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House Rules.

Posted by GM BardFor group 0
GM Bard
GM, 4 posts
The Readiness is All
Sun 8 May 2016
at 01:01
  • msg #1

House Rules

House Rules


COMBAT SEQUENCE
Our combat sequences will be a little different than the by-the-book AD&D rules, to accomodate for the unique challenges of PbP games. As such, we won't be declaring actions, using segments, etc.

Determine Surprise
Whenever there is a need to check for surprise, I will roll  for the monsters and the characters as a group. Being surprised means you are caught flat-footed and cannot act during the Surprise Round, otherwise the round will proceed as any other combat round. After the Surprise Round is resolved, we will roll Initiative.

Roll for Initiative
After the Surprise Round (if any), all players will roll initiative (d6) and add or subtract their DEX reaction/attacking modifier. I will roll once for all enemies. These scores will be used to determine initiative order, highest scores will go first. PCs automatically win initiative in the event of a tie.

Combat rounds will be divided into three stages.

STAGE 1: Before Monsters
STAGE 2: Monsters
STAGE 3: After Monsters

I will then post a start-of-combat post, assigning each player to either STAGE 1 (if he/she beat the monsters' initiative) or STAGE 3 (if he/she did not beat the monsters' initiative).  Combat then follows this order:

1.  Players assigned to STAGE 1 post in any order.  PCs' actions will occur in the order in which they are posted and will take effect immediately. Spells with casting times of one round or less will occur immediately as well; however spells that take more than one round to cast will be ajudicated accordingly.

2.  I post the monsters' actions in STAGE 2.

3.  Players assigned to STAGE 3 post their actions in any order.  Again, PCs' actions will occur in the order in which they are posted.

4.  I will post an end-of-this-round-beginning-of-the-next summary.  The round ends, and the STAGE 1 Players may post their actions for the next combat round.

Two important things to note:

a) After you are assigned to a stage, your initiative roll no longer matters.  Whoever posts first, goes first.

b) If you want to delay your action until after another character has acted, post and say so.  You don't need to wait for the other character to post.
COMBAT ACTIONS, MOVEMENT, AND MANEUVERS
Declaring Spells and General Actions: We will not use these rules in this game. Actions and spells will be resolved during the PCs Initiative Stage. A PC may move up to their speed and cast a spell in the same round.

Casting Time/Round Segments: Casting Times and Round segments will not be used in this game. Spells will go off during a player's turn within the round.

Closing into Combat: In general, PCs may move up to their speed to position themselves for an attack during the same round.

Charge: Charging into combat allows the attacker to make a more effective offensive attack at the expense of defensive vulnerability. During a charge, a PC may move up to double speed and then attack with a +2 bonus to-hit. Charging characters may be pre-emptively attacked by a defender wielding a longer weapon (e.g., a spear, pike, etc.).

The charger gains no Dexterity bonus to AC against such an attack and chargers with no Dexterity bonus automatically receive a +1 penalty to AC. Additionally, the defender has a weapon set against the charge (see below), he or she will inflict additional damage with a successful hit against the charging attacker.

Assuming that the charging character survives, he or she gains +2 “to hit” on his or her attack. Characters may only perform a charge once every 10 rounds (i.e. once
per turn). Characters who are at the maximum encumbrance category may not charge unless they are mounted and the mount is below the maximum encumbrance category.

(Although the weapon damage is doubled, any bonus for strength, magic, specialization or other such modifier is not.)

Fighting Retreat: A character may retreat backward out of combat, maintaining his or her defense, although the attacker may follow if not otherwise engaged. It is possible to parry while doing so, but not to attack. This maneuver may be used to “switch places” with another party member who is in combat, the first party member joining battle with the enemy to prevent the enemy’s pursuit while the second character makes a fighting retreat.

Fleeing from Combat: Often, discretion is the better part of valor, and the characters will choose to exercise the said discretion at top speed. If a character is in melee combat and runs away, his or her opponent(s) may make an immediate additional attack at +4 to hit.

Hold Initiative: Holding initiative is simply waiting until the other side has acted before doing anything.

Missile Attacks into Melee: PCs firing into a melee where their allies are engaged with the enemy must determine whether they will exercise caution to avoid friendly fire. PCs can elect to take a -1 penalty to missile attacks to avoid the chance of hitting their allies., Alternatively, PCs can fire without discretion with no to-hit penalty. Firing without discretion has a small chance of friendly fire (any roll of 1 on a d20 attack roll) and will be resolved with a second attack roll against a randomly determined ally's AC.

Parrying: A character who parries cannot attack, but gains a -1 AC bonus in addition to subtracting his or her “to-hit” bonus from the enemy's attack roll. Parrying may be used in combination with a fighting retreat.

Set Weapon Against Charge: A character choosing to set his or her weapon against a charge cannot attack unless an opponent charges, but the weapon will inflict double damage against a charging opponent. Weapons that may be set against a charge include spears, lances (when used dismounted), most pole arms, and tridents.

HIT POINTS AND DYING
A character reduced to 0 hit points is considering Unconscious.

A character reduced to -1 to -9 hit points if considered to be Dying, and will lose 1 hit point per round, unless given some form medical attention and/or healing.

A character reduced to -10 hit points or less is Dead.

HIT POINT RECOVERY FROM REST
PCs regains hit points equal to their level, with each night of rest.

CRITICAL HITS
A natural 20 is a critical hit and deals maximum damage.

A natural 1 is not a fumble; however players are encouraged to roleplay the result in any manner they wish.

SPELLS
Spellcasters do not have to memorize or pray for certain spells. Clerics/Druids may cast any spell available to them and Magic-user/Illusionists may cast any spell in their spell book.

All casters earn bonus spells in the way that Clerics spells are tied to their Wisdom score. Druids use Wisdom and Magic-Users/Illusionists use Intelligence to determine how many bonus spells they receive. The breakdown is as follows:

Attribute  Bonus Spells by level (1st/2nd/3rd/4th)
9               0
11              0
12              0
13              1
14              2
15              2/1
16              2/2
17              2/2/1
18              2/2/1/1
19              3/2/1/1

ACTION POINTS (AP's)
This game will feature Action Points, which are derived from a character's Charisma score (a measure of a character's force of personality, leadership, and charm). All characters earn 1 AP every level (not cumulative), regardless of Charisma score.

Bonus Action Points are determined as follows:

Charisma   Bonus AP's
3-8             0
9-12            1
13-15           2
16-17           3
18+             4

Action Points may be spent for any of the following purposes:

Heroes' Luck: PC may spend an Action Point to add 1d6 to any attack roll or saving throw. The decision to do so may be made after the die has been rolled.

Inspiring Word: PC may spend an Action Point to rally a wounded companion. The companion gains 1d4+1 temporary hit points. Note: This ability cannot be used on PCs who already have negative hit points

Second Wind: PC may spend an Action Point to gain a second wind, which heals 1d4+1 hit points. Note: PCs must be conscious to use this ability.

Note: Only one Action Point may be used per encounter. Action Points are regained when a PC levels up. Any unused AP's are lost an cannot be carried over between levels.
SKILL CHECKS
PCs sometimes try to accomplish actions for which there are no rules in 1st edition AD&D. This game will use attribute checks to handle these type of items. Players will roll a d20 and compare it against their relevant attribute. Modifiers to the roll will sometimes be assessed based on task difficulty. In general however, rolling below the relevant attribute will be considered a success.

Example skills for all attributes:

Strength: Climb, Jump, Swim, etc.
Intelligence: Appraise, Crafts, Knowledge, etc.
Wisdom: Healing, Sense Motive, Survival, etc.
Dexterity: Balance, Riding, Tumbling, etc.
Constitution: Concentration, Endurance, etc.
Charisma: Bluff, Diplomacy, Perform, etc.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:03, Sun 08 May 2016.
GM Bard
GM, 7 posts
The Readiness is All
Tue 17 May 2016
at 02:40
  • msg #2

House Rules

Negative energy wounds heal over time as life force slowly seeps back into a PC.  If a PC falls to 0 levels, per usual, they become undead and no longer can gain positive life energy and thus remain undead.  However, so lone as the PC survives, they gain back 10 xp's per 1 xp gained until whole again, just naturally.


Magical means to advance this healing are as follows:

For every 1 hp of healing above their full hp's, they gain 10 xp's back.  Thus a cure serious wounds on an uninjured player who has lost a level to negative energy, could gain back 20-160 xp's.    Regardless of how fast the xp's are returned by magic, it still takes 1 week per level lost to regain any strength lost.

Protection from Evil spells restore 250 xp's as well.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:06, Thu 19 May 2016.
GM Bard
GM, 20 posts
The Readiness is All
Stay alert
Mon 23 May 2016
at 00:23
  • msg #3

House Rules

Dual Class: Humans

Standard 1st Edition rules for Dual Class are in play, with the following alternative.  A human who has reached at least 6th level in a single class, may choose to take up a second class under the following provisions.

From  the point of declaring a 2nd class, experience points are split between the classes. First with all the experience going the new class up to the point of a new level, the rest going to the old class.  Humans may only level up once per adventure in each of their class.  For example, if they gain 20,000 xps and are still first level in their new class, they class can only go to 2nd level, not just all the way to 10,000 xps and level several times at once.  Xp's continue to be gained in both classes even if leveled up is delayed Bonuses are NOT retroactive.  For example, a cleric with 17 constitution (who gains a +2 per level for hp's) who decides to dual class as a fighter at 6th level, does not gain the +3 hp bonus due to fighters retroactively.

Armor restrictions still apply to the "more" restrictive rule.  However, weapon use restrictions apply to the "least" restrictive rule.

Saving throws are at the best option for the character.

Hit Points remain the same, and are forever calculated ONLY on the level gains of the original class.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:04, Sun 08 Jan 2017.
GM Bard
GM, 142 posts
The Readiness is All
Stay alert
Tue 9 Aug 2016
at 01:01
  • msg #4

House Rules

Healing Costs:

Regular:

1hp recovered per 20 gp
5  hps 100gp
50 hps 1000gp

If you belong to the temple there is a 10% discount.

If you are a cleric or paladin of that temple, or a special patron above 6th level:

Prices are half.
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