A very strange house rules thread

[Sylrae]

this system sounds bizarre to me, but im intrigued and want to hear how it turns out,

 

[Ry]

It was inspired by OD&D (1974) and how much you don't need and can still run with.

 

[Claudius Gaius]

Keywords

I tried using a quick keyword/phrase system once, with each applicable word or phrase providing a bonus to your roll and a set of fairly high target numbers (for example, casting a very simple spell had a TN of 20): Thus an "Anthropomorphic Bear" "Barbarian" with "Crushing Strikes" and "Hulking Size" got a +20 to smash through a wall (all applicable), a +15 to resist physical blows and damage ("Crushing Strikes" not applicable), a +10 to lift heavy loads, and so on. We had to throw in a rule about getting tired (a one word or phrase gets discarded until after you rest after five uses), but it worked pretty well for short games with quick character generation. The Magic Prairie Dogs versus the Mechanized Developers game was quite a lot of fun.

 

[Ry]

The difference is mine won't all stack - two skilled doesn't make expert for example. The key is those stats and level - the words tell you how to use them.