I'm sure we all have one DM/GM that has his own house rules that you either love or you love to hate. I'm just curious as to what those are? Who knows we might all have something that someone else it looking for, or looking to help improve or dis-prove. But anyways, here's one that I made up for when I run Star Wars d20. I'm not looking to hear about any specific system or if it's a skill/feat/or just a plain different way of looking at a rule. Here's my new Feat for the "Personal Weapon" Feat.
Personal Weapon (Feat)
"You have devopled a close, personal bond with a specific weapon because of everything tha has happened to the both of you."
Pre-Req.- Weapon Familiarity Feat for the weapon you wish to apply this to. Weapon must be personalized, the character must have done it. This feat only applies to one individual weapon, not all weapons of the same type. You can gain this feat multiple times, but mus be applied to a different weapon each time.
The weapon recieves a +1 bonus to critical threats
Damage dice increased to the next larger size of dice. (i.e. a weapon that normally does 2d4 damage will now do 2d6 damage)
+2 to Search and Spot checks to locate your weapon.
Weapon personalization losses its penalty.
Value of weapons goes to 1/3 of the market price, the value of the gun is sentimental in nature.
If anyone but the character uses the weapon treat it like the normal version of the weapon, but imply a -1 to both attack and damage.
Don't forget to give the weapon a personal name!
The only house rule I added to standard 3.5 was that you die at your negative CON score equivalent instead of -10 and that stabilize rolls are DC15 + whatever number you are below 0 hp Fortitude saves.
I have several home-designed feats, but they are too lengthy to post here.
3 natural 20's in a row is instant DEATH!!! (the 12yo's trained hawk hit the Orc from behind and he rolled three natural 20's in a ROW - yes, he was SOOO pumped!)
"Talons of DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!" is developing into a battle-cry of sorts in our sproadic group...
I hate any house rule that takes up more than 3 lines of space on the DM's 'house rule cheat sheet'. Aside from custom feats and other options of course. Any house rule that's that complex will doubtless only slow the game down.
I love any house rule that makes so much sense that it shouldn't even be a house rule. Like 'everyone uses point-buy stats and standardized hp' (whoops, did I say that out loud?) or 'a druid's taboo against metallic items includes scimitars.'
Here's what I'm thinking about for future house rules (will not be adapted THIS campaign)
Fort Save to stabilize, negative CON = death as mentioned, bring back the old rule that going negative requires a day of bed rest for each point below 0 to fully recuperate. The instant heal and instant back to full power after being at death's door doesn't sit well in my craw. I want the game to "slow down" in time progression so that the PCs can't get to 10th level in 2 months of game time.
Adopt the defense bonuses from Unearthed Arcana and give armor damage resistance equal to half its normal armor bonus. DR would vary by slashing/bludgeon/piercing vs. various armor types, a'la 1st edition (I know it sounds slower, but I've playtested this and it adds a nice feel to the game and it's not as complicated as it sounds)
Adopt the simpler old school XP system from Unearthed Arcana (1st edition brain kicking in again)
Enforce training rules and make players level up and choose feats/skills for 3 levels in advance (speed up play and ensures that they and I know what they're going to be training on)
Tie all magic items enchantment to the life force of the user, so that magic items other than potions, scrolls and wands are only usable by the person they were created for (who also pay the XP cost for the item instead of the item creator). In return, I would allow improved and greater combat expertise so that PCs could boost their melee armor class by up to 10 places by using those feats to trade between base attack bonus and AC.
Cut treasure awards from published adventures to 30%, I've run nothing but published adventures since switching to 3.5 and the PCs are all walking credit unions.
Use several homecreated "team fighting" feats to give lower CR rating creatures a chance to be dangerous for longer periods of time.
Switch to hexagon battlemats (I've already done this).
Just a quick thought -- I've used the Death at negative HP equal to Constitution before, and I like it. The idea of a Fortitude save at DC 15+(negative HP) seems brilliant to me, and I'm going to adopt it at my next session; why didn't I think of that?
Oh yeah, and I've been using hex maps forever. Hexes are much better than squares; I just wish there were more poster-maps and such in hexes!!! It's frustrating to have lots of poster-maps and no way to use them without going back to squares!!
|
For house rules, my regular group has agreed on a few. I already mentioned changing touch spell wands to a range of 30 feet. It hasn't been an issue with players exploiting it or becoming unbalancing.
Several members like to play exotic races with some using templates. I refuse to let a player use the feral template from Savage Species, at least with its current level adjustment.
The identify spell we changed to make it easier to use. We gave it a casting time of one hour.
We let Identify work as a 1 minute casting time, and we got rid of the 100gp cost. Mostly to eliminate bookkeeping.
Cross-class skills cost only 1 point per rank (same as class skills), but you're still limited to the usual max ranks limit (so you can't be as good at a cross-class skill as you can at a class skill). Once a skill is a class skill for you, it's a class skill. (This encourages folks to put a few ranks into things they otherwise wouldn't, like Knowledge skills. It also encourages teamwork, such as someone taking Open Locks as a cross-class skill so that he can assist the primary lock-picker.)
Oh yeah, and I've been using hex maps forever. Hexes are much better than squares; I just wish there were more poster-maps and such in hexes!!! It's frustrating to have lots of poster-maps and no way to use them without going back to squares!!
You can buy a clear piece of plexiglass and a decorator's 1" hexagon mold and make your own clear hex overlay if you really want to use the poster maps. I have a 1" hex grid clear plexiglass "Elysian field" backpack board that I plan to use in those situations. You can't find them anymore, unfortunately, I bought mine back in the 80's.
|
My experience is more with "Variant Rules" than "House Rules" but I suppose it still applies.
We use Vitality and Wound. The original published version (in Unearthed Arcana, I believe) was severely underdeveloped as it didn't deal with things like Regeneration and nonlethal damage. However, Magagumo and myself have managed to expand on the original rules for the system, also taking into account the difference in effects of some feats. It's quite a few pages long and is a bit complicated for anyone who joins the group, but we use it because it makes healing a lot faster and is good in low magic settings (or at least when there isn't a lot of healing magic in the group). It's a bit more stylistic, but we use it in every game he runs (I run the normal system because I'm still learning the game to begin with and learning how to turn my stuff to Vitality and Wound is a bit complicated at the moment).
I tried defense rolls once. As a concept, it's rather good. I mean, if you have to roll to see how well you hit someone, why not roll to see how well you defend against an attack? Unfortunately, it certainly bogged things down, making it impossible for players to just tell me how much damage they did. Instead, they had to tell me every attack roll they made and I had to make an opposing defense roll, which definitely slowed things down. Again, really neat concept, just didn't work so well in practice.
Also thinking about using facing in combat. I once got hit by a nasty gaze attack when I wasn't even looking in that direction, but, since, technically, there was no facing, I apparently was automatically looking in every direction (???). Anyways, anyone had a chance to try this out yet? Any thoughts on it at all?
Knowledge checks for monsters: The player gets to see the Monster Manual entry for one second for each factor of five by which s/he beats the DC. I add a second for page flips and generally describe where the monster is on a page before I start the countdown.
This defeats the argument that they don't get anything useful when I tell them about the creatures diet, organization or mating habits, but also allows them to overlook things like DR 15/cold iron, nasty spell-like abilities, or the fact that the creature's diet might actually be important this time around.
GGG
My most used house rule is for balancing party wealth and economy in my world vs. the book values:
- When purchasing a spell in any form (scroll, add to book, hired caster, etc.), the spell level is squared before proceeding with any cost calculations for purchase, magic item creation, etc.
The group has had no issues with this and the world economics aren't skewed by the trading of high level magic items.
M
|
We don't use it in all games, but frequently we have used the rule that if your cleric is in good standing with his/her church/diety their healing spells are more effective...i.e. only the upper half of the hit dice of healing. We have had a number of games with few clerics, so this frequently has made the difference between a close success and a TPK.
If the cleric strays from the tennets of their religion, they will only be able to do the lower half of the hit dice healing (or not able to cast spells at all for very grevious cases...don't piss off your gods!) until the cleric atones.
One feat is purchaseable by 10 skill points.
One epic feat is purchaseable by 20 skill points.
(I allow for saving skill points between levels to compensate for low skill point classes.)
The following ones aren't really house rules in a mechanical sense, just ones that have become ingrained in my gaming tradition.
All natural twenties must be lit up with a high-powered LED maglite/flashlight. Accompanied with a cheesy "aaaaahh!"
Any tactical explanation of a situation that takes more than ten seconds to describe is accompanied by "Dude," as it usually involves an outrageous step that's plausible if the dice are rolled high enough. Hence the "Dude Roll" - *doooooooooode*.
I have also discovered that if I have two of my players are in any group together, no matter what game, there is a probability that one of them will come up with the idea that lighting themselves on fire and jumping into a group of bad guys is a really great idea.
Bribes are acceptable. They help me forget that natural one you just rolled.
|
|
All natural twenties must be lit up with a high-powered LED maglite/flashlight. Accompanied with a cheesy "aaaaahh!"
Any tactical explanation of a situation that takes more than ten seconds to describe is accompanied by "Dude," as it usually involves an outrageous step that's plausible if the dice are rolled high enough. Hence the "Dude Roll" - *doooooooooode*.
Along those lines, in a few of my gaming groups, any horrible failure involved a muffin. For example, rolling bad on a spot check equals "I saw a muffin." A slightly better roll, while still failing may be, "I noticed the muffin was blueberry." Rolling a horrible attack roll might be "I was distracted by muffiny goodness." Stuff like that. Much more entertaining than saying "I didn't hit."
Also thinking about using facing in combat. I once got hit by a nasty gaze attack when I wasn't even looking in that direction, but, since, technically, there was no facing, I apparently was automatically looking in every direction (???).
No, your DM just screwed up. From the DMG (page 294):
"An opponent can shut his eyes, turn his back on the creature, or wear a blindfold. In these cases, the opponent does not need to make a saving throw. The creature with the gaze attack gains total concealment relative to the opponent."
It's often said that "there's no facing in 3.x," and it's certainly true that opponents actively engaged in combat are presumed to be constantly moving, looking in all directions, etc. But presumptions are only presumptions, and must be discarded when other information defeats them. So if you explicitly stated that your character was not looking in the creature's direction, your DM should have ruled accordingly.
|
|
No, your DM just screwed up. From the DMG (page 294):
"An opponent can shut his eyes, turn his back on the creature, or wear a blindfold. In these cases, the opponent does not need to make a saving throw. The creature with the gaze attack gains total concealment relative to the opponent."
Yes, Yes I did :-P. Somehow, after GMing for over three years, I had never used a monster with a gaze attack. Then, during a one-shot (The Black Egg), I unleash three bodaks on the group and immediately ask for Fortitude saves vs. gaze, rather than waiting till each person's turn to get their reaction/action ^_^;;;.
I suppose a surprise round gaze would be unavoidable, but this was just a DM getting too caught up in time factors to correctly adjudicate the rules. Still plan on testing facing someday...
My other favorite house rule is the "bell curve" skill check, which focuses on the "training and practice" aspect of skill use, rather than random chance. Those 3d6 do occasionally roll high or very low, but it's nice to see players hit between 9 & 11 on a regular basis, making success (or failure) a greater certainty and more reliant on your ranks/bonuses. Also, those tedious Search/Open Lock checks go by more smoothly and encourage caution, without overly depleting the party's precious time and buff spells (the system allows you to "take 16" over 1 minute, or "take 18" over 10 minutes).
Of course, Use Magic Device (and Truenaming) still rely on a 1d20, given the essential randomness and game balance inherent in their vast range of results.
I'd call that weapon feat overpowered, but then I'm not too familiar with Star Wars D20.
My own rules:
* Hit points use the Wounds and Vitality system. It's more realistic and cinematic.
* Hit points are average for the die, rounded up (first hit die is still maximum). For example, a d12 is 7. It's fairer and stops random chance cheesing you out of hit points.
* Ability scores use the Iron Heroes point-buy method with, if I recall, 26 points. Formerly I used a set of 18/16/16/14/12/10, arrange as desired.
* Any race may be played—even from the Monster Manual if you can afford the level adjustment—just as long as it doesn't have more than two arms. I don't even want to begin trying to work out how those combine with two-weapon fighting.
I'm sure I have more, but I can't remember them right now.
Three pages and growing (although they're all with examples).
32 point buy, with 2/3 max hit points per level.
Sorcerers get 4 skill points per level, and feats as a Wiz, but no automatic familiar. (This may change.)
Half-Elves get 1 additional skill point per level (like a Human).
Turn Undead is a 30' radius burst of Positive Energy, centered on the cleric, doing 1d6/level of damage, Will save for half. Failed Will save = Frightened. (Evil clerics can Heal Undead with it.)
Death is at -(10 + current Con Modifier). Stabilization is at Con on d%.
Levels are automatically gained at the first good night's rest that ends with the PC at full hit points.
Natural 1 may fumble on attack rolls.
DM rolls identical set of healing dice; player may elect to take DM's roll instead of his own (but he doesn't see the DM's roll until he chooses).
Tumble and Concentration DC is 10 + enemy's BAB.
Telas
* If you bring goodies for the rest of the group roll d% and add that number to your XP. O:)
*unusual stunts that fail earn you (or your next char) 2d% xp (unusual stunts that succeed have their own reward :)
*describing your spell's special effects (instead of saying I cast magic missile) will give random bonus metamagic feats (1 on a d8 rolled by me). (this has the added house rule giving the descriptions to the DM before you say "a tiny bat-a-rang of force shoots from my fingers to strike unerringly at my foe")
*really bad puns earns you a punch on the arm (you would be surprised how many dancing jokes need to be endured at 3rd, 6th, 9th level...
*getting the DM to squirt Dr. Pepper from his nose is worth d% xp.
*TRYING to get the DM to squirt Dr. Pepper through his nose singles you out for the troll bouncers (see below).
*replacement characters must be of different class and race then the poor char who just died. (no more avenging brothers...)
*deciding your action on your turn is a move equivelant action
*1/2 orcs get bonus skill focus intimdate feat
*1/2 elves get bonus feat (though must be a skill feat like persuasion.
*min/maxers can expect to find personal combat with my half-red trolls (and if necessary their cohorts and followers).
*oh yeah and the salty oatmeal rule...
Also thinking about using facing in combat. I once got hit by a nasty gaze attack when I wasn't even looking in that direction, but, since, technically, there was no facing, I apparently was automatically looking in every direction (???).
No, your DM just screwed up. From the DMG (page 294):
"An opponent can shut his eyes, turn his back on the creature, or wear a blindfold. In these cases, the opponent does not need to make a saving throw. The creature with the gaze attack gains total concealment relative to the opponent."
It's often said that "there's no facing in 3.x," and it's certainly true that opponents actively engaged in combat are presumed to be constantly moving, looking in all directions, etc. But presumptions are only presumptions, and must be discarded when other information defeats them. So if you explicitly stated that your character was not looking in the creature's direction, your DM should have ruled accordingly.
In a case like this, unless the player specified that their character was consciously avoiding the gaze of the attacking creature, I would have them make a Spot check to see if they are facing the creature or aware enough to avoid looking at it; failure meant that they were facing the attack and not able to avoid a gaze - normal save is then rolled. If they specify that they're not looking, no save is needed.
If the character if caught flatfooted, it's going to be an immediate save.
M
Hi All,
Some of my house rules are:
1) When rolling hit points for gaining a level, I roll the hit die as well. The player gets the better of the two rolls.
2) Ties in initiative between the heroes and their foes always go to the heroes.
3) I use cost of living for monthly upkeep. The character picks a lifestyle level (extravagant, middle class, etc.) and pays the monthly gold piece expense. Makes for less minutia to keep up with in game concerning what they pay each day for food and lodgings.
4) I use Action Points as presented in Unearthed Arcana. The players earn an additional 2 action points for completing post session questionnaires. They can also earn a one-time bonus of 10 action points when they present a painted miniature for their character.
5) Players earn roleplaying experience on a scale of 25 to 100 experience points multiplied by their character’s level at the start of the session. The standard award falls around 40 to 60 points for making a decent effort. In addition, the group presents a secret ballot vote for who they thought did the best roleplaying. I tally the votes and the individual with the most votes gets an additional 20 to 30 points added to my original roleplaying award.
Good gaming,
Mark
My players love/hate that I max hitpoints: theirs and monsters; this is left over from AD&D where you got more experience bonus per hit point of monster killed and was just easier math and saves a lot of time when making up adventures.
1) When rolling hit points for gaining a level, I roll the hit die as well. The player gets the better of the two rolls.
3) I use cost of living for monthly upkeep. The character picks a lifestyle level (extravagant, middle class, etc.) and pays the monthly gold piece expense. Makes for less minutia to keep up with in game concerning what they pay each day for food and lodgings.
I like both those house rules and may swipe them for my campaign :)
I think we've had this thread before. I avoided using any "roll two hit die and take the highest" because it increased the average hit points and skewed the game in the direction of the players being too lastable rather than anything else. They thus took longer to kill, giving them the idea that they were unkillable, but without increasing their saves, armour class, offences, etc, to compensate.
I allow players to use knowledge skills untrained with a maximum DC of 20. (Anything over DC 20 they can not learn/know). This represent a player character having "common knowledge" or "trivia" relating to a subject.
In my games, I use the following house rules:
Stats: Always the elite array. 15, 14, 13, 12, 10 and 8. Add one point to any score. This has given me the most balanced characters in 3.5. I like the fact that many PCs end up with a flawed score they have to take into consideration.
Action point system in full effect in my current campaign, with some modification. I like the theatrics of the mechanic and having something to threaten PCs with.
No warlocks. Ever. Under any circumstances.
Skilled Half-elves.
I've noticed in recent years alot of new PCs asking questions about magic items "for sale," one of my all time greatest pet peeves. Never happens. There MAY be a chance at a barter with specific NPC, but no PC will ever buy a magic item in my game.
I also use a hit location chart or die, as is neccessary. Alot of my players enjoy combat, so they like the little extra from doing this. No mechanic effect, though.
When rolling hit points for each level, I allow my PCs to make a roll, and I make a hidden roll. Without seeing mine, they can choose whichever they want. I run pretty brutal combat, and my PCs often need a little extra HP. This lets them have a chance to duck a bad die roll sometimes, and get better HP.
A question: Does anyone here use Critical Hit tables? I have the old Arduin ones, and I like the detail. I also have the Player's Option 2nd Ed crit rules. Has anyone adapted this for 3.5, and had success with it?
Also thinking about using facing in combat. I once got hit by a nasty gaze attack when I wasn't even looking in that direction, but, since, technically, there was no facing, I apparently was automatically looking in every direction (???). Anyways, anyone had a chance to try this out yet? Any thoughts on it at all?
yea...im kinda new to the game but i have played final fantasy tactics for GBA and you would have to choose facing in that...it is really annoying at first but then the players will start to see patterns about it and it makes it more interesting...and it makes their decisions mean a lot more...but yea i thought that i would just mention it...and also FFTA is a really good RPG strat that i would recomend playing...
Mine have become almost infamous, yet here they are:
HP based on race (4 for halflings/gnomes, 6 for elves/half-elves, 8 for humans, 10 for dwarves/half-orcs)
Armor gives it's full AC bonus as damage reduction rather than AC (ditto for natural armor)
AC bonus per level by class (basically a reconfiguring of the BABs based on class dodginess--rogues and monks highest, etc.)
but NO EXTRA HP AT LEVELUP
Magic adjusted accordingly so 6d6 becomes 1d6+6 and 4d8 becomes 1d8+4 (otherwise magic--particularly healing is just crazy) the same done for special abilities like sneak attack that are loads of extra dice intended for characters with hundreds of HP.
Dodge gives +2 bonus and stacks multiple times like Toughness
Power Attack has a max of -5/+5 but you get the 5' step.
Deeds based XP, where XP is allocated by story threads completed rather than monsters defeated.
I think that's most of it. We've been testing out the system over the past few months and the results are beautiful! The game plays much more like a riproaring adventure story sans a lot of the game-mechanickiness that can sometimes make the game so hard to narrate and a tad clunky and unrealistic. It really is cool. Try it sometime.
Mine have become almost infamous, yet here they are:
HP based on race (4 for halflings/gnomes, 6 for elves/half-elves, 8 for humans, 10 for dwarves/half-orcs)
Since I saw your first post on Paizo, I've learned to respect your opinions for the most part. Unfortunately, still not so in this case. I'm not critisizing and if it works for your gamers, that's great but just don't ever let me into your game because I can guarantee that EVERY one of my characters would be a dwarf! (especially since wizard is my favorite class) I'm no munchkin, but the difference between d4 and d10 would be too big and the temptation too great to not take advantage of!
My house rules:
The commonly used death at -Con score (didn't think it would be that popular)
For hp it's up to the player to choose: dice or half rounded down. So that way they have a real choice...steady hp or chance to make it big.
And the now infamous: when I name you for your action, you have 10 seconds to tell me want you do or your action is over. I have players that are incredebly slow to make up their minds...that helped him to think when it's not his turn. It the best way to speed up the game, greater than rolling all your dice at the same time. Plus it forces them to KNOW the DC's and key points of the spell. And another thing, they must tell me the range, area, DC, SR, type of damage from the spell, because when in doudt I decided from memory...not always good for them.
I have to say that I will steal the Con check DC 15 + neg hp to stabilize. Make sense that a tough half-orc has a better chance to stabilize.
Since I saw your first post on Paizo, I've learned to respect your opinions for the most part. Unfortunately, still not so in this case. I'm not critisizing and if it works for your gamers, that's great but just don't ever let me into your game because I can guarantee that EVERY one of my characters would be a dwarf! (especially since wizard is my favorite class) I'm no munchkin, but the difference between d4 and d10 would be too big and the temptation too great to not take advantage of!
Thanks! We do whats we can. I've got to say it's cool to get notice from the established names on here. I've really come to love this board and the chance to finally openly discuss the aspects of D&D that I love, hate and scratch my head over.
No biggie if there's any particular rules I use that don't suit your taste. No need to worry really unless the guys at Wizards will me their company when they die or whatever (chances are they'll all get "rezzed" anyway--heh). Anyway if the worst thing that happened in my games as a DM was more dwarf characters I could take that. Better than elves the loathesome little pointy eared wreches!!
Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
|
I hate house rules and try to limit them to the areas where either the core rules don't have an efficient mechanism (e.g., identification of magic items) or meta-game issues that crop up every single time you play (e.g., rolling stats and hit points, replacement characters.) I think the later set of rules are vastly more important than the former and that most DM's play these issues off the cuff. I don't think the actual rule matters as much as having a rule in place (and I frequently propose a range of rules to fit my players style). They should be short and sweet. I don't want to wade through somebody else's version of the core rules 3.51, and no one wants to wade through mine. Here are my big house rules:
1. Death: By the book. Not a house rule per se, but this issue gets fudged so often that it should be laid out.
I'm a bit irritated about this one in my current campaign because I offered the players the option of a more liberal rule (i.e., lose some xp but not all) and they rejected it. Then, when half the party got killed, they were unhappy with the rule we established. I fudged it and am thinking I will revise my house rules soon.
2. Replacement Characters: Come in with xp as if the player's original character had died. Equipment may be purchased from core books only. No more than half of gp on any one item. Original character's equipment is destroyed except for quest items.
If you don't have a rule like this in place, you're going to either a) end up with too much treasure due to the PC's splitting up the dead character's wealth and b) have overly optimized replacement characters because unlike their adventuring counterparts, they got to pick their treasure.
3. Magic Item Markets: Magic items sell at half price just like any other piece of equipment. Any magic item not in the core rules is custom and must be created rather than purchased.
Again, this is an annoying thing to deal with in play. The players will want to buy or sell magic items. A good DM sets their expectations so that they know whether they should invest in item creation feats or just rely on the free market.
4. TPK: If more than half the party is killed, it is a tpk. The characters lose all equipment and lose a level as if raised from the dead.
TPK's happen. If you are prepared for them, you don't have to feel like you cheated when you continue playing after one occurs.
5. Hit Points: Roll once, keep that roll. Again, not a house rule per se, but every DM has a hp house rule. That rule should be known in advance by the players and should not be changed just because someone got a 1 on their die.
That's off the top of my head.
On the count of three, roll, rule. I have characters roll saving throw , imitiative and other rolls, but not all the time on the count of three. One, two, three roll. It helps keep every one honest. It also builds tension.
The dice cup rule. From time to time as a group gets large and unruly i invoke the dice cup rule. I bring out a dice cup and he who has the cup has the DMs attention.
Some quirky house rules;
need a 13 strength to weild dwarven war axe. A player led DM mistake now house rule.
True strike as a touch spell. Another player led DM mistake now a house rule.
Sense trap gives a thief a free role to search within 5' of a trap. Does not aplly to locksm,doors, doorways, gates or chest. I just got tired of rogue characters checking every five feet for traps
Yep; I have used the death at con score for about 15 years. Seems to be a much better rule. Also, nobody around here has clerics pick spells beforehand and pray for them; that is crap; we all play that a cleric type does acts of piety; prays; and as long as his/her diety is happy; they ask for the spell they want when needed. We have all been playing that way for decades. The way the rule book suggests just doesnt make sense to anyone that I know of anyway.
Dodge gives +2 bonus and stacks multiple times like Toughness
I've been considering an "Improved Dodge" feat, prereq Base Reflex Save +2, that gives a +1 dodge bonus, +1 per 4 character levels (and to all foes, not just one specific foe). And, for that matter, Improved Fortitude, Reflex, and Will feats that give +2 to the save, with an additional +1 per 5 levels. Or maybe I'll just replace the standard feats with these. Maybe even Weapon Focus... though that may be going too far.
TK
Get the dungeonmaster drunk!!!
"Cool, I'm getting drunk!"
(obligatory Dr Demento/Dead Ale Wives reference!)
|
|
Fort Save to stabilize, negative CON = death
Would certainly make CON a more important stat, and would give people a reason to raise it by a single point regardless of whether it affected the stat bonus (eg from 10 to 11). At the moment, players feel underwhelmed when it comes to stat-raising time, if they've got all even stats.
Also, hit point rolls are a bit of a crap-shoot; one or two bad rolls and your character is 'handicapped' relative to his/her expected power level. Even placing a good stat in CON is no guarantee that another character won't overtake you, thereby invalidating your choice.Having this rule gives a player a measure of choice and control over this element of the game, and rewards the player who values CON, rather than a more 'flashy' stat (such as STR).
EG: compare 2 Fighter/2, one with max rolled hp, but average CON, and one with minimum hp for level 2, but CON 18.
One has 20hp, and can survive 30 damage.
The other has only 19hp, but can survive 37 damage.
Multiple Criticals:
You add 1 damage die for each confirmed crit:
Short Sword:
You roll a nat 19 or 20 (and hit), then roll a nat 19 or 20 to confirm, you have a possible double crit, roll a third time to confirm the second one, if sucessful, then you roll x3 damage instead of x2. If the double crit confirmation roll is a nat 19 or 20, it becomes a possible triple crit (x4 damage), and then roll to confirm, and so on.
Anything with a x3 or x4 multiplier, you only add one extra damage die per confirmed crit.
So far (over the past four years) the best I've seen was a triple crit confirmed with a rapier with improved crit. He rolled good enough for a quadruple crit threat, but didn't hit on the last roll.
|
|
Bring back the old rule that going negative requires a day of bed rest for each point below 0 to fully recuperate. The instant heal and instant back to full power after being at death's door doesn't sit well in my craw. I want the game to "slow down" in time progression so that the PCs can't get to 10th level in 2 months of game time.
I have been in a group with a battle-cry of "STARJUMPS!" when someone does this, the idea being that the character in question jumps to his feet and starts showing off. All action stops as he does a full circuit of the room, press-ups, sit-ups, chin-ups, all accompanied by tinny video-game 'power-up' music.
The idea being, of course, that everyone knows how utterly cheesy and stupid this is.Other variations include;
"EAT THE CHICKEN!" (Gauntlet/Goldenaxe)
"INSERT COIN!" (any arcade game)
"MULTIBALL!/EXTRA BALL!, etc" (pinball).
Seriously, though, this is a laudable idea, but you would have to seriously amend the scenarios you run, since they are written assuming the PCs have exactly that ability. If you prevent PCs from continuing with the adventure, you need to make sure that the timescale allows for this, and you haven't written yourself into a corner by saying "THE WORLD ENDS TOMORROW...Oh, crap, you're all confined to bed...er,...OK, THE WORLD ENDS NEXT WEEK (the villain has chores to do)".
The bed-rest period could be reduced by the higher level heals, or by Heal checks (giving people a reason to actually take the skill. At the moment, it's redundant, since the classes who have access also have CLW on their spell lists).
I have several house/optional rules:
1) Death at negative CON. Disabled at 0 HP to -CON bonus (swiped from AU).
2) Massive Damage Threshold equals CON. Fort DC for MDT is 15 +2 for each 10pts of damage over CON (or MDT). Each size categorie above large receive +4 to MDT saves. No penalty for small creatures, but creatures recive -4 MDT per size categorie below Small. No CON no MDT. This makes large creatures very very dangerous, and large (or bigger) creatures with no CON extremely dangerous. failing a MDT just knocks unconscious a creature for 6 rounds. A DC 15 heal check or any Cure spell (or spell like ability) revives the creature from unconsciousness.
3) Unnamed NPCs are clobbered if they receive damage equal halve their current HP's. Clobbered condition equals no actions for 1 round. Not helpless not stunned.
4) Action Points. These are a life saver.
5) (almost) All divine casters are spontaneous casters as per rule in UA.
Oh another favorite house rule around here: Rather than bonus spells being looked up on that chart at the beginning of the book (which usually gives you a relatively lame 1 extra spell on like your first and second level spells, or whatever) we usually count the person's stat modifier as the number of bonus spells per level. That way true talent is as much of a factor of the success of a spell-user as experience in a lot of ways and a talented star wizard can often show up someone who's more average, even if he's been at it a while.
Plus it's just dang cool to have more spells--more opportunity to have spells for color and flavor and usefulness rather than having to have every spell be somehow combat related.
|
|
Tie all magic items enchantment to the life force of the user, so that magic items other than potions, scrolls and wands are only usable by the person they were created for (who also pay the XP cost for the item instead of the item creator). In return, I would allow improved and greater combat expertise so that PCs could boost their melee armor class by up to 10 places by using those feats to trade between base attack bonus and AC.
A nice idea, but the concept of the hero finding the 'long-lost weapon to thwart the Dark Lord' has been a staple of fantasy fiction/myth for centuries. Enforcing the above idea too strictly would make all found permanent items effectively useless.
A compromise would be to allow items to be used, but only after a period of 'attunement', during which the new owner examines, polishes, practices, or researches the item, while spending an amount of xp proportional to creation cost (maybe a tenth). This may seem harsh, but to balance this, it could do away with the identify spell.
A side-effect of this would be to reduce the item-swapping that takes place in every group (I need to scout ahead. Can I borrow your slippers? Yeah, but I want your ring as collateral...).
Another effect would be to make parties work together more as a team. At the moment, it doesn't matter if Willy Wizard dies, Sammy Sorceror will have stripped him of his gear before he hits the floor. If all the players know that their hopes of survival rely on getting Willy Wizard into the Dark Lord's throne room with the Gem-of-Dark-Lord-Melting, then there'll be a lot more heroics and self-sacrifice to ensure that happens. Good and/or Lawful team players will succeed (as they should), and Chaotic, Evil, backstabbing groups will fall by the wayside (as they should).
We've only got a few.
1) On HP either roll or take the 'perfect' average. 2.5 for d4s and so on. You have to keep your roll if you choose to do that.
2) Dodge gives you a +1 bonus to your AC at all times. You don't have to choose who you're dodging against. Any time you're denied your dex bonus to AC, you lose the dodge bonus.
3) The Mind Over Body feat from the Forgotten Realms gives you your Int mod to HP at every level. You don't get bonus HP for taking metamagic feats.
4) I think it's an optinal rule from the DMG, but I can't remember right now so I'll mention it. Perfect 20s give you +10 to your check, 1s give you a -10. This applies to everything, attacks, saves, skill checks and so on.
I can't think of anymore at the moment, but I'm sure we use more than that.
Good and/or Lawful team players will succeed (as they should), and Chaotic, Evil, backstabbing groups will fall by the wayside (as they should).
I think that playing a chaotic or evil or chaotic evil character is always fun...and I don't see why they should be dying all the time...
I mean how fun would it be to raze a village as a mind flayer, eat all of their brains and then leave their mindless carcases for a present for their king...
Now that would be fun...
Our hp rule is a bit different; we roll and decide if we want to keep the roll and the gm rolls secretly; you can always opt to take the gm roll; it might be better; might be worse; if you roll a 1 or 2 then might as well take the gm roll for instance. All 4 gms in our little group do this.