PFRPG-Specific House Rules

[sasha]

Usually just drop S.D.C. if playing 2E.
I prefer 1E with P.P.E. instead of vancian magic.

[sasha]

It makes combat dangerous.

[sasha]

It makes combat dangerous.

well then what do you do with powerful monsters/foes that have high sdc, but standard hp. should it not be harder to kill them?

Generally just play 1E. If there is a 2E monster/foe then you can just up the Hit Points by an amount that seems appropriate for the campaign.

[DarkwingDuk]

Our group has what we call a wound threshold.

Its equal to your PE, so if you take an attack that does 16 points of damage, and your PE is only 13, you recieve a serious injury that will need medical attention soon. It rewards high PE character with some extra damage soak, but penalizes the smaller races due to their naturally low PE.

We also modify it for armor. Light armor gives you a +2 to threshold, medium +3 and heavy is +4

Makes the game more dangerous, but keeps the fantasy feel.

[Silveressa]

The one main modification we changed at our table was the way w.p bonuses worked. Rather then it giving a flat +1 to strike +2 to parry etc.. we changed it so w.p's have 4-5 levels each. (four levels for a broad w.p like sword, a higher 5th level for specializing in a single type of sword, i.e rapier, bastard sword etc..)

Also every weapon started off at it's minimal die rating (a 2d4 dagger would be just d4, a 3d6+2 bastard sword would be only d6+2 etc..)

Now each level of a w.p gives the player 3 points to spend in any of the following categories: (to a cap of +6 in any one area)

Strike

Parry,

Throwing (for throwing the weapon)

Damage (with each point giving a full extra die of damage)

This let players decide how they wished to focus their weapon training and make their characters more unique. (By focusing all of your points for a claymore in strike and damage one could be a serious powerhouse with the weapon, but the chances of them parrying attacks wold be almost nil. Or one could spread out their points to be more balanced, or focus on parrying and striking over pure damage for a more swash buckling style of fighting etc..)

So far it's been a huge success, with players taking a variety of point spreads depending on the weapon and their chars fighting style, and removed the rather bland "cookie cutter" w.p bonuses (that made some weapons rather imbalanced compared to others regardless of ones focus on "mastering" them) and made them have a lot more respect for the lowly thief wielding a pair of daggers.

[Cinos]

Look like nice quick fixes. Though I wouldn't drop S.D.C all together. Yes it makes combat more dangerous (you could do the same just by jacking damage/ cutting S.D.C values, even just giving everyone +2 to Strike will do it too to help negate AR). It also devalues things such as death blows, crits (more-so if you had a modified crit system that negated some S.D.C with a direct to H.P Bypass), and poisons / spells with bypass capabilities (Deathword, necromancy as a whole for their direct damage abilities). These would then need something to compensate for their keynote ability from in matter and effect, removed.

If you like point systems Silveressa, I'll send you my overhaul of the game Entire system is converted into points (It's a big change though). So much better if you ask me, player choice for the win.

[Silveressa]

If you like point systems Silveressa, I'll send you my overhaul of the game Entire system is converted into points (It's a big change though). So much better if you ask me, player choice for the win.

Sounds interesting, I'd love to get a closer look at it.

[Cinos]

If you like point systems Silveressa, I'll send you my overhaul of the game Entire system is converted into points (It's a big change though). So much better if you ask me, player choice for the win.

Sounds interesting, I'd love to get a closer look at it.

Drop me an PM and I'll add you to my update list. Bare in mind it's a game re-write mechanically (I never could beat the lore of the original, so I stopped bothering to try a while ago, focused on the rules).

[Silveressa]

*nod* I already assumed it was a mechanics overhaul since the lore/setting is already one of the best fantasy settings out there.

[FreelancerMar]

Here is some ideas. The basis of these ideas are not my own but I have just Expanded on them.

SDC/HP

Keep the SDC of the living for some things. This lets some things take a pounding as it should be. For Creatures with a Natural AR All damage from a strike roll over the AR goes to SDC first. This simulates the supposed toughness of the creature in question. Strike rolls below the AR do no damage. Any creature with a natural AR above 12 are considered an NPC race no if's, and's or butts!!!! At least in the PFRPG setting. For Creatures that do not have a natural AR. Weapon damage Ignores SDC and goes right to Hitpoints as do blows from a Skilled Martial Artist as in those using HTH forms from N&SS/MC which does not apply to the generic main book Hth styles. Brawling goes to SDC first. Successful Magic attacks Ignore Natural AR and always do damage(See weapon damage above). As do Supernatural PS attacks(See weapon damage above(Creatures with supernatural PS are NPC's)). This also includes Magical weapons.

As for Armor Protection
Strike rolls below the AR of the armor damage the armor. Strike rolls above the AR of the armor damage the creature wearing it. Magical Lightning Ignores the protection of metal armors. Most Successful Magic attacks Ignore the AR of armor and always do damage to the creature wearing it. This includes Some Magical weapons.

This keeps combat dangerous but does not jip the pc of everyday SDC protection.