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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quasqueton" data-source="post: 2572487" data-attributes="member: 3854">The discussion on whether house rules are expected in RPGs (and other games) brings up another, tangential topic: Is there a rule change/addition/removal that is considered less than a house rule.For instance, back in AD&D1, no group I ever played in used the weapon speed factors. No one ever mentioned this "oversight" as a house rule. We just all turned a "blind-eye" to them without ever even mentioning them. This was true in several, unrelated, groups.A lot of AD&D1 and AD&D2 groups hand-waved away the level limits for demi-humans. Sometimes this was mentioned at the beginning of a game, but sometimes it wasn't mentioned until it came up in game (when a demi-human PC reached the limit).In D&D3, many people let the Dodge feat apply to all opponents. The times I've seen this rule instituted, it was done sort of off-the-cuff, to hand-wave away an annoying aspect of the game because no one (Players or DM) could ever remember to announce the Dodge target.In all editions of the game, some folks don't worry about encumbrance. I've never seen this mentioned as a house rule, it is just something never mentioned by the DM.I was playing in a D&D3.5 game when we encountered a darkness spell for the first time (in that campaign), and we learned the spell was house ruled back to the complete darkness of 3.0. None of us Players skipped a beat or complained about the "surprise" house rule. We just virtually nodded and kept on playing.I've heard of some games where the paladin's warhorse can stay with the paladin once summoned, instead of the summon-each-day rules of D&D3.5. (This is an option up to the Player's choice.) Is this worthy of being called out as a house rule in a house rule document? Or is this something that can just be mentioned to a paladin's Player when the time comes?Then there is a rule I use in my game that I think I may be the only one who has this: full plate and half plate armor can be "stripped down" to just a "chain shirt equivalent" for wearing while sleeping or in a city. Is this something worth listing in a house rules document, or is this just something the DM and Players accept with a nod. Is it worth calling a "house rule"?Also, I let clubs and quarterstaves do non-lethal damage with no attack penalty. It fits with the idea of constables and press gangs using such items to subdue folks without lethal damage. Is this something that should be mentioned in a house rules doc? Or is this something that can just be mentioned when the situation comes up in game (if it ever comes up)?I have a house rules document (maybe 10 rules) on a Web site for my game, and half the "house rules" are like I'm mentioning above -- something that may never affect a Player's character or choices in a game, but that technically are a change from the core RAW.What should we call house rules that are so minor or universal among groups that a Player may never notice it is a house rule?And on the flip side of the coin, what should we call house rules that are so major and drastic that it really changes the game as a whole?Should *any* change, minor or major, be just called "house rule"? Or should we have a scale?Quasqueton</blockquote>

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