D&D 3E/3.5 What are your current 3.5 House Rules?

[ARandomGod]

I'm not quite sure what it would do to the balance, but I like the idea. Charisma definitely needs some more strings attached to it.

There's no real telling without playtesting. Obvious effects are that it would weaken some rogue builds, and possibly strengthen the cleric, which doesn't need strengthening IMO... But more importantly (to me) it gives every stat an actual mechanic that any character would want regardless of class ... other than skills (and not everyone always wants every skill...)

 

[mhacdebhandia]

Here is a partial list of the changes and additions I'm going to use in my upcoming campaign if and when I ever actually manage to run it.

* All skills are class skills for every class. Classes remain balanced, though admittedly in a weaker sense, by the number of skillpoints available to each class.
* Hide and Move Silently are combined into one skill, Sneak. Any class feature or racial ability that granted the Stealthy feat now grants Skill Focus.
* Listen and Spot are combined into one skill, Perceive. Any class feature or racial ability that granted the Awareness feat now grants Skill Focus.
* All multiclassing limits are abolished, within reason; paladins and monks are restricted only by alignment considerations, but wizards cannot multiclass between different specialist variants.
* By default, D&D allows a character to qualify for a feat or prestige class by possessing a magic item which grants the relevant ability. This rule is abolished.

I'm not sure which races I want to use in the setting. Humans, aasimar, genasi, and tieflings for sure, and definitely some races from the Expanded Psionics Handbook, but the exact list is undefined.

* The celestial, demon, devil, and elemental bloodlines from Unearthed Arcana will be available. Planetouched races will not be permitted to take bloodlines, even of different types.

The following classes from the following sources are available:

* Player's Handbook: Cleric, druid, fighter, monk ranger, rogue, wizard.
* Complete Book of Eldritch Might: Bard, sorcerer.
* Expanded Psionics Handbook: Psion, psychic warrior, soulknife, wilder.
* Arcana Unearthed: Champion, unfettered, warmain.
* Unearthed Arcana: Totem barbarian (Ape, Dragon, Eagle, Jaguar, Serpent, Wolf), cloistered cleric, urban ranger, thug, wilderness rogue.
* Complete Divine: Favoured soul, shugenja, spirit shaman.
* Complete Warrior: Hexblade, variant non-spellcasting ranger.
* Ghostwalk: Eidolon, eidoloncer.

There's a long list of prestige classes that I don't think anyone cares to see.

* As suggested by the classes entry above, I will be using the death rules from Ghostwalk. I prefer this solution to fudging for the sake of keeping PCs alive before they can afford raising magic, plus, it's weird and cool.
* Metamagic feats will not increase the level of the spell, but instead allow three uses per day per the rules in Unearthed Arcana.

As a general rule, I will allow players to bring in any feat, spell, or class that fits the theme of the world, if they accept my alterations to it where necessary. One overriding automatic rule of exclusion, however, is that the world has no knightly or chivalrous orders - so paladins and other knightly archetypes are absent. Champions fill the "holy warrior" niche, and fighter-types fill the "mounted warrior" niche.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

Oh, I also need to think up a ruling for avoiding the automatic +2 to good saves in the first level of every class, especially since I'm using so many similar classes - fighter and warmain, for example.

Also I plan to use the "positive energy damage" turning variant from Complete Divine, because turning is a clunky mechanic.

 

[reanjr]

Oh, I also need to think up a ruling for avoiding the automatic +2 to good saves in the first level of every class, especially since I'm using so many similar classes - fighter and warmain, for example.

Also I plan to use the "positive energy damage" turning variant from Complete Divine, because turning is a clunky mechanic.

D20 modern actually kindof fixes that. The game was designed so that every character would multiclass, so it was important to change. They have the following progression for the classes:

Lvl/Good Save/Bad Save
1/+1/+0
2/+2/+0
3/+2/+1
4/+2/+1
5/+3/+1
6/+3/+2
7/+4/+2
8/+4/+2
9/+4/+3
10/+5/+3

...presumably extended to 20 levels as:

11/+5/3
12/+6/4
13/+6/4
14/+6/4
15/+7/5
16/+7/5
17/+8/5
18/+8/6
19/+8/6
20/+9/6

Of course, good saves no longer end up at +12 unless you multiclass, which may be a slight balance problem. *shrug* You could just take 2 levels of one class and a 2 levels in another that have synergestic saves, and you'd end up with the same saves at 20th.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

I'm thinking of just ruling that "good" saves start at +1 if you take a class after 1st character level. You know, so a barbarian 1/fighter 1 would have Fort +3.

I'll have to think about it. It may not prove to be such an advantage that I need to worry about it.

 

[Storyteller01]

Actually I think this rule makes a lot of sense. The dwarf did spend time training with it when he was a wee lad they all had waraxe toys that were scale modles of the real thing. If exoctic weapons are exoctic purly because they are difficult to use then why is the whip a simple weapon?

Not necessarily. In feudal Japan, nobles were the only ones who were allowed to use Katanas (and were the only ones allowed to train with it). Anyone can use a knife but (and I speak from experience) the finer uses of a katana requie a certain finesse. It takes time and training.


On the flip side (nobility speaking), in Europe, Peasants and specially trained nobles were called to use the bow. Both had been trained in its use for the better part of their lives (for sport or hunting). Standard soldiers used the crossbow.


In all cases, the race was human. In all cases, the difference with who used what weapon was training, not what race you were.


As a side note, people entering the military with rifle experience tend to do poorly against their peers with no training when using an M-16 (at least at first). They have to relearn how to shoot (the M-16 has features built into it that are not part of a standard hunting rifle)

 

[Storyteller01]

Some of my house rules. Keep in mind, we're playing in a Dragonstar campaign with 3.0 rules right now:

1) Divine spellcasters must roll a Will save to cast spells, but they do not have to memorize or learn them (Will save: DC 10 + twice the spell level). Spontaneous and domain spells do not need a Will save to cast. Divine spellcasters keep the same amount of spells per day.

2) Fighters gain Intimidate, Sense Motive, and Bluff as class skill if they take the Expertise feat (Expertise requires an Int of 13. Smart fighters use different skills).

3) Iaijutsu Master may also be used as 'Quick-Draw Master' (For pistols)

4) The Iaijutsu skill may also be used as 'Sniper Focus' (You have to aim, so use of this option is a full attack action resolved with one attack. You are flat-footed while aiming)

5) The Iaijutsu skill may also be used as 'Quick-Draw Focus' (Think Western gunslingers). The opponents must be no more than 30 feet apart.

6) I'm using the scope rules from Star Wars Magazine, Issue 10 (Each scope has a rating. Divide the distance to target by the rating before applying bonuses or penalties. Rogues (or classes with a sneak attack ability) may multiply their sneak attack maximum distance by the rating of the scope. This is their new maximum sneak attack distance while using that scope. Using a scope leaves a character flat-footed).

Scope cost is: (Rating) x (Rating) x (Rating) x 50
Special features (like low light or thermal vision) add +1 to the rating when determining the scope cost.

 

[Drakonus]

short on time, but here's a big one:

Keen and Improved Critical stack

To me they are fundamentally different modifiers. Keen represents a magical quality of a weapon that makes it sharper and more deadly. Improved Critical is expertise by a combatant to "hit where it hurts" with that weapon. Thus that character is more skilled at striking vital areas.

 

[Kaleon Moonshae]

I don't know if I'm even playing d20 anymore, lol, maybe ogl is all. Here are my major changes

1) New ability called Spirit that governs all magic use. No more Cha for some, Wis for some and Int for some.

2) Flow Points: Gain much slower than hit points but can be used ot fuel spells (see 3))

3) Spells cause damage to the caster on a 1d4 per level basis. This damage can be taken from the caster's Flow pool. No longer are you limited to a certain level or number of spell per day. You can cast as many as you can handle at a given level. If you take more damage than your flow/hp pool then you start taking SPI damage and if that ability reaches 0 you are removed from reality, you have literally used up your soul.

4) Heal skill converts non critical induced lethal damage into non-lethal damage on a DC 10 check. Every point of 10 you roll converts a single point of damage.

5) Critical hits cause scars.

6) Cha is NOT beauty. It is your personal magnitism.

7) All abilities are equal. No more Str is more important than Cha. In my games there are just as many social encounters as combats and each social encounter is given a CR just like a combat.

 

[Vrecknidj]

short on time, but here's a big one:

Keen and Improved Critical stack

To me they are fundamentally different modifiers. Keen represents a magical quality of a weapon that makes it sharper and more deadly. Improved Critical is expertise by a combatant to "hit where it hurts" with that weapon. Thus that character is more skilled at striking vital areas.

I made a slightly different rule, but for mostly the same reasons. If you have a keen weapon and you have Improved Critical with that type of weapon, your threat range goes down another one point (from 17, for example, to 16). This gives some sense of the two different kinds of advantages offered by these two different ways to make the critical more likely, without breaking the system.

Dave