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).
But I do see your point...I wouldn't want my body being disturbed...but I would hope that my replacement character would get all the equipment or its value in gold peices...
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Not a house rule I am using, but one I am proposing. With regards to HPs, you get designated amount each level from three different sources. Race, Class, and Constitution. For example (these numers are probably inaccurate and are just an example) a human figher would get 5/fighter 5/human plus his Con Bonus per fighter level. Of course if he took a level in sorcerer, he would get less from his class but the same for race and con. And I am thinking that maybe at first level everyone could start with HP equal to their Con score.
What do you think?
Tam
...Race, Class, and Constitution.
What do you think?
Tam
Since some races get a bonus or penalty to con, you would be rewarding this twice. IMO race is figured into con already.
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My House Rules:
1) Character generation is point buy only (for balance).
2) All PCs begin play with HP = their CON score. They do not add their ability score modifier to this, but they may purchase Toughness and other Feats to boost HP. After first level, all classes roll HP as normal.
3) Players who select to play the chosen class for their race recieve a 10% XP bonus. Once they multiclass, they benefit from the "no XP penalty for multiclassing" as normal (but no longer receive the bonus to XP).
The first class a human or half-elf select is considered its 'favored' class at 1st level and beyond.
4) Spells, Feats, and so on can only be selected from the PHB at character generation. Any other sources a player elects to use must be approved by the DM and discovered 'in game'. IE ...if a player wants to have his sorcerer learn the spell "shadow mask" from the Spell Compendium, he must research it and discover its source (adventure on the Plane of Shadows, learn it from a creature that uses shadow magic, etc).
(Exceptions are only made for Feats when the Feat "must" be taken at first level).
5) The 100gp requirement to use the "Identify" spell has been reduced to 10gp.
6) Characters die only when their negative HP = their CON score.
7) Paladins must be the Lawful version of their deity's alignment.
8) 50 coins = 1 pound (regardless of whether they are gold, silver, etc.)
~Jaye
When I finally get around to running Shackled City, I intend to use these house-rules:
Half-elves can choose to either gain the +2 racial bonus on Diplomacy and Gather Information checks, or they can instead receive the Martial Weapon Proficiency feats for the longsword, rapier, longbow (including composite longbow) and shortbow (including composite shortbow).
Half-orcs may treat orc double-axes as martial weapons, rather than exotic weapons.
Half-orcs automatically gain the Endurance feat.
Fighters automatically gain the Exotic Weapon Proficiency feat at 5th, 10th, 15th and 20th level.
Sorcerers automatically gain the Eschew Materials feat at 1st level, though this feat only applies to sorcerer spells, and not those spells cast as part of another class.
Wizards can use their bonus feats to take the Spell Focus feat.
Wizards must spend one hour per level of spell in concentration, when studying or copying a spell into their spellbook, rather than having to spend one full day to do this. Further more, wizards are not required to spend the requisite 100 gp per level of spell when writing a spell into their spellbook, though they must acquire and expend a full vial of ink for each spell (and will of course need a writing implement).
Quick Draw not only applies to weapons but items as well (including the likes of potions, scrolls and wands).
Toughness not only grants three hit points to a character (as per usual), but it also allows a player to reroll any 1’s when rolling for hit points.
Evard’s Black Tentacles is too powerful a spell for it’s level, therefore it now allows an initial Reflex save (akin to that of the Entangle spell), and the grapple check is 1d20 + 8 + half the caster’s level.
Identify has an instantaneous duration.
Any PC that reaches -10 through dying (and not stabilising), or any PC that is immediately reduced to -10 and beyond has exactly one round from that point until they die. If brought to -9 or better before then, they get to live.
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Quick Draw not only applies to weapons but items as well (including the likes of potions, scrolls and wands).
Toughness not only grants three hit points to a character (as per usual), but it also allows a player to reroll any 1’s when rolling for hit points.
Yup. I'm totally stealing these two.
~Jaye
I've instated a House Rule that I call the "Hero Bonus".
When characters are being created for my games they get the following in addition to the standard book stuff...
2 bonus feats that don't stack with each other, nor can one of them be "FEAT" and the second be "IMPROVED FEAT"
4 bonus skill points
+2 to any ONE ability score OR +2 to any ONE saving throw
Also, if it is a higher level game, I allow one free magic version of whatever the character's primary weapon is going to be. Depending on the difficulty of the game determines what the total enhancement bonus/speacial properties modifier. Alternatively, if the player would rather armor/protective item of similar power I might allow it.
The only House Rule any of my players can rhyme off as a knee-jerk response is "No Chaotic Neutrals."
It takes a few minutes to remember others, as we don't use a sheet.
Identify was dropped to free, but has a chance to lie to you, and you can only do it once per item. Alot of times we use mana for spellcasting, and sometimes everyone has mana and a limited ability to cast spells. I know there was a bunch of random oddities, as every campaign had somethign weird about it...
The only hard-line and consistent rule was "No Chaotic Neutrals."
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.
*grins* Dousing your barbarian in torch oil and centering a fireball/burning hands spell on him as he wades deep into the orc throng can never go wrong :)
"No Chaotic Neutrals"
NOOOOOOOOO!!
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My House Rules:
The first class a human or half-elf select is considered its 'favored' class at 1st level and beyond.
What do you think is the benefit of this house rule?
I think that the half-elf is already weak and stripping it of the ability to ignore its highest class when considering penalities for multi-classing is one of its few benefits.If i understand your house trule correct (maybe i didn't) it makes the already weak half-elf even weaker...
With your house-rule you'd have to advance your first class as far as possible to not have drawbacks. With the original rule you have far more flexibility regarding multi-classing and spontaneous character progression.
I don't use many house-rules within my games, but we also apply Quick Draw to every item that is reachable ( this means not inside the backpack etc.) and can be held with one hand.
Another house-rule we use is a restriction for multi-classing into wizard, sorcerer etc. . A character has to have a connection with arcane spell-casting in his backstory because it's mostly assumed that it takes years to master the arts of magic and we always considered it unbelieveable that a fighter or a similar class learns the knowledge of a 1st lvl wizard between two adventures (even if there are several months between adventures). I allow it if there's a general break within the campaign (f.e. between two major campaign-arcs) that takes minimum one or two years game time. With the background-thing it is assumed that the character already knows the basics and does only have to deepen the already existing knowledge to benefit from the wizard/sorcerer/whatever spellcasting class. We don't apply this rule to clerics or favored souls because we think that the divine magic granted by the gods also grants instant knowledge on how this magic works.
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Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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Another house-rule we use is a restriction for multi-classing into wizard, sorcerer etc. . A character has to have a connection with arcane spell-casting in his backstory because it's mostly assumed that it takes years to master the arts of magic and we always considered it unbelieveable that a fighter or a similar class learns the knowledge of a 1st lvl wizard between two adventures (even if there are several months between adventures). I allow it if there's a general break within the campaign (f.e. between two major campaign-arcs) that takes minimum one or two years game time. With the background-thing it is assumed that the character already knows the basics and does only have to deepen the already existing knowledge to benefit from the wizard/sorcerer/whatever spellcasting class. We don't apply this rule to clerics or favored souls because we think that the divine magic granted by the gods also grants instant knowledge on how this magic works.
I can't see why that argument shouldn't apply to every class.
How long does it take to learn to play an instrument? Speak a language? Wield a sword in each hand? Ride a horse and be manuverable in heavy armor? Punch/kick somebody and avoid being stabbed by their weapons? Channel your rage into a battle frenzy instead of just flailing about in combat?
If "realism" inspires the fact that it takes a significant amount of time to become a wiz/sor, then it should also take a significant amount of time to become every other class (and possibly to even gain a level).
I can see the flavor, but unnecessary house rules regarding casters (particularly for flavor reasons) drive me batty.
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My House Rules:
The first class a human or half-elf select is considered its 'favored' class at 1st level and beyond.
What do you think is the benefit of this house rule?
I think that the half-elf is already weak and stripping it of the ability to ignore its highest class when considering penalities for multi-classing is one of its few benefits.
Absinth,
This is only designed for the 10% XP Bonus. Humans and half-elves can ignore their highest level class when the XP penalty for multi-classing comes into play as normal.
Overall, the 10% bonus is actually designed to encourage the mechanics behind single class play ....that a particular race/class combo is the ideal and as long as that member of the race plays toward its strengths, it will excell above and beyond members of other races in its favored class.
~Jaye
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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My group has a select few house rules. We go more for realism than high action/adventure. Our group is pretty hardcore and we make some really severe penalties for injury and death.
1) Resurrection can only be done by a select few NPC clerics of powerful healing gods in major cities. Even then, the prices they demand are usually along the lines of 1000gp x the character's level.
2) Armor can take 10 bludgeoning or slashing hits for every point of AC it offers before dropping by 1 AC until repaired by someone with Profession or Craft (Blacksmith or Armorsmith for metal armors, Leatherworker for leather armors) and the proper tools. Full plate can take 80 hits before dropping to +7 AC, 70 more before dropping to +6, etc. The repair DC is 15 + the number of AC missing. If no AC is missing, the DC is 15 to 'refresh' the number of hits it can take. Mithril armors take 15 hits per point of AC drop (but the DC to repair it is 5 higher) and adamantine armors take 20 hits (and has the repair DC increased by 10). If armor is reduced to 0 AC, it is destroyed and cannot be repaired. Obviously, arrows, rapiers, and daggers do little more than make small holes, so piercing weapons do not cause this damage. Therefore, +2 adamantine full plate needs 200 hits to bring it down to +9 AC, 180 hits to bring it down to +8, etc. etc. If you let it get so beat-up that it had dropped to +5, the DC to repair it would be 30 (DC 15 + 10 adamantine + 5 AC missing). Armors of this fine quality clearly need the hands of a dwarven master armorsmith to repair and this system reflects that.
3) Experience is not given out on a 'per monster killed' basis. At the end of a session, all surviving party members receive a set amount of xp. Additional rewards are available for completing quests and good roleplay.
4) Half-elves receive the extra skill points that humans get. Half-orcs receive the extra feat.
5) If your character dies and cannot be resurrected (which is usually the case), you leave the game. You may bring in a new character only when it would be dramatically plausible (after the end of the current adventure, for example). Your new character is 2 levels lower than your previous one. (We have only had this happen twice in 6 years of playing. Most of us are smart enough to avoid doing anything suicidal.)
6) All items (magical and otherwise) sell for half of book market value. A Diplomacy check (DC 20) can increase this to 60% of book value. If you manage to get over 30 on the check, it will sell for 70%. A natural '1' on this check will net you only 40% of value.
7) Three natural 20s in a row on an attack roll result in an instant kill on the target. They MUST be natural 20s, regardless of the weapon's crit range or multipliers. (This has only happened once.)
8) Poisons deal their initial damage immediately and then deal secondary damage one minute later and again every minute afterwards until cured or saved against. A DC 20 Heal check made within 3 rounds of exposure to a poison delivered by 'injury' can 'suck the poison out' and prevent the secondary damage but causes 1 hp of damage to the victim. The DC to save against the poison drops by 1 for every failed save. There are a few poisons (like drow sleep venom) that this does not apply to.
9) You may reroll low hit die rolls if you CON modifier is high enough. We do it as CON mod x 10% is the threshold for determining what is re-rollable. For example, a CON mod of +4 means you can reroll the lower 40% of your hit die. If a fighter or paladin with a +4 CON modifier rolls a 1, 2, 3, or 4 on the hit die, he may reroll. Similarly, if a wizard has a +4 CON mod (?!?) he may reroll 1s. If your CON mod is only +1, you could roll the bottom 10% of your die, meaning d10 and d12 classes reroll 1s. If the percentage of your hit die is less than 1, you cannot reroll hit dice. 20% of 4 is less than one, so wizards and sorcerers with a +2 CON mod still cannot reroll 1s. This is a very complicated rule, but it makes certain that the characters that SHOULD have high hit points HAVE high hit points. A fighter with +4 CON who rolls a 1 and gets 5 hp for his level up SHOULD feel cheated, because he is. Especially if the rogue with a +1 CON mod rolls a 6 and gets more hp for the level than he did. Some people would argue that this is giving CON a double-bonus since you already get bonus hp for your CON mod. To this, I say... well, YES, it DOES make CON more important! It SHOULD be important!
That's most of them that I can think of at this time. We're very strict but that's the way we prefer it.
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This is similar to a thread I started last year. A lot of great ideas were submitted then as well as in this thread.
My favorite house rule is on a natural 1, you provoke an attack of opportunity from a threatening opponent. Also, your round is over even if you would normally still have one or more additional attacks/actions. Assume you slipped or otherwise lost your concentration.
Another is on back to back 20s Threaten then confirm, you deal the max damage.
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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My favorite house rule is on a natural 1, you provoke an attack of opportunity from a threatening opponent. Also, your round is over even if you would normally still have one or more additional attacks/actions. Assume you slipped or otherwise lost your concentration.
My group uses this rule as well, but only for physical actions like attacks or Tumble checks. If you roll a natural 1 on a Spellcraft check to determine what spell a caster is casting, you simply incorrectly identify the spell but you don't provoke any attacks of opportunity in the process.
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I can't see why that argument shouldn't apply to every class.
How long does it take to learn to play an instrument? Speak a language? Wield a sword in each hand? Ride a horse and be manuverable in heavy armor? Punch/kick somebody and avoid being stabbed by their weapons? Channel your rage into a battle frenzy instead of just flailing about in combat?
These are exactly the same arguments some of the players brought up as we discussed this, and they are right. Of course.
I'm aware that if you're starting to view the game through the lense of "realism", you'll end up changing that many things that it kills away all the fun. But this one was something that always bugged me. It may be caused by our style of play. We are mostly playing ongoing and story-focused campaigns and not a collection of modules that aren't linked or only linked by the fact that there's always the same group of characters that makes it through.I know this style of gaming back from 1st edition days and back then it didn't matter because it wasn't of any importance what happened between adventures, how much time passed etc. .
The fighter could take a lvl of wizard and nobody wondered.
In these days, where even the downtime between two adventures can be of importance to the overall-story this doesn't work for me anymore.
How should i explain that the fighter, after a rest in the middle of a dungeon crawl, knows how to cast magic missile?
He never even mentioned any interest in magic until this moment! I hope you understand what i mean. Its just dissatisfying when you're trying to come up with an epic story that makes sense and things like these are happening because its in the rules.
Sure you could start this with every class, but we thougt that adding an arcane spellcasting class is the most drastic change.
In a perfect world the players would concept their characters progression a few levels ahead so that the DM will be able to build in a story that explains the changes the character goes through.
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Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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I know this style of gaming back from 1st edition days and back then it didn't matter because it wasn't of any importance what happened between adventures, how much time passed etc. .
The fighter could take a lvl of wizard and nobody wondered.
In these days, where even the downtime between two adventures can be of importance to the overall-story this doesn't work for me anymore.
I would wonder what happened - taking a level of wizard wasn't an option in 1e/2e. ;-) (okay, okay, you could dual class, but that had its own issues).
Have you considered cutting out multiclassing altogether? That's something that I have considered from time to time. How do you handle prestige classes with spellcasting abilities?
If you and your players are cool with it, that's the most important issue. I tend to play arcane spellcasters (in those rare instances that I don't DM), so I'm particularly sensative about flavor based rules changes that hit them and no other class.
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Okay, multiclassing into wizard might've been a house-rule back then. I don't remember the rules in detail but i remember (as most gamers back from these days will) having lots of house rules...:)
I love to play arcane spellcasters too and i had zero intentions to weaken this class in any way. This was only a way to keep character-advancement explainable within the game.
Totally cutting out multiclassing has never been an option for our group because we had really, really cool character concepts in past campaigns because of this possibility.
And i really love to build up interesting multiclassed foes or NPC's to drive my players nuts...:D
I find advancement in a prestige class way easier to incorporate into the story of the campaign because with all these requirements it takes a little planning by the player (usually over two or three levels) until he is able to take the class and this gives me enough time to bring this development into the story.
Btw, i read somewhere that you're from germany. Where exactly are you from? I'm from Hamburg...
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Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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Btw, i read somewhere that you're from germany. Where exactly are you from? I'm from Hamburg...
Hmmm...you must have me confused with someone else (or the source you read was wrong). I originally hale from Michigan, but I currently reside in southern California. I've never been to Germany. You might be thinking of Farewell2Kings, he was born in germany, or maybe Drider (I think he's German). There is a large contingent of Germans on the boards, but I am not one of them.
Up until now, I had nearly no house rules, but my next campaign will have several.
At present, I have: Initiative ties go to the players. HP at first level maximum, following levels take the best of two rolls. I ruled the identify spell differently as the present was crap, but I don´t have the details at hand.
What I will probably adopt as house rules are the following: Starting HP = CON.
Negative max is Con or ten, whichever is higher.
Stabilizing at Fort save 15+ negatives.
Wizards get d6 for HP.
HP rolls on higher levels: d6, a one counts as a two; d8 one and two count as three; d10 and d12, one, two or three counts as four.
I will probably kick the sorcerer out completely, but allow wizards to cast spontaneous spells. My idea is like that: A Wizard has a repertoire of spells he can cast spontaneously that is identical to the number and levels of spells he can cast daily, natural intelligence bonus included.
(A Wizard of 5th level with INT 16 would have 4 spells of level 0, 4 of level 1, 3 of level 2 and 2 spells of level 3 in his repertoire which he could cast spontaneously). Perhaps I give them one level 0 spell per character level.
I will try to get rid of the XP system and just have 1000 XP per level, and only award story rewards, so as to better control advancement.
Stefan
In case it was me you were wondering about, Absinth, I'm originally from Waldbroel, Oberbergischer Kreis, about 50km east of Koeln. I immigrated to the U.S. in 1978 at age 11.
The last time I was in Germany on vacation was 2002. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like I'll be able to visit again for quite some time.
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Another house-rule we use is a restriction for multi-classing into wizard, sorcerer etc. . A character has to have a connection with arcane spell-casting in his backstory because it's mostly assumed that it takes years to master the arts of magic and we always considered it unbelieveable that a fighter or a similar class learns the knowledge of a 1st lvl wizard between two adventures (even if there are several months between adventures). I allow it if there's a general break within the campaign (f.e. between two major campaign-arcs) that takes minimum one or two years game time. With the background-thing it is assumed that the character already knows the basics and does only have to deepen the already existing knowledge to benefit from the wizard/sorcerer/whatever spellcasting class. We don't apply this rule to clerics or favored souls because we think that the divine magic granted by the gods also grants instant knowledge on how this magic works.I can't see why that argument shouldn't apply to every class.
How long does it take to learn to play an instrument? Speak a language? Wield a sword in each hand? Ride a horse and be manuverable in heavy armor? Punch/kick somebody and avoid being stabbed by their weapons? Channel your rage into a battle frenzy instead of just flailing about in combat?
If "realism" inspires the fact that it takes a significant amount of time to become a wiz/sor, then it should also take a significant amount of time to become every other class (and possibly to even gain a level).
I can see the flavor, but unnecessary house rules regarding casters (particularly for flavor reasons) drive me batty.
I've pretty much decided not to allow multi-classing with my campaign. It takes years, after all, to become proficient with any one skill/class. With spellcasters, one must specialize and follow only one school of magic. Clerics are an oddity in my campaign for they automatically receive spells from their respective gods. The only catch is that they must do works and make donations or whatever their Gods desire to stay in good favor. I'm harsh on this rule for it a character slacks, he wont get the spell he desires at that critical moment. This makes things infinitely more fun and even though my players were hesitant at first, they whole-heartedly agree that it is much better this way. No more super-hero jack-of-all-trades characters! I've made quite a bit of other changes but have no wish to take up the whole site explaining them.
Oh and one more thing: very low magic. This means that the only magic that can be used is by magic users only. All magic items are therefore made by magic users for their personal use. No one else can use them (other than spell users) All other classes dont even have any understanding of their use. In fact, non spell user classes are afraid to even touch them for fear of being turned into frogs or blown up.
Magical swords or armor do not exist!
Thoth-Amon
How do characters get the necessary DR bypasses and AC boosts?
Totally cutting out multiclassing has never been an option for our group because we had really, really cool character concepts in past campaigns because of this possibility.
No kidding, I have this idea where I start out as a Dread Necro, then I get a "call" as a paladin for about eight levels.
But I'm still haunted by the dreams of my dark past (cough--cough--cliche...I know) and then I go all Blackguard on the entire group.
I still have to talk to the DM about it because he (for some reason) hates evil characters...I think it all started with the Drow...
My favorite house rule is on a natural 1, you provoke an attack of opportunity from a threatening opponent. Also, your round is over even if you would normally still have one or more additional attacks/actions. Assume you slipped or otherwise lost your concentration.
Thnks I am going to use this.
I just remembered a house rule that is so ingrained in my gameplay that I don´t mention it anymore: If you roll a 1 on attacking, you lose your next attack (presumably to recover the weapon you just dropped).
I can't take credit for it, but I borrow an idea from my friend's home campaign. He lets his players take an additional feat at first level in lieu of taking maximum hit points. Brings a little more excitement to character generation.;)
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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I just remembered a house rule that is so ingrained in my gameplay that I don´t mention it anymore: If you roll a 1 on attacking, you lose your next attack (presumably to recover the weapon you just dropped).
As I said above, we do something similar, but I neglected to include something that we do differently. If you roll a natural 1 on an attack roll, skill check, or whatever, you immediately roll again and add all the appropriate modifiers but the roll has a -20 penalty applied to it. If the roll ends up as a positive number, treat the roll as normal (a hit is still a hit in this case, even after a natural 1). If the number is zero or negative, then it is a critical failure and results in dropping the weapon, striking an ally, etc.
The reason for this rule is that, using the standard 'natural 1 = botch' system, even level 20 fighters who have been perfecting their sword skills for years still have a 5% chance on every swing to fail miserably and fling their weapon on accident. I find this a bit ridiculous and unreasonable. A highly trained warrior will not miss 1 out of 20 swings against panicked goblins or untrained orcs.
Just my $0.02.
As I said above, we do something similar, but I neglected to include something that we do differently. If you roll a natural 1 on an attack roll, skill check, or whatever, you immediately roll again and add all the appropriate modifiers but the roll has a -20 penalty applied to it. If the roll ends up as a positive number, treat the roll as normal (a hit is still a hit in this case, even after a natural 1). If the number is zero or negative, then it is a critical failure and results in dropping the weapon, striking an ally, etc.The reason for this rule is that, using the standard 'natural 1 = botch' system, even level 20 fighters who have been perfecting their sword skills for years still have a 5% chance on every swing to fail miserably and fling their weapon on accident. I find this a bit ridiculous and unreasonable. A highly trained warrior will not miss 1 out of 20 swings against panicked goblins or untrained orcs.
Just my $0.02.
Nice idea, and the reasoning behind it is sound. Someone who is really good at something will fail miserably not as often as someone who has only a minor skill. I think I will integrate this into my house rules.
Thanks for sharing.
Stefan
My favorite house rule is on a natural 1, you provoke an attack of opportunity from a threatening opponent. Also, your round is over even if you would normally still have one or more additional attacks/actions. Assume you slipped or otherwise lost your concentration.Thnks I am going to use this.
Just be aware that this rule means high-level fighters screw up (i.e., provoke attacks of opportunity from their opponents) more often than less-skilled fighters. Personally, I think it's an awful house rule.
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On the count of three, roll, rule.
Good call! I hate having to endure the pathetic rituals that players go through to 'warm up' or 'charge' their dice. Shaking them, blowing on them, praying to them, swapping them round for different types of roll...
If that dice isn't on the tabletop (rolled, not slammed down) in 5 seconds, then you're delaying your action.SMACK!
Your opponent decks you first, looks like you lose your go...
Sense trap gives a thief a free roll to search within 5' of a trap. Does not apply to locks,doors, doorways, gates or chest. I just got tired of rogue characters checking every five feet for traps
I ignore the rogue's Trapfinding ability (may find and deal with devices of DC 20+); or rather, I simply assume that every person has it. Sure, rogues are going to be better at it, since it's a class skill and they can afford the skill points, but as far as I'm concerned, any player who spends his skill points on Spot/Search/Open/Disable deserves the full benefit of the skill. Otherwise, you're just forcing everyone to multiclass just to be able to see what their own eyes should already tell them.
And it's absurd that an NPC locksmith or engineer can't spot a mechanical device, even if it's his own work.OK, Leonardo da Vinci, level 20 expert, 23 ranks (& skill focus) in Craft (lock), show us your latest work!
(+20 bonus for it being on the damn table in full view, +20 circumstance bonus for inventing and making the damn thing yourself, ...nope, you can't remember where you put it, it's too damn well-made....oh, deary me, I'm sure I put it somewhere.....?) WTF?
Gee, guess you need a level of rogue...
You better watch yourself next time your getting your locks changed; all locksmiths have sneak attack, it's the law!
I've covered this in another post "Die Rolls -What are my Rights?" by Lord Eisen...
The topic was whether to make rolls secretly; I confirmed I roll many checks for the players, which was initially resisted by the players, but they relaxed when they realised I was assuming that Spot/Listen etc were always 'on', and they weren't being shafted. In fact, they probably found more this way, since I would grant checks as free actions as part of the general exploration (assuming they weren't sprinting through or in melee, etc), though I might modify the DC upwards. A detailed search later could always be made to confirm.
I, too, have been a player in sessions where it took hours to traverse a simple stretch of (untrapped) corridor...Yawn...
It certainly speeds up play if, when you hear a player say "I'll scout the corridor, up to the junction", you mentally interpret this as "...unless I spot any pits, wires, gas jets, etc".
If you have all the relevant bonuses behind your screen, and a handful of colour-coded dice, you can roll for the entire party in one go, which is a damn sight quicker than asking the players to roll, since they have to pick out their favourite 'searching die', do their stupid die-warming tricks (see above), drop their dice on the floor, spend five minutes looking for it, fail to find their skill bonus since they can't grasp the concept of 'alphabetical order', fail to add the bonus to the die roll correctly, argue about the result with the other players, start again, forget what their original die roll was....
GGGGAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
Maybe this should be on the rants thread.....?
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As a GM, I tend to reward my players for good roleplaying rather liberally. The following are XP awards.
INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCE POINT AWARDS
Clever Idea 100-1000 XP
Cooperate with the DM 500 XP
Cooperate with Other PCs 100 XP
Encourage Other PCs 500 XP
Role-playing Well 500-1500 XP
Encourage Others to Role-play 500-1500 XP
Save the Party 1000-2500 XP
Timely Skill Use 100 XP
Timely Use of Special Ability 250 XP
Timely Use of Class Ability 250 XP
Timely Spell Cast 50 XP per Spell Level
Timely Spell Cast Toward Ethos
(Divine Spells only) 100 XP per Spell Level
Change NPCs Faith or Alignment 100 XP per NPC Level
Single Combat +2 CR XP Value
ADVENTURE EXPERIENCE POINT AWARDS
Clue Recovered 250 XP
Foe Conned ½ CR XP Value
Foe Defeated Full CR XP Value
Foe Defeats PCs ¼ CR XP Value
Rescue NPCs 100 XP per NPC Level
Surviving 200 XP
Victory, Total 1000-6000 XP
Victory, Partial ½ CR XP Value
Victory, Marginal ¼ CR XP Value
This leads to a rapid advance through a low-level campaign, but tends to slack off by mid- to high-level. It teaches "newbies" the importance of "role-play" over "roll-play" by encouraging them to act as thier characters, not as rules lawyers (i.e. Cooperate with the DM).
As a general rule, my players have specific roles to follow around the table. One acts as the initiative keeper for the "Hero" side of the board, one as campaign log keeper (usually anyone playing a bard, and one as a back-up researcher on obscure rules (usually an experienced DM or rules lawyer type). This helps free me up of some of the mechanics and after effects, allowing me to concentrate on telling a good story that compels strong roleplay from both sides of the table.
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Incidentally, I also use the rule of 1; that if you roll a natural 1, your round is over, even if you have extra attacks or a move action still. And since I roll my attack rolls where the players can see, they know it can happen to the monsters/antagonists as well.
On a side note, my players use the "roll 4d6, drop the lowest roll" method for character generation. If a player rolls four of a kind, they are awarded a 19 instead of the result. In my estimation, a four of a kind is rarer than an 18.
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Since I run my campaign in story arcs, my players are allowed to have a back-up character to switch to. This negates some of the problem caused by conflicting goals within the party. If Player A has a druid whose focus is helping cleanse a forest of a particular cult, he won't really be interested in a side-mission focusing on the goal of Player B. But his back-up character might be.
A player is allowed to build his back-up character at first level and advance him normally. New players are allowed to create a character at -2 levels from the lowest level character involved in the current story arc. Starting gold is considered to be half of that stated in the DMG (the remainder considered as comsumption of resources) and only half of that can be on magic items. No more than half again can be used on a single magic item. Items crafted from Special Materials are considered magic items for this purpose (otherwise every new player would be wearing Mithril Chain).
This limits the power of magic items coming in with new players, and rewards those who have consistantly played in my campaign and "earned" magic items through game play.
Arnim, your XP chart reminds me of the ones from Palladium/Rifts. :D Very nice, though.
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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On a side note, my players use the "roll 4d6, drop the lowest roll" method for character generation. If a player rolls four of a kind, they are awarded a 19 instead of the result. In my estimation, a four of a kind is rarer than an 18.
My group used to use a slight variation of that rule as well and, in the rare event that we run a game that uses rolls instead of point-buy for stats, we still do. I'm very fond of this rule. The only thing we did differently is that '4 of a kind' means you get the sum of 3 dice plus one. Ergo, 4 of a kind would only be a 19 if it were all 6's. All 5's would be a 16, all 4's would be 13, etc.
On a different note, one time we ran an insanely high-powered game where you got to roll 4d6 and keep ALL of them. Barbarians with 24 Strength at level 1 should be feared. We had one.
A house rule that I used but the players did not take to was that I kept hit point rolls secret. They would keep a record of how much damage they had taken rather than how much they had left.
They would be told when they were at there first level hit point total and the first level max for the starting class.
Example, Fighter Fyg has CON 14 - he will be told when he has 12 hit points (10+2 from CON) and again at 10 - or he will be told he is below 10 if he misses the 12 out
Wizard Wyz has CON 9 - he will be told at 4 and 3.
By experiencing battle they can work out their hit points, but not straight from the start. Appeared realistic to me. I'm a rubbish fighter, but I didn't know how rubbish until I got beat up.
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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A house rule that I used but the players did not take to was that I kept hit point rolls secret. They would keep a record of how much damage they had taken rather than how much they had left.
They would be told when they were at there first level hit point total and the first level max for the starting class.
Example, Fighter Fyg has CON 14 - he will be told when he has 12 hit points (10+2 from CON) and again at 10 - or he will be told he is below 10 if he misses the 12 out
Wizard Wyz has CON 9 - he will be told at 4 and 3.
By experiencing battle they can work out their hit points, but not straight from the start. Appeared realistic to me. I'm a rubbish fighter, but I didn't know how rubbish until I got beat up.
That might work in a lower level campaign, but in the higher levels when monsters are easily hitting for 20+ damage, it makes it impossible for the fighter to know when he's going to drop. The fighter with 18 Con might get his warning at 14 hp left, but if he's got 22 left and then gets smacked for 35, he's gonna be really upset that he suddenly died without even knowing that he was in trouble. Unless you augment this system with DM descriptions of the severity of a characters wounds ("The sword goes clean through you. You feel a little light headed as the bloodloss begins to take its toll. You feel that to continue this fight would be suicide...") you're going to have some very unhappy players.
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Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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That might work in a lower level campaign, but in the higher levels when monsters are easily hitting for 20+ damage, it makes it impossible for the fighter to know when he's going to drop. The fighter with 18 Con might get his warning at 14 hp left, but if he's got 22 left and then gets smacked for 35, he's gonna be really upset that he suddenly died without even knowing that he was in trouble. Unless you augment this system with DM descriptions of the severity of a characters wounds ("The sword goes clean through you. You feel a little light headed as the bloodloss begins to take its toll. You feel that to continue this fight would be suicide...") you're going to have some very unhappy players.
I'm not sure if the OP is keeping damage secret. If he's not, the fighter would have an approximate idea of his total hp at level 20, so this system would work. If the damage is secret, you make an excellent point. If the damage rules are not transparant, a percentage based buffer makes more sense. Instead of giving warnings based on a fixed amount of hp, you give warnings at say, half total hp, quarter total hp, and maybe then give a warning at the fixed amount.
Yes damage is publicly known.
At 20th level he would have a hit point range for a fighter (10 + 19d10) hit points (29-100 say). On turning from 19th to 20th level the character would have hopefully been in a few fights and would have raised the lower limit. If he hasn't dropped then the upper limit will be unchanged. Once he goes over his previous highest he has been then the tension builds (well thats the idea anyway).
We have done the hidden damage, known hit points and that never worked for me as you would continually ask "does he look bad"
As soon as he drops he knows an upper limit but possibly not the exact value.
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My players tend to be fairly unlucky with rolling anything lower than a d20. So to add to their survivability I allow them a racial bonus to health at first level. +10 HP to Orcs and Dwarves, +8HP to humans and Half-elves, +6HP to everything else. This also usually proves to be a boon to the rather squishy casters.
My gamming groups have also come up with some rather interest flavor perks.
Dwarves craft faster in Metal or Stonework and trained dwarven craftsman only produce masterwork items of those natures.
Elves take half penalties to off-hand attacks and skill checks.
Gnomes work well with numbers. when crafting, enchanting, or working with mass or time; Gnomes cut the price of production 10% or can produce an extra 10% or an item.
Half-Elves take the top half of the HP dice since living as "outcastes" forces one to be more resilient.
Halfings have photographic memories and retain their classic +1 to hit and damage with any thrown weapon.
Half-Orcs gain two languages per skill point. We've always portrayed orcs to have a vary complex language, despite being comprised of gutteral and bestial noises. Due to the easily varying nature of body language ant tones in their own languages. Other languages seem much less complex. Note this does not account for reading.
Humans retain the one bonus martial weapon proficiency from the beta. If their base class is already proficient with all martial weapons at first level; they may choose +2 skill points, a +1 to initiative, or +1 to one save.
When I GM I have a few rules concerning feats I sometimes employ, depending on the game and skill of my players.
Enschew Materials allows a caster to ignore spell components that are valued up 1 gold per CL.
Exotic Weapons Proficiency and Martial Weapons proficiency Train Groups of Weapons, Rather than an individual.
If a monk has Spring Attack and lighting reflexes, flurry may be used as a standard action. It may not be used in conjunction with a charge.
I allow Snap Kick from ToB as a Monk only Feat.
Lingering Performance allows for bard effects to last in a zone of silence or Darkness on two conditions. The performance occurs before the debilitating affect, and the Bard does not change performances. However The cost of the performance is doubled per affect. Normal performances are a 1 for 1 trade off. An affected zone would cost 2 rounds per one performnce round. Being in a Zone of Silence or Darkness affect at the same time begates the performance as normal.
Having at least three of the Improved Initative, Lightning Reflexes, Combat Reflexes, Quick Draw, and Alertness allows a PC to have a full action on a suprise round.
Wizards get Spell Mastery at Level One. Meaning if they ever lose their spell book, they at least have knowledge of a handful of 0 and 1st level spells.
Fighters and Paladins include Bastard Swords in their Marital Weapons Proficiencies. That's refering to using it single handed.
Monks use their Class Level as BAB for CMB and CMB after they get their manuever training. Our group looks at them as being manuever specialists, and it balances them a little better.
I realise that it looks like I give my players a lot of advantages. I look at it as a trade off, as I don't let them get their hands on a lot of magic items that they don't make themselves. Magic items are a good plot device or in possesion of people of power. Similar to how we handle weapons permits. anythign better than a +1 needs to be made by the player or earned through good roleplayining.
My favorite houserule:
Initiative is rolled with a d10 minus half your initiative modifier at the top of every round. Lower results go first.
It really speeds up the initiative aspect of combat and keeps things hectic and interesting. The GM doesn't have to record everyone's initiative - he just has to start counting up from negatives up to 10, and the players call out when their turn comes. (Ties are settled the normal way - comparing DEX scores / init modifiers.)
You also can never be sure that you're going to get a turn before someone else, so combat becomes more unpredictable. Delaying and readying become more useful. Having a high initiative modifier becomes much, much more useful (as you will consistently go first in combat, rather than having a slightly higher chance of going first at the beginning).
Another favorite: Inquisitors are proficient with whips.
At Charachter creation roll 2 decks and pick one as your primary PC. The second is your backup PC
Death at -CON
1 = Fumble (will change it to -20 after consulting with my players)
Hex grid FTW:)
A HP roll of 1 means a re -roll.
If you bring snacks and drinks to the gaming session; you get 300 bonus exps for your character.
If you bring the GM beer; your character will not die that gaming session.
After the game starts; if you said it; your character said it unless you put your hand over your head; on top or making hand puppets :)
GM advises that you roll in the open.
Environmental manipulation is a free action, not a move action, unless it's a multi-round affair.
Search checks get pre-rolled at the beginning of the session. They get used in secret as the game progresses. If we run out of marked rolls, we roll up another list.
The strangest non-game related house rule that I've had to enact, and remains on the proverbial books, is no knitting. Or crochet.
