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Do You Actually Put All Your House Rules in Writing?
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DougRed4
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 16, 2022 1:50 pm    Post subject: Do You Actually Put All Your House Rules in Writing? Reply with quote

As the question says: do you spell out your house rules in writing? Or do you just continually tweak and adjust rules, so that everybody in your games just knows how things are done over time?

For house rules in this (and other RPGs), I like to have them written and also printed out, so they're in actual black and white, for anyone who wants to look at them during a session. Not to mention that it makes it easier for me to double-check them if I need to when I run the game. I believe it helps especially with consistency.
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CRMcNeill
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 16, 2022 2:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Even when tweaking, having them in writing becomes more and more important as the rule set becomes more and more complex.
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garhkal
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 16, 2022 3:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

YES. I even send an email to the players, OF all my house rules.. Especially for adnd!
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Dr. Bidlo
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 16, 2022 7:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I write out my house rules for my sake only, and verbally teach them the rules as needed. Only one of my players has ever read the rules and he is more often a GM than a player. I have found players tend to play much more authentically when they don't fully understand the mechanics, so they aren't aware of the ways to cheat the rules legally and know exactly what every result means. It's like the Wizard of Oz is still safely behind his curtain that way.
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ThrorII
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 16, 2022 7:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

When an issue comes up in play that requires a house rule, we will implement it as a test, then after the game discuss the patch. If we agree it is a good house rule, it gets listed in the house rule document.

Sometimes the game starts ("session 0") with house rules.

We keep house rules documented so we know what we decided, and everyone knows what to expect.
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Whill
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 16, 2022 8:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Having them in writing is important. I'm in the process of getting them all down. It's a long, slow process.
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Darklighter79
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 17, 2022 5:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Written and printed. If they are crucial and often used, they get incorporated go "GM screen 2.0 supplement".
But the "draft house rules" must pass the implementation period = must be tested in game first.
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DougRed4
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 17, 2022 5:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That's a good point. There's times that stuff comes up during play, or even something that I come across here (like the various changes to Scale) that will be 'temporary' house rules for us. We try them out (sort of like when the NFL introduces a new rule that is provisional for just a year), and if we agree after some play that it is working, then it gets documented and written down.
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pakman
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 18, 2022 7:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Whill wrote:
Having them in writing is important. I'm in the process of getting them all down. It's a long, slow process.


Yes, yes it is indeed.

DougRed4 wrote:

For house rules in this (and other RPGs), I like to have them written and also printed out, so they're in actual black and white, for anyone who wants to look at them during a session. Not to mention that it makes it easier for me to double-check them if I need to when I run the game. I believe it helps especially with consistency.


Totally agree - absolutely 100% in writing.

Otherwise, we forget - and that can lead to everything from disappointment "man, that was a cool rule - how did we do it" to "I don't remember it that way" type disagreements.

Now, sometimes house rules can get a bit....much.

In the case of our new game, I found myself going from a massive house rules spreadsheet, to just making a new rules set - especially when there were so many changes and clarifications I wanted (love my old school d6, but lots of typos, convoluted things and tons of inconsistencies - as evidenced by all the house rules here and other places).

my new project, which is a hybrid version of weg starwars r&e + open d6 + tons of house rules inspired by the content here and other sources, is now at 162 pages. I am fairly confident it will top out at 200+, even without a ton of fluff in it.

in fact, soon I will be ready to ask for folks to help with proof reading or other feedback (I have shared a lot on individual mechanics already).
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garhkal
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 19, 2022 12:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Agreed. One of the guys i gamed with for 4 years down in norfolk, had like 8 house rules.. COULD all fit on one page.
THEN Another group entirely, had almost a full DOZEN PAGES of house rules...
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schnarre
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 12, 2022 9:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

...I keep House Rules written down--both for my players' sake, & my own as well!
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KageRyu
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 16, 2022 9:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have not gamed in a very long time, though when I was gaming prolificly I always tried to keep written logs of house rules and modifications. I generally preferred 3 ring binders or spiral notebooks initially, but at one point started using Mead Pocket Notebooks to keep rules notes during a game, and then transition more polished drafts to spiral notebooks or 3-ring binders. I have a lot of notebooks with lots of rules, notes, campaign ideas, source material, and backdrops for a large variety of games ranging from AD&D 2E, to Call of Cthulhu, to DC Heros, to Cyberpunk, even to Palladium. I had wanted to someday type it all up... but never seem to get it done.
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garhkal
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 17, 2022 2:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I keep mine in word doc format, so if i need to, i can email them to my players.
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DougRed4
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 26, 2022 6:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I do mine in a Word doc as well, so I can easily add, delete, change or modify as needed.
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Mamatried
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 27, 2022 12:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I do some notes on the most
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