Additional Campaign Options and House Rules
Following on from the previous post, I have some additional options that are in effect. I won't repeat the rules verbatim here, but will of course make the details available at the gaming table for any player who requests them.
- Multiple Blocks - this option has previously come up in play. It allows multiple blocks with shield at a cumulative penalty (taken from GURPS Martial Arts).
- Pummelling - this allows using the butt of a Reach 1 melee weapon, or the hilt or pommel of any sword, to strike in close combat. I like this rule for giving an additional option when you don't want to, or can't, retreat from close combat but your hands are holding weapons that are normally too large to use at grappling range. This may be my favourite option (again taken from GURPS Martial Arts), as it adds detail that feels both gritty and cool.
- Extra Effort in Combat - this was one of those GURPS options that apparently didn't make the cut into the DFRPG boxed set. I happen to like having a few ways for fighters to choose to burn extra fatigue during combat. Rather than dump additional choice on all players wholesale, I instead have each individual option available as a separate Perk, learnable from NPCs.
- Committed Attack and Defensive Attack - these manoeuvres give more granularity between simple Attack, All-Out Attack, and Move and Attack combat choices. Similar to EE in Combat, I like to introduce these options as separate learnable Perks. That way, they won't factor until a player wants to pay an NPC to learn them.
While every extra rule can add additional complexity, things like the options here only come up when they are actually invoked. That feels like a reasonable balance to me. There is the chance that one of more of these might eventually see use by a monster or NPC against the party, that would be an unusual rather than everyday occurrence.
EDIT: We are also using the Fantastic Dungeon Grappling rules by Douglas Cole over at Gaming Ballistic. Unlike the above options which are largely situational, this is a big change in that it swaps out the default GURPS grappling system. The new rules look to be more granular and less binary, and feel like grappling fights could more nuanced, as well as more dramatic in play. This hasn't seen enough actual use at my table for me to offer much comment yet on how it works in practice. It definitely adds complexity, in that the control thresholds for all PCs as well as all grappled or grappling monsters will need to be calculated. I'm hopeful that the extra work will be worth it.
- Multiple Blocks - this option has previously come up in play. It allows multiple blocks with shield at a cumulative penalty (taken from GURPS Martial Arts).
- Pummelling - this allows using the butt of a Reach 1 melee weapon, or the hilt or pommel of any sword, to strike in close combat. I like this rule for giving an additional option when you don't want to, or can't, retreat from close combat but your hands are holding weapons that are normally too large to use at grappling range. This may be my favourite option (again taken from GURPS Martial Arts), as it adds detail that feels both gritty and cool.
- Extra Effort in Combat - this was one of those GURPS options that apparently didn't make the cut into the DFRPG boxed set. I happen to like having a few ways for fighters to choose to burn extra fatigue during combat. Rather than dump additional choice on all players wholesale, I instead have each individual option available as a separate Perk, learnable from NPCs.
- Committed Attack and Defensive Attack - these manoeuvres give more granularity between simple Attack, All-Out Attack, and Move and Attack combat choices. Similar to EE in Combat, I like to introduce these options as separate learnable Perks. That way, they won't factor until a player wants to pay an NPC to learn them.
While every extra rule can add additional complexity, things like the options here only come up when they are actually invoked. That feels like a reasonable balance to me. There is the chance that one of more of these might eventually see use by a monster or NPC against the party, that would be an unusual rather than everyday occurrence.
EDIT: We are also using the Fantastic Dungeon Grappling rules by Douglas Cole over at Gaming Ballistic. Unlike the above options which are largely situational, this is a big change in that it swaps out the default GURPS grappling system. The new rules look to be more granular and less binary, and feel like grappling fights could more nuanced, as well as more dramatic in play. This hasn't seen enough actual use at my table for me to offer much comment yet on how it works in practice. It definitely adds complexity, in that the control thresholds for all PCs as well as all grappled or grappling monsters will need to be calculated. I'm hopeful that the extra work will be worth it.
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