D&D 5E Tentative Homebrewing

the Jester

Legend
Is anyone else considering doing some first draft homebrewing before even having the books in hand?

I've been considering converting some of my old feat chains from 3e into 5e feats. Also some of my old prestige classes and paragon paths. I know that I can't do final versions yet- not until I see the ones in the PH- but damn, I want to get started on some drafts.

I cannot wait to get my PH!
 

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I'm going to wait for the DMG to do my homebrew campaign. Most of what I'm homebrewing is spells, spellcasting, healing, and monsters, and I think the DMG will have guidelines for customizing all of those. In the meantime, Tyranny of Dragons seems like a good way to get a feel for 5e-as-written.

...that said, I have a gigantic Evernote file where I'm putting all my ideas. >:)
 

Do you mean houseruling in general or more specifically creating new character options?

If the former, yes. I'm already kicking around stuff like the following:

1) Initiative rolled every round. Actions declared prior to initiative. Movement is fluid throughout the round and doesn't go on initiative. Only actions occur on initiative. It makes combat both more chaotic and fluid, in my humble opinion.

2) Alternate skill check. Roll under your stat on 3d6. I like the bell curve this gives and it gives each point in a stat more meaning. Haven't fleshed out the details yet but I'll probably only have hard, average, and easy checks.

3) Henchmen and hireling rules. Gives the charisma stat a boost.

I'm sure there are others, but that's a few off the top of my head.

As far as the latter (creating new character options), I'm kicking around an alternate thief class, more in line with the old school thief (yeah, I know... they were suboptimal in combat. I don't care. I loved playing them that way). Take away sneak attack but re-implement backstab using a multiplier of damage but only on surprise. I'll still keep the rogue for people who want to play that way.

I love 5e because it seems flexible enough for me to do stuff like this.
 

Do you mean houseruling in general or more specifically creating new character options?

If the former, yes. I'm already kicking around stuff like the following:

1) Initiative rolled every round. Actions declared prior to initiative. Movement is fluid throughout the round and doesn't go on initiative. Only actions occur on initiative. It makes combat both more chaotic and fluid, in my humble opinion.

2) Alternate skill check. Roll under your stat on 3d6. I like the bell curve this gives and it gives each point in a stat more meaning. Haven't fleshed out the details yet but I'll probably only have hard, average, and easy checks.

3) Henchmen and hireling rules. Gives the charisma stat a boost.

I'm sure there are others, but that's a few off the top of my head.

As far as the latter (creating new character options), I'm kicking around an alternate thief class, more in line with the old school thief (yeah, I know... they were suboptimal in combat. I don't care. I loved playing them that way). Take away sneak attack but re-implement backstab using a multiplier of damage but only on surprise. I'll still keep the rogue for people who want to play that way.

I love 5e because it seems flexible enough for me to do stuff like this.

Oh, i like that initiative idea, declare first and then roll. It would encompass the chaos of combat very well. For better or worse! I really look forward to seeing how other people house rule 5e so i can steal the good bits :)
 

In general, I'll try the systems unmolested before seeing they need a tweak. I run a 3 to 4 months campaign with the unchanged rules and then work new stuff into it. However, I'd be fine:

* Adding a new die rolling option for ability scores.
* Making up additional backgrounds.
* Making new items and monsters.
 

That initiative rule sounds like it would slow the game to a crawl even with just a few people unless you had people who knew exactly what they were going to do every single round. (It's never happened to me but maybe your players are better than mine)
 



I saw draft and homebrew in the OP... but where's the beer?

If you wanna be that way about it, my birthday is on the 2nd of August and we're in NorCal. We'll be having the dayside part of the party at Whiskeytown Lake, and you'd be welcome to come up and join us, but be warned that we might be considered kind of crazy. ;)
 

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