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Message: <blockquote data-quote="WhimsyTheFae" data-source="post: 2533667" data-attributes="member: 8964">I just thought that I would post the two house rules that I use in all my campaigns.  Feel free to criticize/comment.--------------------------------------------------------WEAPON FINESSEAccording to page 102 of the PHB, if you take the Weapon Finesse feat, you gain the ability to use your Dexterity bonus on melee attacks with a select group of weapons (as opposed to using your Strength bonus).Problem: This feat seems to penalize characters with a high Dexterity and a low Strength. First, the odds are that a high Strength character will choose a class with a good Base Attack bonus progression, while the high Dexterity character will be more likely to take a class with a lower Base Attack bonus progression (this gives the already higher attack bonus character even more of a bonus). Second, a character with a high Dexterity and a low Strength should have compensated by training to use weapons that complimented his Dexterity, though the rules do not reflect that (a high Strength character is not forced to take a feat to take advantage of this, but a high Dexterity character is). Third, weapon finesse does not do anything to increase the damage dealt, only to increase the hit probability (so, for the price of a feat, the high Dexterity character can only lessen the gap between he and the high Strength character - but, it could be argued that this is offset be the fact that Dexterity is used in Armor Class, Initiative, and Reflex Saves).Solution: All characters are assumed to have the benefits of the Weapon Finesse feat, as outlined in the PHB. Characters who spend a feat (or feats) on the Weapon Finesse feat may choose a weapon not listed in the description and use their Dexterity bonus on attack rolls.--------------------------------------------------------TOTAL DEFENSE & COMBAT EXPERTISEAccording to page 142 of the PHB, you can defend yourself as a standard action and gain a +4 bonus to your AC for 1 round. The PHB also states that this action cannot be combined with fighting defensively or with the benefit of the Combat Expertise feat (since both of those require you to declare an attack or full attack). You also can’t make attacks of opportunity while using total defense.Problem: Once a character with the Combat Expertise feat reaches a +4 or +5 Base Attack (the Combat Expertise feat can convert a Base Attack of up to +5 to AC). At this point, fighting defensively can grant the same or greater bonus to AC as total defense AND allow the character to make an attack (or attacks).Solution: A character with the Combat Expertise feat gains a bonus to AC equal to his Base Attack (up to +5) plus 4.</blockquote>

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