One additional rule that's come up was how to handle attacks that use multiple attack actions to use.  A power punch or a long gun burst.

They way we did it was skipping over you on the next time we run through the initiative order. 

However, combined with a dodge, it can be a bit hard to keep who has done what and such.

An easier way to handle it is to simply say that a multi-attack action uses up your current action, and your last action. In other words, just act as if your character has one less action than they normally would each time a multiple attack action is used.

Quote from: weirdguy564 on January 11, 2025, 01:25:12 PMOne additional rule that's come up was how to handle attacks that use multiple attack actions to use.  A power punch or a long gun burst.

They way we did it was skipping over you on the next time we run through the initiative order. 

However, combined with a dodge, it can be a bit hard to keep who has done what and such.

An easier way to handle it is to simply say that a multi-attack action uses up your current action, and your last action. In other words, just act as if your character has one less action than they normally would each time a multiple attack action is used.

The # of HTH attacks is one of the clunkiest parts of the system. I think your last example is the easiest way to do it. Someone (Usually the Juicer ) is gonna get to take actions when everyone else is out. At least we can let them do some stuff without worrying about getting skipped over .

I did entertain the idea of phasing actions, like in how Champions used to do it. But I think that would make a clunky system even clunkier.

One house rule I've thought is reducing # of attacks bloat by removing the two you get for "free".
Just whatever from HTH, and unskilled characters/NPCs have at least 1 attack at minimum.
Oh, and no stacking of attacks from robot/Pa combat skills. That shit gets nuts fast.

The two attacks you get for free used to be only found in Heroes Unlimited.  They were super heroes, so that was one way to make them stand out.

But, you're right.  As it is now everyone gets two actions per round as a starting base, and combat training and boxing add to it. 

Even clunkier, I think Chaos Earth (Rifts prequel) has untrained people with 3 attack actions per round.  Sort of.  You get 1 attack and 2 defensive actions per round, and parrying is not a free action.

Yeah.  Palladium cannot nail down their rules.  Every game that comes out tweaks them.

It's high time for a third edition to the rules.   A core, base rulebook that all other games are then based off of.

That's sort of why I'm posting this thread.  I'm hunting for good house rules to see what a better Palladdium 3rd edition could look like.

Quote from: weirdguy564 on January 11, 2025, 06:51:02 PMThat's sort of why I'm posting this thread.  I'm hunting for good house rules to see what a better Palladdium 3rd edition could look like.

Not to discourage you, but whenever I go down that road, I eventually come to the conclusion that I could save the time and energy and just use another system.

But I'll post my doc with all my collected Rifts houserules when I get home. Some of them are not play tested. Some "in hindsight" stuff.

One house rule we never made, but ought to have been in there from the start, are range modifiers for shooting.

I know that they later (2nd edition Rifts I think) had under 60 feet shooting uses the standard of 1-4 is a miss, and 5-20 is a hit.  But, when shooting over 60 feet, it's 1-8 is a miss and 9-20 is a hit. 

First, nice try, but let's be more general than that.  Just say it's -3 to hit at medium range, and -6 for long range shooting.  FYI, the same penalties for when you're partially impaired, or severely impaired.  Those penalties are found in various debilitating spells like Cloud of Smoke, or Invisible.  Just unify them. 

Rifts and the idea of a megaversal system was the real culprit here.  Until then all the games had rules specifically designed for them.  Fantasy had rules that worked for Fantasy, N&S looked similar but the HtH rules were (and still are) very different, HU was for super heroes, and MDC was in Robotech for mecha combat.

Then along came Rifts.

However, MD is a very scary and valid reason for why people would embrace something like the Coalition.

Quote from: weirdguy564 on January 10, 2025, 10:53:26 AMKevin actually said that his rules are loosely-goossey deliberately.  He WANTS it that way because he doesn't feel there is a correct way to handle any and all situations.

It's a feature, not a bug. 

That's pure cope. GMs will always change the game fit their and their groups' needs, and the idea that they need permission to do so is asinine, much less the idea that a game's rules being unclear is the same as them being modular when it's clearly the opposite. How is a GM supposed to know how changing a rule is going to effect the game if he can't discern what the rule was supposed to be in the first place, let alone what the rule was meant to evoke.

I was excited about Palladium when I found out about the TMNT game being rereleased, and bought Ninjas and Superspies in preparation. Forget the fact that N&S is in fact a mere rules expansion with pretentions of being a full game (if the actual rules for resolving a skill check are in that book I still have not found them) and the fact that it's frankly unclear what game it is therefore and expansion of. The martial arts rules consisting primarily of unlocking a wine menu of particularized punches and kicks with esoterically varied effects. And this is layered on top of the wobbly base Palladium combat system. After several days of reading and rereading and building character precons and rereading I gave up any hope of actually playing a Palladium game. I know plenty of people have, and I salute their dedication to firstly the system and secondly to building their own system in flight.

Ninjas and Superspies is the last game I would want as somebody's first Palladium game.  It is the most complex game they make.

Palladium Fantasy 1st edition is where you should start.  The rules are the easiest to understand and use.

Palladium Fantasy 1st Ed