|
I finally got tired of lurking and decided to participate in the fun today. I am sure that this has been done in the past, but I would like to know what house rules everybody is using...
I'll prime the thread with a couple from our group.
1) If you roll a 1 on an attack, your opponent gets an attack of opportunity, if they are within the threat range. In addition, if you have multiple attacks, you lose any remaining attacks. We assume your weapons slips, helmet slips down, etc...
2) If you roll back to back 20's on an attack. You do maximum possible damage on your critical hit, assuming the creature is susceptible to critical hits. If it is not susceptible to crits, you do maximum normal damage. You gotta honor those 20's or you dice may become resentful!!!
What does everybody else use?
1. All skills only cost one point per rank. Cross class is still limited to half as many ranks as class skills.
2. You die when you go to negative Con rather than negative ten. Suffer penalties from zero to negative Con modifier. Basicly the same way Arcana Evolved has it.
3. Exotic weapons are grouped into two different feats, Exotic Agile and Exotic Heavy, again, just like AE.
I finally got tired of lurking and decided to participate in the fun today. I am sure that this has been done in the past, but I would like to know what house rules everybody is using...
I'll prime the thread with a couple from our group.
1) If you roll a 1 on an attack, your opponent gets an attack of opportunity, if they are within the threat range. In addition, if you have multiple attacks, you lose any remaining attacks. We assume your weapons slips, helmet slips down, etc...
2) If you roll back to back 20's on an attack. You do maximum possible damage on your critical hit, assuming the creature is susceptible to critical hits. If it is not susceptible to crits, you do maximum normal damage. You gotta honor those 20's or you dice may become resentful!!!
What does everybody else use?
When it comes to fumbles, I use a chart, that requires a d100 (or your standard percentile die)
1-20: standard AoO is given to opponent. (All subsequent results include this)
21-40: Drop your weapon
41-60: Tip and fall, 1d6 non-lethal damage, prone
61-64: Damage your weapon 1d4 points of damage
65-70: Throw weapon 3d20 feet in random direction
71-74: Damage weapon, 2d4 points of damage
75-76: Hit yourself, take damage
77-78: Hit a party member , take damage (if no ally is near, consider weapon to have been thrown)
79-86: Injure self (critical threat)
87-88: Injure party member (critical threat)
89-96: Break weapon
97: Critically injure self
98: Critically injure party member
99-00: Critically injure self and party member as weapon is throw 3d20 feet and breaks
My group loves this chart and gets excited whenever they have to roll on it, because it lives the play up a lot and makes a natural "1" a lot more interesting.
For critically we use the "called shot" option out of unearthed arcana. Seems to work good...
We also do the death-at-negative-Con thing, something of which I'm a big fan. It's a boon especially at the low levels, and makes more intuitive sense to me.
We're fans of opposed checks over flat-DC checks whenever possible. Some examples:
Tumble checks are opposed by an opponent's Reflex save (as in Song & Silence, I believe?) Same modifiers apply (-10 to your check if you try to tumble through a foe's square, etc.)
To cast defensively, you must succeed at a Concentration check opposed, again, by your opponent's Reflex save. Failure doesn't mean you lose the spell, but you do suffer an AoO. (Which, if it hits, could obviously force another Concentration check to avoid losing the spell).
We use open-ended rolls for everything. The only time a natural 20 or natural 1 indicates automatic success or failure is in combat. A natural 20 is still a hit & critical threat and a natural 1 is always a miss. I'm gonna steal the upthread idea about having the combatant lose all subsequent attacks in a round following a natural 1. Love it.
|
|
Here is another one we use.
When rolling to stabilize, we use a fortitude save with a DC of 15 + the amount below 0 you are. For example, If my character is at -3, my fort save is 18.
We have also used the negative con rule for years. If everybody dies at the same threshold, what is the point of con?
Good rules....keep them coming!!!
I've considered using negative Con for a while; I might implement that in my next campaign.
I use a modified cost formula for the purchasing of spells and scrolls, to keep the higher level spells relative in cost to caster level and keep powerful magic out of the hands of lower level casters - which is both more realistic and representative of a free-market.
- Hired spellcaster/purchasing from another's book;
(spell level squared x 50gp) + (spell caster level x 500gp)= cost of spell
- Scrolls:
(spell level squared x caster level)= cost of scroll
M
I've used the following fumble chart in my game for years. Fumbles aren't always bad for the fumbler, they just cause something unexpected to happen.
If a 1 is rolled as an attack rool, the roller gets a second roll to confirm the fumble (if their second roll also misses the target). If the Fumble is confirmed then the fumbler rolls on the d100 chart below. If for some reason the result is impossible or doesn't make sence, then the number rolled is reversed ie 73 becomed 37. If this also doesn't work then the d100 is re rolled. So far it has worked out well. The Ability checks are a roll with only the ability score modifyer added in. Sometimes high scores are good sometimes they are bad. And there is one saving grace roll on the chart. Players who roll on the chart always chant 86! 86! 86!
FUMBLE CHART
1 suffer fatal heart attack and die: sucks to be you (maybe a CON check DC 15 if the DM feel generous or you are sleeping with the DM)(Significant others tend to get pissy if they roll this and their PC dies. I recommend fudging the roll for the sake of nookie)
2 yield 10ft or suffer free attack (not an Attack of Opportunity)
3 small flying creature attacks you until killed(4 HP, bite +3, 1d4 damage, AC 17)
4 chaos in combat! cause nearest ally to change places with opponent
5 distracted: -2 to AC for 1 round
6 deflect enemy attack with personal gear; random item takes Sunder damage
7 yield 10ft or suffer enemy hit (you do not provoke Attacks of Opportunity)
8 check morale; CHA check DC 15 or run in fear until save is successful
9 hesitate; Turn ends now!
10 hit by falling debris for 1d4 damage
11 Suffer hic-ups: +/- d3 on each swing until end of combat (odd-neg)
12 enemy slobber lands in eye; -4 to hit for 1 round
13 A sudden burst of adrenaline causes you to miss and wet your pants
14 hesitate; lose two spots in the initiative order, making only a partial action this round.
15 stumble; force opponent back 10ft (does not provoke AoO from YOU)
16 Pulled groin muscle: only partial actions until one round is spent resting
17 footwear malfunctions; DEX check DC 15 or trip & fall
18 your miss causes nearest ally to make WILL save DC (your HD + damage attack could have caused) or freeze in terror 1 round
19 gag; -2 to AC
20 you cause massive chaos forcing all adjacent combatants to fumble
21 nausea; roll d8 for direction of projectile vomiting
22 fall; break foot 1d4, movement 1/2 until healed (odd-left)
23 stumble back 5 ft (does provoke Attacks of Opportunity)
24 Open self to an Attack of Opportunity from all applicable foes
25 sneeze: -3 to AC for 1 round
26 force ally to yield ground (10 ft) or hit ally (ally open to Attacks of Opportunity)
27 Your attempt to maim yourself causes your target to choose other targets
28 sweat in eyes -6 to hit for one round
29 knock heads with opponent; both make CON check DC 15 or stunned 1 round
30 armor binds and jammed -1 to AC until repaired/ clothing tangles and rips
31 suffer seizure; Twitch for 1 round; all opponents break combat and chose other targets
32 trousers fall/robes tangle/armor slides; no movement or DEX check DC 15 for 1/4 move
33 armor fails; -2 to AC until repaired
34 weapon damaged -3 to hit/damage until repaired
35 bad follow-through; Move 5ft to right/left accepting any Attacks of Opportunity
36 itch; WIS check DC 15 or spend next round scratching (-2 to AC)
37 take d6 damage or make DEX check DC 15 to avoid attack but cause nearest ally to fumble
38 sneeze: phlegm hits opponent in eye; foe loses DEX and Dodge bonuses to AC next round
39 lose wind; cumulative -1 to hit/damage per round until 1 round of rest
40 distraction; WIS DC 12 or mesmerized for 1 round by wart on opponent's nose
41 weapon lodged in random object: roll STR DC 15 to recover
42 chaos in combat; you and all beings in your threatened area roll off, low roll fumbles
43 Roll opposed Bluff/Intimidate to keep opponent from taking free attack
44 Sweat/blood/bile/gore gets in eyes; blind for one round
45 no opening found; lose attack(s) this round
46 fall; break wrist 1d4 damage and hand useless until healed (odd-left)
47 hit friend; Sunder attack on their weapon: if N/A happens to you
48 enemy assault causes you to withdraw 10ft (provokes a max of one AoO)
49 hit friend; have him roll fumble and lose all attacks this round
50 confusion during melee causes you & opponent to switch places
51 fall; break leg 1d6, movement 1/4 until healed (odd-left)
52 distracted: -1 to AC for 1 round
53 roll STR DC 15 or lose grip on weapon
54 dropped your guard--dooh!; enemy gets free Attack of Opportunity
55 nausea; d8 for direction, barf-a-rama--d8 for direction until no one struck!
56 trip and fall: stunned 1-3 rounds
57 hit friend; damage their weapon (Roll damage Vs their weapon, to Sunder)
58 stumble: DEX check DC 15 or fall
59 out of breath: CON check DC 15 or -1 to all actions until 1 round of rest
60 off balance: DEX check DC 12 or no action next round
61 hesitate: Limited to 5ft move next turn
62 bite and swallow tongue: no speech and no action for 1 round
63 bad grip causes you to suffer 1d6 damage (10% lose finger)
64 fall; break arm 1d6, useless until healed (odd-left)
65 slip and drop defenses: 1 opponent gets 1 free attack now (not an AoO)
66 hit friend; cause ally lose next attack
67 weapon damaged -2 to hit/damage until repaired
68 hit self in crotch: collapse in whimpering heap: stunned for 1 round
69 massive fumble disrupts combat; re-roll initiative & start new round
70 Dire rat darts from cover and attacks you until killed
71 lose grip; drop weapon
72 Deity is disgraced by incompetence; struck deaf/dumb/blind for d4 rounds
73 weapon damaged -1 to hit/damage until repaired
74 nausea; CON check DC 16 or d8 for direction
75 worst move in ages: foe suffers -2 to attack rolls in fit of laughter for one round
76 bad miss; roll STR DC 16, if successful - weapon takes Sunder damage
77 stub toe; opponent gets AoO while you look for what you tripped on
78 lose grip: roll DEX DC 15 or drop weapon
79 disarmed; opponent can recover weapon if desired! (doesn’t provoke AoO)
80 hit friend; damage armor/clothing/hide, -1d3 to AC; if N/A happens to you
81 bad follow-through; swing leaves you Flat footed until your next turn
82 roll INT DC 15 to finally understand a joke you heard last week! Spend next round laughing @ -1d3 to your attack rolls
83 stumble 10ft d8 for random direction, cause all you collide with to fumble (doesn’t provoke AoO)
84 weapon tangled with opponent: No attack for you next round
85 weapon knocked away: d8 for direction, d10 distance in feet
86 overkill: damage x 5
87 distracted: -3 to AC for 1 round
88 weapon may break: roll Sunder damage on your weapon
89 hit self: half damage
90 hit self: normal damage
91 hit self: double damage
92 twist ankle: 1/2 movement for 5 rounds, DEX check DC 15 or fall
93 hit friend: half damage
94 hit friend: normal damage
95 hit friend: double damage
96 critical hit: friend
97 critical hit: self
98 weapon takes double Sunder damage
99 roll 2 times and suffer
100 roll 3 times and suffer
ASEO out
Note: We use 2nd ed, not 3rd, so my reply references that:
character generation:
PCs can be any species they want, so long as it makes sense for the world and is approved by DM
PCs can have any multiclass combination they want, so long as they can explain why their PC would have been trained in that combination (level progression is how we keep every character from being a jack-of-all-trades.)
PCs take any non-magical equipment they want from the book and get one random roll for magical item per level at time of creation (so a character starting at 10th level would get 10 magical items... you'd be suprised at how much useless crap a person rolls this way). They can then sell off whatever they don't want for starting cash or to buy things they DO want if available.
Ability scores:
This varies depending on the DM and the species of the creature. Lowest guideline used is base of 10+1d8, then put 'em where you want 'em. I make my players pay attention to prime requisite for the class they want, other DMs don't. ('tis my basic/expert roots I guess)
We also rely heavily on ability scores throughout play. From what I gather, it's similar to what 3rd ed did with skills and class specializations, just much less sophisticated.
Combat:
For spell casters, we threw out casting time. Spell goes off in round mage casts it. Also, we don't pay attention to physical spell components. It's just assumed the mage has what he or she needs.
For attack rolls, a 1 always misses and is a fumble, meaning PC has to spend next round finding their weapon or use something else (unless it has something that makes it return to wielder). In the case of a spell or throwing something (like greek fire), could have a back lash for group (like dropping greek fire at your feet)
18,19,20 always hits regardless of Thac0 or AC (provided the creature can be hit / damaged by what PC is using) and is always calculated at double damage.
Level progression:
We don't track XPs. At the end of a game, DM will announce level ups (ex: Everyone gets 3 levels). That then gets split amongst your classes if you're a multiclass char. So, a straight fighter would go up 3 levels while a Fighter/thief/mage would only go up 1 per class. Makes it REAL easy to keep everyone where they're supposed to be on the Adventure Path games. In fact, some are starting to lag due to being multi-class chars.
Death: you die when hpts =0. None of this "hovering at death's door" stuff... you done crossed the threshold. ;) But we're liberal with the raise dead / resurrection type magics. PC subtracts 1 CON for being brought back, though there are ways to bring CON back up if it gets dangerously low provided PC is willing to research / work for it.
I think that gives the basic idea.
oops... almost forgot:
We also made up two new classes:
Tarot Mage- which is more limited than a straight mage in the types of spells she can use, but can cast up to 5 spells in the same round at higher levels.
Battlecraft Smith: This one's a blast. This is a fighter/mage combination. The smith can custom make magical weapons and armor for other PCs by combining the effects of the spells they know with the weapon/armor at time of creation. Only 2 players currently run one as they are a lot of work, but they've come up with some real imaginitive combinations and it's a lot of fund to watch them play with this.
Mongooseman,
We have a handful of rules we have added:
1) Character Generation: We roll 4d6 and take the best three, BUT all 1's are rerolled. So the worst score possible is a 6 rather than a 3. We have not seen a noticeable increase in the number of 18 scores, but everyone generally has a little bit better character.
2) Hit points: Everyone starts at character level 1 with maximum hit points. Each time a character levels, the minimum hit points will be at least 1/3 of the maximum possible for that die. This does not allow a reroll, instead the roll is automatically converted to 1/3. For a d4 that means the lowest possible result is a 2; d6 = 2; d8 = 3; d10 = 4; d12 = 4. This is before any modification for CON Bonus.
3) Healing with Cure Spells: While casting healing spells in Combat situations, the result of the spell is the exact result of the dice roll, as per the spell's description. We have decided that once the party is out of combat, the healer has the benefit of being a little more attentive to details. As a result, we use the same 1/3 rule as above for healing spells. As most cure spells require the rolling of one or more d8s, all 1 and 2 results are automatically converted to a score of 3 for calculation purposes.
4) True Resurrection: We play in our own home-grown world, but we have a deity who has responsibility over the soul/spirit of all deceased individuals (Much like Kelemvor in Forgotten Realms). We decided that this deity does not object to 'losing' souls through Raise Dead spells, etc. As long as the character loses something in return, i.e., a level, or a CON point. We decided that the deity views True Resurrection as a theft of his property (the soul) without a sufficient loss on the part of the recently resurrected individual. The deity does not view the material component cost of the spell as a sufficient loss, even if covered 100% at the cost of the resurrected individual. As such, all characters who receive a True Resurrection spell have one year following their True Resurrection to make a pilgrimmage to the main temple of the deity and pay homage. This does not require that the character convert or begin 'worshipping' the god of the dead. Even Paladins and other clerics are permitted by their orders to make this pilgrimmage. Failure to make the pilgrimmage results in the True Resurrection being 'revoked' by the god of the dead, with the character's body reverting to the state it was in when the True Resurrection spell was cast a year earlier. Any future True Resurrection cast on a character who has not paid proper homage will never work, although all the lesser spells will.
That's it for now.
Rexbo
I finally got tired of lurking and decided to participate in the fun today. I am sure that this has been done in the past, but I would like to know what house rules everybody is using...
I'll prime the thread with a couple from our group.
1) If you roll a 1 on an attack, your opponent gets an attack of opportunity, if they are within the threat range. In addition, if you have multiple attacks, you lose any remaining attacks. We assume your weapons slips, helmet slips down, etc...
2) If you roll back to back 20's on an attack. You do maximum possible damage on your critical hit, assuming the creature is susceptible to critical hits. If it is not susceptible to crits, you do maximum normal damage. You gotta honor those 20's or you dice may become resentful!!!
What does everybody else use?
in my game system i use:
roll a 1, roll again if you roll 10 or higher normal miss 10 or less, reroll on my critical miss table which is as follows
1-10: normal miss no penalties
11: miss and forfeit next attack
12: weapon thrown, 1d3 rounds to recover
13: weapon thrown sticks into wall table etc, no retrieval until combat is over
14: weapon breaks, saving throw if magical at dc vs strength
15: nearby comrade struck, no strength or magical bonuses
16: nearby comrade struck, strength and magical bonuses apply
17: nearby comrade struck, reroll on applicable critical hit chart(i have 3 for each weapon type bludgeoning, slashing and piercing)
18: strike self for normal damage no bonuses
19: strike self add bonuses
20: strike self reroll on critical hit chart
coincidently back to back 20's are treated as instant kills, no save no nothing, all my players seem to like it consindereing it is a double edged sword meaning i use against them as well
Excellent topic. Here's what I use for my campaign:
1) Spellcasters must roll a concentration d20 for every spell, regardless of the spell, regardless of the place the spell is being cast. A 1 on a concentration roll means the spell fails. (higher rolls might also fail, based on DC for casting.)
2) A 1 on a d20 fails, I also use a fumble table. It also causes the person to lose all other standard actions in that round, including other attacks.
3) Reroll 1's on character creation, Roll 4d6 for each stat, throw out lowest number, and roll an extra stat, throw out lowest of those stat rolls. (This generates more powerful characters for my power-based campaign.)
4) Several races other than the standard listed are allowed, including Minotaur, Wolfen (not D&D), Lizardmen, Winged-elves, etc.
5) An individual background story is written up from birth to present for each character. Everything in their history is written down to help fit the character into the world.
6) A detailed account of each campaign session is recorded after it's played, and I host a website for my campaign for more information. (calinday dot com/Havorra capital "H") ;-)
7) Artwork, music, and other character development is actively encouraged and given extra experience for.
8) Experience isn't tallied, levels are given out in general as the story develops and the plotline requires. (Though levels are given and taken away for extreme circumstances or achievements.)
9) All pantheons and Wizards books are allowed regardless of the world they hail from. (Greyhawk, Ebberon, FR, etc.) Spells are limited to the books owned by the DM or the person casting the spell. (with DM approval)
The party is currently at level 10+. I have plans to take them to Epic and beyond, and really do enjoy 3.5 with all of it's new books.
- Warcry
Instead of some races like minotaurs automatically getting racial HD and the feats to go with them, they instead have the option of pick up a class instead and then add the Level Adjustment. Thus, a beginning minotaur fighter would be third level, like a drow.
I got really tired of my group buying out the whole town of healing potions and oils so I make it so that in a large and bigger cities it take 1 hour of shoping for one healing potion deturmand at random. Oh and no matter how many people go out it still takes about the same amount of time. And smaller cities take even longer if they even have any.
I'm in the whole book of campaign rules department. Some of the more salient ones are no resurrection type spells. Only powerful lost magic that adventurers might find in ancient tombs would have the ability to bring someone back from the dead. I did this because I could always hand out such magic items to my players if I want them to have some kind of second chance.
However it dawned on me at one point that my adventure based on a shadow war with assassins and such among the nobles kind of did not work. If you kill the Emperor they just raise him back again. I mean it might get annoying if the most powerful cleric of the Empire has to take the most powerful resurrection spell every day and sleep in the Emperors guest room so that he can use it on the Emperor every morning 'cause they kill him nightly ... but it could be done.
Essentially resurrections seem to lead to a logical conclusion that the rich don't die. An interesting concept but my worlds society simply is not designed to handle the implications of a world in which the rich are nearly immortal. Can't die, no real danger of illness etc. I mean I guess their organs all give out at 95 or whatever but otherwise they mostly should not meander of this mortal coil. That would cause a phenominal paradigmn shift in the structure of society that simply does not seem to have been accounted for.
The other big one I use kind of stems from the above. Each player has four characters slowly introduced into the campaign as proteges who can't adventure together but can be swapped in and out if they leave the dungeon etc. and gain 1/2 the experience that the active character earned per session. Hence all newly introduced characters start at 1st and have to work their way up (but if your active character is 9th and earned 7000 XP in the current session the new character starts to jump levels pretty quick after receiving 3500 XP) and most importantly can be called upon to fill in when one of the players current characters dies (or ends up on some long side quest).
1. a double 1 in combat means you hit the nearest friend, or yourself, but I am considering changing to the chart...
2. a double critical, confirmed, kills anything under 50 max hp. (e.g., AC 16 rolls 20+4,20+4,14+4; if <50 then instant kill.
3. Rolling abilities: either d20, reroll all negative modifiers, or 4d6- worst, I let them reroll their lowest score.
Character generation
Village Idiot rule: "It takes a village to make an adventurer"
When using dice to generate your character's statistics, if the stats are sub-par the villagers rise up against you, perhaps using the new mob rules from DMG II, beating you senseless with non-lethal damage and tie you up so you can't go on adventures. Player's can then reroll stats to get a PC the village approves of.
This makes things a little more dramatic than simply rerolling bad stats.
Rooster
1.)In my group we have an agreed upon critical hit chart and a fumble chart. I don't have the charts with me at this time, but will post them later.
2.)We use Listen, Search, and Spot as class skills for every class. Our viewpoint is that anyone can look and listen.
3.)On first level, we always max our hit points.
4.)We allow for monster races, if the player can justify why the monster is the way it is and if he can come up with stats (if none are available) to suit the DM. We've had everything from goblins to fire giants.
5.)In order to add flavor to the game, I make my players create a one page history of the character for an XP award.
One thing I forgot to post, when we roll up our characters, in order to get a 'heroic' character we drop the lowest stat and roll it again. We figure that heroes are those people who are above average, and we should try to keep that as close to accurate as possible. But if someone rolls all nines, then they are stuck with an average character and will have to play to the best of their abilities.
Well, some of the house rules mentioned are totaly different then the ones I use.
Here's a coupla off-beat rules:
1. Character Creation: No evil alignments (the heroes are s'posed to be HEROES). And, roll 4d6 nine times, dropping the lowest die and choosing the six highest rolls for stats. You may select up to 2 flaws at creation and receive 2 additional feats, or you may select 2 traits from Unearthed Arcana (the traits include a bonus and a hindrance).
2. For attacks, skills, saves, etc. a roll of 1 is a critical failure and a roll of 20 is a critical hit. (For weapons with a threat range, like 18-20, if the natural roll is 18 or 19 and it hits, then its a crit hit, there's no threat roll for crits).
3. Magic is used with my magic point system. It's similar to the Wizard's system in Unearthed Arcana, but the numbers are done differently.
4. At levels 5, 10, 15, & 20 you may select a justifiable flaw and receive another feat, or you may select a sensible trait. The flaw or trait should make sense according to the progress and growth of the character. This reflects how people do not simply increase in power through experience, but they may develop vices as well.
I'm trying out the flaws really as an experimental house rule, right now. I'm gonna try it out in the Age of Worms campaign I'm staring this fall. But, feats are just so cool! I wanted a good way to increase the number of feats a character can gain, and this way provides equilibrium through drawbacks and penalties.
What does everybody else use?
Character generation: We use a system that involves decision making after each set of rolls. We like the interactive aspect it brings to rolling up characters. It leads to characters that usually have between +4 and +12 or so in total ability score bonuses. Here is how it works: Roll 3d6 with an extra die in reserve. If you don't like one of your three die, you can roll the "reserve die." If you are happy with your three die, you can "push" the reserve die to the next roll, effectively giving yourself two reserve die on the next roll. You roll 3d6 again. This time you have 1 or 2 reserve die at your disposal. If you like your three die, you can push all reserve die to the next roll. And so onl. You continue until you roll 3d6 six times.
One interesting variation is that we sometimes try to deliberately crash characters after getting some bad early rolls, only using 3d6 for first five rolls and then rolling 9d6 or whatever on the last die (must use all extra die on last roll). This usually crashes character, meaning it finishes without a positive balance of ability bonuses. Warning: this can backfire! If it does, however, it usually means the character has one or two good scores to go along with some really bad ones.
Marnak out.
Wow, some people are real easy on their PCs.
1. I always use the Elite Array fro scores: 15, 14, 13, 12, 10 and 8. Characters are balances, and no munchkinry is put down right away. Rolling so much gives super high scores, and it make sth egame very difficult to play.
2. Fumblewise, a 1 is a fumble threat. If they miss on their reroll, they fumble their weapon 1d4 squares away in a random direction.
3. I use the Skilled Half-elf variant for all of my half-elves.
4. No warlocks.
5. I very rarely allow raise dead. However, I only kill PCs if it is a bigtime fight and it happens accidentally, or if they do somthing stupid to deserve it.
6. Maximum hit points at first level. After that, the player rolls, and I roll secretly. They can choose to keep theirs or take mine. It is nice because if they get a decent roll they keep it, but a low roll has a possible way out, and no one gets too greedy.
Wow, some people are real easy on their PCs.
Yes, the system we use (and the ones used by others on this thread) do produce higher scores, but the reason I like ours so much is that it inserts decision-making into the dice rolling process. Afterwards, we have fun talking about if the player should or should not have re-rolled that 3 in the 6,5,3, and so on. The Elite Array is nice because it balances all the characters, but some of the fun is taken out of character creation IMHO. Regarding what makes the game "very difficult to play," I personally feel that some of the variants in the non-core rulebooks are more unbalancing than modestly high ability scores (ours average in the +8 or +9 range).
I would like to learn more about your half-elf variant, as I agree the one in the PHB needs some tweaking.
I agree about raising dead, only for high level characters under special circumstances.
I love the way that you do hit point rolls. I have been going with straight rolls, and it really bums out players who roll the 1 on the d10.
Yeah, I'd like to see whatcha got done to the Half-elves, too!
They just seem like a race that's... I dunno... "not worth it."
5. I very rarely allow raise dead. However, I only kill PCs if it is a bigtime fight and it happens accidentally, or if they do somthing stupid to deserve it.
My system here is I am totally impartial - I never step in to save the characters unless I am really totally at fault for their demise and then I roll the camera back and replay the scene without whatever it is I put in that was totally unfair and that they had no chance to see coming, avoid or run away from.
6. Maximum hit points at first level. After that, the player rolls, and I roll secretly. They can choose to keep theirs or take mine. It is nice because if they get a decent roll they keep it, but a low roll has a possible way out, and no one gets too greedy.
My system here is to roll half the HP die and then add the other half. So a fighter gets a d5+5 while a mage gets a d2+2. That way players never get really shafted and one does not end up with a mage with more HPs then the fighter.
The Skilled Half-Elf is a Variant in Unearthed arcanca. In a bid to make the race actually playable, you add the human skill point ability to them as well. Without that they are just watered down elves with Any favored class; the extra skill points makes them more playable, and does not greatly screw up the game.
The Skilled Half-Elf is a Variant in Unearthed arcanca. In a bid to make the race actually playable, you add the human skill point ability to them as well. Without that they are just watered down elves with Any favored class; the extra skill points makes them more playable, and does not greatly screw up the game.
Serious? That's in Unearthed Arcana? I hadn't noticed! But, it does seem like a better deal for half-elves.
It's in one of the little sidebar thingies at the bottom of some page. Kinda easy to miss.
|
One change I've been toying about with for a long time is a major overhaul of the cleric.
At the heart of the changes is a major re-working of clerical spells & domains intended in part to create more differences between different religions, and to make the choice of particular religions more significant.
Essentially, the numbers for clerical spells in table PHB 3-6 are reversed with regards to the cleric base spell list and the domain lists.
Consequently most of the cleric's spells are drawn from his domains with only 1+WIS bonus from the base spell list.
3 domains at 1st level, bonus domains at 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th.
Non-domain spells can be converted into cure/inflict.
Spells on domain lists are added to the cleric's base spell list.
Plus a few other minor tweaks such as bonus orisons equal to WIS bonus, and no heavy armour.
|
|
My gaming crew play high powered campaigns, so we 'suped up' our character creation rules.
1. For stats we roll 5d6 pick best 3, assign where desired, and re-roll lowest stat keeping better of the 2.
2. Feats at every odd level(i.e. 1,3,5,7..etc) instead of every 3rd level. You end up with 3 extra feats by 20th(10 at 19th instead of 7 at 18th). We've dubbed it 'Enhanced Feat Progression'(been using it since our first 3Ed campaign).
3. Max HP for first 5 HD/levels.
We also don't use spell components(whith a few exceptions).
All this is offset by the fact that the DM will use the same rules to modify/create the monsters we encounter.
Our core gaming crew(3 people incl. myself) has been together for over 15 years, and all our house rules are voted in. In all that time together, we've had very few complaints about our house rules by the people who've joined our group.
We also don't use spell components(whith a few exceptions).
By no spell components, I assume you mean material ones. I tried this once, but said that all spell casters gained Eschew Materials as a bonus feat at first level. It worked rather well.
I've also tried playing an alternate magic system that worked like "The Will and the Word" from David Eddings' Belgariad and Mallorean series. I wasn't as happy with that system as I was with the Eschew Materials one, though.
One change I've been toying about with for a long time is a major overhaul of the cleric.
At the heart of the changes is a major re-working of clerical spells & domains intended in part to create more differences between different religions, and to make the choice of particular religions more significant.
Essentially, the numbers for clerical spells in table PHB 3-6 are reversed with regards to the cleric base spell list and the domain lists.
Consequently most of the cleric's spells are drawn from his domains with only 1+WIS bonus from the base spell list.
3 domains at 1st level, bonus domains at 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th.
Non-domain spells can be converted into cure/inflict.
Spells on domain lists are added to the cleric's base spell list.
Plus a few other minor tweaks such as bonus orisons equal to WIS bonus, and no heavy armour.
Thats a good idea - thouigh I think I would have to add in some more benifits to improve the Cleric Class after this but I like the concept of Clerics of different gods actually seeming substantially different from each other.
Our core gaming crew(3 people incl. myself) has been together for over 15 years, and all our house rules are voted in. In all that time together, we've had very few complaints about our house rules by the people who've joined our group.
I'm not suprised at all. I never did this with D&D but when I was doing a long drawn out Necromunda League we descussed possible rule modifications to improve the game after every session and made a book containing all the rules. By and large this really improved the game and new members where often shocked by teh size of teh extra rule book they woul have to memorize - always came to see how the extra rules helped the game.
I allow every character race but, every character must have a background. I award minor magic and money based on these. I feel It allows the characters to personalize their history. The rule of Vorpal weapons. To have a Vorpal blade or Sword of sharpness you have to kill the original owner. After all, If you had a blade that could instant kill most creatures would you sell it or leave it lying around? I also make characters make balance checks when fighting creatures 2 sizes bigger. If you are a rouge with 12 strengh and you get hit by a stormgiant are you really going to be standing up after it?
One change I've been toying about with for a long time is a major overhaul of the cleric.
...
Essentially, the numbers for clerical spells in table PHB 3-6 are reversed with regards to the cleric base spell list and the domain lists.
Consequently most of the cleric's spells are drawn from his domains with only 1+WIS bonus from the base spell list.
3 domains at 1st level, bonus domains at 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th.
Check out Dragon 311. There's an article about variant Clerics and one of them, the Evangelist, sounds just like what you have in mind. Well, it's more like a cleric who casts spells sorcerer-style... but, the Spells Known and the Domain structure is very similar to what you've thought up. I really liked the Evangelist-style Cleric, and I might run one as an NPC with my next adventuring group.
When rolling to stabilize, we use a fortitude save with a DC of 15 + the amount below 0 you are. For example, If my character is at -3, my fort save is 18.
I use something similar. Stabilization is a DC20 FORT save. (10%? Huh?)
In addition, you can remain conscious in the negs with a WILL save with the same DC you have above. Yay, death scenes!
My house rules for the AoW campaign, in brief.
1) 66 points to spread among ability scores. No score above 18 or below 5 before racial adjustments. No two abilities may have the same score.
2) No evil characters. :)
3) No two players may play the same race or level in the same class.
4) No multiclass penalties. Ever. Humans gain the "Adaptive Skill" ability to compensate.
5) Action points.
6) Players roll all dice.
7) A natural roll of 1 on an attack provokes an attack of opportunity. (I thought I was the only one who did that!)
8) A bunch of new feats along the same lines as "Ascetic Hunter".
66 points to spread among ability scores.
@#$%&!!!
Are you serious? Doesn't that give your PCs an average score of 16 for each ability? Are you planning to increase the difficulty of some of the encounters to compensate for this?
I use a straight 30 point buy system.
If I was a player... Hey, you don't happen to live in Washington State, do you? I might be interested in seeing what a game like yours would be like. :)
3.)On first level, we always max our hit points.
Isn't that the book rule? At least in 3rd edition?
66 points to spread among ability scores.
@#$%&!!!
Are you serious? Doesn't that give your PCs an average score of 16 for each ability?
66 / 6 = 11
I've been playing/DMing for several years now (20+) and we have come up with a few house rules we like to use.
1. Character creation I give them the following stats to start with; 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, & 10. Everyone ends up with 2 good stats, 2 decent, and 2 average. I don't believe stats are what makes a good or bad character.
2. All prestige classes and other races outside the PHB are subject to DM and group approval, DM having final say, so that a campaign won't become unbalanced.
3. If a character dies, he's dead. Follow the raise dead, resurrection, or true reserrection as written. However, I too am careful about letting a character die due to unlucky rolls of the dice. If someone does something stupid, death is well deserved. Teaches them to be patient and plan instead of just making headlong assualts.
4. We don't bother with most spell components under 50 gold in value. But, spellcaster must purchase a new spell component pouch each time they level up.
Those are a few of our hose rules. I've enjoyed reading some others I seen here and may considering using a few of them in my new campaign, The Age of Worms.
I have an extremely complicated web of house rules (we play 2nd Ed. rules with some 3rd & 3.5 modifications) but I will share some that are mostly along the same lines as have been previously discussed.
A natural 1 is a "flub" and we use a "flub" chart - though I have just "acquired" some quirky additions from those listed here. (Thanks!)
Maximum hit points at first level and the choice to roll for a "natural boon or bane". 50/50 chance and then I have charts of natural positive and negative traits that are gained in this manner. I do like the mention of justifiable flaws and feat opportunities at upper levels (I'll probably incorporate that into my long-running campaign world soon). Upon character creation (and everybody MUST start at 1st level), adventurers receive their choice of any non-magical item listed in the PHB as a "family heirloom" for which they do not have to pay from their starting money.
I keep meticulous track of each player's experience points which they earn for combat prowess, clever strategies, use of "non-weapon proficiencies", spell casting (100 xp/spell lvl), treasure acquired, ad hoc story bonuses, etc. Half of a creature's experience value is granted automatically to every PC who "engages" the creature for the first time. The PCs keep a "monsters encountered" list that helps expedite this process. This XP "bonus" seems logical to me because a person would learn the most/gain the most insight when engaging an enemy for the first time. The remaining half of a creature's xp value is divided according to hit points and granted to the characters as they damage the creature. An extra xp bonus is granted to the character responsible for the "killing blow". It sounds a lot more complicated than it really is. My players love this system because it motivates them to get their characters involved in each encounter.
There is no permanent loss of experience points for any character EVER.
What the newer editions call class skills, I call by their old name - "non-weapon proficiencies". These are acquired in the 2nd Ed. prescribed manner but in my game they are always in the form of percentage points. Players must first justify how their character learned each proficiency. Once the DM is satisfied, they start with just 10% chance at success (I grant 20% for proficiencies/skills started at the beginning/character creation). Each time a character attempts to use his/her skill (whether successful or not), he/she gains one point of proficiency (10% chance become 11% for next time) and appropriate experience points are awarded. No character can improve above 98% for original skills and 95% for skills gained after character creation - nobody's perfect!! This system, I believe, is far superior to any official D&D system as it prevents low level characters from being more skilled than high level characters without proportional experience, motivates players toward creative role-playing, requires players to choose skills carefully and logically, and inspires use of all available skills. For example, PCs can't just acquire swimming, horsemanship, or blind fighting because it will come in handy sometime in the future. Without practice, when the lights go out, even a 15th level fighter with blind fighting proficiency can't hit the broad side of a barn. Conversely, a 3rd level character who has spent months in a subterranean environment with little or no available light, will be a force to reckon with despite the lantern's demise during the barroom brawl.
I have adapted the way the thieves' skills (or ranger, etc) work in a similar manner. If a character earns say, 15 points per level, toward the pick pocket, open locks, hide in shadows, find & remove traps,and other class skills then those points should only be applied logically. Therefore, in my world, little tally marks are kept above each thief's skill and when that character gains a level - points are only awarded for skills actually used within that time frame. How can a thief's (or rogue for you 3rd Ed players) have his pick pocketing skills improve when he has spent the last 6 months in an isolated wilderness? A character who regularly disarms traps should logically have a better chance at success, regardless of level, than another who has rarely/if ever encountered a trap in his/her entire life!
I am personally opposed to any rules that I regard as illogical (even "official" D&D rules) or that inspire laziness on the part of the DM or the players.
66 points to spread among ability scores.@#$%&!!!
Are you serious? Doesn't that give your PCs an average score of 16 for each ability? Are you planning to increase the difficulty of some of the encounters to compensate for this?
I use a straight 30 point buy system.
If I was a player... Hey, you don't happen to live in Washington State, do you? I might be interested in seeing what a game like yours would be like. :)
Just because I said "points" doesn't mean I'm talking about the DMG's point buy system... You could have figured that out if you had read the rest of that paragraph. :P~
Robert has the idea... by making it so that no two ability scores can match, you end up with +3 in total modifiers every time.
Here are some of the House Rules that are going to be used in the next campaign I run later this year after the current one wraps up. A lot of these House Rules have been used in the past and are currently in use now:
* Ability scores are rolled using 4d6 and rerolling only 1s. Assign rolls accordingly before assigning racial modifiers. Reroll stats if the total bonus from all stats is less than 0. :: Used since 1994 ::
* Untrained cross class skills do not exist. A character can purchase any skill that does require training at the normal ratio, regardless of class. Skills that require training, such as Decipher Script, may only be chosen at cross-class skill ranks unless they are listed as a class skill in the class's Class Skills section. :: Used since 2001 ::
* Action Points, Character Traits, and Weapon Proficiency Groups from Unearthed Arcana. :: New ::
* Defense Bonus from Unearthed Arcana. Armor provides damage reduction equal to the armor bonus it would normally give. Shields add to Defense Bonus :: New ::
* When rolling to stabilize, instead of rolling percentile dice, roll a Fortitude save with a DC of 15 + the amount below 0 your character is. For example, if your character is at -3 hit points, the Fortitude save to stabilize is 18. :: New ::
* Spells cast by a spellcasting class now have a modified DC for spells. The difficulty class for any spell is now equal to 10 + 1/2 appropriate spellcaster level (rounded down) + the caster's appropriate attribute modifier. This may cause the highest level spell you can cast to not have the highest save DC it possibly could, but it also means the DC for any given spellcaster is always the same and doesn't have to be recalculated for each spell level (a minor bit of math true, but every bit helps). :: New ::
* Before any character can enter into a prestige class, he or she must pass a test-based prerequisite set forth by the DM. :: Used since 2003 ::
* Weapon Specialization and Greater Weapon Specialization Feats: Classes other that fighters may select these feats, although there are a few limitations:
1. Classes with a good base attack bonus progression may take Weapon Specialization at 8th-level and Greater Weapon Specialization at 16th-level.
2. Classes with an average base attack bonus progression may take Weapon Specialization at 12th-level and Greater Weapon Specialization at 20th-level.
3. Classes with a poor base attack bonus progression may take Weapon Specialization at 16th-level and may never take Greater Weapon Specialization.
4. Priests may take Weapon Specialization and Greater Weapon Specialization for their deity's favored weapon as if they were a fighter. All other weapons follow their base attack bonus progression as stated above.
:: Used since current campaign ::
* Critical hits are handled differently. Any weapon with an increased threat range (due to weapon characteristics, feats, spells, or other abilities) now has an increased critical multiplier. If a weapon has a critical threat range of 19-20/x3, then increase the critical multiplier by 1, making the critical multiplier x4 and reducing the threat range to 20. Spells and magical abilities that increase the threat range now increase the multiplier. For example, a longsword normally has a threat range of 19-20/x2. Its new threat range under this system is now 20/x3. If the spell Keen Edge were then cast upon the longsword, it would now increase the multiplier of a longsword to 20/x4. :: New ::
* An extensive critical failure chart too extensive to post. :: Used since 1994 ::
IMC, we also use "hero points" which work sorta like limited wish. When a character does something particularly clever or heroic, he may earn a hero point. A character may never have more than one hero point at a time (this is never really an issue since they are only rarely awarded). The PC can then cash in his/her hero point at a later date. The players love this system and it adds a lot of flavor to the game.
For instance, once a desperate unarmed character threw himself off a ledge onto a small cluster of gnolls that were about to polish off his severely wounded companion. The chaos that ensued was hysterical (and, amazingly, largely successful!). He was awarded a hero point for his selfless act. A few sessions later the party was in desperate shape again and the character with the hero point ended up the last man standing after a particularly vicious battle. He was hovering on unconsciousness and losing a hit point/rd because of a special wound he had received. He cashed in his hero point to stay conscious and active despite negative hit points (until -10 when he would theoretically drop dead). Anyway, he survived (and thusly, so did the storyline). It was great fun.
Do other people use hero points too?
Just because I said "points" doesn't mean I'm talking about the DMG's point buy system... You could have figured that out if you had read the rest of that paragraph.
I must not have caught that one. Ah well, it was a pleasant fantasy, trying to picture players tooling around, trying to figure out how to spend 66 points on a standard point-buy system :)
1.) You can save skill points between levels.
2.) Feats can be purchased at 10 skill points.
3.) Epic feats can be purchased at 20 skill points.
Just because I said "points" doesn't mean I'm talking about the DMG's point buy system... You could have figured that out if you had read the rest of that paragraph.I must not have caught that one. Ah well, it was a pleasant fantasy, trying to picture players tooling around, trying to figure out how to spend 66 points on a standard point-buy system :)
Don't feel bad, 66 point buy was my first thought also.
-------------------Here is an alternative class I introduced in my game:
Unwilling Sorcerer - Character dealing with undesired/mysterious manifesting of magical powers.
1. Character's castable spells are all rolled randomly.
2. Additionally, the character gets a bonus spell known
at each spell level that may manifest in an emergency situation.
a. (for example: Should the character find himself falling off a cliff, the player could declare the desire to manifest one of his emergency spells. At this point the DM will chose an appropriate spell that will be beneficial to the character based on the availability of an empty emergency spell slot for the various spell levels. In this case the character might manifest 'Feather Fall', 'Fly', 'Polymorph Self', into something that can fly, 'Levitate', 'Monster Summoning' some flying creature to catch him, or some other spell that will get the character out of trouble.) This spell will then be added to the character's spell list and no further emergency spell of that level will be available.
3. The Character may cast spells with out material components.
4. The Character is not fully in control of their destiny. If the character wishes to add a level in a class other than Sorcerer they must notify the DM before they gain 80% of the Ex needed for that next level. At the 80% Ex point the DM will roll a 25% chance that the character immediately gains a Sorcerer level at that point and immediately begins to gain Ex against the next level. Should the 25% chance not result in the gaining of a Sorcerer level, the character will be allowed to gain the remaining 20% Ex needed for the next level and proceed to gain a level in the class of their choice.
5. The character may choose a magical blood type from Fantasy Flight's Spells and Spellcraft, page 67.
The current character is a Human Female of oriental background. She has manifested the following spells due to Fey blood in her veins:
0 Level - Daze, Ghost Sound, Mage Hand, Acid Splash (Magic of Faerun)
1st Level - True Strike, Ghost Light (Oriental Adventures)
Additionally, her Fey blood lets her cast 'Vanish' (invisible for 2 rounds or something like that) once a day as a Spell-like ability.
------------------------------
I also have a spell book bard that gives some flexability in allowing the bard characters to select preformance spells for a night on stage and combat spells for a day in the dungeon.
ASEO out