Post by Duke on Apr 13, 2023 3:02:11 GMT
Nothing special- no game report, but this seemed like the closest to a "gaming in general" forum I could find.
What I am curious about-- and would halfway like to create a repository of- are house rules related to games that require rolling up a random character.
Just a few I have seen ar other tables over the years:
Roll an additional die and take the best dice.
Roll d8 instead of d6
Ones count as sixes and twos count as fours
I am sure that everyone has at least tried the one that I dislike the most: roll X number of rolls (where X is the number of characteristics to be rolled) and then assign them to the characteristics as you see fit. This is the origin of the phrase "dump stat," which betrays an attitude I like even less than this optional method of rolling up stats.
There are lots more, but I am interested in hearing from other people; I would like to know what else is being or has been done out there.
The curiosity got me after sharing a recent Traveller character generation party with a friend. I had opted to use a couple of house rules on rolling up the characters as these were players from a youth group who had played only points-buy until now, and I wasn't certain that they could handle playing a real "dud" of a random character.
Those who know me already know that I prefer Iron Array over _any_ sort of house rule or tweak. I suspect that this stems from my love of dice any way- the history and significance of dice; not just at the gaming table. Accordingly, I am willing to run (and I have run) more than one dud. Besides, Traveller's char gen has options that can help to reduce the amount of dud, right?
Just to be sure, I tapped three house rules: the Abysmal rule, the Doubles rule, and the First Character rule.
Any one of these rules gives results not too terribly far off from Iron Array, but with a cushion against having a truly pitiful characteristic.
The Abysmal rule: any characteristic roll of all ones may add one additional die to that characteristic. There. It is as If your first die was a 2; roll the rest of the dice.
The Doubles rule: when rolling characteristics, any time a double is rolled, the player gains one "characteristic point" that he or she may place into any characteristic (unless that characteristic has hit a ceiling) that he or she wishes to place it.
I tapped this one because overall, players seem to like it, and it almost never results in more than two points. The thought was centered around the abysmal roll: even if the player rolls a natural 2, they have a third die available. What if that die is also a 1? Well, they can use the Doubles rule to get an additional point from the initial 2, meaning the lowest characteristic 'possible' is now a 4, and that would take quite a string of bad luck.
Now I _did_ have a player defy the odds and roll _four_ doubles out of six characteristics (including 3 twelves!), but that was such a crazy fluke that I am actually pretty stoked about it.
The New Player rule- this one I have done since I don't even remember when. Easier to describe than to explain:
The very first time you play a new roll 'em up game, as you roll your stats, I also roll stats. When we are done, you may review both sets of stats, and you may trade _one_ of your stats for the same stat I generated. Now, if the Doubles rule is in play, any bonus point stays with the roll. If your roll had a bonus point but you trade rolls, you don't have that point anymore. If you trade for a roll that included the double (and the Doubles rule is in play), you pick up that point as well.
Anyway, it got me wondering what else might be out there, or if I really have "seen it all."
What I am curious about-- and would halfway like to create a repository of- are house rules related to games that require rolling up a random character.
Just a few I have seen ar other tables over the years:
Roll an additional die and take the best dice.
Roll d8 instead of d6
Ones count as sixes and twos count as fours
I am sure that everyone has at least tried the one that I dislike the most: roll X number of rolls (where X is the number of characteristics to be rolled) and then assign them to the characteristics as you see fit. This is the origin of the phrase "dump stat," which betrays an attitude I like even less than this optional method of rolling up stats.
There are lots more, but I am interested in hearing from other people; I would like to know what else is being or has been done out there.
The curiosity got me after sharing a recent Traveller character generation party with a friend. I had opted to use a couple of house rules on rolling up the characters as these were players from a youth group who had played only points-buy until now, and I wasn't certain that they could handle playing a real "dud" of a random character.
Those who know me already know that I prefer Iron Array over _any_ sort of house rule or tweak. I suspect that this stems from my love of dice any way- the history and significance of dice; not just at the gaming table. Accordingly, I am willing to run (and I have run) more than one dud. Besides, Traveller's char gen has options that can help to reduce the amount of dud, right?
Just to be sure, I tapped three house rules: the Abysmal rule, the Doubles rule, and the First Character rule.
Any one of these rules gives results not too terribly far off from Iron Array, but with a cushion against having a truly pitiful characteristic.
The Abysmal rule: any characteristic roll of all ones may add one additional die to that characteristic. There. It is as If your first die was a 2; roll the rest of the dice.
The Doubles rule: when rolling characteristics, any time a double is rolled, the player gains one "characteristic point" that he or she may place into any characteristic (unless that characteristic has hit a ceiling) that he or she wishes to place it.
I tapped this one because overall, players seem to like it, and it almost never results in more than two points. The thought was centered around the abysmal roll: even if the player rolls a natural 2, they have a third die available. What if that die is also a 1? Well, they can use the Doubles rule to get an additional point from the initial 2, meaning the lowest characteristic 'possible' is now a 4, and that would take quite a string of bad luck.
Now I _did_ have a player defy the odds and roll _four_ doubles out of six characteristics (including 3 twelves!), but that was such a crazy fluke that I am actually pretty stoked about it.
The New Player rule- this one I have done since I don't even remember when. Easier to describe than to explain:
The very first time you play a new roll 'em up game, as you roll your stats, I also roll stats. When we are done, you may review both sets of stats, and you may trade _one_ of your stats for the same stat I generated. Now, if the Doubles rule is in play, any bonus point stays with the roll. If your roll had a bonus point but you trade rolls, you don't have that point anymore. If you trade for a roll that included the double (and the Doubles rule is in play), you pick up that point as well.
Anyway, it got me wondering what else might be out there, or if I really have "seen it all."