General House Rule Questions [Archive] - Wizards Community

General House Rule Questions [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
moet324
10-06-05, 12:26 AM Ok this is the first time ive posted but I have some questions and would like alot of opinions. In the group i used to play with we used a lot of house rules. We used the Vitality Wounds System from Unearthed Arcana, and used the Defense Bonus from time to time. We also used a few we cooked up ourselves: 1) For every point of dexterity modifier your Base Land Speed increases by +5ft. 2) For every 2 points of intellegence modifier your threat range for mellee weapons increases by one, or a 1:1 ratio for ranged weapons
I just moved off to college and im starting up my own group here, with people who have never played or realy read anything about the game. My question is: should i start these new players off using these house rules or should i start off with normal core material? thanks for any and all replies.
Cynlas
10-06-05, 12:43 AM Well, do these new players of yours rush out and buy the rules books themselves? If so, it would prolly be best to start off without any alternate/house rules, and gradually add them to the campaign as they become comfortable with the rules, and can "appreciate" the implications of the new alternate/house rule when introduced.

However, if they are not rules monkey themselves, or dont wish to own their own material, then I'd suggest deciding on as many of the alternate rules you are going to introduce, and use them from the beginning of the campaign, so as to not confuse or frustrate them with a "new rule of the week" game.

As one who likes to introduce stuff as it comes to non-rules monkeys, I know how frustrated my group gets, so with the current campaign, I made an effort to create a "series bible" for the campaign that covers, and documents, exactly what rules are being used, and can be references a lot easier than flipping through multiple rule books, so they know what to expect and can readily reference the rules when they feel so inclined.

I also try and give them as much notice as possible when I do end up introducing "new" rules to them, and make it clear that any such alterations are stricktly "experimental", and can be dropped if they don't like them. For instance, they knew going in that we'd be using the Defense Bonus rules from UA. However, after a few sessions, an unintended side effect became very noticeable from that rule, no one was wearing any armour. So, I gently made them aware that I was going to be adding the Damage Reduction Armour rules as an experement, and provided them with a few handouts and references I made so that they could see what was going to happen, and most importantly, how it was going to affect them and their prospective options when it was implemented. It may seem like I am coddling too much, but it is necessary due to the variety of playing experience and interests of my group.

Anyway, just my ex and op.
Braids
10-06-05, 02:18 AM You know, I've been having a similar problem with this new group that wants me to run for them [...10 Players...I'm not even sure how it got to 10 players...it started with 4.]

I've decided to start the rules off slowely and after they get a grasp of the rules I will start a new campaign which has more story and more houserules to it.
Gold Katana
10-06-05, 12:22 PM Less is better, particularly with newbies. Who cares about the intricacies of "realistic" house rules? It's confusing enough figuring out which die to roll when without having exceptions and addendums.
moet324
10-06-05, 12:38 PM yea thats about what i figured. Ive asked the folks from my old group and they split it. One says that I should go ahead and go with all our homerules since it would be easier to just start off with them then have to laern them again. Another says that the rules are hard enough to learn without our homerules. And i tend to agree with the latter, I decided though that im deffinatly going to use the Vitality Wounds varient regardless. Also none of them have even looked at any of the books/have accsess to any of the books aside from what i have. Thanks for the diffirent view, angles, and opinions they helped abunch. I kinda have another question: I came to this boerd in search of a "free-magic system", what i mean by this is free form spells not set out in fireball and invisability and fly and the like but more of a make your own type magic system,like the ones used in white wolfs Mage. Are there any threads about this or does anyone have any thoughts? Thanks again to all of you for all of your help, and any futrue help.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
moet324 10-06-05, 12:26 AM	Ok this is the first time ive posted but I have some questions and would like alot of opinions. In the group i used to play with we used a lot of house rules. We used the Vitality Wounds System from Unearthed Arcana, and used the Defense Bonus from time to time. We also used a few we cooked up ourselves: 1) For every point of dexterity modifier your Base Land Speed increases by +5ft. 2) For every 2 points of intellegence modifier your threat range for mellee weapons increases by one, or a 1:1 ratio for ranged weapons I just moved off to college and im starting up my own group here, with people who have never played or realy read anything about the game. My question is: should i start these new players off using these house rules or should i start off with normal core material? thanks for any and all replies.
Cynlas 10-06-05, 12:43 AM	Well, do these new players of yours rush out and buy the rules books themselves? If so, it would prolly be best to start off without any alternate/house rules, and gradually add them to the campaign as they become comfortable with the rules, and can "appreciate" the implications of the new alternate/house rule when introduced. However, if they are not rules monkey themselves, or dont wish to own their own material, then I'd suggest deciding on as many of the alternate rules you are going to introduce, and use them from the beginning of the campaign, so as to not confuse or frustrate them with a "new rule of the week" game. As one who likes to introduce stuff as it comes to non-rules monkeys, I know how frustrated my group gets, so with the current campaign, I made an effort to create a "series bible" for the campaign that covers, and documents, exactly what rules are being used, and can be references a lot easier than flipping through multiple rule books, so they know what to expect and can readily reference the rules when they feel so inclined. I also try and give them as much notice as possible when I do end up introducing "new" rules to them, and make it clear that any such alterations are stricktly "experimental", and can be dropped if they don't like them. For instance, they knew going in that we'd be using the Defense Bonus rules from UA. However, after a few sessions, an unintended side effect became very noticeable from that rule, no one was wearing any armour. So, I gently made them aware that I was going to be adding the Damage Reduction Armour rules as an experement, and provided them with a few handouts and references I made so that they could see what was going to happen, and most importantly, how it was going to affect them and their prospective options when it was implemented. It may seem like I am coddling too much, but it is necessary due to the variety of playing experience and interests of my group. Anyway, just my ex and op.
Braids 10-06-05, 02:18 AM	You know, I've been having a similar problem with this new group that wants me to run for them [...10 Players...I'm not even sure how it got to 10 players...it started with 4.] I've decided to start the rules off slowely and after they get a grasp of the rules I will start a new campaign which has more story and more houserules to it.
Gold Katana 10-06-05, 12:22 PM	Less is better, particularly with newbies. Who cares about the intricacies of "realistic" house rules? It's confusing enough figuring out which die to roll when without having exceptions and addendums.
moet324 10-06-05, 12:38 PM	yea thats about what i figured. Ive asked the folks from my old group and they split it. One says that I should go ahead and go with all our homerules since it would be easier to just start off with them then have to laern them again. Another says that the rules are hard enough to learn without our homerules. And i tend to agree with the latter, I decided though that im deffinatly going to use the Vitality Wounds varient regardless. Also none of them have even looked at any of the books/have accsess to any of the books aside from what i have. Thanks for the diffirent view, angles, and opinions they helped abunch. I kinda have another question: I came to this boerd in search of a "free-magic system", what i mean by this is free form spells not set out in fireball and invisability and fly and the like but more of a make your own type magic system,like the ones used in white wolfs Mage. Are there any threads about this or does anyone have any thoughts? Thanks again to all of you for all of your help, and any futrue help.