Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Mondreyes 09-05-04, 07:31 PM	Oops. It looks like I posted my house rules in the wrong section so here are some of them. House Rules-- These are some of the House-Rules we play with. I would be curious as to see what other House-Rules people play with so please share. All characters start with the same attribute points-- 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10. They can be placed anywhere you want but Charisma cannot be your lowest score. There are no racial modifiers added in such as a +2 to Dexterity and -2 to Constitution. These are considered factored in. The characters get a +1 to an ability at 2nd level. The characters get a +1 to an ability at 3rd level. The characters get their standard +1 to an ability at 4th level. The characters get a +1/-1 to an attribute at 6th level. the +1 cannot be applied to your highest statistic and the -1 cannot applied to your lowest statistic. They the get normal attribute increases at 8th, 12th, etc... Characters lose all special abilities if they abandon a class before 5th level. This prevents people from hosing the rules by drawing up a-- 2nd level Monk, 2nd level Ranger, 2nd level Barbarian, and 6th level fighter. Rangers and Paladins get spells starting at 5th level instead of 6th. Characters get half the experience points they need to reach 2nd level if they draw up a character background, personality, and goals. Bards, Monks, Rogues, and Paladins get a 10% experience point bonus for choosing that character. Dwarves who are not fighters get a 10% experience point bonus and another +1/-1 at 10th level applied wherever they want. Gnomes who are not Illusionists or Rogues get the same as Dwarves. Halflings who are not Rogues get the same as the above two. (Note this 10% experience point bonus does not stack with the above class bonuses.) Fighters, Barbarians, Rangers, and Monks can take weapon proficiency Feats as a skill, similar to a language skill. Other classes can take this as a 3-for-1 swap in skill points. The reasoning behind this is that it is easier to learn how to be proficient... proficient with a Katana or Great Sword than it is to learn to speak farce or Portuguese especially if you are a Fighter type. Fighter types stated above can take the Feat Run as a Skill. The can also take Intimidate and Bluff. Wizard's do not automatically get their pick of spells when they go up in levels. They have to have a mentor or find certain spells such as Wish. Wizard's who specialize in Divinations or Abjurations get a 10% experience point bonus and an additional +1 saving penalty to save against their spells at 5th level. Sleep, Hold Person, and Polymorph other do not exist in the game. When a character takes a hiatus to learn or develop a spell or whatever, he is given a new character and when he returns with the old character, he gains the experience points of the character he was playing while he was gone. These are a few of our house rules and would like to see what other groups are using.
lord_james 09-05-04, 11:18 PM	Well, I am still working on hammering my groups out, but here is my current list of house rules. This list of rules has not yet seen a game session. I was actually planning on posting this list later to see what everyone thinks of it. Character ability scores are decided on a point-buy system (32 Points). All characters are limited to 2 core classes, 10 (at most) Levels of PRC, and 1 racial paragon (if available). Once you start a PRC, you MUST finish it before you reach level 20. If you can fit them all into ten levels, you may take more than one PRC (IE: 1-10, 2-5, 3-3, ect.). No XP Penalties for multiclassing. Ever. Races with Level Adjustments incur an additional +1 Level Adjustment when used as a player race. The Level Adjustment decreasing varient from Unearthed Arcana is available. During a players first four campaigns, they are required to fill each of the four roles (Fighter, Mage, Healer, and Thief) once. All Classes, PRC’s, Races, Spells, Feats, Skills, ect. are subject to the DM's approval. Every player is given the chance to play a character of the opposite gender. If they act immature about it, they are forever banned from playing a character of the opposite gender. All players must pick two traits (UA) at the time of character creation. Any character that attacks another character or in some other way disrupts party dynamics runs the risk of being struck with “DM’s Lightning” (See below) :devil: A player is allowed to take up to two flaws in exchange for an equal number of feats at character creation. At any time when a character would gain the rage ability (like a Barbarian), the player has the option of selecting Whirling Rage (UA) instead. This decision cannot be changed later. At any time when a character would gain the Favored Enemy ability (like a Ranger), the player has the option of selecting Favored Environment (UA) instead. This decision cannot be changed later. At any time when a character would gain the Wild Shape ability (like a Druid), the player has the option of selecting Aspect of Nature (UA) instead. This decision cannot be changed later. At the time when the first Monk level is gained, the player has the option of picking a fighting style (UA). Specialist Wizards may pick and choose from the appropriate Specialist Variants (UA). DM's Lightning Evocation Level: DM 9 Components: V, F Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Infinite (Including across Planes) Target: One Creature Duration: Instantaneous Saving Throw: None Spell Resistance: No A bolt of Hot Pink lightning appears out of nowhere and strikes the target. The target takes their current HP+1 Damage. The target creature and everything coming into contact with it are forever colored Hot Pink. This coloration cannot be cured by a wish or miracle. Only the origonal caster casting "Hot Pink No More" can return normal color. This coloration creates a -25 check on any skill check that would be made easier if the character and their possessions were not Hot Pink. Focus: A copy of the DMG. Hot Pink No More Evocation Level: DM 9 Components: V, F Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Infinite (Including across Planes) Target: One Creature Duration: Instantaneous Saving Throw: None Spell Resistance: No A bolt of Hot Pink lightning appears out of nowhere and strikes the target. The target ceases to be colored Hot Pink. Focus: A copy of the DMG.
Mondreyes 09-06-04, 03:41 AM	lord-james-- I-we do not ever have a problem within inner party conflict or fights as long as they are done while "staying-in-character". If the player steps out of character and just does not like the other player, or if the player does not like his character and wants a new one, or if a player is no longer going to be with the group for whatever reason, are the only reasons that the DM would step in. You keep mentioning the UA. Is that the new Unearthed Arcana?
lord_james 09-06-04, 09:22 AM	lord-james-- I-we do not ever have a problem within inner party conflict or fights as long as they are done while "staying-in-character". If the player steps out of character and just does not like the other player, or if the player does not like his character and wants a new one, or if a player is no longer going to be with the group for whatever reason, are the only reasons that the DM would step in. I only have this rule in place because one of the characters is playing a Chaotic-Evil character, and everybody else is playing Good or Neutral characters, and another of my players has said that his character would kill the evil char just becasue he is evil. Of course, if the party witnesses their evil member slaughter a group of innocent vilagers, then I would sweep this rule under the carpet. You keep mentioning the UA. Is that the new Unearthed Arcana? Yes. Truly a great source for new House Rules.
Count Arioch the 28th 09-06-04, 10:11 AM	My house rules (http://www.angelfire.com/va2/arioch/dnd.html) Note that this only has races and classes. I still need to add in Feats, MAgic and Equipment.
Gilgiga of the Hunt 09-06-04, 10:16 PM	1) I use 3.0 Cleave and Great Cleave. They really weren't that broken when comboed with whirlwind. It was highly situational and it just looked cool. 2) Half elves are like 3.0 half elves only they gain the human skill point bonus (Did I make bieng a Half Elf a feat?). 3) Half Orcs gain +2 vs saves aginst dease, and +4 aginst food born deases. They also consider the thresholds for taking damage from the elements 10 degress colder and ten degres higher before taking damage. 4)You must earn my respect before you are allowed to play a Kinder. 5)Dwarves do not gain their stablity bonus. 6)Dwarven NPCs are naturaly stubborn and all Diplomacy checks to influence them are against a DC +3 higher. 7) You must earn my respect before playing a monsterious race. 8) 3.0 Swarm Spells, they actualy had a purpose then. 9) Push your action points. Roleplaying, and good descrption can gain you a free action point useage. If you do something exceptionaly bold or clever I add the action dice. Regular action points are just times you controll them. 10) Ad Hoc Exp. awards for solveing an enconter in a non voilent way. Usualy same as if you won the fight, if not more so in some situations. 11) ALL mutilcalsing hasto have some backstory, no just jumping from one class to another. Beguin to show signs that you are leaning twards your new class before you take levels in it. Pour over the party wizards spell book from time to time, sudden outburts and shouting in combat, etc. Sorcer and Weilders are the exception, you can just wake up one day and have your power wake up with you. 12) PrC's require TONS of role play, at the least a mini adventure, in some casses a full on quest. 13) You are a Hero be Heroic 14) Inverse of said rule, You're a Villian don't be ashamed to be a little :censored: 15) Fighters Gain exp 5% faster (holdover from 2ed, didn't apply this to clerics and rogues however)
Tevish Szat 09-06-04, 11:32 PM	base: 3.0 Houserules (current campagin): 1) Spells that bring back the dead don't exist. there are (incredably hard, full-quest) ways to bring back the dead, just not spells. 2)Hybrid 3.0/3.5 DR: magic does not override material DR, and more creatures have matereal DR. DR bypassed by magic pluses stays the same. 3) No beasts: All creatures of type beast are animals. (another borrow from 3.5) 4) A good background merits bonus XP. 5) No monster characters 6) PrCs are a privelage, not a right. 7) Read my notes over my shoulder and somethign terrible will happen 8) Blatant and extreme metagaming will merit a hideous fate. 9) In the case of massive, total catastrophy of the sort that the game ceases to be fun for the group, i reserve the right to end it all by saying "Rocks fall, everybody dies." rather than drawing out a dead campagin for fruitless and funless sessions. So far, i have never had to invoke or refer a player to 5-9. they sit there, waiting for the day when they will need to be used. in the case of 7-9, hopefully that day will never come.
Tigald 09-07-04, 04:46 AM	Again our house rules (wrong thread): Everything is written short, so if there is a question regarding a rule, feel free to ask. Class: Sorceror: The Sorceror loses his ability to summon familiars. A Sorceror doesn't need a Focus for any of his spells and begins play with the Eschew Materials feat (Spellcasting is an innate gift, so why should this gift need any metrials?). Each Sorceror chooses one Intermediate Bloodline at Level 1, without having to spend any levels for his bloodline. This bloodline represents the heritage of his innate powers. (See Unearthed Arcana for bloodlines.) Feats: Power Attack: You can not take a penalty higher than 5 or higher than your base attack. Improved Power Attack: (New Feat) The max penalty you can take on your attacks can not be higher than your base attack (Max. 20). Divine Might: You have to spend two turn/rebuke attempts to activate this feat. Divine Shield: The duration of this feat is 5 rounds. Spell Focus: You get a +1 bonus to DC for spells of the chosen school of magic. In addition you cast spell from the chosen school of magic at +1 caster Level. Greater Spell Focus: You get a +1 bonus to DC for spells of the chosen school of magic. In addition you cast spell from the chosen school of magic at +1 caster Level. This bonus stackes with Spell Focus. Spell Focus [Evil or Good]: You get a +1 bonus to DC for spells with the chosen alignment descriptor. In addition you cast spell with the chosen alignement descriptor at +1 caster Level. This bonus stackes with Spell Focus.. Improved Toughness: This feats has Toughness a a prerequisite. Spells: Timestop: You can act for 1d3 rounds only. Spell Resistance and Spell Immunity apply to the spell. If you cast a spell on a creature, even an area effect spell, the time stop immediately ends and thus you are slowed down to normal speed. Each creature who is resistant or immune to the spell (roll Caster level checks when the time stop begins) have a blue shining light around them. This effect allowes the caster of Time stop to decide not to attack these creatures. Ottilukes Irrisistable dance: This spell has a duration of 1d3 rounds. Limited Wish: This spell has a casting time of 1 full round. Wish: This spell has a casting time of 1 full round. Polymorph (any effect, not only the spell): You can only heal yourself one time per day by transforming. Damage Reduction (originally from monte cook and altered a bit, for more info visit www.monte-cook.com ): D&D v.3.5 changed the way damage reduction works. Although I admired the intent -- to make the classic types of resistances more prominent in the game -- the system has some shortcomings. Inherent within the intent is the "golf bag" syndrome: the need to carry around a bag of different magic weapons, one for every different kind of foe. In addition, but I am sure entirely inadvertently, 3.5 exacerbates a problem with magic weapons that we noted when we were working on 3rd Edition. In 3rd Edition, we adopted a tried-and-true way of measuring the worth of magic weapons, with an exponentially increasing price scale. A +1 weapon is worth 2,000 gp, but a +2 weapon is worth 8,000 gp, a +3 is 18,000 gp, and so on. This owes as much to game history as it does to game balance. The +5 sword was once among the most coveted of items -- the ultimate weapon. It was rare and highly valued. But under the modern game design paradigms, getting a bonus to attack and damage rolls is pretty easy. Various spells and items, not to mention feats and class abilities, hand these bonuses are quite liberally. The argument could be made that a +3 sword might not be worth more than twice the price of a +2 sword. It's not clear that you could win this argument, but you could make it. We were probably right on the razor's edge of game balance. One thing that helped make the case that it was worth the assigned price was damage reduction. There were monsters that you could harm with a +3 weapon that you couldn't effectively hurt with one with a +2 bonus. The 3.5 changes do away with this rationale and make the pricing structure of magic weapons questionable at best. But our original potential problem with 3rd Edition design was only made more clear when we decided to equate magic weapon special abilities with equivalent enhancement bonuses. The flaming ability was assigned the equivalent of a +1 bonus (and rightly so, because it adds an average of +3.5 points of damage to creatures affected by fire, and a +1 enhancement bonus adds +1 to damage and +1 to attack rolls, which is mathematically worth at least a +2 damage bonus against most ACs, over time). However, we quickly realized that a +1 flaming weapon was a lot "sexier" than a +2 weapon. What with the decreasing value of enhancement bonuses anyway, the usefulness of overcoming DR was the only thing that would keep +3 and +4 weapons, to say nothing of +5 weapons, from becoming nothing but relics (and not the artifact kind). With that value not only removed from enhancement bonuses but often given to special abilities, weapon pricing becomes almost certainly broken. But there's an easy fix. Best of all, it not only ties in with game history, but it's easily justifiable and it offers a possible solution to the "golf bag" syndrome. The idea is that while special weapon properties such as silver, bludgeoning or holy work as described in 3.5 for overcoming DR, really powerful magic weapons also possess the ability to deal damage to the otherwise resistant creatures. Thus, when a PC learns about how to deal with a werewolf, he learns that it takes a silvered weapon, or a magic weapon of greater than normal power. Likewise, a really potent magic spear, just by the right of its mighty ensorcelments, blasts through a skeleton even though that skeleton would normally be resistant to a piercing weapon. (This fix puts the "umph" back in magic, at least to a small degree.) What damage reduction type is "trumped" by what enhancement bonus is provided in this table: DR Type Enhancement Bonus Exception /bludgeoning, /piercing or /slashing +2 /silver, /adamantine or /cold iron +3 /good or /evil +4 /holy or /unholy +5 /magic(+1), /magic(+2), +1, +2 /magic(+3), /magic(+4), or /magic(+5) +3, +4, +5 /epic(+6), /epic(+7), /epic(+8) +6, +7, +8 /epic(+9), /epic(+10) +9, or +10 If the weapon is both of the right material or alignment and has an enhancement bonus equal to the "exception" level on the chart above (in other words, the perfect weapon for the job), it inflicts an additional +2 damage bonus to the creature. If a creature has a DR against two types you need a even mightier magic weapon. In this case you need an exceptional level, which passes through the better DR + 1/2 the exceptional level of other DR types (rounded up). For Example if a creature has a DR 15/adamantium, holy, slashing, you need a weapon with an enhancement bonus of +8. Of course, with this weapon, you can bypass the DR of a creature with DR 15/epic(+8). Other things: Rage and Frenzy: The bonuses of a rage and of a frenzy do not stack, if it adds to the same ability, they overlap. Thus a barbarian/frenzy beserker can still go into rage and frenzy, but doesn't benefit from a str bonus (only the higher one aplies), although the extra attack and other abilities are gained as normal. Material Component Units (from Project Silverymoon, www.gemofthenorth.com) Overview Most players and DMs of Dungeons & Dragons are split on the issue of material components. Some like them and wish to see their uses enforced. They believe that wizards will not always have the right material components at hand, especially since spellcasters very rarely spend any game time hunting for those components. Others prefer a more "hands-off" method; they don't want to engage in tedious bookkeeping of every blade of grass and eye of newt needed to cast their spells. If the component doesn't have a cost, most such players and DMs simply assume that the spellcaster has the items at hand. The following system is a compromise between those extremes. With this set of optional rules, a balance can be struck, requiring spellcasters to keep track of "units" of material components without resorting to mind-numbing lists of components. Included are rules for gaining more such units, as well as storing them. The casting of a spell requiring material components uses up one 'material component unit.' Each time a spell with the component 'M' is cast, the player of the spellcaster marks off one unit of material components. This does not apply to those spells that have a listed cost for a material component, unless that spell also uses components that are not priced (identify, for instance). Storage of Material Components Components must be stored carefully so that they are not harmed by every day jostling. They must also be stored separate from one another so that their occult essences aren't mixed - a bit of thistle down accidentally stained with berry juice is no longer pure thistle, and is therefore unsuitable for spellcasting. As a result, there are many clever ways of storing these components, the most common of which is the ubiquitous spell component pouch, as described in the Player's Handbook. Finding Material Components The above pieces of equipment all hold material components. When they are first purchased, it is assumed (for the ease of play) that they have a full compliment of spell components, especially if they are purchased by a spellcaster. Gaining more of these material components can be done easily in one of two ways - by buying them, or by simply finding them oneself. Purchasing material component units is cheap: a mere silver piece per unit if they are procured from an apothecary. They are more expensive (2 sp/unit) if they are gotten from an alchemist or herbalist. Keep in mind that these are not simply any components. These are the best materials at hand. Those who choose to hunt for their own spell components may roll any number of skills in order to do so. Probably the best for this task is Profession (Apothecary) (DC 10). Also viable are Profession (Herbalist) and Spellcraft rolls (both DC 12). Finally, a Wilderness Lore roll might be made (DC 15). Each roll takes one hour of searching and scoring the DC exactly indicates the discovery of a single unit. Every point above the DC results in the discovery of one more unit. 5 foot Steps: If you leave an threatened are, not if you move from one threatened square to another (threatened by the same monster), you still provoke an attack of opportunity. Initiative: We use a nice Initiative rule, if you are interested I write it down. Crafting: The crafting of non-spelltrigger items, which include all woundrous items, rings, weapons, armor, rods, are exculsiv for NPC characters. We don't like the idea of making our items. You either buy it, although they are rare, maybe a big auction or an Thayan enclave, or you find your items (Which happens the most). This way the DM has total control over magic items and its just cooler to find items. Each item has its own story and flavor. Psionics: We still don't use Psionics. Combat Expertise in Combat: Combat Expertise is NOT an improvement of the full defense action. You only get your AC bonus agaonst people you have attacked. The get the bonus, because you distract your foe with your attack. Thus if you didn't attack him, there is no bonus for you. If you have more than one attack, you can attack more opponents (You get the bonus against each opponent you attacked. Hmm maybe i missed something. But these are most of our house rules. If you have any questions, ask me. Excuse my bad english or eny grammar/spelling errors, my first language is german.
Mondreyes 09-10-04, 12:47 AM	Nice. Good replies and no bashing. A good thread overall. I will probably adopt some of these rules.
Xeviat-DM 09-10-04, 07:12 AM	UA Rules Used: Massive Damage Threashold: 25+2 per HD, minus 10 for every size smaller than medium, or plus 10 for every size larger than medium. DC is 15 +2 for every 10 points above the creature's threshold. Death and Dying: Exactly as the varient from page 121 of UA. I am still considering new options for non-lethal damage, as I think someone who can stave off death at 0 hp should be able to stave off unconsciousness at 0 hp as well. Proficiencies: Taking the alternate proficiency system a step farther, classes grant a number of proficiency feats at first level (and only first level, you cannot gain more free proficiency feats by multiclassing; this grants more reasoning for a fighter/X to actually start off as a fighter). Fighters get 8 and all simple weapon groups, Barbarians/Rangers/Paladins get 6 and all simple weapon groups, Rogues/Bards/Monks/Clerics/Druids get 4 and all basic weapons (quarterstaff, non-throwable dagger, club, great club), Sorcerers get 2 and all basic weapons, Wizards get 1 and all basic weapons. Proficiency feats may be spent on any "X Proficiency", as well as any feat which only applies to a specific weapon group when taken. Additionally, all characters gain a proficiency feat each time their BAB reaches a multiple of 4. I have also re-tooled the weapons, both in statistics and proficiency placement. I use my own proficiency groups, but they are very similar to UAs. Barbarian: Barbarians are known as Berserkers, because Berserker lacks the cultural connotations that do not exist in my setting. Berserkers are able to choose from 4 types of abilties for their "Battle Trance": Rage, Whirling Frenzy, Defensive Stance, and Flowing Dance (taken from the Dervish). These choices affect the Berserker's Battle Trance, and also the special ability gained at 14th level that is in effect while they are in their Battle Trance (such as Rage's Indomitable Will or Whirling Frenzy's Evasion). Cleric: Clerics are more like "white mages" in my setting. HD is d6, skill points are 4 per level, and they do not gain medium, heavy, or shield proficiencies. Clerics do not gain bonus doman spell slots or the ability to turn undead. Clerics gain a spirit companion at first level, which is summonable for 2 hours/day/level. The companion gains templates, types, or abilities based on the Cleric's domain choices. The Cleric can spontaniously convert any prepared spell into a domain spell rather than cure/inflict spells. Turn Undead is the Sun Domain's special, Rebuke Undead is the Death Domain's special, and Banish Opposite Outsiders is the Chaos/Evil/Good/Law Domain's special. War domain doesn't exist. Lay Hands is my Healing Domain special, while the opposite ability (like the Paladin of Tyranny or Slaughter's) is the Destruction Domain special. Bard/Channeler/Monk/Ranger/Templar: My "Advanced" classes, built after the 15-level PrC versions of the Bard/Paladin/Ranger. Bard is the same as the UA version, except it's spell gains are structured differently. Ranger is the same, except it gains Uncanny Dodge and Improved Uncanny Dodge instead of the bonus feats (and it doesn't require the first of the bonus feats). Templar is my non-alignment specific Paladin replacement (though I still have a Paladin 10 level PrC); with careful planing, one can create a nearly exact duplicate of the Paladin as seen with a Fighter2/Cleric3/Paladin15 from UA. My Channeler is a Berserker/Sorcerer style Advanced class, and my Monk is my version of the monk who gains Psion caster levels rather than a slew of preset special abilities. Fighter: Many more options. Can create their own class skill list, and can give up starting proficiencies (2) for bonus skill points (2 per level extra). Coupled with the new proficiency system and the recreation of Mastery and Grand Mastery (Mastery grants the combined benefit of Power Critical and Improved Critical, Grand Mastery increases the critical multiplier), Fighters feel like Fighters again. Sorcerers: Where to begin. Sorcerer's have an affinity for elemental magic. Their familiar is instead a tiny elemental, though it can grow as the Sorcerer gains levels. Their spell list is more similar to the Shugenjas from OA, and they must select a primary element. Sorcerer's have a d6 HD, 4 skill points per level, and a 3/4th BAB, though they have one less spell per day for each spell level (the one less spell known from the Battle Sorcerer Template was removed because of the limitations on Sorcerer's spells known now). Feats: Too many changes to count. Power Attack is limited to 5 (though Improved Power Attack exists), Run feat now grants x3 charge speed, two-weapon fighting completely overhauled (two-weapon fighting doubles attacks, improved two-weapon fighting reduces penalties further, two-weapon defense auto scales with BAB at +6, +11, and +16). New feats are being designed to add +8, +12, and +16 BAB feats to each of the primary combative chains. Still working on putting SP and Facing into my games, but not having much luck. UA was a great help in getting much of this going.
Mondreyes 09-10-04, 11:05 AM	Xeviat-- I do not habe the UA. What does this mean? Fighter: Many more options. Can create their own class skill list, and can give up starting proficiencies (2) for bonus skill points (2 per level extra). Coupled with the new proficiency system and the recreation of Mastery and Grand Mastery (Mastery grants the combined benefit of Power Critical and Improved Critical, Grand Mastery increases the critical multiplier), Fighters feel like Fighters again.
Dark Cyril 09-10-04, 11:56 AM	I haven't hammered out all the details yet, but I'm toying with the following ideas: Massive Damage Threshold: 25 + Con Modifier + 1/2 Level Natural Spell Resistance: 5 + Int modifier Natural Power Resistance: 5 + Wis modifier (Those may end up higher, and inversely, the casters and manifestors may get a small bonus to reflect the specialized training in magic and psionics) I'm trying to decide on another system of health. HP just doesn't really do it for me. I'm looking at the Injury system in UA, where damage is decided by a Fortitude save against the damage rolled.
robitusinz 09-10-04, 09:20 PM	Interesting. You guys have sure hammered out a lot of different rules. Unfortunately, my house rules are usually "on-the-fly" rulings that have occured while gaming. I don't have a concrete list of them in my head. However, I do tend to play with friends only, so I never have problem players. 1. Dodge grants +1 dodge bonus to AC at all times that a dodge bonus is appropriate. (This is mostly to alleviate my own headaches when I give NPCs Dodge.) 2. Monks may take any feat they want using their bonus feats. This is subject to DM approval. (I don't like Monks taking Skill Focus(Profession(florist), but then again, I'm more of a roller.) 3. I always reserve the right to reset an encounter, or take back any action I make with an NPC that results in a total party kill. (Sometimes, a Cone of Cold can be a lot worse than you expect it to be.) That's about the partial list so far...I'll come up with more later.
jagggar 09-10-04, 11:06 PM	There's more I'm sure, I've only started this campaign as an experiment on a message board. I don't want to confuse some of them who have never played before too much. Level-Independent XP Awards: Lots simpiler in my opinion. I'm thinking of leaving XP costs for making items normal and for halving the XP costs for the new XP costs from spellcasting (A level 9 spell would cost x5 as much XP rather than x10). PHB races and any low LA race that can be found in the Savage Progressions on the WotC website. No flyers. LA Reduction. LA races may lower their LA by the standard LA Reduction rules from UA or by taking a cut in XP until they've spent enough. Divine casters may not follow merely a principle. Paladins must be Lawful Good and may not be Lawful Stupid. The exact nature of a Paladin's Code of Conduct varies by Paladin and by his deity. Paladin Variants: The Paladin of Freedom may be taken instead of the standard Paladin. Known as either "The People's Champion" or "Champion of Freedom." See DM for Code of Conduct. Fighters gain an additional number of class skills equal to their Int modifier. Do not assume Dragons are the alignment the MM says they are. (More of a tip than a houserule. Sorcerers I'm thinking up so many house rules reguarding them I should actually just type up the class and see what people think of it on the Classes board. Spell Point variant using a chart I calculated. (It's on the board here somewhere.) Get Eschew Materials for free at 1st level. For this game (new players, probably no books) Sorcerers get the Energy Substitution ability of Specialist Wizard Variant: Evokers. Will be opened up to any of the variants that cause Wizards to lose their bonuse feats. Considering the possiblities of Bloodlines for free. Trying to decide which would be approprate using the variant just above this. Intimidate is a class skill (idea that sorcerers can channel energy to make them seem more there, or in general more powerful, kinda stolen from the Complete Book of Elves). Wow, Tigald, you've put a LOT of work into your house rules. I'd be interested in seing your Initative house rules. I liked how you wrote out all your Damage Reduction reasoning. It's sparking me to reconsider the conclusion I came to a while back to just run it by the 3.5 rules since I finally came to see what they were trying to do. I'm thinking maybe something *coughdragoncough* that has DR 20/magic now but had DR 20/+3 in 3.0 would require a +3 weapon or a magic weapon with a total of +6 (ie a +1 vorpal longsword would work) to get past the DR.
smoker 09-10-04, 11:58 PM	Simple Ones 1) No players knowledge -- can only use knowledge your character would reasonably know about 2) roll 4d6 and re-roll 1's and 2's for stats (of course, drop the lowest die) 3) rules lawyers will not be permitted (don't really care if I break a rule) 4) can only use stuff from basic books; other stuff requires special approval 5) have fun They get shorter the more you play. I've been gaming since '88. smoker
Mondreyes 09-11-04, 02:43 AM	smoker-- I've been playing for 24 years and it seems like the house rules get longer, only we have been using them for so long that they are not all written down.
Tenzhi 09-11-04, 05:47 AM	1. Level-Independent XP Awards from UA. 2. Replace current multi-classing with a slightly modified Gestalt system. Characters with two classes gestalted require twice as much XP to gain a level, and three classes require thrice as much XP. There are restrictions on multi-classing based on favoured class. 3. Creating magic items requires twice as much gold as listed, questing for the proper materials, and time - but it doesn't cost XP. 4. Negative levels never become permanent barring divine or near-divine intervention. 5. Attack bonuses from level don't advance beyond +20 - every point past +20 they would normally go translates directly to a damage bonus. 6. Natural ability bonuses that affect d20 rolls (or their DCs) never exceed +5 for mortal characters. Magical bonuses to ability scores are halved and directly added to the character's ability bonuses and may exceed the +5 limit. 7. Level 30 is the highest level a mortal can achieve without a divine sponsor or similar aid. With such aid, the character may achieve level 35 by taking levels in an 'immortal path' Epic PrC, at the end of which he may transcend mortality. 8. AoOs don't exist. Spells take a full round action to cast by default. 9. Skill selection is greatly simplified. A character which gets 8+Int skill points per level would, at creation, choose 8+Int skills. Class skills thus chosen would have ranks equal to his level, non class skills thus chosen (and class skills that are not chosen) would have half his level in ranks, and non class skills not chosen would have no ranks. I'm sure there are more I'm leaving out...
Mondreyes 09-11-04, 06:19 AM	Why this rule? 5. Attack bonuses from level don't advance beyond +20 - every point past +20 they would normally go translates directly to a damage bonus.
smoker 09-11-04, 10:55 AM	smoker-- I've been playing for 24 years and it seems like the house rules get longer, only we have been using them for so long that they are not all written down. Depends on the players. If the players are more concerned with the rules then the adventure, you're gonna have a lot of rule issues. If the players are more concerned with the adventure, they are gonna bug you to have them stop rolling dice unless their in combat. Also, age and maturity help out alot. The biggest hurdle I always have is players abusing their knowledge that their character wouldn't have. cheers, smoker
Mondreyes 09-11-04, 11:26 AM	smoker-- It is not that they players are rules lawyers but we try to incorporate as much reaslim into a fantasy game as possible. For instance, you have a 20th level fighter bound-and-gagged. He has 150 hit points. For whatever reason the a party memeber decides to cut his throat. In our game, this is a one round action and does not reuire beating 150 poinst of damage on the bound fighter. Our combats get brutal and we have a rule that you cannot get raised any more times than you have points of constitution. We have lotsof other rolls. When the characters were fighting 15 tall giants and getting hit with 10' clubs, if the character was dealt enough damage he had to make a constitution check and a dexterity check to see if he was stunned and knocked off balance. After 24 years there are lots of rules.
Mondreyes 09-11-04, 11:27 AM	We also do not allow CURSED KNOWLEDGE/what the player knows factor into what the character knows. That is a huge rule with us.
Arcuna 09-11-04, 12:03 PM	We also do not allow CURSED KNOWLEDGE/what the player knows factor into what the character knows. That is a huge rule with us. Yeah, I can't stand metagaming either. Luckily, our group is pretty good about that. We have a player (who I have trouble putting up with, considering he's only 11) who likes to roll over and over again until he gets what he wants. If we tell him to use his first roll, he'll sometimes get so emotional that he starts crying. So, we've implemented a rule that everyone must roll in the center of the table, and no one touches the di(c)e until the DM confirms it. Furthermore, rerolling any roll without fair justification results in a fumble (or minimum damage).
Mondreyes 09-11-04, 12:12 PM	Arcuna-- Yeah, everything goes okay usually excpet one player does not like when a certain other player DM's and then there is trouble. There were also characters chomping at the bit because while they were fighting some hideous dragon, my fighter/mage went and stole the dragons magical possessions. The players all knew but could do nothing about it. This is what happens when I get thrown into a 2nd edition campaign where everyone was 5th level and I was a 3/3 or 3/2 fighter/mage. They started me lower than everyone else and because this one player who cheats rolled his character up at home and got 18/00 strength, was double specialized with daggers, and had 51 hit points compared to my character's 17 hit points, there was no way in character that I was fighting a dragon at 3rd level.
smoker 09-11-04, 02:01 PM	smoker-- It is not that they players are rules lawyers but we try to incorporate as much reaslim into a fantasy game as possible. For instance, you have a 20th level fighter bound-and-gagged. He has 150 hit points. For whatever reason the a party memeber decides to cut his throat. In our game, this is a one round action and does not reuire beating 150 poinst of damage on the bound fighter. Our combats get brutal and we have a rule that you cannot get raised any more times than you have points of constitution. We have lotsof other rolls. When the characters were fighting 15 tall giants and getting hit with 10' clubs, if the character was dealt enough damage he had to make a constitution check and a dexterity check to see if he was stunned and knocked off balance. After 24 years there are lots of rules. Since my game is an Asian based fantasy game, I have plenty of realism. All of my players have martial arts experience. I am in an Iaido class with all of my players, so I do not have to worry about sword realism. We are all about 30 years old. And we are mature enough to not argue about dumb rules. We are playing to have fun and drink sake' (good stuff > $20 a bottle) and eat sushi. You can argue rules until you turn blue. The important thing is that you are having fun. If you are just trying to min/max your characters to optimize your dice rolls, you will die just as easily as everyone else. The simple solution is to just min/max your NPCs. Now, everything is equal. The rules should not exist to give the player characters an advantage over the DM. The rules exist to REDUCE disputes, not create new ones. Keep everything simple and everything will work out okay. Remember, the point is to have fun, not abuse the rules. smoker
Mondreyes 09-11-04, 03:41 PM	smoker-- We always have fun, but just like with anything the more rules (or laws) there are in real life the more problems there are that is going to rise, so whne you have 10 core rule-books and 5-6 other books you use, that is a lot of rules.
smoker 09-11-04, 04:19 PM	smoker-- We always have fun, but just like with anything the more rules (or laws) there are in real life the more problems there are that is going to rise, so whne you have 10 core rule-books and 5-6 other books you use, that is a lot of rules. I use three books (more or less): * players handbook (stuff from 1e, 2e, and 3e) * DMG (stuff from 1e and 3e) * and Oriental Adventures That's more than enough rules. I don't need anymore, and my players don't have the time to learn them all. I've evolved from playing a 1.5 edition game to a weird combination of stuff from first edition, some stuff from 2nd edition, and some stuff from 3e. I haven't even looked at 3.5 yet. I just take what works from each. I still use the turns and rounds. I still use minatures. I like some of the new stuff from OA, so I use what works. Nobody is playing a spellcaster, so I don't have to worry about that. I basically have my own edition. I don't need more house rules on top of all that. And I cannot expect my players to be spending money on gaming stuff when they would rather spend the cash on Japanese Antiques. smoker
Count Arioch the 28th 09-11-04, 06:11 PM	Why this rule? 5. Attack bonuses from level don't advance beyond +20 - every point past +20 they would normally go translates directly to a damage bonus. Ahh, I remember when that rule was core. Back in OD&D, that's how attack bonuses worked. Once they got so good, it was treated as an auto hit, and you got damage bonuses. (For example, if you needed to roll a -2 on a d20 to hit AC 9, you got +2 damage when you where fighting something with 9 AC, and you hit automatically.)
Mondreyes 09-11-04, 07:26 PM	Count-- Rolling a 1 is allways a miss in our games. smoker-- Almost all of the players that we play with are so into the game that they buy everything. We have used minatures since the beginning but we are fortunate enough to live in the city that makes 75%+ of the minarures in the US... RalPartha. We buy at the factory. The people that DM usually design their own adventures but when a new one comes out, whoever is going to DM usually asks the group not to buy it until we are done playing it. I have not looked at the new OA yet. What do you like about it SPECIFICALLY!!??I always liked it before but it was too unbalanced in 2nd edition.
Mondreyes 09-11-04, 07:27 PM	<-- COUNT, I sent this several days ago but the posts got crossed --> Count-- It is, I am a guy. The name is pronounced Mawn-Dray-Us. He is this kick as pit fighter I played back in 1990-1995. He died 7 times but the main DM then does not know how to draw up a combat so that it is fair. Everyone of his combats there is a 50/50 chance that someone is going to die. I usually save this for the last encounter in the adventure. Mondreyes never lost another fight to any fighting type creature or NPC. He had to win a pit fight each time he went up a level in order to progress or he got bumped back 25% in XP and had to go again. On a flip note, the same DM ran tons of advenures and he could never do any damage to my Fighter/Mage. He drew up an adventure that lasted 4-6 gaming sessions where everyone died but me. In the last room, he killed 6 out of the 8 characters. Me an the thief left, waited a day, got beefed up and went back for the rest. The DM doubles the monsters but he still lost and I only took 7 points of damage the whole adventure. You are right we do not agree on most things but if you did agree with everyone, how would you learn some.
smoker 09-11-04, 09:47 PM	Count-- Rolling a 1 is allways a miss in our games. smoker-- Almost all of the players that we play with are so into the game that they buy everything. We have used minatures since the beginning but we are fortunate enough to live in the city that makes 75%+ of the minarures in the US... RalPartha. We buy at the factory. The people that DM usually design their own adventures but when a new one comes out, whoever is going to DM usually asks the group not to buy it until we are done playing it. I have not looked at the new OA yet. What do you like about it SPECIFICALLY!!??I always liked it before but it was too unbalanced in 2nd edition. I like the fact that there is alot of new material to play with and that there isn't a whole bunch of supplements. I can use Japanese history books to help me write adventures. The only stuff that I do not like in the new OA is Ninja class -- it's the hollywood version. smoker p.s. Don't forget to use your own creativity. Buying a whole bunch of books and memorizing them isn't very creative. If you have to buy stuff, just read Dungeon magazine and some good novels.
smoker 09-11-04, 09:52 PM	<-- COUNT, I sent this several days ago but the posts got crossed --> Count-- It is, I am a guy. The name is pronounced Mawn-Dray-Us. He is this kick as pit fighter I played back in 1990-1995. He died 7 times but the main DM then does not know how to draw up a combat so that it is fair. Everyone of his combats there is a 50/50 chance that someone is going to die. I usually save this for the last encounter in the adventure. Mondreyes never lost another fight to any fighting type creature or NPC. He had to win a pit fight each time he went up a level in order to progress or he got bumped back 25% in XP and had to go again. On a flip note, the same DM ran tons of advenures and he could never do any damage to my Fighter/Mage. He drew up an adventure that lasted 4-6 gaming sessions where everyone died but me. In the last room, he killed 6 out of the 8 characters. Me an the thief left, waited a day, got beefed up and went back for the rest. The DM doubles the monsters but he still lost and I only took 7 points of damage the whole adventure. You are right we do not agree on most things but if you did agree with everyone, how would you learn some. Throw your tough character into a court setting and watch the politics kill your character. Good movie to watch is "Affair of the Necklass." The most powerful characters die in court settings. Being banished from a kingdom. Not being able to buy stuff. Having no one wanting to work with you. These things kill a character. Then the DM has to run your character's mental breakdown, while the rest of the character work as a group and have a good time. What are the mental effects of killing hundreds of monster, being mortally wounded several times, not seeing daylight while be in a dungeon? DMs can utilize the mental aspects of the game just as well as the brutal combat portion. Throwing a bunch of monsters isn't that creative. smoker
Tenzhi 09-12-04, 12:21 AM	Why this rule? 5. Attack bonuses from level don't advance beyond +20 - every point past +20 they would normally go translates directly to a damage bonus. The first reason is to keep attack bonuses from getting out of hand. And the second, as Count Arioch pointed out, hearkens back to OD&D. The level limits and Immortality bits are also a throwback though I evened out the levels a bit.
Mondreyes 09-12-04, 12:50 AM	smoker-- We don't really play adventures, we play campaigns and the guy that runs the campaigns puts about 4-hours a week in on EACH character and that is not counting the storyline. The campaigns get very involved. What I was saying is that the combats get very intensive. The DM does not set the adventure up so the characters always win the combat or complete the objective. He sets it up and it pplsy out. I'll see if I can get a copy of what expects from a player and post it. It is only one page long but very indepth.
Mondreyes 09-12-04, 12:50 AM	Tenzhi-- Gotcha!
Mondreyes 09-12-04, 11:34 PM	What classes do most people play? What do your groups consist of?
Asmodeous 09-13-04, 02:02 AM	we really only have one house rule that we apply to every change we "house rule" in the game. Common sense. This means that we have an awful lot of house rules in our game. Not trying to have a cheap shot wizards or anything, but we see it as that we want to play the game slightly different to the way WoTC intended. way too many house rules to list, but some examples are; -Persisant feat in any form - banned - six spell levels doesn't justify making a 1 minute spell (divine favor) last 1,440 minutes. if you where to try to stack extend divine favor and fill every spell slot you had, you still couldn't have divine favor running all day, so why should you be able to do it for a mere 7th level slot and one feat? -Divine metamagic feat - banned unless character is a major diety. -magic items that grant +2,4,6 to stats capped to +1,2,3,4,5. Logical given the restrictions on non epic items. -Multi spell epic feat - banned because the 3.5 PHB says you can only cast one quicken spell per round. -improved toughness - banned because its stronger than the epic toughness feat. Just the common sense things really. it makes it easy for us players this way, because we can look at something we see in the game, and just about always reach the same conclusion as the Dm does. You simply look at the rule and work out if it is logical and not broken or doesn't break another feat or similar ability. Pretty easy.
Lina_Inverse 09-13-04, 04:47 AM	my group uses the weapons of mass destruction rule.if you use broken crap,expect the npcs too as well.
Mondreyes 09-13-04, 04:55 AM	We cap our magic items at +6, except for bracers of defense which stop at +8. This includes Natural Armor.
Mondreyes 09-13-04, 10:09 AM	Using the 4d6 method for stats, that averages out to 12.25. Does that seem to high or too low and do you think characters should start with the same stats from the beginning>
Rellik Laires 09-14-04, 09:32 AM	lol some of you guys go a lil far with the rules but we have a few standard point buy (25) free house feat we allow in party fights but it usaully will end with the person who attacked first's death :D we allow lvl ajustments (such as races and templates) roleplaying is a requirement in each and every session if you don't roleplay your no use to us. we give out roleplaying experiance as well as experiance for defeating monsters that about it
xmcknight 09-14-04, 01:15 PM	Here are some of the house rules I use. This is by no means the complete list, only ones i can remember off the top of my head. + Character Creation: - Completely random generation. Roll 1d8 for race. 1=human, 2=dwarf, 3=elf, 4=H. Elf, 5=H. Orc, 6=Hafling, 7=gnome, 8=special.Then roll 1d10 for class. 1=Bar, 2=brd, 3=clr and so on. Exception, Paladin is PrC and not encluded. Exception #2, if a player incestes on being a sorceror, he/she must declare at 1st lvl. - Roll 3d6 7 times. 3 ones result in a 19. Must role character in plain view of dm and only one can roll stats at a time. 1st set=STR, 2nd set=DEX and so forth. 7th set=wild card. Can replace one of the higher stats with the 7th set. Choice is irreversible. + Sorceror - Must be declared at 1st lvl. (I know I repeated this.) - Random magic generator. Any time a sorceror casts a spell of his/her max lvl, DM roles 100 percentile. If 25% or less, sorceror calls forth a random spell. This is where the fun starts. DM roles second 100 percentile. 1-25% Player casts a spell one lower than max rank. 26-75% player casts a spell of same power, 76%=+ player casts a spell one rank higher than max. If this happens player takes kickback damage in the form of 1d2 temp charisma fatigue. (Just a side note, this makes for increadibly fun and rememberable games.) - No material focus is required for sorcerors. + Generic rules - Light cancells darkvision. If there is light, then a player can't use darkvision. - Low-light vision does not have set range. Just double what ever area a human can see. - When reduced to negative HPs, a character is not dead until he/she reaches negative CON. Reason, a tougher player can survive longer before receiving medical treatment - A wish is the worst thing in the world. A wish will always be granted in the most unexpected terms imaginable. - Never trust a smiling DM. - DM rule is final. - Never cuss out a DM. - Good Karma/Bad Karma exist. If your player does either a notebilly good deed, or an infamous deed, he/she will receive the same 10x - No player knowledge! A player can only use what his/her character would know. If you can think of a creative way of how your character has that knowledge then props. - Skills that other players have are no longer cross class or class restricted. That is about all I can think of off the top of my head.
Mondreyes 09-14-04, 03:29 PM	Xmcknight-- I really like your rule- When reduced to negative HPs, a character is not dead until he/she reaches negative CON. Reason, a tougher player can survive longer before receiving medical treatment. I might even beef it up some based on the race, level or character class.
Mondreyes 09-14-04, 03:33 PM	Rellik Laires-- When you play long enough you will learn that there are plenty of rules in a game as complex as this that are just not covered anywhere. Of course you should allow fights amongst the party as long as they are staying in character. That is part of role playing. **** lol some of you guys go a lil far with the rules but we have a few standard point buy (25) free house feat we allow in party fights but it usaully will end with the person who attacked first's death we allow lvl ajustments (such as races and templates) roleplaying is a requirement in each and every session if you don't roleplay your no use to us. we give out roleplaying experiance as well as experiance for defeating monsters that about it ****
philopharynx 09-15-04, 12:05 AM	I had an idea today to replace skill focus. SKILL FOCUS [GENERAL] Choose a skill. Prerequisites: Character background or training with a teacher of at least five ranks higher than you. Benefit: You get a +2 bonus on all checks involving that skill. This skill is always considered a class skill for you. Special: You can gain this feat multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new skill. This allows people to get additional skills and qualify for more prestige classes. The explanation is that if you focus so much on this skill, you will continue to keep up your practice.
RealMad 09-15-04, 03:14 PM	My group are basically roleplaying Min/Maxers. We've been playing so long that the changing rules are nice because that's what gives us new challenges. 1. Character Optimization is required and encouraged. You do not have to show your character to other PCs -- most don't. 2. Everything is in. If you can show the feat/rule/item/whatever from any book or magazine, you can use it. 3. You are free to insist on being able to use a combo or even a certain rules interpretation. Be aware though that the DM will likely use the little trick that you're trying to pull on you at some point. One player insisted on calling a kill shot with an arrow between the eyes. It was allowed but then eventually he met a group of 20 opposing archers who all called the same shot. He humbly apologized and requested that the rule be retracted in the future. 4. Non-combat solution or avoidance of conflict will net you somewhat better XP than fighting. 5. 10 seconds to think then you must move your figure during combat. This, naturally, does not apply to the DM, unless he's controlling only one monster. 6. All players must have sheet that breaks down all adjustments made for an action. This way, no one fumbling to compute their "to-hit" for their weapon or their DC for their spell. 7. DM does not pay for pizza or beer.
Mondreyes 09-15-04, 03:58 PM	RealMad-- I like rule #7 a lot if it includes wings in addition to pizza and beer.
RealMad 09-15-04, 04:10 PM	RealMad-- I like rule #7 a lot if it includes wings in addition to pizza and beer. Hmmm, good idea. I will announce the addendum to rule #7 this saturday.
Mondreyes 09-15-04, 06:19 PM	RealMad-- Very good. Rememeber the DM does not have to make the food run either.
thasis 09-15-04, 06:35 PM	House rules: Never use multi-classing exp penelties must never take the chaotic alignment unless you have a very valid reason Never take the True Neutrul Alignment unless you have a good reason Any sourcebook or info is alowed no matter how cheep or third party it is as long as the DM no's your using it (we run very high powered campaigns) Never be stupid or make stupid jokes unless you have a very valid reason Always eat dead people (i'm joking about this one) Thats all I can think of. If I find out theres more then I'll post a new list.