Topic: Whats your favorite house rule?

[BeggarKing (Thomas)]

Read somewhere (can't remember where) that most Rolemaster campaigns have significant sets of custom rules - do you have a top/favorite/most used house rule? Would love to see what these are.

[Hurin]

In RM2, I used to allow casters to apply their realm stat to reduce the chance of failure on ESF rolls. I'm not sure if it was the favorite houserule, but it did make casters much more playable.

[Cory Magel]

No Ranger/Clerics allowed. No... wait, that was D&D 2nd Ed.

I'd say not having to declare instant spells.  Not sure if that counts, cause RM never says you can't do that... but it never says you can and the official rule is you declare everything ahead (which always seemed to make instants kinda stupid in our view).

Also, I allow you to use a shield on any foes in your forward arc.

[markc]

Not requiring 90 or above in Prime Stats.


Ranger can be from any magic realm.


Allow Ranger to use the Wyrd Bow list from TGC.


Issue DP every 1/3 of a level.


Those are a few of my favorites.
MDC

[dagorhir]

Can't say I have any favorite house rules since I'm looking to remove house rules from my game. I'm considering importing a few rules from RMU into my RMfrp game though, like:

1) Shield skill to increase DB of the shield.
2) Able to use the shield on a set number of opponents according to shield type.
3) Reverse strike rules from RMU.
4) Multiple attack rules from RMU.

[markc]

I also for got a big one, use AT2 as human base armor type only very fast creatures get to use AT 1.
MDC

[Frabby]

When we switched over to RMFRP a couple years back, we deliberately threw out all our house rules and agreed to stick to the written rules for once.

Well, almost. We kept two house rules:

1) Weapons are not developed individually, but rather in groups of similar weapons. A character wouldn't develop weapon skill with longswords and broadswords separately, but would only develop "Long Blades" (in the 1-handed blades category). That skill can be used with the full range of one-handed edged weapons from short swords to bastard swords.

2) We permit a full (100%) action by which a character is allowed to suppress bleeding from any one wound they can conceivably reach with their hands, reducing bleeding from that wound by up to 2 hits/Rd for the duration of the action. (We sometimes refer to this action as "writhing on the ground in agony".)
Simple as it may sound, this ruling does actually lower mortality significantly. You can survive minor cuts now without bleeding dry, and without consulting a healer or performing first aid on yourself.

[OLF, i.e. Olf Le Fol]

Let's see... The ones I'd say are most impacting...

• Rewrite how magic works, so that Realms are actually a source of power rather than a frame for spells and so that, as such, their mechanics work differently,
• Map experience based on time and intensity (e.g., being a soldier for three years during wartime, or being a soldier for three years during peacetime), and give experience by time period rather than "adventures",
• Magical poisoning rules,
• Combat schools/styles rules,
• Rewrite the two-weapon combo rules
• Modify the shield bonuses/rules so that they protect more but penalize the offensive moves (for instance, a full shield adds +55 to DB but is -30 to OB).

[BeggarKing (Thomas)]

Wow - some great rules here. Couple questions:

Issue DP every 1/3 of a level.

markc - this sounds really intriguing, how does it work? Is it just a simple divide DPs by three and divide experience to next level by three to create milestones, then reward when you hit those milestones?

2) We permit a full (100%) action by which a character is allowed to suppress bleeding from any one wound

I had a rule like this in past campaigns, but required a first aid skill check (high rolls could stop more than 2/hits round) - are you requiring a skill check for this, or is it just automatic?

Its an interesting spread different rulings so far, would love to see more.

[intothatdarkness]

Too many, and since they're structured for my primary fantasy setting I don't think I'll be getting rid of them. We even customized Professions and skill costs.

[yammahoper]

Init is based on realm stat for spell casting instead of Qu.

When striking stunned foes, may mod crit by 1/2 ranks in weapon. 
When striking stun no parry foe, may mod crit by full ranks in weapon.

Effective spell casting level is equal to level spell list is known to.

100 Dev per level regardless of actual stats.  When playing level-less, level may be determined by dividing total dev by 100 if needed. 

Default resistance level is equal to Stat Mod of appropriate realm stat.  Otherwise default level is one.

I prefer to hand out dev points instead of exp points.  I have no use for middle men.

I give one free level of resistance per 100 dev earned.  Resistance can be trained.  Any skill  can be trained.  Finding a trainer or the lore...game specific stuff there.

All adolescents receive 85 ranks for training.  Seem high?  That is what High elves get, and everybody loves dem freaking elves    PS, don't forget your language ranks.

Full parry value is applied against all frontal attacks unless surprised/missile.

[markc]

Yes, in RMSS since there are more DP's it is a lot easier to do, I use a 30%/30%/40% DP split based on the last levels total DP. Players can buy 1 rank in a skill (sometimes 2 ranks if I deem it acceptable) and TP's if acceptable.
MDC

[Defendi]

One directed spells skill. I feel that mages are already punished enough with their development costs without making them develop four "weapons".

[dagorhir]

One directed spells skill. I feel that mages are already punished enough with their development costs without making them develop four "weapons".

True, I tend to allow one directed spell per spell list.

[Cory Magel]

I'd say not having to declare instant spells.  Not sure if that counts, cause RM never says you can't do that... but it never says you can and the official rule is you declare everything ahead (which always seemed to make instants kinda stupid in our view).
Also, I allow you to use a shield on any foes in your forward arc.

I also give fixed DP to all characters and my next campaign the players won't bother even tracking exp, I'll just tell them when to level.

[Marrethiel]

We have a copy of RM1(?) (it is saddle stitched) which mentions a ritual where you can "consume" gems to get exp directly. It is probably a hold over from early dungeons and dragons. We still allow this although we use RM2 for everything else... well nearly. There is also a older version of Arms Law which that person also uses which has slightly more deadly crits than RM2...
Directed Spells: we use similar skills for this. The ruling that all bolts are similar to each other means that you double develope Shock bolt and take half ranks for every thing else. A very esoteric type like say Void or Chaos Bolt might be quarter ranks.

[BeggarKing (Thomas)]

Really interesting - I was wondering if there would be commonalities across this group, looks like directed spell is one of those.

One house rule I've had consistently (across campaigns and in different games) is a "magic number" - for RM its a randomly chosen, under 20 number for that session that acts as a natural 100 if rolled.

[DangerMan]

- PCs level every Xth session (X depending on the campaign)
- 100 DPs / lvl
- No exhaustion points (This is my favorite, actually. As everyone else went for a list, so did I :-) )
- Shield and parry applies to all foes not getting flank or rear .. and thus PCs may live to fight another day.
- Combat is divided into two 50% phases.

We have more, but these are the important ones.

[yammahoper]

Snap actions receive +10 to init, normal actions +0 to init while deliberate actions are -10 to init.  I start count down of init at 45. 

A truly fast N/PC just might get all three of his actions before a really slow foe gets in its snap action.

Haste adds additional +10 to init roll.

[Merkir]

We have a couple of obscure house rules due to one player wanting to expand his capabilities to the utmost. So this is not a favourite, just a "curiosity":

House Rule AL6: "Arched Shots"
      Where headroom and line of sight exist, bows can be fired as an "Arched Shot" up to twice the maximum range as stated in the weapon table, at twice the maximum penalty. The attacker receives no bonus for rear or flank attack (it’s more like an "area" attack rather than an aimed/directed attack). Depending on weather and other conditions, additional penalties may be applied by the GM.

Aside: This rule has never been used