House Rule: Character Points

[Anthanatos]

Character points are an additional way to customize your character and help them to grow as they advance in experience. We’ve used a version of this system for our Palladium games for more than 25 years. To justify use of character points, role-playing and backstory should be considered. As with all optional rules, any use of character points should be approved prior to use by the GM, and to avoid mismanagement, a record of use each level should be maintained.

Beginning at 2nd level, and every level thereafter, characters gain 25 character points to be used in increasing stats, or skills, or abilities.

Additionally character points can be gained through skills that would normally be obtained. For every O.C.C./R.C.C. related skill gained after first level, said skill can instead be “cashed in” for 25 character points. For every secondary skill gained after first level, said skill can instead be “cashed in” for 20 character points.

Spending:
Character points can be spent to increase attributes up to the maximum available racial score. The maximum available racial score can be determined by adding the max total score of all dice rolled and adding six (in the case of humans, 24 is the max score), and then adding any bonuses from skills (for instance, if a physical skill that gives +2 to Physical Strength is chosen, said human’s max Physical Strength score is now 26). EACH POINT gained costs the attribute score plus one. For instance, to raise a physical strength of 21 to 23, it would cost 45 character points (22 to raise from 21 to 22, then 23 to raise from 22 to 23). As there is no non-extraordinary means in Palladium to raise non-physical stats, character points fills this absence nicely.

Character points can be spent to purchase skills. O.C.C./R.C.C. related skills cost 25 character points and follow normal restrictions for the class. Secondary skills cost 20 character points, and follow the restrictions for secondary skills. For characters to acquire skills that ARE NOT acceptable O.C.C./R.C.C. related skills, a cost of 50 character points and GM approval are required. For example, a character normally restricted to the medical skill of first aid desiring to take paramedic could do so by spending 50 character points, with GM approval. Note that this does not negate any other skill requirements.

Character points can be spent to increase the level of skills, to the character’s current level. For example, if a 3rd level character acquires first aid at 3rd level, and wants to be more proficient, character points can be spent to increase the skill to 3rd level proficiency. 10 character points are required for each level advancement on skills. If the GM allows, skills can be advanced beyond the current character level, but only with GM approval.

Character points can be spent to increase hit points/MDC of characters, by one level for each 10 character points spent.

Character points can be spent to increase ISP or PPE of characters, by one level for each 10 character points spent.

For Heroes Unlimited characters, minor super powers can be gained for 100 character points, and major super powers for 250 character points.

Other uses of character points can be permitted by the GM, such as combat rerolls or skill check rerolls.

[Blue_Lion]

House rule suggestion not optional rule. Optional rules are official written rules marked as optional.


This looks like an attempt to hybrid to a charter point mode, and level system. Personally I do not see a need, just creates more things for the GM to over see.

[Curbludgeon]

I'm not opposed to this sort of Optional Rule for CharACTer Advancement.

Anthanatos, those numbers really incentivize OCCs that get lots of skills on level up. I'm not sure what classes best take advantage of that. A level 3 RMB Vagabond could have 330 points, as an example, and at level 4 could have both a Major and Minor power. I think the values for skills are fine, and a good way to have lower-leveled specialists, although I could see dropping the 50 point cost by 5-15, and would be reticent about being able to increase HtH. There are tons of RCCs that could exploit a weirdly high MDC/PPE/ISP per level, examples of which might be fun for someone to ferret out. The values of super powers don't strike me as immediately abuseable as the previous category, the superpowered unskilled palookas above notwithstanding.

[torjones]

Character points are an additional way to customize your character and help them to grow as they advance in experience. We’ve used a version of this system for our Palladium games for more than 25 years. To justify use of character points, role-playing and backstory should be considered. As with all optional rules, any use of character points should be approved prior to use by the GM, and to avoid mismanagement, a record of use each level should be maintained.

Shouldn't this be in the GM's section?

[Blue_Lion]

I'm not opposed to this sort of Optional Rule for CharACTer Advancement.

Anthanatos, those numbers really incentivize OCCs that get lots of skills on level up. I'm not sure what classes best take advantage of that. A level 3 RMB Vagabond could have 330 points, as an example, and at level 4 could have both a Major and Minor power. I think the values for skills are fine, and a good way to have lower-leveled specialists, although I could see dropping the 50 point cost by 5-15, and would be reticent about being able to increase HtH. There are tons of RCCs that could exploit a weirdly high MDC/PPE/ISP per level, examples of which might be fun for someone to ferret out. The values of super powers don't strike me as immediately abuseable as the previous category, the superpowered unskilled palookas above notwithstanding.

To be a optional rule it needs to be printed in a PB product and marked optional.

What we have here is a person personnel home brewed house rule being called optional. Making it seam to have official source.
The optional charter table on page 148 of rue is an optional rule.


House rules can be shared but they are not optional rules but home brewed/house rule. Seeing optional rule makes it sound like you are discussing something in print.


More to the point, allot of time and evert goes into customizing your charter at creation. Needing to also managing points every level while it sounds good, I see it can eat up more of a GMS time and have a need to double check to make sure there where no mistakes. There are players that after a character is made do not want to keep dealing with it every level. It could result in a turn off. So while the concept behind it sound good, I can see problems arising from it.


How do you implement this without resaulting in flaw of point buy systems of minmax over charter development?
This often happens in point buy systems people you get people that work up min max point templates that get over used.(rifts already have this problems with its level based system.)