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Post Your House Rules
- Thread starter Eye Tyrant
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First Post
The 9 House Rules we Love (and use)
I've kept meaning to post to this threat...finally got around to it (if anybody's still paying attention)
HOUSE RULES:
1. BONUS FEAT at FIRST LEVEL: All PC's (And NPC's) gain a bonus feat at first level -- chosen from a 'background feat' list, combining a race, region, and occupation list of options. We're also using the variant that, for every three feats chosen from this list...the character receives a fourth, bonus feat (though this variant only exists in theory as no PC has used it yet).
2. ACTION POINTS AND CHARISMA: Since we run a low magic campaign we use Action Points. However -- our campaign is Action Point Intensive -- meaning that you get more, and they do more. All the AP variants from UA are used. Furthermore at higher levels you can use more than one AP per round. However the rather than 5 + 1/2 your character level AP per level, each character gets AP equal to their Character level + CHA modifier (min 1) each level. This provides more Action Points particularly at higher levels, and gives a meaningful mechanical edge to those chacters who invest in a high Charisma score.
3. FAVOURED CLASSES: Don't use them. Too restrictive both from a campaign flexiblity paradigm and flies in the face of 'options, not restrictions (don't use multiclass restrictions for Paladins and monks for the same reason). To make up for the mechanical advantage that humans and half-evles would lose -- these races (an anyother previous 'no favoured' class race) gain bonus Action Ponts (see item 2 above) per pevel. (1 bonus AP at levels 1-5, 2 bonus at 6-10, 3 bonus at 11-15, 4 bonus at 16-20, and 5 bonus at all epic levels...should we ever get that far).
4. GRITTY DAMAGE RULES: This is probably my favourite house rule of the bunch.
As appealing as WP/VP or Grim and Grityt rules sets are -- I find they deviate a little too much from the core. Two sets of rules I like are Bastion Press' 'Torn Asunder' and the Massive Damage threshold rules from d20 Modern (repeated in UA). What we've done is combine the rules...You have a massive damage threshold equal to your CON -- but when exceeded rather than make a Fort Save at DC 15 to avoid dying, you make a save that, if failed, you apply to the CH tables in Torn Asunder (only instead of damage readt the tables as degree of failed save). For every two points of damage above your threshold, the save DC increases by 1.
5. MERGE FIGHTING DEFENSIVELY AND TOTAL DEFENSE: When you choose to fight defensively you gain an additional +1 to AC for every attack you give up, plus a bonus +1 to AC if you give up all of your attacks. Mechanically this is very similar to the rules as is, only it gives multiple attack chacters an additional oomph for sacrificing strikes. I also allow combat Expertise to be used as Move Equivalent Action to better differentiate the two defensive measures.
6. ARMOUR AS DC -- SPECIAL VARIANT: I like this system -- it reduces the impact of heavy armour on our campaign (intentionally). When a strike MISSES an oponent, yet falls within the range of his/her combined Armour/Natural Armour bonus -- you role 1d12 and add the total they missed by...you subtract this from normal damage done, and apply the remainder as subdual damage. An extra roll, true, but it adds to the feel of feeling the hit, even when your armour stops it.
7. DEFENSIVE BONUSES -- HOUSE VARIANT: Every character class gets a defense bonus at set levels. Just imagine an additiona column on each class chart...the bonus equals the base classes (BAB + REF save)/4. Essentially for every 4 base combined points of BAB and REF save -- the class grants an AC bonus of one. Like BAB this applies to all classes, and partial results aren't ported between classes.
8. EXPLODING d20s: Not literally. But treating all rolls of 20 as +20 (roll again) and rolls of 1 as -20 (roll again) as opposed to traditional automatic successes and failures. Also for ever 10 points of bonus above +20 you roll an additional d20 instead (so a +30 bonus becomes a 2d20 +20 bonus).
9. MAJOR SUCCESSES: If you beat a DC by 10 or more, the DM should give you something extra for doing what you're doing particulary well. On attack rolls for instance, the attacker gets to do an additiona 1d4 points of damage, and his opponent usually must either make a REF save to avoid being knocked prone, or a FORT save to avoid being stunnded for one round (or some other additional check, depending on the circumstance of the attack).
In the same vein failures by more than 10 are particular bad as well. For damaging spells, for instance, a failure on your save by 10 or more ensures extra damage equal to 1d4 + the number of damage dice is done.
10. OTHERS: We use other minor variants as well. Alignment's role is weakened though not discarded (only recent behaviour strongly representative of an alignment colours an aura applicably). Many of the feats are slightly tweaked. We use variants of the bloodline rules in UA (with powered down adaptations of Midnight's heroic paths as options) as well as some of the wapon group feats and metamagic variants (to name a few). Firearms are more common place and ressurection and teleportation spells are nerfed a little. Alternate classes from both Arcana Unearthed and Unearthed Arcana are encouraged...as are the political rules in Dynasties and Demagogues -- and Fields of Blood.
but those are issues for another day.
I've kept meaning to post to this threat...finally got around to it (if anybody's still paying attention)
HOUSE RULES:
1. BONUS FEAT at FIRST LEVEL: All PC's (And NPC's) gain a bonus feat at first level -- chosen from a 'background feat' list, combining a race, region, and occupation list of options. We're also using the variant that, for every three feats chosen from this list...the character receives a fourth, bonus feat (though this variant only exists in theory as no PC has used it yet).
2. ACTION POINTS AND CHARISMA: Since we run a low magic campaign we use Action Points. However -- our campaign is Action Point Intensive -- meaning that you get more, and they do more. All the AP variants from UA are used. Furthermore at higher levels you can use more than one AP per round. However the rather than 5 + 1/2 your character level AP per level, each character gets AP equal to their Character level + CHA modifier (min 1) each level. This provides more Action Points particularly at higher levels, and gives a meaningful mechanical edge to those chacters who invest in a high Charisma score.
3. FAVOURED CLASSES: Don't use them. Too restrictive both from a campaign flexiblity paradigm and flies in the face of 'options, not restrictions (don't use multiclass restrictions for Paladins and monks for the same reason). To make up for the mechanical advantage that humans and half-evles would lose -- these races (an anyother previous 'no favoured' class race) gain bonus Action Ponts (see item 2 above) per pevel. (1 bonus AP at levels 1-5, 2 bonus at 6-10, 3 bonus at 11-15, 4 bonus at 16-20, and 5 bonus at all epic levels...should we ever get that far).
4. GRITTY DAMAGE RULES: This is probably my favourite house rule of the bunch.
As appealing as WP/VP or Grim and Grityt rules sets are -- I find they deviate a little too much from the core. Two sets of rules I like are Bastion Press' 'Torn Asunder' and the Massive Damage threshold rules from d20 Modern (repeated in UA). What we've done is combine the rules...You have a massive damage threshold equal to your CON -- but when exceeded rather than make a Fort Save at DC 15 to avoid dying, you make a save that, if failed, you apply to the CH tables in Torn Asunder (only instead of damage readt the tables as degree of failed save). For every two points of damage above your threshold, the save DC increases by 1.
5. MERGE FIGHTING DEFENSIVELY AND TOTAL DEFENSE: When you choose to fight defensively you gain an additional +1 to AC for every attack you give up, plus a bonus +1 to AC if you give up all of your attacks. Mechanically this is very similar to the rules as is, only it gives multiple attack chacters an additional oomph for sacrificing strikes. I also allow combat Expertise to be used as Move Equivalent Action to better differentiate the two defensive measures.
6. ARMOUR AS DC -- SPECIAL VARIANT: I like this system -- it reduces the impact of heavy armour on our campaign (intentionally). When a strike MISSES an oponent, yet falls within the range of his/her combined Armour/Natural Armour bonus -- you role 1d12 and add the total they missed by...you subtract this from normal damage done, and apply the remainder as subdual damage. An extra roll, true, but it adds to the feel of feeling the hit, even when your armour stops it.
7. DEFENSIVE BONUSES -- HOUSE VARIANT: Every character class gets a defense bonus at set levels. Just imagine an additiona column on each class chart...the bonus equals the base classes (BAB + REF save)/4. Essentially for every 4 base combined points of BAB and REF save -- the class grants an AC bonus of one. Like BAB this applies to all classes, and partial results aren't ported between classes.
8. EXPLODING d20s: Not literally. But treating all rolls of 20 as +20 (roll again) and rolls of 1 as -20 (roll again) as opposed to traditional automatic successes and failures. Also for ever 10 points of bonus above +20 you roll an additional d20 instead (so a +30 bonus becomes a 2d20 +20 bonus).
9. MAJOR SUCCESSES: If you beat a DC by 10 or more, the DM should give you something extra for doing what you're doing particulary well. On attack rolls for instance, the attacker gets to do an additiona 1d4 points of damage, and his opponent usually must either make a REF save to avoid being knocked prone, or a FORT save to avoid being stunnded for one round (or some other additional check, depending on the circumstance of the attack).
In the same vein failures by more than 10 are particular bad as well. For damaging spells, for instance, a failure on your save by 10 or more ensures extra damage equal to 1d4 + the number of damage dice is done.
10. OTHERS: We use other minor variants as well. Alignment's role is weakened though not discarded (only recent behaviour strongly representative of an alignment colours an aura applicably). Many of the feats are slightly tweaked. We use variants of the bloodline rules in UA (with powered down adaptations of Midnight's heroic paths as options) as well as some of the wapon group feats and metamagic variants (to name a few). Firearms are more common place and ressurection and teleportation spells are nerfed a little. Alternate classes from both Arcana Unearthed and Unearthed Arcana are encouraged...as are the political rules in Dynasties and Demagogues -- and Fields of Blood.
but those are issues for another day.
Neo
Explorer
My house rules document is currently a 80 page word file (including table of contents), which I would love to post but it doesnt just contain our tweaking or adjusted rules, it also includes new material, tweaked material from existing sources and a heap of material written up from many dragon mags for easy reference in one place (and save me lugging a box of issues around with me to every game).
But to give you an idea, below is the table of contents
Anything without a reference in Parentheses after it is from Dragon Magazine.
GENERAL: 7
Campaign Basics 7
STATISITCS: 7
Campaign Limit for New Characters 7
RACES: 7
Races of Faerun: 7
Mythic Races: 7
The Underdark: 7
Unapproachable East: 7
CHANGELING: 8
DAYWALKER: (FANG & FURY) 9
HALF NYMPH: 11
NELANTHAN MINOTAUR: (DLA, MODIFIED) 12
WARFORGED: (EBERRON) 14
WOODLAND SPRITE: (NEW) 16
CLASSES: 18
Sorcerers 18
Wizards 18
NOBLE: (NEW CLASS) 18
SKILLS: 20
FEATS: 21
GENERAL FEATS 21
Enspell Familiar 21
Extra Familiar 21
Construct Familiar 21
Token Familiar 21
Undead Familiar 21
Planar Familiar (NEW) 21
Danger Sense 21
Kick Them While They’re Down 21
Singing Blade Style 21
Snatch Weapon 22
Dirty Fighting 22
Double Team 22
Dual Strike 22
Improved Dirty Fighting 22
Signature Move (NEW) 22
Staggering Blow 22
Poison Specialisation 22
Master of Arms 22
Telling Blow 22
Good Manners 22
Good Neighbour 23
Hometown Advantage 23
Line of Credit 23
God Touched 23
Seer (NEW) 23
Double Weapon Disarm 23
Mighty Are Fallen 23
Shield Snare 23
Improved Shield Snare 23
Noble House (Nobles Handbook) 24
Alternate Identity 24
Noble Bloodline (Nobles Handbook) 24
Exceptional Leadership 24
Unique Spell (Arcana Unearthed) 24
Signature Spell (Arcana Unearthed) 24
Natural Archer (Arcana Unearthed) 24
Natural Swordsman (Arcana Unearthed) 24
Eidetic Memory (Arcana Unearthed) 25
METAMAGIC FEATS 25
Taint Spell (NEW) 25
Holy Spell (NEW) 25
BLOODLINE FEATS (for sorcerers only) 25
Air Bloodline 25
Arcane Kinship 25
Celestial Bloodline 25
Celestial Light 26
Draconic Bloodline 26
Dragon Sight 26
Earth Bloodline 26
Fey Bloodline 26
Fey’s Fate 27
Fiendish Bloodline 27
Fire Bloodline 27
Fire Feet 28
Friend of the Earth 28
Kin Mastery 28
Power in the Blood 28
Voice of Winds 28
Water Bloodline 28
Waterborn 28
FERAL FEATS (Intended for lycanthropes) 28
Crushing Hug 28
Gore Toss 29
Hamstring Attack 29
Hibernate 29
Moonwarrior 29
Pack Feint 29
Pack Tactics 29
Quick Change 29
Spirit of the Beast 29
Sprinter 29
MONSTER FEATS (not typically for PCs) 29
Spit Venom 29
Strong Coils 30
WARFORGED FEATS 30
Adamantine-Laced body (Eberron) 30
Improved Damage Reduction (Eberron) 30
Improved Fortification (Eberron) 30
Mithral-Laced Body (Eberron) 30
Mithral-Fluidity (Eberron) 30
VAMPIRE FEATS 30
Animal Feeder (Fang & Fury) 30
Conceal Taint (Fang & Fury) 30
Create Darkness (Fang & Fury) 30
Curse Water (Fang & Fury) 30
Devil’s Tongue (Fang & Fury) 31
Drain Joints (Fang & Fury) 31
Empowered Natural Weapon (Fang & Fury) 31
Energy Drain (Fang & Fury) 31
Forgettable (Fang & Fury) 31
Hypnotic Voice (Fang & Fury) 31
Improved Blood Drain (Fang & Fury) 31
Improved Natural Weapon (Fang & Fury) 31
Improved Turn Resistance (Fang & Fury) 32
Infamy (Fang & Fury) 32
Lifemask (Fang & Fury) 32
Selective Feeder (Fang & Fury) 32
Sense Alignment (Fang & Fury) 32
Sense Invisibility (Fang & Fury) 32
Shadowcaster (Fang & Fury) 32
Shadow Servant (Fang & Fury) 32
Spider Climb (Fang & Fury) 32
True Seeing (Fang & Fury) 32
Unnatural Aura (Fang & Fury) 32
PRESTIGE CLASSES: 34
Battlepriest Of Cormyr: 34
Council Mage Of Cormyr: (EXPANDED) 35
Noble Adventurer Of Cormyr: (EXPANDED) 37
Moon Drover Of Cormyr: (EXPANDED) 38
Royal Scout Of Cormyr: (REVISED) 39
Councillor of the Tree’s: (NEW) 41
Elven Knight of Evermeet: (NEW) 43
Agent of the Sad Queen: (NEW) 45
Elven Windrider: (NEW) 47
Ancestral Avenger of the Elven Court (REVISED) 47
White Horn of Lurue (RETHEMED) 48
Shadovar Emissary: (NEW) 50
Warforged Paragon: (NEW) 52
Aasimar Paragon: (NEW) 52
Changeling Paragon: (NEW) 54
Half Nymph Paragon: (NEW) 54
Daywalker Paragon: (NEW) 55
Minotaur Paragon: (NEW) 56
APPROVED SOURCEBOOKS: 57
UA APPROVED CONTENT: 57
Racial Paragon Classes: 57
Variant Classes: 57
Prestige Classes: 57
Traits: 57
Character Flaws: 57
Spell touched Feats: 57
Armour as Damage Reduction: 57
Light Armour 57
Medium Armour 57
Heavy Armour 57
Individualised Summoning Lists: 57
SPELLFIRE RULES: (NEW) 58
FAMILIAR PATHS: (EA FAMILIARS) 59
The Traditional Path 59
Path of the Assistant 60
Path of the Envoy 61
Path of the Guardian 62
Path of the Gladiator 63
Path of the Infiltrator 64
Path of the Seeker 65
NOBLE HOUSES: (NOBLES HANDBOOK, MODIFIED) 67
Establishment 67
Taking Over 67
Leading a Noble House 67
The Treasury & Material Aid 67
Taking Care of Followers 67
Determining Noble House Members 67
House Strength Rating 69
Increasing Strength Rating 69
Raising House Strength 69
Decreasing House Strength 70
House Strength Effects Table 70
Noble House Effects 70
Family Ties 70
Influence 70
Adversary 70
Skill Focus 70
Manor 70
Gossip Network 71
Seneschal 71
Land 71
In the Know 71
Bonus Feat 71
Estate 71
Political Favours 71
NEW SPELLS: 72
Blood Burst (Fang & Fury) 72
Blood Messenger (Fang & Fury) 72
Repair Critical Damage 72
Repair Critical Damage, Mass 72
Repair Light Damage 72
Repair Light Damage, Mass 72
Repair Minor Damage 72
Repair Moderate Damage 72
Repair Moderate Damage, Mass 72
Repair Serious Damage 72
Repair Serious Damage, Mass 73
NEW MONSTERS: 74
Elder Serpent 74
Creator Race 75
Vampire Scion: (Fang & Fury) 76
Blood Puppet: (Fang & Fury) 77
Moonhorse: (Redone for 3.5) 77
NEW MAGIC ITEMS: 79
Wizard’s Staff (NEW) 79
Scabbard of Enchanting (NEW) 79
Ever Glowing Stone (NEW) 79
NEW MATERIAL 79
Silverwood (NEW) 79
But to give you an idea, below is the table of contents
Anything without a reference in Parentheses after it is from Dragon Magazine.GENERAL: 7
Campaign Basics 7
STATISITCS: 7
Campaign Limit for New Characters 7
RACES: 7
Races of Faerun: 7
Mythic Races: 7
The Underdark: 7
Unapproachable East: 7
CHANGELING: 8
DAYWALKER: (FANG & FURY) 9
HALF NYMPH: 11
NELANTHAN MINOTAUR: (DLA, MODIFIED) 12
WARFORGED: (EBERRON) 14
WOODLAND SPRITE: (NEW) 16
CLASSES: 18
Sorcerers 18
Wizards 18
NOBLE: (NEW CLASS) 18
SKILLS: 20
FEATS: 21
GENERAL FEATS 21
Enspell Familiar 21
Extra Familiar 21
Construct Familiar 21
Token Familiar 21
Undead Familiar 21
Planar Familiar (NEW) 21
Danger Sense 21
Kick Them While They’re Down 21
Singing Blade Style 21
Snatch Weapon 22
Dirty Fighting 22
Double Team 22
Dual Strike 22
Improved Dirty Fighting 22
Signature Move (NEW) 22
Staggering Blow 22
Poison Specialisation 22
Master of Arms 22
Telling Blow 22
Good Manners 22
Good Neighbour 23
Hometown Advantage 23
Line of Credit 23
God Touched 23
Seer (NEW) 23
Double Weapon Disarm 23
Mighty Are Fallen 23
Shield Snare 23
Improved Shield Snare 23
Noble House (Nobles Handbook) 24
Alternate Identity 24
Noble Bloodline (Nobles Handbook) 24
Exceptional Leadership 24
Unique Spell (Arcana Unearthed) 24
Signature Spell (Arcana Unearthed) 24
Natural Archer (Arcana Unearthed) 24
Natural Swordsman (Arcana Unearthed) 24
Eidetic Memory (Arcana Unearthed) 25
METAMAGIC FEATS 25
Taint Spell (NEW) 25
Holy Spell (NEW) 25
BLOODLINE FEATS (for sorcerers only) 25
Air Bloodline 25
Arcane Kinship 25
Celestial Bloodline 25
Celestial Light 26
Draconic Bloodline 26
Dragon Sight 26
Earth Bloodline 26
Fey Bloodline 26
Fey’s Fate 27
Fiendish Bloodline 27
Fire Bloodline 27
Fire Feet 28
Friend of the Earth 28
Kin Mastery 28
Power in the Blood 28
Voice of Winds 28
Water Bloodline 28
Waterborn 28
FERAL FEATS (Intended for lycanthropes) 28
Crushing Hug 28
Gore Toss 29
Hamstring Attack 29
Hibernate 29
Moonwarrior 29
Pack Feint 29
Pack Tactics 29
Quick Change 29
Spirit of the Beast 29
Sprinter 29
MONSTER FEATS (not typically for PCs) 29
Spit Venom 29
Strong Coils 30
WARFORGED FEATS 30
Adamantine-Laced body (Eberron) 30
Improved Damage Reduction (Eberron) 30
Improved Fortification (Eberron) 30
Mithral-Laced Body (Eberron) 30
Mithral-Fluidity (Eberron) 30
VAMPIRE FEATS 30
Animal Feeder (Fang & Fury) 30
Conceal Taint (Fang & Fury) 30
Create Darkness (Fang & Fury) 30
Curse Water (Fang & Fury) 30
Devil’s Tongue (Fang & Fury) 31
Drain Joints (Fang & Fury) 31
Empowered Natural Weapon (Fang & Fury) 31
Energy Drain (Fang & Fury) 31
Forgettable (Fang & Fury) 31
Hypnotic Voice (Fang & Fury) 31
Improved Blood Drain (Fang & Fury) 31
Improved Natural Weapon (Fang & Fury) 31
Improved Turn Resistance (Fang & Fury) 32
Infamy (Fang & Fury) 32
Lifemask (Fang & Fury) 32
Selective Feeder (Fang & Fury) 32
Sense Alignment (Fang & Fury) 32
Sense Invisibility (Fang & Fury) 32
Shadowcaster (Fang & Fury) 32
Shadow Servant (Fang & Fury) 32
Spider Climb (Fang & Fury) 32
True Seeing (Fang & Fury) 32
Unnatural Aura (Fang & Fury) 32
PRESTIGE CLASSES: 34
Battlepriest Of Cormyr: 34
Council Mage Of Cormyr: (EXPANDED) 35
Noble Adventurer Of Cormyr: (EXPANDED) 37
Moon Drover Of Cormyr: (EXPANDED) 38
Royal Scout Of Cormyr: (REVISED) 39
Councillor of the Tree’s: (NEW) 41
Elven Knight of Evermeet: (NEW) 43
Agent of the Sad Queen: (NEW) 45
Elven Windrider: (NEW) 47
Ancestral Avenger of the Elven Court (REVISED) 47
White Horn of Lurue (RETHEMED) 48
Shadovar Emissary: (NEW) 50
Warforged Paragon: (NEW) 52
Aasimar Paragon: (NEW) 52
Changeling Paragon: (NEW) 54
Half Nymph Paragon: (NEW) 54
Daywalker Paragon: (NEW) 55
Minotaur Paragon: (NEW) 56
APPROVED SOURCEBOOKS: 57
UA APPROVED CONTENT: 57
Racial Paragon Classes: 57
Variant Classes: 57
Prestige Classes: 57
Traits: 57
Character Flaws: 57
Spell touched Feats: 57
Armour as Damage Reduction: 57
Light Armour 57
Medium Armour 57
Heavy Armour 57
Individualised Summoning Lists: 57
SPELLFIRE RULES: (NEW) 58
FAMILIAR PATHS: (EA FAMILIARS) 59
The Traditional Path 59
Path of the Assistant 60
Path of the Envoy 61
Path of the Guardian 62
Path of the Gladiator 63
Path of the Infiltrator 64
Path of the Seeker 65
NOBLE HOUSES: (NOBLES HANDBOOK, MODIFIED) 67
Establishment 67
Taking Over 67
Leading a Noble House 67
The Treasury & Material Aid 67
Taking Care of Followers 67
Determining Noble House Members 67
House Strength Rating 69
Increasing Strength Rating 69
Raising House Strength 69
Decreasing House Strength 70
House Strength Effects Table 70
Noble House Effects 70
Family Ties 70
Influence 70
Adversary 70
Skill Focus 70
Manor 70
Gossip Network 71
Seneschal 71
Land 71
In the Know 71
Bonus Feat 71
Estate 71
Political Favours 71
NEW SPELLS: 72
Blood Burst (Fang & Fury) 72
Blood Messenger (Fang & Fury) 72
Repair Critical Damage 72
Repair Critical Damage, Mass 72
Repair Light Damage 72
Repair Light Damage, Mass 72
Repair Minor Damage 72
Repair Moderate Damage 72
Repair Moderate Damage, Mass 72
Repair Serious Damage 72
Repair Serious Damage, Mass 73
NEW MONSTERS: 74
Elder Serpent 74
Creator Race 75
Vampire Scion: (Fang & Fury) 76
Blood Puppet: (Fang & Fury) 77
Moonhorse: (Redone for 3.5) 77
NEW MAGIC ITEMS: 79
Wizard’s Staff (NEW) 79
Scabbard of Enchanting (NEW) 79
Ever Glowing Stone (NEW) 79
NEW MATERIAL 79
Silverwood (NEW) 79
Last edited:
Kelleris
Explorer
1) Masterwork rules for weapons, armor, and other items that come in a set of components, about the same power level as the standard +1 on attack rolls and similarly poor at stacking with magic. Any number of components can be stacked on an item, but no more than one of each type and it gets more and more expensive to add them.
2) Sorcerers lose the ability to summon a familiar and have their spells castable per day reduced by one at each spell level. In exchange, every Sorcerer receives an Intermediate Bloodline (Unearthed Arcana) from a list of possible creatures. It's a bit much, I know, but I'm trying to fight back against the rising populairty of psions in my games.
3) Added a modified Psychic from the Green Ronin book (renamed the Ascetic, and flavored as a more cerebral counterpart of the monk) and a modified Chaos Mage from Mongoose's Quintessential book (renamed the Alienist, relies on either Far Realms or Limbo for power).
4) Altered the function of some plane-shifting spells so they only move you so far across the multiverse. All instant-movement spells require a skill check which, IIRC, I stole from Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed.
5) Reorganized every class with spells into one of seven magical traditions. Bards wound up with Alienists and Wilders with Sorcerers, so it got a little weirder.
6) Trying to figure out a system for researching improved versions of spells as a Wizard, here, but I haven't had any good ideas yet (despite almost 90 pageviews :\ ).
7) At character creation, players can change two class skills into cross-class skills in exchange for making a single cross-class skill into a class skill. The different branches of Craft and Profession do not count as different skills for this purpose.
8) Unconscious at - Con Modifier, dead at - Con.
9) I usually let players use Spellcraft checks to do creative things with their spells - creating non-sticky webs for climbing, blinding an enemy with a grease spell, that sort of thing. And I also try to let players use feats and skills in unorthodox ways, usually just asking them to propose a scenario consistent with their character. I try to find a way to make it at least possible to pull off.
10) Various other setting-related stuff, like weather caused by planar bleeds and the Martial Artist class from Beyond Monks from Goodman Games. I modified that too, of course.
I have everything listed in a thread at a board that I share with my group of friends (though it's a little outdated since we don't play during the semester).
2) Sorcerers lose the ability to summon a familiar and have their spells castable per day reduced by one at each spell level. In exchange, every Sorcerer receives an Intermediate Bloodline (Unearthed Arcana) from a list of possible creatures. It's a bit much, I know, but I'm trying to fight back against the rising populairty of psions in my games.
3) Added a modified Psychic from the Green Ronin book (renamed the Ascetic, and flavored as a more cerebral counterpart of the monk) and a modified Chaos Mage from Mongoose's Quintessential book (renamed the Alienist, relies on either Far Realms or Limbo for power).
4) Altered the function of some plane-shifting spells so they only move you so far across the multiverse. All instant-movement spells require a skill check which, IIRC, I stole from Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed.
5) Reorganized every class with spells into one of seven magical traditions. Bards wound up with Alienists and Wilders with Sorcerers, so it got a little weirder.
6) Trying to figure out a system for researching improved versions of spells as a Wizard, here, but I haven't had any good ideas yet (despite almost 90 pageviews :\ ).
7) At character creation, players can change two class skills into cross-class skills in exchange for making a single cross-class skill into a class skill. The different branches of Craft and Profession do not count as different skills for this purpose.
8) Unconscious at - Con Modifier, dead at - Con.
9) I usually let players use Spellcraft checks to do creative things with their spells - creating non-sticky webs for climbing, blinding an enemy with a grease spell, that sort of thing. And I also try to let players use feats and skills in unorthodox ways, usually just asking them to propose a scenario consistent with their character. I try to find a way to make it at least possible to pull off.
10) Various other setting-related stuff, like weather caused by planar bleeds and the Martial Artist class from Beyond Monks from Goodman Games. I modified that too, of course.
I have everything listed in a thread at a board that I share with my group of friends (though it's a little outdated since we don't play during the semester).
Last edited:
The only house rules I can recall using off-hand are:
1. Dead at negative Con hp. Disabled from 0 down to negative Con bonus, if Con bonus is positive (otherwise just at 0).
2. Spell Focus gives +2 to save DC. There is no Greater Spell Focus.
I'm also considering just dropping sorcerers in favor of psions - I don't want them both in my campaign, on account of filling the same niche.
1. Dead at negative Con hp. Disabled from 0 down to negative Con bonus, if Con bonus is positive (otherwise just at 0).
2. Spell Focus gives +2 to save DC. There is no Greater Spell Focus.
I'm also considering just dropping sorcerers in favor of psions - I don't want them both in my campaign, on account of filling the same niche.
Eye Tyrant
First Post
Just picked the XPH and I'm thinking of using the Diminished variant from the XPH pg65...
Thoughts, comments?
Thoughts, comments?
