If you could pick only three house rules for your game, what would they be?

[shock the monkey]

I'm trying to put together a minimalist set of houserules that will make for a user-friendly game, so I appeal to you, the gaming community for some help on this one. Any and all feedback is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[Kilmore]

1. There will be a discussion between the players and the DM when the game is over every evening. Any complaints, arguments or rules searches that would detract from the game will be done then. Until then the DM's ruling is final.

2. The gaming environment will be left in as good a condition as it was when the game started, if not better.

3. Anyone who turns on the TV will lose his hand.

 

[Ry]

I have to do this for my games; I just can't expect my players to know 3.5 _and_ house rules. So the only ones I've got are:

Skills
There are a total of 6 skills in the game that are different than in the core rulebooks. The skills system has been streamlined considerably. The new skills are Command (replaces Intimidate), Convince (replaces Bluff, Diplomacy), Devices (Replaces Disable Device and Open Lock), Intuition, Perception (replaces Spot and Listen), and Sneak (replaces Move Silently and Hide).

Magic
As in Arcana Unearthed, three spell slots of an equal level can be woven together to make a spell slot of one level higher. Also, a spell slot can be split into two spell slots of one level lower. Weaving spells together does not change the maximum allowed spell levels. Casters who use prepared spells must do this when their spells are prepared, obviously.

Besides that, it's just the details of character creation, and my little chart of what you can buy with experience when you hit the 6th-level cap. Fits on a page and a half, no fiddling.

Other rules I'd recommend would be the Defense Bonus chart from UA, that doesn't stack with armor.

 

[Herremann the Wise]

1. Hit Point Rolls.
You roll your HD, if you are unhappy with the result, roll the next die down, if you are unhappy with this, roll the next one down until you rolled a d4. What ever you roll on the d4 stays. You either accept a roll or roll the next one down if able. Nothing seems to annoy our group more than crappy HD rolls.

2. Multiclassing Rules
Changing character classes often requires training. The amount varies by class as below:

Change to: Time required:

Fighter 1 month (0 if character is a barbarian, ranger, paladin).
Barbarian 1 year, during which the player must abandon all trappings of civilisation (or 1 month if the character is a ranger or druid).
Ranger 3 months (0 if the character is a barbarian or druid)
Paladin 3 months (0 if the character is a cleric) ) – ex-paladins can return to paladinhood if their other class is a divine one (eg cleric, divine agent)
Monk 1 year

Wizard 2 years
Sorcerer Player must begin as a sorcerer – cannot become one later in career.

Rogue 1 month (0 if the character is a bard)
Bard 3 months (1 month if the character is a sorcerer or rogue)

Cleric 1 month (0 if the character is a paladin)
Druid 3 months (1 month if the character is a ranger or barbarian)

Prestige Class Special – dependant on class prerequisites.

3. Raise Dead, Resurrection and True Resurrection are removed from the Cleric's spell list. The ability to grant a soul passage back to the mortal realm is the province of the gods. Only a deity may do this. This requires the Miracle Spell - at a cost of 5000XP - as the casters prayer to their deity to directly intercede.
The Druid's Reincarnate stands. An anomaly but an interesting and flavourful one. A Wish or Miracle can change the character back to their former semblance as per book.


and 4.
Everything else is by the book.

Best Regards
Herremann the Wise

 

[Eremite]

1. Darkness spells create darkness not shadows.
2. A natural 1 is always a failure.
3. Always remember that it's only a game.

 

[Piratecat]

- The size of a cleric or druid's spell list is limited to that of the PHB. If a divine spellcaster wants to add spells from other sources he must give up core spells to accommodate them.

- Massive damage drops you to -9 hit points instead of instantly killing you. Massive damage thresholds scale with size (40 pts for small, 50 for med, 60 for large, etc.) (Note that the Toughness feat gives you 3 hit points, extends your dying range to -13 instead of –10, and increases your massive damage threshold by 10 - from 50 to 60 in most cases.)

- As a default we use the Unearthed Arcana metamagic feat variant, wherein a metamagic feat can be applied to a spell on the fly three times per day (with the standard spell level restriction in place.) This is true for sorcerers, too, who no longer cast as a full action when spontaneously applying metamagic. It’s fine if someone prefers to use the PHB method instead, so long as they are consistent; sorcerers doing so go back to full round casting. Meta-psionic feats work as per the XPH.

 

[Aeric]

Spell Points, Armor as Damage Reduction, and Active Defense (all from Unearthed Arcana).

 

[fanboy2000]

1. Contacts from UA
2. Reputation from UA
3. Hero points. (Not like action points.) In my game, I give out hero points for roleplaying very well. Also, I let my players nominate people they feel were good roleplayers or did something especially heroic. One hero point allows you to grossly violate the rules in some obscene fashion. Most players use them to get out of tight jams, including death. However, I've seem players use them to do cool acrobatics that feel cinematic.

Be very careful deciding whether to use hero points or not. They will change the feel of the game. I belive Monte has a few words about hero points in Arcana Unearthed, that say the same thing.

 

[Campbell]

• 
  While I'm somewhat of a rampant houseruler, my most indespensible house rules all come from published materials.
  
  • Upper Krust's CR/EL System: Although the effects of this system slide underneath the players' radar, it has proven invaluable for monster creation, and gauging encounters. While it still isn't perfect, the added precision it offers has made my job as a DM much easier. Soon to be published as an appendix in The Immortal's Handbook: Apotheosis. A slightly modified version of the system is used for Grim Tales.

• Spell Slot Item Creation from the Artificier's Handbook: It helps to codify a feature of the game which has been hard for me to adjudicate, and for that die_kluge deserves many thanks. Like UK's CR system it still isn't perfect, but it comes pretty close.

• Death and Dying from UA: This is simply a cleaner mechanic than the Core Rules provides.

 

[Breakstone]

1) Hero Points. They are rewarded for coming to session on time, bringing snacks or other neat items, and good roleplaying. They can be spent to do otherwise impossible actions in the game.

2) No Multiclass Restrictions. I just plum don't like 'em.

3) Last Comment: When the out-of-game chatter escalates, anyone can say "Last comment:" then say what they wanted to say. This IS the LAST COMMENT, and no other out-of-game chatter shall follow.