Supernatural – House Rules

Alchemic Recipes

I created a few rules and recipes for Alchemy for a player.
I have made it so that the recipes cost Essence just like miracles do. But instead you created the concoctions before hand en use them on something else
Most of the recipes require a Intelligence+Alchemy check.
Player can learn a recipe via a teacher and of course spending Xp and in game time to learn from the teacher.

Components

Alchemy is component heavy and thus expensive but the effects can be stored for a while to use it later.

Recipes

Regeneration
Method: Potion, Salve, Powder, Compress, Concoction
Components: Rare
Xp Cost: 6
Essence Cost: 10
Duration: 4 Rounds
Effect: Regeneration gives 5 LP for a period of 4 rounds
Limitation: When used on a person you cannot use regeneration again on that person for the same wounds.

Cloth to Steel 1-3
Method: Potion (To use on the cloth not for drinking), Salve, Powder
Components: Rare
Xp Cost: 10 per level
Essence Cost: 10 per level
Duration: 5 Rounds
Effect: You can change the density of cloth to something much harder thus it is able to be used as armour. On level 1: 3 Armour and 5 meters of cloth, On Level 2: 6 Armour and 10 Meters and on level 3: 9 Armour and 15 meters. The effect lasts for 5 rounds.
Limitation: You cannot apply this recipe on cloth already having the Cloth to Steel effect until it is normal cloth again.

Harden Body 1-3
Method: Potion (To use on the cloth not for drinking), Salve, Powder
Components: Rare
Xp Cost: 5 per level
Essence Cost: 5 per level
Duration: 5 Turns
Effect: You can change the density of your flesh to something much harder thus it is able to be used as armour. On level 1: 2 Armour, On Level 2: 4 Armour and on level 3: 6.
Limitations: You cannot apply this recipe on a body that is hardened already.

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Almost Dead

Every time you go below -10 points but still survive it thanks to plot points, First Aid, Medical Care or supernatural healing your body has suffered so much that it will leave a scar of some sorts.

Drawback: You will get a 1 point drawback it can be a physical one or a mental one, this is game master discretion. You can not buy off this drawback except in very exceptional situations invoking supernatural healing of the highest calibre.

Madness: Dying is heavy on the mind so you will get one Madness point automaticity without rolling for it.

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Blind Fighting

For this I actually use the total darkness rule from Unisystem

Use a D10 roll with no other modifiers; only a natural roll of 9 or higher strikes the target. If a character makes a Difficult Perception Test, she can add each Success Level to the D10 roll, accounting for the use of senses other than sight to spot the target for this test you can only add the Increased hearing modifier.

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Concentration

After playing a few sessions I realized that we where lacking a skill, namely a concentration skill when people or creatures get interrupted when they are using powers or performing Rituals. So I transferred the concentration skill from Cortex to Unisystem.

I know there already was a skill called Trance but I do not think that is approperiarte for rituals and powers. And ofcourse I could let them throw a extra check or give them a negative modifier but this way it feels more special when concentrating and it might help when being tortured or something similar. Sometimes I add the Concentration modifier to a Rituals roll.

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Herbalism

In the Unisystem there is a skill specialism named Unconventional Medicine. One of my players has got this skill and her specialization is Herbalism. After some thinking I decided that Herbalism needed some cool concuctions that would have nice in game effects without the cost of Essence or other stats.

To make sure that it does have a cost is that for the Concuctions you need herbs and other components and those are not always as easy to come by. In that way I can keep in hand how nasty this skill becomes.

Concoctions

Calming Herbs: This Herbal Tea gives 4 essence back and recovers 1 extra essence per hour for 12 hours.
Detox Herbs: This complete herbal treatment helps someone to get of their fysical addiction to substances. It flushes out the chemicals out of her/his body. It gives a +2 on getting rid off chemical addictions over the course of a few weeks or even months.
Energy Drink: This Herbal Tea gives 4 endurance back and recovers 1 extra endurance per hour for 12 hours.
Focus Herbs: This Herbal Tea helps focussing it gives a +1 on Concentration or Trance Checks.
Herbal Bandage: You can use the bandage on a open wound, it heals 1d4 on that specific wound.
Peace of Mind: This Herbal Tea gives 4 essence back and recovers 1 extra essence per hour for 12 hours.
Soothing Herbs: This Herbal Tea gives helps to control the pain, it gives a +3 on pain resistance checks.
Stomach Herbs: This Herbal Tea helps you when you have stomach ache and gas.

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Instruction

nstruction

Teaching is a skill and an art.

The subject matter is important but conveying that information in an interesting, stimulating and comprehensive manner is the heart of the Instruction Skill.

The first step in using the Instruction Skill is to pick a subject matter to teach. This may be any skill known by the teacher, but it must be at least two levels higher than the student’s level. If the required skill level is possessed, the teacher and student must spend a certain period of time on lessons.

Every week of game time that the two spend at least 10 hours studying the skill, the teacher can attempt an Intelligence and Instruction Task. The Success Levels of this Task are cumulative; for example, if the teacher and student spend three weeks working on the skill, the Success Levels of all three rolls are added together. When the teacher accumulates five Success Levels in the Task, the student gets 1 Experience Point toward improving that skill.

For example, Rolando is an accomplished singer (level 5), and a decent teacher (level 3). Maria wants to learn to sing better; she has Singing 1. Rolando’s Singing Skill is more than two levels higher than Maria’s, so he may teach her. After they spend a good deal of time working together during one week, Rolando tests his Instruction Skill. He rolls a 6, adds 3 for the skill level, and 2 for his Intelligence for a total of 11, or 2 Success Levels. The next week, they study together again, and Rolando rolls particularly well — gaining three Success Levels. Maria gains 1 experience point dedicated to the Singing Skill.

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Madness

Gaining Madness

On discretion of the game master, think of cruelty from the cast member or seeing something so horrible that it shakes their foundation of life or someone important that dies horribly by something supernatural. The cast member must make a simple willpower check to see if he/she gains a madness point.

Note that sometimes something is so awful that the cast member does not make a test but just gains a madness point.

Loosing Madness

Therapy might work but how are you going to tell the psychiatrist about all the things you have done and seen without being put into a asylum or something similar. Some creatures can remove a part or take over a part of the madness. (See Angels and the sorts). Maybe some rituals can lower the cast members madness.

Effects of Madness

As the character gains in Madness, her mental faculties begin to suffer. When the Madness Pool is higher than double the character’s Willpower, she gains a 1-point Mental Drawback, often a Delusion or Obsession, or an enhanced version of an existing Mental Drawback. Every time the Madness level rises to another multiple of Willpower (Willpower x 3, Willpower x 4, and so on), the character gains another point worth of Mental Drawbacks. Finally, when the character’s Madness is greater than Willpower x 20, the character is overcome by insanity and thus he/she is not capable any more of functioning as a normal person and will likely end up in a asylum of some sorts. This means the cast is written off the active roster.

Note

I have taken the Madness idea from CJ Carella’s Witchcraft Abomination Codex which is owned by Eden Studios. I did change the way you get Madness and how to lose it.

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Plot Points

A player gets Plot Points for doing something very cool or by failing miserably. When the GM decides that something cannot happen even if it should then a player gets one or two Plot points as well.

Plot points originate from the Cortex Supernatural RPG but I have converted and adapted it to the Unisystem Supernatural version.

Plot Point Modifiers

You can spend a Plot Point to get a modifier for a roll, reduce damage or even manipulate something in the game.

Plot Points Spend	Die Type vs. Damage	Positive Modifier Before roll	Positive Modifier After Roll
1	d2	1	x
2	d4	2	x
3	d6	3	1
4	d8	4	x
5	d10	5	x
6	d12	6	2
7	d12 + d2	7	x
8	d12+d4	8	x
9	d12+d6	9	3
10	d12+d8	10	x
11	d12+d10	11	x
12	d12+d12	12	4

Story Manipulation

Cost	Impact
1-2	Inconsequential: Of course there’s some room in the trunk of the car.
3-4	Minor: Actually, there’s probably a spare bag of rock salt in there.
5-6	Moderate: Rock salt AND a shotgun I borrowed from Uncle Jed.
7-8	Significant: You remember Uncle Jed. Retired hunter? I’m sure he’s got an amulet or two stashed in with the salt and the gun.
9-10	Major: Hold on. I think that’s Uncle Jed pulling up in front of us. Good timing!
11+	Defining: Uncle Jed’s brought his hunter buddies and the Lesser Key of Solomon, too! What are the odds?

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Rituals

In the Unisystem there is a skill named Rituals. In the original Supernatural rpg there are also Rituals so I have gathered all of the rituals out of the books and even out of the series so my players or npc’s can use them. I have tried to convert them but I keep changing it to make it work in this system.

I have made it so that Rituals cost Essence just like miracles do.

To perform rituals the player will throw a rituals+Intelligence throw and if it succeeds the ritual will work. If the player is interupted they have to throw a concentration roll which consists of concentration+willpower to not be interrupted, you can add a bonus if their rituals skill is fairly high.

Players can learn a ritual when they have seen a ritual being performed the more often they have seen it the less difficult it is to learn. They throw Rituals+intelligence – a modifier how difficult you think it would be to learn.
When the player fails to learn it or just really wants it they can spend 1 exp to learn the ritual and they ofcourse need a teacher or book that explains the rituals.

Don’t be afraid of rituals you can make them more difficult if there is a very special component needed to perform such a ritual.

Components

Every ritual needs some form of components with the exception here and there. The key to making sure that Rituals do not get too overused and overpowered are the components. The heavier the ritual the more rare the components and thus how more expensive they are. This way you can keep it in hand somewhat.

Rituals

Anasazi Wards vs. Evil: When completed correctly, it protects the occupants of the area by blocking creatures, such as the Wendigo, from entering the area (5 Essence)
Binding – Demon: You can bind a demon in a Demon Trap (20 Essence)
Cleansing Ritual, Basic: Basic Cleansing Ritual (3 Essence)
Curse Box: You know how to lock a Cursed item into a box with a special ritual. You still need to know how to make the box or you can get one. (15 Essence)
Curse Object Cleansing Ritual: A ritual that involves the destruction of a cursed item. The cursed item is burned at night in a cemetery hole with several herbs and components including bone ash and cayenne pepper. (Perception + Rituals) One roll per minute; no longer than 2 minutes. (20 Essence)
Dispel Angel: Write Echonian symbols with your own blood (15 Essence)
Exorcism: You can exorcise demons with a latin text (5 Essence)
Goofer Dust: Creating Goofer Dust (5 Essence)
Hex Bag: Most hex bags are not so much the spells themselves as much as they are a component of a larger spell, typically used as a targeting device for greater magic. (5 Essence)
Holy Water: Create Holy Water, you need a rosary and a latin text. (2 Essence)
Home Cleansing: With all the hex bags placed, the poltergeists and spirits in a house are banished and the house is cleaned. (5 Essence)
Last Rites: Salt and burn the spirit and/or it’s belongings (1 Essence)
Protection – Salt: Salt to protect yourself. Create a circle or throw it. (0 Essence)
Sigil of Protection of Possesion: The wearer is kept safe from possession, create a amulet or tatto it on ones heart. (20 Essence)
Summoning – Demon: You can summon demons, you need it’s name or a belonging and components (15 Essence)
Summoning – Spirit: You can summon spirits, you need it’s name or a belonging and components (15 Essence)

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Speed

To be honest I do not like Unisystems way of calculating and using the speed attribute it is inhuman and makes no sense at all in my opinion.

First of all we use Kilometers because we are european. Second of all The speed will still be calculated in the same way as per normal con+dex*2. But the meters you can run per second will be different it will be your score divided by 6.

So this means if someone has got a speed of 30kph he she will be able to move 5 meters per second or 15 meters per round if the character choses to move the wholre round.(A Round is 3 seconds)

Seeing there are 3 seconds in a round I have thought of this construction your move action is 1 second so you can move 1/6th of your base speed, if you use your move and main action to move you get half your base speed.

For example if your base speed is 30kph and thus you can move 5 meters per second. A round consists of 3 seconds so in my opinion 1 second for your move action and 2 seconds for your main action. So your move action is one second thus 5 meters of movement, if you use your main action as well to move than you have 3 seconds of moving thus 3 seconds times 5 is 15 meters of movement.

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Taoist Magic

I created a special kind of Magic for a player who wanted to be able to do Taoist Spells and Rituals.

I have made it so that Rituals cost Essence just like miracles do.

Most of the spells require a Willpower+Concentration check.

Player can learn a spell via a teacher and ofcourse spending Xp and in game time to learn from the teacher.

Components

Magic of course needs components sometimes it’s only somantic (gestures), sometimes only verbal and sometimes they need a physical component.

Rituals

Holy Water
Method: Ritual
Components: Common
Xp Cost: 1 (Or 0 when learned In game)
Essence Cost: 2
Effect: Creates Holy Water
Limitations: When befouled it won’t work any more

Spells

Piercing the Veil 1-3
Method: Spell
Components: Uncommon
Xp Cost: 4 per level
Essence Cost: 6 per level
Duration: 6 Rounds
Effect: When dealing with illusions you are less influenced by it. +1 per level on Willpower checks while seeing through Illusions. You can give a Bonus to a subject up to the level that you have. So if you have 3 you can give 3 people +1 or a person +2 and a other +1
Limitations: Only 3 levels are available.

Bless Weapon (Demon) 1-3
Method: Spell
Components: Uncommon
Xp Cost: 5 per level
Essence Cost: 10 per level
Duration: 5 Rounds
Effect: On the first level you add 1d4xStrength of damage against Demons, on the second level you add 1d6xStrength against Demons and on the third and last level you add 1d8xStrength against demons.
Limitations: Only 3 levels are available, you can only cast a blessing on weapons that are not magical. A blessing makes a weapon magical for the duration of the spell. For example if you have cast a Bless weapons against vampires then you have to wait until the spell is over to cast a Bless Weapon against Demons.

Bless Weapon (Angels) 1-3
Method: Spell
Components: Uncommon
Xp Cost: 5 per level
Essence Cost: 10 per level
Duration: 5 Rounds
Effect: On the first level you add 1d4xStrength of damage against Angels, on the second level you add 1d6xStrength against Demons and on the third and last level you add 1d8xStrength against demons
Limitations: Only 3 levels are available, you can only cast a blessing on weapons that are not magical. A blessing makes a weapon magical for the duration of the spell. For example if you have cast a Bless weapons against vampires then you have to wait until the spell is over to cast a Bless Weapon against Demons.

Bless Weapon (Ghosts) 1-3
Method: Spell
Components: Uncommon
Xp Cost: 5 per level
Essence Cost: 10 per level
Duration: 5 Rounds
Effect: On the first level the weapon inflicts1d6 of damage against Ghosts, on the second level the wepon inflicts 1d8 damage against Ghosts and on the third and last level the weapon inflicts 1d10 of damage against Ghosts.
Limitations: Only 3 levels are available, you can only cast a blessing on weapons that are not magical. A blessing makes a weapon magical for the duration of the spell. For example if you have cast a Bless weapons against vampires then you have to wait until the spell is over to cast a Bless Weapon against Ghosts.

Balance of the Cat
Method: Spell
Components: Somatic
Xp Cost: 5
Essence Cost: 5 per turn
Duration: As long as you have Essence
Effect: The character can walk on ropes or rails, climb ropes, balance on the top of poles, and immediately recover from being thrown without having to make any action. Furthermore, he can move about at full speed while performing these feats of balance.
Limitations: When climbing you need something to hold on and when balancing you need a underground to balance.

Gravity Defying Jump
Method: Spell
Components: Somatic
Xp Cost: 5
Essence Cost: 5
Duration: One Jump
Effect: From a standing position, the martial artist can jump either six meters vertically or 12 meters horizontally. With a running start of at least three meters, he can jump 12 meters vertically or 24 meters horizontally. Of course, a jump of smaller distance is also possible. Limitations: You need a solid underground to jump from, if you want to jump higher you should jump up against a solid object and then you can use this power again to jump on.

Suspension
Method: Spell
Components: Somatic
Xp Cost: 5
Essence Cost: 8
Duration: One Turn
Effect: The character leaps into the air just like he was jumping. The difference is, for the remainder of the Turn, he can manoeuvre while in the air, just like a bird. He doubles his Speed in the air . By expending an additional 8 Essence Points the next Turn, the martial artist can remain in the air. This ability can also be used at the last instant to cushion and eliminate damage from a long fall. Roll a Willpower and Martial Arts Skill Task. Each Success Level halves the damage multiplier of falls. Limitations: You are in the air so no cover.

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Transferring Essence

You can transfer essence from one person to the other. As essence is magical or a energy you will be able to transfer it.

There are a few ways known how to transfer it.

Ritual

You need to know a ritual to transfer essence from yourself to someone else or from someone else to you. You can only acquire essence from someone who is willing. Once a day you can give essence to a other subject with a maximum of 10 essence points. You can also take essence from other subjects but only once per day per subject with a maximum of 10 essence point. If a subject already gave essence in this way it cannot be done on that subject again. Rituals + Int Every time you do this ritual it will cost 3 essence.

Magic

Funnel Essence: Some mages are able to Transfer Essence like a conduit. The Mage activates this ability with a cost of 5 essence per person and can conduit the essence into itself or to someone else. This can be done as a group effort but will add more difficulty to the concentration of the mage. Concentration + Willpower -1 per person (excluding yourself) The subject must all be voluntarily.

Buying this power costs 10 exp

Drain Essence: Some mages are able to Drain essence from other subjects even if they are not willing it is difficult but it is possible. The mage must make a Concentration+Willpower-3 per subject.The mage can only drain 10 essence per target in one round. The victim can make a opposed Concentration+Willpower (or difficult willpower) test to withstand the drain every round. If the mage fails a concentration check the draining will stop immediately. Draining costs 5 essence per person.

Buying this power costs 10 exp and you need to have the Funnel Essence power

Maximum Essence

Your body and soul can only handle so much essence, too much essence will start to destroy the body. Your body can hold it’s essence score + willpower x 10 as a maximum.

Every essence point above that will do 1 LP damage per essence. If the essence is not gone it will keep doing so every round. Till you are on 0 and you will be automagically unconscious.