Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 8
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Instead of giving PCs +1 to a stat every four levels, I give them 1 point-buy point each level. They can spend those points to increase their stats, just like at character creation, paying the difference in price between their current score and the score they want (all before race mods and such).
For example:
Valeros hits level 2, he earns a point-buy point. He can spend it immediately to increase his Int from 11 to 12 (2-1).
Alternatively, he can save it for later. At 4th level, he can spend the 3 points he's earned to increase his Strength from 15 to 16 (10-7)
I like it because it encourages players to round out their ability scores, rather than hoarding all their bonuses to buff their main stat.
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Free Weapon Finesse to any character that can qualify for it.
Such a small change that opens up so many character concepts.
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Every character gets combat expertise, power attack, and weapon finesse as bonus feats at level 1.
We enforced the Active Spell Casting Variant rules (Pathfinder Unchained - http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/variant-magic-rules/active-spellcasting-varia nt-rules) as a set to overhaul the magic system.
I used the PFS rules for hit points. Being the frontliner after rolling 1's and 2's every time you level up is not fun.
I also don't bother with XP anymore.
I also try out a new house(s) every time I run a campaign. <---not really a specific rule
Combat Maneuvers doesn't provoke on successful attack rolls.
It always bothered me that you need 2 feats just to be able to grab someone without getting shanked, since the feat tax prevents everyone but the Combat-Maneuver focused builds from using them.
* Ban all non-spellcasters.
--Why People go on about how spellcasters and non-spellcasters aren't balanced. Pathfinder requires spellcasters in order for parties to be competitive. The simplest solution is to eliminate non-spellcasters from the equation.
Plus the mix of non- and spellcasters just doesn't work for me: I feel like everyone should be using the same method of problem-solving and butt-kicking in-world. So if Pathfinder is going to be magic-centric then I want to use it for worlds where everyone uses magic.
Is that strictly all non-spellcasters, or are the semi-casters also banned? There is quite the difference between a Ranger and a Wizard, with the former trekking through wilderness for weeks while the Wizard simply teleports.
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I stole a part of our character creation process from another system, though I can't remember its name.
Basically: after character creation; each player tell about an event that was important in shaping the character, the event must be at least 3 years old, but can be older.
Then players take turns telling how their character knows the character on the left. Changing the character's defining event is not allowed, but anything that fits within the campaign outline is allowed and the player on your left must now fit it into his/her story.
Why?
It gives us a group that actually works together, as well as give the game master several clues on how to involve the characters. We've even had campaigns where this process decided the entire story and everything became about the players - which was,honestly, awesome :-)
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Progress-based leveling. Removing the paperwork of XP and replacing it with "Everyone levels up when the AP says you level up" take a lot of work out of the system to get you to the exact same place.
Deadly Critical HouseRule...
If you roll a natural 20 when attempting to confirm a critical hit, you have the chance at an instant kill - roll gain.
If that roll is also a 20, then you have slain your opponent in spectacular fashion... Otherwise you have just critical-led normally.
For successful criticals, the damage for a normal maximum attack is added to sufficient die rolls to match the multiplier, e.g. x2 critical for a 1d8 weapon is 8 + 1d8, for a x3 weapon is 8 + 2d8, i.e. you can never roll less than the maximum for a normal attack when successfully making a critical hit :)
If you have extra dice (which normally don't multiply on a critical, e.g. sneak attack dice) then treat those extra dice as rolling maximum, e.g. 1d8 + 3d6 on a x2 weapon is 8 + 1d8 + 18
Include modifiers for magic, attribute bonuses, feats, etc. as appropriate.
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RULE : Players characters are heroic and better than the norm, but they are not gods...
After creating your character, and applying racial modifiers, add up the bonuses and subtract the penalties of your attribute scores.
If the total is less than +6, the character is too weak - re-roll.
STR +2, DEX +1, WIS +0, INT +1, CON +3, CHA -2 = total +5 - re-roll
If the total is greater than +11, the character is too strong, every hero must have some weaker aspect(s) - re-roll.
STR +1, DEX +4, WIS +0, INT +1, CON +4, CHA +2 = total +12 - re-roll
I've played with the Triple 20 Instakill. It came up twice in the same campaign, once on a BBEG and once on an NPC ally.
On an NPC ally? LOL - I guess he wasnt an ally when that happened! >.<
On an NPC ally? LOL - I guess he wasnt an ally when that happened! >.<No, the BBEG rolled it on him. ;) Paeliryon devil, stabbed him in the eye with a fingernail.
Nice!
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I use a modest list of house rules in my games, and some of mine (or close variations) are mentioned above already.
One mechanic in Pathfinder that has always bothered me, but is thankfully rare in application, is the mechanic of ability checks.
I hate that a 20 strength fighter can roll a 2, netting him a '7' on a strength check when a sickly 8 strength wizard can roll a 19 and net a '18' on his strength check to open a door/chest/whatever. This is nonsense. The d20 is a decent device for combat, less so for skill checks, and downright stupid for ability checks. The "swingyness" of the roll makes no sense especially considering it doesn't scale at all.
Ergo, one of my house rules is: A player's ability check roll result can never equal less than their current corresponding ability score. EG a 20 strength fighter will always get at least a '20' on his strength checks, but can possibly get as high as '25.'
This allows the weaklings to be heroic once in awhile, by chance, but prevents the strong from ever being marginalized.
(I'm using 'Strength' as the core example here as it seems to be the most commonly used ability check, and possibly the easiest to relate to in an example)
I use a modest list of house rules in my games, and some of mine (or close variations) are mentioned above already.
One mechanic in Pathfinder that has always bothered me, but is thankfully rare in application, is the mechanic of ability checks.
I hate that a 20 strength fighter can roll a 2, netting him a '7' on a strength check when a sickly 8 strength wizard can roll a 19 and net a '18' on his strength check to open a door/chest/whatever. This is nonsense. The d20 is a decent device for combat, less so for skill checks, and downright stupid for ability checks. The "swingyness" of the roll makes no sense especially considering it doesn't scale at all.
Ergo, one of my house rules is: A player's ability check roll result can never equal less than their current corresponding ability score. EG a 20 strength fighter will always get at least a '20' on his strength checks, but can possibly get as high as '25.'
This allows the weaklings to be heroic once in awhile, by chance, but prevents the strong from ever being marginalized.
(I'm using 'Strength' as the core example here as it seems to be the most commonly used ability check, and possibly the easiest to relate to in an example)
How does that work with contact other plane? Does the Wizard just auto succeed the checks to avoid brain drain?
Does it apply to Initiative rolls (which is a Dex check?). If so I'm curious about how that changed combat.
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My chase rules. I divide a creature's speed by 5. Thus 30 becomes +6. I then add this to a d20 roll and the other creature gets the same treatment. So chases become opposed d20 rolls rather than the standard rules presented by Paizo.
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Effects that improve your crit threat range stack (Keen stacks with Improved Critical feat, for instance).
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My chase rules. I divide a creature's speed by 5. Thus 30 becomes +6. I then add this to a d20 roll and the other creature gets the same treatment. So chases become opposed d20 rolls rather than the standard rules presented by Paizo.
I like this. Allows for the simulation of stumbling, even if the terrain isn't rough. Happens in my yard all the time.
You adventure in your yard? Awesome! :)
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Every class except Int-bases full casters get at least 4 skill points per level.
Either that or
Combat Expertise and Power Attack are combat options, not feats.
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My favorite of my house rules is:
"Hit Points:
Add your Constitution score to your starting hit points. Temporary changes to your Constitution do not change your hit points beyond the modification already applied for adjusting your Constitution modifier. Permanent changes to Constitution adjust this total."
Enemies enjoy the same treatment.
Slows combats down *just* a touch and makes things - especially early game - much less spiky/swingy.
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Every class gets their skill points per level upped by two from the game's base.
Every other house rule my group uses is either pulled from an older edition or is fairly complex and would take some time to integrate into a new group. So going for the simple one. Gimme gimme gimme skill points.
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My favorite house rule is dealing with Health. I basically combined the Wounds and Vigor system with Wound Thresholds and adjusted values. You get your hitdice as normal as vigor. Then, you have an amount of wounds equal to twice your Constitution score. This functions exactly like W&V normally except you end up with more Hitpoints.
On top of this, damage to wounds (not vigor) accrues penalties. -2 for every fourth of wounds lost. And if you are at half wounds and no Vigor, you are disabled.
I find that this system allows me to have my long term injuries without creating death spirals. It also makes low levels more survivable.
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Every class except Int-bases full casters get at least 4 skill points per level.
This one. It lets you do so many more fun things with characters. Admittedly I really love skill checks though.
Backing up critical fails. Roll a natural one and you have to back it up to avoid a critical fail. This works wonderful when combined with not forcing a penalty to ranged characters firing into melee combat. Critical fail? You just put an arrow into your Paladin.
How does that work with contact other plane? Does the Wizard just auto succeed the checks to avoid brain drain?
Does it apply to Initiative rolls (which is a Dex check?). If so I'm curious about how that changed combat.
Thank you.
I suppose I would have to rethink/reword the rule for Contact Other Plane (or just say this rule doesn't work with this spell). I don't think I realized initiative was by definition an ability check until you just pointed that out. The intent was definitely not to so radically change initiative checks.
The problem of the d20 being a poor vehicle (at least, in my opinion) for ability checks due to scaling issues and wide "swingyness" is the essence of my house rule for the purposes of this thread, so maybe the solution wasn't as elegant as it could have been. I suppose I need to think it through and patch it up a bit.
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Ooh, I'd really have to think about this one.
It'd either be a 'more skills' kind of rule, or the PFS-style standardized HP per level, or my (very successful) "You can use either Wis or Charisma for Will Saves, your choice."
That last one has been super helpful to my games, and makes them a lot more fun, IMO. It doesn't hurt anyone (Wis-based people don't loswe anything) while simultaneously increasing the incentive to take Cha or dump Wis, which is pretty great.
All the stuff that makes the game seem like homework. I don't use XP and I don't bother with encumbrance.
I like at least 4 skill points per level for non-casters too.
I stole a part of our character creation process from another system, though I can't remember its name.
Basically: after character creation; each player tell about an event that was important in shaping the character, the event must be at least 3 years old, but can be older.
Then players take turns telling how their character knows the character on the left. Changing the character's defining event is not allowed, but anything that fits within the campaign outline is allowed and the player on your left must now fit it into his/her story.
Why?
It gives us a group that actually works together, as well as give the game master several clues on how to involve the characters. We've even had campaigns where this process decided the entire story and everything became about the players - which was,honestly, awesome :-)
Sounds Like Fate's system. I am actually using this in the Iron Gods campaign I am going to be starting soon to tie the party together, and the player has to choose their non-campaign trait based on the backstory someone else wrote into their history, just like in fate you make up an aspect based on it.
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A full attack is a standard action.
This completely eliminates the stand still and swing problem, and means that combat specialists can also be mobile. Classic monk especially benefits.
I don't think I realized initiative was by definition an ability check until you just pointed that out. The intent was definitely not to so radically change initiative checks.
So, my two copper on this, is that your rule is fine for applying to initiative for all the same reasons it works for the other ability checks.
As for contribution to what house rule I'd add? I am split between these:
1) All Classes are treated as Favored Class.
Logic: This makes for potentially more interesting build, I think.
2) Soulknives will be treated as “high psionic” meaning they get psychic strike AND the Gifted Blade archetype for free, without sacrificing anything.
Logic: Baseline Soulknife isn't very amazing (And yet it is in my top list of favorite classes). This gives them a much needed boost.
3) Any equipment that can be made of wood can be made of metal and vice versa.
Logic: I see no reason someone cannot make a metal quarterstaff or a metal tower shield. sure, it is technically heavier, but i don't track encumbrance anyway. logically, wooden armor wouldn't be as effective, but I'll consider crossing that bridge if it ever actually comes up.
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No shoes past the front door.
In games I run I typically make a few adjustments:
When rolling HP, if you roll <50% take half (i.e. if you roll a D6 and roll a 1 or 2, make it a 3) This helps keep PCs survivable in combat without horribly adjusting game balance.
Defender wins/loses: I poll the party at start and apply the choice for the entire campaign (i.e. Creatures AC is 22, do players need to get exactly a 22 [defender loses] or do players need to hit 23+ [defender wins])
Hero point adjustment: If a player is adjacent to another player, within reason they may spend Hero Points to affect the other player.
(I do this because my party tends to be short a player [2-3 rather than 4 players]
Outside of that I try to keep to Pathfinder rules unless a player requests some other house-rule and can convince all players and me (GM) that it is a good change. Any such change requires 100% of my players to want or will be vetoed by me.
//edit// I forgot I use the triple 20 insta-kill feature, but include a triple 1 suicide feature. These things happen so rarely it just adds random bits of awesomeness/hilarity.
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I have always loved homebrew rules.
1). Max hit points at all class levels for PCs and bosses. 3/4th for non-boss creatures.
2). Hero points are in use.
3). Guns are 1/10th the price.
4). Magical staves have 10 charges per day, rather than just 10 charges.
5). Healing always starts at 0.
(If a creature was at -4 hp, then was healed 5 hp, he'd have 5 hit points, not 1 hp.)
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No feet on the table.