I'm getting ready to give the players the list of house rules. If you guys would review and let me know if any of this would give you heartburn, I would appreciate it.
These rules are mostly open for negotiation. So if one of them gives you heart burn or if you want something else, bring it up and we'll discuss it. Most of these are allowing the player/PC more options. Very few of them are restrictions.I mostly go with rules as written. However, occasionally one comes up that seems stupid to almost everyone. We'll modify or reword those as they come up. Most of these should be fairly common sense and no surprise to the folks that have been playing with us for awhile. In no particular order:
A) You can text me questions at [redacted]. If it is very long or the answer is likely to be very long, send me an email to [redacted].
B) Paizo published material is generally acceptable. I am not an expert on all of it. So if you are using something obscure or from a book I don't own, please let me know ahead of time so I can read up on it.
--1) Things like performance combat and words of combat have not come up before. They would be examples of something I'd need some time to learn if you want to make use of them.
C) The books I own so far are Core Rule Book, Game Mastery Guide, Bestiary 1, Advanced Players Guide, Advance Class Guide, Advanced Race Guide, Ultimate Magic, Ultimate Combat, Ultimate Campaign, Ultimate Equipment, Inner Sea World Guide, Inner Sea Magic, Adventurer's Armory, Animal Archive, Blood of Angels, and Blood of Fiends
D) Dreamscarred Press psionics is acceptable. Just let me know ahead of time so I can add psionic stuff into the adventure to compliment and oppose it.
E) Other third party material is only allowed on a case by case basis if you can provide me a copy well ahead of game time so I can review.
F) ARG Core and Feature races are always allowed. Uncommon races will probably be allowed, but let me know ahead of time. Race builder is only allowed on a case-by-case basis if we work out a sensible/complete race together well ahead of game time.
G) If it is something I have the packages for, I am willing to keep your characters on Herolab for a nice clean and comprehensive character sheet.
H) Allow 1 complete rebuild for each PC. Maybe you find that Gulch Gunner just doesn’t play out the way you thought it would. Well, you can come up with something different. After that we’ll use the retraining rules from Ultimate Campaign. I will also allow replacement of something that was misunderstood. (Note: I give a lot more leeway for players new to the system.)
I) A few suggestions:
--1) Just as a suggestion, consider asking about your build on the paizo advice forums. Virtually every single build I even consider is posted there for review and critique. I often find out things don’t work together the way I thought they would or people have even better suggestions of feats/spells/items that work exceptionally well with the proposed build. I may or may not take their advice, but it helps to hear other opinion.
--2) I suggest every player read the Forge of Combat guide and consider what roles you are trying to fulfill. Both in combat and out of combat.
--3) I suggest no PC be an extreme 1 trick pony and every PC have things to contribute both in combat and out of combat. Players tend to get bored and disgruntled when their PC’s are not part of the play for significant periods of time.
J) We generally use 20 point buy. If you want to roll abilities, we'll work something out. If you happen to role stupidly high or low, you will have/get to re-roll.
K) It hasn’t come up in a long time, but if you want to run one of the NPC classes, let me know and we will try to work out something to make it viable. (In the past I’ve had players that wanted to be an aristocrat or expert for some concept.)
L) Wizard familiar table. The intelligence listed is a minimum. If the familiar is already smarter than that, we won't give it a lobotomy.
M) Generally don't let PC's take monster feats. But talk to me about it. Sometimes it is appropriate.
N) Bloodline stuff:
--1) Crossblooded and Wildblooded. I see no problem allowing these to combine for a sorcerer.
--2) Eldritch Heritage. I will allow PC's to take eldritch heritage for multiple bloodlines as long as you meet the qualifications. (Sylvan is still not allowed.)
--3) Bloodrager with Draconic bloodline qualifies for Dragon Disciple and it advances the bloodrager bloodline.
O) We use the Hero Point system. This includes the feats, traits, spells, and magic items. Note: Exceptional bad guys just may have hero points themselves.
P) You can forgo ever gaining or using hero points for an extra feat at first level.
Q) Early firearms are allowed, advanced firearms are not.
R) I would prefer the campaign to not include PvP or adversarial relationships between the PC’s (or players for that matter). I feel that a LG paladin and CE cleric of Rovagug are not appropriate in the same group. If you both decide you still want to do it, then the 2 players are in charge of finding a way for the 2 PC’s to get along in the same group. You need to find a way to make it work. That is definitely NOT my job to referee you personal relationships. If the 2 of you can’t come to an agreement, you should both make different characters. This is my version of the “Don’t be a jerk!” rule.
S) On paladins. If you want to play a holy warrior dedicated to X deity, please consider the inquisitor. That doesn't have the oath as part of the class.
--1) If you want to play a paladin, you as player and I as GM will need to work it out before the game. What does your paladin require in certain types of moral/ethical quandary situations (goblin babies, surrendered opponents not near authorities, authorities are bad guys, slavery (or whatever) is legal in this country, redemption of devils/demons, pretty sure of guilt, lack of evidence, what crimes warrant capitol punishment, etc...) must be worked out and written down before game day.
--2) I will allow a lot of lee way, but there are limits. I can not be convinced that horrible evil for the eventual greater good, torture, cruelty, greed, etc... are acceptable for paladin behavior.
--3) A ping on Detect Evil does NOT justify unprovoked murder. A person/creature can be evil and not yet have committed any crime that warrants death.
--4) Other players can raise a point or ask a question during game play, but 2+ hour game stopping arguments about a paladin always / never must / can't / should / wouldn't whatever will not be tolerated. It is between the player and the GM. The rest of you just shut the heck up about it.
{{ That is during game time. Out of game time, please feel free to discuss it all you want. That is reasonable and encouraged activity. }}
T) I’m not going to be real strict on cleric’s beliefs, duties, rites, etc… Just come up with something that you think makes sense and try to stick with it (also for warpriest, druid, etc…).
U) I am not against the summoner class. It is powerful, but most of the problems I have heard about are actually due to the player not reading the rules correctly and building the eidolon wrong.
V) If you want to run a pet class (summoner, druid, cavalier, etc...), you the player are responsible to get organized enough to not slow down the action while you look up stuff in umpteen books. Consider:
--1) A 3x5 card, printout, or photocopy of the pet noting its stats and abilities in detail so you don’t have to go looking things up.
--2) Can you communicate with your pet?
--3) Is the plan/command you are giving reasonable for the intelligence of the pet?
W) Leadership feat.
--1) Looks like the group is back up to 5 players. I would prefer to not have combat cohorts from the leadership feat. But if you really need it to fulfill your plans, let me know and we will talk about it. A simple mount or body guard may not slow game play too much.
--2) Cohort has 5 pt lower point buy than PC.
--3) Cohort can NOT take the leadership feat.
--4) Followers are NPC classes.
--5) Player says what they are looking for in a cohort, but I will build it with their input. I will optimize the build to a reasonable extent but it won’t be to the point of eclipsing any of the PC’s.
X) Those of you that have been in the group for a while let me know if I’ve forgotten anything.
Any opinions?
The only problem I see is that you put your contact information on a public forum. If you can't edit or delete it, I recommend asking a moderator to take the thread down.
The only problem I see is that you put your contact information on a public forum. If you can't edit or delete it, I recommend asking a moderator to take the thread down.
Ha. Yes, I meant to blank that out. Thanx
Is there a button I'm missing for contacting a moderator?
Flagged for moderators attention...
Thx muchly!
None of these scream "Houserules" to me. It's more of a code of conduct.
Seems fairly straight forward to me.