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[SR6] House Rules

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FastJack

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« on: <08-30-19/0829:50> »
With the new edition up, here's a place to collect any house rules you develop/implement and would like to share.

DigitalZombie

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« Reply #1 on: <08-30-19/1218:02> »
Neat, I will try to update this post with peoples suggestions, as the SR5 thread ended up being somewhat difficult to search in.


Character creation
New priority chart, generally buffs lower attribute priorities and skills. Special column is slightly nerfed, but each choice is also a bit more impactful.
https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/rJrxd_AvH

« Last Edit: <10-26-19/0352:25> by DigitalZombie »

MercilessMing

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« Reply #2 on: <08-30-19/1219:50> »
Cool, I'll kick it off with one in high demand:

Armor.
How to make armor matter again.  The elimination of armor soak in 6e goes hand-in-hand with the damage reduction across the board.  You can't just add armor soak back in without unbalancing damage.  Here's some ideas to make armor matter:

1.  Replace Intuition with Armor on Defense Tests
This will create a delta between armored and unarmored folks. 
Also, if you really want your "street smart" Intuition specialists to Defend with Int:
1a.  Create a Quality that lets a character use Intuition instead of Reaction in Defense Tests.
Caveats: This rule will make "dodge" tanking even more effective on armor focused characters.  Augments that increase your armor rating can make this roll crazy, so I advise applying the "+4 augmented attribute max" rule to armor augments, or make only worn armor count in this roll.

Maybe you don't think armor soak is appropriate, but Edge doesn't matter enough.  Try one of these:

2. When comparing AR/DR - Instead of granting Edge, change the Soak Target Number
If the attacker has 4+ more AR, the defender soaks on 6's.  If the defender has 4+ more DR, the defender soaks on 4's. Caveat: Soaking on 6's is a bigger advantage to the attacker than soaking on 4's is to the defender.  Still may be ok on balance.

3. When comparing AR/DR - Instead of granting Edge, award dice.
This can be a static number when the 4+ threshold is reached, or one die per threshold of 2, etc.

4.  When comparing AR/DR - for every +-3 points, whoever has the lower number has to reroll one success, either on the attack roll or soak roll.
Up to some limit, like 3 or 4 dice.  This takes Armor out of the Edge granting business while retaining the most common use of edge: rerolls. With this rule, you never do more damage than you rolled. High AR makes the damage harder to resist, while high DR makes the attack possibly miss.
 
Edit: removed a surprise-related houserule that didn't use surprise correctly
« Last Edit: <02-18-20/1556:29> by MercilessMing »

Xenon

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« Reply #3 on: <08-30-19/1833:24> »
Imaging scope.
When you are using an imaging scope at Medium, Far and Extreme range, your target cannot gain Edge by having a higher Defense Rating.


Humans and Edge
...you can save Edge across multiple combat rounds to build up a maximum of 7 Edge points (or 8 for Humans) for that big play!


Humans and racial traits
You can’t select more than six total qualities at character creation, and the net bonus Karma cannot be more than 20.Humans receive 5 bonus karma to be spend on qualities to compensate that they don't have any racial traits, but the net bonus Karma limit of 20 still applies.


Gunnery and Manual operation
When using a weapon mounted on a vehicle, use Engineering + Logic (or Engineering + Agility for manual operation, like door guns on mounts)


Improved Ability
Cost: Athletics, Close Combat, Exotic Weapons, Firearms, Astral Combat Sorcery, Conjuring: 1.0 PP per level; other skills 0.5 PP per level


Amps
To prevent unlimited damage and area Amp up on spells are now limited to magic rating number of amps in each category (damage, area etc).


Max number of actions
Characters may never start a player turn with more than 6 Minor Actions. If they would have earned more through any circumstances, that number is reduced to 6


Range categories and Attack Rating
If a weapon does not have an Attack Rating in a certain range category, it cannot be used at that range. Also, if a weapon does not have an adjusted Attack Rating (after applying firing modes, accessories, statuses and ammunition etc) of 1 or more in a certain range category, it cannot be used with that combination at that range.


Cyberlimbs and condition monitor boxes
Each full cyberlimb adds one box to the character’s Physical Condition Monitor.


Cyberlimbs and armor
Full cyberlimbs can fit a maximum of 4 armor each, partial limbs a maximum of 3 armor each and hand/feet a maximum of 2 armor each.


Headware and cyberlimbs
Headware may also be installed in cyberlimbs, taking up capacity rather than essence.


Semi-Automatic:
In this firing mode you may either fire two rounds rapidly with two trigger pulls against a single target which will decrease the Attack Rating of your weapon by 2 and increase damage by 1. You may also fire just one round with one trigger pull, in which case there are no changes to a weapon's attributes.


Burst Firing:
You’ve got a fancy gun that pumps out multiple rounds with a single trigger pull. You can fire four rounds in an attack. The Attack Rating in this firing mode is decreased by 4. You can shoot a narrow burst against a single target which increase damage by 2, or make a wide burst against two targets, positioned no more than 2 meters apart and with no other targets (not friend nor foe) between them, by taking the multiple attacks minor action and splitting your dice pool. Wide burst increase damage of both attacks by 1.


Anticipation and full auto
Anticipation may not be used with Full Auto firing mode


Essence
All characters start the game with an Essence of 6. Characters can never have an Essence of 0 or less. If they do, they die.


Stacking of spells
The same spell being cast more than once on the same target will not stack. Instead only the instance with most net hits will count. This include spells such as Increase Attribute, Decrease Attribute and Elemental Armor, even if they affect different attributes or different elements.


Sim Modules
Sim modules, including the one build into control rigs, can be modified for hot-sim, which opens up the full range of VR experiences at the risk of frying your brain.


How to make armor matter again...
SR6 let your players wear the type of armor (and play the metatype or have the magical tradition or use the weapon etc etc) that fit their style.

I personally consider it a good thing that shadowrunners now can show off their tattoos or wear their open jackets rather than walking around with full battle armor with ballistic face masks like they are some sort of corporate HTR unit....
« Last Edit: <04-08-20/1353:08> by Xenon »

Hephaestus

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« Reply #4 on: <08-30-19/2032:13> »
Given the back-and-forth on the functionality of shotguns, I put together a quick fix that I think sets them apart from SMGs and ARs while not making them ungodly overpowered.

Shotguns

Shotguns using buckshot fire a single shot as an Semi-Automatic shot, incurring all standard bonuses and penalties for SA firing. (This could be reflected in the stats for the gun)

Shotguns using buckshot with Semi-Automatic mode can make a Burst Fire shot by using two rounds, incurring all standard bonuses and penalties for BF firing.

Double barrel shotguns using buckshot can make a Burst Fire shot by expending both barrels simultaneously. Doing so incurs the standard penalty and bonus, but the shot cannot be split between two targets.

Shotgun Ammo

Shotgun ammo costs 15Ĩ per 10 rounds, and has an availability of 2(L).
« Last Edit: <09-02-19/1337:23> by Hephaestus »

Finstersang

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« Reply #5 on: <09-01-19/0852:39> »
Little Preface: Iīm sometimes worried when posting houserules or homebrew stuff that this may lead to "blocking" a freelancer with a similar idea from using that in a supplement, especially when itīs a simple "no-brainer" solution that a lot of other people come up with as well. Cantīt really talk for the rest, but please, feel free to "steal" everything I post here  ;)

A lot of the stuff Xenon posted is quite neat, especially the human buffs. Thereīs two things that Iīd do slightly differently:   

Imaging scope: When you are using an imaging scope at Medium, Far and Extreme range, your target cannot gain Edge by having a higher Defense Rating., you recieve the bonus from the Image Magnification (+2 AR) and one Bonus die thatīs compatible with additional Take aim Actions. 

Improved Ability: At this point (I mean, isnīt Cracking also a Combat Skill as well?), Iīd rather renounce the distinction of combat and noncombat skills and go with 0.75 PP per rank for each skill. With skills being the equivalent of previous skill groups, 0.5 is too cheap for the boost, but 1.0 would be to strong since Attributes still have a bigger scope. 0.75 is the Sweet Spot here. Also, this Power can not be taken for Conjuring, Sorcery and Enchanting (If anything, this should need to be unlocked by something like an Adeptīs path in a future supplement)

OK, now for some Character Creation/Advancement stuff:

Adepts: Adepts get have Power Points equal to their Magic Attribute. They get one when they raise it (even when doing so with SAP during Character Creation), and they lose them when lowering it due to Essence loss. (This oneīs RAW now. Good.)  Mystic Adepts donīt get their Power Point right away, but get the option to "unlock" it for 5 Karma, and they canīt get additional Power Points through Initiaton. The amount of additional Power Points that Adepts and Mystic Adeps can get through Foci and Initiation is limited by their Magic rating.

Spells: The number of spells that Magicians (and Mystic Adepts, Aspected Magicians etc...) get for free is still based on their pick in the Magic/Resonance Column. However, they can learn additional Spells for Karma during Character Creation if they also buy the Spell Formular for Nuyen.

Impaired Attribute:This Quality has no ranks. If you take it for an Attribute, you cut the maximum Attribute value in half (round down)   

Specialisations: There is no limit on how many Specialisations you can take for an skill. However, the cost for additional Specialisations to increases by 5 for every Specialisation that a skill already has. At Character creation, you can use the Skill Points from the Priority table to buy a maximum of 1 Specialisation per Skill, the rest has to be bought using Karma. This true for the Exotic Weapons Skill as well.

Burning out: If you fully burn out (i.e. permanently reduce you Magic or Resonance to Zero), you lose your magical or resonance-based powers and canīt simply buy them back to 1 for 5 Karma (like Adepts and P.P., this really shouldnīt be "just a houserule" as well...). Completely burning out is usually permanent - itīs up to your GM if you can find a way to get your powers back and how much you have to sacrifice to do so. There is no proven way to achieve this, only rumors of a few rare individuals who managed to do so. You might even find out that all your efforts are for naught, in the end...

My most important houserules: Un-borking the Edge limitations:

Edge-Limits: Whenever a Character earns Edge on a test (including defending against attacks), only the Edge that is safed for later uses counts against the Limit of 2 Edge gained per round. Consume it right away, and you donīt risk losing it. The same is true for the limit of 7 (8 for humans with Xenonīs houserule) Edge that can be accumulated by a single character. 

Edge and Grunts: The rules above counts for grunt groups as well. However, there is no restriction on how often a group of grunts can spend Edge per round. In this regard, they count as individual characters that are just using the same pool of Edge. Grunts will usually spend every newly earned Edge right away, f.i. for rerolled dices.

Cover and Edge: Shooting from Cover doesnīt  prevent the Shooter from gaining or using Edge if the shooter gives up the Cover Status when performing the Attack. The shooter can then use a second Minor Action to re-enter Cover. (Note: One could argue that this is already kinda possible RAW by using the Move or Stand Up Action to exit cover...)

Armor/Defense Ratings/etc...
 
Edge-Boosts using Armor: Thereīs 3 additional Edge-Boosts that profit from high Armor. All of these are used on the Soak test:
  • 1 Edge to replace Body with Armor for the Soak roll (pre)
  • 2 Edge to roll Armor and convert Net Hits of Physical Damage to Stun Damage. Only possible if the Character has a Stun monitor in the first place (post)
  • 3 Edge to roll with your full DR on the Soak roll instead of Body(pre)

Addition: Flechettes and Armor: Flechette Damage (i.e. the damage of Shotgun Flechettes, but also Needleguns and Fragmentation Grenades, often marked by a legacy (fl) tag in the rulebook) is less effective against highly armored targets. If the DR exceeds the AR of the Attack, add the difference as bonus dice to the Soak Test.

Attack and Defense ratings: To determine if the Attacker succeeds on a tie, compare the the AR and DR as well. If the DR is higher, the Attack misses; if the AR is higher, the Attack succeeds (dealing only the base damage if itīs an attack that deals damage). If these are tied as well, toss a coin. If the AR exceeds the DR by 8, the Defender canīt gain or use any Edge on the defense tests. The same is true in reverse if the DR exceeds the AR by 8. (So basically, a few more nuances to the AR-DR comparison. Note that these can apply to Hacking tests as well!).

Hardened Armor: Hardened Armor offers Bonus Dice to the Soak Test, not Auto Hits. It still adds its full Rating to the DR.

Fragmentation Grenades: While these have high damage potential on higher ranges, Armor and Cover offers better protection against them as well. You may choose to soak the Damage of Fragmentation grenades with the DR instead of just Body. See above.

Lastly (at least for today): Un-borking Melee and Strength

Strength and Melee Weapons:
  • If the Damage Code of a Melee Weapon is higher than the Strength of the user, the AR of the Weapon is reduced by the difference.
  • If the Strength of the user is higher than the Damage Code, half of the difference (round up) is added to the Damage Code. (Seriously, do the math. It works surprisingly well, even in extreme cases  ;))
This is true for all melee weapons with fixed damage codes, with a few exceptions: Shock Gloves, Shock Batons and other potential contact weapons, as well as Monowhips.


Updated Version:
  • Add Strength to the AR of all Melee Weapons, or Reaction in the Case of Whips and similar Weapons (current RAW)
  • The base Damage for unarmed Melee Attacks is 1 (1 less then the current RAW.)
  • When performing a Melee Attack of any kind, you may reduce the AR by 3 to increase the Base damage by 1. You can do this a max. of Strength/3 (round) up times per Combat Turn, for either one or for multiple different Attacks.

Critical Strike (Adept Power): The Damage boost from this Power is limited by the Net Hits scored on each attack. You can take ranks in this power as often as you want, but you will want to score a really good hit (one might say: a Critical Strike 8)) to use its full potential.

 
« Last Edit: <05-01-20/0753:47> by Finstersang »

penllawen

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« Reply #6 on: <09-01-19/1011:58> »
Those are some great rules, Finsterstang!

If the Strength of the user is higher than the Damage Code, half of the difference (round up) is added to the Damage Code. (Seriously, do the math. It works surprisingly well, even in extreme cases  ;))
...hah, yeah, that’s pretty good! I could maybe lose a point or two off the top of the range, so it never exceeds the top end of ballistic weapons; but that’s my personal taste. Does it avoid all scenarios where a character does more damage with their fists than a weapon? I think it does but I’m just doing it in my head, I might have missed some scenarios.

Michael Chandra

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« Reply #7 on: <09-01-19/1046:56> »
Should we discuss in this topic, or keep this topic solely for posting and keep debates in other topics?

Dynamic Edge:
- 2 edge max gained per Player Turn or Enemy Action, including temporary Edge. So a Jumped-In Rigger with Thermographic vision at night and a massive Attack Rating attacking twice still only gets 2 Edge, but you can earn 2 Edge per action you are attacked. (This to keep the hard cap on while giving you a bonus if you're attacked a lot.)
- 2 edge KEPT max per combat round, this means any Edge kept past the Action it was received in. If you spend it, it doesn't count against the limit (makes it more dynamic)
- During encounters, max Edge is 9, meaning high-Edge peeps don't have to spend it at once but actually can save up a bit

Grunt Edge:
- 1 Edge Boost allowed per 5 Grunts (rounded up), this to keep them more restricted while still supporting larger groups
- Per 5 grunts (rounded up), can earn 2 Edge max per turn, this to keep their Edge gain more restricted while still supporting larger groups
- If the grunts pass their composure test when members go down, count their original group size for these rules, to signal that for them more than just their own hide is on the line
- Routing grunts cannot gain Edge

Hardened Armor rank/2 autohits
APDS removes 2 autohits
« Last Edit: <09-08-19/1458:34> by Michael Chandra »
How am I not part of the forum?? O_O I am both active and angry!

Finstersang

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« Reply #8 on: <09-01-19/1105:18> »
Those are some great rules, Finsterstang!

If the Strength of the user is higher than the Damage Code, half of the difference (round up) is added to the Damage Code. (Seriously, do the math. It works surprisingly well, even in extreme cases  ;))
...hah, yeah, that’s pretty good! I could maybe lose a point or two off the top of the range, so it never exceeds the top end of ballistic weapons; but that’s my personal taste. Does it avoid all scenarios where a character does more damage with their fists than a weapon? I think it does but I’m just doing it in my head, I might have missed some scenarios.

Thanks :)

As long as there are no Bone Augmentations, Dermal Deposits etc. at work (in that case: fair enough, these are basically weapons in their own regard), you should always deal a bit more damage with a weapon than without - although there are still good reasons to go unarmed with superhuman strenght simply because of the AR. BTW, in the most extreme cases (Troll with 14 Strength with a Combat Axe), you could go up to 5+(14/5)/2 = 10 Damage (round up), compared to 7+1=8 with Unarmed + Dermal Deposits (and still an AR of 15+!).

Should we discuss in this topic, or keep this topic solely for posting and keep debates in other topics?

Erm... good point  ;D

Letīs stick to posting houserules (and occasional suggestions to improve other houserules)  ;)

Finstersang

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« Reply #9 on: <09-02-19/1000:20> »
Ok, a bit more about Ranged Combat and Ammo types:

Shotgun Flechettes apply the following Adjustments to the AR of a weapon: 0|+2|-2|-4|-6. They also deal +1 Damage on close all ranges. (Note: I know that Shotguns have only 3 Range bands, but it never hurts to have some more compatibility. Also, see below ;))
Edit: Since their Damage type is Flechette (fl), their Damage potential is affected more by Armor (see my post above). Thus, the increased damage over all ranges

APDS still reduce the DV of the by 1 because of of Overpenetration. They also deny any benefits from having a higher DR and let the shooter ignore up to 4 Bonus dice from either Cover, or from Hardened Armor, Bone Augmentations and other effects that add Soak dice.

Assault Cannon Ammo can be bought as APDS, ExMun and Flechette Shells.

Medium Range is 51 to 150 Meters, Long Range 151 to 500 Meters. (150 Meters as an effective range for a Pistol are hard enough to believe :P)
Have a better one now.

Range Thresholds: When performing any kind of Ranged Attack, there is also an additional range threshold to overcome to determine if the shot is lined up well enough to be able to hit the target in the first place. This threshold starts with 1 (already kinda implicated by the rules...) and increases by 1 for every full 250 Meters the target is away. on close and short ranges, but increases to 2 on medium ranges, 3 on long ranges and 4 on extreme Ranges.
If the Threshold is not met, the shot misses entirely and the target doesnīt have to take a Defense test. If the threshold is met, the target defends as usual. Note that in this case, the range threshold plays no more role for the rest of the calculation of the attack: F.i., The Net Hits are still determined by the difference between the hits of the shooter and the defender, even if the Threshold was higher than the hits of the defense roll.
« Last Edit: <05-01-20/0800:30> by Finstersang »

Tecumseh

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« Reply #10 on: <09-05-19/1955:40> »
I like Finstersang's rules and can imagine using most them.

This one isn't play-tested yet:

Anticipation: Doubles your dice pool. You may split up the dice pool evenly between two or more targets.

For example you could roll your full dice pool against two separate opponents, or half your dice pool against 4 opponents, etc.

The idea is to cap the number of dice by the user's abilities rather than their number of targets. It's also intended to keep the action an attack against multiple opponents rather than one super-attack against a single opponent.

mortonstromgal

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« Reply #11 on: <09-06-19/0156:05> »
These are the optional tweaks I’ve thought of so far.

More Fu! (Cinematic play) - Raise the max edge gain allowed in combat to 4, but may still only gain one for attacking. This does a couple things 1) it means you can burn 5 edge (and should) more than once before you run out. 2) makes armor matter more as high armor can earn you an edge all the time possibly multiple times.

Less Magicrun - All drain values are raised by 2

More Lethal - Double DV

LukeZ

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« Reply #12 on: <09-06-19/1146:14> »
Sorcerers don't get one extra Magic point from the Priority System, they get one additional die when rolling Sorcery or Drain caused by Sorcery.
Enchanters don't get one extra Magic point from the Priority System, they get one additional die when rolling Enchanting or Drain caused by Enchanting.
Conjurers don't get one extra Magic point from the Priority System, they get one additional die when rolling Conjuring or Drain caused by Conjuring.

Mystic Adepts get one less die when rolling Sorcery, Enchanting, Conjuring or Drain caused by Sorcery, Enchanting, Conjuring. They gain 1 PP per point of Magic after the first (PP = Magic-1) and 1 PP per Power Point Metamagic. They also lose PP whenever they lose Magic.

Adepts gain 1 PP per point of Magic and 1 PP per Power Point Metamagic. They also lose PP whenever they lose Magic.

With the Priority System, no character can increase his starting Magic/Resonance by more than 2 during creation.
« Last Edit: <09-07-19/0203:42> by LukeZ »

Aria

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« Reply #13 on: <09-06-19/1227:19> »
Contacts can start with Loyalty capped by Charisma but Connection Rating can go to Cha+2.  Max cap is still 6 on Connection and Loyalty...??
Excel Cha Generators <<CG5.26>> & <CG6.xx> v36

Jimmy_Pvish

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« Reply #14 on: <09-06-19/1238:34> »
Hardened Armor: add rating to soak test instead of reduce DV. (basically soak in 5E)

2 EDGE gain cap per combat turn: cap are only for storing EDGE, you still gain EDGE after that but must use it immediately.

Quickening Metamagic : Ban it for PC, make it dragon magic, immortal elf magic or anythings than PC can't get.

PC can't buy anything beyond Availability 9: Don't know it's already RAW or not (in the book, availability table cap at 9), anything beyond that must be given by DM.