I just keep a small list of houserules
-Hp per level you get half the hit die + modifiers and then roll half a hit die. So a barbarian would normally roll a d12. in this way he gets 6 + any modifiers from con or feats/class and then rolls an additional d6. Because my standard barbarian player has consistently managed to get less hp then our party casters XD. So this gives everyone above average hp and should ensure that martials actually end up in front of most casters.
-Core races only (maybe some extra depending on the campaign) and any non-3rd party class is allowed with exception of the gunslinger and master/synthesist summoner.
some more which are mostly dependent on which group I play with
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
I really liked how Star Wars: Saga Edition and D&D 4th-Edition made "Endurance" a skill, replacing the need for many Constitution checks and/or Fort saves. Here's a Pathfinder version, along with some further tweaking of the system to accommodate. Used terms like "short rest" and "long rest" in the creation of these mechanics, which I borrowed from D&D Next's playtest (I liked their rules for resting/natural healing, though I don't believe I can post 'em here; check out the playtest for more information.)
Checks: You may use the Endurance skill in the following ways:
: Each hour that you are exposed to cold weather (below 40 ° F), you must succeed at a DC 15 Endurance check or take 1d6 points of nonlethal damage (reduce this DC by 5 if you wearing a cold weather outfit; if you are wearing minimal clothes or armor, on the other hand, increase this DC by 5); the DC increases by +1 for each previous check. Nonlethal damage from cold weather cannot be recovered until you have taken a long rest (8 hours), during which time you must get out of the cold and warm up; until this time, you are fatigued. If reduced to unconsciousness, you begin taking lethal damage.
If exposed to severe cold weather (below 0 ° F), you must save every 10 minutes.
If exposed to extreme cold weather (below –20 ° F), you must save every minute.
If you succeed at a Survival check you may receive a bonus on your Endurance check to withstand the dangers of cold exposure (see the Survival skill in Using Skills).
: You can march for up to 8 hours each day without any trouble. After this time, you must succeed on a DC 10 Endurance check each hour or take 1d6 points of nonlethal damage; the DC increases by +1 for each previous check. Nonlethal damage from a forced march cannot be recovered until you have taken a long rest (8 hours); until this time, you are fatigued.
: Each hour that you are exposed to hot weather (above 90 ° F), you must succeed at a DC 15 Endurance check or take 1d6 points of nonlethal damage (reduce this DC by 5 if you wearing a hot weather outfit; if you are wearing heavy clothes or armor, on the other hand, increase this DC by 5); the DC increases by +1 for each previous check. Nonlethal damage from hot weather cannot be recovered until you have taken a long rest (8 hours), during which time you must get out of the heat and cool off; until this time, you are fatigued. If reduced to unconsciousness, you begin taking lethal damage.
If exposed to severe hot weather (above 110 ° F), you must save every 10 minutes.
If exposed to extreme hot weather (above 140 ° F), you must save every minute.
If you succeed at a Survival check you may receive a bonus on your Endurance check to withstand the dangers of heat exposure (see the Survival skill in Using Skills).
: You can hold your breath for a number of rounds equal to twice your Constitution score without any trouble. After this period of time, you must succeed on a DC 10 Endurance check each round in order to continue holding your breath; the DC increases by +1 each round beyond the first. If you fail, you drop to 0 hit points, fall unconscious, and begin to suffocate. In the following round, you drop to –1 hit points and begin to die. On the third round, you suffocate to death.
: You can go without food for a number of days equal to your Constitution modifier (minimum 1 day) without any trouble. After this period of time, you must succeed on a DC 10 Endurance check each day or take 1d6 points of nonlethal damage; the DC increases by +1 for each previous check. Nonlethal damage from starvation cannot be recovered until you eat a nourishing meal; until this time, you are fatigued. If reduced to unconsciousness, you begin taking lethal damage.
: You can go without water for 1 day, plus a number of hours equal to your Constitution modifier (if any) without any trouble. After this period of time, you must succeed on a DC 10 Endurance check each hour or take 1d6 points of nonlethal damage; the DC increases by +1 each hour beyond the first. Nonlethal damage from dehydration cannot be recovered until you eat a nourishing meal; until this time, you are fatigued. If reduced to unconsciousness, you begin taking lethal damage.
: You can run as a full-round action. When you run, you can move up to four times your speed in a straight line (or three times your speed in a straight line if you are wearing heavy armor or carrying a heavy load). You lose your Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) while running, since you cannot actively defend yourself.
You can run for a number of rounds equal to your Constitution score without any trouble. After this period of time, you must succeed on a DC 10 Endurance check each round or take 1d6 points of nonlethal damage; the DC increases by +1 for each previous check. Nonlethal damage from running cannot be recovered until you have taken a short rest (10 minutes); until this time, you are fatigued.
: You can sleep while wearing armor by succeeding a DC 15 Endurance check. If you fail, you are fatigued until you have taken a long rest (8 hours).
: Each hour that you swim, you must succeed at a DC 15 Endurance check or take 1d6 points of nonlethal damage (reduce this DC by 5 if you are merely treading water); the DC increases by +1 for each previous check. Nonlethal damage from swimming cannot be recovered until you have taken a long rest (8 hours); until this time, you are fatigued.
If you fall unconscious due to nonlethal damage that you’ve accumulated and become submerged, you can survive for a number of rounds equal to twice your Constitution score, after which time you begin to suffocate (see above); you automatically fail Endurance checks made to hold your breath while unconscious, putting you at immediate risk of drowning.
Action Type: None. An Endurance check is made as part of another action or as a reaction to a situation.
Special: If you have the Mighty feat, you get a bonus on Endurance checks (see Feats).
2.) Survival (Wis): The bonus to saving throws versus extreme weather (such as storms and tornados) which can be provided by this skill also applies to Endurance checks made to endure the effects of hot or cold environments.
2.) The Endurance feat has been removed from the game; the Diehard feat now requires Toughness as a prerequisite.
2.) Fighters that take the Unbreakable archetype gain Toughness as a bonus feat (instead of Endurance).
Toxicity for potions = potion´s spell level
Mind sharing more on this? I've considered implementing some sort of toxicity rating for potions, but I'm not sure where to start. Then again, I sort of want to completely re-work potions as a product of craft (alchemy) rather than spellcasting... Seems like a lot of work, though.
No fumble. The fumble is not core to pathfinder, and it shouldn't be. I had a very bad experience where a monster got a nat 20, then a 1 to confirm. The player wasted the rest of the session insisting the monster dropped their weapon and therefor did not hit. He killed the fumble, let it rot!
|
Detect Magic,
you mean "drink 1 gallon of water and/or beer" right? j/k.
this is an excellent change. especially using Toughness as a substitute prerequisite in Diehard chain because the abilities actually have mechanical synergy.
do you allow Athletics checks to jump and escape grapples? why or why not?
My houserules:
Read and Detect Magic are free to any magic-using class. They still have to be actually used, of course.
Perception is a class skill to everyone, and everyone gets 5 bonus ranks in it right from the beginning. They get 1 every 3 levels for free also.
Stealth works.
Rope Trick doesn't vanish; rather, it remains quite visible in the area. Force effects can shatter it and dump the inhabitants (caster level*2 hp).
Teleport's casting time is one full round.
All characters get one full bonus feat at first level. I also give out a '+2' non-combat feat based on backgrounds.
Rolling a natural 20 on a non-maxed class skill roll earns one point increase in that skill. Rolling a natural 20 on a skill roll of any kind where you have no ranks earns one rank.
Attribute increases are 2 points; one as chosen, one randomly determined that is not the same as the one chosen.
Fighters use the 'high' save on both Fort and Will, and get 4 skill points/level.
No evils, ever, for any reason. EVER. The moment it goes evil, it becomes my NPC.
Combat manuevers don't automagically provoke (this is a new one, stolen from this very thread, and a hearty thank you to the person who mentioned it!). They only provoke on a miss, or not at all if you have the associated feat.
Rogues get to select from both ninja and rogue tricks. Favored class is 1/4, not 1/6 for rogue tricks, and rogues (and ONLY rogues) can utilize a ranged flank if they have a melee friend. This ability is available to the rogue at level 5 to prevent quick-dips.
That's all I can remember right now, although I feel like I'm missing a couple still.
Detect Magic,
you mean "drink 1 gallon of water and/or beer" right? j/k.
Haha!
this is an excellent change. especially using Toughness as a substitute prerequisite in Diehard chain because the abilities actually have mechanical synergy.
I think so, too. Not only is there synergy, but Toughness is also a much more popular feat than Endurance. Diehard is pretty nice, but most people (save rangers) aren't likely to take it because of the "feat tax"; Toughness doesn't feel like a "feat tax" since it's actually useful.
do you allow Athletics checks to jump and escape grapples? why or why not?
I have used Athletics to govern jumping in the past, since it makes just as much sense that jumping would be Str-based as Dex-based (if not more so). However, it leaves the Acrobatics skill a bit lacking, which is why I chose not to include it along with climbing/swimming. If jumping is moved over to Athletics, I think Acrobatics would need to be revised. Adding mechanics for swiftly standing up from prone (without provoking attacks of opportunity) and ignoring difficult terrain (as per the Nimble Moves/Acrobatic Steps feats) would do the trick, I think.
As for using Athletics to escape grapples: not a fan. There are already rules for grappling which seem to work fine (even if I have a hard time remembering them all XD).
|
|
Athletics and Acrobatics could both cover jumping.
Athletics and Escape Artist could both allow you to escape a grapple; but reduced to a move action for someone trained in the latter.
Acrobatics (new uses):
Kip Up (trained only): You may attempt to stand up from prone as a swift action with a DC 20 Acrobatics check. If this roll also exceeds the CMD of any foe who threatens you, you do not provoke an attack of opportunity from that foe when doing so. If you fail, you remain prone, and are subject to attacks of opportunity as normal.
Obstacle Course (trained only): You may attempt to ignore difficult terrain as a swift action with a DC 25 Acrobatics check. Success allows you to move 5 feet, +5 feet for every 5 by which your check result exceeds the DC.
Nimble Moves (alternate feat):
Prerequisites: DEX 13
Benefits: Using the Acrobatics skill to ignore difficult terrain is a free action for you, and you gain a +4 bonus to the check.
Acrobatic Steps (alternate feat):
Prerequisites: DEX 15, Nimble Moves
Benefits: Whenever you use the Acrobatics skill to ignore difficult terrain, the base DC is 10.
Stand Up (alternate rogue talent):
A rogue with this talent may use the Acrobatics skill to stand up from prone as a free action, and gains a +10 competence bonus to her check to do so.
Ghosts are corrupted spirits of the dead. They have a central nexus, that connects the mind, personality, and spark of the divine. This is where the silver cord was connected. You should be able to crit. on them, with a ghost touch weapon or hand wrap.
Yes, but a feat, Ghost slayer, that allows the character to destroy them permanently, is a new addition. Hunter of the dead, would be a role more than a specific class.
Acrobatics (new uses)
Not bad! I think I'd decrease the DC to ignore difficult terrain a bit, but otherwise this looks pretty spot on.
|
Cavalier: a cavalier may use any of his teamwork feats with his tactician ability at start rather then having to wait till 17th to gain that ability.
Monk:
Wisened strike: At 4th level a monk may add his Wis modifier to attack & damage rolls with unarmed strikes and damage rolls with monk weapons while flurrying so long as he has ki.
Flying flurry: at 4th a monk may burn a ki point to increase his movement speed by 20ft, a monk may flurry at the end of this movement.
Dimension leap: by spending an additional point of ki a monk may flurry at the end of the dimensional leap.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Let's see, mine are...
-2 parts for Weapon Finesse, because it functions a bit differently in my game. All light weapons, and weapons that can be weapon finessed by RAW, have the Finesse quality, which allow any proficient user to use their Dex instead of Str for attack rolls.
-The Weapon Finesse feat has a prerequisite of +1 BAB and 13 Int. With this feat, when using a Finesse weapon, you may use your Int for damage instead of Str. This damage is not multiplied on a critical hit, and does not affect creatures immune to critical hits and sneak attacks. I wanted to boost the power of Weapon Finesse because it's really just a feat tax. This makes it attractive to a lot of rogues, bards, magi, and duelists, and still prevents you from using a single stat for attack, damage, AND AC. It's worked for my group so far.
-I have thought that Precise Shot was an unnecessary feat tax as well, so it's been broken into two pieces. If you have Point Blank Shot, you get the benefits of Precise Shot if you're within 30 feet of your target. Far Shot grants those benefits at any range. Improved Precise Shot is just called Precise shot and has all the same prereqs (except, naturally, having Precise Shot)
-Climb and Swim have been folded into an Athletics skill, which also encompases Jumping.
-Fly has been folded into Acrobatics.
-If you roll a natural 20 on a crit confirmation roll, you get to roll again. If that attack would hit your target, the attack counts as a coup de grace
-If you roll a natural 1 on an attack roll, you fumble or trip or something and loose the rest of your actions in the round as you recover your balance.
-Leadership does not exist. Everyone effectively gains it for free at 7th level, but does not attract followers or cohorts unless they begin making a conscious effort to do so (building a keep, establishing a reputation, stuff like that)
-Anyone with an item creation feat can disenchant any magic item to get back it's full crafting cost in raw materials that can be used to enchant a new item. Takes about half the time that it would have taken to create the item in the first place. Items with special resiliences or other unique properties (minor and major artifacts, phylacteries) cannot be so easily unmade.
I'm also working on overhauling a couple of feats and a few archtype/class abilities to make unarmed fighting more viable for fighters and especially barbarians. The barbarian mods are about finished, but as-yet untested. If anyone wants to give them a go, please let me know how it turns out. Many of my players are either relatively new or will consciously move away from optimization in order to maintain game balance (they DO min/max a bit, they just don't straight up optimize), so they don't necessarily find game breaking applications for some rules that people on these boards might ferret out.
All of these are simply modifications to to unarmed rage powers that appear in the APG.
Brawler: The barbarian's unarmed attacks, while raging, deal 1d6 points of damage and havea x3 crit multiplier. Basically makes his fists into a pair of light martial weapons.
Greater Brawler: The barbarian gains the Monk's Flurry of Blows ability as if he were a monk of his barbarian level, albeit without the increased attack bonus.
Master Brawler (New Power): The barbarian's unarmed attacks count as adamantine for the purposes of overcoming hardness and damage reduction. The barbarian must be at least 8th level and possess the Brawler and Greater Brawler rage powers to select this feat.
I don't see a need for two combat mechanics, so I'm kit bashing the regular To Hit and Armor Class rules in with the CMB/CMD rules, using a little of both. In the tests I've run with a player or two it speeds things up if someone tries a Combat Maneuver on your character, or vice versa.
If you can damage it, you can crit it. If you hit it hard enough, it should hurt. Except maybe ghosts, because they are special.
The only things you can't crit in Pathfinder are Elementals, oozes, and incorporeals (ghosts). Are you sure you want to include those?
I like the maximized cure spells out of combat and the pre-rolled stat arrays for the players to pick from, might try them next game.
Ruyan.
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Roll for Initiative every round--makes for a much more dynamic fight
I played with that rule once. By the end I was delaying until the end of the round to ensure I always got a turn between enemy turns. Getting slapped twice before you can act makes healing in combat an even worse option than it already is.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I have to agree with RuyanVe. There's something very simplistic and rigid about rolling initiative once for an entire battle, no matter how long it lasts. It allows for very little ebb and flow, in my opinion.
I consider that a feature, not a bug.
I've considered doing away with initiative checks and just doing Initiative in order of modifiers (using DEX Mod as a tie breaker).
I've played in with rolling init every round in 2e, and it sucked big time. Probably was the problem with being a 3.x player first, and wanting to delay like TOZ said. Anyway, I abhor extra rolls in a round, and any rule that makes them is a no-no in my book.
With my old group, I had a "combat event" chart triggered when one of the players or main NPCs rolled a natural "1". Some of these events were fumbles or weapon/armour malfunction (from the character provoking the event) but other other things were included as well (change of weather, environmental threat, morale checks etc).
One of the possible result was a re-roll for initiative on the upcoming round (event called "surprise" or "distraction" or something like that).
Basically, the chart included a whole bunch of things that I thought should happen in combat but wasn't worth rolling every round.
I've considered doing away with initiative checks and just doing Initiative in order of modifiers (using DEX Mod as a tie breaker).I think there should be a contest, I just don't think it should be every round.
perhaps, but I'd not use a d20 for it. That wide of a spread, with no bell curve, you wind up getting out-initiative'd too often even if you max out DEX, take improved initiative, etc.
|
With my old group, I had a "combat event" chart triggered when one of the players or main NPCs rolled a natural "1". Some of these events were fumbles or weapon/armour malfunction (from the character provoking the event) but other other things were included as well (change of weather, environmental threat, morale checks etc).
One of the possible result was a re-roll for initiative on the upcoming round (event called "surprise" or "distraction" or something like that).
Basically, the chart included a whole bunch of things that I thought should happen in combat but wasn't worth rolling every round.
That's a really cool idea actually. The current initiative system is a bit too predictable, but rolling every turn has its own abuses. Your idea might be the key: you can't be certain about next turn's initiative order, but you can make an educated guess.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Regarding initiative... my general experience with doing it every round is that it slows combat itself down (as everyone has to take time to roll and then possibly to readjust plans). I'd also rather keep the rules for delaying/readying/etc. which requires keeping the same order. I've encountered little abuse on that end of things.
The combat event sounds interesting if you wanted to shake things up. I'd try it probably if there were an easy digital tool to access so it wasn't one more thing I was trying to keep on the table.
=====================
And since I'm posting in this thread again...
I remembered I have a few house rules that I forgot about that are rather basic and largely just for convenience...
1. All magic items that are not artifacts are auto-IDed. No rolling for every item, no spending six years post combat going "can we use this yet?" "no we don't know what it is yet." Besides artifacts, exceptions are items that normally by the rules would be obscured or not fully revealed by a skill check + detect magic, such as an item obscured by obscure objects, or things like, a ring of air elemental command still looks like a ring of feather fall. A cursed item that is supposed to ID as something as innocuous still does so as well (although I rarely use cursed items, if ever).
This saves massive amounts of time and the only "challenge" it removes from the game is more of an annoyance--it has never served me as GM for the PCs not to know what they've found, honestly.
2. Most magical armor and clothing resizes to the wearer. I think a lot of people house rule this and it might have been the truth in some edition or another. This is another convenience factor, and to be sure the PCs get treasure they can actually use so we don't have to conjure up magic marts. Exceptions would items that are clearly designed for a very specific creature/purpose -- the magical crown of the Cloud Giant King will only ever fit a Huge-sized humanoid's head. But that +1 studded leather the goblin lieutenant was wearing will totally resize to fit the elf who looted it.
2. Most magical armor and clothing resizes to the wearer. I think a lot of people house rule this and it might have been the truth in some edition or another. This is another convenience factor, and to be sure the PCs get treasure they can actually use so we don't have to conjure up magic marts. Exceptions would items that are clearly designed for a very specific creature/purpose -- the magical crown of the Cloud Giant King will only ever fit a Huge-sized humanoid's...
If I remember right, this has always been the way it happens. Mundane equipment doesn't resize, but magical does. So, if you have a party of all gnomes or such, and only fight humans, the gnomes could still use all of the magical equipment dropped by the humans they kill.
Correct, Adjule.
When an article of magic clothing or jewelry is discovered, most of the time size shouldn't be an issue. Many magic garments are made to be easily adjustable, or they adjust themselves magically to the wearer. Size should not keep characters of various kinds from using magic items.
Oh, quite some response here.
The delaying/readying of actions do not really happen in our games, only if anticipating a charge or the cleric timing a rare in-combat heal; or for ACs.
As we've used that house rule for years now, it does not slow down combat for us.
Ruyan.
I've considered doing away with initiative checks and just doing Initiative in order of modifiers (using DEX Mod as a tie breaker).
I'm doing this for one of my PbPs and it works pretty well. It lets some monsters always go first, and some always go last, but it generally ends up with a nice even progression of something like "Player/Player/Enemy Enemy/Player/Enemy".
|
|
You can do funky things if you use Delay/Ready actions to put all the PCs next to each other in initiative order. Then one PC casts some spells to weaken a monster, and the next one immediately exploits the weakness before the monster gets a chance to react.
I think that the current fairly static initiative can be just a bit too predictable. On the other hand, two full attacks in a row is also too much of a bad thing to suffer through.
I guess the idea of occasional random events in combat, one of which is an initiative reshuffle, might be interesting. It'll cut down on predictability, but not all the time.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
My unfamiliarity with Pathfinder may mean this question is based in ignorance, so apologies beforehand.
It seems to me that refusing to roll initiative each round would result in the individuals with the higher dexterity always acting first.
That is true and, in fact, the purpose and desired outcome of that rule.
Does not the roll add a variable that simulates the ebb and flow of battle, yet allows the faster characters to customarily, but not constantly, act first?
The initiative system is an abstraction, a mechanic that allows combat to go smoothly by giving sequential turns when, in fact, everything would really be happening all at the same time. I would rather the 'ebb and flow' be determined by player choice (delay/ready) than a fickle die roll. It gives both sides more control.
It also speeds things up, as you can have your initiative chart made out before the game even starts.