At Our Table... (A quintessential house rule) - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

At Our Table... (A quintessential house rule)

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
wyld_mutation
Aug 02, 2008 14:57:54 SO I thought before I dove in I'd give a little explanation. When we get together there's only a few of us. 3 tops. And we all agree that the rules are just a guideline. We all take turns DMing. And we all think our characters should be ours. So in the end we came to a conclusion. A house rule that let us be us:

Every Character is Unique.

What does thsi do in practice? I'll list the last party we played:

Our fighter didn't like S&B so he went for S&S, and learned that if you hold the dagger just right it's like you have a shield. (He is treated as wearing a shield when TwFing)

My friend tried my Battle Sorceror and decided that Mage Armor wasn't to his liking. So he traded in the Glowing Blue for some training in weapons, and now his powers all do xd10. (Weapon proficiency and all the powers were reworked to be weapon based)

My cleric has a bad attitude, and more affinity for the grave than for the light. (Necrotic and Cold damage insted of Radiant on all powers)

The Wizard was a bit thick, but she can size up a situation in the blink of an eye; And uses that skill to get the upper-hand with her spells. (Wisdom instead of Intelligence as the primary casting stat. This is the "added" DMPC to help us out.)

I thought I'd throw this up here. It's more open trhan most House Rules I think, but it gives your characters a bit more personality (I'm not even going to get into my 3.x Sorceror... It was a nightmare, in the good way).

Just wanted to know what you guys thought.
#2
grod_the_giant
Aug 02, 2008 22:01:43 this is the kind of thing I like to think 4e encourages- changing minor abilities for improved flavor.
#3
wyld_mutation
Aug 02, 2008 23:38:12 Minor changes in an effort to let the two clerics in the party be REALLY different.

Nothing's more fun than finding out that that cleric you just saved is a follower of orcus... Except discovering that he casts hellfire on you.

Does anyone else do anything similar?
#4
greatfrito
Aug 03, 2008 16:03:56 Not yet for 4th - we're still in the "play vanilla until we know the system in-and-out" stage.

However, for Saga, we implemented a "unique destiny" for each character, including a custom-tailored use for Force Points and Destiny points.

I quite like the concept, and I'll deffinately be using it for 4th sooner or later. So far, all we've done is change the flavor of powers and abilities, which already goes a really long way toward creating really unique characters.
#5
wyld_mutation
Aug 03, 2008 16:43:25 Well our Fighter was pretty scary. Since he used his dagger as a shield things got a little... Brutal. Not that it would have been any less brutal without the dagger :D

I'm going to introduce the first "spell touched" character in a while. And the 2 foot tall kobold should go over well. (It's my turn to DM again this week)

Reflavoring a power is fun. That happens automatically as we play. But making each character truly unique is the finishing touch. My cleric firing blasts of shimmering energy instead of light would have been cool. Making those blasts tear apart the fabric of my enemy instead of searing it was the finishing touch.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 wyld_mutation Aug 02, 2008 14:57:54	SO I thought before I dove in I'd give a little explanation. When we get together there's only a few of us. 3 tops. And we all agree that the rules are just a guideline. We all take turns DMing. And we all think our characters should be ours. So in the end we came to a conclusion. A house rule that let us be us: Every Character is Unique. What does thsi do in practice? I'll list the last party we played: Our fighter didn't like S&B so he went for S&S, and learned that if you hold the dagger just right it's like you have a shield. (He is treated as wearing a shield when TwFing) My friend tried my Battle Sorceror and decided that Mage Armor wasn't to his liking. So he traded in the Glowing Blue for some training in weapons, and now his powers all do xd10. (Weapon proficiency and all the powers were reworked to be weapon based) My cleric has a bad attitude, and more affinity for the grave than for the light. (Necrotic and Cold damage insted of Radiant on all powers) The Wizard was a bit thick, but she can size up a situation in the blink of an eye; And uses that skill to get the upper-hand with her spells. (Wisdom instead of Intelligence as the primary casting stat. This is the "added" DMPC to help us out.) I thought I'd throw this up here. It's more open trhan most House Rules I think, but it gives your characters a bit more personality (I'm not even going to get into my 3.x Sorceror... It was a nightmare, in the good way). Just wanted to know what you guys thought.
#2 grod_the_giant Aug 02, 2008 22:01:43	this is the kind of thing I like to think 4e encourages- changing minor abilities for improved flavor.
#3 wyld_mutation Aug 02, 2008 23:38:12	Minor changes in an effort to let the two clerics in the party be REALLY different. Nothing's more fun than finding out that that cleric you just saved is a follower of orcus... Except discovering that he casts hellfire on you. Does anyone else do anything similar?
#4 greatfrito Aug 03, 2008 16:03:56	Not yet for 4th - we're still in the "play vanilla until we know the system in-and-out" stage. However, for Saga, we implemented a "unique destiny" for each character, including a custom-tailored use for Force Points and Destiny points. I quite like the concept, and I'll deffinately be using it for 4th sooner or later. So far, all we've done is change the flavor of powers and abilities, which already goes a really long way toward creating really unique characters.
#5 wyld_mutation Aug 03, 2008 16:43:25	Well our Fighter was pretty scary. Since he used his dagger as a shield things got a little... Brutal. Not that it would have been any less brutal without the dagger :D I'm going to introduce the first "spell touched" character in a while. And the 2 foot tall kobold should go over well. (It's my turn to DM again this week) Reflavoring a power is fun. That happens automatically as we play. But making each character truly unique is the finishing touch. My cleric firing blasts of shimmering energy instead of light would have been cool. Making those blasts tear apart the fabric of my enemy instead of searing it was the finishing touch.