Tales from Fairview: House Rules

This is a revision of the previous house rules (since that one lacked clarity). "Funky stuff" is a technical term for weapons doing other effects than just damage.

Critical Hits

As per the normal rules, difference of 12 between attacker and defender nets double damage for the attacker. 12 more is triple and so forth. Rolling a 12 to hit (and not getting that difference) only nets double damage if one has Critical Strike. The GM confused the two as the same thing.


The Dreaded 2

Rolling a 2 to attack or defend. If you still win the attack or defense, you do so very poorly and, if it is an attack, funky weapon stuff doesn't work at GMs discretion. Perhaps more importantly, your opponent realizes how badly you stumbled and may get a bonus to their next attack or defense. For the most part, it's intended to be RPed as situations dictate.

Rolling a 12

If you roll a 12, you hit. If the defender still wins the roll, attackers damage is limited as equal to ACV (and, at GMs discretion, no funky stuff). If you get a 12 and win, the opponent may suffer a morale loss and so forth based on how awesome you were. On the flip side, they're also aware of what your limit for 'best' is.


Both the 12 and 2 are meant to be largely RPed in terns of story effects. If you succeed because of a 12, it looks really awesome. If you fail because of a 2, it looks that much worse. If either results in critical hit/failure, you screw the pooch badly or open up a can of awesome.


Ties

This is the real rules revision: Ties now go to the defender in a battle, not the attacker.


Divine Relationship

A few things: it can only be used once per round and the total refreshes every day, not every game session. Also, if you do use it in combat, this is noticed by the foe. You almost fail, manage to recover at the last moment and so on. This will get noticed if it happens more than once in the same fight, and if the battle is anything Official, cheating may be called :)

Fairview: some meta notes

Session Complications: Generally, what we end up with is four players, their pcs sometimes at four different times, doing different things. (Monday's session even had Joni doing things Sunday and then finishing up Sat. night stuff.) Add in combat, trying to keep notes, spark's quotes and trying to somehow keep continuity together* and things get, well, complicated. Fun, but complicated.

The downside of that is that sometimes one character will get the short end of the attention stick, as it were. Generally speaking, the player who arrives last tends to have this problem, mostly because everything is in full-swing with everyone else. To try and alleviate this, some thoughts:

1) Get in touch/involved with the other PCs. (This is, generally, a good idea all around.)

2) If the plot doesn't really allow for that -- say, Karl waiting on the inquisition -- poke me in channel a few times if/when you find it too slow. A lot of players are playing to rather late hours in their timezone, and I'd rather not have any of you feel the time was wasted. So nag if need be :)

* This has held together shockingly well, often thanks to players taking broad hints, like Leon insisting Alex join him for lunch since other PCs and NPCs had broken into her office in an event playing out before Alex arrived at said office. Ah, the joys of time.


Side sessions: These will mostly be for single-player plot bits that mostly just involve that character. Rei taking Dennis to the vet was the most recent one and gave them some RP time as well as allowing Rei to figure out more about what went down Thursday night. Karl will be taking more steps to find his computer this weekend and so forth.


Sheets: Everyone has 30 XP right now. Modification of character sheets is allowed, within reason. (If you want to stop having/using a major ability, say it burned out ... though your character won't know that, and may well try to use it again.) Send me updated sheets, preferably before Monday.

Fariview: Hope's Poems

For Rei, because she dared read poems by a girl who lost her brother. (Alas, the GM was not in a really gothy mood.)

i.

there are no words
no words to say
grey emptiness within
blank smiles without

all I do is grasp edges
thought is stained with grief
I miss even hating him
we are the total of our regrets

ii.

We never talked as strangers do
My brother, he and I.
The silences are deeper now
And all his words a veil.

We never spoke as friends do,
Trading light grey lies.
All my thoughts have weight now
I whisper lest I wail.

iii. [This one is crossed out savagely, but readable]

Sometimes the strong are O! so weak with secrets they can never keep
One wrong word and panic leaps 'til only death alone can reap;
It's only love I want to speak, but his fears sweet silence keeps
Grey truth and lies slowly creep while loss hides hope and weeps

iv.


They told me you were dead and gone
And that alone I must continue on.
They told me you have gone away
To a place I may visit yet someday.
But all I saw and all I know
Is they put you in the ground.
Tell me that it isn't so,
That gravestones are fairy mounds.

I wish that I could believe
That some part of you hasn't forgot,
I wish I could deceive
Myself that death's not our lot
I wish I could feel relief
If we just lie there and rot
But I can't help but believe.

All the empty words that people say
Can't bring you back to me today,
I waited here until grey dawn
But the day has come and gone.

v.

when I think of death I think
of silence and the end
of empty halls and laid-down burdens
grey gardens we no longer tend

And when I life of life I know
that all things must break
and heart's lessons are scar's
tissue and all we forsake.

vi.

Each word I write is poor and fettered.
Pictures found worth untold worls.
The truth is a liar, the wise man says.
All I know is what is gone.
All I feel is hollow and grey.
All I wish is for an end.