I'm still fine-tuning the house rules for my next campaign, but so far the house rules (and their intent) are...
- Alternative Stat Rolling - keep it spicy
- Better Inspiration - more uses for inspiration
- Campaign Resting - encourage long term strategy / "realism"
- Creative Upcasting - encourage creativity
- Expanded Proficiencies - expand character options / world-building
- Fast Potions - players seem to like it
- Item Slot Encumbrance - make logistics simpler
- Party Initiative - encourage teamwork
- Pernicious Poisons - make poisons interesting
- Ready Spell - keep non-triggered spell slot
- Wounds - increase urgency to heal / diminish "yo yo" healing
- Specific Spell Tweaks - jump, Leomund's tiny hut, lesser restoration, remove curse
- Specific Class Changes - fighter (+cleave), rogue (+decipher script), paladin (lay on hands)
- New Fighting Style & Feat - I homebrew lots of these for player requests or world-building, but these few are ones I feel are a good fit universally
Alternative Stat Rolling
If you roll for stats, you may use 4d6 drop lowest, or any of these alternatives:
- Munchkin Method (24d6 drop lowest 6, group into clusters of three dice)
- Two strong (6d6k3), two good (4d6k3), two weak (3d6)
- Three up (10+d6, 10+d8, 8+d10), three down (15-d6, 15-d8, 17-d10)
- Roll 8d6 – this is the number of points you have for point buy.
Better Inspiration
After a session, group collectively awards Inspiration to one PC. Besides gaining advantage, you can also spend Inspiration to…
- Establish a NPC contact in a scene.
- Flashback to a planning scene (e.g. where you bought just the right item).
- Make a called shot.
- Spend Inspiration on behalf of a fellow PC.
Campaign Resting
- Short Rest: 1 hour of catching your breath. Upon completing a short rest, you may expend Hit Dice to heal and you regain one “short rest” ability of your choice.
- Medium Rest: 8 hours of food, drink, and uninterrupted sleep. Upon completing a medium rest, you regain a number of hit points equal to your level, all of your “short rest” abilities recharge, and you may recharge one daily spell or “long rest” ability of your choice.
- Long Rest: 7 days at a sanctuary/settlement tending to wounds, tending to your gear, meditating, light training, etc. Upon completing a long rest all hit points, Hit Dice, spell slots, and abilities are restored to full.
Creative Upcasting
Want to use a spell in an unorthodox way? Often this can be handled by upcasting the spell. At the DM's discretion.
Fast Potions
Imbibing a potion only takes a bonus action.
Expanded Proficiencies
Gain a number of additional languages, tool proficiencies, or skills equal to your Intelligence modifier (a negative modifier is treated as a 0). At 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th levels gain one additional language, tool proficiency, or skill of your choice.
New skills include:
- Airways (airships, navigator’s tools, aerial lore, weather, rope use)
- Commerce (appraising, coinage, art objects, gems, origin of items, trade, haggling)
- Dungeoneering (caving, underground orienteering & survival, dungeon lore)
- Endurance (diving, holding breath, feasting, running)
- Folklore (“2 truths and a lie”, superstitions, stories)
- High Society (bureaucracy, heraldry, law, politics)
- Mechanics (tinker’s tools, engineering, construction, unfamiliar tech)
- Riverways (boating, river lore, fishing, rope use)
- Sage Lore (choose one: art, architecture, botany, cartography, chemistry, geography, geology, mathematics, meteorology, music, mycology, oceanology, philosophy, physics, planes, sociology, zoology, etc, etc)
- Seamanship (ocean vessels, navigator’s tools, maritime lore, fishing, rope use)
- Skullduggery (forgery kit, smuggling, contact fixer)
- Streetwise (gather info, city lore, evade)
Item Slot Encumbrance
You can have
5 equipped items without being encumbered; these items can be accessed freely in combat. You can have
12 + your Strength modifier packed items; these items require an action to access. Tiny items are not counted, neither are pouches or backpacks, or normal clothes. Most items fill 1 item slot. A few items require special consideration:
Heavy Armor = 2 item slots
Two-Handed Weapons = 2 item slots
Bundled Items every 5 torches/rations = 1 item slot
Ammunition every 20 arrows/bolts = 1 item slot
Coins/Gems every 100 coins/gems = 1 item slot
| Encumbrance | Speed |
6-7 equipped items;
14 + STR packed items | -10 feet |
8-9 equipped items;
16 + STR packed items | -20 feet, cannot Dash |
| >16 + STR packed items | Cannot move |
Adventurer’s Pack = 8 packed items
Burglar’s Pack = 10 packed items
Diplomat’s Pack = 5 packed items
Dungeoneer’s Pack = 10 packed items
Entertainer’s Pack = 4 packed items
Explorer’s Pack = 8 packed items
Priest’s Pack = 3 packed items
Scholar’s Pack = 2 packed items
Party Initiative
During initiative, players who have consecutive turns with no monsters in between them may act in any order they wish, including overlapping their turns. On a player’s first turn in combat, they may choose to lower their initiative to 1 less than an ally.
Pernicious Poisons
Poisons have an onset time, and continue to inflict damage and/or impose a condition over time. (work-in-progress)
Ready Spell
When you use the Ready action to ready a spell, you do not lose the spell slot if the trigger does not occur. However, you concentrate as per normal Ready rules, so you only lose the spell slot if your concentration is broken or you cast the spell.
Wounds
The first time you fail a death save or die in an encounter, either suffer a level of exhaustion at the end of the encounter or roll d20 for an injury (sometimes context will obviate rolling).
Spell Tweaks
- Jump is not subjected to speed limits.
- Leomund’s Tiny Hut doesn’t create a force field blocking creatures/attacks. It only offers protection from inclement weather, wind, and temperature.
- Lesser Restoration does not infallibly cure disease; instead, it grants a diseased creature one immediate and automatically successful saving throw against the disease.
- Remove Curse has 3 changes: (1) First, it requires a material component specific to the nature of the curse. (2) Second, it functions like detect magic in that every curse has an effective level. If the curse is 3rd level or less, it is removed automatically. For each curse of 4th level or higher on the target, make an ability check using your spellcasting ability. The DC equals 10 + the curse’s level. (3) Third, if you fail the check by 5 or more, something bad happens – the curse might jump to you, the curse might progressively worsen, the curse caster might become aware you attempted to lift the curse, etc.
Class Tweaks
- Fighter (5th level, Cleave): When you use the Attack action, you may forgo your normal attacks to make one attack against each creature of the same type with 2 Hit Dice or less within reach (e.g. bandit, cultist, goblin, kobold, orc, hobgoblin, skeleton). The number of attacks you can make in this manner equals your fighter level, but you make one attack roll and compare it to the AC of all the creatures. You may move in between these attacks as normal. However, if you select an opponent with more than 2 Hit Dice, your cleave comes to an abrupt halt. At 11th level, this increases to 3 Hit Dice or less (e.g. imp, drow, quasit, shadow, zombie). At 17th level, this increases to 4 Hit Dice or less (e.g. duergar, kuo-toa, lizardfolk, sahuagin, worg).
- Paladin’s Lay on Hands: In addition to using Lay on Hands to remove a poison or disease, a paladin may remove paralyzation, petrification, or potentially other conditions. However, that poison or disease or condition immediately transfers to the paladin. In the case of disease, this bypasses the paladin’s Divine Health since they are choosing to make a “divine sacrifice.”
- Rogue (2nd level, Decipher Script): At 2nd level you can attempt to decipher the gist of an unfamiliar script with an Intelligence check. On a successful check, you identify which language it is and you determine the general intent behind the script, such as: Incriminating letter, Navigation aid, Technical manual, Treasure map, Warning, and so forth.
New Fighting Style & Feat
Adapting Fighting (fighting style): When fighting in an environment where you lack the appropriate speed or appropriate weapon type (e.g. climbing on a cliff; flying in zero-gravity; an astral speed on the Astral Plane; a greatsword in a cramped space; swimming while not wielding a dagger, short sword, spear, javelin, dart, crossbow, or trident) your attacks do not suffer disadvantage due to the environment or weapon.
Martial Alacrity (feat, prereq 5th level): When you have a weapon drawn and ready (nocked if a bow), and you are not surprised, you can make a single attack with your drawn weapon as a reaction when initiative is rolled.
