Malta House Rules

House Rules

1. Drinking a Potion is a move equivalent action instead of a standard action.

1.1 Potions that provide spell duration bonus to the PC take up a magic item slot.  See below

1.2 No more than 3 potions can be consumed in a round regardless of shenanigans, mythic or otherwise. 

2. Five Foot Step is changed to your Natural reach.  This change is primarily for the benefit of larger creatures who have a natural reach of 10 feet or greater, this allows them to take a “step” equal to their size.  Magical changes in size do NOT affect your five-foot step.  In hopes of removing all doubt, if the creature or player doesn’t live their regular lives at a larger size it isn’t considered their “natural size” and they cannot take advantage of the greater step.

4. Critical Hit/Critical Miss cards won’t be used this campaign.
Critical hits, besides providing your weapons critical hit modifier to damage, will also provide +2 Luck Bonus on your next attack.  Critical Misses will provide a -2 on your next attack plus the evil creativity of the GM

8. Leadership: If anyone takes Leadership, I’ll explain in further detail but I run it differently, essentially using the chart to give a total number of HD of followers rather than a bunch of 1st and 2nd level NPCs.

8.1 One free teamwork feat Bonded Mind

8.2 Some feats will be available to learn at specific locations in Malta.  The training is accomplished via downtime rules.   A non-mythic PC may only learn one of these extra feats.  A mythic PC may learn an additional, non mythic feat. If a feat is available, it will be listed in a city or locations description. 

9. Max Hit Points your 1st three levels and every level that you gain a character point (4th, 8th, 12th, 16th, and 20th). When you receive a character point you also receive a point in your luck score.

10. Combine Swim & Climb into one skill Athletics. When you put first skill point in rank you must decide if your athletics is strength or dexterity based.  This cannot be changed without following retraining rules.

10.1 One free skill point per level for Perception

11.  Body Slots not only limit the number of magic items that you can have but also the number of spells that can be on an individual.  Any spell of a duration greater than instantaneous takes up an empty body slot on the person it is cast upon.  Detrimental spells like curse or a prayer that works against you also take up body slots.  If body slots are full the detrimental effect takes over the lowest level spell filling a body slot.  If all body slots are full from magic items, the magic item effect is suppressed for the duration of the detrimental spell.  The affected player chooses which magic item is suppressed. 

House Advice

HA 1 

Pay attention, even when it isn’t your turn/scene and try to limit speaking over others. Check out Facebook alerts and unimportant texts/messages/email before and after the game. Don't talk over other players that are playing the game so you can finish your story or talk about Game of Thrones.

HA 2

Help each other out; combat can pull attention in multiple directions, while the GM is talking about the height of the ceiling, the parties’ spell-caster might be looking up area of effect rules.  If you hear a pertinent fact use the dry erase mat to write it down.  Use the dry erase mat to write down bonuses and penalties if you don’t keep track electronically.

HA 3

Keep good notes, if you recovered a +2 weapon from a combat or bought an alchemical item somewhere it wouldn’t hurt to know it.  Saying I’m going to throw a tangelfoot bag is one thing, saying you’re throwing the last tanglefoot bag from crazy eddies in Gibraltar is more fun and provides the GM an opportunity to get creative. Keeping good notes includes keeping track of the source material your abilities/feats come from.

HA 4

The GM has a lot to try to remember and manage.  Please make the effort to know your own characters abilities.  If you’ve leveled up and it’s the first time doing something, say so, and then we can take our time working through it.  Try to figure out how something works, not how it doesn't. 

HA 5

This is a game and it’s supposed to be fun.  The higher level the party, the greater the complexity and thus the longer it takes to run combat.  Because of this sometimes a penalty such as being paralyzed feels worse than it was intended because despite the roll only saying three rounds it’s been an hour since you’ve been able to have your character act.  Speak up and say something regarding the situation.  Not saying that every time something gets said I’ll say yeah that’s long enough but I may come up with a lesser penalty that still allows you to do something (see luck above).  Along the same lines, if you are down, help the GM run NPCs, offer to take over initiative until you are back or remind the other players of conditions, effects and how they can help you etc.  If you’ve been “killed” and are waiting for a return to action and don’t want to pay attention to the combat, review notes and previous posts about the game.

HA 6

Remember your party members are counting on you to fulfill your portion of the social contract.  Communication helps.  It sucks to have your character die, it’s even worse when you discover that your fellow player forgot they had that wand of healing or the scroll of restoration.  It’s hard for people to plan if you never communicate your abilities and possessions, or worse don’t know them.

HA 7

All of us have parts of the game we excel at and portions we don’t enjoy as much.  If you mentally check out during the portions you don’t enjoy as much, those portions are never going to improve.  Try to identify what you don’t like about it and make suggestions for improvement at the appropriate time. If you make it fun for others you’ll find yourself having fun too. Make an effort, the more you put in the more you’ll get out. 

HA8

If your character isn’t in the scene find out from the GM if he can make out of character suggestions to the players in scene.  For example, your character is at the temple being healed and the rest of the part heads to a meeting with the Sergeant at Arms.  You ask the GM if you can comment and permission is given.  So during the meeting, you can bring up notes from the blog or points of interest you don’t want forgotten. PAY ATTENTION to the scenes you aren’t in. If the primary review note taker is in a scene and you are not, let that person know you’ll take notes for them while they are involved and you are not.  If there is something you want to be sure is remembered let people know.  

HA9

Use the blog.  This doesn’t mean you have to post new entries although you are welcome to.  It does mean to read the posts.  Comment on them. Ask Questions.  Make suggestions.  I find the review posts incredibly helpful, please use the comments for corrections as well as reminders, inspiration, and ideas.  Also this is an excellent location to give the GM a heads up you want to do whatever on game day.

HA10

LISTEN to each other. Don’t forget to say what you enjoy. Make suggestions for game improvement.    Some of the worst arguments I’ve been in come from when I mentally check out and quit listening to the other person, I think I know their point or perspective and don’t listen only to later discover I didn’t understand what they were trying to tell me.  Most of the time these aren’t major arguments but they are major time wasters.