Please critiqe my house rules.

[Plane Sailing]

And I think I need to explain that it still works like the favored enemy ability---at 5th level will be +4, +2. At 10th will be +6, +4, +2.

I think you are reading the book favoured enemy wrong - it doesn't scale up like 3.0 - at each 5 levels you get a new one at +2 and an additional +2 to add anywhere you like - so 10th level could be +6 +2 +2 or +2 +4 +4 etc.

Cheers

 

[Drakon66]

Over all your HR's aren't game killers, BUT the battle grid being 5' even on diaginals will get nasty. A smart PC will use the angles on 'Area of Effect' attack to GREAT advantage. Ranged weapons will be more powerful as will the AoE weapons. You might want to re-think this one or use a hex grid instead of squares.

Just my 2 coppers worth

Jeff

 

[Anabstercorian]

The Battle Grid
All squares on the battle map are 5', even diagonals. No need to worry with counting 5', 10', 5' through the diagonals. Area effect spells are square on a square grid.

NO! No, my MIND!

I can't - please - ARGH!

This makes no sense topologically at ALL! Oh, jesus, god, just thinking about the mathematical implications of this give me seizures. pi = 3.14159..., not 4!!!

 

[Quasqueton]

Interesting.

Like I said earlier, in 24 years of playing with a battle grid, I've never encountered a problem. Been playing D&D3 and 3.5, and haven't seen a problem or complaint.

I *have* seen problems with using the 5/10/5 rule. Mostly complications and mistakes in figuring movement and area of effects. Invariably, someone forgets whether the next square is 10 or 5 feet (when not moved in a straight diagonal line), and when we try to figure the shape of an area (often it doesn't turn out simetrical).

I'm really surprised that y'all think it so troublesome. Of all my house rules, I figured that one would be the least problematic or noteworthy. <shrug>

Quasqueton

 

[JimAde]

Interesting.

Like I said earlier, in 24 years of playing with a battle grid, I've never encountered a problem. Been playing D&D3 and 3.5, and haven't seen a problem or complaint.

I *have* seen problems with using the 5/10/5 rule. Mostly complications and mistakes in figuring movement and area of effects. Invariably, someone forgets whether the next square is 10 or 5 feet (when not moved in a straight diagonal line), and when we try to figure the shape of an area (often it doesn't turn out simetrical).

I'm really surprised that y'all think it so troublesome. Of all my house rules, I figured that one would be the least problematic or noteworthy. <shrug>

Quasqueton

If I were a rogue in your game, I would use this to flank like crazy. You can get to somebody's far side with no AoO using the same amount of movement as going straight through them.

Plus it just hurts my skull.

Your other rules seem fine to me, though. I like the "chain shirt equivalent" thing. That would make the dwarf tank in my group very happy.

 

[Aaron2]

Note I said, "chain shirt-equivalent."

OK, nevermind then.

I have pretty extensive partial armor and reinforced armor rules. (full-plate -> field plate -> half plate -> breastplate -> padding. platemail->full mail->mail hauberk->padding, etc). One thing to keep in mind is that you have to decide if, and if so how much, of an armor's magic AC bonus will apply if you aren't wearing the full set. Forex, I stop the magic bonus at the breastplate so the padding isn't magical even if the armor is.

There was a thread a few months back about this topic.


Aaron

 

[Li Shenron]

I don't understand this.

Me neither...

I meant to ask if the fact that areas are always squares actually implies that casting of a spell depends on how the grid is placed on the map. While in closed locales it's usually normal to place the grid parallel to the walls, for the characters there is no grid really, so I wanted to ask how your HR affects this: having square areas instead of (roughly) circular areas means orientation of the area is quite clunky...

 

[Treebore]

I think it looks good. I use a fair number of them myself, well, 5 of them. Bottom line is if you are happy as the DM. If so, and the players are also happy, they are fine.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Just a clarification - when you say battlegrid do you mean the kind of board where it is all squares but the alternate rows are offset by half a squares width from one another?

I'll try to draw it

 ---------
|   |   |   |
 -----------
  |   |   |   |
 -----------
|   |   |   |
 ----------

Effectively it is a way of using "virtual hexes" - but much easier to draw and works a little more nicely with buildings.

Cheers

 

[Quasqueton]

I meant to ask if the fact that areas are always squares actually implies that casting of a spell depends on how the grid is placed on the map. While in closed locales it's usually normal to place the grid parallel to the walls, for the characters there is no grid really, so I wanted to ask how your HR affects this: having square areas instead of (roughly) circular areas means orientation of the area is quite clunky...

No, we don't enforce a "snap to grid". When using a cone effect at an angle, we just use estimation. Never had a situation where the absolute exactness was necessary.

If I were a rogue in your game, I would use this to flank like crazy. You can get to somebody's far side with no AoO using the same amount of movement as going straight through them.

Has never happened yet. I guess if all or most of our combats happened in an open flat field, then such a situation would show up. But so far, even those battles that *have* taken place in an open flat field didn't have people "sliding" around the opposition by using diagonals. Just doesn't happen in real play.

In theory, I'm fine with using the 5/10/5 rule on a square grid. But in practice, it has caused more delay and confusion as DM and Players try to figure out movement and radius.

In theory, "all squares are 5" sounds wonky and exploitable. But in practice, it has never caused any trouble.

<shrug>

Just a clarification - when you say battlegrid do you mean the kind of board where it is all squares but the alternate rows are offset by half a squares width from one another?

No. Just a regular square battle grid.

Quasqueton