Here are various house rules I use for my campaigns. These are some of the more common ones, grouped by type.

I will add to these rules from time to time, as I remember them (some rule changes have become so matter-of-habit that unless I read the rulebook, I sometimes forget I changed a rule ...)

Rules that are campaign spccific (for example,the improved magic rules from Roleplayer #24 in my cyberfantasy campaign) will be listed with the campaign notes, whenever I post them.

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Character Creation

I. Skills:

A. All spells are one difficulty level easier: M/H spells are now M/A and M/VH spells are now M/H. This does not affect Ritual Magic.

B. Except for characters with the Youth disadvantage (who keep the 2xAge limit), there is no age-based limit on the number of points that can be spent on spells.

C. All Physical skills peak at 4/level rather than 8/level. The cost of Mental skills is unchanged.

II. Advantages:

A. Eidetic Memory is drastically changed. Cost is reduced to 20/40 points. First level adds a flat +2 to Mental Skills (+1 to Magic spells), Second Level a flat +4 (+2 to Magic Spells). Mental skills that did not benefit from the skill point boost before do not do not benefit from this bonus. Also, the character must invest at least half a point into a skill in order to get the +2/+4 bonus (ie. no bonus to skills known by default).

B. The Jack-Of-All-Trades advantage from GURPS Traveller is available in all other campaigns, unless specifically prohibited.

C. The Ship's Patron and Ship's Owner advantages are not available (if I want the party to have a ship, I'll give it to them).

D. All leveled Advantages are, unless otherwise noted, limited to a maximum of +5.

III. Disadvantages:

A. The -40 point limit on disadvantages is a suggestion, not a requirement. However, more than -60 points starts to get a bit silly.

B. The Age disadvantage is not available.

Combat

I. Defending Yourself:

A. To keep die-rolling down, characters reduced to 0 HT or less do not roll to remain conscious every round. Consciousness rolls are only made when the the character takes damage (even 1 point), the character All-Out Attacks, the character moves fast enough to qualify for a sprint bonus and other situations up to the GM. Normal combat actions do not force a Consciousness Roll. Also, Strong/Weak Will modifies the Consciousness roll. Once the combat ends (GM call), a final Consciousness Roll must be made, at -1 per -3 HT under 0, to represent a post-combat adrenaline comedown.

B. Acrobatic Dodge: Better known as an Anime Dodge in my campaigns, this is completely redone. A character's Dodge is based off Move or Acrobatics/2, whichever is better. All normal bonuses (Passive Defense, Combat Reflexes, etc.) still apply. If the character is using an Anime Dodge, the Encumbrance penalty is doubled before being subtracted from Dodge (so normally, only characters with a very high Acrobatics skill or very light armor can benefit from an Anime Dodge). No special advantages or background is required.

II. Attacking Things:

A. The way snap shot penalties work is completely changed. All unaimed shots are at -4 for weapons with SS 12. If the weapon has a SS other than 12, then penalty is changed as follows:
 
 
SS 9 or less: -1 SS 13-14: -5
SS 10: -2 SS 15-16: -6
SS 11: -3 SS 17-18: -7
SS 12: -4 and so on ...

 

Laser sights cut this penalty in half (but the penalty is still at least -1) and give a +2 to Acc, both up to 50 yards (more if the character has some type of wide-view magnified vision).

B. The +4 bonus to hit Inanimate Objects also applies to missile weapons. The target must be truly inanimate -- if it can move by itself (a robot) or is moving unpredictably by outside means (a wind-blown tumbleweed), the bonus does not apply. A sentry or public speaker is normally moving enough to not count as an inanimate object (or to provide a lesser bonus).

C. Mook Rules: These "quick kill rules" apply to nameless minions, particularly when they outnumber the PCs, and combat occurs at fairly short range (10 yards or less for pistols or shotguns, 50 yards or less for rifles). They do not apply to master villains or their henchmen, or minions in the company of villains or henchmen. Whether mook rules or regular combat rules apply will be announced at the start of combat (or before, if the PCs look to initiate combat).

Effects: All combat skills are rolled at base skill, with no positive or negative modifiers. Every time a mook is hit, it must make a HT roll or drop. On a critical hit, the HT roll is failed automatically. If the PC is intending to incapcitate, the mook is rendered unconscious instead.

D. When using the Speed/Range Table, I round to the nearest number on the table, not automatically up.

E. Random Hit Location is rolled for in the following cases: the attacker cannot see the target (from darkness, invisibility, blindness, etc.), the attacker fired a burst from an automatic weapon, a missile attack was made beyond 1/2 Damage range and the attacker is making a Wild Swing (it may also apply in other situations). If the location is rolled randomly, the to-hit penalty for that location is not applied to the to-hit roll (which is made first).

F. Automatic Weapons: Use the following chart.
 
Burst Size To-Hit Bonus # hits on crit (or success by 10+) # hits on success by 1-9 # hits on exact roll
4-round +4 4 2 1
3-round +3 3 2 1
2-round +2 2 1 0
1-round* +1 1 1 0
* Only if the RoF divided by four leaves a final burst of one round.

G. Shotguns are +2 to-hit against winged, flying targets if using shot. This is in addition to the +1 for using shot.

III General Combat:

A. The two cinematic rules from the Basic Set are not available, but many of the ones from CII are (in particular, Bulletproof Nudity, Cinematic Knockback and Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy [but not for significant foes]).

B. Initiative is determined by rolling 1d6 and adding it to Move. If the character who wins initiative is ever stunned or three or more rounds pass without any attacks, initiative is re-rolled.

Magic

I. Casting Spells
A. High skill (15+) no longer automatically reduces casting time or casting cost. Instead, the optional Time, Energy and Cost Tradeoffs section from Chapter 9 of Magic are in effect.
B. Range of Regular spells equals skill in yards. The -1/yard penalty applies only beyond this range.
C. There is no penalty for casting spells while others are being maintained.

II. Magic Items
A. It is easier to enchant magic items (or at least faster). If using the "slow and sure" method, the mage can devote up to (ST) Fatigue per day, rather than 1 Fatigue per day. In practice, on average, this means that is takes 1/10 as many days to enchant an item.Powerstones still cannot be used for "slow and sure" enchantments (however, sacrifices, giving Fatigue equal to (IQ+HP) of the victim on a successful Sacrifice skill roll, can be added, but only one per day).

III. Rune Magic
A. Common rune stones are considered the standard; they give no penalty. True rune stones give a +2 for each stone included.
B. If rolling for a multi-rune spell, use the rune with the lowest skill, with a cumlative -1 for each stone over two used.

IV. Ritual Magic
A. Rituals cost 1 point to improve by one level, not 2 points.
B. Rituals with no casting time listed take 30 minutes.
C. For the Ward ritual, strength is not determined in advance. Strength is 2, plus 2 for every point the ritual succeeds by.

(see also Character Creation)

Other Rules

I. Fright Checks
A. These are not subject to the Rule of 14.