SR3 House Rules

The following is a list of SR3 house rules that are generally agreed upon by the LayFlat Shadowrun group.

Character Creation[]

Characters are created using either the SR3 priority system or 125-point builds.

Combat[]

Initiative: An alternate system[]

Rolling for Initiative: The basic initiative roll is a Reaction (6) Test, rolled at the beginning of each Combat Turn. Combat Pool can be added to the Reaction roll. The following table shows modifiers that can be added and subtracted from the roll:

Table 1: Initiative Modifiers
Injury modifiers              +1-+3 penalty
Surprised                     +4 penalty
Each d6 Initiative Bonus"     -1 bonus
"Note: This includes the default 1d6 that all characters get

Action Points: The Initiative Roll gives a character a number of Action Points equal to the number of successes (with maximum successes equal to the Reaction of the character) plus 1. The order of combat goes from the LOWEST Action Point total to the highest. Ties are resolved in the following manner: Person with the lowest adjusted Reaction, followed by the person with the lowest unaugmented reaction, followed by a d6 rolloff.
Action Phase Resolution: Formerly called Combat Phase in SR3, it is renamed to Action Phase to avoid (or sow) confusion. When it comes to a person's turn or Action Phase, they may choose to move any distance up to their full remaining movement (walking or running), then choose to do up to two Simple Actions or 1 Complex Action. Each Simple Action costs 1 AP and each Complex Action costs either 3 Action Points or your whole Combat Turn. Once the person uses any Action Points, the option to use their Combat Turn for a Complex Action is no longer valid. All Action Point costs and penalties are paid at the end of the Initiative Pass (to prevent confusion from dynamic calculation).
Delayed Actions: A person can also choose to Delay Actions in their Combat Phase. This means the person chooses not to act during this Initiative Pass, saving their Action Points for the next Pass. Each Action Phase that is delayed beyond the first Delay in a Combat Turn costs 1 Action Point. In other words, the first time you delay, it costs no Action Points. The second time (and every subsequent time) you delay, it costs 1 Action Point. A delaying character cannot interrupt anyone else in the Initiative Pass that they have used a delay action.
Interrupts: Anyone with a higher Action Point total can choose to interrupt an action of a lower Action Point total after the lower initiative participant has declared an action. Essentially, the interrupting character can move and act during the same Action Phase as the lower initiative character, at the cost of their normal Action Phase during the Initiative Pass. The Action Phase of the higher initiative character is resolved before the Action Phase of the lower initiative character, and can be resolved either before movement or after movement of the lower initiative character, at the choice of the higher initiative character.
Free Actions: Anyone, during any Action Phase, including their own, can take a single Free Action. This is true even if the character delays their action.
After everyone's Action Phase has been resolved for the Initiative Pass, start a new Initiative Pass using the remaining Action Points left for each character. Those who no longer have Action Points can no longer act except for Free Actions. When all characters run out of Action Points, Initiative is rerolled, a new Combat Turn is started, and all pools refresh.

Special Rules[]

Astral Combat: Spirits and Astrally Projecting characters no longer get a +20 astral/+10 manifested initiative bonus. Instead, they receive a -6 bonus if they are Astral Only, and -3 bonus when Manifesting to the target number of their Initiative Reaction rolls (this already INCLUDES their natural 1d6 for Initiative. In other words, it's a -5/-2 bonus, with an additional -1 for their natural 1d6). Initiated projecting magicians get a bonus to their Astral Reaction equal to their Initiate Grade, as usual.
Exclusive Melee: Once a character has engaged or is attacked by melee combat, he/she may not take any action other than melee combat, disengaging melee combat, and typical Free Actions. Only the winner of a melee combat test can choose to disengage on his/her next action and do something else.
Move-by-Wire: In addition to the horrendous obvious benefits of using a Move-by-Wire system, the user also gets the "extra actions" listed in Man and Machine. In other words, a character with Move-by-Wire 3 can take two Action Phases in the first Initiative Pass, and a character with Move-by-Wire 4 can take two Action Phases in both the first and second Initiative Passes.
Suppressive Fire: Suppressive Fire takes up a character's entire Combat Turn. It is resolved whenever someone crosses the Line of Fire of the suppressive fire. However, the character may fire the full autofire rate (and no less) of the weapon for each Initiative Pass. At the beginning of each Initiative Pass when a character is using Suppressive Fire, he/she may declare which area is covered by suppressive fire, and how many bullets are used per area. This effectively allows folks with fully automatic weapons to act in each Initiative Pass, at the cost of not being able to do any other actions (and potentially, a LOT of ammunition).
The Adept Power of Quick Strike allows an Adept to "act last" and interrupt any other person's action regardless of his/her initiative (as long as the Adept has at least one Action Point). This works for only one Initiative Pass during each Combat Turn. In addition, an Adept who delays their Action Phase can choose to interrupt people who act after he/she delayed (normally, a person who delays cannot act again during the Combat Turn save for Free Actions). The Adept is still considered "delayed" for the purposes of Delayed Action bookkeeping, but can interrupt another person's Action Phase normally.
The Adrenaline Surge edge, when "activated", gives a -1 to the target number of the Reaction Test for Initiative, but also applies a +1 to all target numbers until the end of combat.
Surprise:Characters who are surprised get a +4 target number penalty to their Reaction roll. They also may not use any Combat Pool for their initiative Reaction Test (unless they have the Combat Sense adept power or something similar). Abilities and Powers that add dice in the event of Surprise Reaction rolls apply their dice normally. This sometimes may produce an anomaly in which a Surprised character can act faster and more often than non-surprised character, but this is offset by the +4 target number penalty in most cases.
Injury: In addition to adding Injury penalties to the initiative roll, Injury of any kind also reduces the amount of Action Points the injured character has. Every Light wound reduces the AP total by 1, every Moderate Wound reduces the AP total by 2, every Serious wound reduces the AP total by 3 (to a minimum of 0, of course). Like all other AP "costs", these are subtracted from the AP total at the end of the Initiative Pass.

Meatshields: Metahumans as cover[]

When using a metahuman or critter as cover, the following rules apply:

The target gets a +4 for using standard cover
If the target is using an unwilling and struggling meatshield, the cover bonus is reduced by 2
If the meatshield is actively covering the target, as in a bodyguard situation, a +2 bonus is added to the cover modifier (see rules on Bodyguards for details)
If the meatshield is larger in size, or there are multiple meatshields covering the target, a +2 to +4 bonus can be applied (the suggested ratio is +2 per size difference and +1 for each additional person).
The maximum cover bonus is +8, per standard cover rules

Meatshields cannot use Combat Pool dice to dodge, but can use Combat Pool to stage down damage. To get an unwilling target to be a meatshield, one must succeed at a Subduing Combat test, or alternatively, an Intimidation test (depending on the circumstances and the professional rating of the Meatshield). If the meatshield is actively combating the target, then it is considered struggling and the target has less cover. If the meatshield is sufficiently Intimidated or the Subduing Combat successes equals or exceeds the meatshield's Quickness (i.e. the meatshield is successfully subdued), no penalty is applied. If the target takes damage of any kind or is knocked down, the unwilling meatshield is released.

Resolving Meatshield Combat[]

If a ranged attack misses, compare the test roll to the target number without the cover modifier. If the ranged attack would have hit without the cover modifier, the meatshield takes damage, not staged by successes. Combat Pool can be used for the meatshield Damage Resistance test, but cannot be used for Dodging.
You then determine whether or not the attack penetrates:
- Gel/capsule rounds, taser darts, narcojet darts, magnesium rounds and any bullets that fragment (explosive, flechette, glaser, hollow point, mercury) do not penetrate. AV and APDS rounds do not take Power Level reductions when they penetrate, but otherwise penetrate per standard rules. Shotguns with shot rounds do not penetrate, but follow their own rules for damage dispersal. The meatshield is hit for standard damage and ranged combat successes, and the target is hit with standard cover modifiers for using the meatshield.
- Taking an S wound means the round penetrates (note: This means that under most circumstances, only shotguns, sport/sniper rifles, machineguns, and assault cannons penetrate automatically).
- Taking any wound with an attack power greater than Body * 2 or Body + Ballistic (whichever is higher) penetrates.
If the round penetrates, then the target is also hit, but at reduced force. The target needs to resist damage equal to half the armor-reduced power of the attack and the damage level staged down by 1. Any successes that would have hit the target without the cover (i.e. successes made against the meatshield) are applied in this attack.

Bodyguarding[]

The active protection of a target is called "Bodyguarding". As a Free Action, a person within 1 meter of a target can declare that he/she is bodyguarding that target. The bodyguard must allocate Combat Pool dice for the purpose of bodyguarding the target. These dice may be spent by the bodyguard at any time as a "reverse dodge" test. While actively protecting a target, the bodyguard gets +2 to all of his/her actions, but also applies an additional +2 cover modifier as a Meatshield for the target (for a total of +6, and +8 if the bodyguard is significantly bigger than the target). The bodyguarding ends when the bodyguard dice are all spent, when Combat Pool dice refresh, or when the target strays more than 1 meter away from the bodyguard. The bodyguard can also choose to drop bodyguarding at any time as a Free Action. The bodyguard can choose to continue to withhold dice from his/her Combat Pool each turn for the purpose of bodyguarding, which do not refresh.
The "reverse dodge" test is an attempt by the bodyguard to get in the way of a ranged attack and to push the target away from danger. Roll a standard dodge test using only dice allocated for Bodyguarding. Each success is subtracted from the ranged attack test, and if the number of successes equals or exceeds the successes on the ranged combat test, then the ranged attack fails on the target. In all cases, the Bodyguard takes damage as a meatshield (standard damage with no successes staging it up). The bodyguarding dice do not refresh and must be reallocated with a Free Action, if Combat Pool is available.
A more exclusive form of Bodyguarding can be used as an Active Skill (Physical Skill linked to Quickness). The Bodyguard Active Skill represents knowledge of bodyguarding techniques and the ability to successfully move a target to safety. Using the Bodyguard Active Skill is an exclusive Complex Action (the Bodyguard and target cannot do anything else), and is rolled as a standard skill test against a target number of 4 (injury modifiers, terrain modifiers, and modifiers based on the size difference between the target and bodyguard are applied). Combat Pool dice may be added to this test. Each success gives a +1 cover modifier for the purpose of protecting a target. This cover modifier is in lieu of the "actively guarding" +2 modifier, but stacks with the standard meatshield cover bonuses. Each success also grants one "Shielding" die for the purposes of "reverse dodge" tests, and these dice may be rolled for any and all attacks, continually refreshing until the bodyguard drops the use of his/her Bodyguard skill (Taking an action other than Perceive, Use Simple Object, Speak Phrase, etc.), the bodyguard is knocked down or unconscious, or the target refuses to cooperate (Takes an action other than Perceive, Use Simple Object, Speak Phrase, etc.). Movement for bodyguards is equal to the slower of either the target or bodyguard, and movement is resolved during the bodyguard's initiative passes. If the Bodyguard Active Skill is sustained over several turns, each turn the Bodyguard must roll a new Bodyguard check after all Pool dice refresh. Only one person may use the Bodyguard Active Skill on any given target, but multiple people may use Combat Pool dice for the purposes of the reverse dodge test, resolving first in order of Initiative (or Reaction, in case of ties or situations outside initiative) before the Bodyguard uses his/her Shielding dice.
The Bodyguard Active Skill can also be used in some situations as a complementary test for Surprise, involving ambush on a target. This can only be used in situations where the Bodyguard is "on alert", watching the perimeter, actively looking around in a controlled situation (for example: getting out of a limo on the way to a restaurant, moving across open ground to an extraction zone).

Called Shots[]

Each armor gives coverage based on their type. Called Shots have variable effects depending on whether a character decides to try to bypass armor or hit a more damaging area. Since armor is designed to protect said critical areas, you can only do one or the other, but not both (exception: Called Shot to the Head if the person is not wearing a helmet). The following armors have the stated coverage below:

Armor Vest - Prevents Called Shot: Torso for the purposes of staging the damage. Arms, Legs, and Head can all be targeted freely to bypass armor.
Armor Jacket - Prevents Called Shot: Arms for the purposes of Crippling. Legs and Head can be targeted freely to bypass armor.
Longcoat - Prevents Called Shot: Arms and Legs for the purposes of Crippling. The Head can be targeted freely to bypass armor.
Armor Clothing/Funderwear - Prevents Called Shot: Arms and Legs for the purposes of Crippling.
Kevlar Hood - Provides 3 points of Ballistic protection (same as Armor Clothing) on Called Shot: Head only.
Kevlar Facemask/Rebreather - Provides 4 points of Ballistic protection, 1 point of impact, and cannot be bypassed (full coverage). A common accoutrement in smog-covered cities like Seattle, San Fran, and Tenochtitlan.
Hardhat - Provides 2 points of Ballistic, 4 points of Impact. (same as Workman's Overalls armor)
Security Helmet - Provides 5 points of Ballistic Protection, and 3 points of Impact (same as Armor Jacket), and cannot be bypassed (full coverage).
Milspec Helmet - Provides full protection of Milspec suit, 6/4 of hardened armor when used alone, and cannot be bypassed (full coverage).

A Called Shot to the Head, if you choose to stage up the damage, increases the Damage Level unless the person has a cyberskull. If the person is sufficiently unarmored in the head (face is exposed, etc.), one can elect to do a Called Shot to the head to bypass armor. If the person is NOT wearing Headgear, then you get both effects (bypass armor and increase Damage Level). This is similar to the rules we've been playing anyway.

A Called Shot to the Torso, if you choose the stage up the damage, increases the Damage Level unless the person is wearing an Armor Vest or has a Cybertorso. If the person is wearing any armor at all in the Torso, you'll have to shoot at something else to bypass armor.

A Called Shot to the Arm gives an additional +2 injury modifier to use that particular arm (on top of usual injury modifiers). Most armor gives Arm protection, and so this is difficult to do.

A Called Shot to the Leg reduces your movement multiplier by one. Multiple Called Shots reduce movement by another point per Called Shot, until the target has a multiplier of 0 (can only crawl 1m/combat turn).

Called Shots and Meatshields[]

Called shots may be made to hit the target without hitting the meatshield. Cover for having a meatshield is still applied as normal, and a +4 TN modifier (+2 for Smartlink-II) is added to the roll. A miss on this roll is a clean miss, and neither meatshield nor target is hit. A hit means the target is hit for normal damage and successes on the ranged combat test.

In the case of deliberately shooting through multiple targets (the meatshield and the target), one must apply the called shot modifier for the first target, and apply a +4 TN modifier for each subsequent target. One roll is made, and the results of the roll are compared to the TNs for each successive target. The armor-reduced damage is halved and damage level reduced by one per subsequent target, until the damage is staged below Light. So the first target is hit at +4, the second target is hit at +8, etc. With a Smartlink-II, the penalties would be +2, +6, +10, etc.

Decking[]

As a Free Action, Deckers may use Hacking Pool dice to either increase the rating of one of their programs or to create utilities from scratch. Each Hacking Pool die adds 1 rating to an existing program or is used to create a temporary utility at rating 1. Attack programs cannot be created in this manner (they have their own rules). Hacking Pool dice used in this manner are not refreshed until the entire decking run is over. Programs revert to their original value at the end of the run, and temporary utilities are lost.

Edges/Flaws[]

Ballbuster/Chauvinist (1 point Edge) - This edge gives a +2 bonus on Open Skill Intimidation tests against members of the opposite sex.
Dwarf-looking (1 point Flaw) - This flaw can only be taken by humans. This flaw means that your character is within the lowest 5th percentile for height and weight. Other people treat your character like a dwarf even though you are human (apply all social racial penalties for being a dwarf). Real dwarves tend to treat you with derision and hostility (+2 social modifier with dwarves). Your character also requires dwarf-modified equipment to accomodate his/her size.
Good Liar (1 or 2 points Edge) - The character comes across as being truthful even when lying. People tend to believe just about anything the character says. Add a +2 modifier to TN for detecting lies. The two point version also affects technological and magical detection.
Ork Poseur (1 point Flaw) - This flaw can only be taken by humans or elves. This flaw means that your character is enamored with the rising "Ork culture" and strives to be an ork as much as possible. Your character has implanted tusks, and tries to act tougher than he/she actually is. Some people may treat your character poorly due to his/her appearance and sympathies toward orks (apply social racial penalties for orks, halved). Real orks tend to treat your character with derision and hostility (+2 social modifier with orks). This modifier may be waived in certain situations (for example, if your character was a CalFree freedom fighter, the Resistance would treat you with respect).

Karma[]

Karma may be purchased and sold at an exchange rate of 5,000 nuyen per point. Up to 3 points may be traded in this manner per session.

Magic[]

Adept Powers[]

Multitasking and dual-wielding - The Multitasking power in SOTA:2064 states that the adept can concentrate on multiple tasks at the same time, effectively able to parallel process. Thus, an adept with multitasking can shoot at two separate targets with one weapon in each hand without incurring the usual +2 secondary target penalty. This only applies when dual-wielding weapons and concentrating on one target for each weapon. The usual dual-wielding penalties apply.
The penalty for choosing an adept power outside of the adept's "Way" is double the power point cost (instead of the 25 percent increase for "Lost Way" adepts stated in SOTA:2064).

New Metamagic[]

Somatic Masking. Prerequisite: Masking. This metamagic allows you to cast spells with very little verbal or somatic component, making spellcasting harder to detect. If you take an Exclusive Complex Action to cast the spell, you cast the spell with merely a thought, and you may add your Initiate Grade to the TN needed to detect your spellcasting efforts. In addition, spells that fail are NOT perceived by the target as a spellcasting attempt unless the target makes their Perception roll (for example, a failed Control Thoughts spell). This metamagic also negates the modifiers associated with Shamanic Mask, Totem Benefit, and Awakened observer. Astral Perception and Use of Fetish provides a bonus as usual.

Spells[]

Obfuscating spellcasting - For every Sorcery die you withhold from your test, you may add +1 to the TN to detect your spellcasting attempt.
Levitate (and any other spell that substitutes for movement) is considered walking movement up to (Magic Rating) meters and running movement for faster movement.

Skills[]

Etiquette: Specializations of the Etiquette skill may be purchased with Karma above the "2 x General Skill" limit.

Vehicle Damage[]

Successes from a ranged attack do not stage up damage when using small arms against vehicles. The maximum damage that can be inflicted on a vehicle is the base damage of a weapon plus increases in damage level due to autofire or called shots. Successes do prevent the defending vehicle from staging down damage (i.e. the defending vehicle must roll net successes above the attacker to stage damage down)

Surgery Rules[]

In addition to a Medicine skill of 5 or higher, a medical "shop" or clinic is required to re-attach severed limbs.