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Author Topic: The rule that broke the system for YOU  (Read 5674 times)

Sean

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The rule that broke the system for YOU
« on: October 28, 2007, 12:08:58 PM »
So you've got your shiny new rulebook or PDF and you're thinking - THIS is ONE SWEET GAME - and you're reading/rolling around and then you come across THAT RULE - the one you tear your hair out over.

Yeah, you can houserule but that lil' puppy is always gonna have a limp however much you love it. I'm not into house-rules, that's just the way I am. I'd rather play the game 'as bought'.

For example - Tunnels and Trolls - I was sticking on the bandaids from day 1 when I (LIKE EVERYONE ELSE) figured out Dwarf Wizards ruled the roost due to spellcasting's relationship with Strength.

C'mon what's the rule that frustrates you about an otherwise classy system ?

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jhkim

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The rule that broke the system for YOU
« Reply #1 on: October 28, 2007, 12:45:34 PM »
It seems strange to say "broke the system", since any single rule is easily house-ruled.  

The most glaring for me was the STUN lottery in Champions (i.e. the 1d6-1 STUN multiplier for Killing Attacks).  Though there were a number of smaller issues.

Drew

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The rule that broke the system for YOU
« Reply #2 on: October 28, 2007, 01:57:23 PM »
No one rule broke Exalted for me, it was the death of 1000 cuts. Taken in aggregate the Charm system is a huge, unwieldy behemoth of exceptions and special cases that grind all the fun out of my GM'ing the game.

I still love the setting, but have come to despise the ruleset.
 

Halfjack

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The rule that broke the system for YOU
« Reply #3 on: October 28, 2007, 02:29:29 PM »
Duel of Wits in Burning Wheel never worked for us and eventually led to us trying to find games that fit together better.
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Settembrini

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The rule that broke the system for YOU
« Reply #4 on: October 28, 2007, 02:33:07 PM »
It was more like a death blow:

Burning Empires, Artha rules.

When I read the chapter on Artha, I knew this game wasn´t for anyone I know. And it invalidated all that bad-ass talk about "real DM vs Player conflict".

On a similiar vein: Earthdawn

The legend-point system. Too meta for me, although others were okay with it. It killed it for me.
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beeber

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The rule that broke the system for YOU
« Reply #5 on: October 28, 2007, 03:20:12 PM »
new action types in 3.5 did it for me.  it just seemed wrong to me to create a core system change like adding immediate and instant or whatever the fuck they are action types.  i just houseruled that they were free actions and that was it.  that group stopped playing altogether shortly after that (due to non-gaming reasons) anyway.

J Arcane

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The rule that broke the system for YOU
« Reply #6 on: October 28, 2007, 05:12:10 PM »
THe skill system in Gamma World 4th.  Followed closely by the item identification flowchart.

It's almost like a bait and switch, you start reading and everything seems nice and straight forward, almost like a proto-D20, and then suddenly, in the course of like one chapter, you're hit with a skill system every bit as counter intuitive as THAC0 was, and a hideously complicated flowchart that I'm apparently expected to go through just to figure out what a toaster is.

It really killed my buzz for the game.  If I do run it in the future, houseruling the skills system to D20 rollover, and dropping that damn identification chart, will be the first thing I do.
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Tyberious Funk

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The rule that broke the system for YOU
« Reply #7 on: October 28, 2007, 06:45:28 PM »
In RIFTS, the Boxing skills gives you an additional attack.  I could buy that in a Boxing match... but not for all combat.  The group had stomached a lot of rubbish up until that point.  But that one was probably the final straw.
 

Settembrini

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The rule that broke the system for YOU
« Reply #8 on: October 28, 2007, 06:53:12 PM »
If you look at the physical skills as feats, it´s bearable.
But yes, it makes no in-game sense as written.

It´s a Palladium Fantasy leftover.
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Caesar Slaad

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The rule that broke the system for YOU
« Reply #9 on: October 28, 2007, 11:20:04 PM »
Burning Empires, Let it ride

True20, Damage Save/Condition Track

D20 Modern, Nonlethal damage and autofire rules

SWSE, Skills
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Jaeger

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The rule that broke the system for YOU
« Reply #10 on: October 28, 2007, 11:59:24 PM »
SAVAGE WORLDS:

When you roll the highest number on a die it is called an ACE - which you then re-roll and add to the previous result...

 However as you go up in ability the type of die you roll gets bigger.

So the 'better' you get at something the less chance you have of rolling an ACE.

The only reason I can think of for this rule is to give low powered foes a chance against thier betters.
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Cold Blooded Games

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The rule that broke the system for YOU
« Reply #11 on: October 29, 2007, 05:00:09 AM »
The Warhammer strength stat. A well developed human can reach the 7 strength stat of a giant. WTF!!! There's no proper proportioning or scale there whatsover. A 9 foot, muscle bound Ogre, I know lets give a strength of 4 the same as that spindly Elf - bad design on the most basic level.
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O'Borg

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The rule that broke the system for YOU
« Reply #12 on: October 29, 2007, 06:48:55 AM »
Space 1889 : Shooting skill is only used for targets greater than 20 yards away. For targets less than 20 yards distance, you have to use the Melee combat skill. Not only is this utter bollox IMO, but Melee combat skill is capped at max 2. Makes a 1880's cowboy gunfighter a bit hard to generate.
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jgants

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The rule that broke the system for YOU
« Reply #13 on: October 29, 2007, 10:10:09 AM »
Quote from: Settembrini
If you look at the physical skills as feats, it´s bearable.
But yes, it makes no in-game sense as written.

It´s a Palladium Fantasy leftover.


Actually, it wasn't added to PF until 2nd edition.  It's more of a Heroes Unlimited/TMNT holdover.

Anyways, for me, a rule deal-breaker would be Attacks of Opportunity in D&D 3.  I hate the rule and it is extremely difficult to remove from the game because it is intertwined with all the other rules.

Another one is any game where it says the PCs have script immunity and can't be killed (the 1st ed of d6 SW had this, if memory serves).  Alternately, I also dislike any game where characters can die during generation (Aliens, Traveller).

And although I would never play World of Synnibar and all the rules likely suck anyways, it really could have done without the "catch the GM in a rules mistake and gain XP" nonsense that serves no purpose except to turn game sessions into rules arguments.

Which brings up my last rule breaker - any game in which the rules for the GM do not give him final authority over how the game is run.
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Drew

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The rule that broke the system for YOU
« Reply #14 on: October 29, 2007, 01:32:00 PM »
Quote from: Cold Blooded Games
The Warhammer strength stat. A well developed human can reach the 7 strength stat of a giant. WTF!!! There's no proper proportioning or scale there whatsover. A 9 foot, muscle bound Ogre, I know lets give a strength of 4 the same as that spindly Elf - bad design on the most basic level.


Yeah, the relationship between size, strength and damage has never been WFRP's strong suit. Multiple attacks are often cited as the mitigating factor, but for a some people it just doesn't feel right.

My tentative hack for those who simply can't live with the system as written is to exchange extra attacks for levels of the Impact quality on 1-to-1 basis. Thus an Ogre would have one attack per round, but would roll 3d10 and pick the highest result for damage scored. A Giant may have 2 attacks, each rolling 3d10, or 1 attack with 6d10 (!) Multiple results of Ulric's Fury would be rerolled, taking the highest final result.

It's not an ideal soloution by any stretch, just something to bear in mind if the current rules really are a gamebreaker for you.