Ryujin
Legend
Hadn't considered that might have been the case. I've actually gone the other way since, if I gave my players an action point per encounter completed, they would be walking through stuff even easier than they do.
D&D 4E My 4e House Rules - Yours?
- Thread starter AntiStateQuixote
- Start date
Hadn't considered that might have been the case. I've actually gone the other way since, if I gave my players an action point per encounter completed, they would be walking through stuff even easier than they do.
Pour
First Post
I have a few, but one that popped up only last session with a new player is the idea a natural 20 and a natural 1 are never wasted. As one player put it, "This DM will let you crit tying your shoes". It's true, if you roll a 20, something above and beyond is going to happen, and if you roll a 1, something not so good is going to happen (or, sometimes, something humorous).
I have to say, there's been a few times someone rolled a 20 and did something so outstandingly it ended up a detriment to the party: for instance, when our psion issued so compelling a challenge to a dungeon's aberrant lord she not only drew him, but EVERY last monster the dungeon had to offer. That was intense hehe, but memorable, and they did actually survive.
If a PC rolls a 20 during initiative, he or she immediately goes to the top of the order, and a 1 sends them immediately to the bottom. Crit successes and fails are fair game with skills, as well, and have really helped in skill challenge type scenarios (I don't run skill challenges straight out of the book, but I do utilize successive rolls, say, 3 Diplomacy checks the first needing to be above 15, the second 20, and the third 25 type thing).
I have to say, there's been a few times someone rolled a 20 and did something so outstandingly it ended up a detriment to the party: for instance, when our psion issued so compelling a challenge to a dungeon's aberrant lord she not only drew him, but EVERY last monster the dungeon had to offer. That was intense hehe, but memorable, and they did actually survive.
If a PC rolls a 20 during initiative, he or she immediately goes to the top of the order, and a 1 sends them immediately to the bottom. Crit successes and fails are fair game with skills, as well, and have really helped in skill challenge type scenarios (I don't run skill challenges straight out of the book, but I do utilize successive rolls, say, 3 Diplomacy checks the first needing to be above 15, the second 20, and the third 25 type thing).
Ryujin
Legend
The original poster was asking what house rules you might use; rules that are outside of the actual ones contained in 4e.
Ferghis
First Post
These two, along with something to make sure every class has a decent basic attack, are core house rules for me.
I would even give away other must-haves for free at some point: feats that increase striker damage, hybrid talent feats, and so on.
Also, I would give ritual caster to every non-martial class for free, and martial powers to every martial class (hybrids and multiclass pick one). This opens up non-combat prowess for everyone. Funds and campaign pace should be the limitation for these abilities, not a feat. I would be happy with occasional limitations, too: "For this ritual, you need alabaster root, which only grows in the belly of Behemoths," or "This particular orc camp is too well positioned for you to scout without risk."
I agree with the spirit of letting players use some rituals for free, but there are feats and items that allow that now, so I don't particularly feel the need for that houserule.
I too would simplify action points. I have a house rule that does this, simplifies xp, and encourages characters to take fewer extended rests.
- Except the first encounter after an extended rest, every encounter yields a milestone.
- Characters gain a level after a secretly determined number of milestones.
One game I play in has an interesting house rule: saves that are not the normal, end-of-turn save can get rid of until end/beginning of next turn effects. This applies to both players and monsters, so it cuts both ways. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out at epic level.
Ferghis
First Post
I've never played with this one, but I'd like to see it used: instead of monster attack rolls, make players roll defensive rolls. I see the attention of many players wander when it isn't their character's turn, and I wonder if this would fix that.
For those who can't extrapolate what this might be, it consists of the following:
For those who can't extrapolate what this might be, it consists of the following:
- PC defenses don't receive the 10 base, and are just bonuses added to a d20. So a character that normally has AC 22, would instead have AC +12, meaning that if the had to make an AC defense roll, they would roll a d20 and add 12.
- Monsters and other threats don't roll attack rolls. When these attack, players make a defensive roll against a DC equal to the attack bonus plus 10. For example, if the a monster had a +13 attack against AC, the player would make an AC defense roll against DC 23.
- A defense roll of 20 on the die is always successful, and if a defense roll of 1 on the die would normally just fail, the PC takes maximum damage.
The Human Target
Adventurer
I've never used anything like that in 4e, but I did in 3e.
It results in the players getting to roll more dice, which is always good. And it does force them to be a bit more engaged.
The drawbacks for us though were that I as the DM missed getting to roll attacks and the players kind of missed the anticipation of watching me roll (its like spinning the barrel in a game of Russian Roulette.)
I use 4e versions of these: http://esix.pbworks.com/f/RaisingtheStakes.pdf . For the "death flag" rule I use a lesser version; dead is still "dead" but guaranteed to not be permanent unless the "death flag" was raised, and raising it simply grants one "use anytime" action point.
I also use the Dark Sun inherent bonus rule, weapon breakage, free expertise/melee training, offer better multiclass powerswap feats, etc... I make defiling available to divine implement-users as well, and also allow for implement breakage, and if the caster is not wielding an actual implement, the PC can take damage instead.
If anyone ever wanted to play an OAssassin, I'd give a bunch of freebies (bigger shroud damage, free Hidden Insight and Assassin's Cloak). If someone were to play a psionic power point user, I'd also probably implement some kind of scaling augmentation cost to avoid issues at Epic, but it hasn't come up yet so I haven't worked out the details.
I also use the Dark Sun inherent bonus rule, weapon breakage, free expertise/melee training, offer better multiclass powerswap feats, etc... I make defiling available to divine implement-users as well, and also allow for implement breakage, and if the caster is not wielding an actual implement, the PC can take damage instead.
If anyone ever wanted to play an OAssassin, I'd give a bunch of freebies (bigger shroud damage, free Hidden Insight and Assassin's Cloak). If someone were to play a psionic power point user, I'd also probably implement some kind of scaling augmentation cost to avoid issues at Epic, but it hasn't come up yet so I haven't worked out the details.
Rune
Once A Fool
I prefer that characters' stats don't all look the same, so I use rolled stats as the default in the games I run.
In order for that to work out in 4e, though (with so many riders being dependent on hitting enemies), all characters have a flat +4 +1/tier (probably--haven't tried this at higher tiers) +non-ability-score-derived bonuses to hit. With any attack.
This puts all characters on an even footing and allows players to put their highest score in an ability that is not standard for that class without gimping the character too much. It also negates the need for granting melee training as a free feat.
This change does not affect damage in any way, but, in my experience, a point of extra damage is worth far less than a point to hit with in this edition!
In order for that to work out in 4e, though (with so many riders being dependent on hitting enemies), all characters have a flat +4 +1/tier (probably--haven't tried this at higher tiers) +non-ability-score-derived bonuses to hit. With any attack.
This puts all characters on an even footing and allows players to put their highest score in an ability that is not standard for that class without gimping the character too much. It also negates the need for granting melee training as a free feat.
This change does not affect damage in any way, but, in my experience, a point of extra damage is worth far less than a point to hit with in this edition!
Zaran
Adventurer
Lets see:
I allow my players to spend an AP to reroll a failed d20 whether it's a skill or attack roll. Their Paragon Path AP feature also fires off when this happens. This is so they have a second chance to use encounters and dailies that have mediocre or no Miss effects.
I give Power Swap feats for free as long as they have the MC feat starter feat and the level requirement. I see no reason at all why they have to spend a feat to lose a power and gain another.
I rewrite MANY magic items so that they are actually cool. A good example:
Safewing Amulet: Property: The wearer never takes falling damage.
Mages can use Tomes without a feat.
Players can find rituals like Create Flametongue . Plus unless they are creating items or the ritual has a specific spell component I let them cast rituals for free (Besides the Time spent). Create Magic Item rituals take as long as I say. Not 1 hour. Yes, I had to offically post this as a House Rule.
Linguists (those with the feat) get a +2 to Charisma skill checks when speaking in the native language of the target.
Pixies can fly without an altitude limit.
PCs can use any skill in a skill challenge as long as they can come up with a feasible use for the skill. They cannot use the same skill twice in a roll. (Rodrigo Skill Challenge rules)
I allow my players to spend an AP to reroll a failed d20 whether it's a skill or attack roll. Their Paragon Path AP feature also fires off when this happens. This is so they have a second chance to use encounters and dailies that have mediocre or no Miss effects.
I give Power Swap feats for free as long as they have the MC feat starter feat and the level requirement. I see no reason at all why they have to spend a feat to lose a power and gain another.
I rewrite MANY magic items so that they are actually cool. A good example:
Safewing Amulet: Property: The wearer never takes falling damage.
Mages can use Tomes without a feat.
Players can find rituals like Create Flametongue . Plus unless they are creating items or the ritual has a specific spell component I let them cast rituals for free (Besides the Time spent). Create Magic Item rituals take as long as I say. Not 1 hour. Yes, I had to offically post this as a House Rule.
Linguists (those with the feat) get a +2 to Charisma skill checks when speaking in the native language of the target.
Pixies can fly without an altitude limit.
PCs can use any skill in a skill challenge as long as they can come up with a feasible use for the skill. They cannot use the same skill twice in a roll. (Rodrigo Skill Challenge rules)
