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Anaxagoras
Warrior
306 Posts
    
 | | 02/13/2007 11:49 AM |
| This is a thread to encourage sharing some of the house rules that you have come up with in your campaign, and why you added them...Hopefully a thread like this might generate ideas for other DungeonMasters...
I do NOT want to see this thread devolve into an argument over why someone should or shouldn't use a rule, or whose rules sukz, etc. Constructive elements only, please.
I'll start:
House Rule #1: Power Attacking with a 2-handed Weapon adds 1.5X the power attack in damage, as opposed to 2X damage.
This is to incourage variety in weapon choice and style, and also to encourage tactical combat as opposed to a whack-a-mole style hack fest.
House Rule #2: All players may Power Attack, except that the damage gained is equal to half the BaB given up on the attack. The feat "Power Attack" effectively becomes improved power attack with the normal effects.
This rule reflects my belief that the idea of sacrificing skill and accuracy for damage is a relatively universal principle, and allows a player with an Axe to actually hack through a door or chest...
House Rule #3: Shields provide the following bonuses:
a.) A player fighting defensively with a shield doubles the AC bonus
b.) A player with a shield adds the shields AC (and enchantment) bonus to his reflex saves versus cone and line effects
See House rule one-encouraging weapon choice, and also it makes town militia with Tower shields scary. The Save bonus is to encourage the DnD classic-the Fighter hiding behind his shield from the fire-belching dragon...
House Rule #4: Players Die when they reach -10 plus their con bonus in HP. Similarily, you are disabled at 0 to - your con bonus in HP.
This is merely to make a high con character slightly more surviveable, and to enlarge the rather arbitrary (and small) "0" hp disabled status.
well, those are my current ones. Let me see what other DM's use or change!
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Vrecknidj
Warlord
10076 Posts
United States
| | 02/13/2007 7:18 PM |
| Here's one I use.
If a character has both Favored Enemy (undead) and the ability to Turn Undead, then the favored enemy bonus applies to the turn check and the turn damage.
Dave | |
Knowledge Arcana editor issues 5-9, Phoenix Lore Magazine editor, assistant editor for Rite Publishing;
My Trade Thread and My Reference Thread; Winner of WBC IV, IX and XIII; Rule #0: bshugg is always right! | |
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King O Vrock
Sergeant
396 Posts
| | 02/14/2007 11:01 AM |
| I've made a couple rules to help out spellcasters.
A - spells with level dependent effects that have a cap (IE - max dmg dice) have their cap removed. I've always believed a 20th lvl wizard should throw a bigger fireball than one that is 10th.
B - Starting at 11th, and every 3 levels after (14th, 17th, 20th etc), a spellcaster gains an additional +1 to spell DC. At some point, the saving throw bonuses and increases catch and pass the ability of the spellcaster to raise his/her DC mod. This makes high level casters very dangerous and formidable oppenents, and gives them a chance against high level, high powered PC's. | |
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Anaxagoras
Warrior
306 Posts
| | 02/14/2007 7:01 PM |
| Posted By King O Vrock on 02/14/2007 11:01 AM
I've made a couple rules to help out spellcasters.
A - spells with level dependent effects that have a cap (IE - max dmg dice) have their cap removed. I've always believed a 20th lvl wizard should throw a bigger fireball than one that is 10th.
B - Starting at 11th, and every 3 levels after (14th, 17th, 20th etc), a spellcaster gains an additional +1 to spell DC. At some point, the saving throw bonuses and increases catch and pass the ability of the spellcaster to raise his/her DC mod. This makes high level casters very dangerous and formidable oppenents, and gives them a chance against high level, high powered PC's. I really like B...do you have any balance issues with A? I may have to look into that as well...
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Dragon Snack
Warrior
285 Posts
| | 02/15/2007 12:03 PM |
| I'm surprised you feel the need to boost high level spellcasters...
That said, we removed the cost for scribing spells into a Wizards spellbook.
Not for power reasons though, just to make it easier on book keeping. | |
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Viperhook
Skirmisher
2 Posts
| | 02/15/2007 1:23 PM |
| | I'm gonna use the shield bonus for saves against line and cone.
Here's one, tell me what you think.
Before taking an attack of opportunity, the player must succeed on a DC 15 Reflex Save to grab the opportunity. This should make for more moving combat sequences. | |
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Alisair Longreach
Sneak
118 Posts
Denmark
| | 02/16/2007 10:00 AM |
| I am the King of House Rules. My current house rules document is 14 pages long.
The first five pages is my nitpicky changes to races and classes, which variant rules from the Complete books and Unearthed Arcana are in play. A whole page is dedicated to changes in the Cleric Domains from the Player's Handbook, replacing certain Domain spells with spells from the Spell Compendium.
The last nine pages is my revision of the divine spells list.
My most important house rules are that I use the Elite Array from the DMG for PC ability scores, PCs get an ability score increase at every even level and a feat at every od level and full hit points at every level.
Clerics, Druids and Wizards can cast their prepared spells spontaneously.
PCs have all their class skills at a skill rank equal to their class level.
Negative Energy level and ability drain are always temporary. | |
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maijstral
Underboss
2105 Posts
| | 02/17/2007 10:28 PM |
| one of the house rules I use is that when sleeping you gain your level +con bonus in HPs back instead of just level. I think reflects the benefits of higher con a bit better.
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orcdoubleax
Sergeant
692 Posts
| | 02/18/2007 3:25 AM |
| | I use a far number of alternate rules, but very few house rules.
One that I do use involes attacking with subdue damage from a unarmed strike or taking -4 with a weapon. In these situation if the person criticals they do actual damage as opposed to subdue.
This is done for cinematic reasons and it adds a tiny touch of realism. People can be seriously hurt from a punch. Besides it funny to watch PC hope that thier confirm roll misses. | |
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Vrecknidj
Warlord
10076 Posts
United States
| | 02/18/2007 6:47 AM |
| I suppose the hit point method I use is a house rule.
1) Roll your normal die
2) Roll the next lower die
3) If the next lower die could generate a number above half your max, roll it too
4) If all your results are lower than half your max, you get half your max
Example
Barbarian rolls d12, d10 and d8 and takes a 6 if all the results are lower than 6
Cleric rolls d8 and d6 and takes a 4 if both results are lower than 4
All my players like this. Every character always gets at least half max hit points, so nobody is left seriously behind. And, the characters with d10 or d12 hit dice get to roll three dice, everyone else rolls 2 (I use d4 and d3 for Wizards and Sorcerers). The difference between 3 dice and 2 when everyone gets the minimum of half max isn't a big difference, but it does mean that the guys who are supposed to have all the hit points (i.e. d10 and d12) probably will.
Dave | |
Knowledge Arcana editor issues 5-9, Phoenix Lore Magazine editor, assistant editor for Rite Publishing;
My Trade Thread and My Reference Thread; Winner of WBC IV, IX and XIII; Rule #0: bshugg is always right! | |
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dumdragon
Sergeant
681 Posts
Amityville, NY
| | 02/18/2007 5:40 PM |
| | We have PC's auto-stabilize from -1 to -3. After that you bleed out normally.
Also, after rolling for Hp's you may trade your roll for a roll from the DM. This roll must be taken. | |
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YRM_DM
Sergeant
901 Posts
| | 02/19/2007 3:13 PM |
| We're very picky about house rules. We've been burned by intelligent DMs before who meant well, but made a rule to fix a problem that didn't really exist or "overfixed" the problem. Sometimes DMs will fix a problem before they've played a campaign from level 1 to near 20... other times, DMs will fix a problem before they've even playtested it at all!
There is a pretty good argument that could be made for giving the existing game balance the benefit of the doubt until you see for yourself that it's broken over a series of sessions. I know this sounds obvious, but, when in our first year or two of playing, we caught ourselves making "gut reactions" that later turned out to be wrong.
The tables and such are balanced for parties of four that aren't over powered, so, too many house rules can throw off game balance in a lot of subtle ways.
This is our attitude towards house rules at least. Maybe we were abused by bad DMs as kids or something, but, our group tends not to trust a DM until he or she proves trustworthy (rather than starting out in a state of trust).
I also don't feel like there is anything that a PC can do that I can't counter as DM with a balance and mix across many sessions... not that I set out to purposely counter a PC, but, with a good mix, and smart general counters, it will happen.
Anyway, here are some house rules we use. They're pretty minor.
- Half Orcs get a Racial +2 bonus to Intimidate checks.
- We grant Action Points for good RP or good tactics. You can spend up to 5 of these prior to a D20 roll to add to the roll. You can spend half your level +1 in Action Points to re-roll one roll. (every few levels, if you play well, you can save yourself from a Natural 1)
- When we roll stats, because Point Buy punishes classes that require one good stat over classes that require 3-4 good stats, we use a total modifier system.
Your total modifier must equal 4, 6, or 8 (low, medium, high powered per DM).
You can only have one 18.
Three numbers even, three numbers odd.
You need DM permission to have a Stat dip below 8.
Once that's done, we apply racial templates.
It's worked pretty well.
- We use some of the WoTC posted alternate rules on grappling, like tossing a foe.
- We use the alternate WotC rule for Identifying through Spellcraft checks.
- We tend to stay away from abusive Polymorph (it's ok at times) and Anti Magic Field due to how complicated the options are and how they slow down the game. This isn't so much a house rule as an unspoken gentleman's agreement between the players and DM.
- Everyone in our group who DMs has a vote on any new house rule. We talk about it, decide if we like it, and then every one of us implements it.
Our campaigns end up with consistant rules, and they're minor enough not to become an obstacle or over-powering boon to the players.
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gss_000
Commander
3204 Posts
Baltimore, MD
| | 02/19/2007 7:21 PM |
| We don't do many. Most of the rules work really well for us as is. The biggest ones are:
1) A character can only have one nightstick (to avoide essentially unlimited uses of divine feats)
2) Divine Spell Power can only be used to raise a caser level by at most 4 levels (to avoid spells like blasphemy and holy word killing everything outright all the time)
That's it. Otherwise, it's just a matter of which books are in and out of that particular campaign.
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zenthrus
Commander
4647 Posts
SLC, UT
| | 02/19/2007 9:35 PM |
| Posted By maijstral on 02/17/2007 10:28 PM
one of the house rules I use is that when sleeping you gain your level +con bonus in HPs back instead of just level. I think reflects the benefits of higher con a bit better.
We use that house rule as well.
I'm currently using IanB's house rule for hit points:
d4 class = d4 HP
d6 class = d4 + 2 HP
d8 class = d4 + 4 HP
d10 class = d4 + 6 HP
d12 class = d6 + 6 HP
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gss_000
Commander
3204 Posts
Baltimore, MD
| | 02/19/2007 10:39 PM |
| | I forogt we do use the HP rules from Living Greyhawk. Max HP for die/2 + 1 + Con modifier. It works well for Wizards and slightly better than average over time. | |
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Sir Bozak The Damned
Commander
2854 Posts
Québec
| | 02/20/2007 11:37 AM |
| Posted By maijstral on 02/17/2007 10:28 PM
one of the house rules I use is that when sleeping you gain your level +con bonus in HPs back instead of just level. I think reflects the benefits of higher con a bit better.
We do the exact same thing. I used to do it as a DM and my current DM adopted it.
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kritter
Underboss
1331 Posts
Calgary, Alberta Canada
| | 02/28/2007 4:09 AM |
| #1 spellcasters with high ability scores may use the bonus spells to cast lower level spells
example: a wizard with a 18 intelligence recieves a bonus 1-1st, 1-2nd and 1-3rd level spell at first level, he normally has 2-1st spells that he may study and cast. we allow him to study and cast 4-1st level spells, we also allow him to use metamagic feats on his first level spells up to his max bonus spelll level
this allows for a more adventurous spellcaster and some seperation for spellcasters with a 9 or spellcasters with an 18, also lets low level casters use metamagic feats before 3rd level | |
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Skyscraper
Sergeant
659 Posts
Montreal
| | 02/28/2007 11:21 AM |
| I use a house rule on alignment. Namely, alignment detection spells don't exist, except for detect good/evil/chaos/law. The only creatures that have an auro of good/evil/law/chaos are outsiders, clerics and paladins. Otherwise, an alignment is undetectable and you have to determine the morals of a creature through its actions, not a spell.
As a consequence, the paladin has a "smite" ability which works against any alignment, however he has to be careful against whom he uses it...
Sky | |
The wise man doubts often. The ignorant, sometimes. The fool, never. | |
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Avatar of the Irrelevant
Diomedes
Commander
3173 Posts
| | 02/28/2007 2:34 PM |
| Old favorite house rule (I'm 90% certain it's a first edition rule).
Speaking the true name of a demon/devil out loud allows it passage to your location for a time if it chooses.
It puts a real flare back into the "he who must not be named" deal, and periodically scares the snot out of my players.
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Avatar of the Irrelevant
Diomedes
Commander
3173 Posts
| | 02/28/2007 2:49 PM |
| Whoops a few others I found in my notes...
Divine magic and psionics to not utilize the weave in any way shape or form. Arcane casters practice their art by manipulating the weave... Divine magic is granted as power via the gods, therefore you are channeling their power, not manipulating the weave. The most obvious impact on the game is that dead magic zones only apply to arcane casters while divine magic users can only access their spells when they are able to gain access to their god. Although honestly it was changed more for my personal reasons of how I believe magic works...
Also... psionics and spells have some relationship to each other...
For the purpose of spell/psionic crossover, skill checks can be made at 50% of the value of the ranks (i.e. if you have 10 is spellcraft and you're trying to identify a psionic power, you act as if you had 5 ranks of psicraft as opposed to the zero dictated by WotC). Further, resistances convert at a 50% level as well... so a spell resist 10 is /also/ a psi-resist 5 and a psi-resist 10 is a spell resist 5.
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Anaxagoras
Warrior
306 Posts
| | 02/28/2007 6:23 PM |
| Posted By Diomedes on 02/28/2007 2:34 PM
Old favorite house rule (I'm 90% certain it's a first edition rule).
Speaking the true name of a demon/devil out loud allows it passage to your location for a time if it chooses.
It puts a real flare back into the "he who must not be named" deal, and periodically scares the snot out of my players.
This is just delightful 
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gss_000
Commander
3204 Posts
Baltimore, MD
| | 02/28/2007 9:22 PM |
| | In LG, there is a rule similar to this, but often just used for online forums. Say the name of a god who have residence on the material plane and you gain their notice. In the Geoff online forums, this cause problems when too many bandied Iuz' name too often in too short a period. | |
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orcdoubleax
Sergeant
692 Posts
| | 03/01/2007 4:38 AM |
| Posted By Skyscraper on 02/28/2007 11:21 AM
I use a house rule on alignment. Namely, alignment detection spells don't exist, except for detect good/evil/chaos/law. The only creatures that have an auro of good/evil/law/chaos are outsiders, clerics and paladins. Otherwise, an alignment is undetectable and you have to determine the morals of a creature through its actions, not a spell.
As a consequence, the paladin has a "smite" ability which works against any alignment, however he has to be careful against whom he uses it...
Sky
I do this one also. it is very important in story based games. | |
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tomas
Sergeant
531 Posts
Spicer, MN
| | 03/02/2007 1:35 PM |
| Posted By maijstral on 02/17/2007 10:28 PM
one of the house rules I use is that when sleeping you gain your level +con bonus in HPs back instead of just level. I think reflects the benefits of higher con a bit better.
As others have said, I use this as well. I also use something similar for HP. The PC's just have to roll have their die - d12 needs 6 or more, d10 needs 5 or more, etc. Of course this really benefits the Dwarf Wizard with an 18 Con.
One other thing I do is to not tell my players how much hp damage has been dealt to them. I tell them that "the axe slices across your midsection, cutting it deeply," or "the arrow just grazes your upper arm." This creates a little more ambiguity and tension with the players, and I always make sure to say something like, "another hit like that and you'll be dead." It does take longer, but I've got the old location charts for critical hits, and by rolling one extra die with the damage dice, I've got location. They seem to like it. | |
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