House rules

By Gaxia, in Relic

First: Great game!

The only thing we found to be a little lacking is the Vanquished Player rule. So we immediately made a house rule:

1. Vanquished players lose 1D6 levels, exploding dice apply (!)

Worked really well. Makes you more cautious and brings another threat to the game. If you find this a little harsh you can try losing just one level.

Actually I think that if You will reset their level, they will be able to gain these rewards once again. So, that's not a punishment, but a good gift for them.

A better option would be to change character, keeping equipment (as rules for corruption), and change corrupted rules to new character and loose all equipment.

We made a houserule before we even played our first game! After punching out the chits I noticed one that was a proof of purchase. I thought this was so cool I had to put it in the game somehow. So the proof of purchase token is on the healing corner in outer tier. If you land there you may buy it for one influence instead of encountering the other text on the space. If you use it it returns back to that space. If you enter the inner tier it is immediately removed from your character and placed back on that space. You may use the proof of purchase to reroll one die just like fate in Talisman.

1)Any character who starts the game within 6 spaces of the Rogue Trader goes first

2)Psyker cannot gain a Power card using his special ability, if that would bring him over his limit, nor can he voluntarily discard Power cards unless they exceed his limit; he must use Power cards validly(for a battle/skill roll or special property)

3)A variant of the Mystery Beyond scenario:

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1005755/warp-rift-malfunction-a-less-deterministic-defaul

Edited by zealot12

So far in the dozen or so games I played, no one has died early enough to warrant a new character. So far pLayers die when they are in the inner tier or facing "corruptis" or "Kairos". The house rules I use are:

1) roll 2 for movement and choose one as your movement die.

2) I shuffle the encounter cards with battle value of 9,11 and 12 into a half of each threat cards deck and put that half in the bottom, so that early encounters are a little more manageable, especially for new players with big threats coming later in the game.

3) we find the basic scenario a bit too basic so we made up a daemon with 16 strength/willpower/cunning with 4 lives and no special abilities. Whoever kills him win. This works well since my friend has a games workshop daemon prince. It makes for a nice center piece.

So far that's it.

Some amateur graphics to go with guillaumetexas' custom scenario.

I like this very simple scenario which allows for some catch up mechanic.

!!! IMAGE REMOVED !!! --- Has been revised below.

Edited by warlock00

If you use a power card for movement, you can brake at will.

Dice for randomness in combat is ok. Trying to hit one square on the boad and missing it over and over from die rolls and you do not have the right number value on a power card is crap.

This puts the psyker at even more of a disadvantage. Might also say that psyker can use this but has to give up 2 power cards...

Has anyone tried playing with 7 players? I'm thinking that 5 Devotees and 2 Nemeses should be okay.

I've been tempted to allow the apostates to ignore the corruption limit.

Not sure how badly that affects things but it might make for some funny chaos spawns late game :-)

Some interesting Ideas. One problem my groups had (with the 3 games we've menaged) is the length of the games. We seemed to spend forever pootling around the outer teir getting pwned bby greater demons.

More controlling movement more would be a plus to speed things up.

I also considered an amount of 'Starting influenece' might make equipment more appealing?

Finally got to play a game last night. I think I've figured what bugs me. The players spend a good hour usually trying to scrape together those first couple of levels which pushes the game into the 3+ hour for a session (a little long for school nights) we've considered stating the characters at level 2 or 3 to move the game quicker. Anyone see this causing an issue I might have missed?

Those first few levels is the only hard part and tense part of the game that I find most exciting.

But yes skipping levels will definitely speed up the game. Level 2 should be enough. The extra attributes will help a lot.

Also depending on the Scenario, if it is a battle scenario you may want to reduce the scenario boss' attribute/score by 2. Will also speed up the end game.

Edited by warlock00

the blood daemon is good mission. but player that takes the last life means people might just sit back and wait for him to be taken down a level or two. have people found that? I like the idea of giving it more lives and say the player that has taken the most lives wins the game, given how high his stats are, they are more than likely not going to win every round. but I feel this is taking away from the simplicity you were going for with this mission.

Edited by scurge

I agree. The idea was to provide some randomness and keep things quick and simple. But it's a little too random and gets weird with people intentionally losing battles.

I plan to redo it and just make it the first person to win 3 times.

It's suppose to be a very simple mission to replace the rushed mystery beyond scenario.

Edited by warlock00

Revised version with catch up logic.

3956965e0492aa8c1d27bf8aabed9a9d.jpg

Very simple, no catch up logic.

4f99f28e464626ffe79b0abc9e2585c2.jpg

Optional: For an easier and quicker game, reduce the scenario boss' attribute/score by 2.

Edited by warlock00

I like it, I know your going for simple, but how about 12,12,12 and '+1 to the Blood Daemons stats per corruption card you have. to a maximum of +4.' your going to get at least one corruption card coming through the inner tier. I've been doing alot rules like that in all my other homebrews.

Edited by scurge

Just tested an idea to speed the game up, instead of skipping levels at the beginning change the trophy number required to progress up a level and make it the same as the level required. E.G. at the start you need just 1 trophy point (the first victory!) to get to level 1 then 2 trophy points for level 2. By level 11 the average value would be 6. It makes it easy when you are weak and harder when you are strong. If your character starts with 1 high attribute (like Ogryn) he can win battles but loses out on trophy points as they will be wasted. The start of the game was a lot more fun.

Let me know what you think.

Dungeoneer

Has anyone tried playing with 7 players? I'm thinking that 5 Devotees and 2 Nemeses should be okay.

A bit of a necroposting, but still - yes, we played several games with such setup and it proved to be quite balanced, except for the Slaanesh daemonette Nemesis(she gains infamy for corruption cards and points of influence players have, so more players means more infamy).

Just tested an idea to speed the game up, instead of skipping levels at the beginning change the trophy number required to progress up a level and make it the same as the level required. E.G. at the start you need just 1 trophy point (the first victory!) to get to level 1 then 2 trophy points for level 2. By level 11 the average value would be 6. It makes it easy when you are weak and harder when you are strong. If your character starts with 1 high attribute (like Ogryn) he can win battles but loses out on trophy points as they will be wasted. The start of the game was a lot more fun.

That's a nice idea actually! We usually used these rules for blitz games:

1) 5 trophy points for level up (your idea looks better)

2) 2 completed missions for a Relic(instead of 3)

3) starting level is 3-4 for characters and 2-3 for Nemeses.

4) starting Influence is increased to 6 pts

Just tested an idea to speed the game up, instead of skipping levels at the beginning change the trophy number required to progress up a level and make it the same as the level required. E.G. at the start you need just 1 trophy point (the first victory!) to get to level 1 then 2 trophy points for level 2. By level 11 the average value would be 6. It makes it easy when you are weak and harder when you are strong. If your character starts with 1 high attribute (like Ogryn) he can win battles but loses out on trophy points as they will be wasted. The start of the game was a lot more fun.

Let me know what you think.

Dungeoneer

This does look like fun, and sure will speeds things up. Will try it soon.

My friend and I made the following house rule. Mostly to help quell the whining from our respective girlfriends hahaha.

At the start of the game when you draw your first mission card, you may trade in that mission card for a new mission card if it requires you to enter the middle tier. Keep doing this until you either get a mission in the middle tier that you want or you draw a mission card that can be completed in the outer tier. You cannot trade in a mission card if it can be completed in the outer tier.

Mission cards that are traded in this way are re-shuffled back into the mission card deck before the start of the game. They are not discarded.

That's it. From there on, you draw mission cards as per normal rules.

Actually I think that if You will reset their level, they will be able to gain these rewards once again. So, that's not a punishment, but a good gift for them.

AGREED

We made a houserule before we even played our first game! After punching out the chits I noticed one that was a proof of purchase. I thought this was so cool I had to put it in the game somehow. So the proof of purchase token is on the healing corner in outer tier. If you land there you may buy it for one influence instead of encountering the other text on the space. If you use it it returns back to that space. If you enter the inner tier it is immediately removed from your character and placed back on that space. You may use the proof of purchase to reroll one die just like fate in Talisman.

AH AH AH

FUNNY RULE... I WANT TO TRY IT TOO !!!

TRY THIS HOUSE RULE:

<< TROPHY POINTS LIKE EXPERIENCE POINT METHODS USED IN RPG VIDEOGAMES LIKE DIABLO 3>>

IF you play / ed an RpG like DIABLO 3 you will recollect to your mind the method used to "level up" consisted of "Low Number of Expe. Points for Low Level Ups" and "More Exp Points for Higher Level Ups"... So...

If you "convert it" into Relic you will see that, in order to speed up your game sessions, you could allow the characters to trade 4 trophy points to level up from 1st to 4th level; 5 trophies to level from the 4th to he 8th and 6 trophies to level up from the 8th to the last !!!

I use this method and it transforms Relic into a cool rpg styled game !!! It also speeds up alot the game since the very 5 or 6 levels are easier to reach and then you became more powerful in less time spent...

I also tested another variant of it allowing the character leveling up with fewer and fewer trophies such as:

link the number of trophy points to spend to the "level up" and "power limit increases" thresholds... FOR EXAMPLE... Take the Ogryn - he has a unique "tier" under the levels reporting "Power limit: 3"... This means then that it is already "a veteran" and / or that it is somehow "stupid" (it implies then that he needs more "enemies killed" to gain another level of expertise... SO... He will spend 6 trophy points from level 1 to 12...

While the Canoness, which instead has 4 "Power Limit" increases can spend only 3 trophies from level 1st to 3rd; 4 trophies from level 4th to 6th; 5 from 6th to 9th and 6 from level 9th to 12th !!! Showing her fine mindset and proficiency in combat !!!)

Try also the "invertion of it" - such as - 6 trophy points to go from level 1st to 3rd; 5 from the 3rd to the 6th and so on... It resembles a "rookie" which needs more and more "combats / training" when he is in the "lower levels" while he doesnt need anymore once he becames a "veteran of many battles"; where he seems to feel "at home" and has seen so many things that nothing shakes him or similar LORE fluff and styled stuff !!!

First: Great game!

The only thing we found to be a little lacking is the Vanquished Player rule. So we immediately made a house rule:

1. Vanquished players lose 1D6 levels, exploding dice apply (!)

Worked really well. Makes you more cautious and brings another threat to the game. If you find this a little harsh you can try losing just one level.

A better option would be to change character, keeping equipment (as rules for corruption), and change corrupted rules to new character and loose all equipment.

1)Any character who starts the game within 6 spaces of the Rogue Trader goes first

2)Psyker cannot gain a Power card using his special ability, if that would bring him over his limit, nor can he voluntarily discard Power cards unless they exceed his limit; he must use Power cards validly(for a battle/skill roll or special property)

3)A variant of the Mystery Beyond scenario:

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1005755/warp-rift-malfunction-a-less-deterministic-defaul

So far in the dozen or so games I played, no one has died early enough to warrant a new character. So far pLayers die when they are in the inner tier or facing "corruptis" or "Kairos". The house rules I use are:

1) roll 2 for movement and choose one as your movement die.

2) I shuffle the encounter cards with battle value of 9,11 and 12 into a half of each threat cards deck and put that half in the bottom, so that early encounters are a little more manageable, especially for new players with big threats coming later in the game.

3) we find the basic scenario a bit too basic so we made up a daemon with 16 strength/willpower/cunning with 4 lives and no special abilities. Whoever kills him win. This works well since my friend has a games workshop daemon prince. It makes for a nice center piece.

So far that's it.

Has anyone tried playing with 7 players? I'm thinking that 5 Devotees and 2 Nemeses should be okay.

A bit of a necroposting, but still - yes, we played several games with such setup and it proved to be quite balanced, except for the Slaanesh daemonette Nemesis(she gains infamy for corruption cards and points of influence players have, so more players means more infamy).

Just tested an idea to speed the game up, instead of skipping levels at the beginning change the trophy number required to progress up a level and make it the same as the level required. E.G. at the start you need just 1 trophy point (the first victory!) to get to level 1 then 2 trophy points for level 2. By level 11 the average value would be 6. It makes it easy when you are weak and harder when you are strong. If your character starts with 1 high attribute (like Ogryn) he can win battles but loses out on trophy points as they will be wasted. The start of the game was a lot more fun.

That's a nice idea actually! We usually used these rules for blitz games:

1) 5 trophy points for level up (your idea looks better)

2) 2 completed missions for a Relic(instead of 3)

3) starting level is 3-4 for characters and 2-3 for Nemeses.

4) starting Influence is increased to 6 pts

Just tested an idea to speed the game up, instead of skipping levels at the beginning change the trophy number required to progress up a level and make it the same as the level required. E.G. at the start you need just 1 trophy point (the first victory!) to get to level 1 then 2 trophy points for level 2. By level 11 the average value would be 6. It makes it easy when you are weak and harder when you are strong. If your character starts with 1 high attribute (like Ogryn) he can win battles but loses out on trophy points as they will be wasted. The start of the game was a lot more fun.

Let me know what you think.

Dungeoneer

This does look like fun, and sure will speeds things up. Will try it soon.

My friend and I made the following house rule. Mostly to help quell the whining from our respective girlfriends hahaha.

At the start of the game when you draw your first mission card, you may trade in that mission card for a new mission card if it requires you to enter the middle tier. Keep doing this until you either get a mission in the middle tier that you want or you draw a mission card that can be completed in the outer tier. You cannot trade in a mission card if it can be completed in the outer tier.

Mission cards that are traded in this way are re-shuffled back into the mission card deck before the start of the game. They are not discarded.

That's it. From there on, you draw mission cards as per normal rules.

TRY THIS HOUSE RULE:

<< TROPHY POINTS LIKE EXPERIENCE POINT METHODS USED IN RPG VIDEOGAMES LIKE DIABLO 3>>

IF you play / ed an RpG like DIABLO 3 you will recollect to your mind the method used to "level up" consisted of "Low Number of Expe. Points for Low Level Ups" and "More Exp Points for Higher Level Ups"... So...

If you "convert it" into Relic you will see that, in order to speed up your game sessions, you could allow the characters to trade 4 trophy points to level up from 1st to 4th level; 5 trophies to level from the 4th to he 8th and 6 trophies to level up from the 8th to the last !!!

I use this method and it transforms Relic into a cool rpg styled game !!! It also speeds up alot the game since the very 5 or 6 levels are easier to reach and then you became more powerful in less time spent...

I also tested another variant of it allowing the character leveling up with fewer and fewer trophies such as:

link the number of trophy points to spend to the "level up" and "power limit increases" thresholds... FOR EXAMPLE... Take the Ogryn - he has a unique "tier" under the levels reporting "Power limit: 3"... This means then that it is already "a veteran" and / or that it is somehow "stupid" (it implies then that he needs more "enemies killed" to gain another level of expertise... SO... He will spend 6 trophy points from level 1 to 12...

While the Canoness, which instead has 4 "Power Limit" increases can spend only 3 trophies from level 1st to 3rd; 4 trophies from level 4th to 6th; 5 from 6th to 9th and 6 from level 9th to 12th !!! Showing her fine mindset and proficiency in combat !!!)

Try also the "invertion of it" - such as - 6 trophy points to go from level 1st to 3rd; 5 from the 3rd to the 6th and so on... It resembles a "rookie" which needs more and more "combats / training" when he is in the "lower levels" while he doesnt need anymore once he becames a "veteran of many battles"; where he seems to feel "at home" and has seen so many things that nothing shakes him or similar LORE fluff and styled stuff !!!