D20 Modern house rule questions

[Behold_the_Void]

So, I'm going to be running a D20 Modern Shadow Chasers campaign next school year (around October to be precise), and I'm starting to make plans for it. I had an idea for the wealth mechanics that shouldn't be horribly unbalancing, but I wanted to run it by more experienced modern players and see how it will work. I'm also playing with some other minor things, and I wanted to see how they work.

The setting is going to be a college campus (namely, the college my group and I all attend), and time management is going to be one of the major requirements (as they will have to juggle classes, studying, sleeping, possibly a job, and Shadow Chasing).

Instead of making a wealth check each level, I've decided what I'm going to do is count hours worked towards the check. For most standard campus jobs, every two hours they work will count as a cumulative +1 to their die roll. Thus, instead of rolling a die at level up, I'll tally the hours they worked and add the number together. That will be the result of their "roll".

I also want to provide a stipend from the organization. Because the missions are a lot riskier but take less time, I want to make it more beneficial to the wealth (and that will also help favor those who don't have time to work in their schedules). I'm currently considering either a 1:1 or 2:1 ratio of die roll modifier to hours worked, especially since it'll likely be rare for most runs to take more than an hour or two.

Also, I have some characters who are going to have decidedly nonstandard jobs.

One of the characters is a Psychology Major (going Telepath) and a guitarist, as well as part of a band. I'm allowing him to use his band performances as a source of income with a better return than, say, slaving away at McDonalds for hours on end. The trade-off, of course, is that Concerts will have specific times and dates that really can't be missed, and will offer much less hours overall. Also, I'm using perform (guitar) as the key skill modifier for the wealth check, as it makes little sense to force a profession check when he's been performing for his income.

Another character runs with a gang, and doesn't really work (she's something of a delinquent). I'm going to let her use Intimidate instead of profession, as she and her gang extort money out of targets and do other gang-ly things. A bit better return than working minimum wage, but more risk involved (might get picked up by the cops which presents all kinds of problems).

Thus at the moment I'm considering the returns being 2:1 for Shadow Chasing, 1:1 for Band/Gang Extortion/possibly other stuff, and 2:1 for minimum wage jobs.

Also, I'm letting people take feats at first level that won't be active until they join the organization and get a bit of training with the operatives (for example, firearms proficiency for the guitarist). Also, in the case of some characters who have Wild Talent, they likely won't be able to control it until they start interacting with the Shadow and are trained in channeling their power (giving them a lead-in to their advanced classes).

Also, I'm playing around with class skills and saves slightly, nothing major. Changing the Charismatic Hero's good save from fort to will as it makes more sense and is more thematically appropriate for the character being built, giving intimidate to the Strong Hero as a class skill since I see no reason for them not to have it, etc. etc..

I am considering making Drive a class skill for everyone but making it a trained-only skill. Having had to suffer through Driver's Ed myself, and as this is a college campus where some people don't have licenses, I thought this would be a good way to represent driving ability.

With the two-weapon fighting feat, I'm considering eliminating the "cannot make a melee attack and ranged attack at the same time", as I can see someone striking a Shadow, dropping it, and then shooting at another with the gun in their other hand as one action.

I'm not playing with a group of really hard-core optimizers, and the game is going to be fairly cinematic in that players will not see their character sheets outside of leveling up and most of what happens to them will be simple description. These mechanical changes are primarily for flavor, but I want to make sure that they aren't going to screw anything up with the core system.

[Jasdoif]

Out of curiosity, how much have you used the Wealth system before? The Wealth system is absolutely steeped in abstraction, for the intended purpose of not forcing the DM or the players to keep track of every last hour of their PC's off-screen lives. I can't help but worry you're making things too hard on yourself here, because of some misconception about how the Wealth system works.

I am considering making Drive a class skill for everyone but making it a trained-only skill. Having had to suffer through Driver's Ed myself, and as this is a college campus where some people don't have licenses, I thought this would be a good way to represent driving ability.

You only need to make Drive checks to perform vehicle stunts. Regular driving doesn't require Drive checks (or even Drive ranks) at all, so unless everyone is in training to do stunt-driving or the like, it's not really necessary to make it a class skill.

With the two-weapon fighting feat, I'm considering eliminating the "cannot make a melee attack and ranged attack at the same time", as I can see someone striking a Shadow, dropping it, and then shooting at another with the gun in their other hand as one action.

In case you weren't already aware of this, Improved Two-Weapon Fighting allows you to use a melee weapon alongside a ranged weapon.

[Behold_the_Void]

Out of curiosity, how much have you used the Wealth system before? The Wealth system is absolutely steeped in abstraction, for the intended purpose of not forcing the DM or the players to keep track of every last hour of their PC's off-screen lives. I can't help but worry you're making things too hard on yourself here, because of some misconception about how the Wealth system works.

I know how the Wealth system is intended, this system is something I'm using to give it the college flavor. All of my players are building schedules for their characters and I'm requiring offscreen time tracking simply to capture the feel I want for this game. They're students and very busy, and this new calling will start eating away at their ability to do other things. It also becomes important for spellcasters, who require rest in order to replenish their spells. Time is one of the major components I want players to be thinking about, and this seems a good way to do it.

You only need to make Drive checks to perform vehicle stunts. Regular driving doesn't require Drive checks (or even Drive ranks) at all, so unless everyone is in training to do stunt-driving or the like, it's not really necessary to make it a class skill.

I know the drive skill is meant for stunts, but I was thinking it would be a mechanical way to show that someone knows how to drive or does not, as it's no longer an assumption that all of the students have a license. The presence of both license and car make a big impact in college life in general, so having this requirement feels appropriate for representing it. I don't actually require checks for driving beyond stunt driving, of course.

In case you weren't already aware of this, Improved Two-Weapon Fighting allows you to use a melee weapon alongside a ranged weapon.

I did indeed miss that, thank you for telling me.

And now I'm reminded of another other variants I was considering.

My friend asked if I could bump the requirement of 8 hours of rest down to 6 hours of rest, as no normal college student sleeps for 8 hours a night. Ever. This also gives them a bit more time flexibility.

[Dhavaer]

The Wealth houserule doesn't sound too horrible, as long as you can keep a leash on how long the characters can work for.

The inactive feats sound okay, although for most of them (Firearms, for example) the character probably just wouldn't need to use it.

The Charismatic's saves are hard to know about, since there doesn't seem to be any particular reason for them to have the ones they do now. Medium Reflex and Will isn't really more or less in line with the class than medium Fort and Will.

Giving the Strong hero a Charisma based skill is something I'd advise against; the classes are for the most part restricted to skills based on their prime ability (except for Tough, because Constitution only has Concentration).

Drive being trained-only doesn't make much sense; people should have at least a chance at avoiding something in their way whether they have ranks or not.

The change to TWF doesn't seem too terribly out of line.

You might want to think about altering the Fast Hero's Defence progression; Martial Artist + 1 is something that's often recommended. Otherwise it's a little too good for cherry-picking.

[Behold_the_Void]

Giving the Strong hero a Charisma based skill is something I'd advise against; the classes are for the most part restricted to skills based on their prime ability (except for Tough, because Constitution only has Concentration).

OK, that does make some sense. I'll probably just add it as a skill you can get from the Criminal starting occupation, it makes sense for them to have it there.

Drive being trained-only doesn't make much sense; people should have at least a chance at avoiding something in their way whether they have ranks or not.

Hmmm... well, since this does seem to be an issue I can always just make a distinction between licensed and unlicensed drivers. My major concern is that if you've never done the Driver Ed or been in the driver's seat before (and this is the case for several students), you'd be absolutely lost if you were to just jump in the driver's seat and go. But the basics are still doable, I suppose.

You might want to think about altering the Fast Hero's Defence progression; Martial Artist + 1 is something that's often recommended. Otherwise it's a little too good for cherry-picking.

I don't forsee anyone in my party actually cherry picking Fast Hero. Someone's taking Fast Hero, but they're going to jump into the advanced class from there. If it looks like it might be a problem though, definitely something to consider.

[nobodez]

I don't recommend changing the Wealth/Profession mechanic, mainly because I've done it myself, and it hurt the game. Profession is your ability to gain and manage money, and goes beyond what Profession is in most other d20 games. You can give a penalty/bonus to the check based on how well the characters manage their time, but I'd still base if off of the skill itself.

Take, for example, my time in college. I worked about 16 hours a week, had 15 credit-hours, and messed around for pretty much the rest of it. If I was in your game, I'd be sitting at a +8 bonus after every week, even though I pulled down only about $120 a week.

Most college characters, unless they're very financially savvy, will not have more than one or two ranks in Profession. They'll be able to stay afloat, but usually not enough to buy guns, bullets, and health care on any regular basis. Maybe break even with gas, perhaps some comics as well, but nothing too much.

If I were you, I'd play with the Profession/Wealth system as written for at least the first level or two, then once you've figured out how it works for you, adjust as needed.

[Dhavaer]

OK, that does make some sense. I'll probably just add it as a skill you can get from the Criminal starting occupation, it makes sense for them to have it there.

It does make a lot of sense for Criminal to give Intimidate; I can only imagine Wizards was too focussed on cat-burglars to think of muggers.

I don't recommend changing the Wealth/Profession mechanic, mainly because I've done it myself, and it hurt the game. Profession is your ability to gain and manage money, and goes beyond what Profession is in most other d20 games. You can give a penalty/bonus to the check based on how well the characters manage their time, but I'd still base if off of the skill itself.

If I'm reading it right, he is using Profession to determine Wealth. Hours worked is replacing the roll, not the modifier.

[Behold_the_Void]

I don't recommend changing the Wealth/Profession mechanic, mainly because I've done it myself, and it hurt the game. Profession is your ability to gain and manage money, and goes beyond what Profession is in most other d20 games. You can give a penalty/bonus to the check based on how well the characters manage their time, but I'd still base if off of the skill itself.

Take, for example, my time in college. I worked about 16 hours a week, had 15 credit-hours, and messed around for pretty much the rest of it. If I was in your game, I'd be sitting at a +8 bonus after every week, even though I pulled down only about $120 a week.

Most college characters, unless they're very financially savvy, will not have more than one or two ranks in Profession. They'll be able to stay afloat, but usually not enough to buy guns, bullets, and health care on any regular basis. Maybe break even with gas, perhaps some comics as well, but nothing too much.

If I were you, I'd play with the Profession/Wealth system as written for at least the first level or two, then once you've figured out how it works for you, adjust as needed.

I can definitely see your point. Also, I should have been more concise. I'm doing the wealth increase more by level than by week, so it'll be an average of the hours they work. The hours will just determine about how much money they're bringing in.

I may move it back to profession, but with the way the scheduling's looking to be most of their income will come from the organization, which would be amply compensating them and giving them more money than they might otherwise make. Lower paying jobs will have a lot less of an effect on their income.

If I'm reading it right, he is using Profession to determine Wealth. Hours worked is replacing the roll, not the modifier.

Correct, although I was considering allowing other skills to be used in lieu of Profession to determine wealth increase, such as perform or intimidate for the musician who plays concerts and the gang member who runs extortion rings respectively.

[Dhavaer]

Correct, although I was considering allowing other skills to be used in lieu of Profession to determine wealth increase, such as perform or intimidate for the musician who plays concerts and the gang member who runs extortion rings respectively.

You could use those skills to determine how much each hour gives.

[Behold_the_Void]

You could use those skills to determine how much each hour gives.

Ooh... I like that. That's a good idea, I'll have to work with that.

[manda_babylon]

The game I'm running now is a D20 Past, and also confined to a school setting. For the characters starting wealth, [and starting occupation] I had them choose their parent's occupation [with the exception of the black sheep of a rich family, who took criminal]. They came to the school with their parents' money behind them, but anything else they earn is up to them. When they do an odd job or earn a reward, I give them a number of wealth points arbitrarily. Then, when they buy things, they spend them. [a player sells a gown - receives 4 wealth points - buys passage to another town - spends 3 wealth points]. It simplifies things for my players, who are terrible at math, for the most part.

As for drive, just because someone has never taken driver's ed, it doesn't mean they will not be able to operate a car. The drive check is for driving under duress. Even if Joe has never driven before, he's grown up in a culture of driving. TV and movies can be pretty good about showing how people drive. Plus, he has to have ridden with people at some point, and has watched other drivers. Just because he doesn't have a license doesn't mean he grew up in Amish country and has no clue where the key goes and what the pedals mean. Years before I taught myself to drive, I was a master at Daytona, and I've never taken driver's ed, either. It really does help.