Watered down threshold & facade rules

[Michael Thayne]

The threshold rules from Pyramid #3/58, and the facade rules from the latest Pyramid ("Strange Powers"), are both cool and evocative. But I'm not sure I'd want to have to use them all the time? To that end, some thoughts on how they could be watered down:

• Most supernatural creatures get +10 to will checks to force their way past a threshold.
• Mages who active work on warding a dwelling against supernatural creatures can increase a dwelling's threshold by up to +10. This works like exorcism, except that (1) the maximum TR that can be achieved this way is equal to 10 + unwarded TR (2) use Thaumatology or Ritual Magic instead of Exorcism (3) any time a monster wins its quick contest to penetrate the threshold, 1 point of ward TR is permanently lost (until reduced to a minimum of 0).
• Anyone with at least 2 points in an appropriate know thy enemy skill for a monster (per Monster Hunters) is immune to its facade. Even characters without such specialized training can ignore facade with an occultism roll, at a significant bonus if they've been briefed by someone more knowledgeable or have solid evidence something strange is going on. The GM may make exceptions to this rule for monsters that specialize in deception, such as Skinchangers or Snake-Lords.

Thoughts?

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Michael Thayne

The threshold rules from Pyramid #3/58, and the facade rules from the latest Pyramid ("Strange Powers"), are both cool and evocative. But I'm not sure I'd want to have to use them all the time? To that end, some thoughts on how they could be watered down:

Thanks! :-)

Originally Posted by Michael Thayne

Most supernatural creatures get +10 to will checks to force their way past a threshold.

That seems like a bit much. Why not just halve the final threshold number?

Originally Posted by Michael Thayne

Mages who active work on warding a dwelling against supernatural creatures can increase a dwelling's threshold by up to +10. This works like exorcism, except that (1) the maximum TR that can be achieved this way is equal to 10 + unwarded TR (2) use Thaumatology or Ritual Magic instead of Exorcism (3) any time a monster wins its quick contest to penetrate the threshold, 1 point of ward TR is permanently lost (until reduced to a minimum of 0).

That doesn't seem bad - except +10 is a LOT. You might as well not even have a Threshold at all. I'd at maybe a +5 at most and use half the margin.

Originally Posted by Michael Thayne

Anyone with at least 2 points in an appropriate know thy enemy skill for a monster (per Monster Hunters) is immune to its facade. Even characters without such specialized training can ignore facade with an occultism roll, at a significant bonus if they've been briefed by someone more knowledgeable or have solid evidence something strange is going on. The GM may make exceptions to this rule for monsters that specialize in deception, such as Skinchangers or Snake-Lords.

Now that's a pretty cool idea. I like that.

[Michael Thayne]

Thanks for the feedback! I may use your suggested approach to the Threshold rules.