Rules – Page 2 – EpicSavingThrow.com: A Grognard's Notebook

House Rules For Modern 5e

August 11, 2018 mstanton Rules

Some rough ideas on using the Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition ruleset for other genre games.

Top Secret: New World Order Notes

April 14, 2018 mstanton Rules

Some initial notes on the 2018 reboot version of Merle M. Rasmussen’s original espionage role-playing game.

Star Trek Fast Traveller

February 22, 2017 mstanton Rules

Notes for running a Traveller game in the Star Trek universe.

T.I.M.E Stories Rules

February 12, 2017 mstanton Rules

A summary of basic rules to Space Cowboys’ “decksploration” board game.

Adventures In Middle-Earth 5e

December 19, 2016 mstanton Rules

Some early notes on the D&D sourcebook / conversion of THE ONE RING role-playing game.

D&D5e: Inspiration Hack

November 30, 2016 mstanton Rules

An alternative method for determining when and how a character gains Inspiration during play.

D&D5e: Downtime Activities

November 25, 2016 mstanton Rules

Notes about what characters may do between adventures. More roll-play than role-play but nice to have some guidelines for DMs and players to set expectations.

D&D5e: Magic

November 25, 2016 mstanton Rules

Notes about spellcasting, magic items and guidelines for effects and limitations in play.

D&D5e: Skill & Tool Use

November 25, 2016 mstanton Rules

Notes about ability checks and various proficiencies, plus clarification on the “Hide” action.

D&D5e: Combat & Health

November 25, 2016 mstanton Rules

All kinds of notes about running combat, “to-hit” rolls and damage, hit point loss and recovery and class abilities.

D&D5e: Time & Travel

November 24, 2016 mstanton Rules

Recap of rules and house rules for travel by land, air or sea.

Hack: Defusing Bombs/Traps

November 24, 2016 mstanton Rules

An RPG mechanic for solving short codes such as defusing sequences for bombs or traps.

Cypher System

August 25, 2016 mstanton Rules

A hack to the “buying down Difficulty” rule in Monte Cook’s Cypher System Rulebook.

D&D5e Range Chart

November 20, 2015 mstanton Rules

Comparison of some range distance limits in Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition.

Call Of Cthulhu 7th Edition

October 31, 2015 mstanton Rules

An expanded version of Matt Puccio’s Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition cribsheet.

Fantasy Forensics

March 15, 2015 mstanton Rules

BlogOfHolding’s fantastic post on how magic changes criminal investigations in a fantasy world.

D&D4e: War Challenges

May 1, 2014 mstanton Rules

Repost of “Skill Challenges of War” by Michael Brewer, Jonathan Jacobs, and Quinn Murphy.

AD&D1e Fast Treasures

March 23, 2014 mstanton Rules

A collection of treasure items a party might have in its possession during an adventure.

Alternatives To Death

July 22, 2013 mstanton Rules

So, a character has died. Now what? here’s ideas to avoid a player having to “start over” with a wholly new character.

Hit point loss could be meat, OR condition of armor OR self-confidence, focus and resisting shock in combat OR ability to ignore nuisance effect like dirt in eyes or awkward stumbles OR lots of things…

Pre-Rolled Dice

June 11, 2012 mstanton Rules

Lists of dice rolls in a random order repeating multiple times for each die type.

Pre-Rolled d20s

June 11, 2012 mstanton Rules

Lists of modified d20 rolls to make attack and saving throw rolls easier for DMs managing multiple opponents.

AD&D 1e Skills

December 14, 2011 mstanton Rules

A summary of the original “non-weapon proficiencies” allowed to player characters, sometimes called “secondary skills” in rules by Gary Gygax.

AD&D1e Equipment Lists

December 14, 2011 mstanton Lists & Benchmarks, Rules

A list of items, services, prices and weights.

AD&D1e Age Ranges

May 22, 2011 mstanton Rules

AD&D1e followed short lifespans for rapid-population-growth humanoids and ridiculous Tolkien-based ages for elves.

Microlite20

December 2, 2010 mstanton Rules

Microlite20 is a super-simple RPG rules set created by Robin Stacey back in 2006 and widely modified by fans ever since. It is meant to

Area Threat Levels

October 22, 2009 mstanton Rules

Suggested degrees of “local danger” found in various types of locations.

Prices In A Fantasy Setting

April 22, 2009 mstanton Lists & Benchmarks, Rules

A collection of benchmark standards for use as a house rule for most traditional fantasy marketplaces.

nWoD Vampire Powers

December 1, 2007 mstanton Rules

Lists of supernatural powers for “new World of Darkness” Kindred characters per Vampire: The Requiem.

World Of Darkness Rules

December 1, 2007 mstanton Rules

Notes, summaries and a few house rules from The World Of Darkness Storytelling System Rulebook (2004 edition, aka “nWoD”).

Magick Vs. Paradox Guidelines

October 8, 2006 mstanton Rules

Instead of “vulgar” and “coincidental” labels, instead look at the effect and and consider what a mundane would say if he directly witnessed the event.

Foreshadowing Mage Magick

October 8, 2006 mstanton Rules, Settings

The big limitation on magical powers in Mage comes from paradox driven by the counter-belief of non-mage observers. A little creative description can get around that issue…

Magick Effects

October 8, 2006 mstanton Rules

Guidelines for creating specific effects via the magick spheres using the Mage: The Ascension game.

Fast Traveller Rules 0.6

October 1, 2006 mstanton Homebrews, Rules

Another edit of “quick and dirty” home rules for running introductory Traveller games.

Traveller Psionics

September 29, 2006 mstanton Rules

Notes on using psionic abilities in the Third Imperium of Traveller, per the 1977 Basic Set.

Character Alignment

August 22, 2003 mstanton Rules

Summary of how the original nine basic alignments are meant to be used and role-played in D&D.

Fast High Guard

March 4, 2003 mstanton Rules

Some notes on running space combats with the CT 1979 rules, plus 1980 revisions and house rules.

Cop Gear, Spy Tools, Modern Equipment Lists

January 5, 2003 mstanton Lists & Benchmarks, Rules

GURPS 3.0 stats for equipment typically found in the trunk of a police cruiser / squad car.

Ozymandia Rules

May 24, 1999 mstanton Rules

Rules for “Simultaneous Risk With Bombardments” from New Rules for Classic Games by R. Wayne Schmittberger

RPG Mini-Handbook

June 4, 1996 mstanton Homebrews, Rules

A rough “conversion document” for several RPGs popular in the mid-1990s.