What house rules do you use?

[EarthsShadow]

house rules

Here are the following house rules I use:

1: I use vitality and wounds from the revised star wars book.

2: I use vitality dice for races instead of classes. Each class provides an overall bonus for vitality and wound points.

3: New core classes and got rid of some other classes. I use the following classes: Archer (Sovereign Stone), Barbarian (PHB), Blade (My own class), Elemental mages (Sovereign Stone), Fighter (PHB), Mounted Warrior (SS), Noble (combined SS and SW and WoT), Rogue (PHB), Sailor (SS with modifications), Soldier (SS), Stalker (SS), Void Mage (SS), and Wilder (My own class).

4: New races for my own world. Split them up into subraces for some of them-
Barbaric Humans, Civilized Humans, High Elf, Wood Elf, Moon Elf, Savage Dwarf, Mountain Dwarf, Forest Miomim, Mountain Miomim, River Midfolk, Forest Midfolk, Civilized Midfolk, Andari, Orks, Sulvasti, Lupus (like Wolfen from Palladium), and Atlanteans.
Miomim are a avian race, Midfolk is my name for halflings, Orks are orks, Sulvasti are a lizard race, and Andari are a water dwelling race.

5: Use elemental magic from Sovereign Stone book, not using the standard magic system from the PHB, which doesn't fit with my conception of how magic works and is utilized.

Who can stop at only five house rules...

6: Provide bonus feats at 2nd, 7th, 13th, and 19th levels, these are only skill feats or covert feats only, not general feats.

7: Bonus background feat at 1st level depending on the region you come from. This works like FR and WoT.

8: When advancing in a favored class, you get +2 skill points.

9: spend ability points at character creation, no rolling dice (leads to power gaming, which I don't like).

10: Skill Emphasis is +2 and works as ranks (I got this idea after reading some on here).

if I think of more, I'll continue on a later date and time. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask me.

 

[Archibald Theocliste]

Woohoo, my second post! I feel so special!

Hmm, well anyway, back to business.

As I mentionned in my previous post I am using (like a lot of people I think) an alternate system for Skill Focus.

Basically, Skill emphasis gives you a +3 bonus to any Skill or Cross-Class Skill check. It is also a prerequisite for Skill Focus wich extends the maximum rank available in the chosen skill by 1 (but you still have to pay the points in order to reach this rank).

For now it has never been a problem, but I know that it can change the lv at wich some Prestige Classes become available. For exemple a rogue can reach a rank of 7 in Decipher Script at lv3 instead of lv4 and so qualify for Arcane Trickster sooner, making Lv9 spells available to him without going epic.

So do you think that burning more feats in order to gain access quicker to some Prestige Classes is balanced?
Any advice or experience is welcome here. Thanks

 

[Kareyev]

Here are some rules I have come across in different games

1) Literacy is not automatic

2) The Preform skill is unique to the Bard class

3) In a very low magic campaign the Concentration skill was used to cast and hold any spell. (e.g. Cast Detect Evil roll skill check. To concentrate on an individual in 2nd round of use roll a 2nd skill check; et cetera.).

4) In character creation the DM gave 30 point buy for any character class, 35 points for any of the basic DMG NPC classes except Commoner, and 40 points for Commoner. Taking an NPC class did not count against multi-classing counts. This was to encourage PCs to come from humble beginnings.

5) Hero Points - There are million variations on this, but basically they boil down to the same thing. You get points for doing something heroic. You spend point to save your life or enhance a heroic action. Perhaps this is another thread in itself, but I am curious what hero point systems others have used. I am partial to a modified version of the Warhammer rules myself.

 

[Sammael]

Only five? Nah.

-Bonus spells for high primary spellcasting ability scores replaced by bonus spell levels (e.g: a wizard with Int 20 (+5) has 5 bonus spell levels, meaning that he could memorize ten bonus cantrips, or five bonus first-level spells, or one bonus fifth-level spell, or a combination of spells of different levels. This makes low-level casters more powerful but balances the power out at higher levels.

-HP changed to grant at least average HP (for monsters and NPCs as well):
d4>1+d3
d6>2+d4
d8>3+d5
d10>4+d6
d12>4+2d4

-optional ranger based on Monte’s modification, but with further tweaks (to make it more balanced).

-Knowledge: Arcana can be used to ID permanent non-charged magic items. Bards may add their level to the check. Alchemy and Spellcraft can be used to ID charged or non-permanent magic items (potions, wands…).
-Wands can be recharged.
-Hidden attackers are effectively invisible.
-A defender can ignore one attacker to prevent the flanking bonus, but he treats that attacker as invisible.
-Bluff can be used to prevent attacks of opportunity (even from multiple threatening opponents).
-Knowledge: Creature skill added to the game. Successful check reveals some characteristic monster info. May be used untrained (common knowledge – red dragons breathe fire).
-Various custom feats and prestige classes.
-In Planescape-based campaigns, Knowledge: The Planes is a class skill for all classes. Faction members are treated as having ECL+1 templates which grant them minor special abilities and access to faction-specific feats.
-All divine spellcasters must worship a deity.
-Great Wheel cosmology is used in FR campaigns.
-Half-dragons, half-fiends, and half-celestials are playable as ECL+3 races (seems to be working perfectly for now, no need to increase the ECL adjustment).
-ECL+1 characters can start at first level, but they need 3,000 xp for level 2.
-Optional parry rule (forego one or more attacks per round to substitute an opposed attack roll for the AC against one or more attacks in that round).
-Half-elves get +1 skill point per level (like humans) but have to choose a favored class at the beginning
-Half-orcs get a +4 bonus to Intimidate
-Ye Spell Focus 3 Pointe Rule

 

[jerichothebard]

house rules - mine

Ok, here are mine:

1) No wizards, sorcerers are rare and bards cast divine spells (ties in with a law in my society that arcane magic in all its forms is illegal). There are some changes which cascaded down from that (i.e. favored class for elves is ranger and gnomes is expert and rogue, etc.)

2) Perform skill is split into four sections: Vocal, instrumental, movement and composition. Each section must be bought seperately; skill focus-style feats only apply to a specific section. Synergy bonuses apply when using perform skills together - accompanying yourself on a guitar while singing, etc.

3) The Druid weapon proficiency list is amended to the following: Staff, club, dagger, axe, short bow, longspear, shortspear, halfspear, sling, javelin, and whip.

4) Escrima and Tonfa are added to the Monk's special weapons list. They may choose any three of the five for use by their character. They may take a feat to add another to the character's list of special weapons, bringing the total to four (or, with two feats, all five)

5) Use Monte Cooke's variant bard and sorcerer from the Book of Eldritch Might II., but not his ranger.

(ok, going overboard on the number here)

6) Rangers can, at first level, choose to trade Point Blank Shot and Rapid Shot for Ambidexterity and Two-Weapon Fighting. The trade is permanent and must be decided at the time of character creation.

7) The Skill Focus Feat: In addition to giving you a +2 bonus on all applicable skill roles, the +2 from the feat also count towards actual ranks of a skill, which may help you qualify early for a prestige class or another feat. An interesting change from the way it is normally stated...

8) rewrote all the polymorph spells.

9) added in a level-dependent spell strength bonus. It occured to me that a high-level spellcaster casting a low-level spell has (atttribute bonuses not withstanding) exactly the same chance of affecting a target as a low-level spellcaster, while a high-level target has a much greater chance of resisting that a low-level target. While the target's increase in resistance is, of course, logical, it seems to me that one of the perks of advancement in the magical arts should be the ability to make your spells stronger - which is the case in all aspects of a spell (damage, range, duration) except for Save DC. So I have added in a level-dependent bonus for spellcasters. The formula for DC is now: Spell Strength + Spell Level + Ability Modifier + 10. Spell Strength progression follows the 'bad saving throw' bonus progression and is only gained from spellcasting classes (of course).

Hope these are interesting!

jericho

 

[RobNJ]

1) Skill focus is still +2.. but it is 2 rank points, so PrCs are easier to get too.

Except that modifiers from feats don't count toward presige class requirements that require a certain amount of ranks. Those rank requirements are just that, real ranks that you purchase.

Now, if you had racial, competence and unnamed bonuses counting as purchased ranks, that would be another house rule, albiet a pretty unbalancing one, it would seem to me.

 

[jerichothebard]

Except that modifiers from feats don't count toward presige class requirements that require a certain amount of ranks. Those rank requirements are just that, real ranks that you purchase.

Right - but I think the point he was earlier trying to make, was that his house rule (which I read as the same as mine) is that skill focus, at +2, DOES count as ranks towards prestige classes, etc - that Skill Focus is a special case. Thus the need for a house rule.

jericho

 

[SableWyvern]

1. Multiclass magic users have a caster level equal to the sum of all caster levels from each magic using class. (eg Rgr6 Sorc4 is caster level 7).

2. A character who delays an entire round goes to the top of the initiative order next round.

3. Tumble and Combat Casting checks have DC equal to opponent's attack roll (+10 for tumble-through).

4. Once healed back to 0 or more hp, a character that was in negatives recieves a 1 point of temporary Con damage for every two points they were below zero.

5. If damage dice are not rolled with to-hit dice, you do no damage. Similalry, players must know a spell effect of have the PHB open to spell when casting, or no cast. (Having only just been introduced, I'm still a little lenient with these ones.)

 

[RobNJ]

but I think the point he was earlier trying to make, was that his house rule (which I read as the same as mine) is that skill focus, at +2, DOES count as ranks towards prestige classes, etc - that Skill Focus is a special case.

You're right, that was stupid of me. sorry.

 

[kreynolds]

1) Custom dragonhide rules.
2) Custom Vorpal enhancement.
3) Enough subdual damage from unarmed attacks (standard, not monk) can kill you if you fall unconsious and they continue to pummel you.

That's off the top of my head.