House Rules  (v.11/11/06)

Attributes

    Hit Points may be bought up or down to 30% of ST, rounded to the nearest (Example: A character with ST 13 could have up to (13*0.3 = 3.9) 4 extra Hit Points.
    Fatigue may be bought up or down to 30% of HT, rounded to the nearest.
    Will and/or Perception may be bought up or down to 30% of IQ, rounded to the nearest.
    Basic Speed may be bought up or down to ±2.00 of normal.
    Basic Move may be bought up or down to ±3 of normal.
    Swimming Move may be bought up to +2 of normal, per the rules on B18.

After character creation, Attributes may be bought up from "halfway points"

    Example:  A character with IQ 12 buys an extra point of Perception (for Perception-13) at character creation for 5 points.  She can later "cash in" the Perception's 5 points, and spend the remaining 15 points to buy IQ 13.  The key restriction is that no Attribute or Characteristic can decrease in value during this process.

    ST - Permissible halfway points are Hit Points, and the Lifting ST and Striking ST advantages.
    DX - Basic Speed and Basic Move can be cashed in for a DX increase, as long as their values do not decrease after the exchange.  Also, it is permissible to re-min/max your character's skills to engineer a DX increase, as long as no skills decrease in actual value.  This can be thought of as representing the benefits of focused training in different areas, leading to an improvement in overall hand-eye coordination, etc.
    IQ - Perception and Will are permissible halfway points, and IQ-based skills may be re-min/maxed in the same way as DX-based skills.
    HT - Fatigue, Basic Speed, and Basic Move can be leveraged for a HT increase, as can the Fit or Very Fit advantages.

Advantages

    Ambidexterity - requires an Unusual Background cost of 5 points, effectively making it a 10-point advantage.
    Enhanced Defenses - normal humans are permitted to buy a single level in each Enhanced Defense.  Some cults in the Alexander game permit additional levels to be bought as well.
    Extra Attack - normal humans may NOT buy Extra Attack.
    Language Talent - same point cost as 4e rules (10 pts), but instead simply halves the cost of languages.  A character with Language Talent is permitted to spend half-points (½ pt) on languages.  (The normal 4e Language Talent rules make it impossible for a talented character to ever have a language at Broken level - this seems both unrealistic and too coarse-grained for my tastes.)
    Lifting ST - a single level of Lifting ST may be bought by normal humans.
    Magery - follows special  rules in the Alexander game.  See the section on Pythagorean Sorcery.
    Magic Resistance - not available.
    Striking ST - a single level of Striking ST may be bought by normal humans.
    Trained by a Master - only available through cults.  See the section on Divine Magic.
    True Faith - not available, but see Divine Magic for a Prayer with the same effect.
    Weapon Master - only available through cults.  See the section on Divine Magic.

Additional Talents

    The Talents Allure, Bard, Goodwife, Master Builder, and Sage from GURPS Fantasy p.132 are available.
    Additionally, the following Talents exist (variants on an original set by gmlittmn):
    ATHLETE - Climbing, Hiking, Jumping, Lifting, Running.  5 points/level.
    BLUE BLOOD - Administration, Carousing, Connoisseur, Current Affairs (Aristocratic), Diplomacy, Leadership, Politics, Public Speaking, Savoir-Faire.  10 points/level.
    EPICURIAN - Carousing, Connoisseur, Erotic Art.  5 points/level.
    GYMNAST - Acrobatics, Climbing, Dancing, Escape, Jumping.  5 points/level.
    SALT IN THE VEINS - Boating, Crewman (Seamanship), Fishing, Knot-Tying, Meteorology, Navigation (Sea), Shiphandling.  10 points/level.
    SNEAK - Camouflage, Filch, Holdout, Shadowing, Stealth.  5 points/level.
    STREET RAT - Area Knowledge (Cities only), Current Affairs (Street), Shadowing, Streetwise, Urban Survival.  5 points/level.
    TRICKSTER - Acting, Counterfeiting, Forgery, Gambling, Mimicry, Pickpocket, Psychology, Sleight of Hand, Smuggling.  10 points/level.

New Disadvantages

    Limp (-5 pts.) – The character’s Move is reduced by 1 for calculating movement on land. Basic Speed and Dodge are not affected.
    Bad Leg (-10 pts.) – The character’s Move is reduced by 1, all Dodge and melee combat skills are at –1.

Skills

    The 4e versions of Body Language and Detect Lies are no longer broken, and are available as standard skills.

    During play, I allow each character to possess a single skill at ½ pt, to simulate skill acquisition (and to allow ½ points awarded for experience to be used).  A ½ point skill has a value one less than the 1-point value for the skill.
    Example:  1 point in Boating (DX/Average) gives you the skill at DX-1, so ½ pt gives you Boating at DX-2.