#House Rule Anti-Patterns (Forbidden Patterns)

Contents

#§ Scent — What to Avoid

A good house rule deepens the campaign. A bad house rule kills the campaign. This guide is 10 types of frequently seen bad patterns.

#§ 10 Anti-Patterns

#1. The "GM's Whim" Rule

• Symptom: the GM has a different rule every session. PCs cannot predict.
• Solution: decide the house rule 1 time, then keep it for 1 season. Change it at the season transition.

#2. The "Only One PC Benefits" Rule

• Symptom: a variant favorable to a specific PC. Other PCs are alienated.
• Solution: an equal effect for all PCs. Only 1 PC benefiting is the realm of the core, such as Renown Titles·relics.

#3. The "Easy PC" Rule (Excessive PC Strengthening)

• Symptom: PC bonuses too strong. Challenge is absent.
• Solution: maintain core ±1 intensity. Strengthening is staged·conditional.

#4. The "Hard PC" Rule (Excessive PC Weakening)

• Symptom: PC penalties too strong. Death every time.
• Solution: maintain core ±1 intensity. Weakening is conditional.

#5. The "Complex Rule" Pattern

• Symptom: too many additional tracking items. Time shortage.
• Solution: limit to 1 additional tracking item per 1 variant.

#6. The "Contradiction Rule" Pattern

• Symptom: conflicts with the core rules themselves. Unclear which rule to follow.
• Solution: when introducing a variant, specify the exact relationship with the core rules (replace·add).

#7. The "Campaign-Killer" Rule

• Symptom: a variant blocks the campaign's flow (e.g.: permanent PC death·permanent asset deprivation).
• Solution: a variant must be recoverable. Permanent loss requires PC agreement.

#8. The "Meta-Game" Rule (4-Wall Breaking)

• Symptom: a variant where a PC's character affects the GM·rules themselves.
• Solution: not recommended outside meta-game-tone campaigns. Comedy tone only.

#9. The "PC Trauma" Rule

• Symptom: a variant affects the mind of the PC player (a real person).
• Solution: trauma·madness·horror rules require prior PC consent. Introduce a safety card (X-Card) — an indie RPG tool proposed by John Stavropoulos. If a player picks up the "X" card in any scene, the GM immediately halts·rewrites that scene. The veto is exercised without prior-agreement conditions. Recommended when using horror-tone modules such as 30-10 grimdark·55-12 Cthulhu.

#10. The "No Reward" Variant

• Symptom: gives the PC only a burden with no reward.
• Solution: every burden has a balanced reward. Energy·Fate points·assets, etc.

#§ 5 Pre-Check Questions

GM self-check before introducing a custom variant:

1. Is this variant equal for all PCs?
2. Is this variant recoverable?
3. Does this variant not conflict with the core rules?
4. Is this variant not giving the PC only a burden?
5. Is this variant recoverable after a trial?

All 5 Yes → safe. 1+ No → reconsider.

#§ Anti-Pattern Recovery Procedure

Recovering from an already-introduced anti-pattern:

1. Immediate revert declaration: "We are reverting the variant introduced yesterday to the core."
2. PC compensation: compensate PCs who took loss from the variant.
3. Drop the GM's pride: admit "I tried it, and it did not work."
4. Recurrence-prevention record: record the reason for abolishing the variant.

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"A good rule entertains the PC. A bad rule makes the PC leave."