Great White Games/Pinnacle Entertainment Group

[Thunderforge]

We've had several interesting threads lately about the rules and what you would change or add. I'm interested if there are some rules that people just blatantly ignore or don't pay attention to.

For me, encumbrance is one. In our current Deadlands game, we just say that if what you're carrying weighs more than a goat, then you're encumbered (and our Brawny character can carry two goats).

All of us independently decided that we didn't like the rule that it takes a full advance to buy a skill at a d4 after character creation. So we ignore that and it now takes 1 skill point, just like at character creation.

Depending on the setting, we also ignore ammo rules too.

What about you all? Any rules you completely ignore? Not necessarily things that you've houseruled, just things that you've cut out entirely.

[kreider204]

Encumbrance, absolutely. It's a perfectly reasonable concept, but I have always hated keeping track of such things. I do have minimum strength requirements for armor, though.

Other than that, it's not so much ignored, as tweaked with house rules.
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"It only takes an extra second to be courteous."
- Constable Benton Fraser

[Bavix]

I've never liked that characters automatically stand from prone as a reaction to being attacked. I, and everyone I've played Savage Worlds with, treat standiing from prone as part of movement that costs 2"

[77IM]

Agree with the prone defender rule -- we use that one in some genres but not in the more realistic ones.

Other ones we commonly ignore:

- No special GM permission needed to take Background and Professional edges after character creation. The players are usually building according to some concept and if that is helped by one of those edges, no need to penalize their attributes by making them spend hindrance points on it. (In my experience the only edge that is actually unbalanced by this scheme is Alertness; too many players take Notice d4 + Alertness.)

- On an opposed roll, ties go to the actor rather than the defender (in the official rules often the ties go to the defender). We feel this keeps things moving a little bit.

- Facing rules for shields. It comes up so rarely that we just don't worry about it.

-- 77IM
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Stuff I made: Arcane Abilities · Talent Edge · Savage Fading Suns · Savage Wuxia!

[newForumNewName]

I agree with 77IM on certain Background edges (you ought to be able to learn arcane backgrounds or "discover" them later). Alertness, Attractive, Fast Healer, and a few others just don't make sense to "discover" later on, for the most part. I could see getting Attractive and/or Very Attractive if you start as a teenager and mature into your looks or, like George Clooney, you just look better with grey hair and therefore gain the edges as you age.

By and large, the only thing that we add in pretty much every setting is the improvised weapons rules from PotSM and the improvisational fighter from the same. Other than that, we pretty much play by the book. Encumbrance isn't that big a deal and (as long as I'm not doing loads of Calculus) I can do most of the math in my head so it's just a matter of writing down the weight of everything the character carries.
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"I had a whole bunch of advice for you but got ninja'd by newForumNewName. I'd just do what he says." -- 77IM

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[kreider204]

I've apparently ignored some of these rules so completely that I didn't even realize they were rules ...


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"It only takes an extra second to be courteous."
- Constable Benton Fraser

[Sean-Khan]

Unfortunately encumbrance is what makes Str a meaning stat, at least outside medieval -type settings. It should be handled by item slots, though, counting is boring and time-consuming.

I'd like to ignore AP of most firearms, but don't know if I'll do anything about it.

Generally, I'm mostly trying to go with core rules at least until I have more experience, but Guts skill I've dropped (spirit is used instead).

[Rachan]

Item slots? YUCK!!
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[quote="77IM"]… it's not specifically allowed by the rules, but the GM is specifically allowed to allow it. [/quote]

[Sean-Khan]

[Rachan]

The very best encumbrance system I've EVER heard of is right in the first post of this thread:

If it weighs more than a goat, you're encumbered. If you're Brawny, you can carry two goats.



Anyway, back on topic ...

The only rules I tend to ignore involve buying Background Edges and new Skills after generation. I think SOME Background Edges should stay Background Edges, but there are a few (like the ABs, if the character has a good reason) I let people pick up in-game.

And about the 2-point cost for new skills ... after some discussion in other threads about stat balancing, I think I'm going to start paying attention to this rule after all. As it's written, it does encourage a more balanced build.
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[quote="77IM"]… it's not specifically allowed by the rules, but the GM is specifically allowed to allow it. [/quote]

[inlife9]

none.

and my group has a history of tearing down rpgs. and being very non-rules lawyers. We find SW to just be so "all the hard stuff made easy" we dont really mess with it. I am partly sad that I have nothing cool to add to this thread.
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Eastwood Saves! The rest of you take Full Damage.

[Virgobrown72]

Ranges. Yep, believe or not, ranges. For my games, all ranges are broken down into :

Close Combat
Short Range
Medium Range
Long Range
Ballistic Range

All range modifiers still apply, and a weapon that can fire at one range can fire at all increments below it's own( For example, a scoped rifle can fire at long, medium and short) accept ballistic ranges, which are fired on a ballistic arc. This is FFF for role playing purposes for me, because I'm not trying to decide just how many meters away a target is in theiddlw of a rapid role playing session. If using a map and miniatures, the ranges are:

Short= 12 inches
Medium= 24 inches
Long = 36 inches
Ballistic = longer than 36 inches

I realize this may seem too short foe some weapons, but in the interest of FFF, this is really sexy for me and my players...

[islan]

[Virgobrown72]

Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2010 6:41 pm    Post subject:
Virgobrown72 wrote:
Ranges. Yep, believe or not, ranges. For my games, all ranges are broken down into :

Close Combat
Short Range
Medium Range
Long Range
Ballistic Range:


I kinda like this idea; it really helps for people wanting to play without minis or proper scale, I imagine.




Yeah, in a narrative game without minis, it's really easy to use, and actually, with minis, it's pretty easy also. Give it a whirl, and see how it goes...

[kreider204]

[Lord Lance]

[Zadmar]

[amerigoV]

I ignore the facing rule for shields. The rule is very un-FFF to me.
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I call Shinanigans!

[Rachan]

I ignore that one, too. Just because we always forget.
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[quote="77IM"]… it's not specifically allowed by the rules, but the GM is specifically allowed to allow it. [/quote]

[SavageGamerGirl]

None, really. I have yet to come across a rule in the SWEE that I feel I must do away with.



Ok, ok, fine...

Running.

I don't like the random d6 extra distance for running.

If you're jogging, skip-stepping, keeping low, etc., then I can understand a randomized distance for moving.

But, IMO, there should be a set amount for an all out straight sprint with little thought to defense and all thought to speed.

HOWEVER, I'm going to run the rules as written to see if I can live with the randomized speed before I decide whether or not to nix it. Ergo, my initial sentence still stands.
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'Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: 'we're all mad here.'
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