require developing a skill Use Blood Magic Ability, tattoo magic of the same spells also requires the skill Use Tattoo Magic to be developed. Identical in function to the Blood magic variant.
8. The total purchase cost of the Tattoo is (25*scaling PP (treat as 1 if 0))*Imprints required. This is in addition to the Tattoo cost.
