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Your Favorite Oddball Rules

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17 Jun 2016 11:10 - 17 Jun 2016 11:13 #229061 by Mr. White
Seems that games used to have some pretty gonzo rules that had nothing to do with balance or efficiency. I'm not talking about out of game garbage like 'person with the biggest ears go first'...I'm talking about those sort of rules that would likely never be put to paper in the modern era.

Here are a few of mine.

Death Fortress Movement (Man o War) - Naturally, DF talk made me think of MoW. For a game that has measurement movement, the Dark Elf Death Fortress has a movement rule that you'll likely never find in a minis ruleobok these days. If, while moving the Death Fortress, it physically contacts and pushes other ships...those ships stay where they finally rest after being pushed. No stopping for contact. No passing through. You physically get to move your opponent's piece and it's not precise or measured at all. Push those ships into all sorts of inconvenient (for wind) facings. Was this rule fair? balanced? Hell no, but it was a lot of fun. I never played DEs, but even opposing them was exhilarating because this ship felt like a bigger than life threat and this 'broken' rule was one of the reasons why. Loved it.

Ork Trukk Transportation (40k 2nd ed) - How many boyz can ride on that ork trukk? check the codex...10? 12? Nope. As many models as will physically fit on the vehicle. Awesome. However, if any fell off during movement they were goners. Naturally, you could rig this by adding a large 'antenna' then just stack a tower of ork minis by threading that antenna between their legs and base...but nah. this was before the tournament days and your buddies wouldn't pull that crap. Now, everything has to be spelled out and the letter of the rules are more important than the spirit. Bah! Bring back the Trukk Klown Kars!

Thumb of God (Wiz War) - Take a d4 and shoot it marble style at the other wizards. Where they lie is where they now are in the maze. You could jack a lot of magi if you could line up a decent shot. The most feared card in the deck and really made the game stand out, IMO. Has it made it's way to the FFG edition? Will it? If not, I doubt it will.
Last edit: 17 Jun 2016 11:13 by Mr. White.
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17 Jun 2016 11:47 - 17 Jun 2016 11:49 #229065 by Columbob
Red Ones Go Fasta (40K 3rd ed). Ork vehicles painted red could move an extra inch on the board. Not sure if they had to pay 1 point or so for the upgrade.

Death Star Attack weak point (TI3) - A fighter rolling 2 10s in a row can instantly destroy a war sun (or fully operational death star). That was an optional rule.
Last edit: 17 Jun 2016 11:49 by Columbob.

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17 Jun 2016 13:15 #229071 by Shellhead
The Sky (Arkham Horror) - I like the way flying creatures move to and from the Sky location on the board. It does a nice job of simulating various flying monsters high above Lovecraft Country, swooping down at odd intervals to attack somebody out in the open.

The Thumb (Spartacus) - The single most thematic element in the entire game is the ability for the Host to arbitrarily decide if the losing gladiator will win or die.

Panic (Intruder) - From time to time, the alien kills one or more humans in this classic bughunt game. As soon as each lethal combat ends, all surviving humans are immediately moved to the command module, where they have a meeting. This is crucial to the game because it allows the layout to reset, for a fresh round of hide-and-seek. But it also feels like a very thematic element for the humans to abandon the search and have an emergency meeting. Often times, a panic will actually make players feel more pressure and even re-evaluate their tactics. There are better board games out there that simulate the movie Aliens, but I have yet to see one that beats Intruder at simulating Alien.
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17 Jun 2016 13:43 #229073 by Jackwraith

Columbob wrote: Red Ones Go Fasta (40K 3rd ed). Ork vehicles painted red could move an extra inch on the board. Not sure if they had to pay 1 point or so for the upgrade.


Red Wunz Go Fasta was, in fact, a 1 point upgrade in 3rd and 4th Ed.

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17 Jun 2016 22:48 - 17 Jun 2016 22:49 #229096 by wadenels
Not so much a rule, but something that just stands out as an odd and adversarial thing to put in a rulebook:

Hackmaster 5e. Near the top of the adventure section:

Drowning is a persistent threat, not only for
characters so foolish as to forgo this vital survival skill
but also for those choosing to envelop themselves in a
shell of weighty iron.


"Nice armour you've got there. Would be a real shame if you tripped into a 2ft deep puddle..."
Last edit: 17 Jun 2016 22:49 by wadenels.
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18 Jun 2016 07:40 - 18 Jun 2016 07:42 #229100 by Legomancer


From Neuroshima Hex
Last edit: 18 Jun 2016 07:42 by Legomancer.
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18 Jun 2016 12:42 #229107 by gversace

Legomancer wrote:



From Neuroshima Hex


That's getting into Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey territory.

Age of Sigmar has a bunch of goofy rules, like getting bonuses for literally taunting your opponent. When I used to play Rogue Trader, I'd take a genestealer magus/leader/whatever, and he would have to roll on a chart to find out his psychic powesr on a table. It was awesome when all you got were things like "Telepathy," that allowed the psyker to send a message of not more than 10 words to another model within 24". Very useful when you're playing a straight up minis skirmish.

Why are so many of the examples from GW?

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19 Jun 2016 08:42 #229115 by Legomancer
I had a friend who went to work at Wizards of the Coast around the time that they were coming up with Unglued. He said if I had card idea to let him know and he'd pitch them in for me. I came up with a couple and elements of one made it into one of the card, but the best one was this:

Super Energy Pill: Artifact (2)
Eat this card: Target creature gets +15/+15, flying, and trample until end of turn.

He said people really liked the idea but the lawyers said under no circumstances could they tell people to eat cards.
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19 Jun 2016 20:26 - 19 Jun 2016 20:26 #229121 by Sevej
Replied by Sevej on topic Your Favorite Oddball Rules
I still get a kick from reading GW rules name such as "Look Out Sir!" (this one prevents commanders or such from getting killed by a template/multi targeting weapons).
Last edit: 19 Jun 2016 20:26 by Sevej.

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20 Jun 2016 06:39 #229134 by birdman37
My favourite is admittedly not all that "oddball", just fairly obscure. The Always Hungry rule in Blood Bowl applies only to Trolls (who appear in only 4 out the 24 possible rosters), and only kicks in when they choose to lob one of their smaller team mates down the pitch. There's a 1:6 chance they'll forget about throwing, and try to eat the hapless Goblin instead, and a further 1:6 chance to shove him down their gullet! Hasn't happened to me yet, but when (hopefully when) it does, it's going to a moment to remember.

Yet another GW example...
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20 Jun 2016 09:58 #229144 by Columbob
Tyranids in 40K 2nd ed: Jones is acting strangely! (one member of a squad had to roll every turn to see if he'd turn into a barbed strangler and attack his squad).
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20 Jun 2016 10:12 #229145 by Gary Sax
Yep. GW comes to mind too. A lot of their tables you roll on used to have oddball, memorable shit on it with like a 1/50 chance. Or some of their strange ork weapons and stuff that either did nothing or eliminated any kind of unit in one shot (Shokk attak gun, I think?)

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20 Jun 2016 10:35 #229146 by Columbob
I think the Shokk attack gun rolled a d10 for Strength or something, so could be useless or turn into the strongest weapon in the game.

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20 Jun 2016 13:24 - 20 Jun 2016 13:30 #229149 by jpat
Replied by jpat on topic Your Favorite Oddball Rules

wadenels wrote: Not so much a rule, but something that just stands out as an odd and adversarial thing to put in a rulebook:

Hackmaster 5e. Near the top of the adventure section:

Drowning is a persistent threat, not only for
characters so foolish as to forgo this vital survival skill
but also for those choosing to envelop themselves in a
shell of weighty iron.


Drowning is a vital survival skill?

Anyway, I've been entertained more than once by the plastic paradrop in the Sainte-Mere-Eglise Memoir '44 scenario. The American player holds, I think, four infantry figures above the board a foot or so and then drops them. If they land in an unoccupied hex, he adds a unit there; if they go off the board or land in another unit's hex, they're removed.
Last edit: 20 Jun 2016 13:30 by jpat.

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21 Jun 2016 09:42 #229164 by Dogmatix

jpat wrote:

wadenels wrote: Not so much a rule, but something that just stands out as an odd and adversarial thing to put in a rulebook:

Hackmaster 5e. Near the top of the adventure section:

Drowning is a persistent threat, not only for
characters so foolish as to forgo this vital survival skill
but also for those choosing to envelop themselves in a
shell of weighty iron.


Drowning is a vital survival skill?

Anyway, I've been entertained more than once by the plastic paradrop in the Sainte-Mere-Eglise Memoir '44 scenario. The American player holds, I think, four infantry figures above the board a foot or so and then drops them. If they land in an unoccupied hex, he adds a unit there; if they go off the board or land in another unit's hex, they're removed.


I'd swear this is actually a straight theft from an 80s hex & chit game--maybe one of Jack Radey's [?] People's Wargames titles...

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