About character creation options: Here are rules for character creation. If you'd like to post new options for character creation (new advantages or disadvantages, new modifiers, quirks, perks or techniques), head on to the Characters page, where we also have templates and meta-traits. This is because, strictly speaking, these are not house rules (the Basic Set specifically states that we're free to expand those existing traits with our own). Other guidelines are mentioned on the Characters page.

Generic House Rules

Attributes

To Do dig up some threads on the Steve Jackson Games Forums about alternate ways to consider attributes. This includes this thread featuring the "Weak IQ" house rule by Luther, this more recent one about a 10-stat model, by Eljay451.

IQ, Will and Perception

In this house rule, Will and Perception default to 10, instead of IQ. The correlation, in life and fiction, while existent, is not particularly strong. The genius who is both unperceptive and easily swayed is a relatively common archetype, of course, as well as the person without education but remarkably observant of the world. Whether these cases are more common, or less, than the correlation between IQ and will/perception the reader may judge.

If one takes this option, one might consider decreasing the cost of straight IQ, as it has had some of its benefit removed.

Sensible IQ Handicapping

In this house rule, the disadvantage points from buying down IQ based traits, such as Will and Perception, do not count against the disadvantage pool unless it brings the trait below normal starting level. After all, it is only a true disadvantage if it is worse than the character started with... otherwise it's the equivalent of just buying up the portion not covered by the lowered trait.

Similarly, if the attribute is brought down, then any points used to buy up related traits will reduce the number of disadvantage points the lowered attribute is taking up.

Submitted by Maliseraph