Campaign Theme:
- A cross between classic Victorian-era archaeologists and more modern Indiana Jones adventurers.
- Desert setting, reminiscent of Ancient Assyria (just to mix it up from the predictable Egyptian theme). Shedu statues and hanging gardens, rather than pyramids.
- The PCs are part of a larger expedition attempting to recover relics from a lost civilization, for the glory of the Empire.
- Typical quotes: "By Jove, the natives are revolting!"... "This belongs in a museum!"... "For Emperor and Country! Show a stiff upper lip, men!"... "Fortune and glory, kid...."
Starting Level:
- 1st level. The party started as starry-eyed peasants applying for membership in this heroic expedition. They've now worked their way up to semi-trusted henchmen (3rd level). The next step is valued associates. Eventually, they may rival the flamboyant head of the expedition... or surpass him. Who knows what will happen when that occurs?
Houserules (Story):
- No evil characters
- No characters who are actively trying to sabotage the mission; everyone wants to succeed (yes, I have the sort of group where I have to make this explicit)
- No high elves (not found in this region of my campaign world) and halflings are rare (similar reason - nothing to do with mechanics)
- All backgrounds, all classes, all subclasses are available (as long as the PC has a reason for being on the trip)
Houserules (Mechanical):
- I only have one house rule so far...
- If a paladin uses his Lay on Hands to "kick up" a fallen ally, he must burn all remaining points of his Lay on Hands to do so. For example, if a PC drops, and a paladin has 11 points of Lay on Hands left, he must use all 11 points to kick up the fallen PC (returning them to 11hp).
- If Lay on Hands is used on PCs who aren't unconscious, the paladin can use any amount of their pool, across any number of PCs, as per normal. The house rule only applies if they're kicking up a fallen ally.
Wait, what? Why?
...because my players are munchkins. The paladin player, in the very first session, used a 1hp kickup... and smiled smugly (4hp left in the pool). The cleric player immediately scowled, as did I, realizing the immediate problem.
- The cleric's entire shtick is their spells. Without their spells, they're basically a sub-par fighter. At 1st level, a cleric can kick up a fallen ally 3 times, using Cure Wounds or Healing Word. At 2nd level, they can kick up a fallen ally 4 times. At 3rd level, 6 times. And that's using their entire spell allowance, which is their main class feature.
- The paladin's Lay on Hands is a side-note. Without it, they are still pretty buff. Great armor, hp, attacks, spells, oaths, etc. A paladin that uses all of his Lay on Hands is still hugely useful. And the Lay on Hands can provide 5 kick-ups per level. At 2nd level, they can kick up fallen allies 10 times. At 3rd level, 15 times. The cleric can't match that, using his primary resource. Assuming he even prepares healing spells. Whereas every paladin on the planet can use Lay on Hands.
Here's where it gets ridiculous. Two 8th level paladins walk into a bar, and pick a fight with a cloud giant (...it's a big bar). The two paladins have 40hp of Lay on Hands each. The fight goes poorly for them. One of the paladins gets taken down. It's extraordinarily unlikely that he can be outright killed (negative max hp), even with a critical hit. Which means the paladins basically cannot lose. The moment either paladin drops, the other paladin burns 1hp from his pool to bring his friend right back into the fight. No accumulated death boxes, no negative effects. Only 39 more kick-ups to go. The cloud giant can hit 20 times in a row, and it doesn't matter. The moment the giant misses, the paladins get a full round of attacks against it. The result is inevitable. The paladins have 80 kick-ups between them. The cleric doesn't even bother going into the bar, because he knows that there is no way he can match that - and the
cleric would have to burn his primary resource (spells) to do so. The paladins haven't even touched their spells... or their fighting styles... superior HP and AC... Oath abilities... etc.
Previous editions mitigated this by limited the number of times that Lay on Hands can be used. Typically, it was a one-shot. You heal, once per day, for X points per paladin level. Not 80 times per day, for 1 hp each, at 16th level. I'm not saying Lay on Hands is too much healing; I'm saying the problem (for me) is that it can be used
too often.
Yes, I know it uses the paladin's action. Yes, I know that there are ways around it (multiple enemies, area effects, kill-the-paladin-first-every-time). I still don't like it. I don't even like the implication from a story perspective (the paladin is optimizing his healing, rather than bringing forth the full power of his god).
So, yeah. That's the only house rule I've made so far.
Also, note that I'm not screaming for a rules change. I think there's an avenue for abuse there (at least in my games), but I don't care if WotC ever changes it. Because I'm confident in my ability as a DM to make a house-rule, the paladin player has (grudgingly) accepted it, and there may be hordes of other players out there who think that it's perfectly fine.
