House Rules

Gameplay in Planet of the Mutants is designed to be fast and cinematic. As such a great deal of the house rules are designed to streamline and speed up certain slower gaming interactions. Combat in particular will have a large numbers of rules that will allow players to speed up combat.

Additional Combat Rules

Combat takes up more time than any other part of a role-playing game. In order to make Planet of the Mutants episodic and fast paced, the house rules for combat are designed to speed up, raise the stakes and raise the drama for combat.

Well Placed Blow

Attacking characters add the amount that succeeded on their attack roll by to their damage for non firearm weapons.

Seek Cover

Characters can only dodge firearm attacks at -10 as per usual, but may seek cover, providing a -2 to hit on slight cover, - 5 to hit on decent cover, a -10 to hit on good cover, a -15 to hit on excellent cover, and a -20 to hit on crazy amazing cover.

Running Scared

A character may also force opponents to incur a -10 to strike penalty by 'running scared' and giving up all attacks for the remanider of that combat round. This does work against firearm attacks.

Killing Blow/Knockout Blow 

After two successful attacks in a row, a character can attempt a killing blow (or a knockout blow). The the strike must succeed to work- if it does, then the opponent must make a save vs. knockout or death to avoid being knocked out or dying. If the attempt fails, either by not hitting or not succeeding, the attacking player loses their remaining attacks for that round.

Countering

On a successful parry (not a dodge), the defending character can attempt a counter, by spending an attack and rolling their attack. If they succeed, then the attack deals double damage and the opponent loses one attack for that round of combat. If the attack fails then the character using the counter loses their remaining attacks this round.

Roll Big or Go home 

If characters are confident that they can defeat an opponent, they can risk everything on the roll of a die. This can be used for any non boss single one on one non-firearm based fight. The character rolls a d20 and adds their strike bonus, their parry bonus, and their level. The GM rolls the same for the opponent. The player specifies whether their character is seeking to kill or knock out the opponent. If the player wins, then the desired result is achieved with no hit point or SDC damage to the character. If the PC loses, then they have their desired outcome applied to their character (although the character is not immediately dead in the case of death, but unconscious and in need of stabilizing).

Wild Strike

Player takes a voluntary negative of -5 to Strike -10 to Strike or -15 to Strike and adds it as a bonus to damage.

Flair Rules

Players will gain bonuses for 'Flair'. Flair is doing actions with style and good storytelling and hamming it up a little or a lot. Style and trademark and Character Flair can be stacked for ridiculous bonuses. In combat these Flair bonuses are all added to damage as well at attack or defense rolls. Notable NPCs can use Style and Trademark and Character Flair as well. The exact bonuses provided by Flair are hidden behind the GM screen (metaphorically, I don't use a GM screen) so you won't know the exact benefit. But there are multiple flair bonuses and they stack! Unlike the Combat rules, flair does not have to be used on a combat action.

Character Flair

Flair means doing things in character even if they are not the right thing strategically. Action in character and also a good move is worth benefits, but action in character and risky and/or dangerous is better. Players will get the most bonuses for actions in character when those actions are a  really bad idea.

Paradox Flair

Paradox Flair means using character development to explain why their character would do something previously out of character (yelling at the heavens and inner monologuing is encouraged.

Style Flair

Flair means describing their actions and heroics in flamboyant detail.
The players get bonuses depending on how well described and how cool sounding an action is. But the higher the bonus, the nastier the repercussions if they fail.

Trademark Flair

If a character described a particular move or strategy enough times that the team recognizes it is worthy of additional bonuses. If the move becomes iconic, that move may become a trademark and be worthy of a plot coupon. Using trademark as plot coupon is an automatic success.

Plot Coupons

Plot Coupons are cards that players will be issued at the beginning of each episode based on their character status. Plot coupons can be played to advance the plot and get players out of sticky situations or do dramatic risky things that wouldn't normally be possible.

Plot coupons can be used once per episode. Some plot coupons can be earned mid episode through role-playing well. And some plot coupons can be re-earned mid episode after use, but that will not be easy.

Yes, you will be given actual coupons that you can play like magic cards. Fun!

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