D&D 5E House Rules

[jmartkdr2]

I don't use many personally - the most dramatic is a vague "all list of player options are just the beginning - feel free to ask for stuff not on that."

But when joining a game, one thing I do like to see is a list of houserules. Not because I think the game needs many, but I do like to know that the dm knows which rules they are using.

 

[Ristamar]

House rules are good, because it shows that the DM is both invested in their campaign, and capable of critical analysis.

 

[Dausuul]

I typically apply a couple of "in play" house rules (a simplified form of initiative, short rests take 5 minutes but capped at 2/day), a curated list of race options, and then ban a handful of spells.

In principle, I reserve the right to nerf character options (feats, subclasses, etc.) if they turn out to be overpowered or problematic in play. In practice, I pretty much never have to do this in 5E. If I did do it, I would discuss it with the player, try to find a solution that addresses my concerns while allowing them to keep what they like about the option, and also give them a no-questions-asked opportunity to swap that option for another.

 

[Helldritch]

Very few house rules. No need to go overboard.

 

[Flamestrike]

I've never played in or ran a game without some.

Either house rules or rulings.

Theyre part and parcel of RPGs for mine.

 

[aco175]

5e came out and we wanted to play the first campaign by the rules, but we did not read them that closely and several things from 4e came through. I also modify monsters and such. I do not modify things as much as I did in older editions.

 

[Raith5]

I have never used house rules in 5e in the games I play.

But I dont hate house rules per se. If I were to DM I would probably try add a few bonus feats to try to customize/individualize PCs a bit more (ie a bonus feat at 1st level and racial feat at 5th) and probably shorten a short rest to 20 minutes.

 

[Maxperson]

I am a Forever DM of 30+ years, and I am curious as to how people feel about House Rules, such as changes to healing, resting, race and class choices, nerfs of spells or powers, use of other supplements both "official" and 3rd party, and anything else. Do you avoid these games? Not worry about it? If you do not like House Rules, is it because are you an optimizer (no hate, nothing wrong with this) and it messes with builds? And so on . . . .

Thanks for replies!

I use a bunch of house rules in each edition. Generally there are some things that I don't like that need changing, and then there are the things that come up during game play that cause us to scratch our heads and prompts an on the spot change.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

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.

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.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

I am a Forever DM of 30+ years, and I am curious as to how people feel about House Rules, such as changes to healing, resting, race and class choices, nerfs of spells or powers, use of other supplements both "official" and 3rd party, and anything else. Do you avoid these games? Not worry about it? If you do not like House Rules, is it because are you an optimizer (no hate, nothing wrong with this) and it messes with builds? And so on . . . .

Thanks for replies!

I have quite a few house rules, but it isn't really that crazy of an amount of them. Here's what I do:

Spoiler: Some of my house rules. . .

Everyone gets a feat at level one that is dependent on their class, race, or background. Variant Humans and Tasha's Custom Lineage characters still get a feat, but this one isn't restricted like other races are.

No races get their normal ASIs, instead they get one dependent on their race/subrace, one dependent on their class, and one dependent on their background.

If a creature stands up from being prone, each creature within reach gets an opportunity attack.

All sorcerer subclasses get a subclass-specific spell list, like the ones in Tasha's.

Drinking potions is a bonus action, unless you're giving it to an unconscious ally.

Sorcerers regain half their sorcery points on a short rest, once a long rest. They also know an amount of metamagic equal to their proficiency bonus.

Beastmaster and Hunter rangers get always-known spell lists, like all other ranger subclasses.

Athletics is split into two different skills, Muscle and Mobility. Muscle is for lifting/pushing/moving heavy things, while Mobility (which is Strength based, but can commonly use Dexterity) is for running/swimming/climbing. I also have two different Constitution based skills, Concentration (which is self-explanatory) and Endurance (which allows characters to swim/run long distances, hold heavy objects for a long time, and so on).

All wizards can use their spellbook as a spellcasting focus.

Alchemist Artificers get an amount of free experimental elixirs each long rest equal to their proficiency bonus.