T2K House Rules Clearinghouse

[Raellus]

I thought it would be a good idea to create a clearinghouse for house rules that we use in our own T2K games.

There are some things that the official rules (every edition) don't cover, or rules that are incompatible between editions, or rules that aren't very good and, as GM's we have to develop workarounds or alternatives- hence, house rules.

Here are a couple of house rules that I've developed and used with some success. Although my heart belongs to v1.0, my brain prefers v2.2 mechanics (I find them easier), so the house rules described below are based on/compatible with v2.2 mechanics.

Batteries

Batteries have a finite lifespan, even rechargeable ones. In most of our T2KUs, batteries are no longer being produced. AFAIK, the v2.2 rules don't have a mechanic for keeping track of battery charge; I think it's unrealistic that PCs can use radios and powered scopes without worrying about running out of juice for them so I came up with this:

Each battery is given a two part score, for example... 8/8

The first number is the current charge. This number is lowered after each hour of use. It can be raised by recharging the battery using some sort of recharging device. The second number is the battery charge capacity. Every other time that the battery is recharged, it loses one charge capacity point. Eventually, the battery will no longer hold a charge, resulting in a totally dead battery. The device that relies upon said battery will no longer function until a fresher battery replaces the dead one.

For example, Lt. Dan's NVG batteries start with a base charge (determined by a d10 roll) of 6 so, at the beginning of play, his NVG batteries have a charge/capacity of 6/6. For every hour or so of use, I deduct one point from the current charge number. When the battery runs out, his NVGs stop working. Since his battery still has a charge capacity number greater than zero, he can recharge them and use them again. After he recharges the batteries twice, I deduct one from the charge capacity number like so: x/5. I've had players that were unlucky enough to roll a low starting charge capacity number wind up with completely dead batteries by the end of the campaign. It takes some vigilant record keeping, but I think it adds a degree of realism.

Military Knowledge

When a military aircraft flies overhead, I can ID it with ease and accuracy. Most of my friends- few of them have any military experience or interest in mil-tech- cannot. I figure that not every PC will be able to recognize every obscure weapon, vehicle, uniform, etc. that they will encounter in the game so I created a new skill called Military Knowledge to help determine if a PC can correctly ID military-related stuff in the game. Here's how it works:

For each term served in the military, I award the PC 1 skill point (SP) in Military Knowledge (MK). I also award 1 SP in MK for every promotion roll a PC passes and 1 SP for a stint in a military academy, ROTC and/or OCS-type program a PC successfully completes. I use the higher of either the Education or Intelligence attribute as the modifying. So, for example...

Private Benjamin gets drafted and spends two terms in the army. She gets 2 MK SPs. She fails one promotion but eventually achieves another for an additional MK SP of 1. She barely passed high school so her EDU score is crap, but she's pretty bright so her INT is 7. So, her modified MK score is 10. To tell a T72 from a T80 in profile on a clear sunny day is a difficult task. Private Benjamin rolls a d20 and gets an 8. She successfully ID's the tank.


I look forward to reading about your own house rules so please do share.

[Cdnwolf]

Like it.

[FPSlover]

interesting rules. I may have to use these (with your permission of course)

[comped]

Personally, I:

• Count each shot separately for damage. So if a player fires off 3 shots, he/she has to roll for damage for each shot, or multiply the damage of the first shot by 3.
• double/triple radiation douses (so they may actually look and find rad suits). Make it something to keep track of, instead of ignored.
• use feet, not meters, when measuring distances (helps with research/player knowledge).
• Allow most of those splat books that were published to be used. Except equipment that seems overpowered.
• Double the price on the lower-priced things. After all, this is a scarcity economy, and someone won't let their guns/ammo/rad suit go cheap.
• Add a new skill: Bartering. IE the ability to barter things and services for other things and services. It's tested in a similar way to a skill check, but I test it multiple times during the bartering.
• I also LOVE to use what I call the extended skill test. A lot of people call it that, but you know what I mean. Basically, taking the bartering example from above, if the PC gets a really good score the first roll, the negotiation starts off good. Keep that going for 1-2 roles (they generally last about 3-5 roles), and he may throw in a little something extra. But if the PC fails, the negotiation stops, or just rolls down hill a bit, depending on how bad it is. I may just try and extort them a little further.
• Oh, and I generally do about 1.5 times normal damage for any damage to PCs. Just to make it that bit more deadly.

Thoughts?

[Targan]

Originally Posted by comped

• use feet, not meters, when measuring distances (helps with research/player knowledge).

I understand why you'd do that if you're playing with Americans who haven't served in the military and never use metric measurements and you as the GM are describing distances to the players, but what about their characters talking to one another? Because if they are military characters they'd use metric wouldn't they?

[Raellus]

Originally Posted by comped

Personally, I:

• Add a new skill: Bartering. IE the ability to barter things and services for other things and services. It's tested in a similar way to a skill check, but I test it multiple times during the bartering.

I really like this idea. There are a few skills on the official list that, in practice, are seldom, if ever, used. Bartering, on the other hand, has been an important part of nearly every campaign I've been involved in. It's really odd that it wasn't included.

[kato13]

I am reluctantly fluent in metric, but the foot is very useful. I even had a foreign born friend say so unsolicited two days ago (when I was discussing how the Fahrenheit scale is the one holdover I want if the US goes metric).

On my logistics gaming system I use cubic feet and kilograms as my base units. A cubic foot is an easy concept to put your arms around both literally and figuratively. Cubic centimeters and cubic meters are harder to conceptualize when you are discussing the volume of an item. You can do liters for volume, but there is a bit of a disconnect as most people dont realize it is a decimeter cubed.

[Rainbow Six]

Originally Posted by Raellus

I really like this idea. There are a few skills on the official list that, in practice, are seldom, if ever, used. Bartering, on the other hand, has been an important part of nearly every campaign I've been involved in. It's really odd that it wasn't included.

I suppose in a way bartering is a form of persuasion in that you are trying to "presuade" someone to trade something at a price favourable to you, so perhaps it could be a cascade of the Persuasion skill?

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by comped

Personally, I:
[*]I also LOVE to use what I call the extended skill test. A lot of people call it that, but you know what I mean. Basically, taking the bartering example from above, if the PC gets a really good score the first roll, the negotiation starts off good. Keep that going for 1-2 roles (they generally last about 3-5 roles), and he may throw in a little something extra. But if the PC fails, the negotiation stops, or just rolls down hill a bit, depending on how bad it is. I may just try and extort them a little further.[*]Oh, and I generally do about 1.5 times normal damage for any damage to PCs. Just to make it that bit more deadly.[/LIST]Thoughts?

That sort of like the original Star Wars RPG -- you can try one action at normal chances, but if you want to a second, you have to roll extra die. If you try a third, you have to roll two extra dies, Four actions, three extra dies. You can continue along this line, which almost inevitably leads to Catastrophic failure -- but theoretically you can do anything you want in a round.

I use D10s in damage rolls instead of d6s.

[Raellus]

Originally Posted by FPSlover

interesting rules. I may have to use these (with your permission of course)

Please do.