House Rules

[Fifth Element]

One-third hit points at 1st level, and make characters roll for hp at every level. No dumbed-down X per level stuff.

No powers for martial characters.

Characters die at -10 hit points.

No tieflings or dragonborn, gnomes are a core race and are essentially slightly magical dwarves.

No cheesy 1/2 level bonuses to everything.

Give every monster a save-or-die power.


You know, just things you need to make it real D&D.

 

[Immolate]

One-third hit points at 1st level, and make characters roll for hp at every level. No dumbed-down X per level stuff.

No powers for martial characters.

Characters die at -10 hit points.

No tieflings or dragonborn, gnomes are a core race and are essentially slightly magical dwarves.

No cheesy 1/2 level bonuses to everything.

Give every monster a save-or-die power.


You know, just things you need to make it real D&D.

3.5 you mean?

 

[Irda Ranger]

With the changes as to how traps work, a party with a rogue just gets more options on how to deal with them than a party sans-rogue.

You have plenty of options anyway, and forcing at least one player to take Skill Training in Thievery just shouldn't be necessary.

Once you remove the necessity of the Thievery Skill to disarm or avoid rolling boulders, crushing walls, pit traps and the like, the only things left are picking locks and pockets. The former can handled with a warhammer and the latter has never (IME) lead to grand adventure. In my experience it exists solely so Halfling Rogues can get the whole party landed in jail.

 

[Piratecat]

- One attack roll: AoE's will use one attack roll

When someone threw a saving throw in 3.5, did you roll one saving throw for everyone in the blast? I also disliked the "multiple attack dice" thing until I realized that was all it was.

 

[Immolate]

When someone threw a saving throw in 3.5, did you roll one saving throw for everyone in the blast? I also disliked the "multiple attack dice" thing until I realized that was all it was.

Agreed. It should still be possible for two similar targets, both caught in the area of effect, to suffer different consequences. It may look different, but it's still a saving throw. Only now the variability rests on the caster rather than the target. It puts wizards in the same boat as martial characters.

 

[Celebrim]

When someone threw a saving throw in 3.5, did you roll one saving throw for everyone in the blast? I also disliked the "multiple attack dice" thing until I realized that was all it was.

When the no saving throw mechanic was first revealed, one of the house rules I immediately thought I would need was multiple attack dice for area of effect spells. Then, when the finalized rules were revealed, they turned out to be the way I would have prefered them anyway. Of course, by that point I'd also decided that the rules were too far from my favored approach to salvage.

I put alot of effort and thought into my house rules, and I don't think 4e is worth that effort. Fourth edition has inspired me to modify my house rules for 3e, but it hasn't inspired me to make house rules for 4e.

Now, if I can just get settled down here and find a local group to play with...

I'd game more if I didn't move around all the time...

I bet they'll want to play 4e too...

 

[Cirex]

Multiple attack rolls but only one damage roll is the way I will be doing it.

 

[Mort_Q]

Multiple attack rolls but only one damage roll is the way I will be doing it.

Isn't that the 4e RAW!?

 

[Immolate]

Isn't that the 4e RAW!?

I prefer my 4E medium-well, but you're probably right.

 

[MrMyth]

So how does that translate over into 4E? At the Epic levels, epic destinies codify the temporary nature of death to the point that you can't simply tweak them to remove the undesired effect. It makes the use of epic destinies, as they stand, impossible for us to incorporate.

From what we've seen, it sounds like each Epic Destiny has one ability (gained at 24 or 26, I believe) that helps them avoid death. If you want death to be more lethal, what I'd recommend replacing this with... is a mechanism that allows each PC to have one final round of being awesome, at which point he dies and is lost forever.

So with the Archmage example we've seen, the Archmage's spirit would emerge from his broken body, have one round to unleash spells upon his slayer (possibly with some bonuses, instead of the limitations the normal ability has), and then his spirit fades away, his magic expended.

It would seem a good general rule to easily trade out that one power, preserve at least some of the flavor of the ability, and still make death final and permanent. And epic levels is pretty much the perfect time for characters to get their "final speech" before perishing.