Handful of New House Rules

[CleverNickName]

I just typed up my house rules for my E6 game, and felt like sharing some of the high points. This assumes that we won't be using the At-Will Spellcasting rules that I am currently developing.

1. Racial Hit Points (from Pathfinder)
Humans and Half-elves start with +6 hit points.
Elves, Gnomes, and Halflings start with +4 hit points.
Half-orcs and Dwarves start with +8 hit points.

2. No Level Drain
Any attack, spell, or effect that would normally cause a negative level to be bestowed on a creature instead deals temporary Constitution damage (one point of Con damage for every negative level that would have been inflicted). This Con loss is never permanent; lost Constitution returns at the rate of 1 point per day.

3. Salt vs. Oozes
One pound of dry salt deals damage to Ooze creatures as if it were alchemist fire (splash weapon, 1d6 points of acid damage on impact plus 1d6 on following round, Reflex DC 15 to shake the salt off). Salt costs 5 gp/pound.

4. Fixed Feats
Dodge: flat +1 dodge bonus to AC, no need to choose an opponent.

Great Cleave: reworded to "This feat works like Cleave, except it can be used a number of times per round equal to 1 + your Dexterity bonus, if any." (Fixes the "bag of rats" bug.)

Power Attack: capped at -5/+5; bonus damage does not multiply on a crit. (Fixes the "scythe of doom" bug.)

Skill Focus: +3 bonus to skill of choice; skill becomes class skill.

Toughness: +2 hit points per HD (+10 max).

5. New Feats
Simple Magic [General]
You are particularly adept at performing simple magic.
Prerequisite: caster level 1, Int 10+ (wizards), Wis 10+ (clerics and druids), or Cha 10+ (sorcerers).
Benefit: you may cast any zero-level spell that you know at will, without preparation, as a standard action.

Skill Finesse [General]
Your natural grace and agility compensate for a lack of strength.
Prerequisite: Dex 15+
Benefit: you apply your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier for Climb, Jump, and Swim checks.

6. Fixed Spells
Cure Minor Wounds
Conjuration (Healing)
Level: Clr 0, Drd 0
Components: V,S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: Creature touched
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will half (harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)

By laying your hand on a disabled or dying creature (a creature with 0 to -9 hit points), you channel positive energy that immediately stabilizes the creature and restores it to 1 hit point. This spell has no effect on creatures with 1 or more hit points.

Limited Wish, Miracle, and Wish: removed from all class spell lists. Magic items and monsters may still have this spell, however.

EDIT: forgot one.

7. Dragons
All dragons are naturally greyish-brown in color, and have the chameleon-like ability to change their coloration and markings to blend with their surroundings. Thus, it is impossible to determine what breath weapon a dragon might use just by looking at the color of their skin.

Dragons do not cast spells. Instead, they rage like barbarians do (barbarian level for raging = sorcerer level for casting spells).

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Limited Wish, Miracle, and Wish: removed from all class spell lists. Magic items and monsters may still have this spell, however.

In this case of limited wish, items that utilize it should probably be granted minor artifact staus.

Wis and Miracle items should be granted major artifact status.

 

[Nifft]

1. Racial Hit Points (from Pathfinder)

Those SoBs ripped off one of my first good house rules.

Grumble-mumble, -- N

 

[Sparafucile]

Cure Minor Wounds + Unlimited uses = seems like a good couple of rules. It can't really affect gameplay in a negative way, yet it also allows players to forego the Craft (makeshift sled), and allow players to walk away from a battle under their own power.

I like that.

 

[CleverNickName]

Those SoBs ripped off one of my first good house rules.

Grumble-mumble, -- N

Wow, that was your idea? It's an awesome house rule...our table's new favorite, in fact. Dwarven wizards finally get the respect they deserve.

Cure Minor Wounds + Unlimited uses = seems like a good couple of rules. It can't really affect gameplay in a negative way, yet it also allows players to forego the Craft (makeshift sled), and allow players to walk away from a battle under their own power.

I like that.

It makes wizards somewhat more effective against undead, thanks to those unlimited disrupt undead spells. Every now and then you get one of "those" players, who tries to flood a room with multiple create water spells. And every padlock, treasure chest, and stuck doorway will be acid splashed with annoying frequency. But for the most part the unlimited zero-level spell rule isn't much of a problem.

 

[Derro]

Cure Minor Wounds

By laying your hand on a dying creature (a creature with -1 to -9 hit points), you channel positive energy that immediately stabilizes the creature and restores it to 1 hit point. This spell has no effect on creatures with 0 or more hit points.

Is that worded properly? You could end up with a disabled grey area where it is actually more advantageous to be down and dying them still moving around under your own power.

The scenario that immediately springs to mind is that the healer is all out of regular heals and a character is at 0 hp (disabled). The disable guy needs to be brought to at least 1 to be able to cast any spells of his own or move more than half.

So the healer hits him with a mace to reduce him to dying and can then cast Cure Minor.

I know, it's totally preposterous but it could happen.

Otherwise, good stuff. I'm curious what inspired the salt vs. ooze rule. Is this something that came up in play and became a standard?

 

[CleverNickName]

Is that worded properly? You could end up with a disabled grey area where it is actually more advantageous to be down and dying them still moving around under your own power.

The scenario that immediately springs to mind is that the healer is all out of regular heals and a character is at 0 hp (disabled). The disable guy needs to be brought to at least 1 to be able to cast any spells of his own or move more than half.

So the healer hits him with a mace to reduce him to dying and can then cast Cure Minor.

I know, it's totally preposterous but it could happen.

Usually it plays out like this: the disabled character casts the spell or moves anyway, slips to -1 hp, and then the healer uses cure minor. The healer doesn't necessarily need to thwack him over the head.

Otherwise, good stuff. I'm curious what inspired the salt vs. ooze rule. Is this something that came up in play and became a standard?

Honestly? Well, we had a bit of a slug problem at my apartment in Vancouver last year. So one morning I was scattering some slug granules, and I thought...hmm...slugs are sort of like oozes, right? And well, the idea sort of went on from there. (I had originally posted this rule about a year ago in this same forum, but I couldn't find it.)

This rule only saw use in one gaming session, when I took a gang of adventurers through the 3.5E revision of "White Plume Mountain." It tested great.

 

[Arkhandus]

Usually it plays out like this: the disabled character casts the spell or moves anyway, slips to -1 hp, and then the healer uses cure minor. The healer doesn't necessarily need to thwack him over the head.

Moving doesn't do it, though. It has to be a standard action or some kind of strenuous action.

Per the core rules, casting Cure Minor Wounds won't help you if you're Disabled, under your changed version of the spell. Your version heals you only if at negative HP; Disabled status causes you to take 1 damage after you've finished taking a strenuous or standard action; you would cast the spell, it would resolve, then you would take 1 damage and fall unconscious, Disabled.

You can take move actions without further injuring yourself, but if you perform any standard action (or any other strenuous action) you take 1 point of damage after the completing the act. Unless your activity increased your hit points, you are now at -1 hit points, and you’re dying.

It really would be best to just have the spell work on anyone with less than 1 HP remaining. Though either way, it weakens the Heal skill.

It makes wizards somewhat more effective against undead, thanks to those unlimited disrupt undead spells. Every now and then you get one of "those" players, who tries to flood a room with multiple create water spells. And every padlock, treasure chest, and stuck doorway will be acid splashed with annoying frequency. But for the most part the unlimited zero-level spell rule isn't much of a problem.

Actually, acid does not ignore an object's hardness, it just doesn't get its damage reduced beforehand, unlike fire, cold, or electricity damage. So the Acid Splash spell isn't really dangerous to metal, stone, or wood.

Acid and sonic attacks deal damage to most objects just as they do to creatures; roll damage and apply it normally after a successful hit. Electricity and fire attacks deal half damage to most objects; divide the damage dealt by 2 before applying the hardness. Cold attacks deal one-quarter damage to most objects; divide the damage dealt by 4 before applying the hardness.

However, the feat does mean unlimited Prestidigitations, Detect Poisons, Detect Magics, Mendings, Create Waters, Purify Food & Drinks, Know Directions, Lights, and other things (like whatever 0-level spells are found in supplements).

As long as the party (or group of NPCs) has a Druid, of any level, they will never get truly lost or have trouble with mazes. As long as there's a spellcaster around, there will be an infinite supply of light; no need for torches or sunrods (though the latter would still be slightly useful for the greater radius of light), and no need for candlemakers (chandlers); every church should be able to keep a constant supply of lights active, and same with every mage's home or guildhall or the like. Every king probably has some mage or priest keeping his castle well-lit (note: this makes it harder for rogues to sneak into enemy strongholds, too, with the abundance of free light).

No need for cleaning people; hire one wizard to spend a little bit of time walking the halls each day or each week, casting Prestidigitation in each room or the like. No need for great chefs; the royal wizard can make every meal taste exquisite and unique, without much effort at all. No worries for the king expecting an assassination; his food, drinks, and other things are all freely sweeped with Detect Poison, as are any people entering the same room as the king. No worries about invisible sneaks getting at the king; infinite Detect Magic to notice their presence, and that of any people bringing magic items into the castle that might be used for assassination or other troublemaking.

The local priest can ensure that the king's meals (and his own) are always free of poisons, diseases, or other nastiness through Purify Food & Drink. Not as much need for tailors and potters and other things when you can not only get frequent Prestidigitations to clean out stains and other things, but can also get frequent Mendings to fix that tear in your expensive silk shirt, or that claw mark on the rug. Water is never a precious resource anymore; every priest can conjure up an infinite amount of it. Desert oases, rivers, and other such things are not so important anymore; no need for wells when the village priest can refill the town's fountain every day with just an hour (or a few hours) of casting. Nobody ever fears dehydration in the desert unless they can't afford to bring a priest along.

Away go many of the jobs of the common man. One novice spellcaster replaces nearly the entire castle staff.

 

[Arkhandus]

Humans, Half-elves, and Halflings start with +6 hit points.
Elves and Gnomes start with +4 hit points.
Half-orcs and Dwarves start with +8 hit points.

Gnomes ought to be tougher, unless you're replacing their Constitution bonus. No way in heck that a human or halfling should be tougher than a gnome with a Constitution bonus, representing a significant degree of toughness for something so small; it just doesn't make sense, when humans and halflings have no such bonus. Again, only if you're not replacing the gnome's Constitution bonus.

Any attack, spell, or effect that would normally cause a negative level to be bestowed on a creature instead deals temporary Constitution damage (one point of Con damage for every negative level that would have been inflicted). This Con loss is never permanent; lost Constitution returns at the rate of 1 point per hour.

What about other sources of Constitution damage? What about other kinds of ability damage, like Strength damage or Wisdom damage? Do they all heal at the rate of one point per hour? Or does each character/creature heal 1 point of ability damage (from any one score) per hour?

If not, why is Constitution damage from energy drain so much easier to recover from (a vampire/succubus/other-nasty-monster sucks the life out of you, but you feel perfectly OK a few hours later! That snake bite you got a few weeks ago made you feel terrible for a whole week, but man was that demon a chump! -_-).

Great Cleave: reworded to "This feat works like Cleave, except it can be used a number of times per round equal to 1 + your Dexterity bonus, if any." (Fixes the "bag of rats" bug.)

Shouldn't it be Strength-based? We're talking about cutting through enemies to strike other ones, not flailing about in a high-speed frenzy of attacks (if that were the case, why would it require dropping an opponent before each extra attack?). And what's the bag of rats bug? The only way I can see it being a potential problem would be with Whirlwind Attack or possibly Combat Reflexes, in which case, why not fix those feats instead?

Power Attack: capped at -5/+5; bonus damage does not multiply on a crit. (Fixes the "scythe of doom" bug.)

Scythes do less damage than most other two-handed weapons in exchange for their critical multiplier. How is this a problem? You do generally 2 points less damage per attack (4 sometimes), but on rare occasions (a threat range of just 20) they do a nice chunk more damage to make up for usually being inferior. The extra damage of Power Attack is from the force of the blow, not precision or anything, unlike Sneak Attack, so there's no particular reason why it shouldn't multiply on a crit, just like bonus damage from Strength.

Besides, capping the feat to -5/+5 already solves the potential problem of huge extra damage on crits.

Toughness: +2 hit points per HD (+10 max).

Question: Can Toughness still be taken multiple times? If so, I think it would rather defeat the purpose of using E6, since E6 is all about getting more and more feats after 6th-level rather than getting more and more levels (and with them, more and more HP, BAB, etc.). I would just expect the feat to be a one-time only choice if you're making it grant that many HP.

Skill Finesse [General]
Your natural grace and agility compensate for a lack of strength.
Prerequisite: Dex 15+
Benefit: you apply your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier for Climb, Jump, and Swim checks.

Doesn't make any sense. You need muscle power in order to swim or overcome strong currents. And to make big jumps, or climb a sheer vertical surface. Dexterity is flexibility, reflexes, and coordination, not speed. That's why movement speed and attack rate are not functions of Dexterity. Dex helps you react quickly, it doesn't provide the kinetic energy, it's just the brain/nerve impulses telling your muscles to move right now. Also, this feat just makes Dexterity more of an uber-stat than it already is.
Limited Wish, Miracle, and Wish: removed from all class spell lists. Magic items and monsters may still have this spell, however.

All dragons are naturally greyish-brown in color, and have the chameleon-like ability to change their coloration and markings to blend with their surroundings. Thus, it is impossible to determine what breath weapon a dragon might use just by looking at the color of their skin.

Dragons do not cast spells. Instead, they rage like barbarians do (barbarian level for raging = sorcerer level for casting spells).[/COLOR]

You know, don't you, that D&D dragons have very different shapes to their bodies, wings, heads, and suchlike, that give away their specific type just as well as their color, right? Their color alone does not indicate their abilities, it's also their general shape; a silver dragon standing in shadows would still have the distinctive head shape (horns, frills, etc.) of a silver dragon, rather different from a white dragon's or a black dragon's. You'll have to make all the dragons possess identical physical traits, with only minor differences that have nothing to do with the breed of dragon.

Note that the use of rage instead of spells will make older dragons kind of weaker. A standard D&D red dragon might cast Protection from Energy - Cold to cover its weakness, but a raging red dragon is just as vulnerable to cold spells as any younger red dragon. This may or may not be enough to change their Challenge Rating a tad.

 

[CleverNickName]

It really would be best to just have the spell work on anyone with less than 1 HP remaining. Though either way, it weakens the Heal skill.

You know, I think you're right. I'll fix it to include dying AND disabled targets.

Away go many of the jobs of the common man. One novice spellcaster replaces nearly the entire castle staff.

If novice spellcasters were as common as, um, commoners, this would indeed be the case. But in this particular campaign, spellcasters are going to be feared and persecuted much like witches were in Colonial Salem...witch hunts, burning at the stake, religious intolerance, etc. It is likely that the PCs will be the only spellcasters many people will ever meet.