I feel like nearly everyone uses at least one or some types of house rules but it would also seem that everyone thinks the house rules they don't use are akin to sacrilege. I am insterested in a list of what everyone is actually doing. I know we have a pretty comprehensive idea of what BBH is using, but where is everyone else? I try to play as close the official rules as I understand them to be, but I don't have anywhere near the play experience of others.
I also try to play as close to official rules as I can. However I do love the fact that OP Online has The Marvels specials included in the program, so I do use some homemades I guess.
I am open to using house rules or homemades, but usually if it is in a group of people all using the same stuff, otherwise I find it hard to keep track of which characters can do what and what rules I am following.
I have been using BBH's house rules for a little while with a couple of guys and find them to be pretty easy to adjust to.
In our circle, we introduced one very fun, particular rule. We draw to replace (DTR) any AJ-coded specials.
There were a few reasons I introduced it in the first place. Primarily, I was using Batman and Nightwing and I realized their AJ cards are really cool, but the loss of card advantage was really hurting them. I had the idea to DTR off of them (to prevent lost card advantage), and so I looked at the other people that have the AJ coded specials (lots from 1st edition).
When I saw who all has them, it occured to me that they could all use a little help (except maybe Dr.S, Mojo, and ProfX). Particularly, Spider-Man, Batman, and Nightwing, all really benefit from it. They gain a card that is particularly more useful, where they really didn't have many options.
Initially, I thought to only apply the DTR to non-OPD, but when I was looking at the OPD versions of the AJ code, I realized 2 things. First, the OPD versions aren't really much better than the Batman/Nightwing version. Second, it creates an Any Hero that is DTR.
That second point does 2 more things. First, it creates a balance between the other OPD versions. Second, it makes Any Hero decks just a little bit better.
Anyway, that's the only real House Rule we use (that comes to mind), aside from the Partners Play we often set up (http://www.beenhereandthere.com/SMF/index.php?topic=109.0).
Regarding my 'old' playing partner, we use a lot of CCTelander and Bios's homemades as well his the level zero power card rules. We both know the game well enough to be able to switch back and forward between rules since all we really have to do is take out the homemades. It really opens up many more possibilities. Also since CC has given many more characters KL and AO specials it balances out some of the crazy stuff. We also use the NEO system for 'cost capping'. This basically makes just about every character cheaper for calculating if a team meets the sum deck requirement. (It's actually easier than the 'regular' way.)
I've also recently taught my cousin to play. Once he really has a grasp on the finer points of the game, and understands the uselessness of basic universe cards :P, I'm going to try out my rule that basic universe cards count for venture total but not damage. ;)
Quote from: Nostalgic on April 07, 2011, 05:01:35 PM
Regarding my 'old' playing partner, we use a lot of CCTelander and Bios's homemades as well his the level zero power card rules. We both know the game well enough to be able to switch back and forward between rules since all we really have to do is take out the homemades. It really opens up many more possibilities. Also since CC has given many more characters KL and AO specials it balances out some of the crazy stuff. We also use the NEO system for 'cost capping'. This basically makes just about every character cheaper for calculating if a team meets the sum deck requirement. (It's actually easier than the 'regular' way.)
I've also recently taught my cousin to play. Once he really has a grasp on the finer points of the game, and understands the uselessness of basic universe cards :P, I'm going to try out my rule that basic universe cards count for venture total but not damage. ;)
oh yeah, we use lv.0 Power cards too
None.
I also like to play with no house rules. Doesen't seem official when you make your own rules. There isnt any major problems with the current rules, imo.
Quote from: Nostalgic on April 07, 2011, 09:30:40 PM
Quote from: Onslaught on April 07, 2011, 08:26:09 PM
None.
Shocking.
I'm guessing what you mean is that Onslaught is very consistent in how he addresses rules and how he plays. Obviously a rule set that everyone adheres to makes playing easier and fairer. I think house rules can be fun like variants. For instance, in Magic, there are a ton of variant that use different rules for deck construction, turn order, targeting, things that just give you a variety of options and they are all official rules with tournaments to back them up. I think Overpower would have had that too if it had been around longer. So far I only play without house rules too, but I can see them as being a fun addition to the game.
Right now, bamf! and I play all our games by the books. We used to play with Ally cards all being May instead of Must.
Probably not a house rule, but we simply don't care for the H/V codes on the DC cards.
I play with Marvels but bamf! doesn't.
Quote from: Jack on April 07, 2011, 10:23:33 PM
Right now, bamf! and I play all our games by the books. We used to play with Ally cards all being May instead of Must.
Probably not a house rule, but we simply don't care for the H/V codes on the DC cards.
I play with Marvels but bamf! doesn't.
I'm not sure, but I believe that the H/V codes are optional in the official rules. I may be wrong and I'm not sure where I read it, but I think I remember the wording being something like "if you are using the Hero/Villain codes . . ." but it may have meant that if any of your cards have it on them. I agree that it wasn't the most well-thought out rule considering something in the rulebook for the original Overpower specifically said something like "today's villains are tomorrow's heroes . . ." That being said, I do really like the idea of 1) Inherent abilities. There should be more of these even if they are stupid but apply to the character's design. 2) The idea of giving characters traits. I think the H/V codes may have been a little off their mark, but not entirely. For instance, I think in Image, the Gen-Active specials should actually have been the "Gen-Active trait" with characters having Gen-Active specials that let them do things with Gen-Active characters.
I play with homemades, hundreds of them! But personally I don't like house rules very much.
I like the game's mechanics as it is and I try to preserve them while creating new HMs. Otherwise I could be creating another game system, and that's not my intention.
In my opinion its possible to change a special that doesn't work into something playable without loosing track of the game basics. The "AC" special is a good example. The original effect allows you to move an attack from a character to another. In most cases you use the AC to take the hit anyway. But if you move the attack to a character with an avoid, you will spend two cards to defend a single attack.
The homemade "AC" is kinda "One-shot Vertigo". It allows you to move one attack from a character to another, but also allows you to draw 1 additional card if you defend the attack after moving it. It makes a great combo with regular "avoids" or other defensive cards.
Anyway there are two house rules that I should consider. The first one is increasing the minimum deck rule to 56 cards, without counting the Events. This rule fits decks with homemades using the "draw to replace" concept, or else you could get to the power pack to fast.
The second one is also suitable for the original game. It is the "mulligan", that allows a player to redraw the first hand if he wants to. This rule is used in Magic and also in VS System and it would fit perfectly in OP. Just think if you built a deck based in an event card (like "discard all placed universe cards" for example), but the event came out in the very first hand. Or if you get 2 duplicates and 4 activators, then you will probably concede, but if you do, your opponent will keep more cards placed, because you can't place your activators. The mulligan decreases the "bad lucky" effect in the first hand. But if you are a person under the "Murphy's Law" jurisdiction, you can redraw a hand that is even worse than the first one!
Quote from: Bios on April 07, 2011, 11:33:51 PM
I play with homemades, hundreds of them! But personally I don't like house rules very much.
I like the game's mechanics as it is and I try to preserve them while creating new HMs. Otherwise I could be creating another game system, and that's not my intention.
It's funny that now that I'm so use to the homemades when I play without them the game, purity and all that aside, feels like watching TV in black and white. Maybe more like a 'regular' move right after seeing avatar in 3D in IMAX. :D
I mean for me its about the characters and the awesome cards that represent there abilities, or creating cards that accurately represent their abilities. The way some people talk about it, and winning, it would seem they would be just as content to play with blank character cards with 4 identical circles of different colors with appropriate numbers for character stats. The only difference in 'names' on the cards could be combinations of a,b,c,d... All the special cards could be text only. The respective character's 'letters' being the only way to distinguish the whose card it belongs too. Then just build teams based on stats and specials without even remotely having/needing a theme or comic reference. I mean this makes sense for tournaments, but how many of those are going on these days. Character AAA is AWSOME! He has 8E, 7F,3S,3I. I'm so excited! He was the missing link to go with my other 3 characters, CBB, BCB, and BBC. I'm just saying there are different ways to look at the game and one way is no better than the other.
Yeah the alternative is much better. (My personal fave char) has a Draw 3, a 9 or less, and an 11 multi. So does every other character. This is so fun! A card has an effect instead of being an attack? Add "draw a card" to it so there is no tactical decision to make whether or not you should use it. Homemades are great, how could anybody just play with the existing cardpool that still hasn't been fully explored....simpletons.
Quote from: Onslaught on April 08, 2011, 03:05:43 AM
Yeah the alternative is much better. (My personal fave char) has a Draw 3, a 9 or less, and an 11 multi. So does every other character. This is so fun! A card has an effect instead of being an attack? Add "draw a card" to it so there is no tactical decision to make whether or not you should use it. Homemades are great, how could anybody just play with the existing cardpool that still hasn't been fully explored....simpletons.
I'm not a fan of homemades, but if you HAVE to use them why not at least make some original effects instead of giving everyone a 9 or less and such?
Quote from: Onslaught on April 08, 2011, 03:05:43 AM
Yeah the alternative is much better. (My personal fave char) has a Draw 3, a 9 or less, and an 11 multi. So does every other character. This is so fun! A card has an effect instead of being an attack? Add "draw a card" to it so there is no tactical decision to make whether or not you should use it. Homemades are great, how could anybody just play with the existing cardpool that still hasn't been fully explored....simpletons.
Nice attitude Onslaught ;D
and I got booted ::)
Quote from: rucker73 on April 08, 2011, 05:11:18 AM
Quote from: Onslaught on April 08, 2011, 03:05:43 AM
Yeah the alternative is much better. (My personal fave char) has a Draw 3, a 9 or less, and an 11 multi. So does every other character. This is so fun! A card has an effect instead of being an attack? Add "draw a card" to it so there is no tactical decision to make whether or not you should use it. Homemades are great, how could anybody just play with the existing cardpool that still hasn't been fully explored....simpletons.
Nice attitude Onslaught ;D
and I got booted ::)
Its ok, everyone has the right to express personal convictions. There is a word for an ideology that says that everyone has to think the same, its called socialism.
By the way, I do have a HM like the one Onslaught just mentioned. That character is Galactus, and he is quite an outilier, as is his massive sum grid. From a group of 90 HM characters, only other 2 have a "Draw 3" in my sets (Mr. Fantastic and Wolverine).
For the "9 or less", I am guilty of creating 9 characters with the card (10%). The idea was giving the card to characters with different power mixes, allowing new combinations other than the regular Energy/Fighting deck based in Spawn. One of the premises in my homemade sets is that no character with a power grid sum lower of 19 points can have a card like a "9 or less" and most are over 21 points.
If someone decides to create a hundred characters with a sum grid of 23 points and all with "9 or less" specials, it won't be a big deal, since the 76 sum deck rule won't allow the use of 2 "23 points" characters in the same deck.
The original pool of cards didn't take that on account, as we have characters like Xaos and Spider-Girl.
I am just giving my personal opinion and viewpoints, as I respect others with different viewpoints.
I like the idea of homemade cards, but I lean more towards the idea of adding something not already in the game instead of just beefing up existing characters with existing card types. I was playing with someone last night and they asked "Why doesn't every character have these cards?" and basically that's the point of having different characters with powers and abilities related to the character design. I think the point Nostalgic was making was a bit more eloquent way of saying the same kind of thing Onslaught was saying about just making each character ubiquitous. But Onslaught has another point about modifying a card pool that still has so many possibilities. If there weren't still so many new ways to play then we would be down to two, maybe three decks that were unbeatable by anything but each other. It doesn't really seem to be that way. Aside from the random aspect of the draw, there are still lots of new ways to design decks to make them both competitive and fun. On the other hand, as has been discussed in the DC only deck thread, DC only decks can't really compete with the rest of the card pool, so there is something to be said for making DC a bit better.
Also, I guess it's fair to make a clear distinction between homemades and house rules. Homemades that follow all the original rules are not really house rules and house rules that modify how existing cards are played are not really homemades.
Also, I think everyone should be happy to have so many other people playing even when they play with different ideas. If something makes the game more fun for others, that's great. And as long as when people get together to play they can all agree on a set of rules, preferably the original rules since that seems to be the most fair if everyone can't agree on something else, then there really isn't a problem. Also, if someone is putting the time and effort and prizes up for hosting a tournament and would like everyone to play by their particular house rules, that seems fair too.
Quote from: Bios on April 08, 2011, 09:23:31 AM
I am just giving my personal opinion and viewpoints, as I respect others with different viewpoints.
Quote from: Palatinus on April 08, 2011, 09:39:57 AM
Also, I think everyone should be happy to have so many other people playing even when they play with different ideas. If something makes the game more fun for others, that's great. And as long as when people get together to play they can all agree on a set of rules, preferably the original rules since that seems to be the most fair if everyone can't agree on something else, then there really isn't a problem. Also, if someone is putting the time and effort and prizes up for hosting a tournament and would like everyone to play by their particular house rules, that seems fair too.
I really like and agree with both of these statements. I am all for the sharing of ideas and different viewpoints I am not all for being dismissive of others and calling them simpletons for having a different opinion than your own.
I do agree with Onslaught on one thing though (who would have ever thought?) and that is that the existing card pool is still full of potential for building different and competitive decks.
Quote from: rucker73 on April 08, 2011, 12:22:48 PM
I really like and agree with both of these statements. I am all for the sharing of ideas and different viewpoints I am not all for being dismissive of others and calling them simpletons for having a different opinion than your own.
I do agree with Onslaught on one thing though (who would have ever thought?) and that is that the existing card pool is still full of potential for building different and competitive decks.
I do agree. Sometimes it might seem like extreme language is the best way to express one's disapproval or disagreement with other's ideas or behavior, but really, an eloquent, intelligent response is usually the best way to counter ideas with which one disagrees. And I agree with Onslaught on a lot of things. He does have a gruff way of putting things at times though.
Quote from: rucker73 on April 08, 2011, 05:11:18 AM
Quote from: Onslaught on April 08, 2011, 03:05:43 AM
Yeah the alternative is much better. (My personal fave char) has a Draw 3, a 9 or less, and an 11 multi. So does every other character. This is so fun! A card has an effect instead of being an attack? Add "draw a card" to it so there is no tactical decision to make whether or not you should use it. Homemades are great, how could anybody just play with the existing cardpool that still hasn't been fully explored....simpletons.
Nice attitude Onslaught ;D
and I got booted ::)
Well it's because you were rude and abusive and Onsalught is just...gruff(?). :D
Quote from: Palatinus on April 08, 2011, 12:29:30 PM
I do agree. Sometimes it might seem like extreme language is the best way to express one's disapproval or disagreement with other's ideas or behavior, but really, an eloquent, intelligent response is usually the best way to counter ideas with which one disagrees. And I agree with Onslaught on a lot of things. He does have a gruff way of putting things at times though.
I know he's just expressing his opinion. He's doing it in a supercilious and juvenile way, but that's him and we love it...apparently.
Onslaught @ Palatinus:
Quote from: Onslaught on August 15, 2010, 04:25:30 AM
Hey cool the owner of this forum who never contributes anything to discussion ever decides to show up and start moving the few posts that there are into more fragmented subforums.
There isn't enough traffic to warrant paying attention to a bunch of different sections, just put everything back under one big general forum for OP discussion like it was before. Thanks in advance.
Quote from: Onslaught on August 15, 2010, 08:02:12 PM
You have 12 posts, and none of them are about anything related to gameplay at all. Let the people actually contributing stuff decide where stuff should go instead of showing up for the first time in months and deciding you feel like moving things around.
Seriously just put it back how it was, don't make a big deal out of it.
Onslaught @ ncannelora
Quote from: Onslaught on March 08, 2011, 12:12:15 AM
I just think you have a somewhat childish/egocentric view of the game. You want the best cards to be nerfed down to the power level of your favorite cards, so that the stuff you like is as good as the top tier stuff. This is silly, because no matter how much you nerf the top tier, something else will rise as top tier in its place. You can ban every character in the game except Leader and Ka-Zaar, and one of them will still rise as the best/most overplayed.
Onslaught @ anyone who likes to use homemade... :D
Quote from: Onslaught on April 08, 2011, 03:05:43 AM
Homemades are great, how could anybody just play with the existing cardpool that still hasn't been fully explored....simpletons.
What's funny to me is he acts as though his opinion is 'morally' superior or something. I mean it's like, "Hey I'm a GENIOUS because I put a team together with complementary power grids, 2 characters have teammate avoids, and a negate character." *yawn* Everybody knows that and that's fine, good, great, and entertaining! Now I'd like to hear about, some 2 on 2 battles, or 3-way games, or see some new character specials, or figure out how to make my favorite character (who amazingly may not be in the top 20 ::)) work with a particular team, etc. It's all about keeping it fresh and getting different perspectives.
Everybody knows overpower was an evolving game. Event cards, inherent abilities, intellect icon, location cards, tactic cards, aspect cards, etc. all came as the game progressed. Everybody knows some of the most popular characters got the shaft simply because they came out first and later as the game evolved less known characters benefited. Everybody knows there were numerous contradictions in card interpretations and rulings. Overpower was/is a great game, but not perfect, nothing man-made is. So if some people want to create house rules to streamline and minimize the need to reference an entirely different and equally long document outside the basic rule book that's great. (BBH ;)) Or if someone wants to create homemade cards that spread the negate/ teammate avoids across the different power types to appropriate characters (something a consistent group of card designers with vision would/should have done anyway) that should be applauded. (BIOS ;))
I'm not arguing it's an "either," "or" situation. I'm saying it's "both," "and" and that's fine. Nobody is 'more right' or quite frankly 'smarter' than anybody else because they stick with all the old contradictions and stuff. I can play both ways. Many things in the world are not black and white. They're different shades of grey.
Now if they were still producing cards and sanctioning tournaments and all, I'd see things differently... :D
You're right that there needs to be new stuff for Overpower to continue to be viable and without an authority to control it there is no one "right way". The fact that anyone can get so much use out of a card game that has been out of print for so long is a testament to how great it was/is. I know people don't like the way Onslaught says things. I know he has said things to me that I don't like. He also contributes a lot of stuff like everyone else does. He does say things in a supercilious and juvenile way sometimes, but that seems to just be him responding to stuff with his gut before he thinks about it.. But let's not start a big fight about that. Let's just focus on how great Overpower is and give any ideas on how we like to make it more fun.
Quote from: Palatinus on April 08, 2011, 01:11:32 PM
You're right that there needs to be new stuff for Overpower to continue to be viable and without an authority to control it there is no one "right way". The fact that anyone can get so much use out of a card game that has been out of print for so long is a testament to how great it was/is. I know people don't like the way Onslaught says things. I know he has said things to me that I don't like. He also contributes a lot of stuff like everyone else does. He does say things in a supercilious and juvenile way sometimes, but that seems to just be him responding to stuff with his gut before he thinks about it.. But let's not start a big fight about that. Let's just focus on how great Overpower is and give any ideas on how we like to make it more fun.
Awesome. ;D
Just don't let it get to this mentality...granted it may be too late. :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvJiYrRcfQo&feature=related
I love that movie.
Hey Nostalgic, I really hope you read all of his posts while going through his post history to copy/paste this irrelevant stuff in this House Rulings thread, you might have been able to learn a thing or two about advanced overpower strategy ;-)
Quote from: drdeath25 on April 08, 2011, 04:15:17 PM
Hey Nostalgic, I really hope you read all of his posts while going through his post history to copy/paste this irrelevant stuff in this House Rulings thread, you might have been able to learn a thing or two about advanced overpower strategy ;-)
Yea let's check out your advanced strategy. (Nevermind...)
(http://www.tinygif.com/data/media/11/simpsons-leaving-room.gif)
Dr. D. - "I 100% agree with Onsalught."
:D
But anyway . . . does anyone else have anything to say about house rules?
Quote from: Nostalgic on April 08, 2011, 12:59:20 PM
Now if they were still producing cards and sanctioning tournaments and all, I'd see things differently... :D
I don't know if you would. I believe that had they continued to produce cards that a lot of the issues and the home mades that we see now probably would have come into the game at some point in some way. Like you said Nostalgic, Overpower was an evolving game the whole way through it's run, which is why I am completely cool with people who take the time and energy to open up the card pool and make minor rule adjustments.
I have always hated the fact that many classic comic book characters are basically (according to "The LAW"/Onslaught and Dr.D) unusable. And I love the fact that through home mades and house rules they can be made more playable.
as far as this thread about favorite house rules/ home mades. In my opinion the simpler the better and by simpler I mean the closest to the original game. I love using the Marvel's, I find that they vastly opened up the usable character pool, and I wish that there had been a similar set for the villains made (Absolute Evil) and if Jack and the boys who do home mades were to work up a set to put into his new Overpower Online that would be fantastic.
If I could ever get my hands on good quality made "The Marvels" cards, then I'd probably use them with my friends. We don't really like the thought of using proxies. Aside from that, we have been adhering to the Overpower rules as I continue to learn all the new ones. Eventually I might adopt BBH's house rules since I find myself agreeing enormously with why he incorporates them. :)
I was just reminded of another House Rule we usually allow. If some one makes a pre-IQ deck, we don't enforce the Sum Deck Rule. So, this is not just if they're using a 12-stat team, it's that they aren't allowed to use any cards released after Mission Control.
I don't know that it's a "House Rule" so much as it is an exception for "time travel" :D
Quote from: Palatinus on April 08, 2011, 06:32:28 PM
But anyway . . . does anyone else have anything to say about house rules?
Honestly, it's only been in the last few years that my brother and I realized all the things we were doing wrong without realizing it. When I was playing OP Online with Sean a lot at the end of last year he was always having to remind me of little things I was doing wrong. Despite this, my brother and I still like to go back and forth between the real rules and our own altered rules, just for the fun of it. The last thing we tried in this arena was decks all from the original OverPower set plus Powersurge only with exactly one of each special from each hero, with alternate rules for all the cards we don't like (we were trying to make every special actually playable). Also, my friend who I've been playing with the last couple years and I have been playing with home-mades basically the whole time we've been playing. Throwing Darth Bane, Exar Kun, John Carter: Warlord of Mars, or Conan (the barbarian) into a deck is sure to mean tons of fun.
Quote from: Dark_Lord_Tarkas on May 25, 2011, 12:44:53 AM
Quote from: Palatinus on April 08, 2011, 06:32:28 PM
But anyway . . . does anyone else have anything to say about house rules?
... Also, my friend who I've been playing with the last couple years and I have been playing with home-mades basically the whole time we've been playing. Throwing... Conan (the barbarian) into a deck is sure to mean tons of fun.
I was really hoping for a second that you actually made a Conan O'Brien card! that would be sa-weet!! ;D
Quote from: ncannelora on May 26, 2011, 02:57:37 PM
Quote from: Dark_Lord_Tarkas on May 25, 2011, 12:44:53 AM
Quote from: Palatinus on April 08, 2011, 06:32:28 PM
But anyway . . . does anyone else have anything to say about house rules?
... Also, my friend who I've been playing with the last couple years and I have been playing with home-mades basically the whole time we've been playing. Throwing... Conan (the barbarian) into a deck is sure to mean tons of fun.
I was really hoping for a second that you actually made a Conan O'Brien card! that would be sa-weet!! ;D
Two cards jump to mind for Conan O. Longshot's "roll with the punches" and Strong Guy's "fit of laughter". On the entertainment side there's probably a Mojo card that should be in there too. ;D
Quote from: Nostalgic on May 26, 2011, 04:21:01 PM
Quote from: ncannelora on May 26, 2011, 02:57:37 PM
Quote from: Dark_Lord_Tarkas on May 25, 2011, 12:44:53 AM
Quote from: Palatinus on April 08, 2011, 06:32:28 PM
But anyway . . . does anyone else have anything to say about house rules?
... Also, my friend who I've been playing with the last couple years and I have been playing with home-mades basically the whole time we've been playing. Throwing... Conan (the barbarian) into a deck is sure to mean tons of fun.
I was really hoping for a second that you actually made a Conan O'Brien card! that would be sa-weet!! ;D
Two cards jump to mind for Conan O. Longshot's "roll with the punches" and Strong Guy's "fit of laughter". On the entertainment side there's probably a Mojo card that should be in there too. ;D
What about, "Remove all hits from Current Battle and Permanent Record and move Conan O. to Reserve until next September!"?
Zing!
:-\