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Some of these I found from other posters. Most are carry-over from my previous campaigns.
Character Creation
Books Allowed: Core Rulebook, plus Ultimate, Advanced, Inner Sea, Campaign Setting, and Player Companion books (excluding GM-only books, such as Inner Sea NPC Codex and Monster Codex).
Races: Dwarf, Elf, Gnome, Half-Elf, Half-Orc, Halfling, Human
Statistics: 20 points; no stat below 10 before racial adjustments
Hit Points: max at 1st level; high average thereafter
Traits: 2 traits; 1 must be from Player’s Guide of Adventure Path
Feats: Free bonus feat and Toughness
FCB: Bonus skill point only
Gold: Average allowed for class at 1st level
Magic Items: May be purchased at crafting cost with appropriate ability or feat
Pathfinder Unchained versions of the Barbarian, Rogue, and Summoner
Prohibited
Classes: APG Summoner, Gunslinger, Ninja, Samurai
Skills: Fly
Traits: Magical Lineage (if Magus)
Feats: Clustered Shots, Dazing Spell, Improved Familiar, Leadership, Manyshot, Sacred Geometry
Items: Firearms
Feats
Power Attack: -1/+2 with primary attacks (including 2-handed weapons), -1/+1 with secondary attacks
Improved Precise Shot: Does not ignore the AC bonus granted by hard cover
Abilities
Debilitating Injury: Penalties to attack and AC are halved
Trap Spotter: Included with trap finding
Adaptation: Requires a standard action to activate/change and is a free action to deactivate. Adaptations are selected at same levels as the replaced Favored Terrain ability.
Life Link: As described with the Shaman’s Life Spirit Hex.
Prestige Classes: Increases to spell casting level adds the appropriate number of new spells for the selected spellcasting class but does not gain any other benefits that spellcasting class would have gained.
Smite: Damage reduction does not bypass DR/— or DR/epic.
Spellstrike: The touch spell delivered results in a critical threat only with a natural 20 on the attack roll, regardless of the weapon’s threat range (the weapon still uses its normal critical threat range). Use the same critical threat roll for both weapon and spell.
Miscellaneous
Coins, gems, and potions have no weight.
Potions, scrolls, and spellbooks radiate faint universal magic.
Magic effects do not leave lingering auras.
NPC town crafters will always use accelerated crafting when making or upgrading magic items.
Potion crafting time may be combined when creating multiples of the same potion.
Potion of cure wounds restore hit points with max results.
Fly Movement
Flight no longer requires skill checks to complete complicated maneuvers.
Flight rule from Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 will be used.
What a flyer can and cannot do is dependent upon their maneuverability.
https://www.d20srd.org/srd/movement.htm#tableManeuverability
Communal Spells
The duration of communal spells will be divided evenly among all targets in 1 minute increments.
Spells with duration of 1 minute/level, the duration is rounded up among all targets if the caster level is higher than the number of targets.
Spells with duration of 10 minutes/level, the duration is rounded down. Excess remaining minutes are ignored.
For example, a Communal Resist Energy (CL 10) will provide 16 minutes of protection for 6 characters. The remaining 4 minutes will be lost. If this spell is applied to 5 characters, then the duration would be 20 minutes with no loss of excess time.
Hero Points
Character will be provided 1 Hero Point at each level, and as deemed by the GM during the campaign.
Hero Points can be spent on the following options: Act Out of Turn, Bonus (only “before roll is made” for yourself or another player [+8/+4]), Extra Action, Inspiration, Recall, Reroll, Cheat Death.
Feats, items, and spells cannot allow for additional Hero Points.
Combat
Ability damage and penalties apply to everything based on that ability score.
Riders may spend a move action to keep their non-combat-trained mount from bolting in combat, keeping the mount from moving from its current location. No skill check is required for this action.
Ammunition is destroyed after striking its target, regardless of enchantment or material.
Weapon enhancement to bypass DR is based on actual “plus” enchantments.
Using a full-round action to stand up from being prone avoids attacks of opportunity.
Attacks of opportunity are not triggered by involuntary movement, such as being pushed, pulled, or falling, except when ability indicates otherwise.
Retrieving an item from your backpack is full-round action that provokes an attack of opportunity.
Bleed effects are applied prior to any healing if both occur at the same time.
If a confused character was not attacked since its previous round, the normal confusion effect roll is used to determine his actions for the current round.
Certain weapons can’t effectively deal damage to certain objects, regardless of the weapon’s material (see Ineffective Weapons).
Wounded Status: If you have less than half of your total HP, you are 'wounded' and gain the Sickened condition. Same for enemies. (alternately, use Wounds and Vigor rules, haven't decided on this one yet)
If you have a Con bonus, you are not "Dying" until your negative HP total exceeds you con bonus. You are 'dead-deceased-done for at negative HP equal to Con score. Example: 15 CON (+2 bonus) is disabled at 0 HP down to -2 HP; and are 'dying' at -3 HP or lower. Dead at -15 as normal.
Polearms can be set aside as a move action (stabbed into ground, rested against a wall, etc.) in the same square as the character’s square. This provokes an attack of opportunity. It can then be picked up as a free action if the character is in the same square as the weapon. This rule can used by a character who is both proficient with the weapon and has at least BAB +1.
Why FCB Skill ranks only? I realize you give toughness and high HP, but a lot of classes have a vvery good FCB.
I feel like nothing below an 8 with or with a racial is more common than 10. That seems weird.
Why do the Barbarian and Rogue get their unchained versions, but Monk doesn't? Is that just a choice you allow while forcing the other unchained versions?
Why is Manyshot and Clustered shot banned? Those feats are needed for archery. I can understand Manyshot if you hate Bows being supreme, but Clustered Shot is needed by archer to get past tough DR that doesn't effect other damage dealing classes as much.
A lot of your combat ones aren't house rules.
-Ability Damage already does that.
-Ammo being destroyed seems unneeded, as ammo is already super cheap.
-Bypassing DR is only the actual enhancement. A +1 Flaming Longsword only counts as +1 to bypass DR.
-Combat maneuvers already work like this, you getting Bullrushed doesn't provoke attacks unless the enemy has Greater Bullrush
-The Backpack retrieval seems weird and odd. You are basically telling players to not rely on anything that isn't in a wrist sheath or their hands at the start of combat. No Alchemist fire for a random swarm, no potions or wands in the middle of combat.
-Bleed effects happen at the start of the players turn, before they get to do anything. Healing can not happen at the same time because bleed happens "before their turn" actually starts.
-So, completely normal confusion rules?
-Something about PC penalties for low HP. Baddies get a few rounds to see the light of day then die. PCs are expected to keep going. Anything that hinders both, hinders the PCs far more, due to seeing it come up more.
-What does the polearm rule aim to do? It seems unneeded and never going to be used by anyone.
The only combat rule I have to agree with is the Dying one. It is nice not to go down at -1 if you actually have Con.
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Thank you for your thoughts. I'll address each individually to clarify.
Why FCB Skill ranks only? I realize you give toughness and high HP, but a lot of classes have a very good FCB.
And this is the reason why I don't like racial FCB. Many of them are very good and most are very weak (never considered). Very unbalanced. Decided to remove them instead of reinventing the wheel with these to find an acceptable balance.
I feel like nothing below an 8 with or with a racial is more common than 10. That seems weird.
This was meant to help find a balance between SAD and MAD characters. Otherwise, SAD characters start awesome and stay awesome while MAD characters are playing catch up.
Why do the Barbarian and Rogue get their unchained versions, but Monk doesn't? Is that just a choice you allow while forcing the other unchained versions?
I felt unchained versions of these characters were better than their original counterpart. I guess if a player really wants to play a normal barbarian and risk dying at the end of their rage, I'd allow it. Normal summoner is a hard NO.
Why is Manyshot and Clustered shot banned? Those feats are needed for archery. I can understand Manyshot if you hate Bows being supreme, but Clustered Shot is needed by archer to get past tough DR that doesn't effect other damage dealing classes as much.
The archers in my campaigns have never needed these feats to be awesome, even against enemies with DR. Archers usually end up carrying an obscene amount of arrows of various types in efficient quivers and more in backpacks that DR isn't an issue when encountered.
A lot of your combat ones aren't house rules.
You are correct, but they are here more for clarification when there was some confusion in the past.
-Ability Damage already does that.
By RAW, this is not the case. Ability damage/penalties only affect specific aspects. For example, damage to Charisma will lower the spell and channel energy DC, but not the number of uses of any ability that is determined by Charisma. Or if an Evoker Wizard received Intelligence damage, their spell DC and Intelligence-based skills would be reduced but not the number of times they can use their Force Missile ability. I like this because it makes it affects all things modified by the ability.
-Ammo being destroyed seems unneeded, as ammo is already super cheap.
From previous arguments whether adamantine magical arrows were truly destroy....
-Bypassing DR is only the actual enhancement. A +1 Flaming Longsword only counts as +1 to bypass DR.
You're right, this is RAW. Just a reminder to my players.
-Combat maneuvers already work like this, you getting Bullrushed doesn't provoke attacks unless the enemy has Greater Bullrush
You're right, this is RAW. Just a reminder to my players.
-The Backpack retrieval seems weird and odd. You are basically telling players to not rely on anything that isn't in a wrist sheath or their hands at the start of combat. No Alchemist fire for a random swarm, no potions or wands in the middle of combat.
My players have always had these at the ready in bandoliers and belt pouches. This is one of my original house rules where I was trying to allow players to be conscious on where they store their items. It really has never come into play.
-Bleed effects happen at the start of the players turn, before they get to do anything. Healing can not happen at the same time because bleed happens "before their turn" actually starts.
You're right, this is RAW. Just a reminder to my players.
-So, completely normal confusion rules?
We were previously playing that confused characters would focus on their "enemy" if they were previously attacked by that "enemy" until one was down/dead.
-Something about PC penalties for low HP. Baddies get a few rounds to see the light of day then die. PCs are expected to keep going. Anything that hinders both, hinders the PCs far more, due to seeing it come up more.
Still on the fence about this rule. Not sure if I'm actually going to implement it. Just thinking of adding a bit more to combat beyond, "hey, I've still got 5 (out of 95) hit points left, I'm still 100%!"
-What does the polearm rule aim to do? It seems unneeded and never going to be used by anyone.
This was something I came up with one the fly during a session. There are a couple of players that use both polearm and 1-handed weapon. Can't really sheath a polearm, so if you can't use it in combat, you're only choices are do nothing or drop it. I feel this is a good balance between keeping available if you still need it later versus dropping it.
The only combat rule I have to agree with is the Dying one. It is nice not to go down at -1 if you actually have Con.
Yeah, this is one of the HR I grabbed from someone posting in this forum.
Again, thanks for your input. It is much appreciated. My comments above aside, I will take what you mentioned into consideration.
I was talking specifically about the monk. Are you allowing a choice of chained/unchained monk, or what is going on with that? I realize why you force Summoner and use unchained for the others.
As for FCB, fair enough since someone like the fighter hates his FCB, but why only skill ranks? Why no HP?
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As for FCB, fair enough since someone like the fighter hates his FCB, but why only skill ranks? Why no HP?
Because I already provide Toughness as a free feat as well as another free bonus feat to help offset feat taxes. The free Toughness feat covers both the option of provide the HP from FCB and makes 1st level character survival a bit better.
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it".
Now, I say this despite being the GM who homebrews the most at our table (though that's also because the main GM has a rulesfix doc that we all use are base). I constantly think of new modifications, and then hack most of them down.
My point being, one should try to limit house rules to things that actually benefit from being changed. Because the more you deviate from the official rules, the more you clutter them, and add on things for players to remember. I'm always torn between "the game would be better if X was done Y", and "nobody's going to remember this whole pile of rules and though I do think they are improvements, they don't add all THAT much."
A lot of the "rules" are par for the course, a bunch of it is just baseline character creation settings for your game.
I'm not sure why you hate archers so much, though?
Increasing the "disabled" window by eating into the "dying" window could make things more swingy.
The dying window is already too narrow at higher levels. In my last game I widened it by adding HD/level to the number required for death, narrowing it seems to me to be a change in the wrong direction.
The confused change doesn't stop the loop of two confused characters attacking each other until one is dead (which is the worst problem with confusion). As such I wouldn't bother with it, or I'd take out the auto attack last attacker entirely.
Why that set aside rule just for polearms? If anything it'd be easier to do with most one handed weapons.
I make it death at double CON in my games. Triple for mythic characters with enough tiers.
CON+HD wouldn't be a bad alternative, though, if one wants it to scale. But my main issue was with low-level critical hits. "Full to Dead" is too easy at low levels. Double CON makes that much less likely, as long as you stay away from scythe orc barbarians.
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Why that set aside rule just for polearms? If anything it'd be easier to do with most one handed weapons.
In my opinion, polearms are fun flavor to use. For the same approximate damage as a 1-handed weapon, the advantages are reach and maybe a combat maneuver. It's mostly disadvantages with these weapons... ranged rules to determine if the target has cover, can't use if target is adjacent (or take attack penalty w/feat). Just something I thought would be an good house rule making it a bit easier to use polearms in combat, if needed.
FCB: Bonus skill point only
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And this is the reason why I don't like racial FCB. Many of them are very good and most are very weak (never considered). Very unbalanced. Decided to remove them instead of reinventing the wheel with these to find an acceptable balance.
I went the opposite direction with my houserules and whenever a FCB is too strong as to be mandatory I just let everyone have it. Sorcerers and other spontaneous casters kinda need that +1 spell known per level.
Classes: APG Summoner, Gunslinger, Ninja, Samurai
Any particular reason why the Ninja and Samurai are banned? They aren't particularly strong, and you can just ignore their eastern fluff.
Traits: Magical Lineage (if Magus)
Not sure why you're singling out Magus here. Any spellcaster class with access to damage-dealing spells can achieve similar results with Magical Lineage. This is especially true given your spellstrike nerf.
Feats: Clustered Shots, Dazing Spell, Improved Familiar, Leadership, Manyshot, Sacred Geometry
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The archers in my campaigns have never needed these feats to be awesome, even against enemies with DR. Archers usually end up carrying an obscene amount of arrows of various types in efficient quivers and more in backpacks that DR isn't an issue when encountered.
Dazing Spell, Leadership, and Sacred Geometry are perfectly understandable bans.
The archery nerfs make no sense to me. If you don't think archers even really need those feats, why ban them at all?
Improved familiar is another one where I'm not sure where you're coming from. Yes, it's a great feat, but it's incredibly flavorful and isn't going to break anything.
Improved Precise Shot: Does not ignore the AC bonus granted by hard cover
Again, it feels like you're really singling out archery here.
Debilitating Injury: Penalties to attack and AC are halved
Rogues do not need a nerf. Like any 3/4 BAB class, the URogue is hardly the most consistent combatant out there.
@Omnimage: FCB = Favored Class Bonus
@ckdragons: Polearms do notably more damage than one-handed weapons. First the damage die is usually a d10 (+1 damage typically) with some being d12, albeit with slightly worse crits. Then they get full bonus from power attack (& similar like wild flanking), +1 damage +1 per 4 levels for a full BAB character. Then with reach they can get extra attacks via AoOs. Your players may not realise their power, but speak too poorly of them and Magda Luckbringer may appear to reeducate you...
Falchions are better. Most polearms are 20/x2 iirc. With some being 20/x3 or 19-20/x2.
I got screwed by monsters cornering me in melee too many times. Not being able to 5ft back either due to walls or difficult terrain. Not found of them anymore.
As someone who started off with a few houserules and then went on to rewrite the entire game, I'm probably not one to give advice. With that caveat, I have (hopefully) learned one or two things along the way:
1. Focus on actual problems in the core game that cause it to break down for your group: MAD vs. SAD is often; martial-caster disparity has shut down any number of tables past level X; some would argue Cha as a dump stat is no fun.
2. Keep an eye towards what the rules are intended to accomplish. I make <1/2 hp fatigued because I want people to regroup and rethink their approach -- I run a lot of sandbox adventures, and very few dungeon crawls. For an endurance slog of killing scores of mooks, I provide an Endurance skill to martial guys to mitigate combat fatigue, so that their wounds are less likely to bother them.
2A. Never implement a house rule to make things more "realistic." That way lies Bulmahn's Mouse and so on. Basically, what this does is tell everyone to play a caster.
3. Major disparity in choice options is usually a false choice -- e.g., "At 5th level, you get time stop 1/day, or else a cool pair of sunglasses." If something is so good it will always be selected, or so substandard it never will be, just provide them as freebies or do away with them. (You already are well aware of this, based on your comments re: FCB. I did away with FC entirely.)
3A. Small, fiddly changes will probably get overlooked, and so might not be worth including if you're looking to keep your list small.