D&D 5E A Collection of Minor House Rules

Yunru · Aug 24, 2017

Feel free to add your own. If it's longer than a line or two to describe however, it's too long.

Yunru said:
d20 rolls are replaced by d10+5, 10 is the new critical. This makes stats more important, as the die roll has less weighting.

In point buy, feats cost 4 points. This is the only time racial feats can be taken.

Sneak Attack works with any ranged weapon, and any melee weapon that lacks the two-handed property.

Monk weapons are all melee weapons that lack the two-handed property you are proficient in.

pukunui said:
Genasi cantrips: Air genasi know gust, earth genasi know blade ward.

Hobgoblins get +2 Con and +1 any other ability.

Tabaxi: Feline Agility is usable 1/rest.

Sorcerer - Wild Magic Surge: A surge is triggered when you roll a number on the d20 equal to or less than the level of the spell slot you used to cast the spell.

Bonus Proficiencies: You gain bonus proficiencies equal to your Int mod (min 0). You can choose from languages, tools, and knowledge skills.

Slower Natural Healing: At the end of a long rest, you regain a number of hit points equal to your level + your Con modifier.

Caliban said:
Mithral - weapons made primarily of Mithral count as Silver and gain the Finesse property. If they have the Heavy property, they lose that property instead of gaining the Finesse property. The weight of a mithral weapon is half that of a steel weapon.

Adamantine - weapons made primarily of Adamantine have Advantage when attacking an inanimate object. Adamantine Weapons gain the Siege property (double damage to objects) if they also have the Heavy property.

Sir Brennen said:
Paladin's Smite limited to once per round

snickersnax said:
Longswords are finesse weapons : elves, thieves, bladesingers, and owners of magical longswords rejoice.

istbor said:
Rolling a natural 1 on an attack while engaged in melee leaves your defenses open. Hostile creatures in melee with you may use a reaction to make an attack of opportunity. This also goes for when creatures roll a natural 1 on their attack while in melee with you.

robus said:
Stealing from FFG Star Wars: nat 1 = despair on a check, nat 20 = triumph.
Roll initiative at the end of combat.

Kobold Stew said:
1. Goodberry and Disciple of Life makes extra berries, not berries that heal 4hp each.
2. Armors that cause disadvantage for stealth also affect swimming/climbing checks.
3. The maximum dex benefit from light armour is +4 (not +5 when at 20 Dex).
4. (not play tested, but I want to try) Everyone gets a free passive investigation check when confronted by an illusion.
5. Bucklers exist, and give +1 AC, but use a hand; no proficiency req. (those w/ proficiency can use a dagger, handaxe, lantern, cloak, etc. for this benefit).
6. For weapons in the Monster manual but not the PHB (such as the Lizardfolk shield), characters are non-proficient by default. The only way to gain proficiency is with the weapon master feat.
7. Characters can take a tool proficiency in Rope.

Blue said:
1. Fail forward. Missing the investigate check to find the secret door doesn't always mean you can't find it - it may mean it takes so long that it's opened from the other side by a routine patrol.
2. Players keep track of and give out inspiration to other players. At start of each session each player gets a chip representing inspiration they can give out but can't use themselves. (So a character might get it more than once, but it's still 1 per player per session total.) Extraordinary events might refill this.
3. Rock Gnomes can make lots of small clockwork items, not just that short list. More useful/durable items will likely have material costs.
4. Paladins and Bards may be INT based instead of CHR based. This affects class features and spells DCs, and should work in-theme.
Considering:
5. Initiative is based off INT.
6. Dueling fighting style grants +1 to hit if the other hand is empty.
7. Any one-handed, non-versatile/heavy weapon you are in proficient in may be used as a finesse weapon if your other hand is empty.
8. If you are proficient with all martial weapons, simple weapons do +1 damage. Goal is to bring average damage in line with martial so you an pick whatever weapon makes the most thematic sense. Still lags slightly on a crit.
9. GWM and SS change have "once per turn" applied to the -5/+10.

CapnZapp said:
Here are my houserules, filtered through the "a line or two" rule instated by the OP:

The basic currency unit is the silver piece in place of the default gold piece.

Background Skills: If your Background gives you a skill you already have (from Class or Race etc), you are primarily restricted to skills on your class skill list as replacements.

Racial Skills: Free skills given by races (including, but not limited to, Half-Elf and Human) are primarily restricted to Intelligence and Charisma based skills.

Low-Light Vision: Forest animals and other creatures (including the Gnome and High, Half and Wood Elf player races) have Low-Light Vision (per 3E). This trait replaces Darkvision.

Archery Fighting Style: You gain +2 to ranged weapon attacks against targets with cover.

Running: When you take the Dash action, you may take the Dash action as a bonus action as long as terrain and obstacles permit.

Average Hit Dice: Hit Dice averages are rounded down, not up. For instance, a character gaining a level in the Fighter class can either roll 1d10 or take 5 (not 6), plus his or her Constitution modifier.

Knocking Out: Declare you will take a −2 penalty before your attack roll to attempt to incapacitate a foe without killing it. If the foe drops to zero hit points, it doesn't die and instead is Stable.

Long Rest: At the end of the Long Rest, you regain all your spent Hit Dice. You do not regain any hit points from a Long Rest, though you can spend HD as normal, including the newly regained ones.

Negative Hit Points: A creature’s current hit points can be any number from the creature’s hit point maximum down to –10. At zero hp or lower, you fall unconscious and remain so until you have at least 1 hp. (There are more to this rule that doesn't fit this format)

Potions of Healing
Because the four-sided die is a hideous thing!
A Potion of Healing restores 1d8 + 2 hit points or 6 hit points (imbiber's choice).
A Potion of Greater Healing restores 2d10 + 4 or 15 hit points.
A Potion of Superior Healing restores 3d12 + 6 or 25 hit points.
A Potion of Supreme Healing restores 4d20 + 8 or 50 hit points.

SubDude said:
When rolling hit points for levels beyond the first, each roll is subject to the minimum of half a hit die; so a fighter (d10) will gain at least 5 hp + constitution adjustment.

Outside of combat, a Cure Wounds spell is subject to a minimum of half of the dice maximum.

snickersnax said:
Unarmed strike has the light property. Meaning you can take an unarmed strike as a bonus action following two-weapon fighting rules

BookBarbarian said:
Instead of having a GWM feat, any character can choose to take -5 to hit and add +10 to damage if they take the attack action wielding a two-handed melee weapon or a versatile melee weapon in two hands.

*If your game allows finesse-able two-handed or versatile weapons you may want to limit it to strength based attacks only.

Illithidbix said:
Take the "1 interact with an object" rule and throw it under a bus.

All Rangers know Hunter's Mark for free

Magical Healing does not work very effectively on most "normal" NPCs

Level 2 and 3 Moon Druids can only shift into CR 1/2 beasts, not CR 1.

After you have shifted out of Beast Form you cannot use Wild Shape for 1 minute (10 rounds)

All the damage you have taken in Beast Form is applied to your normal HP when you shift out.

vonklaude said:
Increasing your Hit Point Maximum
If you choose to roll your Hit Die to increase your hit point maximum, you may reroll any die that comes up 1.

Unarmed
Hands and feet have the Light weapon property.

Swimming in Armour
Armour that disadvantages Dexterity (Stealth) also disadvantages Strength (Athletics) checks made to swim.

Moving while Blind
Each foot of movement costs 2 extra feet of speed. Contact with a sighted guide lets you move at normal costs. If you Dash while blind you must make a Dexterity (Acrobatics) check (DC12) or fall prone.

Dodge
Also applies disadvantage to rolls made for special melee attacks.

Demographics
About 1/100 people have tier 1 character class-equivalence, with an order of magnitude fewer per tier above that.

Building a Stronghold
Work can continue while the character is away, but each 2 days the character is away adds 1 day to the construction time.

snickersnax said:
Intelligence: -1 skill, language or tool per negative point of intelligence ability score modifier. Makes a cost for intelligence as a dump stat

Inglorin · Aug 24, 2017

* drink a potion: bonus action; administer a potion: action

Sent from my HTC One M9 using EN World mobile app

clutchbone · Aug 24, 2017

Passive perception = 10 8+mod to better reflect not paying active attention.

pukunui · Aug 24, 2017

Great idea for a thread, [MENTION=6780961]Yunru[/MENTION]! I'm looking forward to seeing what other people share.

Caliban · Aug 24, 2017

Mithral - weapons made primarily of Mithral count as Silver and gain the Finesse property. If they have the Heavy property, they lose that property instead of gaining the Finesse property. The weight of a mithral weapon is half that of a steel weapon.

Adamantine - weapons made of Adamantine gain the Siege property (double damage to objects) if they also have the Heavy property. Adamantine Weapons have Advantage when attacking an inanimate object.