Every gamer has at least one or two games they think rock -- systems that are extremely well done and enjoyable to play.  Yet there's usually at least one place in the rulebook where you can't help but feel it could have been done better.

I like low-level D&D games, and I like Wizard characters.  Unfortunately that's about the worst choice a player could make for a one-shot low-level game.  Like many people (including at least some WOTC designers) I think the way magic / spells work could be a bit better -- particularly at lower levels.
 
Which rule(s) in your favourite game do you think could be (or needs to be) improved on?

WFRP, the game I'm GM'ing these days, is a pretty solid set of rules IMO- simple, clean and effective. One change I'm planning on house-ruling is to tone down the insanity system so that developing an insanity isn't a one-way trip to character destruction. I want to see characters accumulate minor disorders with a growing threat of developing a full-blown disorder as per RAW.

Expanding the critical hits system so that there are more than 10 results per section might be nice too. I can see the design thinking in keeping the results to 10- it fits with the system's use of d10/d%. However that's not necessary given the way the rules work, and I have to say that the results get a bit samey over time. And that's not to mention my feeling that there is a bias towards the higher results, which makes me think that the mechanics need some tweaking.

As for my favourite system? Gah! Don't get me started on what I'd like to see to get HERO dragged kicking and screaming back into line! :eyecrazy: Actually, there is one thing in particular which bugs me about HERO5 more than anything else- those fricken inches.

I mean: HERO is a metric game, which I really like because it makes the scales really easy to deal with. So what have we got? We've got a system where all distances are in inches, where 1 inch= 2 metres. So you have to buy all your powers in inches, then convert backwards and forwards between the game's scale and real world measure. Just how dumb is that? And don't tell me why this was done. I know all that. It's just a stupid fiddle which should've been dumped in the 5th edition. Gah!

I really like Savage Worlds, but the damage system needs work.  When someone takes damage I'm yanked right out of the sheer joy of play and into "how does this work again?".  And it's not like my games don't have regular combat.

Quote from: StuartWhich rule(s) in your favourite game do you think could be (or needs to be) improved on?

Oh, that's easy: Nobilis doesn't provide any mechanical support for playing common mortals (and no, they don't even get stats), so I ended up developing a system of "Affinities" for that purpose. Admittedly commoners aren't supposed to be the focus of the game, but still...

Masterbook needs a new incarnation. Skill points should matter more, there should be some feat-like combat maneuver crunch and a better organisation of the rules.

Plus semi-nude chicks.

Quote from: JMcL63Expanding the critical hits system so that there are more than 10 results per section might be nice too. I can see the design thinking in keeping the results to 10- it fits with the system's use of d10/d%. However that's not necessary given the way the rules work, and I have to say that the results get a bit samey over time. And that's not to mention my feeling that there is a bias towards the higher results, which makes me think that the mechanics need some tweaking.

You are familiar with the existence of the fan-made expanded crit tables for 2e, aren't you?

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Quote from: RPGPunditYou are familiar with the existence of the fan-made expanded crit tables for 2e, aren't you?

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Yep. I just haven't used them. Partly because I'm not too keen on expanding the weapon types- it's just more crits with more interesting non-crippling/lethal results that I'm thinking about; and partly because I like having that stuff on my GM's screen. Maybe I should take a closer look at them. I'm sure I could sort something out if I really wanted to.

In Mekton, I'd probably get rid of "spaces" for equipment.  More or less, whenever a component is too big you just add space efficiency to fit it on anyway.  I'd leave it as an optional rule though.

One thing that bugs me about Mekton Z is that fuel is an optional rule, but the weight allowance for fuel is not.  Basically, you have to add 10% of the total weight of the mech in fuel, and it fucks up other calculations.  It's easier to simply say the basic fuel load is automatically part of the mech rather than have to add it in separately.  If you made it automatic, then the fuel rule would truly be optional, because all mechs created with the default rules would automatically have the basic fuel load.

And I've never liked the roll again on 1 and 10 (subtract on 1, add on 10).  It makes luck of the roll WAY more important than anything else. So, I don't use the exploding (or imploding) die rules.

Rifts--I would likely include sample monsters in the Ultimate Edition main rulebook.

The Fantasy Trip has a few minor wrinkles, but the one element that truly annoys me is how your skills/spells are limited by your IQ. This means that the only way to pick up a new skill for your Everyhero fighter/thief type is to increase his IQ. Fortunately there are some houserules that address this problem, e.g. here and here.

Otherwise I think the game is great if approached with the proper attitude.

Quote from: JMcL63Yep. I just haven't used them. Partly because I'm not too keen on expanding the weapon types- it's just more crits with more interesting non-crippling/lethal results that I'm thinking about; and partly because I like having that stuff on my GM's screen. Maybe I should take a closer look at them. I'm sure I could sort something out if I really wanted to.

I use them exclusively now. They're very well made (apparently the two different authors of the known 2e crit charts are both medical professionals, that go into great gory detail of what a specific type of hit in a particular kind of place will do).

Its one of the things I love about WFRP, the fan material, both the tables and the "Liber Fanatica" series, are really really well done.

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