How Long Do You Wait Before You Houserule a New TTRPG?

[Desdichado]

As soon as a see a rule that I don't like, or the lack of a rule that I think I need. Eventus stultorum magister est. I know what I want a game to do before playing it.

 

[payn]

I might houserule early something in D&D that I have years, if not decades, of experience with. In new (to me) RPGs I usually like to kick the tires as written to see how it plays. If something seems off, ill go online and talk to fans of the game and/or designers if they are available. Try and get in the head space of what it is supposed to do before tinkering with it to my own tastes.

 

[Bravesteel25]

I tend to wait until the end of a campaign. I think I only really have the full view of the game rules and the how and why of their design once I have seen them in action accross a decent amount of playtime.

The only exception is if it's a rule that the group REALLY feels is hampering our ability to have fun in some way and the mechanical/design benefits of that rule are not so extreme that we would be significantly changing the game by that rule's exclusion.

 

[DEFCON 1]

I automatically know I'm going to ignore parts of every RPG's rules even before the book is released. I play RPGs for the characterization and narrative and roleplaying and storytelling... and most of that can and will be done regardless of whatever "game rules" the product creates and uses. So while I'll be happy to use the very specific math and dice usage the game specifies for this particular game as it comes up... I'm never going to be beholden to any of it. I have no problem adapting, swapping, ignoring or changing anything and everything in the book that I don't feel is necessary to use in order to play the characters and have them advance through the story that is being collectively generated.

 

[aiouh]

Can you give an example of something you have houseruled before even playing because you knew your group would not like the rule as designed?

Shadowdark

Before:

Spells work at least once before fizzling in any given day.
Lvl 1 Magic User becomes nigh useless if spell is forgotten in a dungeon, this reduces massive feelsbad situations while still maintaining the "survival horror" aspect of the game

During a session:

Flanking

+1 to Hit if Monster is flanked or caught "flat-footed"
Rewards players for smart positioning (activates Pathfinder player neurons), player asked me if flanking does anything, I said "well the rules don't say but I am gonna say yes", +1 feels rewarding without breaking any tight math.

Backstab

A Backstab deals half the damage die (w/o mods or bonuses) if the attack check misses
Backstabbing is cool and requires effort to pull off and I choose to reward it as thief gets the short end of the stick of the 4 classes anyway. Player tried very hard to find out of the box ways to fight dirty like a thief and it felt wrong and bad to not reward it and a Luck Token felt too powerful to hand out.

Plus, flipping a coin (Dagger 1d4 -> 1d2) feels very rogue-like.

 

[Theory of Games]

After I read a good review of the game, I'll have a basic understanding of what I'm changing (like converting dice pools to 1d20). But I won't make the definitive changes until after playing it. It's like, converting Shadowrun to d20 is far more complicated than just switching dice. Like most GMs, I need to see how the change produces the kind of gameplay I'm desiring.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

After reading the book, and possibly after reading some reviews and discussion about the game. It of course might sometimes be necessary to alter rules mid campaign, but I do my best to make major revisions before the game begins and communicate them to the players so that they know what they’re getting into, and can make informed choices about character options etc.

 

[Reynard]

Shadowdark

Before:

Spells work at least once before fizzling in any given day.
Lvl 1 Magic User becomes nigh useless if spell is forgotten in a dungeon, this reduces massive feelsbad situations while still maintaining the "survival horror" aspect of the game

During a session:

Flanking

+1 to Hit if Monster is flanked or caught "flat-footed"
Rewards players for smart positioning (activates Pathfinder player neurons), player asked me if flanking does anything, I said "well the rules don't say but I am gonna say yes", +1 feels rewarding without breaking any tight math.

Backstab

A Backstab deals half the damage die (w/o mods or bonuses) if the attack check misses
Backstabbing is cool and requires effort to pull off and I choose to reward it as thief gets the short end of the stick of the 4 classes anyway. Player tried very hard to find out of the box ways to fight dirty like a thief and it felt wrong and bad to not reward it and a Luck Token felt too powerful to hand out.

Plus, flipping a coin (Dagger 1d4 -> 1d2) feels very rogue-like.

That's a lot of "avoid feel bad" tweaks for a game intended to be tough.

 

[Scribe]

After I see a rule in action.

 

[The Soloist]

Because we play short campaigns of 2-3 adventures, we never house rule. We move on to a new RPG and never go back to the old ones.

In the instance where we feel we would need to house rule an RPG, after one session, we abandon it, as it does not fit with our group's collective mind.