D&D 5E House Rules

[Laurefindel]

I think D&D 5e is an excellent generic engine, capable of supporting many styles, (sub)genres, themes, and "game etiquette". That said, no single game is completely generic in styles, (sub)genres, themes, and "game etiquette", and that's where houserules work best IMO: give that particular game mechanical support to achieve the desired ambiance.

Looking at the answers posted above, it is relatively easy to deduce what the DM is going for with those houserules, from mechanical balance to campaign/setting style.

My first 5e game used the slow healing variant, my second a more "robust" exploration add-on and more severe penalties for going down to 0hp (and avoid an anti-dramatic yoyo effect). My current game (set in Eberron), on the contrary, fully embraces the pulp-action defeat (0hp), followed by a scene where the hero is (seemingly) fresh in an almost cartoonish way.

Spoiler: Pulpy Defeat Houserule

When at 0 hp, PC is incapacitated. At the beginning of turn, PC rolls special Death Save:

• nat 20: PC gains 1 hp
• 15-19: PC gains 1 hp and 1 exhaustion level
• 6-14: PC gains 1 exhaustion level and is unconscious in stable condition
• 2-5: PC gains 1 exhaustion level and rolls again next round.
• nat 1: PC gains 2 exhaustion levels and rolls again next round.

All exhaustion levels disappear when PC is brought back to full hp.

 

[Oofta]

I think D&D 5e is an excellent generic engine, capable of supporting many styles, (sub)genres, themes, and "game etiquette". That said, no single game is completely generic in styles, (sub)genres, themes, and "game etiquette", and that's where houserules work best IMO: give that particular game mechanical support to achieve the desired ambiance.

Looking at the answers posted above, it is relatively easy to deduce what the DM is going for with those houserules, from mechanical balance to campaign/setting style.

My first 5e game used the slow healing variant, my second a more "robust" exploration add-on and more severe penalties for going down to 0hp (and avoid an anti-dramatic yoyo effect). My current game (set in Eberron), on the contrary, fully embraces the pulp-action defeat (0hp), followed by a scene where the hero is (seemingly) fresh in an almost cartoonish way.

Spoiler: Pulpy Defeat Houserule

When at 0 hp, PC is incapacitated. At the beginning of turn, PC rolls special Death Save:

• nat 20: PC gains 1 hp
• 15-19: PC gains 1 hp and 1 exhaustion level
• 6-14: PC gains 1 exhaustion level and is unconscious in stable condition
• 2-5: PC gains 1 exhaustion level and rolls again next round.
• nat 1: PC gains 2 exhaustion levels and rolls again next round.

All exhaustion levels disappear when PC is brought back to full hp.

I agree.

One of my house rules is drinking a potion is a bonus action. Is it realistic? Probably not. I mean I don't think of a round as being exactly 6 seconds every time just that it will average out to about 6 seconds most of the time so it's handy for duration occasionally.

On the other hand, I like having fast-moving free flow combats and the cleric shouldn't be forced to spend all their time healing. I even let them buy potions that are maximized because they've proven themselves to the temple and what they're doing is important. I still manage to drop a PC or 2 down to 0 HP in a significant number of combats.

So action takes precedence over "realism" and action economy. I don't want people getting bogged down in too many details.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

House rules are good, because it shows that the DM is both invested in their campaign, and capable of critical analysis. I won't even look at a 5E campaign unless the DM has a good answer for how they are going to fix the healing rules.

That’s a hell of a stretch.

I’m man enough to admit that the best DM in my group isn’t me. It’s the guy who took 3 years to accept any house rules at all, and still only uses about 3.

 

[Charlaquin]

I have a lot of house rules, but with each of them I try to be very intentional and focused. I try to change the base rules of the game as little as possible - I haven’t altered the functions of the ability scores for example, or charged the proficiency bonus progression, or whatever. I want to preserve the base 5e player experience as closely as possible. I will change some player-facing options - for example, my weapon and armor tables look different than the ones in the PHB. I’ve made some more extensive changes to races, so as to separate biology from culture, but I also try as much as possible to preserve the ability to reproduce the base options - while my system allows more flexibility in race/culture options, it is still entirely possible to make a standard PHB dwarf with that system, for example. Where I am most cavalier with house rules though is on the DM side. I basically only use custom monsters at this point, for example, and I have a different system for building encounters than the MM and DMG describe. I hand out XP awards differently. I have my own system for determining random encounters. That kind of thing.

 

[DND_Reborn]

One of my house rules is drinking a potion is a bonus action. Is it realistic? Probably not. I mean I don't think of a round as being exactly 6 seconds every time just that it will average out to about 6 seconds most of the time so it's handy for duration occasionally.

In the light of not thinking of a round as always 6 seconds, using a bonus action for a potion would probably work fine--it won't hurt certainly.

Personally, I like a more concrete flow, but if it works for your game that's cool.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I used to allow a bonus feat at 1st, but with Custom lineage and Variant Human in play, I see no need anymore.

Wait, why does that change the value of a bonus feat?

For my group, the bonus feat is still in play even if you take VHuman, because playing a Dwarf is more fun for us if they can take a feat.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

Yeah, no. Being invested in the system and being invested in the campaign are two different things. I know DMs who are super invested in their campaigns, but don't care at all for playing with house rules.

I question the judgment of anyone who claim to be very invested in the campaign they're running, but inexplicably chooses a broken system to run that campaign.

 

[Laurefindel]

In the light of not thinking of a round as always 6 seconds, using a bonus action for a potion would probably work fine--it won't hurt certainly.

Personally, I like a more concrete flow, but if it works for your game that's cool.

I like to see combat as a fluid, almost quantic entity, whereas characters actions are like pictures or stills of a moment in time. We play turn based as a convenience to simulate a scene that is otherwise seemelessly fluid.

drinking potions as a bonus action isn’t realistic if you see this as a third or a quarter of a round, but for all we know the character has been working on that for the last 10 seconds in its own universe. It’s just that it « costs » a bonus action to bring the camera is on the PC as they are drinking their potion.

 

[DND_Reborn]

I like to see combat as a fluid, almost quantic entity, whereas characters actions are like pictures or stills of a moment in time. We play turn based as a convenience to simulate a scene that is otherwise seemelessly fluid.

drinking potions as a bonus action isn’t realistic if you see this as a third or a quarter of a round, but for all we know the character has been working on that for the last 10 seconds in its own universe. It’s just that it « costs » a bonus action to bring the camera is on the PC as they are drinking their potion.

That's a decent view as well, my only issue is for most builds, you aren't likely doing anything with your bonus action anyway, so there really wouldn't be much of a "cost" associated with it IMO, but YMMV.

 

[iserith]

I create house rules or use optional or variant rules according to the theme and setting of the campaign that I'm presenting. Before an adventure or campaign, I ruthlessly interrogate the purpose of the rules and, if a rule doesn't support the theme or setting, it gets changed or discarded. Rarely will the same sets of house, optional, or variant rules be used from campaign to campaign.