D&D 3rd Edition House RulesPost your house rules, custom classes, spells, feats and other stuff here. For D&D 3rd Edition and all older editions of D&D.
Cleric: Use spontanous casting for the cleric. Let the cleric retain his abilty to convert spells to cure/inflict. There is no Healing Domain. Make turn undead a per encounter ability.
Druid: Use spontanous casting for the druid. Instead of an animal companion, he can choose one druid domain (druid domains: air, animal, earth, fire, plant, water, and weather). Use the Aspect of Nature wildshape variant.
Fighter: Add the Bulwark of Defense (3rd), Armor Mastery(5th + 9th), Vigilant Defender (5th), (Improved) Shield Ally (7th + 13th) and Impetuous Endurance (17th) abilities from the knight class. Add profession as a class skill.
Monk: Use the defender .
Or, if you want to keep the "classic" monk:
Add new light armor:
Robe +0 AC -Max Dex -ACP 5%SF 30 ft.
Special: This armor counts as unarmored for monk-ability purpose.
Add to improved unarmed damage:
For melee weapons you can use in flurries, you can choose to deal unarmed or standard weapon damage.
Paladin: Make turn undead and smite per encounter abilities. Add a special effect (like:"blinding" = When you smite someone, roll 1d20 + 1/2 paladin level + Cha modifer. If you beat the enemies Fortitude Score: 11 + enemy’s Fortitude save modifier, he is blinded for 1d4 rounds. Undead are not immune to this!) for every time the character get an additional use. Erase the spellcasting ability and the mount. Add Knight's Challenge abilty from the knight as a supernatural ability.
Ranger: Give fighter feats instead off spellcasting (one feat per spell level). No animal companion.
The Hunt
Each round, the ranger moves 10 feet or more away from his old place by himself, he inflict 1d6 percision damage (creatures immune to critical hits are also immune to this damage). He adds 1d6 at level 5, 10, 15 and 20.
instead of favored enemy. He can use this ability up to 30 ft away.
Rogue: No changes. Can use UA variants.
Sorcerer: Use the warlock, if you have Complete Arcane. If not, use the battle sorcerer (adding bluff to skill list and give a 30 ft ranged touch attack ("Arcane Blast") (1/2 caster level/d6 untyped damage) instead of the familiar)
Wizard: Use Sorcerer casting for the wizard. Give him one wizard domain instead of the familiar.
New Feats:
Acrobatic Bluff (General)
You can use your Acrobatics skill instead of your Bluff skill to feint and trick in combat . Your opponent opposes the attempt with Sense Motive or Acrobatics (whichever is better).
All-out Attack (General, Fighter)
Prerequisite: Base attack bonus +1.
With an all-out attack, you ignore defense in favor of accuracy. Subtract a number up to 5 from your AC bonus and add the same number to your melee attack roll. You cannot more than double your attack bonus. The changes to attack and AC are declared before you make the attack roll and last until your next action.
Elusive Target (General)
Prerequisite: Dodge feat.
You are expert at dodging and weaving around your foes, making you an elusive target while you're engaged in a melee. When you are fighting in melee combat, others attempting to target you with ranged attacks are at a -8 penalty rather than the usual -4 penalty for shooting into melee combat.
Extra Smite (General)
Prerequisite: Ability to smite.
Each time you take this feat, you can use your ability to smite one more time per encounter than normal.
Special: You can gain Extra Smite multiple times. Its effects stack. Each time you take the feat, you can use your smite ability one additional time per day.
Finishing Blow (General, Fighter)
Prerequisite: Base attack bonus +1.
You can perform a coup de grace as a standard, rather than a full-round, action.
Improved Demoralize (General)
Prerequisites: Cha 13, Intimidate 1 rank.
You can make an Intimidate check to demoralize an opponent in combat as a move action rather than a standard action.
Prone Fighting (General)
You suffer no penalties on your attack rolls for being prone, and opponents do not gain any bonus to hit you with melee attacks while you are prone. Opponents making ranged attacks against you still have -4 on their attack rolls. You can crawl at half your speed rather than the usual 5-feet per move action.
Ride-By Attack (General, Fighter)
Prerequisites: Ride 1 rank, Mounted Combat.
When you are mounted, you can move both before and after you take a standard action, provided your total distance isn't greater than your mount's movement speed.
Two-Weapon Charge (General, Fighter)
Prerequisites: Two-Weapon Fighting, base attack bonus +6.
You can attack with both hands as part of the charge action.
Unbalance Opponent (General, Fighter)
Prerequisites: Dex 13, Dodge
You are skilled at keeping opponents off balance. Choose the target of your Dodge feat normally. That opponent's Strength does not apply to melee attack rolls to hit you, but does still apply to damage.
Changed Feats:
Extra Turning (General)
Prerequisite: Ability to turn or rebuke creatures.
Each time you take this feat, you can use your ability to turn or rebuke creatures one more time per encounter than normal.
Special: You can gain Extra Turning multiple times. Its effects stack. Each time you take the feat, you can use each of your turning or rebuking ability one additional times per day. some feats taken from various ogl products, for fair use only
Hunt Feats:
Mounted Hunt (General)
Prerequisite: Mounted Combat feat, The Hunt ability.
You can use the The Hunt ability while mounted. Only one attack each round gets the damage bonus.
Ranged Hunt (General)
Prerequisite: Point Blank Shot feat, The Hunt ability.
The range you can use your “The Hunt” ability increases by 30 ft.
Special: A character may gain this feat multiple times. Its effects stack.
Spells
coming soon
Domains&Ancestries
Changed Domain powers
Elemental:
Air
Gain electricity resistance 5.
Earth
Gain acid resistance 5.
Fire
Gain fire resistance 5.
Water
Gain cold resistance 5.
Plant
You can use goodberry once per day as a spell-like ability.
Add Knowledge (nature) to your list of cleric class skills.
Weather
You do not receive penalties on Spot & Search check due to natural weather.
Survival is a Cleric class-skill for you.
Receive a +2 bonus on all weather-related Survival checks.
Hit Points, Dying
Use the new death and dying rule
Spoiler:
Try It Now!
If you want to try out a version of this system in your current game, try the following house rule. It’s not quite the 4th Edition system, but it should give you an idea of how it’ll feel.
1) At 0 hp or less, you fall unconscious and are dying.
Any damage dealt to a dying character is applied normally, and might kill him if it reduces his hit points far enough (see #2).
2) Characters die when their negative hit point total reaches -10 or one-quarter of their full normal hit points, whichever is a larger value.
This is less than a 4th Edition character would have, but each monster attack is dealing a smaller fraction of the character’s total hit points, so it should be reasonable. If it feels too small, increase it to one-third full normal hit points and try again.
3) If you’re dying at the end of your turn, roll 1d20.
Lower than 10: You get worse. If you get this result three times before you are healed or stabilized (as per the Heal skill), you die.
10-19: No change.
20: You get better! You wake up with hit points equal to one-quarter your full normal hit points.
4) If a character with negative hit points receives healing, he returns to 0 hp before any healing is applied.
In other words, he’ll wake up again with hit points equal to the healing provided by the effect—a cure light wounds spell for 7 hp will bring any dying character back to 7 hp, no matter what his negative hit point total had reached.)
5) A dying character who’s been stabilized (via the Heal skill) doesn’t roll a d20 at the end of his turn unless he takes more damage.
Streamlined HP. Good BaB Classes use d10, medium d8, poor d6. Barbarians gain 1 bonus HP each level.
Characters of level 1 and 2 start with more HP:
max HD + (3x Con mod) + 6
If your 2nd/3rd class uses d8 add 1 HP, if it uses a d10 add 2 HP.
Let your players regain all hit points after an 8 hours rest (why not, the wizard regained all his spells, too)
ancestry feats for sorcerers (similar to wizard domains)
wizards not choosing a domain gets "Easy metamagic feat"
unified skills known: 2+int, 4+int, 6+int, but smaller skill list
Feats
Canny Defense (General)
When unarmored and unencumbered, add your Intelligence or Wisdom score as a dodge bonus to your AC. Choose which bonus applies when you acquire this feat. This is in addition to the standard dodge bonus granted by your Dexterity. You lose your Canny Defense bonus while wearing armor or carrying more than a light load.
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Nice houserules. If not for 4E and my currently running game, I'd crib a lot of stuff from them. But changing everything mid-game is usually frowned upon in my group, and the summer games are going 4E, probably.
All-Out Attack is a REALLY GOOD feat. Compare to Shock Trooper's Heedless Charge: You don't need to actually charge, you don't need to PA for more than 5, and this can actually improve your attack bonus. If you really need to get a monster down and/or have non-AC defenses like Displacement or Mirror Image up (or say you're facing a wizard and you don't need AC), you can dump your AC by 2x your BAB, dump 1x your BAB into a 2-handed Power Attack, and your expected damage should shoot through the roof. At level 20 with 5 attacks, we're talking -40 AC in return for +20 attack and +40 damage on EVERY ATTACK. You'll probably hit with every attack, so we're looking at over +200 damage right there.
__________________ Play 3.5 by the rules as written and 4E by the rules as balanced.
The best of 3.5e CharOp: Trouserfang Dwarf: "I never thought having one's joy center viciously attacked by a multitude of poisonous snakes could be so...rewarding." Jumplomancer: Gain fanatical followers by jumping very high. Lord of the Dance: Win Duels of Wits (and other things) by break dancing. The Locate City Nuke: Cast it twice. If the second one fails, you've succeeded. Sandwich: Turn into a sandwich (or any other object of your choice).
All-Out Attack is a REALLY GOOD feat. Compare to Shock Trooper's Heedless Charge: You don't need to actually charge, you don't need to PA for more than 5, and this can actually improve your attack bonus. If you really need to get a monster down and/or have non-AC defenses like Displacement or Mirror Image up (or say you're facing a wizard and you don't need AC), you can dump your AC by 2x your BAB, dump 1x your BAB into a 2-handed Power Attack, and your expected damage should shoot through the roof. At level 20 with 5 attacks, we're talking -40 AC in return for +20 attack and +40 damage on EVERY ATTACK. You'll probably hit with every attack, so we're looking at over +200 damage right there.
Quote:
All-out Attack (General, Fighter)
Prerequisite: Base attack bonus +1.
With an all-out attack, you ignore defense in favor of accuracy. Subtract a number up to 5 from your AC bonus and add the same number to your attack roll. You cannot more than double your attack bonus. The changes to attack and AC are declared before you make the attack roll and last until your next action.
Where the -40 are from? It has the same build-in limit as Combat Expertise (-5).
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Where the -40 are from? It has the same build-in limit as Combat Expertise (-5).
Whoops, I only saw the part about double your attack bonus . I still think it's too strong; treat it as a +5 bonus to attack (always good in combat) at the expense of -5 AC (situational), with an option to turn it off.
__________________ Play 3.5 by the rules as written and 4E by the rules as balanced.
The best of 3.5e CharOp: Trouserfang Dwarf: "I never thought having one's joy center viciously attacked by a multitude of poisonous snakes could be so...rewarding." Jumplomancer: Gain fanatical followers by jumping very high. Lord of the Dance: Win Duels of Wits (and other things) by break dancing. The Locate City Nuke: Cast it twice. If the second one fails, you've succeeded. Sandwich: Turn into a sandwich (or any other object of your choice).
Whoops, I only saw the part about double your attack bonus . I still think it's too strong; treat it as a +5 bonus to attack (always good in combat) at the expense of -5 AC (situational), with an option to turn it off.
I don't really think, that AC is more situational than an attack bonus. Most of the time, you are more often hit than attacking. Perhaps I should limit it to melee.
It is only broken in conjunction with Power Attack, using a 2-handed weapon, as Power Attack is broken.
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I'm currently working on some rules to simplify and spice up higher level equipment (for me the most time-consuming thing when I'm building characters).
I hate that the game mechanic assumes everyone to have a cloak of resistance, an amulet of armor, a ring of deflection and stat boost items.
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I hate that the game mechanic assumes everyone to have a cloak of resistance, an amulet of armor, a ring of deflection and stat boost items.
Here's what I am thinking of doing to help with this issue:
1) Natural armor and (normal) AC bonuses do not stack.
2) Deflection and AC bonuses do not stack. Deflection still adds to touch AC.
3) Cloaks and stat boost items are not permanent. They can be used 3 times per day, for 1 minute/item's caster level. Item costs remain the same.
Here's what I am thinking of doing to help with this issue:
1) Natural armor and (normal) AC bonuses do not stack.
2) Deflection and AC bonuses do not stack. Deflection still adds to touch AC.
3) Cloaks and stat boost items are not permanent. They can be used 3 times per day, for 1 minute/item's caster level. Item costs remain the same.
I considered the first one my self, but it would weaken to many iconic humanoid high level monster.
The second one doesn't kill the problem. At higher levels, Touch AC becomes nearly as relevant as normal AC.
Perhaps a class dodge bonus...
I'm not a very big fan of times) day mechanic, but I will consider the idea.
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. I still think it's too strong; treat it as a +5 bonus to attack (always good in combat) at the expense of -5 AC (situational), with an option to turn it off.
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