ArmoredSaint77
Explorer
Like another recent poster here, I like the feel of good old 1st edition AD&D, but I also like some of the design features that 5th edition brought. Additionally, like my games to have a much more "Low Fantasy" feel to them, instead of the "TippyVerse" assumptions that out-of-the-box 5th edition seems to have. The rules seem to reflect the designers evident favor of spellcasters over warriors, and I seek to correct that to a degree. I also enjoy medieval reenactment, and prefer a bit more accurate detail in certain aspects, so the following reflects that personal taste of mine as well.
Anyway, I thought I'd present my personal set of homebrew mods here in a separate thread in order to avoid clogging up that other thread with this huge post. I'm interested in hearing feedback. Here goes:
Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition House Rules for Low-Fantasy Medieval European-flavored Campaigns.
1. Ability scores are generated thus--you start with the following list of scores, which you may arrange in any order you desire: 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8. Alternately, you may use the following point-buy option: all scores start at 9. You have 7 points that you may distribute in whatever fashion you like, and you may select one score to lower to 8 in order to gain 1 additional point. If you want a character who is a savant in a particular attribute, you’ll have to settle for reduced effectiveness in other areas; over-specialization should have consequences.
2. The races permitted are as follows: Humans, which should be the most common by far. Optionally, the standard PHB Human might represent a rural/villager Human, and the “Variant Human” an urban Human, reflecting greater opportunity for personal development in the Big City, but a generally unhealthier lifestyle, and thus lower ability scores. Dwarves may be Hill Dwarves only. Once upon a time in the distant past of the world there were mighty civilizations of Mountain Dwarves, but their like is not in the world today; Hill Dwarves represent a debased and vestigial survival of this once-great people. Elves may only be Wood Elves. As with Dwarves, once there were great realms of High Elves, but the race has fallen from that exalted state, and persist only in small clusters of woodland tribes. Halflings are Lightfoots. Stout Halflings are to modern Halflings as Neanderthals are to Humans—an extinct, more robust, and imperfect version. All races receive their customary attribute bonuses and features. Optionally, very powerful NPCs may be of Mountain Dwarf or High Elf stock, and may have access to the Artificer class (if Dwarf) or the Eldritch Knight Fighter subclass (if Elf, representing a “Bladesinger” and reflecting a nod to old BECMI tradition).
3. Classes available: Cleric, which may only be of the Life domain, and further have the change of being limited to medium armour; if they want heavy armour, they must take the Feat. Fighter, which may only follow the Battlemaster archetype; the bonus for Archery Fighting Style is decreased to +1, and the Ability Score Increase at 6th level is replaced by a mandatory Feat selection. Rogue, which may only be Thieves. They are now granted proficiency with bucklers and with chain shirts. Wizard, which may select any Arcane Tradition in the Player’s Handbook, but are subject to spell limitations detailed later.
4. Levels: Level 6 is the absolute maximum level attainable in any class. Even the greatest hero you’ve ever heard of was no higher than level 6. Most of Creation never advances past level 1, so be content, you greedy min-maxer.
Multiclassing should generally not be permitted.
5. Hit points: You do NOT begin level 1 with maximum possible hit points. Instead, you must either roll for your starting hit points, or you may opt to begin with the “average” roll as listed in parentheses in each class entry. You may add your Constitution modifier. Upon attaining each level after the first, you must roll for your additional hit points and must abide by the roll; you may not opt for the average. Fighters, however, are granted Advantage on this roll. Again, Constitution modifiers are added to hit points gained at each level. If you are reduced to 0 hit points, you immediately fall unconscious. Each round thereafter, you bleed for the loss of an additional hit point. You die automatically at -10 HP, modified by your Constitution modifier, e.g. someone with 14 Constitution dies at -12 HP, and someone with an 8 at -9, etc.
6. Spells: All cantrips that deal damage are reduced to doing a single point of damage. All spells have a casting time equal to 1 action plus the level of the spell. Yes, that means that only cantrips may take effect on the turn on which they are cast. Yes, this “nerfs” spellcasters somewhat; you already get to alter reality to suit your whims, so stop being selfish. The following spells are removed from the game in order to maintain proper balance: Heat Metal, Hold Person, Meld into Stone, Spirit Guardian, Charm Person, Witch Bolt, Enlarge/Reduce, Invisibility, Shatter. Somewhere in the world, scrolls or magic items may exist that produce these effects, but they are generally not available to PCs.
7. All coinage is shifted to reflect an economy based around silver coins being most common, with gold being a rarity. Prices given in the Player’s Handbook in Gold Pieces are now in silver Shillings; prices that were formerly in Silver Pieces are now copper Pence, and prices in Copper are now in Farthings. Taking the place of Platinum Pieces are now gold Crowns. Characters begin at level 1 with 3d6x10 Shillings to purchase starting equipment. If desired, add or subtract 1d6 to reflect greater or lesser social status within the presumed roughly medieval-esque society.
8. The following Armour Types DO NOT EXIST and are removed from the game entirely: Leather, Hide, Ring Mail. Padded is renamed “Padded Jack.” Studded leather is renamed “Reinforced Padded Jack,” and consists of a Padded Jack, plus a light helmet and one or two additional pieces, such as a mail coif or mantle, jack chains, and/or gauntlets. The Chain Shirt remains unchanged. Scale is renamed “Brigandine,” and consists of a brigandine jacket, plus maybe two or three of the following: a light helmet, light arm defenses, gauntlets, and maybe supplementary pieces like a mail standard, sleeves, or a skirt. Breastplate is now called “Cuirass,” and is clarified to include a backplate, a light helmet and gauntlets if the player desires. Half Plate is clarified to consist of a cuirass and light helm, plus the same component options detailed above under Brigandine. Chain mail is clarified to consist of a long hauberk worn over a padded aketon, and with a coif and helmet, plus some sort of hand and shin protection. Splint is renamed “Reinforced mail,” and consists of the pieces under Chain Mail, but worn under a coat of plates or breastplate, plus a heavy helm, and splint or light plate defenses for the limbs. Plate armour remains unchanged. Costs, weights, and other statistics of all these renamed armours remain the same.
9. Consider using the “Weapon vs. Armour Type” modifiers table from either 1st or 2nd edition. The 2e one is simpler, being just a set of mods to damage types rather than a different set of numbers for each individual weapon. It really isn’t that much more bookkeeping, honestly, and once you’re in the habit of doing it before every attack, it becomes second nature.
10. Shields are broken into the following categories: buckler, which provides a +1 bonus to AC and weighs 2 pounds, small shield, which has the statistics for a shield given in the PHB, and large shield/pavise, which grants 3/4 cover, but imposes Disadvantage on all attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws if carried instead of planted in place.
11. All monsters’ Attack Bonuses are decreased by an amount equal to their inferred proficiency bonus. i.e. if the monster’s challenge rating is below 5, its Attack Bonus is reduced by 2, if its challenge rating is 5-6, it decreases by 3, and so on.
12. The following Feats are removed from the game: Crossbow Expert, Elemental Adept, Sentinel, Sharpshooter, Spell Sniper, War Caster.
13. Consider using the “Gritty Realism” rest rules in the DMG. Alternately, short rests are 4 hours long. Long rests are 24 hours long.
14. The rules otherwise remain unchanged from those presented in the Players’ Handbook. When questions arise, adhere to realism/verisimilitude.
15. The DM’s word is Absolute Law.
Anyway, I thought I'd present my personal set of homebrew mods here in a separate thread in order to avoid clogging up that other thread with this huge post. I'm interested in hearing feedback. Here goes:
Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition House Rules for Low-Fantasy Medieval European-flavored Campaigns.
1. Ability scores are generated thus--you start with the following list of scores, which you may arrange in any order you desire: 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8. Alternately, you may use the following point-buy option: all scores start at 9. You have 7 points that you may distribute in whatever fashion you like, and you may select one score to lower to 8 in order to gain 1 additional point. If you want a character who is a savant in a particular attribute, you’ll have to settle for reduced effectiveness in other areas; over-specialization should have consequences.
2. The races permitted are as follows: Humans, which should be the most common by far. Optionally, the standard PHB Human might represent a rural/villager Human, and the “Variant Human” an urban Human, reflecting greater opportunity for personal development in the Big City, but a generally unhealthier lifestyle, and thus lower ability scores. Dwarves may be Hill Dwarves only. Once upon a time in the distant past of the world there were mighty civilizations of Mountain Dwarves, but their like is not in the world today; Hill Dwarves represent a debased and vestigial survival of this once-great people. Elves may only be Wood Elves. As with Dwarves, once there were great realms of High Elves, but the race has fallen from that exalted state, and persist only in small clusters of woodland tribes. Halflings are Lightfoots. Stout Halflings are to modern Halflings as Neanderthals are to Humans—an extinct, more robust, and imperfect version. All races receive their customary attribute bonuses and features. Optionally, very powerful NPCs may be of Mountain Dwarf or High Elf stock, and may have access to the Artificer class (if Dwarf) or the Eldritch Knight Fighter subclass (if Elf, representing a “Bladesinger” and reflecting a nod to old BECMI tradition).
3. Classes available: Cleric, which may only be of the Life domain, and further have the change of being limited to medium armour; if they want heavy armour, they must take the Feat. Fighter, which may only follow the Battlemaster archetype; the bonus for Archery Fighting Style is decreased to +1, and the Ability Score Increase at 6th level is replaced by a mandatory Feat selection. Rogue, which may only be Thieves. They are now granted proficiency with bucklers and with chain shirts. Wizard, which may select any Arcane Tradition in the Player’s Handbook, but are subject to spell limitations detailed later.
4. Levels: Level 6 is the absolute maximum level attainable in any class. Even the greatest hero you’ve ever heard of was no higher than level 6. Most of Creation never advances past level 1, so be content, you greedy min-maxer.
Multiclassing should generally not be permitted.5. Hit points: You do NOT begin level 1 with maximum possible hit points. Instead, you must either roll for your starting hit points, or you may opt to begin with the “average” roll as listed in parentheses in each class entry. You may add your Constitution modifier. Upon attaining each level after the first, you must roll for your additional hit points and must abide by the roll; you may not opt for the average. Fighters, however, are granted Advantage on this roll. Again, Constitution modifiers are added to hit points gained at each level. If you are reduced to 0 hit points, you immediately fall unconscious. Each round thereafter, you bleed for the loss of an additional hit point. You die automatically at -10 HP, modified by your Constitution modifier, e.g. someone with 14 Constitution dies at -12 HP, and someone with an 8 at -9, etc.
6. Spells: All cantrips that deal damage are reduced to doing a single point of damage. All spells have a casting time equal to 1 action plus the level of the spell. Yes, that means that only cantrips may take effect on the turn on which they are cast. Yes, this “nerfs” spellcasters somewhat; you already get to alter reality to suit your whims, so stop being selfish. The following spells are removed from the game in order to maintain proper balance: Heat Metal, Hold Person, Meld into Stone, Spirit Guardian, Charm Person, Witch Bolt, Enlarge/Reduce, Invisibility, Shatter. Somewhere in the world, scrolls or magic items may exist that produce these effects, but they are generally not available to PCs.
7. All coinage is shifted to reflect an economy based around silver coins being most common, with gold being a rarity. Prices given in the Player’s Handbook in Gold Pieces are now in silver Shillings; prices that were formerly in Silver Pieces are now copper Pence, and prices in Copper are now in Farthings. Taking the place of Platinum Pieces are now gold Crowns. Characters begin at level 1 with 3d6x10 Shillings to purchase starting equipment. If desired, add or subtract 1d6 to reflect greater or lesser social status within the presumed roughly medieval-esque society.
8. The following Armour Types DO NOT EXIST and are removed from the game entirely: Leather, Hide, Ring Mail. Padded is renamed “Padded Jack.” Studded leather is renamed “Reinforced Padded Jack,” and consists of a Padded Jack, plus a light helmet and one or two additional pieces, such as a mail coif or mantle, jack chains, and/or gauntlets. The Chain Shirt remains unchanged. Scale is renamed “Brigandine,” and consists of a brigandine jacket, plus maybe two or three of the following: a light helmet, light arm defenses, gauntlets, and maybe supplementary pieces like a mail standard, sleeves, or a skirt. Breastplate is now called “Cuirass,” and is clarified to include a backplate, a light helmet and gauntlets if the player desires. Half Plate is clarified to consist of a cuirass and light helm, plus the same component options detailed above under Brigandine. Chain mail is clarified to consist of a long hauberk worn over a padded aketon, and with a coif and helmet, plus some sort of hand and shin protection. Splint is renamed “Reinforced mail,” and consists of the pieces under Chain Mail, but worn under a coat of plates or breastplate, plus a heavy helm, and splint or light plate defenses for the limbs. Plate armour remains unchanged. Costs, weights, and other statistics of all these renamed armours remain the same.
9. Consider using the “Weapon vs. Armour Type” modifiers table from either 1st or 2nd edition. The 2e one is simpler, being just a set of mods to damage types rather than a different set of numbers for each individual weapon. It really isn’t that much more bookkeeping, honestly, and once you’re in the habit of doing it before every attack, it becomes second nature.
10. Shields are broken into the following categories: buckler, which provides a +1 bonus to AC and weighs 2 pounds, small shield, which has the statistics for a shield given in the PHB, and large shield/pavise, which grants 3/4 cover, but imposes Disadvantage on all attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws if carried instead of planted in place.
11. All monsters’ Attack Bonuses are decreased by an amount equal to their inferred proficiency bonus. i.e. if the monster’s challenge rating is below 5, its Attack Bonus is reduced by 2, if its challenge rating is 5-6, it decreases by 3, and so on.
12. The following Feats are removed from the game: Crossbow Expert, Elemental Adept, Sentinel, Sharpshooter, Spell Sniper, War Caster.
13. Consider using the “Gritty Realism” rest rules in the DMG. Alternately, short rests are 4 hours long. Long rests are 24 hours long.
14. The rules otherwise remain unchanged from those presented in the Players’ Handbook. When questions arise, adhere to realism/verisimilitude.
15. The DM’s word is Absolute Law.
