House Rules

House Rules

Gaining 1 point for showing up on time and participating
+1 for good roleplaying
+1 for heroic/in-character actions in which the character was injured or saved lives
+1 if it was a long, complicated adventure with lots of plot twists
+1 if you made the GM helpless with laughter (one award per session)
+1 if you made the entire group helpless with laughter (one award per session)
-1 for negligable or significant Out of Character (OOC) roleplaying
-1 for ignoring circumstances that would activate a psychological limitation
-2 for out-of-character/unheroic actions which result in injury or death for others
Act 1 - +1 point. Characters find most things new and are low on the learning curve.
Act 2 - +0 point. Characters are experienced but still find things to learn fairly easily.
Act 3 - -1 point. Characters are high on the learning curve and require unusual circumstances to learn things.
Characters will always earn at least one experience point per adventure.
Additional experience may be awarded in the form of abilities you pick up in the course of an adventure (generally Knowledges, Languages, Contacts and Favors, though I may give you points specificly on a skill).

Spending Improving skills is pretty straightforward: practice. It takes about a day to 'spend' an experience point on a skill you already have and time spent on an adventure counts. Gaining new skills is also fairly easy: get a teacher. It takes about a week (studying full-time) to spend an experience point on a new skill.
Improving existing powers and creating new ones will depend on your special effects. As with skills, it usually takes practice and a day per point.
Talents take an in-game rationalization that may be as simple as "I put a compass in my battlesuit," or it may require a trip to a lonely monastery in Tibet. As with gaining powers it depends on your special effects.
Under unusual circumstances I will allow you to spend experience much more quickly. You shouldn't look forward to these opportunities.

You may spend experience to directly affect the game, much like the Marvel system uses Karma:

1 point: modify a die roll by 1 point. This may only be done to a roll made by another player - you may never modify your own rolls.
2 points: force a reroll. This can only be done at an appropriate or dramatic moment where the desired result matters a great deal to your character.
2 points: do maximum/minimum damage. Again, there must be in-game justification, but you can use this option after the attack roll.

Extra Lives I will not deliberately kill off heroes except in situations where the characters truely deserve it, but sometimes (through no fault of your own) your character may be placed in a deady situation with no way out. For 3 experience points you may buy an Extra Life that will miraculously save your character from certain death. They may be bought retroactive to the need for them but this raises the price to 5 points.

Gaining	1 point for showing up on time and participating +1 for good roleplaying +1 for heroic/in-character actions in which the character was injured or saved lives +1 if it was a long, complicated adventure with lots of plot twists +1 if you made the GM helpless with laughter (one award per session) +1 if you made the entire group helpless with laughter (one award per session) -1 for negligable or significant Out of Character (OOC) roleplaying -1 for ignoring circumstances that would activate a psychological limitation -2 for out-of-character/unheroic actions which result in injury or death for others Act 1 - +1 point. Characters find most things new and are low on the learning curve. Act 2 - +0 point. Characters are experienced but still find things to learn fairly easily. Act 3 - -1 point. Characters are high on the learning curve and require unusual circumstances to learn things. Characters will always earn at least one experience point per adventure. Additional experience may be awarded in the form of abilities you pick up in the course of an adventure (generally Knowledges, Languages, Contacts and Favors, though I may give you points specificly on a skill).
Spending	Improving skills is pretty straightforward: practice. It takes about a day to 'spend' an experience point on a skill you already have and time spent on an adventure counts. Gaining new skills is also fairly easy: get a teacher. It takes about a week (studying full-time) to spend an experience point on a new skill. Improving existing powers and creating new ones will depend on your special effects. As with skills, it usually takes practice and a day per point. Talents take an in-game rationalization that may be as simple as "I put a compass in my battlesuit," or it may require a trip to a lonely monastery in Tibet. As with gaining powers it depends on your special effects. Under unusual circumstances I will allow you to spend experience much more quickly. You shouldn't look forward to these opportunities.
You may spend experience to directly affect the game, much like the Marvel system uses Karma: 1 point: modify a die roll by 1 point. This may only be done to a roll made by another player - you may never modify your own rolls. 2 points: force a reroll. This can only be done at an appropriate or dramatic moment where the desired result matters a great deal to your character. 2 points: do maximum/minimum damage. Again, there must be in-game justification, but you can use this option after the attack roll.
Extra Lives	I will not deliberately kill off heroes except in situations where the characters truely deserve it, but sometimes (through no fault of your own) your character may be placed in a deady situation with no way out. For 3 experience points you may buy an Extra Life that will miraculously save your character from certain death. They may be bought retroactive to the need for them but this raises the price to 5 points.

Real Life Rules

These are a few things that I'd like done in my game. If you think I'm being unfair, restrictive or annoying, say so and give me an alternative. I'll listen and not take offense, and I'd rather you say something than give me the illusion that everything's fine.

Whiteboard	I assume we'll be meeting at my place and I've got room for my full-sized whiteboard tabletop. I'll have markers, so feel free to scribble notes, STUN and END records, etc. on it. In fact, I'd like everyone seated around the whiteboard, partly to promote group unity, partly so you don't miss anything, and partly so we don't have to go hunting for you when it's your turn.
Figures & Counters	I've got paper figures and we'll use those on the whiteboard. Any questions about lines of sight, PER rolls, area effect damage and where missed shots go will be determined by what I see on the board.
Dice	All official rolls should be made on the whiteboard, after I ask for them. If there's any question about a roll, be prepared to make it again. All verbal math should be done by me.
Critical Hits & Misses	A roll of 3 will always succeed, an 18 will always fail. If you're in combat and roll a 3, double your damage. On an 18 you need to make a standard attack roll against one of your allies (my choice), or some other target you don't want to hit.
Bribing the GM	For a cold can of Mountain Dew you can make a reroll. This counts only if I don't happen to have one. For half a pepperoni pizza you can predetermine the outcome of any single 3d6 die roll. Again, I need to want one at the time. For $10 I cast your character as a central figure in a grand and glorious epic that will... wait, I'm doing that anyway. Never mind. For $20 we sit around and I tell a story about how great your character is.