Hi,
Not sure if these are house rules or not, just the mechanics that our group has evolved into over the years.
We started a point based system to reward people who provided extra between game services to the group.
Being a larger group (16 plus, anywhere from 8-12 will make the session), we saw the need for a summary of the previous session to catch people who missed the last session or two. Anyone who wrote up a summary got 1 point, and the summary that was voted by the players to be the best became the official summary. (And that player got 3 points).
Any artwork, floor plans or play aides designed by a player that were accepted by the group as official were worth one point.
Serving as group secretary is worth one point per session (Sec collects dues, handles the mailings of summaries and maintains session supplies and has copies of handouts to catch up a players campaign book.)
Serving as session steward is worth one point per session. The steward is in charge of group refreshments and submits the recpts to the secretary for payment from the treasury.
To keep places interesting, players sometimes choose to maintain a setting (and serve as sub-GM) for an area. The most popular places done this way are bars. They maintain a rotating NPC list (No Gina isn't here anymore, she finally passed her bar exam.), and make notes of changes to the place. (They also serve as NPC runner for their area) If a location is used during a session this is worth 1 point to the player.
To spend points from our system in the game, we came up with the concept of insight. A few times a session when players aren't connecting the dots, the GM will put critical (or not so critical) information on an index card and put it in down on the game table.
Characters can then bid on the card to gain insight into a situation (have the dots connected for them).
We came up with the concept of insight because as we got older our time for gaming has really decreased. The insight cards are a mechanism that we use to avoid getting bogged down at a point in the session.
Another house rule we use is iconic speech. This was supposed to be a one time rule for a special situation, but we really liked it and it made summaries easier so we kept it in play. Just as with the insight cards, it became a method to speed play along.
When the characters are nearing a dead lock on how to go forward, the GM can invoke iconic speech, then up to three players may elect to write their reasoning on the best course of action onto an index card. The cards are then read and players vote on how to go forward.
Iconic speech can also be invoked when dealing with an NPC to try and talk them into following a course of action that while logical would not be the normal course of action.
Sometimes at a particular session, players elect to serve as NPC runners instead of playing their character. NPC runners get one point per session.
So what sort of mechanics does your group use? Most of our house rules are to save time and keep the game moving forward. As we have gotten older, we have less time for play when we can get together.
Thanks
Not sure if these are house rules or not, just the mechanics that our group has evolved into over the years.
We started a point based system to reward people who provided extra between game services to the group.
Being a larger group (16 plus, anywhere from 8-12 will make the session), we saw the need for a summary of the previous session to catch people who missed the last session or two. Anyone who wrote up a summary got 1 point, and the summary that was voted by the players to be the best became the official summary. (And that player got 3 points).
Any artwork, floor plans or play aides designed by a player that were accepted by the group as official were worth one point.
Serving as group secretary is worth one point per session (Sec collects dues, handles the mailings of summaries and maintains session supplies and has copies of handouts to catch up a players campaign book.)
Serving as session steward is worth one point per session. The steward is in charge of group refreshments and submits the recpts to the secretary for payment from the treasury.
To keep places interesting, players sometimes choose to maintain a setting (and serve as sub-GM) for an area. The most popular places done this way are bars. They maintain a rotating NPC list (No Gina isn't here anymore, she finally passed her bar exam.), and make notes of changes to the place. (They also serve as NPC runner for their area) If a location is used during a session this is worth 1 point to the player.
To spend points from our system in the game, we came up with the concept of insight. A few times a session when players aren't connecting the dots, the GM will put critical (or not so critical) information on an index card and put it in down on the game table.
Characters can then bid on the card to gain insight into a situation (have the dots connected for them).
We came up with the concept of insight because as we got older our time for gaming has really decreased. The insight cards are a mechanism that we use to avoid getting bogged down at a point in the session.
Another house rule we use is iconic speech. This was supposed to be a one time rule for a special situation, but we really liked it and it made summaries easier so we kept it in play. Just as with the insight cards, it became a method to speed play along.
When the characters are nearing a dead lock on how to go forward, the GM can invoke iconic speech, then up to three players may elect to write their reasoning on the best course of action onto an index card. The cards are then read and players vote on how to go forward.
Iconic speech can also be invoked when dealing with an NPC to try and talk them into following a course of action that while logical would not be the normal course of action.
Sometimes at a particular session, players elect to serve as NPC runners instead of playing their character. NPC runners get one point per session.
So what sort of mechanics does your group use? Most of our house rules are to save time and keep the game moving forward. As we have gotten older, we have less time for play when we can get together.
Thanks
