The 5e Teleport spell is a bit of an oddity in the game. 5e has taken pains to remove a lot of the old math required by certain spells, but the Off-Target clause for teleport remains a notable exception. Its quite.....weird, and cumbersome to calculate.
So this houserule removes that calculation, while adding some interesting exploration options.
Teleport
same except for this clause:
Off-Target: You arrive at the nearest teleportation circle to the target that is within 100 miles. If there is no circle within that distance, use the "mishap" section instead.
So from the DM's perspective, this is easy to calculate, there is no math or rolling involved, its just "pick the nearest teleportation circle". That of course can lead to some interesting exploration options for the players, as the DM could cook up all sorts of encounters, from a common circle in a well traveled town, to a circle that hasn't been used in 100s of years in an ancient catacomb. You might even have players taht went to go "off target" exploring to find new circles, which could of course invite all sorts of new dangers (a lot of wizards wouldn't want their circle's key code being known, and may prepare defenses as such).
Adding in the mishap secondary keeps this properly punishing. Finding a new circle could be cool but there is also the risk of damage and other issues happening, so you don't want to go off-target too willy nilly.
Thoughts?
So this houserule removes that calculation, while adding some interesting exploration options.
Teleport
same except for this clause:
Off-Target: You arrive at the nearest teleportation circle to the target that is within 100 miles. If there is no circle within that distance, use the "mishap" section instead.
So from the DM's perspective, this is easy to calculate, there is no math or rolling involved, its just "pick the nearest teleportation circle". That of course can lead to some interesting exploration options for the players, as the DM could cook up all sorts of encounters, from a common circle in a well traveled town, to a circle that hasn't been used in 100s of years in an ancient catacomb. You might even have players taht went to go "off target" exploring to find new circles, which could of course invite all sorts of new dangers (a lot of wizards wouldn't want their circle's key code being known, and may prepare defenses as such).
Adding in the mishap secondary keeps this properly punishing. Finding a new circle could be cool but there is also the risk of damage and other issues happening, so you don't want to go off-target too willy nilly.
Thoughts?