[SWd20] New GM house rule critique

[DnDChick]

Yeah ... *ANOTHER* Star Wars thread.

Anyway, I will soon be running my first d20 Star Wars game this Saturday night, and although I generally like to run a game a few times before tinkering with house rules, I have a few I'd like to toss out there for the more experienced D20SW GMs to mull over.

1. Fighting Defensively
House Rule: You can Fight Defensively as a standard attack, a ranged attack, or as a full-round action.
Core Rule: You can only Fight Defensively as a full-round action with no mention of ranged attacks.
Reason: D&D and D20 Modern both allow you to Fight Defensively as a standard action, a ranged attack, or a full-round action. Also, Fighting Defensively is a good tactic to boost your Defense.

2. Battlemind
House Rule: Battlemind puts you into a Zen-like state of preparedness for combat, and gives you a bonus that you can divide as you see fit between attack and Defense. (i.e. a +4 bonus derived from Battlemind can give you a +2 to hit and a +2 to defense, a +4 to hit, a +4 to defense, or any other combination up to +4).
Core Rule: Battlemind provides a bonus that can only be applied to attack rolls.
Reason: If you are in a Zen-like state of preparedness for battle, you should be able to defend yourself as well as attack. Further, "a Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense." With this house rule, you could use the Force to defend yourself. There are also precious few ways for you to boost your Defense short of using Enhance Ability on your Dexterity.


I might post others as they come to me, but for the moment, this is all I am mulling over.

Well, experienced GMs? How will these changes affect my game?

 

[Aeson]

Good luck in the game.

The rules look ok to me. I agree with your reasons.

 

[The_Gneech]

Re: Fighting Defensively, are you sure that isn't "Full Defense" you're thinking of? I'm pretty sure (not having my book on hand) that "Fighting Defensively" is just a -4/+2 modifier, rather than an attack action. (See also this article that basically says that "Fighting Defensively" should be the default for most Jedi types.)

-The Gneech

 

[DnDChick]

Re: Fighting Defensively, are you sure that isn't "Full Defense" you're thinking of?

Yup.

I'm pretty sure (not having my book on hand) that "Fighting Defensively" is just a -4/+2 modifier, rather than an attack action.

Fighting defensively gives you a -4 to hit and a +2 to defense. According to the core book, you can only do that when you are peforming a full round action. The other "big 2" d20 games let you do that during a standard attack as well as a full-round attack.

 

[Rhun]

The rules sound good to me. I don't see any problems with them at all.

 

[HellHound]

Perfect. Especially like the revision to BattleMind.

 

[DnDChick]

Thanks, HH.

That came about when guys were making up Jedi characters. They commented that it was strange that with all the emphasis on knowledge and defense and not attacking unless you must, there were no Force abilities that let you inrease your ability to defend yourself.

That got some gears turning, and I came up with that slight tweak to Battlemind.

 

[HeapThaumaturgist]

Hrm. I might add that battlemind thing to my own game. My Sentinel player was surprised that, due to his better skill points, his Battlemind let him get attack bonuses up above the Guardians when what he REALLY wants is to protect his precious precious body from damage.

I guess I already houseruled the Fighting Defensively gig, since that's how I've played it the whole time.

--fje

 

[DnDChick]

Here is a question about my own Battlemind tweak that should be addressed:

Can you re-assign your bonuses from round to round, or are they fixed at what you originally chose when you activated Battlemind?

I say fixed ... you enter Battlemind, choose how to allocate the bonus you acquire, and it stays that way until you leave Battlemind.

 

[Rhun]

Can you re-assign your bonuses from round to round, or are they fixed at what you originally chose when you activated Battlemind?

I say fixed ... you enter Battlemind, choose how to allocate the bonus you acquire, and it stays that way until you leave Battlemind.

You could make that argument that re-assigning the bonus from round to round reflects shifts in combat tactics by the Jedi, though. For example, the first few rounds he may apply it all defensively as he gets a feel for his opponent, and then switch the bonus to attack when he decides to go on the offensive.