D&D 5E How many house rules?

[overgeeked]

This poll is specifically for 5E as I'm wondering specifically about 5E players responses.

5E is great because it moved back to the rulings not rules notion from some of the earlier editions of D&D, but I've noticed a distinct resistance to house rules amongst 5E players. Maybe it's that WotC has hammered rules not rulings for so long in D&D that it's going to take time before the reverse really seeps into the broader culture. But then, there's also a huge influx of new players with 5E so that is likely not an issue for those new to the hobby.

So, for the 5E players out there, how many house rules before you're out? I get that it depends on the house rule, but as a general thing, how many and how detailed can house rules get before you check out and don't want to bother playing?

Please vote for one option from the # section and one option from the length section.

 

[NotAYakk]

There are two "nones" and none for "a lot more than a few pages".

I guess "None" is supposed to mean "there can never be too many house rules", while "0" is "any house rules is too many", but it really isn't clear.

 

[Magister Ludorum]

We use slower healing, 3 saving throws, no level based ASIs (feats only, which means half them needed rewriting to take out +1 ASI), changes to concentration, changes to many spells, alternate death rules, and a few others.

 

[Umbran]

Quality matters far more than quantity, I'm afraid. A small number of bad house rules can make me rethink participating, but a large number of good ones doesn't bother me at all.

 

[iserith]

As many as are needed to achieve the group's vision for the theme of the game. In my experience of D&D 5e, this hasn't been very many, perhaps less than half a dozen, including variant rules. At a certain point, enough house rules would encourage me to just use another system more suited for the vision of the adventure or campaign.

 

[Fanaelialae]

I voted none, but my actual intent is that the appropriate number of house rules is whatever you need to accomplish the game you intend to run. House ruling for the sake of itself is generally... less than ideal.

A friend of mine is running a Mad Max style post apocalyptic campaign (using 5e). He has an entire wiki devoted to this campaign. He threw out the races and classes, and made his own, and also added on a system of perks and companions and vehicles and a bunch of other stuff. The campaign is a lot of fun, so it's all good.

Whereas for my most recent campaign, which was for two experienced players and two players who'd never played a TTRPG before, I only had a single house rule (it was fairly minor). At the request of the more experienced players (and with the consent of the newbies) I eventually added in some of the house rules I'd used in prior campaigns, but to start it was just the one.

 

[loverdrive]

I have a couple.

1) A PC can die only if the player decides so, and always goes in a splash. Nothing can bring them back, though.
2) ASI is both an actual ASI and taking a feat
3) Attack bonusi and spell DCs are decoupled from stats (+5/13 at Tier 1, +7/14 at Tier 2, and so on)

 

[Yora]

When it gets to more than a page, it's probably getting too unweildy to really keep track of for the players.

 

[loverdrive]

A friend of mine is running a Mad Max style post apocalyptic campaign (using 5e). He has an entire wiki devoted to this campaign. He threw out the races and classes, and made his own, and also added on a system of perks and companions and vehicles and a bunch of other stuff. The campaign is a lot of fun, so it's all good.

This sounds like something that deserves to be published...

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

No rules as written are true; every houserule is permitted.

-My ancestor, Hassan-i-Snarfbah