D&D 5E (Deleted)

[Parmandur]

I've never written down a house rule, though I'm sure I have plenty of idiosyncratic rulings and assumed precedents.

 

[Ath-kethin]

Had our first play-test session in about a month with holidays and all, and part of our discussion was wondering just to what extent other groups use house-rules or homebrew content consistently in their games?

I am not counting 3PP material, so please do not include that in your vote. Thank you!

Now, by "pages" I mean a "reasonably used/full and adequately formatted to your taste" piece of paper worth of material. Use your best judgement.

In particular, to be clear, I am asking for the poll only about 5E. Of course if you want to share your house-rule/homebrew amount for other editions in your post, please do!

Most of the options we use are in the DMG. Does that count as house rules/homebrew?

And there are options from earlier editions we use too, some but not all of which are in the 5e DMG as well.

Since the 5e DMG is a pretty hefty book, I picked 100+ pages in the poll.

 

[Parmandur]

Most of the options we use are in the DMG. Does that count as house rules/homebrew?

And there are options from earlier editions we use too, some but not all of which are in the 5e DMG as well.

Since the 5e DMG is a pretty hefty book, I picked 100+ pages in the poll.

That sounds more like "none"

 

[Parmandur]

After running a campaign by the book (or by what I assume the book wants to say), I put together a list of modifications for the next campaign I am planning.

I thought my changes are quite extensive, but they are only a quarter page at the most.

Spoiler: Compact Player Rules

• Short rest is 1 night. Long rest is "a few days" in a town, castle, or other secured and hospitable place.
• Exhaustion is reduced by 1 level every short rest instead of long rest.
• Cantrips use level-0 spell slots equal to the number of known cantrips, which are fully recovered on a short rest.
• All effects with a duration of 1 minute are extended to 10 minutes. All durations are either in "rounds" or in "turns" (10 minutes).
• Characters can carry a number of items up to their Strength score while being unencumbered, twice their Strength score while being encumbered, and three times their Strength score while being heavily encumbered. Items count as an additional item for every full 10 pounds of weight. (A 25 pound items counts as 3 items; 1 base weight + 2 for 20+ pounds.)
• Encounter XP are reduced to 10% their default value.
• Milestone XP are awarded for returning from the wilderness with treasure. The XP amount is equal to the gp value of the treasure. (Expect 1/5 of total XP to be from encounters, and 4/5 from treasure.)
• All PCs act on the same initiative count. Turns get resolved in order of players having decided what action they want to do.
• Upkeep costs are used to cover common expenses.
• Character races are limited to human, high elf, half-elf, goliath, and tabaxi.
• Character classes are limited to barbarian, bard, druid, fighter, monk, rogue, and warlock.
• Only PHB class specializations, excluding moon druid, eldritch knight, shadow monk, four elements monk, and arcane trickster.
• Lockpicking and disarming traps takes is 1 turn (~10 minutes) by default. Thief's Fast Hands ability allows doing it as a main action with disadvantage.
• Reduced weapons and armor lists to reflect the technology of the setting.

Spoiler: Extended GM Rules

• Food and water will be tracked.
• Ammunition and light sources will be tracked.
• Wandering Monster checks are made in the wilderness four times per day. Three during the day and one during the night. By default, the chance is 1 in 6. Players make the roll. (That means on average 2 encounters for every 3 days.)
• Wandering Monster encounters make a 2d6 reaction roll:
  • 2: attack at first opportunity
  • 3-5: threaten the party to leave their turf
  • 6-8: observe the party, repeat roll with advantage or disadvantage depending on the party's behavior
  • 9-11: retreat from confrontation, but might talk if able to speak
  • 12: friendly, offering aid and cooperation
• Morale Wisdom save are always made for opponents and hired mercenaries when applicable.

I mean, even most of thst seems to be covered by reading the DMG and PHB...? "Tracking rations" and "tracking ammunition" aren't house rules.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Most of the options we use are in the DMG. Does that count as house rules/homebrew?

No.

And there are options from earlier editions we use too, some but not all of which are in the 5e DMG as well.

Yes

Since the 5e DMG is a pretty hefty book, I picked 100+ pages in the poll.

Then you are being pretty silly. I'll make a note not to count your vote.

 

[cbwjm]

Decided to change my vote to 31-50 pages to account for the homebrew. Can probably get half of that just with spells, but should be closer to what I've created and use in my games.

 

[toucanbuzz]

Once I put them all together, I could probably compact it all to 5 or less, but ended up being 8.

 

[LordEntrails]

It is right in the title of the thread and in the poll question and in the OP.

So, I don't know what I could have said to make it clearer.

I don't know, but given that multiple people seem to have the same confusion you might consider figuring that out. Whatever the cause, their is a failure to communicate.

So anyway I changed my vote to 100+. Given that in my current campaign going on 4? years I've created hundreds of items, spells, NPCs and other homebrew. We still only have a couple of sentences of houserules though.

Grouping houserules in with homebrew seems ... confusing and not very useful to me. Not sure what the objective of the pole is.

Then you are being pretty silly. I'll make a note not to count your vote.

That's fruitful.

 

[DND_Reborn]

I don't know, but given that multiple people seem to have the same confusion you might consider figuring that out. Whatever the cause, their is a failure to communicate.

Seriously, it is at three different places in the OP. I think it is more people should READ the OP before assuming what they want.

Over 60 people have voted, only a few had confusion. A few others seemed simply upset over the concept that a handful of rules placed on a page didn't qualify it as "full" when the other part was "reasonable used".

So anyway I changed my vote to 100+. Given that in my current campaign going on 4? years I've created hundreds of items, spells, NPCs and other homebrew. We still only have a couple of sentences of houserules though.

Thank you!

Grouping houserules in with homebrew seems ... confusing and not very useful to me. Not sure what the objective of the pole is.

To find out what quantity of extra material that is made by the table and/or DM (not 3PP) is being added to 5E to make it the experience that group wants to play.

That's fruitful.

Neither was the post that fostered the reply. They were trying to be funny, I responded in kind.

Considering the poster liked the response, I hope they understood that.

 

[LordEntrails]

To find out what quantity of extra material that is made by the table and/or DM (not 3PP) is being added to 5E to make it the experience that group wants to play.

Would it not have been easier to ask: "What is the quantity of extra material is made by the people at the table to make the game the experience the group wants to play?"

See, to me that goes back to what, to me, D&D is. It's not about playing a game with everything defined like a board game. But rather a creative endeavor. Where the DM is expected to make up stuff as they go along. Where players are expected to create characters through play.

Even now as I generally run published adventures, not a single one do I run as is. Dragon Heist I changed up based upon the Alexandrian Remix. Undermountain was only loosely based on DoMM. Beyond IceSpire was supplemented and changed. Even now as I prepare Tomb of Horrors I'm "improving" it for me group.

So, yea, current campaign is hundreds of pages, over 40 years of playing it's thousands of pages. But as for houserules, still less than half a dozen.

 

[hedgeknight]

However many pages this is: House Rules & Supplemental Options - Ghosts of Saltmarsh

Dude, your campaign wiki page is a beast! Love it!

 

[DND_Reborn]

Would it not have been easier to ask: "What is the quantity of extra material is made by the people at the table to make the game the experience the group wants to play?"

Maybe, but then I would have to clarify that things like published adventures and such isn't meant to be included.

Again, so far it seems over 90% of the respondents haven't had any issue getting the concept, which I was trying to keep simple...

So, yea, current campaign is hundreds of pages, over 40 years of playing it's thousands of pages.

Great, but first most of those 40 years wouldn't qualify for the thread given the 5E tag and second unless those pages are homebrew classes, spells, magic items, etc., not world setting content, they don't count even if for 5E.

But as for houserules, still less than half a dozen.

Cool, and if that includes any homebrew mentioned above, that would be your vote.

 

[aco175]

Again, so far it seems over 90% of the respondents haven't had any issue getting the concept, which I was trying to keep simple...

This begs the question of how many come back to read the thread after they posted to see others comments. I would suspect that there are many who never come back to threads or only look at the site every few days or week.

Granted, I was one of the first that was confused.

 

[balthanon]

(Oops, missed the 5E tag myself and just saw someone note it in a comment. Never mind apparently, the below doesn't count.)

I've mainly DM'd 3.5 (and it's been awhile), but looking through all of the content I've written up in separate Word docs, I was at about 107 pages. That includes everything ranging from actual rule changes that our group settled on like a more streamlined skill list, rules stolen from other editions like long and short rests, and long standing old house rules like god calls to things that were more homebrew content or just documented NPCs and advanced monsters.

Not all of it was used in every game, but I tried to capture everything we'd done at one point or another.

A big part of it being as long as it is though is the fact that I tried to do it in the same style as the official 3.5 books-- though the Word docs didn't have any of the images; I put those in later in InDesign.

 

[DND_Reborn]

(Oops, missed the 5E tag myself and just saw someone note it in a comment. Never mind apparently, the below doesn't count.)

Towards the vote, no, it shouldn't. But as far as sharing your experience with house-rules/ homebrew in another edition goes...

Of course if you want to share your house-rule/homebrew amount for other editions in your post, please do!

So, thanks for sharing your experience with 3.5E.

 

[el-remmen]

Dude, your campaign wiki page is a beast! Love it!

Glad you like it. We also have a Discord. The wiki is great for referencing things - I just wish all the players were better about keeping their pages up to date - but I don't pressure them to do it and will do it myself when I can. It is all opt-in.

 

[Yora]

I am now curious about the campaigns that effectively have their own complete rulebook, but are still consider 5th edition.

 

[Doc_Klueless]

Most of the options we use are in the DMG.

This is where I land as well.

 

[DND_Reborn]

I am now curious about the campaigns that effectively have their own complete rulebook, but are still consider 5th edition.

My group is working on one. Currently about 130-150 pages, but we are now pruning back some of the elements. After it is finished being edited and images added to make it pretty, I'll be posting it here for people to browse. I am hoping by late Spring / early Summer.

 

[Oofta]

I voted 1-2 pages but it's probably at most a page. Most of my intro notes are just clarification of what kind of campaign I run, limits on warlock patrons, what races I allow, no evil PCs. I also have links to way too much documentation on the campaign world which I don't count as house rules, including deities which are mostly borrowed and revised for my world.

The only gray area that I don't really consider a house rule is that I did decide to sit down and create a price list for items that I derived from Xanathar's. I don't have an open magic mart, it's more of a brokerage and items may or may not be available mostly depending on PC level and whether I think it will affect game balance. It's also just a base price which may vary depending on other circumstances.

Spoiler: The entire massive list

Stat adjustment items: Items that adjust Stats (strength, int, etc) work a little differently than listed in the book; they add to your base ability instead of replacing it but the max is also increased by 1. For example, Gauntlets of Ogre Power add +2 to your strength (max 20), they don't change it to 19. Any item that have a maximum score of 20 or less do not require attunement. Items that can increase above 20 still require attunement. See Purchasing Costs for details.

Death and Dying: There is a cost to dying in my world. Most NPCs can't be raised from the dead. This is a world where even gods can die. When people die, there is a very short timeframe when their soul is traveling through Nifleheim. Once in their final destination (whether Valhalla, Helheim or other) they cannot return. If a PC dies and is raised, there will probably be consequences that have to be dealt with. Exact details will be dealt with in-game (although perhaps not in the same game session the PC is raised in) and won't be meta-game penalties but repercussions that have to be dealt with by the PCs.

Paladin Mounts: As written, paladin mounts are useful when you first get them but die quickly at higher levels. To give them a bit more durability, they gain HD equal to the PC's level. In addition, their proficiency bonus (and therefore chance to hit) increases at the same rate as the PC.

Other minor changes

• Bag of Holding: require an action to retrieve an item.
• Bows: you can use either strength or dex, they are finesse weapons.
• Potions: drinking a potion is a bonus action.
• Purchasing magic items: there is a base price list, but magic is sold through brokers and items may or may not be available. Check first, actual cost may vary.
• Heward's Handy Haversack: retrieve items as normal.
• Teleportation Circle: You do not automatically know any sigils, sigil patterns are a closely guarded secret.
• Teleportation: Several places have guards against teleportation beyond just the normal chance of failure. Use at your own risk.
• Thrown weapons: you can draw them for free and throw multiple every turn. I assume you have either a bandolier or quiver of some sort to hold them.