CORPS 4.1.5 and CORPS into the future

As with any game in development, especially when trying new concepts, certain things are going to fail and other things will work.  CORPS has certainly been no exception.  We've had a number of things work for us and a number of things that for one reason or another had to be scratched from the game.  One thing I can say for sure is that the progress in the game has certainly been going in the right direction.  I mean that both in terms of completeness of the game as well as the goals we set out for the game in the first place.  CORPS was meant to be above all else a fun table-top role playing game.  As we developed the game we pretty much agreed that the real heart of the role playing game would be the combat and thus we have the acronym Combat Oriented Role Playing System.

The more time and effort we've put into the game the more I amazed at how we've been able to tweak things to really increase the level of fun and excitement we get while testing it out.  I also feel like things within the game are much more cemented.  I can't say how good it feels to be moving forwards with new development rather than going back and changing things that have already been done because they didn't work as well as you hoped the first time around.  Sure there are still minor tweaks here and there, especially in light of testing but the bulk of the game as it is now is how it'll be when we eventually move towards releasing the game as a finished product.   That time is still a decent ways away but I am more of the mind that we'll know we'll be getting close as we wrap up the last of development and start working on a kick starter campaign to raise funds for hiring an artist who can turn our ideas in to bold images to describe things as we see it.  Of course that is as I said, a ways off.

One thing I did think of as I was going through our older and infrequent blog posts is that despite talking about CORPS so much, there is a lot of stuff that had been previously introduced in prior years that is totally irrelevant or just out right wrong now.  I had thought about putting together another list of blog entries that would reintroduce CORP to the readership of this blog but the time spent writing to the blog is time that I could be spending towards the actual development.  Since this is all a side project it pains me to manage time so closely but life comes before hobbies unfortunately. Still I think it would be a good idea to reintroduce the game with the changes that we'll most likely go live with. The game really has come a long way since we started and even more so through all the various major releases we've gone through.  I plan to in the near future to begin taking this game to comic bookshops to try to run people through an actual demo of the game just so I can start getting candid feedback on how the game plays out.  The thing is, and this is why I primarily am bringing it up here on this blog, up to this point nearly all of my testing of this game has been done online.  It stands to reason if someone actually reads this post and has some interest in the game, even if it's just mild curiosity, it's someone like that that I should be reaching out to in order to have them test out the game.  So I'll just keep this short and say that if you are interested in helping us test the game just reach out and let use know on my website: http://www.nortain.net/corps-contact-us.html.  If you're curious as to what we are using to test here is a list of the software we use.

Mumble (VoIP)
MapTools (Tabletop sim software - requires java)

Change log? WTF is that? CORPS 4.1.3

Sometimes I feel like the development process for CORPS is something like sticking one's head in the sand.  Why are you sticking your head in the sand?  To see more sand in more detail of course.  In this case sand in my metaphor for all those tiny details that come together to make the game great.  Of course in spending such a lengthy amount of time working on the details you can tend to lose focus of the big picture as well as the processes that help support the building of the big picture.
One thing we had always done was to give our builds version numbers so we'd know where we were in our development process as also when something might be out of date.  This was often the case with test characters we created.  You make a character, test them some, make some tweaks that affect a number of characters and suddenly you have characters whose builds are no longer valid.   We quickly found putting a version number on the document proved very helpful in letting us know what and who needed to be reviewed before testing after making a change.  But one painfully obvious omission we made was that we never documented exactly what these version numbers meant.  That is to say when we made a big game changing update, we'd simply give that a new version number without specifically writing down what it was we had changed and more importantly why.  When you're constantly working on something constantly it stays pretty fresh and the developers never really paid it much attention.  We did a good enough job of remember what was recently changed and whenever we took breaks from developing any big changes had been fully implemented so even if we didn't remember what we changed recently we could plainly see what the new rules were.

It wasn't until this most recent round of changes that we ran into the problem of, "wait what version did this change belong it?"  With a lot of changes flying around going back and forth and length of the development cycle we started becoming slowly aware that we couldn't keep all this crap together.  Some documents had notes in the documents some didn't, some had documentation about a version number with no mention of what that number actually represented.  Needless to say it started to get pretty messy.  Luckily the fix was simple.  We were able to create a central record keep for all the changes that went in under each version and what those changes were and why.  It's really kind of sad cause we've overhauled the game essentially 3 times now, and have had numerious tiny and sizeable changes in between those and all this time we never had anything to clearly state what these changes were.  Sure we had them written down.... somewhere.  But the central record keep is really what we've been needing for quite some time.  Welcome to what programmers refer to the changelog.  The concept is simple.  It's a log of everything that changed since the last released version. Being programmers ourselves we had to laugh at the fact that we'd hadn't thought of putting this together sooner.

Another interesting aspect of having a changelog, even though it's still pretty immature, it's neat to be able to see what we actually have been working on for the past... well year now.  Shit I really need to update this blog more.  Well anyway I figured I'd give a short list of the most recent set of changes we've made to give a glimpse into some of the stuff we've been tweaking as of late.

4.1.30 - Racial Review, 2m/2w updates

Racial Review - The stat bonuses are made more consistent, Burman are Br/Re, Gryx are Br/Pr,  Feydra are Agi then Pr Or Re, Primentals are Br then Pr Or Re.  This gives more flexibility for races to be casters, because making a Re based class without Re is just rough.  Melee has more flexibility, because you can go balanced weapons and use the bonus to Re or Agi.  Agile weapon user and Heavy weapon user still will need the isolated stat.

Oh the Humanity changes again.  This time it is +4 to hit, but gives advantage to any critical rolls.  It is difficult to balance as it is currently the only racial which has a decent chance of doing nothing by using it unless you are attacking 2 or more targets.  The swift version was strong, but for the wrong reason -- the game was hypernova back then.

Caster Core Powers Review - A more detailed breakdown of the 3w is leading to an overhaul of the kits.  1g’s apparent were way OP - but we have no test data to support the numbers.  In theory 2w/2m were underpowered because they were “equal” to a 3m or 3w (using three theme points).  2m/2w gain an encounter ability to cast a std/delib action spell and perform a snap attack.

2w/2m stat sharing - Updated so that 2w/2m will usually be marital stat primary -- All 2w/2m now get +1 to spell damage per point in Agi or Br.  This allows a 3 offence stat to have a +3 bonus to spell damage, and a +6 if they have an “off stat” racial bonus.  The old way was allowing 3 offence with off stat to have a +8 to melee, +6 to spells, and the epic stat PP bonus.  This is vastly stronger than any other setup, so it was highhandedly nerfed.

Overcast Magic Spell  - Duh.  Math is hard.  As an overcast reg spell is +18%, an overcast magic should be +18% -- which is a +2 to hit, not +1.

Core Caster Static Bonus:  The bonus for non-scaling effects has been increased from 25% to 40%.  This is for consistency with Juggernaut PP, which is valued at 9 (as a PP) and it gives 6 THP (non-scaling).

HP Increase:  SD, Vitality, and stealth now give slightly more HP.  All HP fractions are now X/3.  SD went from 1/4 to 1/3 per rank,  Vit is now 4/3, 8/3, 10/3. 12/3, [from 1,2, 5/2, 7/2] and stealth increases from 1/2 per rank to 2/3 per rank.

Makes absolutely no sense?  Yeah well I guess you'd either need to know the game some first before decoding what all of that slang means.  What you can take away from it though is that we're hard at work progressing CORPS towards general release and look forward to when we can start playing the game with regular people rather than those in our tight knit beta groups.  Until then... keep on gaming

CORPS - Player Races (4 of 4)

For the last installment of the playable races of CORPS we'll be looking at two more commonly known races in fantasy RPGS, humans and halflings. Humans are the staple race of the game.  They are as varied and abundant as they are here on Earth.  In the Overview for humans we give a brief detail based on what would could be considered the default CORPS campaign setting, similar to what you might find with D&D 4th edition ignoring any of the extras like Dark Sun or Forgotten Realms.  However since this game is a system first and a campaign second the overviews we've described in this character series could easily be changed.  The other aspects of each of the characters, Physical Traits, Personality Traits and Lifecycle could be carried through to nearly any campaign setting.  Some might be wondering why we even bothered giving background information on humans as a race but the answer is really based on two parts.  One being for completeness sake, since there are unique races introduced in this role-playing system and we needed information to explain them. The second reason as mentioned in Player Races (3 of 4) is because the races and their backgrounds were based on in game mechanics which were created prior to coming up with the actual races themselves.  Giving a description of each of the races explains why a race gets the benefits and bonuses it does.

Unlike the human race which was fairly straight forward, halflings proved perhaps the most difficult of the races to create.  This was because the fantstic is common in other game settings.  So when someone hears halfling, they can assume they already know everything there is to know about the race.  Originally I had tried calling the race 'Halfman', to try and distinguish themselves from what other may know about halflings.  But ultimately the name halfling sounded the best so that is what we went with.  Coming up with the reasons and background for why halflings are the way they are in CORPS was like walking a fine line.  I had to avoid slipping into my own biased knowledge of halflings and keep their story unique enough to describe why they have the mechanical benefits they get in the game.  Looking back on it, I feel like the halflings of CORPS are a mix between Dungeons and Dragons' halflings, kinder and perhaps leprechauns all rolled into one.

Human (Hyoo-mah n)

Overview

An embodiment of everything that is both good and bad in life, humans are the most adaptable and diverse of all the civilized races. Humans strive to build and expand, reaching above and beyond their current means. Unfortunately, this drive to succeed often puts them in direct conflict with both the other races of the world and other humans during the course of their lives. Humans tend to thrive on the concept of the empire. In fact most races attribute humans with the invention of the true concept of an empire.

Before humans started organizing in mass and building up empires, the majority of races were mostly tribal with only a few towns or villages scattered throughout the world. Then man came into power, organizing, building up kingdoms and cities as astonishing speed. Before man, there was rarely need for such large congregations as the other races in small groups tended to fare just fine in the world. But man wasn’t as gifted as the older races, they couldn’t see as well, they weren’t often as quick or as strong as the other races but where they lacked in their personal attributes they made of for in adaptability and determination. So formed the first empires of man which were great and powerful and forever changed the world. However with it came new hosts of problems.

The largest and most devastating problem among the first empires of man were disease. As populations swelled in walled cities, due to mans quick birthrate, so did disease and famine. Man prayed to their gods but such prayers fell on deaf ears in those dark times. Among the other civilized races most agree that if not for the early plagues of man they would have surely endangered the world with over population. As man worked to recover from these plagues the older races came together to form their own versions of an empire and to be more organized to deal with and respond to the forces of man.

Physical Traits

Humans are the most numerous of all the civilized races. They inhabit all areas of the world that can sustain life, and even a few that can’t. Human eye color tends be brown or blue but can also occasionally be green or hazel or orange. However among humans, their eyesight is rather mundane operating effectively only when there is a strong light source available. Their skin color can vary from white to black with varying degrees of brown in between but their flesh is thin and offers little protection from the elements or from physical dangers. All humans are born with some degree of hair. The color can vary, generally based on their complexion. In a broad generalization fair skinned humans tend to have fair hair while dark skinned humans have darker hair. Most commonly their hair color is black or brown or blond with some varying degree of red. Human males are usually between 5’ 6” and 6’ 2” and range in weight between 135 lbs and 230 lbs. Human males can also grow facial hair although not nearly as quickly or as thick as burman or gryx. Human females are usually between 5’ 0” and 5’ 9” and weigh between 105 lbs and 170 lbs. It should be noted however that even these averages can vary a good deal from region to region.

Despite all that humans are seemingly lacking they do possess a few incredible traits. Perhaps the most notable is the humans ability to adapt. As a result humans tend to have very diverse customs and cultures from region to region. Despite these differences the humans ability to adapt to new challenges is constant. In areas with rocky terrain humans quickly discover ways to better navigate it, either by physical training or by equipment they can make from the nearby area. In areas where flooding may occur, humans readily learn to swim and make cities that can float on the rising waters. In areas of extreme heat humans develop grab that helps keep them cool and build homes and structures that help ward off the scorching heat. Where as other races may avoid a given location due to the environment humans will move in and look for ways to change themselves, be it diet, training or education or change the environment for it to suit their needs.

Humans also possess to varying degrees their own kind of inner resolve. Among the Altwani they might call it the ‘human will to survive’ while the gryx might call it ‘human blood lust’ but whatever its called humans have demonstrated time and time again that they can be fierce and deadly in combat. While this isn’t necessarily a physical trait as much as it is a mental one, it does have a strong impact on their physical abilities. While in this state of ferocity even common farmers and peasants with no military training can wield weapons as if they were trained soldiers for a short time. Amongst the more skilled warriors and knights of human civilizations these bouts of ferocity have been known to turn the very tides of battle.

Personality Traits

Humans constantly strive to better themselves, whether it is to expand the land of a lowly farm, the territory owned by a gang of street thugs, or even the size of great nations. Humans forever desire more and are compelled to advance their lot in life in any way possible. It should be noted, however, that while not every human shares these extremes they all possess this trait to some degree. It is natural for parents to want life to be better for their children and given the relatively short lifespan of humans this often means humans are constantly wanting more from themselves and those in they care about in their lives.

The morality and mentality of man is almost something of an unexplainable phenomenon among humans. By themselves humans can be submissive or even cowardly in the face of great peril. However given a large number of them and a leader to rally them and they’ll gladly kick in deaths door with weapon in hand and should they live, return for more. While in battles other races will often look at the outcome, humans will look to their leaders. If their leader can convince them they’ll win, humans will believe it, regardless of their actual odds. Much to the frustration of other races that have engaged in fights with humans this has many times proven to change the outcomes of wars and battles throughout the ages.

The diversity among humans is another impressive trait among humankind. While it cannot be narrowed down to any particular individual, one only needs to look at any human civilization that humans can do nearly anything if they apply themselves. Human blacksmiths in their short lifetime have been known to rival the greatest of craftsmen among the burman and the gryx. Human archers have been known such mastery of the bow that they can rival that of the altwani and halfman. Humans magic users have been known to match the mystic cunning and magical influence of the primental and the feydra. On top of that, all of this could be found in but a single kingdom of man. While these specializations may take other races centuries to perfect all in their own specialized regions, humans seem to be able to band together anywhere where choose and pursue all of this at once, in only the course of a generation or two.

It is often for this reason that among all the civilized races of the world human kingdoms, cities and towns are most prevalent. Because these population centers have so much to offer quite often members of other races will choose to coexist among the humans. While sometimes this can cause racial tension for the most part it is an accepted and fairly common practice. As humans mature as a race so does their respect for other races and what they have to offer humanity.

Lifecycle

Among the civilized races humans have the shortest and most rapid lifecycle. The gestation period for a human female is roughly between 8 and 9 months. Child bearing females can commonly average 1 child every 18 to 20 months. They do have a fairly high mortality rate for their young often keeping their populations from expanding too rapidly but among the other races they still grow much faster than any other. Females usually remain fertile into their mid to late 40s but drop off fairly quickly after that. Humans can reach maturity as early as 9 or 10 but more commonly will be 11 to 13. Humans reach full adulthood by their late teens. The average life span for humans ranges between 60 and 70 years if they die from natural causes although a few long lived members of their race can reach into their 80s and 90s or more. These ranges however, like most qualities of humankind, vary from region to region.

Halfling (Haf-ling)

Overview

Halflings are a curious race of small people. Their introduction into the world has no recorded history but based on the oral history of the halfmen, they claim to have come from sprout from the woods, the hills, the rivers and mountains all during the time when the alternate realms were joined to the prime world. Although no evidence exists to suggest this, nothing exists to disprove it either so for now it is the prevailing belief.

Halflings have spent much of their history silently watching their larger cousins in the world. Their diminutive size often put them at a physical disadvantage to the larger races so more often than not groups of halflings would continually wonder the world until finding a place they deemed safe. As time changed and safe places became threatened, the halflings would simply pick up and move on without drawing attention to themselves.

It wasn’t until the introduction of mankinds first empires that the halflings truly let themselves become known to the world. It was then that something strange and new was born with the inception of cities and kingdoms and halflings were able to experience it first hand. Halflings with their appearances almost identical to a human child, were able to walk amongst the humans without drawing attention to themselves. This was the halflings first interaction with another race and so great and varied were their customs that it birthed a new found curiosity in all walks of life that had been dormant in the halflings for generations. Word spread among the halflings of the humans and soon entire villages of halflings were sneaking into cities and walking amongst the humans.

However, like any big secret it eventually became apparent to the humans that they were not along. Once the halflings were discovered in one kingdom the word spread among them all. To humans the halflings were mere nuisances with their childlike curiosity and behavior but to the halflings the humans were a gateway to the rest of the world. Realizing that their presence among civilized races wasn’t usually met with hostility like it had been in the past halflings started actively seeking out other races and cultures to walk amongst them and experience what up until this point they have only viewed from afar. Nowadays halflings are present in almost every civilized major population center in the world. Due their natural curiosity and wanderlust they rarely stay in one place for very long. Only a handful of halfling villages exist in the world today leaving much of the history of these little people left to the unknown. Despite their own curiosity for the other races around them most halflings don’t seem too concerned that they are seemingly unaware of their own heritage.

Physical Traits

Halflings or half-men as humans often refer to them are roughly 3’ 8” to 4’ 3” tall and usually weigh between 70 and 100 lbs. Males and females among their kind are roughly the same size. Their complexions vary as much as that of humans but generally have rounded faces making them look like human children. Their eyes are usually blue or violet with but also sometimes brown or even black. Regardless of their eye color halflings can see quick well in low light situations making it all the easier for them to move about in the dark.

Despite not having any facial hair, or much body hair at all for that matter the hair on their heads grow at an accelerated rate among human standards. Halflings hairstyle vary greatly with some shaving their head completely on a daily basis while others weave and braid their hair into intricate designs and patterns. Many halflings have been know to weave weapons into their hair or other personal items as many times people tend to overlook their hair as a hiding spot for such items.

Although halflings vary nearly as much as humans the race does share a natural quickness and agility. It is even accelerated by their small size as most halflings move at the same rate as other larger civilized races despite usually taking two steps for their every one. In combat the natural quickness of a halfling becomes quite obvious when trying to hit such a small target. On the flip side, halflings are surprisingly nimble and deadly with weapons they can properly wield. Although too small to be able to appropriately wield large weapons of other races, halflings trained in combat have a tendency to bury their small weapons into the most vital of spots of their opponents causing substantial damage.

Personality Traits

Like their human counterparts halflings express a full range of personalities but have a natural tendency to talk a lot. This is often attributed to the halfling being a nuisance among other races. While occupationally they make great performers, singers and bards all too often they don’t know when to stop running their mouth. The stinging insults of a halfling can often lead to hostile actions. Perhaps this would explain why halflings are so quick, because the slow ones don’t live long enough to procreate.

Another trait common in almost all halflings are their natural curiosity and wanderlust. Halflings are always on the lookout to experience new things. This is a large part of their presence in the world and the reason that so many halflings live amongst other civilizations rather than choosing to live among their own kind. While often this curiosity can lead to a halfling getting into trouble the race seems to have a kind of ‘natural luck’ that ultimately has allowed them to survive their own curiosity for generations.

The luck of a halfling often plays into their personalities in that things that are of normally of great concern to other races. For example jumping a chasm, navigating through a burning building or even fighting off an overwhelming enemy doesn’t illicit the same responses in most halflings as it would other races. From outward appearances this might be interrupted as halflings being fearless or brave but often it is merely their own curiosity about a new experience. Halflings that have experienced something they don’t like, say being burnt by fire, will fear a burning building just as much as other races. That isn’t to say that halflings are cowards or can’t be brave, it’s just that as a race, halflings need to experience things for themselves before they can respond appropriately to them. Threatening to punch a halfling in the face won’t have the same effect on them if they’ve never personally experienced something like it before. Sometimes its only a matter of helping the halfling associate an experience with something they’ve already encountered, other times it just means a halfling needs to be punched in the face before such a threat will stick with them. Even then however a halfling may not learn to associate the threat with the result the first time around.

Lifecycle

Halflings have an unusual life cycle compared to most other races in that they are fairly long lived but mature rather quickly. This oddity is mostly attributed to the natural personality of halflings. Halfling children grow quickly, seemingly so their parents can move on to where their wanderlust takes them. Most halfling females have a gestation period of only 4 to 5 months. Childbearing females will usually only give birth once in their lifetime but usually give birth to between 2 to 5 children at a time. Occasionally females will have multiple births in their lifetime but most choose to prevent future childbirth after having already experienced it once. This tends to average out to about 1 child every 15 to 45 years for female halflings. Halfling children are very small when they are born (as 2 to 5 of them can be inside of a body the size of a human child at the same time) but grow very quickly. When a halfling gives birth it is very often that other halflings in the area will take on the role as extended family regardless of where they actually are in their own lives.
Another oddity among halfling is that they do not reach maturity until they reach full adulthood which is usually by their early teens. While halflings still have common emotional connections with their children their desire to travel and experience new things out weighs their natural parental instincts. Often plans are made amongst family members to meet at certain locations in the future. Halflings have been known to live for up to 120 years old but very few ever make it past 80. Even though halflings seems to have an inexplicable aspect of 'luck' in their daily lives they also tend to put themselves in risky situations more often than other civilized races. Tightrope walking across an open chasm might seem fun and interesting to most halflings while completely insane to most humans. Needless to say very few halflings end up dying of old age.

CORPS - Player Races (3 of 4)

Today we're continuing our third installment of the four part series on Playable Races in CORPS. When we were designing the races for CORPS, along with nearly all of the tactical parts of the game, we were focusing on keeping things balanced. Many games try to follow this 'different but equal' creed of balancing options but it's much easier said than done. Learning things as we went along while designing CORPS it quickly became apparent that using templates with rubrics were an effective way to keep common things balanced among each other. In this case, the case of player races we found we wanted to make sure that each race addressed one of each of the following aspects of the game.

All races should have:

• Attributes that they can increase, either assigned automatically because of a particular race or as free floating attribute points the player can assign as they seem fit
• Prevent excessive min-maxing from any given race; a race cannot increase any 1 attribute by more than 2 points
• Approximately 2 racial powers; these can be something that can be activated in combat or can be passive occurring whenever a triggering condition is met.
• Some basic knowledge of languages they would have likely been around
• Something extra; this 1 to 3 things that are a free form benefit of the race to players who pick it.  This is usually a one time benefit like additional talent points or some kind of passive ability like keen eyesight in low light settings.

Now given this rough template we were able to mechanically design races that we felt would give a dynamic feeling across the multitude of builds people could create from the classless system.  We also wanted to try and give options among the races that simply went beyond attributes.  With D&D 4e, there were some classes that went very well with a given race or two while fitting in rather poorly with others.  That still exists to some extent within CORPS but there are also a lot of interesting combinations that can work out if a particular races' attribute bonuses don't benefit the type of character you are making.

While it may sound kind of backwards once we had come up with a lot of ideas that matched the template outline listed above I started coming up with stories and histories that helped explain the how and why a particular race got any given mechanical benefit.  I would think normally people would come up with a story about a race first, and then from there try and derive what mechanical benefits that race might get.  Using this approach I was able to make sure races were mechanically balanced first (or at least pretty close to it) before coming up with why each race got what it got.  This was also another reason for straying away from many of the common fantasy races other RPGs use over and over again.  In earlier posts, the guy who actually read the post might have noticed strong similarities between a the Burman and Dwarves from other games.  Many of the concepts are alike but some of the mechanics used for the Burman didn't fit in with some concepts of a dwarf from other games.  For reasons such as that we decided to put our own twist on them and branded them as such.  But enough rambling.  Moving on lets start and finish by unveiling 2 more player races of CORPS.

Gryx (Gricks)

Overview

Over a thousand years ago the Gryx were rulers of mighty and vast empires. Their reach and influence extended to far corners of the world. During the emergence of a great and powerful magic into the prime world the gryx were driven to insanity. Much of the recorded history at that time from such bastions of power had been destroyed as the world plunged into chaos. The ending result spawned the birth of what is now commonly known as orcs. The gryx as a race have never recovered from this devastation and the remaining settlements of the gryx are far and few between, scattered on the edges of civilization.

Despite the events that happened so long ago there exists a great deal of tension between the gryx and other races. Tomes of history vary wildly from blaming the gryx for turning into common orcs and slaughtering those within their walls by the millions across the world to making accusations that it was the gryx who brought on the malevolent surge of magic that corrupted them in the first place. Only a handful of scholars throughout the ages have attempted to defend the gryx arguing that as a people they have a very weak affinity to magic and therefore couldn't have been responsible for the destruction caused by the orcs but much of that has fallen on deaf ears.

Time has slowly started to heal the wounds of old and although there is still often tends to be deep seated animosity towards gryx among many, there are gryx present in most of the worlds larger cities. As a people gryx have persevered and continue to survive both among their own settlements as well as within the larger cities of other races often striving to recapture their former glory.

Physical Traits

Gryx usually stand at about a height of 6’, with females averaging a few inches shorter. Gryx are extremely muscular, the average Gryx weights close to 250 pounds. Gryx surprisingly look more like Altwani (on steroids) than orcs, they have small pointed ears and fine well chiseled facial features. Gryx to have rather strongly defined canine teeth that often slightly protrude past their lips. Skin tones can vary greatly among gryx but most commonly vary between gray, light green, brown, and even red. Gryx tend to have red or violet eye which seems to play a part in granting them the ability to see clearly with low levels of light
In addition to their large size gryx are also often very skilled in the ways of combat. Given their impressive physical stature and heritage its not hard to see why swinging an ax or sword is a inherit as learning to eat with a spoon for the gryx. Their speed and strength in combat is the stuff of legends. When a gryx has their adrenaline up they have been known to be able to cover great distances into a matter of seconds slaughtering those in their path without so much as breaking their stride. As the gryx have reemerged into the civilized world over the past century it has been noted that the remainder of the race that survived fall of the gryx so long ago have developed a slight tolerance towards most magics. While this trait exists in a few other civilized races this relatively recent change among the gryx and further sets them apart from their orc counterparts that haven’t changed much since their violent introduction into the world.
As the gryx have reemerged into the civilized world over the past century it has been noted that the remainder of the race that survived fall of the gryx so long ago have developed a slight tolerance towards most magics. While this trait exists in a few other civilized races this relatively recent change among the gryx and further sets them apart from their orc counterparts that haven’t changed much since their violent introduction into the world.

Another difference among the gryx and altwani is that they possess a profuse amount of facial hair. Gryx beards often times can rival the beards of burman in their length and intricacy. Much like the burman among male warriors there beard is a source of pride and status among their kind. Female gryx cannot grow facial hair but will instead grow their head hair, usually draping it over their shoulder to display it.

Personality Traits

As a result of their past most gryx are distrustful of others, even other gryx. The large race while by most appearance are brutish and primitive they possess a keen insight that sets them apart from their orcish cousins. Gryx aren't the quick to temper creatures they once were. Most gryx have grown wise to their old ways and think things through before acting on a whim. While they still possess their fury in the heat of battle most gryx have their emotions well under control.

Despite the gryx having grown emotionally from their personal history they are still considered to be one of the most aggressive civilized races in the world. Everything from their language to their demeanor generally comes off as being harsh or hostile to other races. Coupled with their love of physical sport and combat this can often lead to disagreements between gryx and other races.

Another very common trait among the gryx is their value in honesty. After the collapse of their civilization many gryx had to rely on their promises to other to survive the fallout. Even countless generations later the gryx’ respect for honesty and promises kept is still prevalent in many gryx across the world. While certainly not a universal trait among gryx, and often one that is overlooked by other races, it is present in the majority of them for those who care to take a gryx at his or her word.

Life cycle

Gryx have a life cycle that is very close to that of humans. They reach maturity generally by the age of 11 and hit full adulthood before they are 18. Gryx have only a 7 month gestation period and childbearing females will usually average roughly one 1 child every 24 to 30 months. Female gryx are fertile up until their early 30s at which point their fertility starts to decline. Usually by their 40s female gryx are infertile. Some gryx have been known to live to see their mid to late 80s however most commonly gryx live for between 45 and 60 years.

Primental (Pri-men-tl)

Overview

Primental are a race of humanoids whose ancestors were derived from the primordial realm. Fairly uncommon among civilized races the primentals are still considered one of the newer races among the prime world. Their plight closely resembles that of the asari but rather than a single being crossing over from the enchanted realm there were several different elemental beings hailing from the primordial realm. Similar to the asari these elemental beings quickly experienced degenerative effects the longer they stayed in the prime world. It is believed several species of elemental types were wiped out of existence completely within their first few weeks on the prime world. The few primordial that survived their transformation were forever changed and started the race of what is today known as the primentals.

Interestingly enough there are four subcategories of primental each of which mirror one of the four prime world elements, fire, earth, water and air. These elemental affinities are all that remain to tie the primentals back to the primordial realm. Since their introduction into the prime world, shortly after the fall of the gryx empire, the primentals have primarily splintered off into small factions and scattered themselves across the world. Only a handful of pure primental societies exist today. To their credit those few societies have gone to great lengths to establish themselves as a dominate force in their respective areas.

Physical Traits

The physical appearance of a primental closely resembles that of a human with only a few exceptions. These exceptions almost always seem to be a result of their elemental affinity. As each affinity differs across individual primentals so does the affinity materialize in different physical characteristics. Perhaps the most obvious characteristic among the primentals is that of their hair and skin. Primental with an affinity to fire and earth tend to have reddish brown and dark tan skin while those with an affinity to air and water have a very fair and pale complexion. Regardless of their affinity however the skin of a primental is surprising resilient offering a degree of protection against harsh elements or other physical dangers they may encounter. Likewise their hair can have some extremely unusual characteristics such as those with a water affinity resulting in bluish tinted hair or air affinities with semi translucent silvery hair. Fire affinities generally range between bright red and dark red hair while earth affinities have all shades of brown and black as their typical hair color. While a primentals eye color will usually share similar traits of the affinity it doesn't seem to have any actual impact on their vision, which is roughly the same as their human counterparts.

Another common physical trait among the primental is a natural resistance to their elemental affinity. While the strength of their resistance varies from individual it does seem to be present among all members of the race. An example of its effect can vary from things like a fire primental being able to hot foods without burning their mouth to being able to walk through a burning building without so much as getting singed.

When compared to humans primental are generally a little bit taller, males usually between 5’ 9” and 6’ 3” for males and 5’ 5” to 5’ 10” for females. Their weight is fairly similar as well with male primentals usually weighing between 160 lbs and 225 lbs and females between 130 lbs and 170 lbs. Primentals are also noted for generally having a commanding presence about them. It could be their unusual color and skin tone or perhaps somehow apart of their highly magical nature or a combination of the two.

It has been documented among the four variants of primental that each affinity to a certain degree possess some inherent magical capabilities. The range of these capabilities vary greatly among the primental. One primental may be able to cause a few drops water to to fall from their finger while others may be able to make the very earth quake around them. Regardless of their initial capabilities it does appear that this is a trait. while natural to the primental. is inherent to most commonly practiced magics in that given practice and training its power can be increased. This has unfortunately led some practitioners of more nefarious magics to hunt and capture primentals to be used as living spell reagents for their spells.

Personality Traits

The primental like most civilized races display a wide range of personalities but commonly among them they are known to have stronger than usually emotional outbursts. Whether cries of joy or of telling battle primentals exhibit a whirlwind of emotion compared to most other races. Despite the general well intentions of the primental such overwhelming emotions have often caused more problems then they've solved.

In addition to their strong physical characteristics that result from their elemental affinities, primentals also have some personality traits also tend be tied to particular affinities. Fire affinities tend to be aggressive and loud. They often been compared to a cross between a burman and a gryx in their behavior and general rowdiness. Water affinities tend to be noncommittal as they will be of one opinion one day and be from the complete opposite the next. The earth affinities are almost the polar opposites generally desiring continuity and routine in their lives, almost as much as the elder. The air affinities tend to vary the most but commonly them seem to be instigators. Some might say they try to look at any problem through all points of views but all too often they come off as playing the devils advocate, especially among other primentals. They’ll argue with the fires, suggest alternative solutions to the waters and insist on change for the earths, generally amounting to no end of problems.

Another interesting trait among the primental is their tendency to talk or vent to inanimate objects that share their elemental affinity. This habit seems to start in early adolescents but carries on throughout their lifetime. While races not familiar the primental and their mannerisms often find this a very odd behavior the primental have described it to be the somewhat similar to the verbal prayers made by more pious races of the world. That isn't to say there aren't pious primental, it just seems they have some inherited tendency to talk to the rocks and the water like a human might pray to the gods.

Life cycle

The primental have a life cycle that most closely matches that of the burman. Primental children usually reach maturity in their early teens are adulthood in their early 20s. The gestation period for the primentals actually seem to vary depending on the mothers elemental affinity with fire and water usually averaging between 8 and 9 months while air and earth affinities tend to be closer to 10 or 11 months. The birth rate for childbearing primentals is usually about one child every 3 years. The fertility of primental females can vary greatly but in a general water and fire primentals will be fertile into their mid to late 50s while the other affinities are usually fertile into early 60s. Primental females have been known to give birth later in life but the infant/mother mortality rates seem to jump drastically at that point. Again a primentals affinity seems to play some part in their overall life span with water and fire primentals usually living to see their early 100s while most air and earth affinities will live into the 110s. A few rare primental have lived to see 120 years of age but only its only a fraction of a percentage. Unlike the majority of the other mortal races of the prime world the primentals only show minimal effects from aging up until only months before they die at which time they rapidly decline in health.

CORPS - Player Races (2 of 4)

Previously I had started a series of posts introducing races of the RPG that I am co-developing called CORPS or Combat Oriented Role-Playing System. For those who mistakenly showed up here because they decided to try Bing instead of Google let me bring you up to speed. The 4 people who visit this site annually can probably skip ahead. :)
CORPS is a classless level based system that wanted to strive towards bringing strong strategically focused small group combat to the heart of a role playing game. Inspiration and frustration for this game was created from several other RPGs such as D&D 4e, Rolemasters, 7th Sea and HARP. These games have a lot of elements in them that the developers of CORPS like but with enough glaring flaws as to encourage us to come up with our own answer to what we really want. Since we wanted to focus primarily first on combat and since that generally involves the most tactical and technical rules of fantasy genre games like D&D, we wanted to make sure we got it right. To do this, especially in a classless system, we wanted there to be a large number of options for people to create the kind of character they would like to envision themselves playing rather than picking a class that most closely associates to what they are looking for. In part of the creative process of making a player character, there is often some distinguishing characteristics related to the given race of a player character. In many RPGs this is one of many options for a player to choose to customize and build the kind of character they want and CORPS is no exception. So without further delay let me introduce 2 more playable races in CORPS.

Burman (Bur-man)

Overview 

Burman are one of the more adaptable races in the prime world, perhaps second only to humans. Burman inhabit nearly all climates both in civilizations that are exclusive only to burman as well as within cities and towns comprised of other civilized races. Belief as to how burman came to be vary greatly. Popular common belief points to burman being born from rock and stone and ore. Given all the varying kinds of rocks, stones and ores in the world it could explain how so many varied yet racially similar burman came to be.

Physical Traits 

Burman are often described as being stout or stocky and burly men, in fact it is believed that’s where the racial name of burman originated from. Most Burman are between 4’ 5” and 5’ 2” tall although some localities of burman have been as tall as 5’ 6”. Despite their height burman are generally rather stout and with their stoutness also comes strength. Burman usually vary in weight between 170 lbs to 250 lbs and while not a universal trait, burman are usually stronger than their human counterparts. Regardless of their height or strength however all burman have a very thick skin which is usually an earthen color. Their toughened skin makes them incredibly resilient creatures capable to surviving levels of punishment that would otherwise be fatal to most other humanoid races. Like all mammals burman are covered with hair. Their hair in general, like their skin, tends to be coarse and thick only thinning out towards the later stages of life. By human terms burman tend to have an overabundance of facial hair, capable of growing several inches in a single month. Many females are also capable of growing facial hair but to a lesser extent than males. Burman also share a common trait that they have spectacular vision, much better than that of humans especially in low light settings. Before burman were integrated with other races the bulk of their race lived underground for countless generations. In that time they seemed to have developed the ability to see clearly short distances with next to no light source at all, while still being able to operate daylight or torchlight with no consequence. While many might consider the diminutive height of a burman as a disadvantage burman commonly utilize it as an advantage. Their stocky frame and low center of gravity cause burman to be incredibly surefooted. In physical combat it is widely regarded that a line of burman can be nearly as daunting to a cavalry charge as a row of pikeman.

Personality Traits 

Much like personality traits of humans burman are a varied lot. Burman can be a jolly and friendly people or cruel and despotic. Their upbringing and environment make up a great deal of who they are. However there do tend to be a few characteristics that are common among most burman. Perhaps the most common is pride in their accomplishments. Burman generally like to tell of what they have done and even what they will do. To many burman, what they have done represents who they are, and if a burman has done something great, be it felling an enemy with a single blow, saving an innocent, or even drinking someone under the table there is no doubt friends, family and even nearby strangers will hear of it for days. Along with their tendency to brag about their deeds burman are often considered one of the more boisterous civilized humanoid races in the world. Burman being boisterous may also be on account of their tendency to appreciate a good drink but even sober they are usually easily heard over other races. Burman also share a trait in that they tend to seek and create structure in their lives. Burman don’t generally travel much from an area they've come to call home unless some life altering/ending event takes place. Most burman are content to find a comfortable place to call home and live out the rest of their days there. Although when their homes are threatened burman are among the most fierce and staunch defenders of it. Coupled with a tendency towards stubbornness, removing burman from and area they call home can prove to be a challenge task both in times of peace and war.

Lifecycle 

Burman share a similar lifecycle to that of humans. They reach maturity in their early teens and full adulthood by their early 20s. They have slightly longer gestation period than humans, usually lasting about 10 or 11 months and have a lower birthrate than humans usually about 1 offspring every 3 or 4 years. Female burman are fertile into their 60s but rarely beyond that. Burman have been known to live for 120 years or more but their average life expectancy is usually in the early 100s.

Feydra (Fay-drah)

Overview

“The Fey” is a rather generic term used to describe a host of creatures that live in the Enchanted Realm - one of the other worlds of tremendous magic that seems to mirror the prime world in some ways. Fey creatures seem to have the ability to travel into the prime world at whim, most times they seem to revel in mischief, though many stories of Fey coming to the prime world to warn of impending disasters fill the mythologies of all of the civilized races. It is said that time and perception vary greatly between the worlds, and anytime Fey creatures visit they rarely stay long. The most common race from the enchanted realm to come to the prime world is the long lived Asari, tall wispy creatures that seems very close in appearance to the Altwani. Asari, as well as most other Fey, begin to undergo severe and predictable effects if they stay too long in the prime world. Within a time frame of a single month an Asari will lose the ability to return at will to the Enchanted Realm and they begin to suffer pronounced memory loss. After a mere two months in the prime world an Asari will have completely lost their memory of their existence in the Enchanted Realm. Once this exposure to the prime world has taken its toll it seems to be impossible to reverse - the Asari lose most of their magical powers and begin to age at a rapid rate (albeit quite slowly compared to the lifespan of most mortal races). At this point the Asari is no longer a fey creature but instead has become a Feydra, or the Lost Fey.

Physical Traits

For the most part feydra retain much of their physical appearances as they had when they were asari, even after several generations in the prime world. Meaning they are generally tall and thin creatures. Most male feydra stand between 6’ and 6’ 5” and rarely weigh more than 170 lbs. Female feydra are usually between 5’ 8” and 6’ tall and usually about 20 pounds lighter than their male counter part. The most notable difference among feydra and asari is that the feydra don’t have a magical shimmer to them, as they've lost much of the magically qualities asari seem to possess. That being said, compared to races native to the prime world, feydra still have a strong affinity towards magic. Feydra tend to be intelligent and are capable of picking up other languages fairly quick. Feydra tend to have large eyes with small pupils but very large irises - leading the unobservant to believe that their eyes are solid orbs of colors. However this merely helps grant the feydra keen vision in low levels of light. Feydra have slightly pointed ears often causing them to be confused with Altwani. However aside from their tell tale height difference and large eyes feydra also have large hands for their size. This seems to be a result of some trace amounts of magic that remain with the feydra after their transition from the asari. The feydra are capable of drawing in the life essence of certain creatures they've recently killed through their hands. The feydra are then able to utilize this essence to accelerate healing of their own wounds as if they were able to rest for a long period of time in the blink of an eye. This has caused some individuals to inherently distrust feydra thinking them somehow related to vampires or other fantastic monsters however most people seem to either be unaware of this fact or choose to simply ignore it.

Personality Traits

While the Feydra are one of the least common humanoid races for a human to meet face to face across the realms, they are surprisingly large in number. Feydra are most commonly found living with altwani however many Feydra seem to be filled with a tremendous sense of wanderlust that prevents them from staying in one place too long. As a result there are very few known population centers made up of feydra, although this can also probably be attributed to the race being relatively new to the prime world. Feydra have a great variation in their personalities - other than their almost insatiable desire to travel and their quixotic dispositions which seem to remain a constant among the race. Like humans Feydra tend to be social creatures enjoying companionship and the company of others however the bonds they hold with others seem to wax and wane over time. Even among family feydra may be loving and caring or cold and indifferent with a constantly changing disposition over time. To humans this comes across as feydra seeming to be uncaring or distant at times, however most scholars believe that the rational thought process of the feydra is so great that it often inhibits their emotional responses, causing them to react inappropriately or not at all when by human standards they should. Another common trait among feydra is their ability to learn or at the very least, mimic things taught to them quickly. Very often the first time they try something that requires great focus or a degree of skill feydra can pull it off with great success.  However that success can quickly become inconsistent over a number of repeated trials.   Many feel that feydra have a kind of natural beginner’s luck but there are documented cases of feydra being able to briefly use a great deal of focus for a short time to accomplish varying skilled tasks. While often invoked when feydra are attempting something new this trait is by no means limited to new tasks. Aware of it or not all feydra seem to possess this ability to a certain degree which at times can make feydra appear to be cocky or humble depending on their own awareness and control of this unique talent.

Lifecycle 

Feydra have an incredibly slow life cycle among races in the prime world. Many believe asari to be immortal and when they are changed by the prime world into feydra people believe some of that immortality stays with them. While little is known of the asari, feydra that have been born in the prime world seem to reach maturity within the first 20 years of life but they don’t tend to reach full adulthood until they are well into their 40s. The birth rate among a female feydra who is bearing children is almost nonexistent averaging roughly 1 child every 55 years. Most females however remain fertile for the first 200 years of life. The gestation period for a baby feydra can vary greatly between 24 and 30 months. The population of feydra is only as large as it is because at some point in history it is believed a large exodus was made by the asari to the prime world. Although no one knows the reason for it. As a result the majority of feydra race was practically thrust into the world over the course of a few months. A very few feydra have been known to live to see their 500th year of life however most feydra live for between 330 and 375 years. The effects of aging are very minimal among the feydra. Symptoms of old age usually only manifest and rapidly progress within weeks of a feydra dying of old age.


So now with half of the playable races introduced I'm sure at least person is wondering what's the point of all this?  Well it's simple, the races of CORPS provide a number of unique racial bonuses and abilities to each player character.  While we're fairly solid on what these racial benefits are, it seems rather odd to explain exactly what those mechanics are since so little of the game is actually known.  But worry not, as this series sees completion other aspects of CORPS will be made available to help give a better idea of what this game is all about why someone might be interested in giving it a test run at the ol' gaming table.

The Dreaded Rules of the House

I have had a whole host of experiences with house rules and their impact on various games. Some of these experiences have been good some have been bad. The most common place where I have encountered house rules have been in the world of table top RPGs. Systems of themed rules established to allow players to control characters to interact in some kind of fictional settings have room for any number of changes. For a long time I just saw house rules as a way to either "fix" or "improve" upon the gaming experience. I never thought of classifying these various types of house rules or what each aimed to accomplish but I think now would be as good a time as any to list and classify various types of house rules and their purpose as I have encountered over time.

Skinning
Skinning can be classified as a thematic change to an existing rule or object in a role-playing game. This is a common of house rule and it's use is so widely practiced many don't even consider this a house rule. By itself the of 'skinning' something in an RPG is harmless and many role-playing games have room built into the rules to allow for such changes. Most common these will apply to a campaign setting or to something related to a character. If a player wanted to have their character use a unique weapon that doesn't exist in the game the GM might just skin an existing weapon and give it a different name and maybe change one or two attributes of the weapon but mechanically it would function much the same as the weapon it was based on. Another example of a skin might be if the GM had a evil character using some kind of holy magic. It might make more sense for the GM to skin the powers so that they more accurately reflect the evil character's nature and instead of holy magic they use an evil or necrotic magic.
If a rule or character in a game is modified for thematic purposes with no mechanical changes behind it then it is considered skinning.

The Restriction
Another common house rule is the act of restricting certain content. In almost ever case this is a house rule initiated by the GM it is used to remove certain options or possibilities from the player characters. The most common reason for this is thematic based on whatever campaign is being used in the game but sometimes the restriction can be a result of some kind of mechanical exploit. Regardless of the reasoning however the result is often the same. Said rule or option is not available to the player characters. If restrictions are made known in advance most players have little argument with them. If a foolish GM decides to introduce new restrictions in the middle of a game it can often lead to resentment from the players. In extreme cases it can cause a group to break up.
GM's who incorporate the restriction should strongly consider their reasons for restricting certain material from a role-playing game. Regardless of the GM's reasoning they should make sure to keep all players informed of any possible restrictions to the game ahead of time so that none of the players feel like the choices made by their character are being personally attacked. Even if as a GM you have pre-established restrictions you should always take the time to listen to any players who are interested in choosing a rule that has been restricted. Perhaps their reasoning for choosing the restricted option is so novel that it fits into the campaign. Or if the player has no good reason for choosing the restricted option the GM can at least explain to the player why the rule is restricted. Ultimately the final decision falls onto the shoulders of the GM but keep in mind that frivolous restrictions to certain rules can quickly end a gaming group.

The Creation
The creation is less common than skinning and restricting rules but is still fairly common among most GMs I've known in my time. The creation can be at the initiative of either the GM or the players and can have all kinds of effects on game play. The more serious side effects of creating a rule can occur when coupled with 'the redesign' house rule. The creation by itself however is generally harmless to the overall running of a game. Most often the creation house rule is used to add some kind rule that was originally not in place in the game to make the overall game play more enjoyable. This is probably most prevalent in the something like D&D 4th edition with the 'critical fumble' rule for attacks. Most role playing games that I have come across don't usually have a critical fumble rule although almost all games have the concept of a critical hit. Many people like the idea of extremes on both ends of the die rolling spectrum so a critical fumble is often an added house rule that is created to make things more random and in theory more exciting.

The Substitution
The only subtle difference between the substitution and the redesign house rules is that the substitution tends to only change mechanics of a rule without really changing the intended design of a rule. An example of this is in a lot of RPGs that focus on unique character creation process often these is a option for a character to have some kind of background history about them that may separate them from similarly built characters. In D&D 4th edition a character might have a background of hailing from a large city and perhaps has the option of getting a bonus to in games skills related to a city environement like Streetwise, Diplomacy or Theivery. Now perhaps the player wants their character to be a smooth talking thief but is normally limisted to only picking one of the listed skills to get a bonus to as a result of their background. As a subsitiution to this existing rule the DM could allow the player to choose two or all three of those skills but get less of a bonus to each of those skills compared to if they had choosen only a single skill. The design behind awarding the bonus to a character because of their background is still in tact but the specfic mechanics behind what options are avaliable to a character as a result of their background selection has been subsituted for an alternative that better fits the player's character concept. From what I have seen this kind of house rule most often comes at the request of the player because it usually requires indepth knowledge of how a certain rule works and coming up with an alternaive for it that doesn't change the intended design. Most DMs won't put in the time to do this due to the large volume of rules a DM must know to run the game.

The Redesign
The dreaded redesign is the most indepth and involved of all the house rules and can bring about a great deal of change to any RPG. Here the DM has true control of the game and is in effect becoming a devloper of the game rather than just a player of it. Abuse of the house rule will almost always result in the alienation of players and or the disilution of a gaming group. To sum it all up, when thinking about redesigning and existing rule it is always good to use caution. The redesign, just as it's name suggests, is the players attempt and completely redesigning an existing rule. An example of a redesign would be one I had personally come up regarding D&D 4th edition concerning attack powers of the ranger class.
In 4th edition the ranger has one of the strongest basic attack powers in the game called twin-strike but they also have one of the worst in the game called careful attack. The original design behind the two was that twin-strike was a high damage attack that offered multiple weaker attacks when compared to a normal attack and careful attack was a weaker attack with an increased chance to hit compared to a normal attack. The problem with the original design was that 99.9% of the time the chances of hitting with twin-strike was statisically higher than hitting with careful attack. The proposed design change I ended up making was to redesign careful attack so that it would have just as good of a chance to hit as twin-strike and would an amount of damage equal to a normal attack. This meant that if only only one of the two attacks granted by twin-strike hit, careful attack would have done more damage. The redesign effectively fixed the original flawed design of careful attack (making it a more accurate attack) but it also increased the damage of the attack. This change the design from just an accurate low damage attack to an accurate high damage attack. This also made the power more appealing to players as it was now more on par with twin-strike. The eventual problem with this change was that the original designers released new content based off of the original careful attack power further modifying it and adding to it. This in turn forced me to either restrict these new rules redesign them as well. The rapid sprial that ensured to keep pace with new content coming out eventually lead to the abolishment of all the existing house rules at the time. So when considering redesigning a rule make sure to ask yourself, 'What am I doing the original rule didn't accomplish?' Once you have that answer make sure your players are well aware of the poential change and that they are okay with it. Lastily, assuming you have everyone's approval, you'll want to make sure to establish how future rules might impact this redesigned house rule. Also stating what conditions would need to exist for you to remove the house if any.