Street Fighter House Rules: Overview

This is part one of a series of posts where I'll review the current state of our house rules. We're preparing for a new Street Fighter campaign, and these are the rules changes we'll be making. In this post, I'll give a little bit of context. Then I'll move on to specific cases.

Rulebooks:

• Street Fighter: The Storytelling Game
• Secrets of the Shadoloo

Only these two books will be core. We'll be using the base combat rules and special maneuvers from this book, as well as the base character creation rules. We'll be changing how XP is awarded and spent and making changes to the martial arts styles and maneuver lists, but unless otherwise noted, these books form the core rules set. None of the other published supplements will be used.

Changes:
Briefly, here are some of the changes we'll be making.

• Glory and Honor: We won't be using these. They don't work in long term play. The numbers simply don't add up when characters enter regular tournaments, especially when the characters face each other in tournament matches. They break down in the case of NPC villains, as well, who can't succeed in tournament play because they have no way of regaining Chi and Willpower. The only positive outcome we've noticed in play is that honor does make the decision of whether or not to hit a dizzied opponent a real decision. This doesn't match up with how the video game works, but it is generally good in the RPG because of the length of the health track.
  
• Recovering Willpower and Chi: Without Glory and Honor, we'll need another way to regain spent Willpower and Chi. We'll be using a simple method. If you win a fight, you can immediately roll your permanent score in Willpower and in Chi. You regain a number of points equal to your successes. We can then simply add other conditions that allow for a roll to regain points: not striking a dizzied opponent would be one, for example, that would allow you to make this roll in the middle of a fight. Spending a round showing off / posing might be another. In a later post, I'll draft a list of conditions that allow for Will/Chi recovery rolls.
  
• Multiple Styles: We'll be using the "multiple styles" rules I mentioned in my last post.
  
• Styles and Maneuver Lists: We'll be replacing the style lists from the core book. Some styles will go (Kabaddi and Native American Wrestling, I'm looking at you) and be replaced by other styles (Yoga, for example, replaces Kabaddi). In addition, we'll be taking a "style proliferation" approach. Having a large number of styles with relatively small maneuver lists works well with the multiple styles rules and allows for a lot of great character customization.
  
• Freebie Point and XP Streamlining: The XP system needs an overhaul. We've used it for years, and if there's one thing that needs simplification and improvements, it's that. I'll outline our current changes soon.
  

That isn't all we'll be house ruling, but it covers the core issues. We'll also be working with the combo rules clarifications and updated maneuver tables (and other rules notes) from our "Street Fighter Revision" project from 2003 (at the time of this writing, these files are still available here).