D&D 5E What House / 3rd Party / Optional Rule changed your game the most?

[DND_Reborn]

Care to expand on this - I'm not sure of what you mean, but it's very intriguing !

Sure. It is easy. Rolling a 20 on the d20 does nothing special.

(EDIT: THIS just gave me an idea. We allow martial weapons to have advantage on damage, but I like the idea that the natural 20 would give you advantage on damage instead. I'll broach this to our group next session.)

However, rolling maximum damage on the damage die makes the damage die exploding, allowing you to roll an additional die and add it to the damage. If the additional damage die is ALSO maximum, you continue the process.

I used a torch as a club (improvised) once for 21 total damage because I rolled 4 (on d4), 4, 4, 4, 2 + 3 STR mod = 21. It was pretty awesome.

Also, we have special optional features for when you roll critical damage. They require a save by the target with a DC equal to 8 + your attack modifier:

Dazed (for bludgeoning): WIS save or stunned until start of target's next turn.
Hindered (for slashing): CON save or target has half speed until the end of its next turn.
Skewered (for piercing): DEX save or weapon is stuck in target. On your turn you can automatically deal weapon damage (no attack roll required) unless the target uses its action to remove the weapon.
Wounded (for cleaving): CON save or take unmodified weapon damage at the stat of the target's next turn.

All told, this makes using smaller-die weapons a viable alternative to larger weapons because you are more likely to roll maximum (and thus critical) damage.

I should also mention features which grant additional dice on crits work the same (and these can also explode), Champion Fighters (who normally expand the critical range to include 19 and even 18) get to roll one extra die for each expansion on the critical range.

Also, this ISN'T just weapons--this is EVERY SOURCE OF DAMAGE in the game: sneak attacks, smites, traps, falling, spells, you name it! To counter this, dice explode when you roll for healing spells and items.

Lastly, if you go to 0 hit point from critical damage, it is harder for you to recover and you will fall unconscious automatically instead of just being incapacitated IIRC. I'd have to check our current house-rules.

 

[BookTenTiger]

Sure. It is easy. Rolling a 20 on the d20 does nothing special.

(EDIT: THIS just gave me an idea. We allow martial weapons to have advantage on damage, but I like the idea that the natural 20 would give you advantage on damage instead. I'll broach this to our group next session.)

However, rolling maximum damage on the damage die makes the damage die exploding, allowing you to roll an additional die and add it to the damage. If the additional damage die is ALSO maximum, you continue the process.

I used a torch as a club (improvised) once for 21 total damage because I rolled 4 (on d4), 4, 4, 4, 2 + 3 STR mod = 21. It was pretty awesome.

Also, we have special optional features for when you roll critical damage. They require a save by the target with a DC equal to 8 + your attack modifier:

Dazed (for bludgeoning): WIS save or stunned until start of target's next turn.
Hindered (for slashing): CON save or target has half speed until the end of its next turn.
Skewered (for piercing): DEX save or weapon is stuck in target. On your turn you can automatically deal weapon damage (no attack roll required) unless the target uses its action to remove the weapon.
Wounded (for cleaving): CON save or take unmodified weapon damage at the stat of the target's next turn.

All told, this makes using smaller-die weapons a viable alternative to larger weapons because you are more likely to roll maximum (and thus critical) damage.

I should also mention features which grant additional dice on crits work the same (and these can also explode), Champion Fighters (who normally expand the critical range to include 19 and even 18) get to roll one extra die for each expansion on the critical range.

Also, this ISN'T just weapons--this is EVERY SOURCE OF DAMAGE in the game: sneak attacks, smites, traps, falling, spells, you name it! To counter this, dice explode when you roll for healing spells and items.

Lastly, if you go to 0 hit point from critical damage, it is harder for you to recover and you will fall unconscious automatically instead of just being incapacitated IIRC. I'd have to check our current house-rules.

I like this house rule a lot, thanks for elaborating!

 

[DND_Reborn]

I like this house rule a lot, thanks for elaborating!

No problem--I'm glad you like it. It is one of the house-rules that is part of our Golden Three (or Four, I suppose... I forgot to add our rule about upcasting spells which we ALWAYS use now--I'll have to update my original post to add that).

 

[W'rkncacnter]

1. Cinematic Initiative
2. Critical Damage instead of critical hits.
3. Conditions at 0 hit points for failed death saves.
4. ADDED: Maximum upcasting.

well now that's somehow vaguer then critical damage, what does that mean?

 

[DND_Reborn]

4. ADDED: Maximum upcasting.

well now that's somehow vaguer then critical damage, what does that mean?

LOL, sorry!

It is pretty simple. Whenever you upcast a spell, you don't roll any additional dice--they are automatically maximum.

Examples:

• cure wounds does 1d8 + WIS mod with +1d8 for each level above 1st. So, each +1d8 is automatically +8.
• magic missile is three 1d4+1 missiles, additional missiles are +5 damage each.
• sleep affects 5d8 hit points with +2d8 for each level above 1st. So, instead of +2d8 we just do +16.

This makes upcasting most spells a worthwhile option. For example, RAW a 5th level sleep spell is normally 13d8, on average almost barely enough to affect an ogre (59 hp). With our upcasting, a 4th level sleep spell would be 5d8+48 (avg. 70 hp!), more than enough to get an ogre!

Note: since these "additional dice" are not actually rolled, they do not contribute to the result being critical.

 

[W'rkncacnter]

LOL, sorry!

It is pretty simple. Whenever you upcast a spell, you don't roll any additional dice--they are automatically maximum.

Examples:

• cure wounds does 1d8 + WIS mod with +1d8 for each level above 1st. So, each +1d8 is automatically +8.
• magic missile is three 1d4+1 missiles, additional missiles are +5 damage each.
• sleep affects 5d8 hit points with +2d8 for each level above 1st. So, instead of +2d8 we just do +16.

This makes upcasting most spells a worthwhile option. For example, RAW a 5th level sleep spell is normally 13d8, on average almost barely enough to affect an ogre (59 hp). With our upcasting, a 4th level sleep spell would be 5d8+48 (avg. 70 hp!), more than enough to get an ogre!

oh damn that's actually really cool. i think i'm gonna steal that.

 

[DND_Reborn]

oh damn that's actually really cool. i think i'm gonna steal that.

Thanks! LOL.

Yeah, we love it and it makes upcasting so much more appealing and effective. Of course, enemy casters get to do it as well, so it works both ways.

Frankly, it is so automatic for me I didn't even think of it when I first posted our Golden House-Rules.

Our most complex house-rule is Cinematic Initiative, but even that isn't too bad once you get the hang of it. The other three are all pretty simple, really. When one of our players wanted to DM, those four rules/systems are the ones he insisted on keeping, and so we all decided they would be universally used, even if everything else from our MOD is not used (which is best when we have new players join--the MOD is a bit overwhelming LOL!).

 

[Lord Mhoram]

Our games are solo games - 1 GM 1 player, and we use published regular modules as our time is very limited, so we want to actually game with that time, rather than come up with adventures - but we always work something that fits the character's story in there. In general that means the house rules makes things easier rather than harder.

Escalation Dice (13th Age) - A d6 that turns to one number higher each round, Players get bonus from it.
Solo Rules (from Sine Nomine publishing) - Lots of changes too much to enumerate. Originally written for OSR, but works in 5E (it's free)
Gestalt (from 3rd edition Unearthed Arcana) - basically dual classing like 1st edition, but at normal progression rates.
Odd ability scores gain +1 for skill/ability checks. So a 13 DEX would be +1 to AC, ranged attacks, etc... but a +2 in skills. That bonus goes away when Dex would hit 14, and be back for 15. Stolen from a thread here.
And we are going to try out DND_Reborn's Maximum Upcasting up above.

Edit to add - we use Level Up as our core system rather than 5E.

They are all fairly simple, and really allow for a solo character to play published modules.

 

[jmartkdr2]

No multiclassing unless the player has a compelling backstory that would lead to multiclassing.

No naturally flying PCs.

Tangential question, but: how would you feel about a clipped-wing character who can't fly now but could gain the ability during play if someone casts regenerate on them?

 

[beancounter]

Tangential question, but: how would you feel about a clipped-wing character who can't fly now but could gain the ability during play if someone casts regenerate on them?

That would be fine, but I wouldn't want it to happen too soon. Maybe 8th level at the earliest, but I would have to take the PCs and the party's relative power level into consideration.