Hey Man, well this is Babylon

As some of you may know, I have a strange nostalgia-driven soft spot for the Palladium Fantasy RPG first edition rules. I actually cut my noobie gamer teeth on that system, and despite its many flaws, I can’t help but love it. Well, recently I’ve found myself frequently musing about it, and thinking of ways that I could play it (read: GM it) without pulling my hair out. Its rules are antiquated, but I think they can be simple and fun and provide the foundation for some really character-driven games, if only some minor modifications were applied to them. So, to that effect, I’m throwing up these sets of house rules, one designed by me just now, and the other found online.

“Bonus Points” System

The Bonus Points system allows players a lot more control over their characters’ destinies in a game system which more often than not forces them to fail a lot.  With this system, players are given a small-but-increasing amount of Bonus Points, which they can spend to modify their own dice rolls.

Using Bonus Points

You can choose to spend bonus points at any time after you roll your dice, but before the results are declared.  Each single point you spend modifies the dice roll by an amount depending on the type of roll being made.  There is no limit as to how many bonus points you can spend on a single roll, except for damage rolls (see below)

For rolls of a D20, each point you spend modifies the roll by one point in any direction you decide.  For percentage rolls (mostly skill checks), each point you spend modifies the roll by 5% in any direction you decide.  For Damage Rolls, each Bonus Point spent adds an extra die of the smallest size present (so if base damage is 3d8, you add another D8), but the number of dice added cannot exceed the number of base dice rolled (so if you roll 3d8 base damage, the most you can add would be another 3d8, for 6d8 total damage).

You can spend five bonus points to completely reroll any one rolling of the dice.  For example, you can reroll an attack roll, a dodge roll, a damage roll, a saving throw, a skill check, etc.  When you reroll, you reroll all the BASE dice of that check – meaning both skill dice, or all the base damage dice.  You do NOT get to reroll any bonus damage dice added via Bonus points, however.

Gaining Bonus Points

Every character starts the game with a base of 20 Bonus Points, and for every point of M.A. above 15, they receive another one added to this total.  When Bonus Points are spent, they are gone forever.  You can gain more through leveling and good playing, however.  Every time they gain a level, they gain 20 more points.  The GM can randomly reward a free Bonus Point here and there for pretty much anything she feels – good one-liners, unexpectedly awesome roleplaying, fabulous comedy, food bribes, etc.

The Sweet 20 XP System

This alternate XP system was designed for D20, but works just as well for PFRPG:

The Speed Attribute as Initiative

The Speed attribute always have been the most arbitrary stat in the entire history of the Palladium rules systems. I’m astounded that such a pointless score even still exists today. I think, however, that with a re-tooling, it would make more sense. Now, Speed will replace Initiative checks. Instead of rolling your Speed attribute at character creation, you instead simply write down the total number of dice you would have rolled. Then, each time combat comes up, you roll that as your initiative and use the total for the duration of the combat encounter.

D12 is the New D20

I think using a D12 instead of a D20 for combat rolls and saving throws would make the game a lot more dramatic. Each +1 and -1 would then be far more important in the sway of things, and the numbers would be a lot closer after comparative rolls. Skill roll would remain percentile checks.

No Default Saves on Powers!

I’ve always thought that the base saving throws against spells and psionics were just too ridiculously low. Now, when a caster/psionicist uses a power that must be resisted, they make a power check. Roll a D12, add your power bonus (ME psionic save for psi powers, or PE magic save for spells), and any special class bonus for that power, and now you have the new base save.