What Unearthed Arcana variants have you used? What did you think of them?

[hong]

Frenzy variant of rage (frickin' powerful)
Wilderness rogue
Urban ranger

I have tons of other house rules, including a quasi VP/WP system and hero points, but they predated UA for the most part.

 

[shilsen]

Spontaneous metamagic (the 3/day variant)
Specialist wizard variants.

 

[Yeoman]

Let's see we've used the paragon classes, the variant monks/bards/barbarians and I think someone is thinking about the wilderness rogue. We also are using the VP/WP system, and the near death massive damage save. We've considered the armor as DR system, but we are waiting to test it first. I almost forgot about the specialist variants (so far enchanter and evoker), and the battle sorcerer which everyone here is loving.

 

[AFGNCAAP]

• Action Points (but through Eberron 1st)
• Generic Classes
• Traits & Flaws
• Racial Paragon Classes
• Reputation
• Contacts

So far, I like all of these. I intend to use variant Paladin classes (CG/LE/CE paladins) in my standard D&D homebrew.

Action points are great, esp. for more derring-do/heroic games. Traits & flaws are OK, though the best way for them to work is for the DM to actually make sure they affect the character on occasion. Racial paragons are OK if that fits the "typical" sort of members of those races IYC.

Generic classes are a tried & true favorite of mine. I prefer using them for a fantasy setting that isn't necessarily intended to easily fit into the D&D format/schema. However, I think these should not be used with any other core classes, or other classes like Racial Paragons (though some PrCs are OK).

 

[Klaus]

In my upcoming campaign (maybe Eberron) I'll use:

- Traits
- Reputation
- Contacts
- Action Points
- Racial Paragons

Damn, there's just too many good options there!

 

[Henrix]

We've tried the Death & Dying, where you get fort saves to avoid dying, but didn't really like them. As written, damage past 0 hp means very little, and with a good fort save you can continue for a very long time.

 

[Plane Sailing]

We have no sorcerers in the game, but if we did I would allow them to metamagic spells similarly with no increase in casting time.

No bards either, now!

Presumably you'd allow sorcerers quicken too under those circumstances.

 

[Host of Angels]

Has anyone tried the "Players roll all the dice" option? I have it in mind, but have not given it a go yet...

 

[Voadam]

Mostly the class variants

Spontaneous cleric casting, I love this from both a flavor and gaming point of view, it makes each cleric different (a big plus) and eliminates the hassle of having to pick spells at the beginning of each day.

I also play a gestalt wolf totem barbarian/wilderness rogue. It is great for a campaign where there is high heroics but low gp and you want the character to be strong.

 

[scottdunphy]

Bloodlines

I am using Bloodlines in my world building to create variant humans. I think the write up in UA is one of the few real problems with the book. It doesn't make it clear if Bloodline levels are levels at all except that they apply to abilities that use class level as a numeric variable. I *think* the intent was that Bloodline levels would count as character levels, giving you the bonus feat and ability increase due at the appropriate level and giving you the Bloodline special abilities of that level.

For instance, a 7th level fighter with two Bloodline levels in a Major Bloodline is actually a 9th level character and receives the bonus feat for 9th level, the ability increase for 8th level and all the Bloodline special abilities for 1st through 9th level (I really wish they would have given an example character for this one, this is just my method). I think if you do it this way, it's a lot better balanced. The character is behind on HP, Base Saves, and BAB, but they have a lot more special abilities/feats/higher caster level to make up for it.

I'm also going to be using the Flaws too, but I think the Flaws in the last couple of Dragon Magazines have been a lot better than the ones in UA.