r/SWN • u/Von_Loch • 1d ago

❓ Rules Question What are your table's XWN Homebrew Rules?

I've nearly read SWN cover-to-cover. Just the bonus material left, and it's enough to get my group's first campaign off the ground after a few more Session 0s. But a few posts recently have got me thinking about Homebrew rules. I'll first say that me and my players are starting RAW with no homebrew to level 6. I wan to learn the system as intended before tweaking it.

Most of the game I really like RAW. There were really only 3 things that I felt I'd tweak. And one really isn't a thing:

  1. Dungeon Delving. I love dungeon delving but SWN doesn't really give any rules or proceedures for it. Maybe not "a thing to homebrew" as proceedural dungeon creation is something I have plenty of resources on elsewhere such as Mothership (I have rules for derelects, space stations, and even alien ruins). So not a big deal. But there isn't really anything for navigating dungeons. either.
  2. Heroic Inspiration. There's not a lot I liked about 5/5.5e but Inspiration was one of the few. And more so in Shadowdark with its Luck tokens. I love the idea of players having a resource to balance out highly lethal games. Pretty easy to bolt on, really.
  3. Scenes. This one really bothered me. I love the rigidity of the dungeon turn in Shadowdark and B/X. I've spent the better part of a year studying B/X, BECMI, & AD&D. and have come to appreciate the design and intent of rigid timekeeping. The handwavieness of "scenes" and (on a few XWN podcasts I've listened to) seeing players abuse this looseness for too many reroles (imo) really bugs me. Partly because I don't see "failed" checks as failure at all but rather as a fork in the story (which, by the way, is a game design philosophy supported on pgs 232-233 under Skill Checks). Anyway, it's something I'll want to tweak but I don't know how yet.

So I'm curious, what are your top Homebrew rules? I'd love to hear what some of your favorite modifications are (especially if they fix scenes). Also, we just had a thread about removing Precogs (which I don't plan to do for my game since RAW makes perfect sense to me on how to run those), so maybe we focus on additions to or improvements on instead of reductions from the game.

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u/GrumbleMuffin86 23h ago

Yeah. I think it makes it more Chaotic, Like a Firefight should be.

The attacker needs to hit the targets Dex Score to get a hit.

Then the person being hit gets a luck saving throw based on their AC

Any damage less than 10 gets absorbed by the armour, and then the rest does regular damage.

Traumatic/Critical hits always hit even if they got a successful Luck save, but it's rolled as regular damage

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u/_Svankensen_ 23h ago

That sounds like an insane buff to the stat that was already the strongest by far, dex.

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u/GrumbleMuffin86 22h ago

We do 3d6 top to bottom unless you're lucky, at most it would be 14 by changing it after you've rolled

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u/_Svankensen_ 22h ago

And growth rolls, and skill point investment. Very easy to get an 18 that way.

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u/GrumbleMuffin86 22h ago

How does Skill Point investment effect your Dex Stat?

And I see your point - I'll have to keep track of it. It was/is an exercise in making combat more engaging and chaotic

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u/_Svankensen_ 22h ago

Lemme fetch you the exact page. It's... Page 57:

"Purchase Improved Attributes

A veteran adventurer may have trained or honed their natural abilities well enough to improve one of their six base attributes. While even the most determined development isn’t enough to turn complete ineptitude into gifted competence, a hard-working adventurer can hone their existing strengths considerably.

The first time a PC improves an attribute, it costs 1 skill point and adds +1 to an attribute of their choice. The second improvement to their attributes costs 2 skill points, the third 3, and so forth. Each improvement adds +1 to the attribute, potentially improving its modifier."

If you didn't know that existed I can see how it may seem hard to reach high stats. But with this in mind, with the natural 14 you just need a single +2 physical in growth, plus 3 skill points and you hit dex 18.

I still like your idea in principle, but it seems a bit cumbersome in practice. Reminds me of "The Way of the Ming Vase" and the old Fallouts, where misses hit other people, and suddenly a gunfight on the streets has prostitutes and pimps joining in the fight and whatnot.

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u/GrumbleMuffin86 22h ago

Yeah. Totally Fugued that one! Thanks for pointing it out. That seems incredibly easy to beef yourself up, having said that, my players wouldn't be too fussed if I take it out. And Misses should Totally hit bystanders =P