@ TCG:
- Check this sub-board for my homebrew improved fighter
- Because it is TOTALLY unfitting. They are barred from any kind of "heavy" metal equipment, but may use a scimitar? It's just unconscistent and illogical.
- I like skills. They make characters more useful outside combat and I don't consider 2 additional points as game breaking.
- Barbarians lose Acrobatics since I don't see them as the balancing/tumbling kind. I believe they received it because JUMP was merged inside, but I put that back where it belongs (see Athletics).
Fair enough, but what's a sub-board?
I mean the "Suggestions/House Rules/Homebrew section.
Or simply click here
We employ a system known as 'rolling for luck'. At the start of each session, everyone rolls a percentile. Based on this roll, players receive a positive or negative modifier on all percentile rolls that game between +35 and -35. Everyone enjoys it, even those with bad luck, because it makes for some wild encounters and memorable sessions.
Counterspelling is immediate action, but burns your standard action for the next turn. If you take Imp. Counterspelling, it burns your move action instead.
Hmm, I'll have to think about trying this one out.
We use dueling counters instead of normal counterspelling.
We give addition attacks at +5/+10/+15/+20 instead of +6/+11/+16. This means a full-BAB class gets 5 attacks at level 20, which is fine by me. The reasoning is that all classes get one attack at first level, even at BAB +0, so why not gain additional attacks when an iterative would be at +0? BAB requirements for feats and such have remained as-is.
TWF has been rolled into two feats: TWF and ITWF. TWF works like normal but also includes Two-Weapon Defense. ITWF functions like ITWF and GTWF, when your BAB gets to the requisite levels. Feats that require GTWF (not that I can think of any), just require ITWF and BAB +11.
Whirlwind Attack has its prerequisites changed to "Str 13, Power Attack, Cleave, Great Cleave, Base Attack Bonus +4".
I'm a huge fan of Gestalt.
Me too. Makes for some interesting characters.
We give addition attacks at +5/+10/+15/+20 instead of +6/+11/+16. This means a full-BAB class gets 5 attacks at level 20, which is fine by me.
We did this in a 3.5 game, too. I don't think it's unbalancing at all considering the bad guys get it, too.
Gestalt characters. I really don't even know what that means.
Here's another one... I'm currently experimenting with a house rule that changes spell DCs. Instead of 10 + Spell Level + Caster Stat, the DCs are equal to 10 + 1/2 Caster Level + Caster Stat. Basically, all spells are automatically heightened.
Yes, it makes casters a lot more powerful. However, it always bothered me that at high levels partial casters (such as summoners or inquisitors) had to avoid using their Save based spells because their DCs were too low. Plus, why is it that spellcasters can only use their highest DCs a few times per day, while other classes will have special abilities that *always* use 1/2 level as the basis for their DCs? This houserule levels the playing field so that most DCs are calculated the same way.
Don't worry, I'm currently planning out some house rules to buff melee characters to balance things out.
I do this too!
I do not find it overpowers casters at all - usually saves are pretty high and it gives new life to low level spells.
In fact, I go one further and use that rule for all magic items. The DC is 10 +1/2 Caster Level + Cha mod. of user.
This way, those DC 14 items, like a dagger of venom also stays useful
Also!
After two high level campaigns - each of which had a character making between 8 to 10 attacks in a round.. I adopted the house rule that reduces the number of attacks with BAB but ups the attack bonuses
I.E.
At BAB +6 you get 2 attacks at +4 BAB each
At BAB +11 you get 2 attacks at +10 BAB each
At BAB +16 you get 2 attacks at +16 BAB each.
I then changed the Two Weapon Fighting chain to mirror this with your off-hand.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Gestalt characters are custom combined character classes. If your character worships a god of thievery you might combine rogue and cleric class features. You could heal your allies from the shadows or channel positive energy while backstabbing undead. How about pickpocketing npcs while saving their life.
Gestalt characters are custom combined character classes. If your character worships a god of thievery you might combine rogue and cleric class features. You could heal your allies from the shadows or channel positive energy while backstabbing undead. How about pickpocketing npcs while saving their life.
Ah, ok. How do you choose which features to keep or drop? Or do they all combine?
I just had an idea. Spellblade feat.
The character can channel spell energy through a favorite melee weapon. This is the primary attack and the attack is included in the casting.
Without this feat you need a special class to do this.
This qualifies as a spellcaster bonus feat.
Plane shift repaired. Planer travel is not random. The planes overlap. If you travel to a nearly identical prime material plane, you will land in the nearly identical location. Whenever you go from your base of operations, to a place on the plane of minerals, it will be the same place on the plane of minerals. Xorn may be waiting for you the second time. Distances are shorter on the plane of shadows, as per the spell shadow walk.
My favourite one is a cantrip I made up to give the heal-skill some more attention, because I think it sucks that it gets completely out-magicked.
Magic Bandage School: Healing; Level: Clr 0; Drd 0; Witch 0; Wiz/Sorc 0;
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 Minute
Range: Touch
Target: Living creature.
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless); Spell Resistance: Yes
This spell allows the caster to make a Heal check (as per the skill) with all penalties and boni. For every point in excess of DC 15, the target of the spell is healed for one HP per Chasterlevel. A creature can only be targeted by this spell once per hour. The use of the heal skill depletes one use of a healers kit as normal.
I just had an idea. Spellblade feat.
The character can channel spell energy through a favorite melee weapon. This is the primary attack and the attack is included in the casting.
Without this feat you need a special class to do this.
This qualifies as a spellcaster bonus feat.
Yeah, this is essentially the same thing as one of the Magus's special abilities.
Also!
After two high level campaigns - each of which had a character making between 8 to 10 attacks in a round.. I adopted the house rule that reduces the number of attacks with BAB but ups the attack bonuses
I.E.
At BAB +6 you get 2 attacks at +4 BAB each
At BAB +11 you get 2 attacks at +10 BAB each
At BAB +16 you get 2 attacks at +16 BAB each.I then changed the Two Weapon Fighting chain to mirror this with your off-hand.
Hah, I'm using these exact rules in the game that I'm currently running. :D
Been toying with the idea of adding in Weapon Speed Factors. Getting tired of everybody using Greatsword because it dishes out tons of damage. Swing and a miss from a Greatsword should take a lot more time to recover than one from a dagger.
My favourite one is a cantrip I made up to give the heal-skill some more attention, because I think it sucks that it gets completely out-magicked.
Magic Bandage School: Healing; Level: Clr 0; Drd 0; Witch 0; Wiz/Sorc 0;
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 Minute
Range: Touch
Target: Living creature.
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless); Spell Resistance: Yes
This spell allows the caster to make a Heal check (as per the skill) with all penalties and boni. For every point in excess of DC 15, the target of the spell is healed for one HP per Chasterlevel. A creature can only be targeted by this spell once per hour. The use of the heal skill depletes one use of a healers kit as normal.
+1, very nice
Been toying with the idea of adding in Weapon Speed Factors. Getting tired of everybody using Greatsword because it dishes out tons of damage. Swing and a miss from a Greatsword should take a lot more time to recover than one from a dagger.
The only thing I have to say in response to this, is use common sense. If your 18 STR fighter is using the Greatsword why punish him? He's using a weapon he is trained to use and is Plenty strong to handle it. If your 10 STR Rogue is running around with a battle axe I see why you would say that.
I guess what I'm trying to say is allow for variables. Don't set a concrete rule for a sandy game..?
Personal GM rule of mine, Nat 20 or Nat 1 generally means it's up to my creativity. If we are in a hurry, we blow over it. If it's a chance for a cool cinematic moment that will make my Barbarian Sorcerer yell with glee I do it. It's my whim and choice to tailor the game to my players.
My favourite one is a cantrip I made up to give the heal-skill some more attention, because I think it sucks that it gets completely out-magicked.
Magic Bandage School: Healing; Level: Clr 0; Drd 0; Witch 0; Wiz/Sorc 0;
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 Minute
Range: Touch
Target: Living creature.
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless); Spell Resistance: Yes
This spell allows the caster to make a Heal check (as per the skill) with all penalties and boni. For every point in excess of DC 15, the target of the spell is healed for one HP per Chasterlevel. A creature can only be targeted by this spell once per hour. The use of the heal skill depletes one use of a healers kit as normal.
It's nice if you want to get rid of out of combat healing.
But if that's the case you could just go and say out of combat you heal x hp per minute.Compared to other healing spells this is just too strong in my opinion.
More so if it is on nearly every spell list.
If a level 5 Cleric casts that (CL 5) and has heal maxed out he could well have heal +13. So he could roll as high as 33. Meaning he heals 90 hp with a cantrip and one use of his healer's kit.
Been toying with the idea of adding in Weapon Speed Factors. Getting tired of everybody using Greatsword because it dishes out tons of damage. Swing and a miss from a Greatsword should take a lot more time to recover than one from a dagger.The only thing I have to say in response to this, is use common sense. If your 18 STR fighter is using the Greatsword why punish him? He's using a weapon he is trained to use and is Plenty strong to handle it. If your 10 STR Rogue is running around with a battle axe I see why you would say that.
That just makes me think that, like Armour with max Dex bonus, weapons could have a minimum Str requirement.
-Those that weren't strong enough for their weapon would be slowed down
+2 to everyone skill points every level. rogue gets 4 extra instead of 2.
I like this but I'm curious as to why the +4 only goes to the rogue and not say, rogue and bard? This is kind of nit picky but it stuck in my mind and I was wondering if it was just something you didn't put or had reasoning for.
@Mista J
Yes that would be exactly what I'm thinking, also of course having proficiency. If you are strong enough but don't know how to handle your weapon that wouldn't work well.
Didn't AD&D (version 2) have weapon minimum strength?That just makes me think that, like Armour with max Dex bonus, weapons could have a minimum Str requirement.
-Those that weren't strong enough for their weapon would be slowed down
I'm not that old.
I've long since upped a Sorcerer's skill points to 4 + Int. It made sense to me that since they don't spend all their time studying magic like wizards they can have other pursuits.
For a radical change, how about the idea of a time based round. I.e. if a round is 6 seconds then various actions take up a certain amount of those seconds. Feats and spells can then increase or decrease the amount of time it takes a character to do things.
I like it but it's a big job to get it right.
Burning Wheel actually has a system that changes time based on the action. My friend came up with his own system based off of that where every action had a point cost. There were 6 action types and each had 3 actions on it that cost a certain amount of points. And every round you regained a certain amount of action points. It was pretty simple but it was fun. Pathfinder might be a bit complex to make a system that way but I thought it might be worth noting.
One rule I've long wanted to implement (but haven't had the chance to do so) is pre-planned rounds. Theoretically, it'd work like this:
Everyone rolls initiative. We start at the bottom of the initiative order and go up. On your initiative count, you may choose to take a move action or begin a full-round action. If you choose to take a full attack with your full-round action, you make your first attack at this time. This rewards those with higher initiative counts because it allows them to move more tactically (effectively getting to survey the battlefield and react to it).
After everyone has done this, we start at the top and do down. You may now take a standard action (or a second move action) or finish your full-round action. If you began a full attack in the first half of the round and you no longer have any valid targets, you must take a move action at this point or simply choose to forgo your remaining attacks.
You may take swift and free actions whenever you'd like.
Special cases:
Charges are allowed to be non-linear, as they are spit over two actions. Effectively they are move-move-single attack, but the rules on moving through difficult terrain and allies' squares remains. Also, both moves must be directly at the intended target, and may not circumvent obstacles.
Special actions that provide bonuses/penalties on a full attack must be declared at the beginning of your first action. If you wish to gain additional attacks from flurry of blows, two weapon fighting, rapid shot, etc. you take any associated penalties on that first attack, even if the rest of the full attack cannot be completed.
Splitting a full-round action over two rounds is basically disallowed unless you are limited to only a move or standard action on your turn (such as being staggered). It's not a thing I've really ever seen anyone do anyway, but it is even more cumbersome under this system.
NOTE: this houserule would probably not be in place for high level games, where combat is already really slow. We don't play much past level 10 anyway.
Actually, I can see that /helping/ in high level play, since many people get locked into actions long before they need to resolve them.
The real tactical thinking only happens for the init winner. Very interesting idea indeed.
@ Umbranus:
You are quite right about my cantrip, I didn't think through what it would be abled to do in the hands of a caster optimized for it.
I have recently changed it, the original version just gave you one HP healed per point above DC 15, but this made it so weak that neither of the spellcasters in my campaign was willing to sacrifice a cantrip-slot for it.
I would like to fix it, so I can keep it in my games and maybe other people can use it too. To prevent threadjacking, I have made a different thread for this purpose. Care to pitch in your 2 cent?
Everybody else is invited too, of course :)
Actually, I can see that /helping/ in high level play, since many people get locked into actions long before they need to resolve them.
The real tactical thinking only happens for the init winner. Very interesting idea indeed.
Not to threadjack either, but how do you mean? It seems like it would actually slow things down since the battlefield is shifting between when you begin your turn and when you get to take your standard action. I feel like it'd make combat feel more dynamic (and likely make the Vital Strike feat(s) be more utilized).
I like the idea that higher initiative (quicker reacting) characters get a better view of the battlefield before moving, and I feel it better reflects the simultaneous action of each round a little better.
It needs some playtesting to work out the kinks not immediately apparent in the theorycrafting, but I like the concept and would love to try it sometime.
The Streetfighter RPG (yes, there is something like that) had a system where every action had an init modifier and the slowest would go first with their action but everyone who had a higher init could alwasy chose to act "now". So the quicker could chose if they wanted to go first or not.
And if you were hit hard enough in combat you could lose your action.
So chosing to make a very strong, high damage but low init action was dangerous.
But high init actions often were too weak to interrupt other actions.
As the rest of the rules was rather similar to Vampire and Werewolf I guess that Streetfighter was from white wolf, too.
I started this thread to further discuss the incremental movement houserule. I'd love to have some opinions on it over there. Thanks!
|
Been toying with the idea of adding in Weapon Speed Factors. Getting tired of everybody using Greatsword because it dishes out tons of damage. Swing and a miss from a Greatsword should take a lot more time to recover than one from a dagger.
One of the Scarred Lands setting books broke all weapons down into 'Slow' 'Normal' and 'Fast.' Fast weapons included daggers and short swords and rapiers. Normal weapons included the usual suspects. Slow weapons included most polearms.
Normal weapons use the usual progression chart (gaining a new attack after every five BAB). Fast weapons gain a new iterative attack after every four BAB, and Slow weapons gain a new iterative attack after every six BAB.
So a longsword using Fighter 20 would end up with the usual +20/+15/+10/+5 BAB, but if he switched to a Slow greatsword, he'd have attacks at +20/+14/+8/+2 and if he used a Fast rapier, he'd have iterative attacks at +20/+16/+12/+8. IIRC, the Fast weapon user didn't gain a fifth iterative attack at +4, just was more accurate at delivering the usual number of iterative attacks.
A more complicated option would be to allow a Fast weapon user a change to AoO a Slow weapon user (perhaps with some sort of feat or class ability to allow such a feat), although, in the other direction, it would be just as thematic to allow a large weapon user to AoO a small weapon user while he tries to close in to deliver his attack (a spear user 'stop-thrusting' a short sword user as he tries to move in close to land a hit, for instance). Six of one, half dozen of the other, in that sort of case, although not all (or even many) players would dig that level of detail.
|
|
As for a house rule of mine;
If you have a companion creature with the 'Link' property (any familiar or animal companion, eidolons, even cavalier and paladin mounts), and you are excluded from an effect (such as a clerics channel energy ability, through Selective Channeling), your companion is automatically excluded as well.
Witches and cavaliers have enough worries about keeping their familiars and mounts alive, without having to worry about grouping with a neutral or evil cleric and having their companion 'accidentally' killed because the cleric didn't have the Wisdom needed to exclude the entire party *and* all of their pets.
|
I remove Trap Finding from the game and house rule that all caracters that want to spend skills and fests can find and disarm all types of traps, pick locks, etC? I ALSO RETURN Sneak Attack valid targets to 3.5 style for Undead particularly. That being said,Rogues can take a feat that allows them to Sneak Attack Undead, Elementals, and other creatures if they know what the target is and use a weapon that the target is weak against.
Fighters Armor Training is a choice between higher AC or higher Max Dex, not both.
Enhancement bonuses do not overcome any DR other than magic, but a higher bonus is needed to overcome DR than 5. +3 fo DR 10, +5 for 11+.
Min Skills per level is 4+ int, except Druids who get 2+int for balance and Rogues drop back to 6+int.
Not sure if to make this a feat or just make it standard rules.
Powerful Pinning
A creature that is pinned takes damage based on their size.
Small 1d4
Medium 1d6
Large 1d8
Special: A monk may deal damage based on his unarmed strike damage if greater.