House Rules

[Mordacc]

Im new to these forums so sorry about clogging them up with all my posts but Im pretty much in love with TRoS since i picked it up so im eager to get my ideas out here (and to soak up yours).  I was just wondering on some of the house rules that everyone uses.  I like the current ROS system but as always, there is room for imporvement.  Some house rules ive come up with so far are:

- PCs can increase their weapon proficiencies through bouts.  After completing a number of bouts equal to their current proficiency with a weapon, the proficnency with that wepaon increases to the next level and so on.  So if you had 6 points on one weapon and completely six bouts, the prof. would rise to 7 and so on.

-incorporating a "feat" system similar to DnD 3rd edition.  I havent completed this house rule, but im thinking of incorporating it in a number of ways.  One could be that you gain a certain number of "feats" according to how many gifts you have.  Another could be that after the PC displays a certain style of play, such as a greatsword wielding, all dice in the first attack to completely smite his opponent of the face fo the world kind of character, he would get a "power attack" or "cleave" feat or some similar bonus that compliments that style of fighting.  

Any ideas on my current house rules or any of your own are greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Heratio Mordacc

[Brian Leybourne]

The best suggestion I can make is that you give TROS a go "as is" before you start putting house rules aorund it, you may find that after a game or two your focus shifts and the combat modifications you appear to be going for seem less necessary.

ABout the only modification I have made is that I'm more generous with the "permanently burning a luck point" rule. I let players do it to completely change their declared action in combat, for example (if you do a toss attack or a minor attack at someone, and their response is a 12 die thrust at your head, you can burn a luck point to change your action into a defense, that kind of thing).

Brian.

[Bob Richter]

-incorporating a "feat" system similar to DnD 3rd edition.  I havent completed this house rule, but im thinking of incorporating it in a number of ways.  One could be that you gain a certain number of "feats" according to how many gifts you have.  Another could be that after the PC displays a certain style of play, such as a greatsword wielding, all dice in the first attack to completely smite his opponent of the face fo the world kind of character, he would get a "power attack" or "cleave" feat or some similar bonus that compliments that style of fighting.  

DnD 3ed Feats are silly.

TROS does just fine without them.

[Michael Tree]

DnD 3ed Feats are silly.

TROS does just fine without them.

Some of D&D's Feats are silly, but the concept of Feats is not.  They're a good way of differentiating between the specific capabilities of different characters.

In TROS terms, feats would basically be new maneuvers that can be learned, and and gifts and flaws that can be learned or otherwise gained in play.

[Valamir]

Mord, I have to echo Brian's sentiment above.  As you've already seen (and gotten rightly excited about) TROS is not your father's dungeon crawl.  Similiarly alot of the extraneous stuff that we all love to throw in to mod up our games...isn't really needed in TROS.  

Not that there isn't room for house stuff at all (I'm not a huge fan of the current selection of Gifts and Flaws fer instance), but I think after you've played a campaign with it as written you'll find that the things you'll be thinking about moding aren't necessarily even close to the ideas you have now.

IMO things like feats, and character quirk specialties and such get added to a game as a point of interest.  Its one of the elements of the game that gets your attention.  I think that if you're driving forward a game of TROS by hammering on the issues the players have said are important to them (the SAs) they'll be so interested that there will no need for additional bells and whistles and other such chrome.  IOW, I don't think you'll miss 'em.

[Bob Richter]

DnD 3ed Feats are silly.

TROS does just fine without them.

Some of D&D's Feats are silly, but the concept of Feats is not.  They're a good way of differentiating between the specific capabilities of different characters.

Not really. They just replicate the function of attributes and skills in most cases. The rest don't differ from Gifts and Flaws (and Gift is a better name than Feat.)

[Michael Tree]

Not really. They just replicate the function of attributes and skills in most cases. The rest don't differ from Gifts and Flaws (and Gift is a better name than Feat.)

Attributes and skills vary in level, while feats are binary - a character  either has it or he doesn't.  As for the name, that's a matter of taste.  In some instances Feat is a better word, in some instances Gift is a better word, and in some instances both are lousy words.

As an example of where feats are useful for differentiating characters, just look at different fighting schools.  In the real world, multiple styles of rapier fighting existed, each with their own idiosyncratic manuevers.  However, in TROS there's no way of reflecting that.  There's nothing that differentiates the fighting styles of two characters with, say, Rapier 8.  In d20 (and other games that use feat-like things) feats are a way of representing those styles and maneuvers.

However, I'm not saying that TROS needs feats, or that they're even an especially good idea for the game.  I'm just taking issue with the assertion that they're "silly."

[Valamir]

As an example of where feats are useful for differentiating characters, just look at different fighting schools.  In the real world, multiple styles of rapier fighting existed, each with their own idiosyncratic manuevers.  However, in TROS there's no way of reflecting that.  There's nothing that differentiates the fighting styles of two characters with, say, Rapier 8.  In d20 (and other games that use feat-like things) feats are a way of representing those styles and maneuvers.

Actually Michael, there's a really good way of reflecting the different schools in TROS...and that's simply with which maneuvers, maneuver combos, opening moves the player uses when running the character.

In fact, I've been experimenting with my mighty thewed Longsword wielding character in the combat sim to develop a "style" that centers around throwing the white die and trying to sieze initiative with a Counter, or, for variety throwing a red die and opening with a big beat.  My visual is a very physical "quick parry followed by chopping off an arm or leg" or a "slap the blade aside and drop an axe blow on his head" kind of thing.  

That would be a "school" so to speak where a swordsman learned certain combos and die pool management styles.  Someone else, with a different style figures out the weakness to my "routine" and suddenly "his kung-fu is stronger than mine" and I have to go in search of the secret lotus flower of death move (i.e. learn as a player how to counter his counter).  

You're absolutely right that other games would accomplish this by giving special feats or bonuses to certain types of moves (7th Sea for one) but in TROS its the player who gets to learn how to be an excellent feinter by practiceing rather than the character getting to be an excellent feinter by buying a feat.