Rules, I'm curious.

[SGTDan]

How many people who play T2K use vanilla rules? Failing that how lightly/heavily do you mod it?

[Targan]

I converted T2K to Gunmaster. My players and I loved it but the general consensus around here is that it's too complicated.

[Olefin]

I use the regular V1 rules as is. However I do modify the modules as needed to make them more unique, which any good GM should do, even just to avoid the "here we go again with Krakow" for those who have played multiple campaigns based in Poland.

[Adm.Lee]

I used to go with RAW, in the past 4 years or so (since I've gotten back into T2k), I have been mixing v1 and v2.

[pmulcahy11b]

V2.2, coated liberally with fudge and cookies.

[leonpoi]

V2.2 with a few tiny tweaks / house rules

[SGTDan]

What do you tweak or change?

[pmulcahy11b]

Back when I was playing, fudging and variant rules were rampant. Many got made up on the fly to cover what the rules didn't.

[Marc]

I've always used v2.2. The compatibility with Traveller:The New Era and with Dark Conspiracy (specially the new DCIII) is a very strong point for me.

Of course, we've introduced some house rules, but always trying not to move aside from the v2.2 basic mechanics. Some of points we've modified are things like automatic fire, margins of success, grenade explosion delay, etc. In all cases they are minor changes. For example, we use Electronics like a cascade skill with three specialitzations (Communications, Sensor Operation and Maintenance). It's only a small change that works accordingly with v2.2 mechanics but arranges what we think is a too large scope for the original skill.

Looking at the other games that use the same system could give you some good ideas. For example, in the new DCIII some of the tasks related to hand to hand combat are lowered one difficult level. It could seem a very little change, but now trying to locate a punch to the head have some sense (it would be a Formidable action in T2K but a difficult action in DCIII) and trying to block it is not a waste of time (it would be Formidable in T2K v2.2 and a Difficult in DCIII). Just an example of how a little grain of salt can help to arrange some problems.

[kota1342000]

2.0, 3, and Savage Worlds for my games. And anything that slows game play or combat down too much gets thrown.

[Olefin]

I use the V1 rules but with a modification for ethanol fuel production as the data in the game doesnt hold up to real world ethanol performance versus gasoline.

In the game the amount of ethanol needed to power a vehicle is at a 3 to 1 ratio - but in reality Ethanol (E100) consumption in an engine is approximately 51% higher than for gasoline since the energy per unit volume of ethanol is 34% lower than for gasoline.

Meaning that it takes 1.5 liters of ethanol versus one liter of gasoline.

So for ethanol fuel I use a factor of 1.5 times as much instead of 3.0 for consumption of fuel compared to gasoline or diesel.

[Backstab]

My group use to use Phoenix Command for combat ...

[AcesandEights]

Originally Posted by Backstab

My group use to use Phoenix Command for combat ...

[Targan]

Phoenix Command is the only system I've used that's even more complicated than Gunmaster. I've never used it for T2K. It's probably a bit too crunchy even for me . I liked the slightly cut-down version of Phoenix Command that the Aliens RPG used.

[Backstab]

We loved it ... Once we got the hang of it, Combat ran smoothly and we could get most firefights done in a single sitting .

[M-Type]

I recently picked up Fantasy Games Unlimited's MERC off of DriveThruRPG and have been impressed with the system. All you need is four d6 max to play, and I got plenty of those! I also like the hit-location and 'bleeding' mechanic, like in TMP. I figure that it could be used for T2000 without much fuss besides working out medical assistance.

Otherwise, I've played T2000 straight from the v1 box set with only some small tweaks. I admit to being a 'less crunch' player, so I try to prune out some things to make the game seem 'less scary' to outsiders, since I'm always trying to push it on my group.

[kota1342000]

Nothing wrong with Phoenix Command, its just a different style of play. I think Savage Worlds rules are the other end of the spectrum; extreme realistic detail as opposed to cinematic action. I fall pretty far onto the cinematic side of the field myself.

[Louis]

I've never used any of the systems used in the game. GURPs by Steve Jackson games covers the physical and mental aspects for characters, as well as skills and skill rolls. There are two old Avalon Hill board games, Firepower and Squad Leader, that have much better game systems for ranged combat (hand-to-hand and body damage is covered by GURPs). Squad Leader has an excellent Morale Check system also (when you are under fire, you may have to make a morale check, and if you fail you 'break'- hiding behind cover and not returning fire), and the morale check system also covers what many gaming systems call leadership.

[Sanjuro]

I quite liked the damage location system in Millenium's End a transparent circular overlay placed over a picture of a human body in appropriate poses. The to-hit roll also gave damage location: the better the roll, the closer to the centre of the circle (the aim point) your shot went.
The closer you were to the target, the smaller the overlay you used.
It also catered for the use of cover- put a sheet of paper covering the area of the body in cover, then the overlay over that and if the number rolled hit the cover instead of the target, then the cover either stopped the bullet or reduced the damage.
The damage system was , on the other hand, very complicated indeed; depending on the velocity of the ammunition you sometimes had to calculate hydrostatic shock damage along with everything else.

[Askold]

I like the Twilight 2013 rules. Those are easy enough for a beginner and still have things like morale, cover, vehicle combat, etc.

[stg58fal]

Originally Posted by Askold

I like the Twilight 2013 rules. Those are easy enough for a beginner and still have things like morale, cover, vehicle combat, etc.

Yes. I like the Reflex System. Quite a bit, actually. I've given some thought to how I'd go about converting Rifts to the Reflex System, since Rifts has a GREAT setting but the Palladium system basically blows.

[Targan]

Originally Posted by Sanjuro

I quite liked the damage location system in Millenium's End a transparent circular overlay placed over a picture of a human body in appropriate poses. The to-hit roll also gave damage location: the better the roll, the closer to the centre of the circle (the aim point) your shot went.
The closer you were to the target, the smaller the overlay you used.
It also catered for the use of cover- put a sheet of paper covering the area of the body in cover, then the overlay over that and if the number rolled hit the cover instead of the target, then the cover either stopped the bullet or reduced the damage.

I only ever played in one campaign of Millenium's End but I really liked the combat system too.

[Targan]

Originally Posted by stg58fal

I've given some thought to how I'd go about converting Rifts to the Reflex System, since Rifts has a GREAT setting but the Palladium system basically blows.

That would be a huge job but I'd love to see the results.