House Rules/Rule Modifications

I'm looking to try revising character creation without use of a lifepath to allow players more freedom.

Decision One: Birth Faction
Determine faction as normal. Gain the appropriate Citizen Talent or Under the Radar or Brother. Gain native languages as normal. Ignore any adjustments to attributes, skill awards, or signature skill.

Decision Two: Social Status
Determine social status as normal. Record status and earnings. Ignore any adjustments to attributes or skill awards.

Decision Three: Environment
Determine environment as normal. Ignore any adjustments to attributes or skill awards.

Decision Four: Education
Determine education as normal. Ignore any adjustments to attributes, skill awards, or talents.

Decision Five: Primary Career
Determine primary career as normal. Ignore any adjustments to attributes, skill awards, signature skill, or talents.

Decision Six: Iconic Career
Select an iconic career. Ignore difficulty along with any adjustments to attributes, skill awards, signature skill, or talents.

Decision Seven: Attributes
Each of the eight Attributes starts with a value of 9. Any Attribute can be raised by 1 to 3 points (to a maximum of 12). For each Attribute so raised, another Attribute must be lowered by the same amount (to a minimum of 6).

Decision Eight: Skills
Select three of your skills to be Signature Skills. Spend 40 points on skills, spread between expertise and focus as desired.

Decision Nine: Talents
Select 8 talents that you meet the prerequisites for.

Note that while Decisions 7-9 should take selections made in the previous steps into consideration, they are not held strictly to them for selections. If you want to create a Mishiman commoner that totally lacks Close Combat and Unarmed Combat skills, that's fine. If you want to make a Wolfbane Commando that has a few ranks of Heavy Weapons, that's fine too.

Link to my House Rule document on OneDrive: Jake/Apoc's House Rules

This document currently contains House Rules on the following topics:

1. Combat Scale
2. Martial Arts (grappling not yet added).
3. Weapon magazine Capacity instead of the simplified Reloads used by the base game.
4. Nathan's acquisition rules.
5. Clarified/modified weapon qualities.
6. Conan-style Parrying rules.
7. A lot more.

Feedback welcome!

Also, a necessary component of these house rules is my custom weapon list that includes Capacities for all weapons thus far released. You can find that here.

Enjoy!

Grappling

Breaking down the "point" of grappling in RPGs, here's what we get:

1. Generally NOT about doing damage. Instead, it's about disabling or physically controlling an opponent.
2. Techniques like throws are often part of "gentler" martial arts style. (This is a GROSS simplification.)
3. Joint locks are just a way to physically control an opponent and apply pain. Pushed harder, they can be used to destroy limbs.

So, given how MC3 abstracts a lot of things, especially for non-Nemesis NPCs, here's what I think we need to cover with rules.

1. Create "styles" of martial arts. There should be a talents to differentiate between "power martial arts" focusing on strikes and talents to focus on "defensive" martial arts, focusing on throws and disabling moves (like choke holds). Some talent trees will combine these talents (honestly, almost all MC martial arts are "mixed martial arts").

2. Define basic grappling moves. We need Grapple, Throw, Choke, and Lock/Pin.

3. The Grapple is the basic grappling move and the prerequisite for all other grappling moves. Anyone can try a Grapple, but training improves the ability. Probably need a Grapple talent or just modify Quick Grab. Either way, a Grapple is a Standard Action using either Close Combat (if you use my house rule) or Unarmed Combat and is always Opposed. If you win, you establish a Grapple with a strength equal to your Momentum. Breaking a Grapple is a Restricted Action and requires either a Strength, Agility or Unarmed Combat check with a Difficulty equal to the Momentum "strength" of the Grapple. While Grappled, all action Difficulties are increased by 2. (I can't recall if you can make raw Ability checks, but basically, it's just a roll with no expertise and no focus--really, only very strong or very agile opponents will have a chance against a trained grappler.)

4. Once a Grapple is established, the grappler may execute a Throw, Choke, or Lock/Pin.

5. A Throw is an Unarmed Combat check with the Stun and Knockdown qualities. The thrower can also choose to apply the Nonlethal quality. It otherwise deals normal Unarmed Combat damage modified for Unarmed Combat skill level.

6. A Choke is an opposed Unarmed Combat check. Success means the victim begins to Suffocate per Core Book at 193. A nonlethal Choke may be available via Talent that would simply result in Unconsciousness. Escaping a Choke uses the same rules as escaping a Grapple.

7. A Lock/Pin is one of a large number of techniques to physically control the target via pain or immobilization. It is an opposed check of Unarmed Combat vs. Strength, Agility, or Unarmed Combat. If you win, you inflict one rank of Rattled upon your opponent and may make additional tests to increase the ranks of Rattled. Upon inflicting 3 Ranks of Rattled, your opponent is considered helpless and completely under your control. Escaping a Lock/Pin in progress uses the same rules as escaping a Grapple, but obviously modified by the ranks of Rattled.

Alternate Ranged Attack Rules (I'll be editing and modifying these)

If I had my druthers, I'd get a little more complicated with weapon ranges, possibly harkening back to MC1/2 with the different range penalties for unaimed and aimed shots. Probably something like this:

Ignore ALL present weapon range, difficulty, attack, and scope rules. Yes, it's kind of a major re-write.

Weapon Ranges: Weapons may have the following ranges: Reach (R), Close (C), Medium (M), Long (L), Extreme (E), or a combination rating. All melee weapons are Reach (R). Handguns are R/C (this renders the Close Quarters quality superfluous). SMGs are mostly C/M. Shotguns are C. Assault rifles are mostly M, some might be M/L. Sniper rifles are M/L or L or even L/E. Etc.

EDIT: On second thought, I might just leave the range ratings alone and say that you only increase the difficulty of attacks BEYOND your weapon's listed range. The only range that's TOO SHORT for most guns is Reach.

Attacks made within the listed range(s) are base difficulty. Attacks made outside the listed ranges are +1 Difficulty for each step from the nearest listed range.

The base difficulty for ranged attacks at Reach and Close range is Average D1.
The base difficulty for ranged attacks at Medium range is Challenging D2.
The base difficulty for ranged attacks at Long range is Daunting D3.
The base difficulty for ranged attacks at Extreme range is Dire D4.

Aiming down the sights ("Aiming") reduces the base difficulty of all ranged attacks by 1, to a minimum of 1. You cannot Aim at targets within Reach.

Laser Sights reduce the difficulty of ranged attacks at Close or Medium range by 1, to a minimum of 1. If you Aim with a Laser Sight at a target within Close or Medium range, you instead gain 1 bonus Momentum on a successful attack.

Reflex Sights have their normal game effect (i.e. a Reroll if you Aimed).

Telescope Sights do not adjust weapon ranges directly. Instead, Aiming with a telescope sight reduces the effective range by 1 step for the vast majority of scopes or by 2 steps for extremely high quality or advanced scopes.

So, what did I just do?

I modified the system to de-couple weapon range from the base difficulty of the attack and created a reason to use the restricted action to Aim. I will probably end up redefining "close" range for purposes of my personal Combat Scale rules, but that doesn't affect people using the standard combat ranges.

Some examples to show that while I changed a bunch of rules, I actually didn't change the current difficulties for ranged attacks IF you use Aim and sights/scopes appropriately.

Under the original rules, a Handgun at Medium range is a D2 attack. Under these rules, it's a D3 attack. If you have a laser sight or Aim, it's a D2 attack. If you have a laser sight AND Aim, it's a D2 attack with a bonus Momentum if you succeed.

Under the original rules, an assault rifle at Close range is a D2 attack. Under these rules, it's ALSO a D2 attack. But if you have a laser sight OR Aim, it's a D1 attack. If you have both, it's a D1 attack with a bonus momentum.

Under the original rules, an attack with a sniper rifle at Long range is D1. Under these rules, it's D3. But if you Aim, it's D2. And if you have a Telescopic Scope and Aim, it's D1. And why would you NOT have a telescopic scope on a sniper rifle and be aiming?

I'll need to go through the Talents cybernetics/weapon attachments from the Mishima, Cybertronic, and Dark Soul books to bring them into line with these modified ranged attack rules.

Thoughts?

Modified Talents, Weapon Attachments, and Cybernetics/Biotech for Alternate Ranged Attack Rules

Talents
Clear Shot: This can be used unchanged actually. It simply means that such characters can get away without aiming or having special equipment more often. That's probably fine, but if that seems "too weak" for a Talent, Clear Shot could allow an Aim as a Free Action instead.

Weapon Attachments and Biotech from Dark Soul
Bioscope: Unchanged -- functions as Laser Sight.

Neural Link: Unchanged.

Evaluator: Unchanged. (And we're going to borrow a rule from the Evalutor for some Cybertronic equipment).

Mishima and Cybertronic Weapon Attachments and Cybernetics

Marksman's Eye (MC Core): Unchanged. Thanks to the "minimum D1" of ranged attacks, nothing else needs to be done to balance this with other scopes and weapon attachments.

Weapon Cyber-Link: Unchanged.

Targeting Computer: These systems require the use of a Laser Sight to function and therefore include, and do not stack with, the effects of a laser sight. In other words, all targeting computers and "combat software" equipped weapons MUST include a laser sight as part of the targeting computer system. This means that they reduce the Difficulty of ranged attacks at Close or Medium range by 1 to a minimum of 1, and grant bonus Momentum if used to Aim AND grant bonus Momentum per their normal game effects. Note that this will often be extraneous with Marksman's Eyes and other modifications.

Targeter Eye: Unchanged, does not stack with reflex sight.

Example of Most Ridiculous Cybertronic Weapon I can create

AR3501 Chain Rifle equipped with Reflex Sight, Weapon Cyber-Link and Intuitive Targeting Computer wielded by Chasseur with Marksman's Eye.

This Chasseur can spend a DSP to Exploit Weakness as a Restricted Action and without bothering to Aim, can get an Average D1 attack at either Close, Medium, or Long range and get 3 Bonus Momentum upon a successful attack. Ouch. If he DOES Aim, he can also reroll a d20 and gains another bonus Momentum from the laser sight component of the Targeting Computer.

Even more house rules collected from other posts:

Another idea that I had, wrote rules for, and then discarded (but now may resurrect) is the idea of pre-roll Momentum spending that simply increases the difficulty. Originally, I used this for Called Shot and Penetration, rationalizing that actually aiming for a specific location is harder. For Penetration, I only gave the 2-for-1 advantage to pre-spent Momentum and if you decided to do it on the fly, I made it 1-for-1.

There are a few other reasons to consider going to this model too. One major potential issue (and sort of realized in actual play) is the time spent on getting that right mix of Momentum spends during combat. There are enough choices that it's not trivial and has two effects: if you have a player who wants to optimize that Momentum, it takes a lot longer for that player to resolve an action, but if you have the opposite player who gets bored after 2 seconds of thinking during game night, you end up with someone who just dumps it all into bonus damage and ignores the other cool stuff you can do.

So, maybe there's a place for "pre-spent Momentum" and the normal rules, but I'm still working out the best combination.

If I decide to use the pre-spent Momentum rule, I'd start with Called Shot and Penetration for sure and go from there.

When spending Momentum to add directly to damage, you may not spend more Momentum than a weapon's static damage modifier plus half its dice of damage (round down). You may spend excess Momentum on OTHER momentum spends, just not pure damage. For purposes of this limit, include any Strength-based damage bonuses, but do NOT add Awareness-based damage bonuses for ranged weapons.

Example: A Piranha handgun deals 1+3DS. 1+(3/2, round down)=2. So a character shooting a Piranha can deal no more than 2 bonus damage directly with Momentum (nothing would stop a character from using Devastating Blow, however). On the other hand, a Mephisto sniper rifle deals 2+5DS damage, allowing up to 4 Momentum to be used to directly add to damage.

This idea arose from actual play. When you add in a Group Momentum pool, it becomes easy to generate A LOT of Momentum and eek 13 damage or so from a Piranha (which happened--poor Castigator). I realized that didn't feel quite right, especially because the heaviest personal armor is only 5 Soak. A character with no Awareness bonus to damage and a Piranha will deal an average of maybe 4 damage. That seems fair.

This is a listing of all custom rules I am using for running a Mutant Chronicles 3rd edition campaign prior to the emergence of the Dark Symmetry, and using non-abstract ranges for table-top play.

Types of house rules:
Concrete ranges for table-top use. (Vetted by a US Marine considering a cross of realism and table-top balance).
No Dark Symmetry Pool (The Symmetry just isn't powerful enough yet to have much of an immediate impact).
No Chronicle Points (Balancing effect for lack of a Dark Symmetry Pool).
Spending banked momentum to succeed.
'Let rip' attack action rules adjustment for reloads (I use this in all eras).
Specific weapon expert systems.

Combat using table-top ranges:
The ranges in Mutant Chronicles 3rd edition are: Reach, Close, Medium, Long, and Extreme. Each weapon defines the values for every category except Reach, which is standard for all weapons. Special circumstances are defined below.

Reach is defined as anything within 1” of your model’s base. All close combat weapons (melee/unarmed/ranged with Close Quarters quality) can attack models in this range at no penalty.

RANGES: (Could cleanly format for post)
Weapon Type, Preferred, Reach, Close, Medium, Long, Extreme
Handguns, C, 0-1”, 1-8”, 8-16”, 16-24”, 24-36”
SMGs, C, 0-1”, 1-12”, 12-24”, 24-36”, 36-42”
Assault Rifles, M, 0-1”, 1-8”, 8-24”, 24-48”, 48-60”
Sniper Rifles, L, 0-1”, 1-8”, 8-16”, 16-36”, 36-60”
LMGs, M/C, 0-1”, 1-8”, 8-24”, 24-60”, 60-84”
HMGs, L/M, 0-1”, 1-12”, 12-36”, 36-72”, 72-108”
Shotguns, C/M, 0-1”, 1-8”, 8-16”, 16-24”, 24-36”
Flamers, C, 0-1”, 1-4”, 4-8”, 8-12”, 12-16”
Grenades, C, 0-1”, 1-STRx0.5”, STRx0.5-STR”, STR-STRx2”, STRx2-STRx3”
Grenade Launchers, M, 0-1”, 1-12”, 12-24”, 24-36”, 36-48”
Rocket Launchers, L, 0-1”, 1-12”, 12-18”, 18-48”, 48-120”
Autocannons, M, 0-1”, 1-8”, 8-36”, 36-60”, 60-108”

Weapons attacking at a range outside of their optimum range suffer a 1 step difficulty penalty for every category above or below optimum. A 1 step difficulty penalty requires 1 additional success to be rolled in order to succeed.
Example 1: An assault rifle’s optimum range is Medium, if the target is within 1” (Reach), there is a two step difficulty penalty. 1 for Close range, and 1 for Reach. Barring any other penalties, this attack would require 3 successes to hit the target.
Example 2: A handgun’s optimum range is Close, if the target is 34” away (Extreme for a handgun), there is a three step difficulty penalty. 1 for Medium range, 1 for Long range, and 1 for Extreme range. Barring any other penalties, this attack would require 4 successes to hit the target.

Scopes require a restricted action to adjust. When adjusting a scope, the magnification value must be determined in 0.5x increments up to the scope’s maximum. The magnification value cannot go below 1x magnification. Multiply the weapon’s range category values by the scope’s magnification to determine the new range values. This does also extend the distance considered to be in Reach, but negates the Close Quarters quality.
Example: A sniper rifle normally has ranges of: 0-1”, 1-8”, 8-16”, 16-36”, and 36-42”. If fitted with a scope set to 2x magnification, the ranges become: 0-2”, 2-16”, 16-32”, 32-72”, and 72-84”. This increases the distance of the optimum range (Long) for the weapon from 16-36” to 32-72”, but also makes targets that would normally only been a 1 step penalty at Medium range become a 2 step penalty since they are now at Close range.

Movement Actions:
There are three types of movement actions in Mutant Chronicles; the Free Action - Adjust Stance, the Restricted Action – Move, and the Standard Action – Sprint. Since all MC3 movement rules were written using the abstract zone model which is not fitting for the table top simulation, the following maximum distances will be used for each action. Adjust Stance – 6”, Move - 12”, Sprint – 12”+AGI.

Response Actions:
Since the Dark Symmetry Pool mechanic is not being used, Response Actions do not cost a Dark Symmetry Die to use. Instead, a single Response Action may be performed if you have not, or will not, use a restricted action on your turn. This does not preclude the ability to move anywhere within medium range, but it does require that you use the Sprint Standard Action in order to do so if you wish to perform a Response Action.

Banked Momentum Spending:
You may spend the group’s banked momentum on any roll that generates at least 1 success. The skill does not have to succeed before you can add successes by using the banked momentum.

Ammo and Reloads:
Ammo is supposed to be abstracted by the Reloads mechanic, however, I believe that a single Reload is too heavy when considering encumbrance. Any time you perform a 'let rip' attack action, your weapon gains the Out of Ammo quality. For each damage die that produces a DSI (6), you lose 1 Reload up to the number of Reloads risked by taking the 'let rip' attack action.

Turn Order:
Instead of being able to add DSD to the Dark Symmetry Pool when the players cannot decide their turn order in a timely fashion, the GM will be allowed to activate an NPC out of normal order.

Chronicle Points:
Chronicle Points do not exist. Any ability or action that requires a Chronicle Point will need a ruling on how it can be used.

Insight and Willpower:
The Insight advanced skill and the Willpower basic skill indicate they are useful in situations dealing with the supernatural. There is NO supernatural in this campaign. Instead, these skills will represent gut instincts (Insight) and only mental resiliency (Willpower).

Weapon Expert Systems:
Friend/Foe Recognition – Corporate or police issued weaponry comes standard with friend/foe recognition. This expert system instantaneously identifies friendlies based on a database of information maintained by the issuing organization. This system disallows the user to fire upon any target identified as friendly. If combined with a target assistant expert system, this system will add an additional +1 momentum when attacking a foe who is using a friendly as a shield.

Targeting Assistant – A Basic Targeting assistant provides +1D20 on the skill roll to use it. A Complex Targeting assistant provides +2D20 on the skill roll to use it. An Intuitive Targeting Assistant provides +3D20 on the skill roll to use it. A Targeting Assistant may also act on its own to fire using its bonus dice as its skill roll following the normal target numbers based on grade (10,11,12)

Weapon Lock – This expert system disables the weapon except for certain users based on the grade. A Basic Weapon Lock requires a breath test to prevent intoxicated use. A Complex Weapon Lock requires either a fingerprint or retinal scan and only works for the programmed user(s). An Intuitive Weapon Lock identifies its wielder’s bio-rhythm and only works for the programmed user.

Auto Clear – This expert system can attempt to clear a jam as a free action, or provides its D20(s) to the user during a restricted action. A Basic Auto Clear rolls 1D20 with a target number of 10. A Complex Auto Clear rolls 2D20 with a target number of 11. An Intuitive Auto Clear rolls 3D20 with a target number of 12.

Smart Scope – This expert system automatically adjusts the weapon’s magnification based on the target in the cross-hairs. A Basic Smart Scope automatically adjusts between 0 and 2x magnification. A Complex Smart Scope automatically adjusts between 0 and 4x magnification. An Intuitive Smart Scope automatically adjusts between 0 and 8x magnification. When a Smart Scope is combined with a Targeting Assistant, the Smart Scope adds an additional momentum per grade of the scope to successful attacks which must be used for Bonus Damage, Called Shot, Penetration, or Re-Roll Damage momentum spends only.

Just started a campaign... here's my one house-rule so far:

Make willingly going Prone and being Knocked Down mechanically different. If you willingly go Prone, you can't stand up on the same turn. If you get Knocked Down on your own turn, you can't stand up on the same turn. Either way, on the next turn, if you are willingly Prone, you can stand up as a Free Action. If you are Prone from being Knocked Down, you have to spend a Restricted Action to stand up (thereby taking up your movement)

JoshuaKlug: Interesting house-rule on reloads in regards to let-it-rip. I think I'm going to try that out.

Hi all, I don't know of a better way to present these, so I'm just attaching a link to this PDF of my current Advanced Tactical Combat Rules. Enjoy!Apoc's Advanced Tactical Combat Rules for MC3

You will need the current version of my house rules as well to make full use of this. You can find those here, but beware, the ATC rules override a bunch of stuff, which should be quite obvious.

The ATC rules are really intended for those who want a rather different feel to MC3--you will want to use minis and maps and everything.

Oh and of course, you will need the compatible weapon list as well!

Here are my Conan-ized MC3 House Rules (for use as a 5 Page GM Screen). Basically, it's my attempt to adapt the Conan 2d20 system to MC3.

LINK

I updated the above rules to what I will be using. Also, as an experiment, I cooked up a variant with no Luck/Chronicle points or Momentum. Just one pool of threat called "Fate". I am sure it would run into issues. But, heh, who knows.

VARIANT LINK

I'll need to do away with the shared DSP pool and give everybody their own, individual pool of points instead representing their willpower and stamina. But I want to hang on to the abbreviation DSP since that's the term generally used in the text, to avoid confusion. So I need something new that DSP could stand for. Daring/Stunt Points? D???? & Stamina Points? Any suggestions?

What would be a good cost to be able to shift a hit to your most heavily armored area? I like to call the rule, taking it on the shoulder.

Modified education roll and table:
Our table posses a 7th row, read: roll on the next higher column. And we have a mod for this roll: earning from social standing halved, round down for column A, and halved again for column B.
Means 'Working Lower" and "Working Middle" add +1 for the roll on column A, and zero to the roll on column B. "Upper" and "Elite" add 2 to roll on column A, and add 1 to column B rolls.