What does you House Rules document look like?

[Jeff Wilder]

Whoops!

It's been a while since I was last here.

Didn't realize there was a House Rules forum.

Well, your question is actually a meta-house rules discussion, so I think General RPG Discussion is the right place for it. I don't read House Rules, because I'm not interested in others' house rules -- at least partially because I get too tempted by the ones I like -- but I'm interested in seeing how they present their house rules.

After the TPK that ended my last campaign, I made a deliberate effort to seriously prune my house rules, dropping down to the very few that were truly important to my enjoyment of the game. I wrote up a very short document spelling them out explicitly, and gave everyone a hardcopy. I also posted it on our gaming circle's Yahoo group.

 

[Mixmaster]

I would u/l mine also, but it is a little too big.

It's just some mining from the KOK Players Guide and addons on death, skills and such.

 

[Mercule]

I post 'em on my website.

Note: I'm in the process of changing over my CMS from Mambo to PostNuke, so forgive any oddities in display.

 

[Starglim]

I've tended to write, and expand over time, a document formatted much like a small campaign setting, with a number of additional documents.

The main house rules document starts off with a statement of the campaign assumptions in a paragraph or three, followed by character creation rules, then other variant rules in the order of Players' Handbook chapters, then table rules (for the out-of-game systems and expectations for play).

I usually write up a separate equipment list or skills table or both, additional character knowledge documents for individual players, and other bits and pieces as required.

Attached house rules for my Dark.Matter PBEM.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

When complete the Player's Primer alone will be over 400 pages. I've got my GM's Guide already out to 300 pages. And the monsters, races and templates I've been gathering and creating is a word document out to 230 pages and still growing! Oh yeah, my NPC binder is pretty thick as well - about 150 pages thick.

 

[Keeper of Secrets]

I have never set forth a formal document as I have not had the need to. I described an alternate rule (a system where characters can earn special points and rewards and put them towards experience points or put them towards a couple of other possibilities) but that is the extent of it.

 

[Buttercup]

Mine is very small, so rather than upload the file, I'll just copy and paste the text in this post.

House Rules

• Weapon Finesse does not have a BAB+1 requirement, so the classes that actually need it can take it at 1st level.
• Craft, Profession and Knowledge (all sub skills) are class skills for every class. At creation, each PC will get an additional 8 skill points to spend on these, and only these skills.
• Cross class skills only cost 1 skill point per rank, the same as class skills, though the maximum ranks per level are the same as the standard.
• Dodge adds +1 to armor class generally, rather than against a single, designated opponent. You can still lose this bonus to armor class when flat-footed, etc.
• We use the 3.5 version of Harm.
• We use the 3.0 version of the buff spells.
• There is no resurrection.

 

[Doctor Bomb]

I just took the SRD from the website and begain incorporating all the other stuff I like from books I bought, this website, and many others. So my entire system is littered with house rules, but I didn't make up most of them. Basics -
Characters start with a 0-level in an NPC class and get their first 3x skill points from that class, then add their first class level and gain it's max hit die and saves and one level of skill points (a lot more people are apprenticed to be a craftsman than to be a druid or paladin);
I use d-30 points, which I stole from somebody out here;
Psionics and magic are almost-transparent: creatures with spell resistance have power resistance equal to their spell resistance - 5 and vice versa;
I use cultural skills (Knowledge: Culture replaces knowledge: local; plus read and speak languages) equal to a characters mental score bonuses - you have the skill or you don't, max ranks is 5, and you gain a cultural skill point any time you would gain a feat;
AND I use a bunch of skills and a couple hundred feats I heisted from other people all over the web, mostly from the Netbook of Feats (yummy), although many of those are being replaced by feats from the new environment and creature type series books.
Other than that, what's in the 3.5 SRD is good crunch.

 

[DragonLancer]

I only have two real house rules in my games:

1. Critical hits do not need a check to see if a critical was scored, unless the opponent is larger in size than you are.
2. Monks and Paladins may freely multiclass without being prevented from taking more levels in these classes. (as per the Ex-Monk/Paladin notes in the 3.5 PHB).

 

[Hand of Evil]

Check out this thread: Programs to help orginize your game