House Rules 2.0!

[Carthrat]

I'm just making this new thread so we can get all the new rules together. I've left the other one around for us to discuss in, though, and reference.

I haven't added in class-specific modifications, so stuff like my familiar and Darius' unique mastery shuld go somewhere else.

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1. The maximum stat value is 25. The highest possible starting stat is 19, an 18 with a +1 racial bonus added or some other inherent benefit. There is no limitation beyond 18 for a statistic - if a PC can manage to raise a score to 19 or better through gameplay, good for them.

1a. I meant to try this seriously last game, but since it fell apart? Let's try it here! Every four levels(4, 8, 12...), the PC may add +1 to one score of his or her choice. This is a permanent boost, reflecting the long hours of struggle and work the PC has put into his skills and body.

1.aa. The GM, at his discretion, may rule that a PC cannot raise a stat twice in a row by the previous method. This is in place if I feel it needs to be due to balance issues.

1b. A Wish can raise one stat by +1 permanently. This overwrites the bullshit of multiple wishes for a stat point above 15 in the DMG. Good luck getting a free wish or three. <_<

1c. There is no maximum to the level of 'inherent stat bonus' a PC can have. This isn't third edition - if a PC can manage to scrape together enough levels and points and whatever to raise an 12 to a 25, good for them.

1d. On a warrior or exceptional strength worthy class reaching 18 strength by raising his or her scores, they may roll exceptional strength. Another point into it vaults them to 19.

2. Elven paladins, while rare, are known to exist. As the favored of the gods, the elven race occasionally are given great champions of the faith ...or some bullshit thereof. Oddly, no half elven paladins are known to currently exist.

3. Priests and clerics can be the default 'good' cleric in the PHB. This will reflect one of the good deities in the world - there will be others that have custom capacity. If you're interested in playing a cleric and have an idea on a god, talk to me. More on this will come with the world setting.

4. The 10 percent bonus XP rule for high stats is hereby shot in the face. As it stands now, it stands as not being used do to general agreement by all I've talked to about it so far. This one doesn't matter to me at all, so...you know, really, this one is up to you players.

5. I'm not going to be a nazi about encumberance. I'm not going to make you adjust your weight level each time you pick up a gold coin or drop a scrap of cloth from your backpack. This will mainly be worried about when - gasp - the PC is notably burdened to begin with, or something silly, like a 4 strength human trying to wear full plate.

6. There was a six.  Now there is not.

7. Verbal, somatic and material components shall be used for spells.

7a For the sake of simplicity, we'll assume that a mage or cleric can gather any simple or common components for minimal cost during their downtime. For components that are more pricey or difficult to obtain under the circumstances (Ice in a desert, for example), you'll be talking to the GM.

8. Even if the holy symbol of a cleric is a little sword pendant, under no circumstances shall a holy symbol be permitted to be used as a penetrating or slashing weapon.

9. Hitdice are assumed to be maximum for the first level. Past that, you roll, with one chance to reroll should the player want it per hitdie. If he does reroll, however, you must go with the second result, even if the first was better.

10. With the exceptions of paladins and certain clerics, alignment is a pointer and a tool. It's not a straightjacket - at worst, you'll change alignments. If this happens early in the game, I won't assess a penalty. There's nothing wrong with a character ending up a little different than planned. If it' sa change later on, a deviation from the norm, I may impose the EXP penalty listed in the PHB. Hopefully this won't ever come up.

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11. Weapon Mastery rules from Combat and Tactics are in use, as per written- copy paste of the rules follows.

Chapter Four:
Weapon Specialization & Mastery

In a desperate battle, the only thing that stands between a brave hero and a grisly end is his skill with blade or shield. Skill at personal combat is a valuable commodity in a fantasy setting; it's hard to imagine Conan meeting his better at swordplay, or the Gray Mouser encountering a foe swifter and more agile than himself.
This chapter describes a revised weapon proficiency system that includes several grades of specialization as well as new uses for a weapon proficiency. This material is completely compatible with the character point proficiency system described in the Skills & Powers book; the point system allows characters to purchase proficiency, expertise, specialization, or mastery in the same way that an AD&D character can spend proficiency slots to gain these benefits.
A number of new uses for weapon proficiencies are also included in this chapter. Weapon groups, fighting styles, attack maneuvers, shield use, armor use, special talents, and dirty tricks can all be learned by spending weapon proficiency slots.

Weapon Proficiencies Anybody can pick up a sword and swing it in a menacing manner, but without proper training and technique it's impossible to use a weapon correctly. A character's weapon proficiencies represent weapons in which he has some degree of training. Usually, he can wield them without embarrassing himself.

Intelligence and Proficiencies
Fighters, paladins, and rangers may apply their bonus language slots for high Intelligence scores to any kind of weapon proficiency. Characters of any other type can only use these extra proficiency slots to learn nonweapon proficiencies. This rewards fighters who chose brains over brawn by allowing them to compensate for shortcomings in physical attributes with the benefits of skill and training.
Under this rule, the character's number of allowed languages simply represents the most languages she can ever learn. The character isn't assumed to begin play knowing any extra languages; instead, she must use nonweapon proficiency slots to learn any extra languages she wants to speak. Characters can always speak their native tongue without spending any proficiency slots.
Demihuman characters who are allowed to learn extra languages still have to spend slots learning these tongues. Their advantage lies in the fact that they can begin play with knowledge of these languages, because they had access to people who spoke them when they were growing up.

Proficiencies and the
Skills & Powers Book
The Player's Option character point system replaces the normal acquisition of proficiency slots. Characters may decide to learn a lot of skills by devoting their character points to a variety of proficiencies, or they may choose to specialize in a few areas. Regardless of how they elect to spend their character points, the end results are the same: either they have a proficiency in something or they don't.

Weapon Groups
Many weapons are very similar in construction and techniques of use; for example, using a bastard sword with one hand is not too much different from using a long sword. Both weapons are heavy, two-edged blades that rely on slashing or chopping strokes to cut through armor. All weapons are categorized in tight groups, which are further organized into broad groups. The particular group a weapon belongs to is noted under the weapon characteristics in Chapter Seven.
Tight groups serve two functions in game play. First of all, all weapons in a tight group are considered to be related to each other. A character who is proficient in one weapon belonging to a tight group is automatically familiar with the other weapons of that tight group and has a reduced penalty for nonproficiency when using them.
Second, characters can learn to use all weapons in a tight group with a weapon group proficiency. Weapon group proficiencies cost two slots, but may include a number of weapons. For example, a character could use a weapon group proficiency to gain proficiency in crossbows; by spending two slots, he actually gains proficiency in six different weapons.
Some tight weapon groups are further organized into broad groups. For example, the tight groups of axes, picks, hammers, and maces are all part of the hafted weapon broad group. Proficiency in all of the weapons of a broad weapon group can be learned for three proficiency slots.
A number of weapons are completely unrelated to anything else. For example, lassoes just don't work like any other type of weapon. The same applies for nets, whips, bolas, and mancatchers. These weapons must be learned one at a time.

Specialization and Weapon Groups
Having a weapon group proficiency counts as the first slot of specialization for one weapon in that group. When the character chooses to specialize, he need only spend one additional proficiency slot and select any weapon of that group as his specialty. For example, a character with the crossbow tight group proficiency could spend one additional slot to specialize in the medium crossbow. He's spent a total of three slots but has proficiency with six types of crossbows and specialization with his preferred weapon, the medium crossbow.

Character Classes and
Weapon Proficiencies
Most character classes are limited in their selection of weapons. However, in the Skills & Powers book, a character may choose to be proficient in a weapon she normally would not be allowed to use. This is reflected by requiring the character to spend more character points than normal to become proficient.
As an optional rule, characters may learn to use barred weapons by paying extra proficiency slots. A rogue or priest may learn a weapon normally reserved for warriors by suffering a one-slot penalty, and wizards may learn weapons normally reserved for priests or rogues with a one-slot penalty. If a wizard wishes to learn the use of a weapon normally reserved for warriors only, she must pay a two-slot penalty. For example, a wizard who wants to use a long sword could do so by paying two weapon proficiencies for it, since long swords are available for rogues—but she would have to pay three slots to become proficienct in the two-handed sword.
Note that the limited number of weapon proficiencies available for nonwarrior characters will tend to control character abuse of this rule. Priests may be capable of learning any weapons under these rules, but priests who use barred weapons do so at the risk of angering their superiors or deity.

Kits and Barred Weapons
Some kits may allow characters to use barred weapons; for example, militant wizards may select a sword as one of their weapon proficiencies. Generally, the bonuses and perks of a kit are considered to negate any out-of-class penalties. However, priests may still be limited by their priesthood weapon restrictions.

New Weapons
A number of new weapons are introduced in Chapter Seven: Weapons and Armor. Many of these are similar to weapons that were restricted in the Player's Handbook. The Weapon Table in Chapter Seven lists any classes that cannot use a particular weapon under normal circumstances.

Shield Proficiency
By spending a weapon proficiency, characters can become more skilled in the use of their shield. Modern re-enactments of medieval tournaments have demonstrated that the shield is a very important part of a warrior's protection. The extra protection conferred by the shield varies by the exact type the character becomes proficient in:

Shield Normal Proficient Number of
Type AC bonus AC bonus Attackers
Buckler +1 +1 1
Small +1 +2 2
Medium +1 +3 3
Body +1/+2 vs. +3/+4 vs. 4
missiles missiles

The number of attackers is the maximum number of times the shield bonus can be used in a single round by the character. Normally, shields can only be used against enemies in the character's front spaces or in the flank spaces on the character's shield side.

Armor Proficiency
Similarly, characters can spend time and effort learning how to use their armor more efficiently. While this doesn't provide a bonus to Armor Class, it can help to offset the hefty encumbrance penalties of heavy armor. A character who spends a weapon proficiency slot becoming acquainted with a type of armor gains the special benefit of only suffering one-half the normal encumbrance of that armor.
For example, chain mail normally weighs 40 pounds, but a character with a proficiency in chain mail only has to count 20 of this towards his encumbrance level. This represents the character's training in wearing the armor just the right way and his practice in moving around while wearing 30 or 40 pounds of ironmongery.

Weapon Mastery It's fairly obvious that there is a huge difference in the attack potential of an unskilled novice and a trained swordsman. The level of skill with which a character fights is divided into six general categories: nonproficiency, familiarity, proficiency, expertise, specialization, and mastery.
Skills & Powers uses character points to acquire each level of mastery, but this system is also compatible with AD&D weapon proficiencies. Nonproficiency and familiarity have no cost in proficiency slots, normal proficiency costs one slot, expertise and specialization cost two slots, and mastery costs three or more slots.

Nonproficiency
If a character has never had any training or practice with a weapon, he is nonproficient. He can only guess at the proper way to hold the weapon or attack his opponent. Anything fancier than a simple hack, slash, or bash is beyond his abilities—the character cannot attempt any attack options such as disarming, blocking, or sapping.
In addition to his inability to make special attacks, the character also suffers an attack roll penalty based on his character class. Warriors tend to figure out weapons of any kind relatively quickly and have a small penalty for attacking with weapons they're not familiar with. Other characters don't have the warrior's affinity for weapons and are more severely penalized. These penalties are:

Class Nonprof. Familiarity
Warrior –2 –1
Wizard –5 –3
Priest –3 –2
Rogue –3 –2
Psionicist –4 –2
Nonclassed
NPCs –4 –2

Any weapon wielded by a nonproficient character is considered one initiative phase slower than it really is, and missile weapons have their rate of fire halved. An untrained character wielding a long sword has an initiative phase of slow, not average, and an unskilled character wielding a long bow would only fire once per round instead of twice.

Familiarity
All characters are automatically familiar with any weapon that is related to a weapon they are proficient in. Weapons are considered to be related if they are part of the same tight group. For example, a character who is proficient in the use of the light crossbow is automatically familiar with all other types of crossbow because they're part of the same tight weapon group.
Familiarity is not as good as proficiency, but it beats not knowing anything about a weapon at all. Characters only suffer one-half the normal nonproficiency penalty when attacking with weapons they are familiar with. They may attempt any normal attack maneuvers possible (the familiarity penalty still applies, of course), and suffer no initiative or rate of fire penalties.
Familiarity does not allow the user to make use of any special weapon attack modes that require proficiency in the weapon.

Proficiency
This is the basic level of competence most characters achieve with their weapons training. Proficiency allows the character to use a weapon with no penalties and employ all attack options and special weapon properties to their fullest extent.
As noted previously, warriors can spend two proficiency slots to become proficient in a tight weapon group, or three slots to become proficient in a broad group. Otherwise, characters have to spend one slot per weapon they wish to be proficient with.

Expertise
Weapon expertise is a form of specialization that is available to nonfighters. Regular weapon specialization (described below) is only available to single-classed fighters, but weapon expertise can be learned by paladins, rangers, and multi-classed fighters. There's no reason a single-classed fighter couldn't learn expertise instead of specialization, but expertise is just as expensive as specialization and isn't as good.
Weapon expertise allows a character to gain extra attacks as if he or she were a weapon specialist. At 1st level, an expert with the long sword gets to attack three times per two rounds. Weapon expertise also allows the use of any unusual weapon properties reserved for specialist use. Weapon expertise does not grant the character extra attack or damage bonuses, as weapon specialization does.
Note that Skills & Powers allows a character to "customize" his class and receive abilities he normally could not attain. Under these rules, paladins, rangers, and multi-classed fighters can specialize at the cost of sacrificing other abilities or advantages. Similarly, priests and rogues may be able to gain weapon expertise. If you aren't using the Skills & Powers book, we recommend that you limit specialization and mastery to single-class fighters only, and limit expertise to paladins, rangers, and multi-class fighters.

Specialization
By spending an extra proficiency slot on a weapon, a single-class fighter character can become a specialist. A fighter may only specialize in one weapon at a time. If she wishes to change her specialization to a different weapon, she must spend two extra proficiency slots to become a specialist in the new weapon, and loses all benefits of specializing in the previous one (although she is still proficient with it and always will be). Any more changes cost three slots each, so it's a good idea to pick one weapon and stick with it.
The exact benefits of weapon specialization vary with the particular weapon involved. Generally, the types of benefits fall into one of five categories: melee weapons, missile weapons, bows, crossbows, and firearms.

Melee Weapons
Specializing in a melee weapon provides a character with two main benefits: first of all, he gains a +1 bonus to attack rolls and a +2 bonus to damage rolls with that weapon; secondly, he gains an extra attack once per two rounds. A 1st-level fighter normally attacks once per round, but a 1st-level long sword specialist attacks three times per two rounds.

Missile Weapons
This category includes slings and thrown weapons. Generally, specialists gain an increased rate of fire with these weapons and a +1 bonus to attack rolls. If a character specializes in a weapon that can be used either for melee or as a missile weapon (spears, daggers, hand axes, etc.), he gains the melee benefit described above when using the weapon for hand-to-hand combat and the increased rate of fire for using the weapon for ranged attacks.
Refer to the table below for the exact number of attacks available to the specialist for the various types of missile weapons.

Bows
Characters who specialize in the bow gain a +1 bonus to hit at any range (normal range penalties still apply, of course), an increased rate of fire, and a new range category: point-blank. Point-blank is any shot of 30 feet or less. At point-blank range, the character gains a +2 to damage. In addition, bow specialists can automatically fire first as a very fast action if they have their target covered. This supercedes the specialization rules found in the Player's Handbook.

Crossbows
Specialists with crossbows gain a +1 bonus to hit at any range, an increased rate of fire, and a point-blank range category, just like archers. For crossbows, point-blank range extends out to 60 feet. Crossbow specialists have a +2 bonus to damage rolls against any target at point-blank range. In addition, they share the archer's quick-shot benefit when covering an enemy.

Firearms
Firearms specialists are often referred to as marksmen or sharpshooters. Specializing in a firearm provides a character with three benefits: first of all, he has a better rate of fire than a nonspecialist; second, he gains a +1 bonus to hit at any range; and last, there is a 50% chance that any misfire he rolls while attacking with the firearm is simply a miss instead.

Specialist Attacks per Round

Level of Specialist
Weapon 1–6 7–12 13+
Melee Weapons 3/2 2/1 5/2
Blowgun 2/1 5/2 3/1
Bolas 1/1 3/2 2/1
Bows 2/1 3/1 4/1
Hand Crossbow 1/1 3/2 2/1
Light Crossbow 1/1 3/2 2/1
Heavy Crossbow 1/2 1/1 3/2
Stonebow 1/1 3/2 2/1
Repeating Crossbow 2/1 5/2 3/1
Thrown Dagger/Knife 3/1 4/1 5/1
Thrown Dart 4/1 5/1 6/1
Firearms
Arquebus 1/3 1/2 1/1
Matchlocks 1/2 1/1 3/2
Snaplocks 1/1 3/2 2/1
Wheelock Belt Pistol 1/1 3/2 2/1
Wheelock Horse Pistol 1/2 1/1 3/2
Javelin 3/2 2/1 5/2
Sling 3/2 2/1 5/2
Staff Sling 1/1 3/2 2/1
Shuriken 3/1 4/1 5/1
Other Thrown Weapons 1/1 3/2 2/1

Weapon Mastery
There are swordsmen, and then there are swordsmen. A warrior who devotes his life to the study of martial combat and the characteristics of a single type of weapon can become a weapon master—a fighter whose precision, quickness, and skill are virtually unequaled anywhere.
Weapon masters are rare characters. Only single-classed fighters can ever achieve weapon mastery, and even then they do so with time, study, and sacrifice. To achieve mastery in a weapon, a character must first specialize in the use of that weapon. Then, at any time after he reaches 5th level, he can spend another proficiency slot to become a weapon master. He can continue to devote proficiency slots to the study of his chosen weapon, but can't progress faster than the rate at which he gains new weapon proficiency slots. So, a character who becomes a master at 5th level couldn't acquire his second slot of mastery until 6th level, his third until 9th level, and so on.
Generally, only weapons that require some skill to handle or that have a history of cultural identification are chosen by weapon masters. Swords of any kind are the most common weapons mastered, followed by bows and then axes or spears. Polearms, crossbows, and firearms are the subject of weapon mastery only in rare cases. The DM can decide that a weapon isn't appropriate for mastery at his discretion, but he should do so before a character chooses to specialize in it.

Effects of Mastery
If a fighter spends another proficiency slot on a melee weapon he already specializes in, his attack and damage bonuses increase to +3 and +3, respectively. For bows and crossbows, his point-blank bonuses increase to +3/+3 as with melee weapons, and he gains an additional +1 to hit at all other range categories, for a total of +2. (Remember, this bonus doesn't take range modifiers into account, so the archer has a total of +2 at short, +0 at medium, and –3 at long range, if the penalties are factored in.)
A marksman who chooses to master a firearm gains an additional +1 bonus to hit, cumulative with the effects of specialization for a total bonus of +2 to hit. As with bows and crossbows, this is still reduced by range penalties. In addition, the marksman ignores heavy armor at all ranges as if he were firing at a short-range target. See Firearms in Chapter Seven for more information.

High Mastery
By spending a second slot on mastery, a character can become a high master. By this time, the character has spent four slots on a single weapon and is at least 6th level. High masters decrease the speed delay on their weapon by 2; for example, a weapon with an attack speed of 10 now has an attack speed of 8. High masters also add +3 to their confirm rolls on a critical hit.

Grand Mastery
High masters who spend one more slot on learning their weapon of choice can become grand masters. Grand masters are capable of feats of swordplay that border on the fantastic. Grand masters gain one additional attack per round above and beyond a specialist's rate of attacks for their level, so a 12th-level melee weapon grand master would attack 3 times per round with his weapon of choice.
Grand masters also increase the amount of damage and the chance of a knockdown when they employ their chosen weapon. The weapon's base damage die and knockdown die are increased to the next greater die size against all opponents. A long sword thus inflicts 1d10/1d20 points of damage in the hands of a grand master, and its knockdown die is increased to a d10. If the weapon causes multiple dice of damage, all of them are increased. Thus, a two-handed sword in the hands of a grand master inflicts 3d8 points of damage on large targets. Needless to say, grand masters are extremely dangerous opponents.

Special DM Note
Weapon mastery is hard to come by, and even harder to perfect. It's not too rare for a character to become a master, but the quest to become a high master or grand master could take years. Unlike the previous levels of specialization, which can simply be selected as an advancement choice, high mastery and grand mastery should require a great deal of time and personal sacrifice on the part of the character. It's not unreasonable to require the candidate to locate someone who can teach her and spend several months of campaign time in training—possibly "sitting out" an adventure or two while she hones her skills.
While the higher levels of weapon mastery are a great goal for a character to set her eyes on, they can unbalance a game very quickly. Exercise tight control over the acquisition of weapon mastery in your campaign, and make certain that the players realize just how rare and special their weapon master characters really are.

Fighting Style Specialization Knowing how to use a particular fighting style is almost as important as being proficient with a weapon. The various fighting styles are introduced in Chapter Two; warriors automatically know every style, while the other character types are limited in their knowledge of fighting styles. If a nonwarrior wishes to learn a style he doesn't know, he can do so at the cost of a weapon proficiency.
In addition to simply knowing a style, warriors, priests, and rogues can specialize in that method of fighting by spending a weapon proficiency slot. The exact effects of style specialization vary from style to style. Note that warriors can specialize in a weapon, and then specialize in an appropriate style. In fact, warriors can specialize in as many styles as they like, as long as they have the proficiency slots (or character points) available. Priests and rogues can only specialize in one style.

Weapon and Shield Style
Normally, a character employing a shield in his off hand can shield-rush, shield-punch, block, or trap as if it were a secondary weapon, with the normal penalties for attacking with two weapons. The disadvantage is that the shield's AC bonus is forfeited for any round in which it is used this way.
However, characters who specialize in weapon and shield style can choose to make one of these secondary attacks every round without losing the AC benefit for carrying a shield. If the heroic fray rules from Chapter Two are in use, the character only gets one secondary attack, not two, but his primary weapon attacks are still doubled, of course.

One-handed Weapon Style
The character is always free to treat his empty hand as a "secondary weapon" and punch, grab, or otherwise annoy anyone he is fighting. The normal penalties for using two weapons apply. If the character is also familiar with the two-handed weapon style and his weapon can be used either one- or two-handed, he can switch back and forth between the two styles at the beginning of every round of combat.
Characters who specialize in this style gain a special AC bonus of +1 while fighting with a one-handed weapon and no shield or off-hand weapon. By spending an additional proficiency slot, the character can increase his AC bonus to +2, but that's the maximum benefit for style specialization.

Two-handed Weapon Style
Many weapons are so large that a character is required to use both hands to wield them. The rule of thumb is simple: a character can use a weapon with a size equal to or less than her own in one hand and can use a weapon one size larger than herself if she wields it two-handed.
If a character specializes in two-handed weapon style, she increases the speed of her weapon by one category (slow to average, average to fast) when she fights using a two-handed weapon. If you're not using the new initiative rules presented in Chapter One, the weapon's speed factor drops by 3.
There are a few weapons that can normally be employed one-handed or two-handed; these are noted in the weapons list of Chapter Seven. There are also a variety of weapons that are normally used one-handed but that can be used two-handed. This would allow a specialist in this style to gain the speed benefit mentioned above. In addition, the two-handed style specialist gains a +1 to damage rolls when using a one-handed weapon in two hands.

Two-Weapon Style
This is a difficult style to master, since it requires exceptional coordination and skill. Normally, characters who fight with a weapon in each hand suffer a –2 penalty to attacks with their primary hand and a –4 penalty to attacks with the off-hand weapon. This can be partially or completely negated by the character's reaction adjustment for Dexterity (or Dex/Aim if you're also using Skills & Powers). Characters who specialize in this style reduce their penalty to 0 and –2, respectively. Ambidextrous characters who specialize in this style suffer no penalty with either attack.
The character's secondary weapon must be one size smaller than his primary weapon—but knives and daggers can always be used as secondary weapons, regardless of the size of the primary weapon. Note that this means that for Man-sized characters, the secondary weapon has to be size S. However, if a character spends a second proficiency slot on two-weapon style specialization, he gains the ability to use two weapons of equal size, as long as he can use each one as a one-handed weapon. Rangers are considered to have the first slot of this style specialization for free as a character ability.

Missile or Thrown Weapon Style
Some heroes specialize in fighting with ranged weapons; Robin Hood and William Tell spring to mind as good examples. Characters who choose to specialize in missile or thrown weapon style gain two benefits. First, they can move up to half their normal movement rate and still attack with their full rate of fire, or make a full move and attack at half their rate of fire. Second, they gain a bonus of –1 to their AC against enemy missile fire while attacking with a ranged weapon.

Horse Archers
A proficient archer and rider who specializes in missile style gains a special benefit when mounted: any penalties he suffers for shooting while riding are reduced by 2. Normally, a character suffers a –2 penalty to missile attacks if his mount is moving at up to half its normal speed, and a –4 penalty if his mount is moving at full speed. Horse archers suffer no penalty for half-speed firing, and only a –2 penalty for firing at full speed.
Horse archers are rare in a typical Western European fantasy setting. Historically, most horse archers came from central Asia. At the DM's discretion, a character may not qualify for this special benefit unless he has a suitable origin or makes an effort to locate someone from that culture who can teach him.

Local Fighting Styles
Many specialized forms of combat evolved throughout the world in various locations. Some Roman gladiators were trained to fight with net and trident; Western Europe developed the joust; and martial arts evolved throughout southern and eastern Asia. If a character comes from an area where a unique form of combat has evolved, she may spend a weapon proficiency slot to specialize in that form of fighting.
Some examples of specialized fighting styles include: rapier and main-gauche, sabre, fighting sticks or nunchuks, katana and wakizashi, and so on. If a character spends a proficiency slot to specialize in one of these local styles, she can choose one of the following benefits:

• A –1 bonus to Armor Class;
• A +1 bonus to attack rolls;
• The ability to make a free block or trap maneuver without spending an attack to do so;
• The negation of penalties for fighting with two weapons;
• A free unarmed punch or kick.

For example, specialization in fighting with matched sticks or nunchuks may confer the negation of the normal –2/–4 attack penalty for fighting with two weapons. Rapier and main-gauche specialization may provide the character with an extra block or trap maneuver with his main-gauche. The DM is the final judge of what bonus a particular style provides and whether or not a character can specialize in it.

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12. NWPs and WPs need not be spent immediately; they can be saved up and used at a later date.

13. Riding proficiencies are based on strength instead of wisdom.

14. Skill-based modifiers don't apply to critical failures, so a weapon specialist does not deal extra damage to his ally if he accidentally hits him.

15. Stay behind the fucking tank.

16. For shield wielding mages, spells can still be cast with a shield IF they are purely verbal or are verbal with a spell ingredient that would not be interfered with by wielding a shield.

17.  All PCs can read and write in any language they are proficient in.

18.  A critical hit deals 2x damage to the dice roll and any bonus to strength, but not due to magical enchantment or weapon mastery.

19. Initiative is rolled at the beginning of each round individually by all characters in the battle.

20. Animal Riding - Land Based uses Strength.

21. Searching is a 1d20 roll.  Taking 10 is allowed, but not taking 20.  Role playing of the search is allowed and encouraged.

22.  To Protect:
A warrior/shieldbearer/knight/GM'sDiscretion may declare an individual being protected at the start of round and if the protected individual is kept close, the warrior may block attacks directed at them.  This varies wildly depending on the circumstances.

If this is not called, it's a case by case basis call by the GM. Generally the foes get a small bonus to hit as Gavin's moving out of position - ranging from +1 to +3, generally.

This is admittedly a simplification, but I'm hoping you'll make comments and suggestions back on this matter.

23.  On Scroll Scribing

Wizards, when armed with a suitable quill or writing implement, are capable of scribing scrolls.

A typical quill has 2d20+10 spell levels in it; once it has scribed this many, it breaks. The wizard scribing can't know how many are left within; if he tries to scribe a scroll when there aren't enough levels left in the quill, then both the quill and scroll are ruined.

Some quills have particular affinities to certain spells- they decrease the spell levels consumed by half (no less than 1), and reduce the cost of scribing by 5%.

It costs a certain amount of GP to scribe any given spell, and these costs and listed here.

1st - 50
2nd - 150
3rd - 350
4th - 625
5th - 1500
6th - 3500
7th - 5000
8th/9th - GM fiat.

24.  The dexterity table post 18 has been changed to the below table.

   to initiative/to archery/to ac
19 - +3/+3/-4
20 - +3/+3/-5
21- +4/+4/-5
22 - +4/+4/-6
23 - +4/+4/-7
24 - +5/+5/-7
25 - +5/+5/-8

Updated: 7-06-06