Houserules

We make some small adjustments to some corners of the basic rules of the game or specific advantages and powers, while adding a suite of new advantages. Additionally, we have a few things to keep in mind as things we keep an eye on.

Starting Characters
Characters begin play at Power Level 7, 8, 9, 10, or 11, and begin with 20 extra PP over standard. Thus their starting PP counts are as follows: PL7: 125PP

PL8: 140PP

PL9: 155PP

PL10: 170PP

PL11: 185PP

We originally chose PL8 with 140 starting PP as a compromise between PL8 and PL10, and to enable more expensive concepts for starting characters, and later expanded our range of allowable PLs while maintaining 20 extra starting PP. They must be able to have their defenses capped while heroing, and must have at least one offensive attack at cap which can be used to defeat an enemy (whether through incapacitation or a third-degree condition such as paralyzed, transformed, or controlled). "This was decided for ease of balancing games for GMs."

Broad Skills
We define four particular Expertises - Science, Visual Art, Music, and Magic - as Broad skills, which encompass many more specific skills within them.

A Broad skill can be used to make a check with any skill it encompasses at a -5 penalty. Thus, Expertise: Science +15 is equivalent to having Expertise: Chemistry +10 and Expertise: Physics +10, along with every other branch of science at +10 as well.

We introduce a new advantage, Specialization, which allows you to pick one subset of a Broad skill to negate the penalty for."This was introduced to prevent experienced generalist characters with high scores in a broad skill from easily matching or outshining starting specialist characters, as well as to enable specialist characters to more easily shine in their specialty."

Constructs
We rule that Constructs may use Extra Effort. However, rather than Fatigued -> Exhausted -> Incapacitated, this moves the Construct along a track of Impaired -> Disabled -> Incapacitated.

Additionally, if a Construct is targeted by an effect with Affects Objects, they can roll to resist at your PL rather than automatically failing. GMs running construct NPCs may do the same for non-minion constructs, if they choose."This was decided to prevent players of Construct characters from feeling that they paid to be more restricted than other characters."

Trade Offs
Your offenses and defenses (Attack/Effect, Dodge/Toughness, Parry/Toughness, Will/Fortitude) may not be shifted by more than half your PL (rounded down)."This was decided for ease of balancing games for GMs."

Maneuvers
Characters may only use a single maneuver at a time. Keep in mind that Team Attacks are a maneuver."This was decided to reduce the power of Team Attacks, and allow for other options to be more useful."

Advantage: Expanded Luck
We allow the use of the Expanded Luck rules found in Power Profiles. This allows you to buy ranks of luck for things like Inspiration, Recovery, and uses of Hero Points.

You may only have up to half your PL in total ranks of Luck (rounded down), and may have no more than a single rank of Luck: Recovery."This limit was decided to prevent players from being able to overuse Extra Effort thanks to Luck: Recovery."

Advantage: Fearless
Fearless makes you immune to intimidation, but doesn’t give immunity to powers with the Fear descriptor. It instead gives a +2 bonus, with a second rank granting a +5 bonus.

Immunity: Emotion Effects (Limited to Fear) may be taken for 3 points to becoming immune to powers with the Fear descriptor in addition to intimidation."This was decided so that a single pp wasn’t enough to defeat fear-based villains like the Scarecrow, or stymie heroes with Fear-based powers."

Advantage: Holding Back
This advantage is banned.

Advantage: Improved Treatment
If you have the Improved Treatment advantage, you may have no more than Treatment +13, and may not routine an Improved Treatment roll even with Skill Mastery: Treatment. Additionally, you may only use it to remove Fatigue from a target once per scene.

To represent high levels of skill in treatment if you have the Improved Treatment advantage, we suggest taking ranks of Expertise: Medicine."This was decided so that there would remain a chance of failure with Improved Treatment, and to prevent players from being able to overuse Extra Effort thanks to Improved Treatment."

Advantage: Jack of All Trades
If you have the Jack of All Trades advantage, you may have no more than Intellect 6."This was decided so that high-int characters wouldn’t be able to take Jack of All Trades and match or outshine specialist characters in any field."

Power: Deflect
If multiple Deflects are applied to the same target, only one Deflect may apply to a given attack.

You may not have both Reflect and Area on the same use of Deflect. However, if you have both extras, you may choose which applies to each time you use the effect."This was decided to prevent the overuse of Area Deflects and Area Reflects."

Power: Growth
Growth is banned. To be larger or heavier, instead take ranks of a feature called Massive Size - 1 rank increases your size rank by 1 - and/or a feature called Density - 1 rank can increase your mass rank by up to 4."This was decided because Growth is considerably cheaper than the benefits it gives."

Power: Healing
You may not have Healing with a rank above 8. If you have Area Healing or Reduced Action Healing, the limit is 5 ranks. Additionally, the resurrection extra is limited to Power Stunts."This was decided so that there would always be a chance of failure when using Healing, and so that death would feel more consequential."

Power: Regeneration
You may not have Regeneration with a rank above 10. Additionally, if your Regen has a rank higher than 5, it must have a Limit of some sort - being bypassed by a descriptor, requiring a Source, only applying to Bruises, etc."This was decided to reduce the power of high ranks of Regeneration."

Power: Shrinking
Shrinking is banned. To be smaller, take ranks of a feature called Small Size - 1 rank decreases your size rank by 1- and/or a feature called Density - 1 rank can reduce your mass rank by up to 4."This was decided because Shrink is considerably more expensive than the benefits it gives."

Power: Swimming
Rather than the Swimming power, use Speed (Limited to Swimming). You may wish to add Skill Mastery (Athletics) to this power to allow you to swim without making an Athletics check.

If you are using our houserule file for HeroLab, the Swimming power is adjusted to match this standard - costing 1pp for 2 ranks, and with a 1pp extra called Steady which allows you to swim without making an Athletics check."This was decided to prevent speedsters from being able to swim as quickly as a character with an equal rank of Swimming for the same cost, while also outspeeding them on land."

Advantage: Born for the Stage
Allows the user to make untrained checks with any skill relating to art and performance, and grants a +2 circumstance bonus to use of those skills for that purpose.

Keep in mind that this grants a bonus to skills like Acrobatics, Deception, and Sleight of Hand only if they are being used for art or performance, such as acting or performing stage magic."This was added to help enable artistic generalists without requiring them to take Jack of All Trades. It is in some ways a holdover from before the Broad Skills/Specialization rule was introduced."

Advantage: Damaging Escape
After escaping a grab, you can make an attack against the grabbing character as a free action."This was added to help buff martial artists and close-ranged fighters."

Advantage: Exuding Confidence
You may base your Will Defense on your Presence rather than your Awareness."This was added to help make Presence-focused generalists more affordable, and to encourage them to invest directly in Presence rather than only in skills."

Advantage: Favored Friend
Identical to Favored Enemy, but gives a bonus to Persuasion rather than Intimidation."This was added for flavor reasons."

Advantage: Intuitive Reflexes
You may base your Initiative on your Awareness rather than your Agility."This was added for flavor reasons."

Advantage: Readied Artifact
At the start of a game, you may have one Artifact already built. The full rules for this are roughly described in Gadget Guides."This was added to match Readied Ritual."

Advantage: Readied Invention
At the start of a game, you may have one Invention already built. The full rules for this are roughly described in Gadget Guides."This was added to match Readied Ritual."

Advantage: Readied Ritual
At the start of a game, you may have one Ritual already designed and ready to trigger. The full rules for this are roughly described in Gadget Guides."This is listed here because it is part of our houserules file, but is originally found in Gadget Guides."

Advantage: Skill Knack
Choose a type of circumstance penalty you can ignore."This is listed here because it is part of our houserules file, but is originally found in Power Profiles."You may not take this to ignore the -5 penalty for Feinting, Tricking, or Demoralizing as a move action."We disallow ignoring the penalty for Feinting, Tricking, or Demoralizing as a move action to prevent those options from becoming overpowered."

Advantage: Speed of Thought
You may base your Initiative on your Intellect rather than your Agility."This is listed here because it is part of our houserules file, but is originally found in Threat Report as a Feature."

Advantage: Specialization
Allows a character to use a broad skill for a specific subfield without the normal -5 penalty for using a broad skill.

Specializations in Artificing, Inventing, or Ritualism instead effectively grant 3 ranks of quickness for that purpose."This was added as part of our Broad Skills rule."

Advantage: Strongarm
You may base your Intimidation on your Strength rather than your Presence."This was added for flavor reasons, and to help enable strength-focused characters to be scary."

Advantage: Unnerving Assault
When you roll a critical success on a noticeable attack or resistance check, you may make an immediate Demoralize attempt as a reaction."This was added for flavor reasons."

Advantage: Withstand Damage
When you take the Defend action, you can reduce your active defenses by up to 2 to increase your Toughness by the same amount. A second rank allows you to take a reduction and increase of up to 5."This was added to help the Defend action represent toughing out hits rather than avoiding them."

Action Economy
We will carefully watch the use of the Minion advantage, the Sidekick advantage, and the Summon power. They are not banned, but will be judged on a case-by-case basis.

Bathroom Mentalists
Don’t build a character who can contribute to a fight without risking themselves. If you play a character as a Bathroom Mentalist, you will be talked to and the problematic elements of your character may be removed.

This includes options such as Remote Sensing with Perception ranged effects, Burrowing, Move-By Attack with high ranks of movement, High ranks of Teleport with Turnabout, Dimensional Travel, etc.

Having these is not inherently problematic - however, using them to play a bathroom mentalist is.

Headquarters
We will carefully watch the use of Headquarters to ensure that it isn't used in cheesy ways, such as using time dilation and Inventor to prepare inventions nearly instantly.

Teams of heroes have two options for building headquarters. They may spend EP on a group HQ, or they made receive a free, barebones HQ which must be upgraded through games (which may be requested).

Quickness with Artifacts/Inventions/Ritualist
We currently have no limit on how many ranks of Quickness may apply to the use of these advantages. Do not abuse the combination and force us to impose one. Similar to bathroom mentalism, having both isn’t inherently problematic, but using them abusively is.

Variable
As Variable is a complex and powerful effect, we will keep a careful eye on its use, and judge it on a case-by-case basis.

If we deny the use of Variable for a character, we will do our best to help make the character's concept work using other effects.