My house rules

Here are some house rules I use.

Base Attack Bonus (like D&D): Subtract a character's ACKS Attack Throw from 10. So a 1st level Fighter (Attack Throw 10+) would have a BAB of +0, while a 6th level Fighter (Attack Throw 7+) would have a BAB of +3.

Total Attack Bonus: Add ability score modifiers (STR or DEX) and magical modifiers to BAB. So a 6th level Fighter (BAB +3) with a 16 STR (+2) and a sword +! would have a TAB of +6 with the magical sword.

Armor Class: Add 10 to the ACKS Armor Class. So leather armor and shield (ACKS AC 3) becomes AC 13.

Converting AC from B/X: Subtract the B/X AC from 19. So leather armor plus shield (B/X AC 6) becomes AC 13.

Attacking: Roll d20 and add TAB to try to equal or exceed AC.

 

Elves and magical abiilties: Allow 11th level class features (like making crossbreeds and casting rituals) at level 9 instead of level 11 for Elves. This puts Elves on an even footing with Dwarven Clerics, and gives the Elven Spellsword abilities he otherwise would not get (being one level shy at his level cap of 10).

Gnome custom class builds: Allow Gnomes to put points into the Arcane category.

Halfling custom class builds: Each point in halfling gives FOUR Halfling skills and costs 300 XP. This way, Halfling Bounders go to level 12, adding 95,000 XP per level after 8th. Halfling Burglars also go to level 12; but add one Halfling Skill, and add 75 XP needed to reach second level (then recalculate XP needed for each level thereafter, remembering to simply add 75,000 XP for each level after 9th).

I like the straightforward BAB/AC rules ala D20/S&W/BFRPG, which I do prefer over the ACKS vanilla attack throws.

Another house rule I'm thinking of is changing the way Mage spells are cast. Instead of automatic casting and X times per day, each spell has a difficulty class (DC from 3rd edition D&D). To cast a spell, you roll a d20 and add your class level and possibly your INT modifier.

 

Spell Level Spell DC
1 11
2 13
3 15
4 17
5 19
6 21

 

This way, without the INT modifiier, to cast a spell of the highest level you can cast, (1st level spell at caster level 1 or 2; 3rd level spell at caster evel 5 or 6; etc).you need to roll a 10 (or a 9). For example, a 5th level character needs a 10 to cast a 3rd level spell, while a 6th level character needs ro roll a 9 to cast the same spell.

 

This is assuming that you add only your class level to your die roll. It becomes easier if you add in INT modifier.

One question I have for the group is, should INT mod be added automatically, or should it be added only as a proficiency, like Rigfhteous Turning for Clerics?

This sounds like you should check out the ceremonial casting from Heroic Fantasy Handbook.  Use ceremoniialists instead of spellcasters and you get largely what you're looking for here.

[quote="Aryxymaraki"]

This sounds like you should check out the ceremonial casting from Heroic Fantasy Handbook.  Use ceremoniialists instead of spellcasters and you get largely what you're looking for here.

[/quote]

 

Thanks for the input. What I don't like about Ceremonial Magic is the Stigma for bad casting and the long time needed to cast each spell, so I probably won't go with that. But thanks for the suggestion!

[quote="LyricAsylum"]

 

 

This sounds like you should check out the ceremonial casting from Heroic Fantasy Handbook.  Use ceremoniialists instead of spellcasters and you get largely what you're looking for here.

 


-Aryxymaraki

 

 

Thanks for the input. What I don't like about Ceremonial Magic is the Stigma for bad casting and the long time needed to cast each spell, so I probably won't go with that. But thanks for the suggestion!

[/quote]

Fair enough!  I think it's valuable to have either some limit on spells per day or some other penalty for failure, particularly in a system like ACKS with such valuable out-of-combat effects, but if you don't like having one I can totally see how ceremonial magic wouldn't work for you.

[quote="Aryxymaraki"]

 

 

 

 

This sounds like you should check out the ceremonial casting from Heroic Fantasy Handbook.  Use ceremoniialists instead of spellcasters and you get largely what you're looking for here.

 


-Aryxymaraki

 

 

Thanks for the input. What I don't like about Ceremonial Magic is the Stigma for bad casting and the long time needed to cast each spell, so I probably won't go with that. But thanks for the suggestion!

 


-LyricAsylum

 

Fair enough!  I think it's valuable to have either some limit on spells per day or some other penalty for failure, particularly in a system like ACKS with such valuable out-of-combat effects, but if you don't like having one I can totally see how ceremonial magic wouldn't work for you.

[/quote]

 

I was also toying with the idea of a fatigue system, where it gets progressively harder to cast spells, the more you cast in a day without rest, but I don't want to overly complicate it.

 

Also, I like the 4E D&D rule (one of the only two good things about the edition; the other is minion monsters with 1 HP) of At-will powers, alllowing a mage to cast certain spells an unlimited number of times per day (or encounter). I also saw Encounter spells as a great way to both limit and expand higher level spells such as fireball.

[quote="LyricAsylum"]

I was also toying with the idea of a fatigue system, where it gets progressively harder to cast spells, the more you cast in a day without rest, but I don't want to overly complicate it.

 

Also, I like the 4E D&D rule (one of the only two good things about the edition; the other is minion monsters with 1 HP) of At-will powers, alllowing a mage to cast certain spells an unlimited number of times per day (or encounter). I also saw Encounter spells as a great way to both limit and expand higher level spells such as fireball.

[/quote]

Well, we're not going to entirely agree, I'm not a fan of encounter-based design :p  I don't have a problem with at-will powers as long as they're designed around it, I just don't think that the existing spells make a great match for at-will powers, you know?

That said, something I was experimenting with for 5E might be on a reasonable track for you.  What I was doing was basically, each time you fail to cast a spell, reduce your maximum spell level castable by 1 (until you get a night's rest).  So you can reliably cast low-level spells, and continue to cast them even if you fail your higher-level spells, but your higher-level spells end up being limited per day.

(I believe I was using it with a relatively flat check, rather than scaling by level, to prevent lower-level spells from being effecftively at-will, but that can be varied depending on the result you wanted.)

 

just to chime in: Axioms 1 also introduced an optional overcasting system very similar to how LyricsAsylum initially described.

[quote="Jard"]

just to chime in: Axioms 1 also introduced an optional overcasting system very similar to how LyricsAsylum initially described.

[/quote]

 

It looks interesting but some of the failure penalties seem kind of harsh. I will probably go with my system, but thanks for pointing it out!

I have a small system for overcasting. Each time you overcast you take a number of d8 damage equal to the spell level you are casting.

[quote="Saturno"] I have a small system for overcasting. Each time you overcast you take a number of d8 damage equal to the spell level you are casting. [/quote] What does "overcasting" do? Does it make the spell you're casting more powerful, or something?

It lets you cast more than your normal (Vancian) daily limit of spells.

 

I decided to go with a spell point system, similar to that in the HFH, but with more points alotted.

I consider 'overcast' when you try to cast a spell when you are out of daily spells. So the damage is a nice way for a magic user to be able to do a little bit of extra magic in exchange for a considerable risk to his own life.