GAME RULE CHANGES ALL READ PLEASE!

Introduction: As you know we use a modified version of the GOLDEN HEROES/SQUADRON UK RPG modified to suit the play by post format. Over time I think we've come across a number of limitations and ways of doing things that could be improved, and incorporated them into the house rules of the game. In this thread I'll post the new changes I am proposing. Anyone who objects, holler, and we'll work something out. These are designed to make life easier for players/GM and clean up some of the near 3 decade rules that we play by. Eventually all will be written up into a new game, but time constraints have had me starting and restarting that loads of times (too many to count, and some pages counts got into the 30s before I scrubbed to rethink). A blend of the Lore Knights/DC Heroes system and Golden Heroes is what I think we'll settle on. NONE OF THIS AFFECTS HOW YOU PLAY, save for the Hero Points mechanic. You state what your character wants to do, I roll a bunch of dice, and tell you the result, so if you don't want to read all this stuff, I have no problem with that. You might want to skim over the hero/fate/skill points sections because those are things that you can use as a player to make things go your characters way.

More proposed rules in here later. For now...

HERO and FATE points

HERO POINTS will form a larger part of the gaming process we use in the Vanguard/Dark Shadows campaign from now on. They will be awarded at the end of every issue for saving lives, thwarting the bad guys, and doing heroic deeds. Villains also get to use Hero Points (we'll call them Hero Points as well, because that's how they see themselves, even if no one else does).

In simple terms, when you (BEFORE the dice are rolled) decide to use Hero Points, every point you spend gets another D10 rolled. So long as the original 2D10 don't come up double 1, every other D10 increases your chances of getting a double result or a higher roll. Simply choose the highest two dice (or a double result, which gives you another 2D10 to add to your total) and discard all the other dice.

EXAMPLE:

Silver Sentinel attacks a Nazi supervillain. He uses his energy blast, and allocates 5 Hero Points to hitting. Rolling the original 2D10, they come up with 4 and 1. Then roll an additional 5D10 and come up with 7,4,4,2,6. The options are to take the highest dice (7,6) or to take double 4, and drop the other dice. Sentinel takes double 4, then rolls an extra 2D10 to add to his rolled total of 8. That comes up with 10 and 2. His rolled total becomes 8 + 12 = 20.

You can use Hero Points AFTER a dice roll is made IF you put in the following text in your post before dice are rolled:

IF <whatever you are trying fails> SPEND <however many hero points you want>

Hero points cost DOUBLE if spent in this way, but the good thing is, if you succeed at a check, you don't spend any Hero Points at all!

EXAMPLE:

Silver Sentinel is trying to defuse a bomb. As sweat runs down his face, Ross (player) states in his post IF Sentinel fails to defuse the bomb in time SPEND 6 hero points to increase chance of success.

In this instance, if Sentinel defuses the bomb, great, he spends no hero points. If the roll is lousy, the GM will use the 6 hero points to roll 3D10 (because hero points spent in this way cost double) and see if the extra dice help.There is no maximum to how many Hero Points you can spend, but you can't spend any when your total gets down to zero. Hero points can only be used on the first roll, not subsequent rolls from doubles.

Hero points are earned for:

• Saving Lives (5 for an individual life, 10 for group, 15 for a town/city, 20 for a country, 30 for the world!!)
  
• Thwarting the villains plans (from 1 upwards depending on how dastardly the plan was!)
  
• Role Playing (from 1 upwards, typically 10 per issue unless there was more role playing than dice rolling, in which case 20 or 30 points)
  
• Being heroic (taking a hit for a team mate, holding off an army so that your friends can escape etc) (from 1 upwards)
  
• Any other reason the GM feels you deserve (from 1 upwards)

Some awards are gained after a number of issues, but generally successful completion of an issue grants 5-20 hero points per character

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FATE POINTS act in a similar way to Hero Points, but you declare their use BEFORE dice are rolled. If double 1 comes up, you fail at whatever you are attempting and lose the Fate Point. If any other numbers come up you discard the lower of the two dice and assume you rolled a double with the remaining die. Fate points can only be used on the first roll, not on subsequent rolls from doubles.

EXAMPLE:

Anyman needs to unlock a safe to find the Nazis plans. Time is of the essence, and failure will set the alarm off. David M uses a Fate point. The dice come up 6,7. He drops the 6 and gets a result of double 7. A subsequent roll of 7,1 adds 8 to his total of 14 for a roll of 22. He cracks the safe, snatches the plans and is away before anyone realises what he's done!

Fate points are much harder to come by and are given for going above and beyond the call of duty. When the characters actions affect things on a large scale, or they are badly injured so that the villain be thwarted, or lives saved. Generally no more than 3 Fate points can be handed out for an issue, and most often, none at all are handed out.


SKILLS

The Skills system in Golden Heroes is very vague/hand waving. Basically if you have a skill you are considered a world expert in that area with the rules as written. I propose that characters have certain skills listed on their character sheets. Where no number is listed, roll an extra D10 where the skill is relevant and choose two dice to use, discarding any others. They work in the same way as Hero Points save that they only cover one specific area (the focus of the skill) and do not cost hero points to use. Where a number is listed for a skill, roll that many extra dice (as well as the 2d10 you roll for every task) and choose the best two dice to use, discarding the rest. A competent skill level is 1, expert/professional skill level is 2, renowned expert or trainer is 3 and higher than that means the character is famous for their skill, or world class in that area.

MASTER skills work in the same way as Fate points, granting the character a guaranteed double without having to spend a fate point! MASTER skills have no number assigned to them and represent the 'worlds best' in that area. They are the equivalent of superhuman powers, like the Green Clad Archer who fires trick arrows. He has a MASTER skill in Archery, so every attack roll is assumed to be a double! The only time he doesn't get to use his Mastery is when a double comes up on the initial dice roll - it would then be pointless swapping one die for the same result! MASTER skills should represent the peak of the characters abilities, so unless the character is exceptional, they can only have one MASTER skill. OPTIONAL: I am *toying* with the idea of an additional MASTER level skill called SUPREME MASTER, whereby the character gets a double on the first roll, rolls the 2d10 again, and drops a die to get a double on this roll as well. In other words two GUARANTEED double roll results. This is for the character who never seems to fail, whatever the odds. Someone like a certain Caped Crusader when investigating a crime scene, or the aforementioned Emerald Archer when he fires his trick arrows (or a certain Assassin who never misses, even when he's using playing cards, paper clips, ball point pens etc). Such a skill would be VERY expensive to purchase and form the core of the characters abilities. THOUGHTS?

EXAMPLE:

Frostbites inner computer has a MASTER level programming ability, assuming he can come into contact with the computer he wishes to hack. Therefore he simply steps up to the computer, touches it, and his computer sets to work. Dice are rolled (in this case 6,3) and the highest is picked (6 in this case) giving him a double result (of 12). Then the dice are rolled again (2d10, gets 6,1) and added to his existing result for a total compared to the target number (in this case, dice roll total was 19).

EXAMPLE:

Lance Allard (Anyman) was a professional actor before the accident which disfigured him. Despite the knock to his confidence, he bounced back to regain his acting skills. He has Acting (2) and when playing a role to persuade/fool/impress others, 2D10 are rolled (for the initial roll). If that comes up with double 1, he fails, but for any other result he rolls another 2D10 and picks the best two dice to use, dropping the rest.

With regards difficulties of tasks, use the following guide, and modify for circumstances. For example, climbing a tree might be moderate. Climbing a tree whilst being chased by nasty dogs, in the wind, rain and dark will bump that up to hard or very hard!

Task Difficulty	Target Number to exceed
Very Easy	5-7
Easy	8-10
Moderate	11-13
Hard	14-16
Very Hard	17-19
Extreme	20+

Added to this roll will be a modifier based on the characters stats. MORE TO COME ON THAT! (EGO will be split into Intelligence, Perception and Charisma, then combined to form EGO when attacking or being attacked mentally or mystically). Other stats will be rated ZERO (0) unless they give a bonus or penalty, which represents an average score for a normal human adult. It's pointless listing strength, for example of 6-15 in the GH game when it gives no bonus. For sure, someone with 15 is stronger than a strength of 6, but in what way? Do they hit harder? Lift more? No, so you may as well list strength as zero, and list only the damage bonus from high (up to +3 for ordinary characters) or super strength (skies the limit). STILL WORKING ON THIS, WATCH THIS SPACE!

I need to modify the character sheets appropriately to update skills and statistics. Also the house rules need updating (about a zillion times). Will PM you all when this has been done, and will need each of your input on the skills your character has.

Open to questions and queries on any of this. For those in the LORE KNIGHTS game, yes, I'm taking the stuff that works and blending it into Golden Heroes/Squadron UK. I'll take the best parts of both and put it into our game, free for all to play and use. I understand Simon Burley is making a new version of GH, but this blends two games (with ideas from others) so is unique in that way, and besides, it's not going to be for sale so Games Workshop can't get their knickers in a twist over it

13th May 2012 original post

Edits to be date stamped.

ADDITIONAL RULES TO BE ADDED AS EXTRA POSTS IN THIS THREAD!