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House Rules

Combat Clarification

• Critical Strikes calculate the total damage, then double for the final amount.

• Attacks on missiles or mini-missiles count as a normal attack with normal penalties to strike.

• PCs may forfeit initiative, but they may not hold their attacks until the end of the combat round.

Perception Rolls

• This type of roll uses the same mechanics as combat, horror factor, and saving throws. Perception rolls are used to simulate the character’s five senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch) in situations where noticing something might be important or relevant. Searching a room, standing watch listening through a door, peering into night-shrouded underbrush to see what might be lurking there; these are all situations where a perception roll might be called for.

• To determine whether the character’s perception finds something, the player must roll a 20-sided die. Add I.Q. bonuses (use the M.E. bonus table, but use I.Q. instead: ex. an I.Q. of 20 give a +3 bonus), and any O.C.C. and R.C.C. bonuses. Also, all characters get a +1 to perception at levels three, nine, and fifteen. The Game Master then compares the roll to the table below.

  • • Perception Roll 4 or Better: Easy; hearing a loud noise, finding a bright-colored object against a white background.

    • Perception Roll 8 or Better: Moderate; looking for somebody in a well-lit area, hearing a slight noise..

    • Perception Roll 14 or Better: Challenging: looking for something in a poor light, hearing something over a noisy background.

    • Perception Roll 17 or Better: Difficult; finding something in the dark; hearing a snake sliding over a carpet.

• Combining Perceptions rolls with Skills: A number of skills, among them prowl, detect ambush, concealment, and detect concealment, all may impact on perception rolls. When a perception roll is attempted against a skill roll, treat it as a combat roll; both characters (the person using the skill and the one using a perception roll) roll a 20-sided die and the higher roll wins. To quickly convert a skill percentage into a bonus, divide the skill total by 15.

Talking During Combat

• Talking is a free action, but monologues are not.

Telekinesis Questions

• Can one fight using telekinesis? Like holding the weapons with their mind and fighting? How would alignment oriented weapons work in that case?

  • Answer: TK combat could be used in the manner you described. Weapons that would be fulfilling the function of their alignment would probably not object too much to being handled in that fashion but weapons that feel this sort of combat is degrading or beneath them might hold back from their full potential (attack, defense, damage, etc.).

• Using Super Telekinesis, one could lift a non-psionic NPC hundreds of feet into the air then drop the poor sap to a nice rocky death without even the benefit of a psionics save. This interpretation seems unfair and at the very least unbalancing. Did we totally misconstrue the abilities of this power or is this possible?

  • Answer: If Super TK is used as an attack, an attack roll is required, and the intended victim should receive a saving throw.

• Can a character move him/herself with telekinesis?

  • Answer: They cannot.

• Can a character with sufficient ISP seize an opponent and throw the opponent with telekinesis? Does the Psionic retain control for the duration of the psi-power or is ISP expended every time an opponent is thrown? Is there any way to resist being thrown telekinetically? How much damage would it do to be thrown with telekinesis?

  • Answer: If using TK as an attack, the Psionic must roll his attack on a D20. The defender can roll his resistance on his D20 with the high score winning (much like normal combat). If caught by the TK attack, the target may attempt to break free with a P.S. saving throw. If unsuccessful, the damage inflicted will be 1D6 per 10 mph.

• What level of accuracy/fine control is available with telekinesis? Can the character perform delicate tasks (pick locks, writing etc.) using telekinesis? Can a character use telekinesis to manipulate and fight with a weapon with the usual +4 to strike and parry, and if so at what range?

  • Answer: TK is not designed for fine manipulation. If attempted to be used in this manner, there should be a penalty ranging from -2 to -10 (depending upon the specific use, the finer the control attempted, the greater the penalty).

• The rules say that the Telekinesis Super has the advantage of being able to manipulate greater weight, but it does not give a max weight. Is it only limited to when the psychic runs out of ISP or what?

  • Answer: That is correct; there is no maximum weight limit on Telekinesis (super).

• Can a Psionic use telekinesis on opponents’ armor and crush their body? Can Telekinesis rip an opponent’s limbs off?

  • Answer: No to both.

• With Telekinesis Super does it always cost 10 ISP to lift something say a baseball or can you use less ISP like with TK minor?

  • Answer: You will have to pay the minimum I.S.P. cost. For this reason it might be appropriate to have both Psi powers and use the appropriate one at the appropriate time.

• Can someone using telekinesis (super) attack with more than one object at once if there all the objects do the same action. Ex. could a third level psionic attack the same target with two weapons in one attack or only one object per attack.

  • Answer: They can use more than one object, but it will be considered one strike (with one strike roll) and they will tend to be confined to a small area (i.e. hurling a container of knives at someone, a successful dodge will allow the character to avoid all the knives).

• Using Super TK as a form of flight, how could I reasonably determine speed per I.S.P. spent?

  • Answer: You cannot use Telekinesis (any) to fly.

• Can a Psionic with super telekinesis twist someone's neck with it (in turn killing them)?

  • Answer: No, The attack is likely to cause the victim to spin around.

• At what speed do telekinetically hurled and/or moved objects travel? Do heavier objects move more slowly etc.?

  • Answer: A baseball sized object will move at 60 mph, heavier objects will slow down proportionately to their greater mass.

Here are some of the house rules that have been determined throughout the course of this campaign.

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Table of Contents

Combat Rules

Dodge vs. Auto-Dodge

Dodging Ranged Attacks

Energy Expulsion blasts

Knock Out

Loss of S.D.C.

Natural 20

Movement

Distance covered during Combat

Strength

Damage, Lifting, and Carrying

Combat Rules

+++

Dodge vs. Auto-Dodge

Dodge bonuses are not cumulative with with Auto-Dodge bonuses. Auto-Dodge bonuses are cumulative with any P.P. bonuses.

Dodging Ranged Attacks

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Energy Expulsion blasts

Characters with Energy Expulsion or the ability to throw energy via Alter Physical Structure add P.P. bonuses when determining their Strike modifier.

Knock Out

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Loss of S.D.C.

If at any time a character is depleted of all S.D.C. points and begins to take damage to Hit Point, a P.E. Saving Throw of 15 must be made to remain conscious. The unconscious character would be considered Knocked Out.

Natural 20

A natural twenty is rolling the highest possible number (a 20) without adding any bonuses to the number rolled. A natural 20 never misses unless one's opponent's also rolls a natural 20. Yes, a natural 20 will hit even if an opponent's roll is higher than 20 after bonuses are added to it. A natural 20 also does double damage.

Movement

Distance covered during Combat

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Strength

Damage, Lifting, and Carrying

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House Rules

Combat Clarification

• P.P. attribute bonuses and Hand to Hand Combat bonuses do NOT apply to modern weapons.

• Critical Strikes calculate the total damage, then double for the final amount.

• PCs may forfeit initiative, but they may not hold their attacks until the end of the combat round.

• When in doubt, tie rolls go to the defender.

Saving Throws

• Curses: 15 or better (P.E. bonus will lower).

• Disease: 14 or better. (P.E. bonus will lower).

• Lethal Poison: 14 or better. (P.E. bonus will lower).

• Non-Lethal Poison: 16 or better. (P.E. bonus will lower).

• Harmful Drugs: 15 or better. (P.E. bonus will lower).

• Acids: No save possible – dodge!

• Insanity: 12 or better (sometimes higher). (M.E. bonus will lower).

• Magic: 12-16 vs spells. 16+ to save vs ritual magic. (P.E. bonus will lower).

• Psionics: Varies; 15 for ordinary people and animals. (P.E. bonus will lower).

Terminology

• Cautions Mode: PCs move at half speed, and use full Perception.

• PCNPC Mode: When a player is unavailable to play his/her character, the GM must step in to ensure aspects can be successful.

Campaign Redundancy

• E.S.W.A.T. - In the Justice, Not Law campaign, the acronym for E.S.W.A.T. Show stands for Elite Superior Weapon & Armaments of Tomorrow.

• G.A.I.A. - In the Justice, Not Law campaign, the acronym for G.A.I.A. stands for Global Assessment of Idiosyncratic Anomalies.

• Nightlords - Other than mysterious ancient writings and legends like the above excerpt, little is known about the Nightlords, also called the Ba'al, Ba'al-ze-Neckt, the Lords of Night, and the Rulers of the Nightlands. The Ba'al reign over sprawling cities in the Nightlands as tyrannical kings and queens feared by all the inhabitants of their domains. Some believe them to be demons, supernatural intelligences, or worse. Others think they are products of humankind's worst traits, living embodiments of hatred, fear and greed. Some have even suggested that they were once human sorcerers who became trapped and warped by the Nightlands, but such speculation is unlikely. They are known to be immortal or at least ageless. They are a diverse group of beings, many of whom bear long-lasting enmities against each other. The only thing they have in common is their evil nature and their immense power.

"Hattori wakizashi (curved Japanese short sword)" by xxx, "KA-BAR 1218 serrated edge fighting knife" by xxx

House Rules for Justice, Not Law

Here are some of the house rules that have been determined throughout the course of this campaign.

Combat Rules

+++

Dodge vs. Auto-Dodge

Dodge bonuses are not cumulative with with Auto-Dodge bonuses. Auto-Dodge bonuses are cumulative with any P.P. bonuses.

Dodging Ranged Attacks

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Energy Expulsion blasts

Characters with Energy Expulsion or the ability to throw energy via Alter Physical Structure add P.P. bonuses when determining their Strike modifier.

Knock Out

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Loss of S.D.C.

If at any time a character is depleted of all S.D.C. points and begins to take damage to Hit Point, a P.E. Saving Throw of 15 must be made to remain conscious. The unconscious character would be considered Knocked Out.

Natural 20

A natural twenty is rolling the highest possible number (a 20) without adding any bonuses to the number rolled. A natural 20 never misses unless one's opponent's also rolls a natural 20. Yes, a natural 20 will hit even if an opponent's roll is higher than 20 after bonuses are added to it. A natural 20 also does double damage.

Movement

Distance covered during Combat

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Strength

Damage, Lifting, and Carrying

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