I want everyone to use either a hard copy book, or the official site. I know some of you find this kind of annoying because there are other sites out there, some of which have a better layout. My reasoning for this is because I want everyone to be working off of the same info and same set of rules. I feel that this just simplifies everything.
Starting characters:
All characters are made via the point system and start with 15 points.
All characters start with 1 trait chosen from this list of basic (combat, faith, social, magic), race, and religious traits. They these have all been copied and pasted from the official site.
For starting gear, just pick stuff that makes sense for a first level character. Keep in mind you are in a poor country.
You are free to use the alternate racial traits and archetypes/subclasses found in the various books on the official site. You might want to especially check out the Advanced Players Guide (which I will have a hard copy of soon).
I plan on not having all of your rewards be money or loot based. There is a reason for this other than just trying to keep the phat loots to a minimum. This reason will become apparent later. Instead you will get other rewards. Such as bonus character points, skill points, hp, traits, or other things I might thing of along the way. For this reason I want you to keep track of your base stats (what they are AFTER you spend points on them, but BEFORE you apply any racial, class, level, age modifiers). I was going to have you keep track of when you gained HP and skills as well, so that way if you thought you had missed some it could be added later. But that's likely not going to happen, so we'll make it simple. Add it when you get it, or you don't get it.
I plan on using Hero Points as found in the Advanced Players Guide. Here is a list of things you can spend them on. Things to keep in mind about them: you can only have 3 at a time, more than that is lost; they do not refresh on their own, you have to earn more; they will not necessarily always be given in the way mentioned in the book, it's GM's discretion; sometimes they will be rewarded as a group, sometimes as individuals. Originally I was saying that they could be taken away and you could go negative. I'm gonna change my mind on that for now.
If hunkered down behind a tower shield while moving, you will move at half speed if on uneven ground. If you are inside a building or something with smooth floors, you're fine. But if you're outside or there is stuff all over the ground, you have to move slower to avoid tripping (note: originally I was requiring a dex check, this is no longer the case). The enemy might not be able to see you at all, but you can't see crap either.
Favored class. This isn't a house rule, but more of a clarification. When you make your character, you chose what is going to be your favored class. Generally it's your first class, but technically it doesn't have to be. When you gain a level in that class, you gain a favored class bonus which is one of three things. +1 Skill point, +1 HP, or, if you're favored class happens to be listed as a favored class for your race, you can chose that class bonus as well. Each level you can make a different choice, doesn't have to be the same thing every level. Not all races have extra benefits for all classes. For example, rogues are not a favored class of elves. So if you are an elf with rogue as your favored class, you can only chose from the skill point or hit point. And not all races have the same benefit from the same favored class. Dwarven barbarians get extra rages, while Elven barbarians (seriously, rogue isn't a favored class for them but barbarian is?) get extra base speed. As characters are still new, you can change what you've picked for your first level. But once you hit level 2, from then on out all choices are final.
Leveling. I will not be rewarding xp. There is no real need to. You don't need it for item creating anymore, so all it does is level you up. For this reason, I'll just let you know when you level up. Part of the reason behind this, is so that way people that miss games don't fall behind. Everyone will level at the same rate. Levels will likely happen at the end of given adventures and such. If (hopefully WHEN) other GM's take over in this world, they may chose to do it differently. That's fine.
That's all I can think of at the moment. Now for the obligatory fine print: These are the house rules as they stand at the moment. As a GM, I (or anybody else GMing) reserve the right to change these on the fly as needed. Be it for balance, to smooth things out, or just for my own amusement. (In case it isn't obvious, this is a joke...).
Subtle Spell casting - Concentration check at 15+ level of spell to get the spell off. Bluff check to try to fool observers if you are able to get the spell off.