House Rules

A small but vicious board
Post Reply
User avatar
Rat Catcher
Posts: 46
Joined: Fri May 03, 2019 1:11 am

There was a great house rules document on the STS forums but I suppose that is now lost. It might have been an all in one document or I might have put it together myself out of all the house rules out there.

Have you incorporated any WFRP4 rules into your 1st ed games? I was specifically looking to use the rule where you can stay in a career as long as you like, yet keep on advancing, but I'm not sure how to go about it.
User avatar
Gideon
Posts: 94
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2019 12:14 pm

Parts of StS are still available. Try this thread:

http://forum.strike-to-stun.net/viewtop ... ght=#80476

As for using WFRP4 rules and staying in careers, try the following:

1. The cost of advances increases:
Up to +10 100 EP
Up to +20 200 EP
Up to +30 300 EP
Up to +40 400 EP

So to take three +10 advances costs 100+200+300=600EP. If you are also reducing individual advances to +5 (rather than +10), it costs 2×100+2×200+2×300=1200 EP to increase a characteristic by 30.

2. Allow advances that are not in the advance scheme at double cost. So if your maximum advance is +30, you can still take another advance at a cost of 2×400=800 EP.
User avatar
Orin J.
Posts: 514
Joined: Wed Feb 06, 2019 10:39 pm

Since i had a few hours where i was waiting around, i decided to rifle through the StS forums and gather what house rules i could find concise enough to understand posted there into a text file. i've put them together as lazily as i can, but they have the original poster's names attached.

I had a look and there's rules for expanding stats and skills past the norm mingled in there, from different people. you should be able to blend them together easy enough though. Have fun!
Attachments
1sthouse.zip
(16.76 KiB) Downloaded 650 times
User avatar
Rat Catcher
Posts: 46
Joined: Fri May 03, 2019 1:11 am

Wow! That's brilliant.

Thank you very much!
makrellen
Posts: 62
Joined: Tue Jan 15, 2019 1:01 am

Orin J. wrote: Sun May 05, 2019 7:22 pm Since i had a few hours where i was waiting around, i decided to rifle through the StS forums and gather what house rules i could find concise enough to understand posted there into a text file. i've put them together as lazily as i can, but they have the original poster's names attached.

I had a look and there's rules for expanding stats and skills past the norm mingled in there, from different people. you should be able to blend them together easy enough though. Have fun!
Amazing - great work!

I just posted another thread about house rules adding my own before I realized that you had already made one. Feel free to add my house rules to your document:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/10Ft ... sp=sharing

And maybe we could have Chuck make this a sticky post in the 1st ed forum?
User avatar
Gideon
Posts: 94
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2019 12:14 pm

Here is an updated list of my quick-and-dirty fixes for WFRP1: 

Character generation

The starting profiles and skills are very unbalanced. I don't think they should be completely evened out, but as they stand they are extreme. My solution is to modify starting profiles as follows: 

- Elves: WS-10, BS+10 (to conform to the stereotype of wood elf archers), I-10; also reduce the age-related skill bonuses for elves over 140: 141-190 +1, 191-200 -, 201-210 -1, 211-220 -2
- Halflings: BS+10 (to give them something to do in combat), WP+10 (the Slann were supposed to have bred them to be Chaos and magic resistant). 

Skills

Skills can be taken multiple times and their benefits stacked for cumulative modifiers.

- For basic careers, skills can only be taken once. 
- For advanced careers, they can be taken once, twice or three times, according to the GM's judgement. Characteristic advance schemes may need to be reduced to compensate, again based on the GM's judgement.

Tests

A two-stage process determines how to calculate the probability of success:

- First, is a test necessary? If the action is in the GM's judgement trivial or impossible in the circumstances, the GM should assume success or failure automatically without testing. The GM should only test if there is a realistic chance of success and of failure.
- Second, is this a specialist task? Specialist tasks are ones that cannot be performed without specialist knowledge or ability, eg reading Classical. If the task is not a specialist task, or is a specialist task and the character has the relevant skills, the test takes place as normal. If, however, the task is specialist and the character does not have the relevant skills, then the base chance is 10% (as for specialist weapons in the rules as written).

So, for example, four characters want to read an inscription in Classical. Two cannot read any language, so the GM decides they fail automatically (first step). The third does not know Classical, but can read and write Tilean. The GM decides the third character has a 10% chance of being able to decipher some of the meaning (second step). The fourth can read and write Classical and can test Int +10 for each time he or she has taken Secret Language - Classical (second step).

Strength, Toughness and Damage

S and T are expressed on a percentile scale.

To negate NDS: 

- Damage is modified by Strength and Toughness Bonuses calculated as S or T/20-1. This creates a range of modifiers from 0 to +4, essentially halving the importance of S and T in damage calculations. 
- AP are increased: leather 1, mail 2 and plate 3. 

Unarmed combat

I think this is too lethal in WFRP1. My solution is: 

- WS-20, D-3 when unarmed. 
- Street Fighter skill and a Fist Weapon each provide cumulative bonuses of WS+10 and D+1 against the WS-20 and D-3 modifiers for being unarmed. So the full set of modifiers are: 
* Unarmed WS-20, D-3 
* Unarmed with Street Fighter WS-10, D-2 
* Fist Weapon WS-10, D-2 
* Fist Weapon with Street Fighter WS no modifier, D-1
- Special unarmed critical hit effects: 1-14 minor injuries (broken noses, lost teeth, cuts), 15 broken limb, collapse or unconsciousness, 16 as 15, but with a T test to avoid a more serious injury (brain damage, death).

Multiple attacks

Generally attacks are all made at the character's full I score. However, when necessary, the GM can use an alternative system where the first attack is at full I, the second at I-10, the third at I-20, etc. Attacks at I of zero or less are lost.

(Note this rule requires an I+10 advance to be added to the Explorer career to avoid a circumstance where a dwarf Explorer with below average I might not be able to use the additional A advance.)

Character advancement

Percentile characteristics are increased in increments of +5. The Experience Point cost of each +5 rises, based on the cumulative increase in the characteristic, as follows:

Up to +10: 100
Up to +20: 200
Up to +30: 300
Up to +40: 400

So a +15 increase in WS (ie three advances) would cost in total 100+100+200=400 EP.

Non-percentile advances apart from Attacks (basically W, plus M for dwarf Runners) cost as follows:

+1: 100
+2: 200
+3: 300
+4: 400
Etc

Attacks advances cost as follows:

+1: 250
+2: 500
+3: 750
+4: 1000

Skills cost:

First time: 100
Second time: 200
Third time: 300

Advances and skills not listed in a career can be taken at double the above costs.
Post Reply