Anyone else. Comments on the house rules are appreciated as well.
I like your house rules. Keep it simple. We did a similar healing spell fix too. Our house rules
The fighter "fix" I am wary of. When you make big changes to a class you then need to adjust EVERY SINGLE NPC / MONSTER WITH FIGHTER LEVELS in your campaign. It is just a huge amount of work. Maybe when I was 14 and had nothing better to do with my time I would tackle such a task but now I value my time.
In my campaign we added fighter techniques which grouped like feats together. Easy to add into an existing campaign.
You could either spend a lot of time and effort reworking Pathfinder, or find another game and add the stuff you like from Pathfinder to it.
+1
A great "realistic" system I have played is Cyberpunk 2020. All the characters have the same number of hit points and receive progressively greater penalties the more damage they take. A character with a high CON (called BODY in CP2020) reduces the damage they take from each hit (effectively DR).
It uses hit locations and receiving 8+ damage in one location in one hit disables it plus causes saves vs death unless it's a head shot which is insta-kill.
It works really well although it makes for a very violent game with characters that are short lived if they aren't careful.
It's not really in the spirit of high adventure though where warriors are slaying dragons in single combat. A big bucket of hit points works really well in that way.
In my campaign we have done a few things to reduce the power of spells.
* Stat boosting items are banned (to reduce save DCs)
* All saving throws are now at ¾ HD progression (max +15). If one of your classes has a 'good' save then that save is granted a +2 bonus (a much needed saving throw boost)
* Wands may only be used 2 times per day (to limit spellcaster's daily resource)
* Touch attack spells and spell like abilities use a REF save instead. If not stated the save DC = 10+½ character level + relevant ability modifier.
* only core rulebook spells allowed. Other spells may be researched from other sources with DM approval and only if they add something new to the game (ie: can't be duplicated with a core rulebook spell.)
example:
Aspect of the Bear
School transmutation (polymorph); Level druid 2, ranger 2
CASTING
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, DF
EFFECT
Range personal
Targets you
Duration 1 minute/level
DESCRIPTION
You take on an aspect of a bear. You gain a +2 enhancement bonus on CMB rolls. You can also perform grapple combat maneuvers without provoking attacks of opportunity.
This spell in it's original format was too powerful. In it's reduced form it provides something new and appropriate for it's spell level.
Now for individual spells we have changed the following:
Blindness-Deafness:
Necromancy [curse]
Level: bard 2, cleric 3, sorcerer/wizard 2, darkness 2
Duration: 1 hour/level or permanent (D)
Each hour creatures may attempt a new saving throw to end the effect. At 7th caster level the effect becomes permanent with no additional saving throws allowed.
Ice Storm:
Evocation [Cold]
Level: druid 4, magus 4, sorcerer/wizard 4, water 5, weather 5
Reflex save for half, SR yes
Invisibility:
Illusion [Glamer]
Level: Brd 2, Sor/Wiz 2, Trickery 2
The subject gets a +10 enhancement bonus on stealth checks. The enhancement bonus increases to +20 at caster level 5th, and to +30 (the maximum) at caster level 9th.
Raise Dead and Resurrection:
Conjuration [healing]
Level: Clr 5 and Clr 7; Divine 7, Resurrection 7
Recipients do not gain permanent negative levels and instead always results in the loss of 2 points of CON regardless of level.
Silence:
Illusion [Glamer]
Level: Brd 2, Clr 2
Spells with verbal components have a 20% miscast chance.
The subject gets a +10 enhancement bonus on stealth checks. The enhancement bonus increases to +20 at caster level 5th, and to +30 (the maximum) at caster level 9th.
Teleport:
Conjuration [Teleportation]
Level: Sor/Wiz 5, Travel 5
This spell instantly transports you to a designated destination, which must have been marked previously by the caster.
There is no chance you arrive off target. You may have 1 mark for every 2 caster levels you have obtained.
Wind Wall:
Evocation [Air]
Level: Air 2, Clr 3, Drd 3, Rgr 2, Sor/Wiz 3
Arrows and bolts and any other normal ranged weapon passing through the wall have a 50% miss chance.
Instead of swapping around we give fighters automatic feat chains. It gives the same result of providing fighters with more options but without the book keeping.
I also find it helps it be believable. Your fighter just doesn't forget how to sunder just because he needs to bull rush in the next encounter.
I tried to keep my game simple. The last campaign I played in was 3.5 with all the books allowed. It was a nightmare for our DM. He had to constantly alter the encounters in the adventure he was running (Red Hand of Doom). I don't blame players for optimising their characters with the material available. This is why I kept the books available to a minimum.
I also let players know that if there was a concept that couldn't be created with the core rule book then we could look at alternatives.
