An Interesting House Rule [Archive] - Wizards Community

An Interesting House Rule [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
XBobbis
03-01-05, 08:06 PM My previous DM had a odd house rule that he used, and I was just wondering what you people think about it. I don't know his name for it, but I always called it the 'strain rule.'

It basically worked like this:
Whenever you need to roll a d20 you could say before the roll that you would sacrifice a stat point (related to the roll, such as dex or str for an attack roll, wisdom for a will save, the modifier for a skill, etc.) to get a natural 20 on that roll. The ability damage was sort of temporary/permanant; it was gone and could not be restored by any means, but whenever you gained a level you could restore one stat point lost in this way. So no real penalty if you use it only once a level (except for the temporary drain until you level). It once or twice allowed us to escape a TPK, such as a crushing wall trap with no exit, 3 rounds and we would have been dead, rogue sacrificed an int point to disable the trap.

I'm wondering what other DMs think about this house rule.
LukiLoki
03-01-05, 08:08 PM Puts kind of a high premium on having an odd number for your Strength score, doesn't it?
In general, stuff that modifies stats needs to be an even number.
Vatras
03-01-05, 08:14 PM That is a variant of the heropoint system which was introduced somewhere in 1st Edition. Spending one to three points (gained by level, never come back once used) allowed the player to do exceptional heroic things.
So I guess this was a your DMs way to see if it works in a simplified form.
aaron3579
03-01-05, 08:30 PM :thumbsup:
Teshub
03-01-05, 08:52 PM An interesting idea.
My own house rule is more along the hero point system. I award players 'luck point' for exceptional roleplay.
They may add these luck points to any role they wish (except damage rolls) whenever they like. Of course only a natural 20 roll will score a critical hit, however luck points do allow my heroes to live on and accomplish great deeds at climactic moments in the game.

P.S. All my players 'solo adventure' and the game is story driven, so it's a real downer when your character is rolling like a dog at the climax of a story.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
XBobbis 03-01-05, 08:06 PM	My previous DM had a odd house rule that he used, and I was just wondering what you people think about it. I don't know his name for it, but I always called it the 'strain rule.' It basically worked like this: Whenever you need to roll a d20 you could say before the roll that you would sacrifice a stat point (related to the roll, such as dex or str for an attack roll, wisdom for a will save, the modifier for a skill, etc.) to get a natural 20 on that roll. The ability damage was sort of temporary/permanant; it was gone and could not be restored by any means, but whenever you gained a level you could restore one stat point lost in this way. So no real penalty if you use it only once a level (except for the temporary drain until you level). It once or twice allowed us to escape a TPK, such as a crushing wall trap with no exit, 3 rounds and we would have been dead, rogue sacrificed an int point to disable the trap. I'm wondering what other DMs think about this house rule.
LukiLoki 03-01-05, 08:08 PM	Puts kind of a high premium on having an odd number for your Strength score, doesn't it? In general, stuff that modifies stats needs to be an even number.
Vatras 03-01-05, 08:14 PM	That is a variant of the heropoint system which was introduced somewhere in 1st Edition. Spending one to three points (gained by level, never come back once used) allowed the player to do exceptional heroic things. So I guess this was a your DMs way to see if it works in a simplified form.
aaron3579 03-01-05, 08:30 PM	:thumbsup:
Teshub 03-01-05, 08:52 PM	An interesting idea. My own house rule is more along the hero point system. I award players 'luck point' for exceptional roleplay. They may add these luck points to any role they wish (except damage rolls) whenever they like. Of course only a natural 20 roll will score a critical hit, however luck points do allow my heroes to live on and accomplish great deeds at climactic moments in the game. P.S. All my players 'solo adventure' and the game is story driven, so it's a real downer when your character is rolling like a dog at the climax of a story.