D&D 5E Weirdest House Rules You've Encountered in the Wild

[Bacon Bits]

Pretty much how 1e worked

Yeah, and you had to roll the d% chance to learn a spell from a book or scroll based on your Int. If you failed, you had to gain a level to try again.

I remember some DMs having the magic-user roll the d% for each spell on the list when they gained a level. That way you had a list of spells possible in the book, a list of spells that your character could learn, and then the list of spells that you actually had in your spellbook.

It sounds like a waste of time, but the DM did it just so they knew what spells would be immediately useful and those that the character had to wait for.

 

[Jediking]

Cover rules: no penalty on ranged attacks shooting into melee, no bonus for taking covers, no +Dex saves...

and of course everyone complained about static combats and no movement....

 

[LordEntrails]

Weapons being like Cold Iron,

Maybe someone misread it as "Coal Iron"?

 

[Musing Mage]

Yeah, and you had to roll the d% chance to learn a spell from a book or scroll based on your Int. If you failed, you had to gain a level to try again.

I remember some DMs having the magic-user roll the d% for each spell on the list when they gained a level. That way you had a list of spells possible in the book, a list of spells that your character could learn, and then the list of spells that you actually had in your spellbook.

You actually have to wait until your Intelligence score changed, not when you gain a level, so rerolling for spells you fail to learn is far less common. (BTB at least)

As for the 2nd paragraph, that's what the minimum and maximum spells known # with INT is for - you make the list of spells you already know (this includes the 4 starting spells in your book), rolling until you achieve that minimum, but if you want to keep going and max out your spells known then that's up to the player. (Most just take the minimum and see what comes in-game). Once you know your max, that's it, you're done unless your INT increases and your max # along with it.

 

[commandercrud]

My houserule on wizard spells is you don't get 2 new ones automatically on levelling. That's it. Most wizard PCs will have a mentor who will usually give them one, if they're in good standing, and that is mentor's choice (really I just roll randomly). Any others they must research themselves or find scrolls or copy from found spellbooks.

 

[JiffyPopTart]

A barbarian could instead of Rage, could go into other extreme emotionial states like Horror or Joy.
Just not Calm as it would turn you into a monk.

I actually think that would make for an interesting concept for a character class....the emotionalist.

I think id roll up X # of characters representing X # of emotional states and the character would morph between them as their state changed.

I like it!

 

[Nikosandros]

The first time I played AD&D 1e, the DM thought that the AC adjustment for weapons referred to the wielder's AC instead of that of the target, so that my ranger, with splint mail and shield, improved his AC by two when wielding a broad sword.

 

[Blue]

I'm not sure how weird it is, but restricting wizards to spells they find in-game rather than full automatic access to anything in the rulebooks is one I've seen used and often use myself.

That was the standard in some earlier editions of D&D. I remember playing a 6th level Wizard who still hadn't found a 3rd level spell. And there was no upcasting in those editions.

 

[Blue]

Played in an AD&D game with a lot of player where if a player didn't show their character got "Zombie Rot". This disease would rot them into an indestructible (and unlootable) zombie that would follow the party, and when the player returned it would go into remission. Just an in-game explanation of missing players, but so odd.

 

[MNblockhead]

I don't know if it qualifies as a houserule, but when I was in high school, some friends of mine believed that weapons made of charcoal were the only appropriate weapons for fighting demons.

I still don't know where that one came from...

AAAAAND we're off to a great start. I'm gonna like this thread!

As for the inspiration for that rule...were your friends anime fans? Seems to be a lot of charcoal-Demon connections in Japanese Anime. In Demon Slayer or Kimetsu No Yaiba, Tanjro's Nichirin's Sword is charcoal colored and he comes from a family of charcoal harvesters. But the blade itself is made from a fictional ore called "scarlet ore."

In the Dark Souls video game, there is a demon that you kill using a charcoal pine resin-coated weapon.