House Rules

 

Over 20 years of play has led to Polaris having a unique system of rules drawn from three editions of the Champions Role-Playing Game.  The core rules for Polaris are those of Champions 3rd Edition, with additions and modifications from the 4th and 5th Editions as well as unique House Rules.  The House Rules are too extensive to present in full here, but will be briefly summarized.  New characters should be submitted to the GM Council prior to play for evaluation and correction.

 

Local Polaris table top games may be played using any rules the players agree to, but must conform to the Hacker’s Guide for use in PBEM games or if players from different tabletop games are playing together.  Rules disputes should be resolved using the Hacker’s Guide.  If the Guide fails to answer the question, it should be addressed to the GM Council which will make a ruling and, if needed, add it to the next version of the Hacker’s Guide.

 

House Rules Summary:

Starting Points:  Base 100 with up to 125 points of Disads.

 

New Characteristics:  PDr, EDr (½ point per point).  Base of 0, may not exceed PD and ED respectively.  MD -  Figured Stat (EGO/5) 1 point per point.  Protects against Normal Mental Powers.

 

DEX must be bought to a break point and may not be improved beyond initial concept without special permission.  Legal DEX’s include 14, 18, 20, 23, 26, 28, and 29.  29 is the maximum DEX allowed without special permission.

 

Typical Polaris character has a 20 or 23 DEX and 4 or 5 speed.  The recent glut of martial arts based hand to hand fighters recently has seen a spike in the 23 DEX frequency.

 

Martial Arts:  Using a modified 3rd Edition.  Martial Arts cost equals character’s STR, with a limitation/advantage for the maneuver/style.

 

Talents:  Based on Special Effect, Talents may be placed in Power Frameworks.

 

Powers:

Except for a few restrictions, all Powers can be placed in Power Frameworks.

 

Mental Powers can be “killing” or “normal”.  Killing Mental Powers include EGO Blast and Mental Paralysis, all others considered normal.

 

Armor and Force Field can be bought as MDr, to apply to “killing” mental attacks.  Same cost as PD and ED Armor and Force Field.

 

Empathy:  New Mental Power. 5AP per die.

Growth:  Using 3rd edition version.

Mental Paralysis:  Retained from 3rd edition.

Precognition/Retrocognition are Mental Powers.  No longer part of Clairsentience.  5 AP per die, uses END.

 

Variable Power Pools:  Cosmic Power Pools are strictly controlled based on size of the pool.  Pools larger than 50 to 60 points will be closely examined by the GM Council for balance issues.

 

Endurance:  Polaris uses the 3rd edition END rules.  1 END per 5AP.  +¼ to halve END Cost, can be applied multiple times.  If bought to 0 END with 3 or more levels of Reduced END, power is considered Persistant.

 

The Scale:  The most controversial of the House Rules, as a long running, Multiple GM Campaign, Polaris has had to institute rules to control character power and ensure that new and old characters can operate together regardless of the number of points each hero has.  The Scale is a mathematical formula which determines, in an admittedly crude way, the combat effectiveness of any given character.  By adhering to the Scale, PCs can enjoy a long run, building depth and versatility into the character while still being able to be run alongside new characters.

 

The GM Council, through an understanding of the Campaign built on years of play, can determine quickly based on a character’s Powers and Special Effect what Scale rating is appropriate to a new character.  An average character has a Scale Rating of 0, with the most powerful legal rating for PCs at 100 without special permission from the Council.  There is no restriction on how weak a PC may be.  Characters with significant weaknesses to counter their power may be given more latitude on the Scale.

 

New PCs should, as a general guideline, start at about 0 and then build to their potential based on Special Effect, Concept and Powers.

 

Without all the math, typical character has an 8CV (including levels), 4 SPD, has a 60AP melee attack or a 50AP ranged attack (STR is considered ranged due to throwing objects) and is stunned by 35 points of damage.  Many characters have a “wabbit,” a very large attack which can only be used infrequently due to charges, END cost, side effects, etc.  Increases in one area must typically be countered by a decrease in another (tougher, slower).

 

Examples:  Martial Artist – High SPD, very high CV, low DEF, no wabbit; Speedster – Very high SPD, high CV, low attack and DEF, wabbit does damage to self (move through); Brick – Low CV, high DEF, wabbit limited to haymaker.

 

Complete House Rules are published in the “Hacker’s Guide to Polaris.”  Access to the Hacker’s Guide is restricted to protect Hero Games copyrighted material.  To request access, players must demonstrate that they will be long term participants of the campaign and that they own a legal copy of the most recent Champions rules published by Hero Games.  Requests for access should be referred to the GM Council.