What single houserule has made your game AWESOME?

[NMcCoy]

For the campaign I'm currently playing in, it's Aspects and Fate Points ported straight across from Spirit of the Century (with the numerical bonuses doubled). Characters get one aspect per level, with additional ones awarded at the DM's whim - one PC got arrested and had a hand removed as punishment, acquiring the "bonus" aspect Stumpy in the process. Once he acquired a Disembodied Hand familiar at level 4, the aspect got replaced with Paranoid, which is getting an immense amount of mileage on both sides of the table. (It's a truly excellent aspect - the DM can compel it and then not actually do anything with the compel and it'll work perfectly. )

What change have you made in your game that has kicked the awesome into high gear?

 

[Chainsaw]

Great topic! Can't wait to hear all the answers. I'll be DM'ing a 4E game late this year or early next and have no qualms with modifying the RAW.

 

[eriktheguy]

Ban expertise and give monsters -1 to all defenses at levels 5/15/25.

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

Less hp and more damage for monsters.

 

[ExploderWizard]

Less hp and more damage for monsters.

This exactly. Combats move fast and feel a lot more dangerous. When a low level soldier is doing 2d12 with a standard attack it becomes harder to ignore him.

 

[weem]

We do the fate point thing as well, but hmm... let's see...

I would have to go with the initiative system we use (ars ludi). Since I have posted it before, I will simply paste it here...

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Basically PC's/Creatures roll initiative (I roll once for the creatures). Those players who beat the creatures go (if any do) then the creatures go (all of them) then back to ALL PC's including those who got to go before the creatures and we then simply alternate from there, Creatures > PC's > Creatures > PC's etc.

Players decide amongst themselves who is going to go, who follows next etc. It keeps everyone engaged, and those who are not quite ready figure it out while the others go. It also allows for more player strategy (you go here, then i will go here and do this) etc. It's all per RAW since a) everyone can delay to go at the same-ish time and b) you can shout commands as free actions.

This method (referred to as the ars ludi method) sped our encounters up enough that nothing else needed to be done. It's become one person after the next after the next - bam bam bam, no real downtime between each persons actions.

As has been pointed out to me, it is not EXACTLY per RAW because you can have a situation where, let's say for example, someone is unconscious... so when it comes back to the PC's turn, they could (using this method) have the cleric go first and heal the unconscious player, who could then stand when the cleric is done and have his turn -- but as per RAW if you are unconscious, you can not delay -- so you could argue the unconscious player has to roll his death save before the rest of the players go and do nothing else, etc. I let it go (the one time it has happened from what I remember). These little workings of the system are exciting to the players and don't hurt the encounter imo.

Again, this has 1) saved us a lot of time and 2) made the encounters much more dynamic and exciting. Previously it was easy to ignore what happened after you went - the battle field was going to change so much as players kind of did their own thing etc that there wasn't much of a point to plan what you were going to do next - might as well do something else. Now, the mobs go (I am quick at running this) and then right back to PC's who have been watching it unfold and have been planning as it went for how they were going to (together) setup their next turns.

This is the method I use, but it is NOT my invention. You can see it here... http://arsludi.lamemage.com/index.ph...silent-killer/

---/paste---

 

[Zaran]

My group has been been giving humans 2 +2 attribute bonuses for the last few start ups. We've determined that compared to other races the benefits of being a human were not comparable.

 

[SabreCat]

The purple index cards (http://www.enworld.org/forum/4e-fan...dex-cards-fly-setting-plot-collaboration.html) totally make my game. A year from now I won't remember how often a PC hit or missed against an equivalent level monster or whatever, but these little toys put memorable moments in every session. ^.^

 

[BobTheNob]

Ban expertise and give monsters -1 to all defenses at levels 5/15/25.

We have a slightly different implementation, but this is (to me) an important change. Might not have the "awesomeness" of some other suggestions, but it just one of those things that I wouldnt play the game without.

Expertise sux!

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

Ban expertise and give monsters -1 to all defenses at levels 5/15/25.

More or less what I do too. It's not exactly game-altering, but I just can't abide rules that are that bad as a DM.

My group has been been giving humans 2 +2 attribute bonuses for the last few start ups. We've determined that compared to other races the benefits of being a human were not comparable.

I do this too. It's not that a +2 makes a big difference either way; it's just that not having it tends to cause players to skip right past the human entry.