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Lets see, here are the basic ones I use for pretty much any 3.X or Pathfinder game.
1) Every character gets one feat and two skills as background for their character at first level. They do not gain additional skills when leveling so these are essentially just extras at first level.
Started in 3.0. It was a great way to provide character background and extra options.
2) Shields confer different levels of cover (I use the 3.0 rules for cover) and characters can spend an action to hunker behind their shield and increase the cover by a quarter. Bucklers & Light shields = 1/4 cover, Large Shields = 1/2 cover, and Tower Shields = 3/4 cover. Bucklers you cannot hunker behind but you can bash with the shield and not lose your AC bonus.
I was tired of shields sucking.
3) Critical hits do not mean auto-hit. Fumbles do not mean auto-miss. Rolling a 20 counts as 30 and rolling a 1 counts as -10.
I hated the whole 1 in 20 auto hit and auto miss thing. Now an army of kobolds cannot kill a great wyrm dragon in one round.
4) Clerics do not spontaneously cast cure or harm spells. They spontaneously cast domain spells.
It instantly makes clerics of different gods unique. You want to heal? Take the healing domain or memorize healing spells.
5) The War Domain grants proficiency in all martial weapons. That's it.
None of this single weapon with weapon focus thing. Proficiency with all martial weapons is not that big of an advantage.
6) Exotic weapons do not exist. The whole list is removed from the game. Monks in return receive proficiency with all simple weapons and can use their abilities with any weapon with which they are proficient. If that means monks can flurry with a long sword because they spent a feat to become proficient in long swords, that's fine with me.
In 10 years, I have never had a player want to invest the feat required to use an exotic weapon and I see no reason to penalize the monk by limiting their options. Also, I have never had a player in 10 years want to play a monk. So they are essentially an NPC class anyway.
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I hated the whole 1 in 20 auto hit and auto miss thing. Now an army of kobolds cannot kill a great wyrm dragon in one round.
They wouldn't be able to do so under the normal rules anyway, so this is misleading.
Melee spear +1 (1d6–1)
Ranged sling +3 (1d3-1)
DR 20/magic
I hated the whole 1 in 20 auto hit and auto miss thing. Now an army of kobolds cannot kill a great wyrm dragon in one round.They wouldn't be able to do so under the normal rules anyway, so this is misleading.
Melee spear +1 (1d6–1)
Ranged sling +3 (1d3-1)DR 20/magic
Hey! Look at that! Forgot about that. That's what I get for using the iconic monster as an example when I haven't used one in game in 5+ years.
Most of these are my 3.X house rules that I just ported over. I should probably re-evaluate all of them the next time we play.
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I have seen some good ideas so far, keep it up.
A few that I have added to my compendium:
Hit Points
Hit Points are considered to be a feature for a given class, and as such all characters automatically have the maximum number of Hit Points per level.
Witches and Wizards
Wizards now only have the Arcane Bond. I am thinking about adding the option for a blasty power from Wiggz above, though. I feel that Familiars are For Witches Only. (And in the case of Improved Familiar, the familiar turns into the new one, it is not replaced)
The Universalist Wizard does not get the bonus spell slot per spell level that specialist wizards have. However, a Universalist can reduce the Metamagic cost by one to a number of spells per day equal to Wizard level. This allows a spell to be cast at no added cost if it would have a Metamagic cost of +1.
Additionally, instead of the Hand of the Apprentice ability, a Universalist has the Metacharge ability.
Traits
Armor Proficiency (Heavy)
Your character is proficient with wearing Heavy Armor, but the character must already be proficient in the use of Medium Armor. Note that if the character gets a class that gives this for free, the player is allowed to replace this Trait with another.
Armor Proficiency (Light)
Your character is proficient with wearing Light Armor. Note that if the character gets a class that gives this for free, the player is allowed to replace this Trait with another.
Armor Proficiency (Medium)
Your character is proficient with wearing Medium Armor, but the character must already be proficient in the use of Light Armor. Note that if the character gets a class that gives this for free, the player is allowed to replace this Trait with another.
Exotic Weapon Proficiency
Your character is proficient with a single Exotic Weapon proficiency. This trait may be taken multiple times, and each time it will give an additional Exotic Weapon Proficiency.
Martial Weapon Proficiency
Your character is proficient in two Martial Weapon proficiencies. This trait may be taken multiple times, and each time it will give two Martial Weapon Proficiencies. Should the character get a class that provides proficiency in all Martial Weapons, the player is allowed to replace this Trait with another.
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Hey! Look at that! Forgot about that. That's what I get for using the iconic monster as an example when I haven't used one in game in 5+ years.
This isn't to say that other armies, better equipped ones with higher level characters, couldn't do it. But high level creatures have a lot of defenses and options to negate low level creatures ability to overwhelm them with numbers. A lot of these options are also not as apparent, such as at-will spell-like abilities that should be up nearly all the time.
Witches and Wizards
Wizards now only have the Arcane Bond. I am thinking about adding the option for a blasty power from Wiggz above, though. I feel that Familiars are For Witches Only. (And in the case of Improved Familiar, the familiar turns into the new one, it is not replaced)
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Here's a fun option to consider - a feat that can only be taken by Familiars that allow them to change form from one standard familiar type to another. The feat can be taken multiple times with a new form selected each time it is... in other words you could have a familiar which is a Weasel but could turn into an Owl or a Scorpion (presuming two feats were spent). The Familiar's bonuses would remain the same but its abilities (Flight, Swimming, etc.) would change as would the Speacial Ability they grant the Witch/Wizard.
Hey! Look at that! Forgot about that. That's what I get for using the iconic monster as an example when I haven't used one in game in 5+ years.This isn't to say that other armies, better equipped ones with higher level characters, couldn't do it. But high level creatures have a lot of defenses and options to negate low level creatures ability to overwhelm them with numbers. A lot of these options are also not as apparent, such as at-will spell-like abilities that should be up nearly all the time.
Yeah...yet another reason my group is re-evaluating using Pathfinder. Its such a big and complex system and since we don't get to play all that often, my players have to practically re-learn the rules every time we play. We will probably stick to Pathfinder Basic for now and use the occasional module.
So much crunchy goodness. Just way more than we need right now.
By curiosity, do you guys make a difference between campaign guidelines (20-pts buy, this and that feat are baned), additional homebrewed material (this and that homebrewed feats are also available), variant subsystem rules (we're using armour as DR as per the Ultimate Combat) and core material trafficking (this and that feat do this instead of RaW), or is all houserules to you?
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It's all houserules to me.
i.e. "this is how the game is played in this house"
but what if you play outside!
dotting for later posting.
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Okay could you explain this one? Because I can sorta see setting a crossbow at a certain strength, but how can you shoot someone harder with your muscles? I don't get it.
The more force built into the weapon/amount of kickback from the powder, the stronger you need to be to keep a steady aim and hit your target.
So if your crossbow hits at 1d8+4, you better have an 18 Str to steady it or take a penalty to your attack roll.
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Resurrection: Resurrection works as normal, except that when a character is returned to life by any means short of an artifact or deity, in addition to any negative levels, they take an additional small penalty based on how they died. For example, a character who was drowned might get -2 to any Fort save related to breathing. This penalty cannot be removed by any means short of a Wish, Miracle or similar caliber of magic.
I don't have many, but there are a few. I'm liking a lot of these ideas, though.
First, the character gets their average HD roll round up every level after first (first being full HD).
If you use a weapon in a way it isn't meant to be used, you take a -4. This extends to using a two hander in one hand, or using an impossibly oversized weapon.
Crit fumbles are rolled to confirm just like crit hits. The fumble and crit decks are also used.
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I have 2 main changes:
1. one free feat at 1st level
These are feats people never take, but might want to. No one will give up a more useful feat for one of these, so I wanted people to have the chance. Characters have to meet prerequisites.
Acrobatic, Aquatic Ancestry (Undine), Athletic, Brewmaster (Dwarf), Childlike (Halfling), Improvisation (Human), Natural Charmer (Dhampir), Persuasive, Prodigy, Run, Self Sufficient, Skill Focus (but only on a Craft, Knowledge, Perform, or Profession skill)
2. extra skills
+2 skill ranks/lvl that can be used in any Craft, Perform, Profession, or Knowledge
the extra skills are a little unbalancing, but maybe that's because I have only 3 players right now and so they all took hybrid skill heavy classes.
Our group has always done the following:
3. hp
100% at first level
75% at other levels
4. human
extra +2 to ability at 1st or extra +1 skill/hp/lvl
(since no one was picking human)
Some of these, like the extra feats and extra bonus for humans, have to do with our particular group, and giving incentives for choices no one usually makes or that may add flavor at a cost to effectiveness.
We are pretty loose though, we've been playing together for a long time and have known each other at least about 10 years, one guy I've known for over 30 years.
1: Full hit die on first level, 60% rounded up on all subsequent levels.
2: The cleric, fighter and Sorcerer gain 4 skill points per level instead of 2.
3: Traits subjected to GM approval but I've banned all the ones where you begin with extra cash and heirloom weapon.
4: You begin with your full class starting cash.
5: Crafting has been re-balanced as per the "making craft work" pdf. Shortening crafting checks to reasonable times in a normal campaign.
6: If you (or a monster) takes half of their total hit points in a single blow, they have to roll a DC 10+Con mod or fall unconcious until healed or upon a successful check in following rounds.
7: Natural 1 is an always miss but we don't use critical fails.
8: Profession checks are per day and you get d20+skill rank directly in GP. A natural 20 roll allows you to roll the % die for a "tip" based on your total amount gained.
9: When I'm in doubt on an ability or rule, I will immediately rule a logical solution and research the proper answer in time for the next game.
7: Natural 1 is an always miss but we don't use critical fails.
Not a house rule!
Houserules I use:
- You can never roll less than the low average on a hit die. (Prevents having characters with less HP than average townsfolk because of bad luck.)
- We've started using passive perception (always assumed to be taking 10 all the time) unless someone specifically calls out to make a perception check. (Prevents people from shouting out their perception results every 20 seconds when not in combat.)
Houserules I'm thinking about implementing:
- Upon character creation, think long and hard about what your second level is going to be, and roll that HD a level early and gain it at level 1. Upon reaching level 2, level up normally, except you already gained your HD last level. (Prevents the level 1 freak lethality and it re-balances itself.)
- Free trait above and beyond the normal # of traits; this free trait is "gain +2 in the profession of your choice, and it is always a class skill." (Should make for interesting backstories and also allow for the more popular "mechanical advantage" traits.)
- Weapons don't have to look like they're supposed to as long as they have mechanical equality. For example, if you have a martial light melee weapon that costs 10gp, weighs 2 lbs, does 1d6 piercing damage, and has a crit range of 19-20/x2, you can make it look like whatever you want and call it whatever you want; it doesn't have to look like and be called a short sword. (Might make for some more interesting character flavor and/or miniature selection.)
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I haven't implemented these as house rules, but I was thinking of doing so. Some are a little weird, but should work well enough.
1. The d20 is gone, it's been replaces by a d24. Sounds weird but I have like 6 of these things and always wanted to use them. Critical hit are adjusted appropriately, but DC's stay the same.
2. Every class gets 1 more skill point per level. Just to add in diversity.
3. The lower (weaker) saving throw progression chart is replaced by the one bellow.
Level Bonus
1-2 +1
3-5 +2
6-7 +3
8-10 +4
11-12 +5
13-15 +6
16-17 +7
18-20 +8
4. No prestige classes.
5. At 1st level the fighter gets the fallowing class ability.
Counter Attack
The first attack directed at the fighter for that combat (entire combat) may countered. The DC is just the AC of the attacker, and if the fighter is successful he takes no damage and deals damage as if he made a normal single attack (however he cannot use any feat granted abilities like power attack or TWF, it's just a plain ordinary attack). The fighter has to be within 5' of his target to use this ability, melee only.
Bravery
Works the same, but the fighter may choose to add the bonus vs. fear/stuns & paralysis/illusions/compulsions/Life Drains. Once he chooses which bonus he prefers he cannot change it.
6. Summoners the summon monsters spells increase numerically. So at 3rd spell-casting level he gets summon monster 3 not 4, and at 4th spell level he gets summon monster 4 not 5, and so on.
Still thinking of more, but I want to keep it simple, I don't want an entirely new system.
Characters who desire so may begin with a single item - magical, rare, anything - of their choice (subject to GM approval) for free, under the stipulation that the item carries some kind of curse. The character is unaware of this curse, and the nature of the curse is at the GM's discretion, though it will always be considered proportional to the item’s power. Will need at least a short explanation of how the item was acquired as part of the character's backstory.It's a bit of a tangent, but this rule reminded me of the West End Games Star Wars character template 'smuggler', which had on his equipment list a Millennium Falcon style starship (yay!), then right below it a 25,000 credit debt to a crime lord (boo!).
Some of our notable ones have included:
> A modified aberrant sphere (Magic Item Compendium) that summoned devils instead of aberrations, and held a shard of an archdevil's consciousness within
> A holy weapon (Can't remember type) that acted as an invisible beacon for fiends and undead - they would see it for miles and be nearly compelled to test their might against its wielder
> A goz mask whose eye coverings were actually the eyes of (or proxies for) an outsider/aberrant/dark tapestry-type critter, watching the world through the mask, and thus given a free tour by the wearer
There were others, many more, but I can't remember them right now. It's been quite a while since a player has taken up on the offer - my current game has none, while I usually have one or two takers, but I blame that more on the group being very new to PF/D&D when I started this latest game. I'm sure I'll have another taker or two next campaign.
Spell resistance/penetration is a dumb mechanic. SR gives you reduction against spell damage equal to your resistance, and a bonus to save of 1/4. Spell penetration negates the equivilant amount of SR prior to save/damage
i.e. SR 16 vs no pen gives +4 to saves or -16 damage
SR 16 vs Spell pen +2 = +3 to saves or -14 damage
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I believe the only houserule we play with is in regards to resting. A full rests heals your hit die rather than 1 HP per level. After a night's rest, barbarians heal 12 hp, fighters heal 10 hp, etc. It makes early levels easier to deal with and doesn't really affect higher levels as healing is more abundant at that point.
Here is one I plan on using in my next campaign...
Simplified Traits - There are no classes of traits, in addition to these, the normal campaign traits are available.
Armor Expert - Reduce your armor Check Penalty by 1
Magical Knack - +2 caster level(CL cannot exceed hit dice)
Save Trait - Give a +1 trait bonus to a single save.
Situational Trait - +2 save or +2 to a skill in a specific situation.
Skill Trait - Makes a non-class skill into a class skill or gives you a +1 trait bonus to a class skill.
Weapon Trait - Gain proficiency in a single martial or simple weapon
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Oh, Teleport got somewhat nerfed, as did scrying, to prevent Scry & Fry at high levels.
If you're not teleporting to and from a ritually built teleport node, you're taking your life in your hands.
Oh, Teleport got somewhat nerfed, as did scrying, to prevent Scry & Fry at high levels.
If you're not teleporting to and from a ritually built teleport node, you're taking your life in your hands.
to OR from? both sound a bit like making it utrerly useless. IMHO teleportation is not only to scry + fry, but a VERY effective GTFO NOW!!!! maneuver...
Just my 2cp
Oh, Teleport got somewhat nerfed, as did scrying, to prevent Scry & Fry at high levels.
If you're not teleporting to and from a ritually built teleport node, you're taking your life in your hands.
to OR from? both sound a bit like making it utrerly useless. IMHO teleportation is not only to scry + fry, but a VERY effective GTFO NOW!!!! maneuver...
Just my 2cp
Teleporting to a Node you know is pretty safe.
Teleporting between nodes is absolutely safe.
Teleporting line of sight is absolutely safe.
Teleporting from a node to a place you can scry to is mostly safe.
Teleporting to a node from a non-node if you can scry the node is mostly safe.
Teleporting from a non-node to a place you've never been is not safe.
Teleporting under one mile only invokes the blind teleport rules, which means the worst that will happen is some damage from teleporting into things. You won't end up in the wrong dimension or anything. Anything over a mile, you use the expanded mishap table.
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Spell resistance/penetration is a dumb mechanic. SR gives you reduction against spell damage equal to your resistance, and a bonus to save of 1/4. Spell penetration negates the equivilant amount of SR prior to save/damage
i.e. SR 16 vs no pen gives +4 to saves or -16 damage
SR 16 vs Spell pen +2 = +3 to saves or -14 damage
That is an interesting solution, I am bearing this one in mind. DR and SR are my two big buggaboos as being far more trouble than they're worth and this is a fairly interesting solution.
The only issue is that it doesn't have an effect on spells that do not deal damage, like most enchantments or illusions, or spells which inflict conditions rather than damage.
One solution I have toyed with, but not tried, is making creatures with SR immune to a certain school or subschool of magic, but normally affected by the rest. This means their resistance to magic never becomes pointless or useless (which SR does at higher levels, as my experience is 95% of the time, PCs will beat it) but its effect is limited. Also requires less math and die rolling (but does require tracking schools, etc.).
One solution I have toyed with, but not tried, is making creatures with SR immune to a certain school or subschool of magic, but normally affected by the rest. This means their resistance to magic never becomes pointless or useless (which SR does at higher levels, as my experience is 95% of the time, PCs will beat it) but its effect is limited. Also requires less math and die rolling (but does require tracking schools, etc.).
I LIKE this. I'll have to try this out.
Spell resistance/penetration is a dumb mechanic. SR gives you reduction against spell damage equal to your resistance, and a bonus to save of 1/4. Spell penetration negates the equivilant amount of SR prior to save/damage
i.e. SR 16 vs no pen gives +4 to saves or -16 damage
SR 16 vs Spell pen +2 = +3 to saves or -14 damageThat is an interesting solution, I am bearing this one in mind. DR and SR are my two big buggaboos as being far more trouble than they're worth and this is a fairly interesting solution.
The only issue is that it doesn't have an effect on spells that do not deal damage, like most enchantments or illusions, or spells which inflict conditions rather than damage.
One solution I have toyed with, but not tried, is making creatures with SR immune to a certain school or subschool of magic, but normally affected by the rest. This means their resistance to magic never becomes pointless or useless (which SR does at higher levels, as my experience is 95% of the time, PCs will beat it) but its effect is limited. Also requires less math and die rolling (but does require tracking schools, etc.).
i completly disagree... Conditions are usually given with saves which is accomplished from the save modifier. If the spell DOESNT have a save, GIVE it one. If they make it, it doesnt affect them, if they dont it does. Pretty simple really, and can be done behind scenes.
To clarify previous post, the save only exists in the regards to the spell resistance, and depending on which spell, you could give them some sort of penalty/misc modifier against it. we have never come across somethijng that could not be solved by that formulae. While it may not work PRECISELY as intended with the original SR and SP, i feel it condenses and works nearly enough to be a more viable option.
So spell resistance would then be: "If the spell allows no save, you gain a save for half effect. If the spell allows no save, you only take half effect on a failed save and no effect on a successful save."
Most are minor but others ...
I dismiss the Power Attack and Combat Expertise req. to get Improved "Maneuver" Feats (but I still require the score of 13 and the feats req. are full for the Greater ones)
Rapid reload can be applied to any chosen "reload-required weapon"
Martial Weapon Prof Feat: Get the prof in all martial weapons in the chosen Weapon group
Two Weapon Fighting req. is dex 13 and the base attack bonus defines a progression: +6 BAB gives the Improve version and +11 BAB gives the Greater version and I don't require more Dex.
Combo Weapons: can be used as one or the other (different prof. may still be req.) ex.: Pick and Axe combo.
Martial weapons can be used as a bigger simple weapons with all the "worst" stats, ex.: Longsword: dam d8-S-x2crit, full weight, and becomes a 2hd but no att. penalty.
I allow a Bonus Spell (ex Sorcerers) to be taken early and then traded for a "any spell" at the level that gives the Bonus. Same for Feats.
Fighters can trade 1 bonus feat, heavy armor prof and tower shield prof to get 4 skill pts/lev.
Armor that would give a "negative Check Penalty" ex.: MW leather or MithrAl Vest can be worn under one's clothes ...
Crit and fumble cards are used. U have to confirm the fumbles and crits though.
You roll a 20 then a 1 or roll a 1 then 20, u get to pull a crit and a fumble card.
Ammunition that is nonmagical or nonmasterwork don't need to be accounted for. U get unlimited unless ur abusing it.
Gunslingers lose their touch attacks and are replaced with range atks but also their range is doubled, they lose the misfire thing, and reloading a pistol is the same as a light crossbow.
And that's all that comes to mind but I'm sure there's more.
Ahh yes, wish spell only grants what is stated. You go outside of that and ur wish WILL get warped.
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My guns houserule:
Within the first range increment guns gain a +5 equipment bonus to hit. (Remove references to touch AC)
Understanding the rule: Bullets are fast, they can both pierce armour and are hard to dodge. This rule makes bullets equally effective against dodgy characters and armoured characters, without breaking high level play (due to most monsters requiring natural armor bonuses).
We use 2D10 for resolution instead of D20. Makes skills and attacks more reliable (predictable?) and Hail Mary attempts less likely. Critical Threat ranges are boosted by 1 on all weapons to accommodate.
One of mine is that witches can spontaneously cast patron spells.
All my players receives Occupation based on their character background. Occupations are packages of additional class skills (2 to 4 from a list) that also gives bonus «flavor» feat (Noble Scion, Warrior Priest, Fey Foundling), skills feat (Deceitful, Persuasive, Alertness) or extra proficiency.
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This turned up in a different thread, but our group treats planetouched as humanoids rather than outsiders for the purposes of disguise self.
Likewise, an augmented humanoid (such as a lich or vampire) can use the spell to assume an illusory version of their living self (only), but not any other type of undead.
All my players receives Occupation based on their character background. Occupations are packages of additional class skills (2 to 4 from a list) that also gives bonus «flavor» feat (Noble Scion, Warrior Priest, Fey Foundling), skills feat (Deceitful, Persuasive, Alertness) or extra proficiency.
Ooh, I like that idea, Kelazan. How do you stop players optimising their background to suit their class abilities?