D&D 3E/3.5 what variant rules do you use in your 3.5 game?

[Griffith Dragonlake]

I definitely want to use a different magic system (possibly spell points or similar to Arcana Evolved) and action points. I'll probably tone the level of magic items down a tad, especially since I'll be using AP's. I might remove some of the more troublesome spells as well.

Spontaneous spellcasters incur non-lethal damage equal to spell level + caster level each time they cast a spell. They may cast as many spells as they wish provided they have the hit points.

So now that 3ed is firmly entrenched, what are your "core" rules changes that you've incorporated and now use for your campaigns?

• New Race: Quarterælfr treat as d20 Halfelves.

• New Race: Halfælfr treat as d20 Elves

• New Race: Ælfr treat as d20 Half-Celestial/High, Gray, Wood, or Wild Elf.

• New Race: Halfdvergr treat as d20 Dwarves.

• New Race: Dvergr treat as Earth Dwarves (UA).

• New Race: Halftroll treat as Half-Ogre (Tome of Horrors).

• New Race: Hippokentaur treat as medium-sized Centaurs.

• Barbarian class from CONAN RPG.

• Borderer class from CONAN RPG.

• Troubadour treat as Bard with divine spells devoted to Venus.

• Skald treat as Savage Bard from UA.

• Clerics are either Cloistered (UA) or are Lawful Clerics of War (“Chaplains”).

• Fighters gain Bluff and Sense Motive as class skills. They also gain a bonus fighter feat at each level.

• No Monks.

• Paladins are a prestige class (UA).

• Wilderness Rogues (UA) are available.

• Sorcerers cannot Summon Familiars but instead receive Eschew Materials, Empower Spells, Enlarge Spells, Extend Spells, Heighten Spells, Maximise Spells, Quicken Spells, and Widen Spells for free.

• The Magus replaces Wizards.

• There are no fighter-unique feats. For example, anyone who has a BAB +4 and weapon focus can take weapon specialisation.

• Weapon Finess does not exist as a feat per se. Instead Everyone gets weapon finesse for free for all light weapons.

• Combat Expertise, Improved Disarm, Improved Feint, Improved Trip, and Whirlwind Attack require a 13 Dex not Int. Fighters and Paladins make swap out heavy armour proficiency with combat expertise during initial character creation.

• Dodge grants a +1 dodge bonus versus all melee attacks.

• Silent Spell, Still Spell, and Spell Mastery do not exist.

• Toughness adds +1 hit point per level and is retroactive.

• Armour provides DR, not AC

• Shields provide a cover bonus to AC and saving throws

• 1-handed mass weapons (axe, hammer, mace, etc.) grant 1½ × Str bonus to damage

• 2-handed mass weapons (axe, hammer, mace, etc.) grant 2 × Str bonus to damage

• When a character runs out of hit points, any further damage incurred is taken as temporary Con ability score damage instead of 0 or negative hit points.

• Action Points (UA).

• Helms account for 50% of DR if equal to or less than the body armour DR and 33% if greater than the body DR [c.f. AD&D DMG]. Full (Heavy) Helms have a -5 penalty to appraise, craft, decipher script, forgery, listen, open lock, search, sleight of hand, and spot checks. Open Face (Medium) helms have a -2 penalty to appraise, craft, decipher script, forgery, open lock, search, sleight of hand, & spot and a -5 penalty to listen checks. These penalties are in addition to armour check penalties (take the worst of helm & armour)

• Haven't tried yet: Reputation, Honour, and Combat Facing.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Got a spare week?

The house rules here go on for many a page. . .

 

[The Levitator]

Got a spare week?

The house rules here go on for many a page. . .

I was thinking that very same thing!

 

[Hrothgar Rannúlfr]

I use a variety of variant rules.

1. I use an alternate XP table and XP rewards table. The rate of advancement is not static at 13.33 balanced encounters per level. It starts off very quick and it takes more encounters as the character gets higher in level. It takes about 3 times as many encounters to get to 18th level than normal, but PC's get to 6th level a little faster than normal.

2. Multi-classing is completely revamped. BAB and saves do not stack from different classes. Instead, it works like Gestalt from UA. The PC gets the best BAB and saves from whichever class grants the best bonus. This encourages single classing.

3. I award XP based on the a character's highest class level instead of the total character level. So, multi-classed characters earn XP a little faster than single-classed characters of the same ECL.

4. I use 12 skill groups which cover all the major skills. There are no skill points, only feats to advance the ability in each skill group. The feats allow a character's ability to move through four ability progressions with each skill group. All characters get a basic progression and it takes feats to get better. The progressions are level based.

5. I don't allow prestige classes. Prestige classes are turned into feats on a case-by-case basis.

6. I use spell points instead of spell slots, but I award spell points that are calculated based off the spell slots that a character would have. Spell points from various sources do not stack. A multi-classed character gets the best skill point total of all his classes.

7. Taint, Corruption, and Depravity from Heroes of Horror.

8. Traits from UA, Iron Heroes, and the Shackled City. Traits are determined randomly.

9. Sanity from UA/d20 Cthulhu. All characters have sanity resistance equal to 10+ their will save total.

10. Ability boosts gained at 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th, and 20th can be traded in for feats. But, feats cannot be traded for ability boosts.

11. Critical Hit Deck for PC's and Named Opponents.

12. Critical fumbles currently provoke an attack of opportunity from the defender only.

13. Massive Damage Threshold is equal to 10 plus fort save total. This is also the number of hit points a character can go below zero before dying.

14. Hit Points are calculated normally for the 1st nine levels. After that, characters get no additional Constitution bonus to their hit points and they get a fixed number of hit points per level. The amount is based upon hit die type of the class they advance in. The formula is HDtype/3 rounded down (d12=4, d10=3, d8 and d6 = 2, d4=1).

15. Most core classes from WOTC 3.5 hardbacks are allowed. In addition, core classes Monte Cook's Arcana Evolved are allowed.

16. Sorcerers get one additional spell known per spell level they are able to access.

There's probably a few more, but that's all I can think of off the top of my head.

 

[Evilhalfling]

* Crit failure on 1, confirmed if a reflex sv dc 12 + stupidity modifiers
*Missle attacks into melee take a cover penalty, if cover is hit, then attack is applied vs ally
*Shields provide +1 ac while fighting defensivly, +2 ac for full defense, in addtion to normal bonus.
*Leveling magic items (per anchestral weapon feat in OA) is optional, feat not req.
*Magic items with stacked abilities, names and histories are common: (Cloak of the Bear +2 con, +1 NAC, +2 resitance)
*Rings and staves are rare, availbilty of other items varies by regional reputation.
*Demographics - NPC levels in Metropolis are replaced by large city levels, modified by regional reputation.
*Spells, feats, and classes outside core must be approved. These tend to be less commonly found among NPCs.
*No Gnomes.
*Halfling Subrace: (name varies) no save or skill bonuses, + 1 starting feat.
*Affliations (PHB2) used.
*Return from death results in a negative level that lasts 1 month, or until a new level is gained.
*Modified Planar system
*Reduced variety of subraces, and # of intelligent humanoids.
*Teleport causes 1 round daze. Teleports not useable in areas of high magic.
* Psionics used. Only 1 full str Astral Construct, up to 3 more at -2 psp, and 5 more at -4 psp (can be summoned at one time)

 

[Cbas_10]

House Rules in my game (Greyhawk)

In no particular order....

• Raise/Res rule: Characters/NPCs may only be raised or resurrected by a cleric (or whatever divine caster) that worships the same diety

• Wound Points: Characters/Creatures have a number of wound points equal to their Constitution plus 1/2 level or HD. When they take a critical hit, figure hit point damage normally. Additionally, the victim takes the weapon's base damage before multiplying as Wound Points. Energy effects, most special abilities that add damage before multiplying, etc do not apply to the wound point damage; pretty much only the weapon, strength (or other appropriate ability) based damage bonus, and the weapon's enhancement bonus. Wound points are also what "tick off" when a character is below zero hit points, as per the normal stablization rules. (Yes, this can be very deadly at high levels against powerful enemies.)

• Magic Points instead of spells per day by level:
  For spell-preparing classes: They choose a number of spells from the entire host of spells they know (entire list + domain spells for clerics or spellbook for wizards, as examples) equal to 1/2 Caster Level times Casting Attribute Modifier. Those are the spells they have "prepared" at one time. This represents pre-measured components, readied foci, and the sheer level of complexity of incantations & ritual procedures they can remember at one time. They may change/swap prepared spells at any time, given an hour of studying/preparing. Spell lists are the same, wizards' spellbooks function the same, characters gain spells in the same way, etc. Include Zero-level spells; they are not exempt or additional.
  
  "Spontaneous" casters, such as sorcerers and bards: They have the same quantity of spells that are known to them, but they need not choose a specific level of spell when they obtain new known spells when advancing levels (i.e. an 8th level Sorcerer gains access to a 4th level spell according to the class table, but in my system, he may choose any new spell up to 4th level. When he goes up to 9th level, he gets any two spells up to 4th level instead of a 4th and a 2nd). The only limitation is that a "spontaneous" caster may not "know" more spells of a higher level than the level previous (i.e. with 3 4th level spells, he may not "know" more than 3 5th level spells). Include Zero-level spells; they are not exempt or additional.
  
  Spells per day...or Spell Points: This applies to all spellcasters. Do not count "zero-level spell-levels." Add the spell levels of your class's "spells per day chart", including bonus spells. Thus, the total for a 3rd level wizard with 15 Intelligence has a total of 7 points. The only thing that I find hard to really teach a player is when a lower level character has an Ability bonus that shows bonus spells of a higher level than they can cast; that character still gains bonus spell points for those, but they act as the highest level of spell they can cast. Thus, our example of a 3rd level wizard would get 11 points with an 18 Intelligence (3 points from spells-per-day table, +1 for bonus 1st level spell, +2 for bonus 2nd level, +2 for bonus would-be 3rd level, and +2 for bonus would-be 4th level).
  
  Casting spells and what they cost: Very simply, a spell costs its level in spell points. Meta-magic level-adjustments add to the cost of spell points (the character must still have the feat to do so) ("spontanteous" casters must still take extra time to cast spells modified by metamagic). Zero-level spells may be cast at will, at no cost in spell points (however, adding metamagic to a zero-level spell will give it a cost to cast). Additionally, if a spell costs (inluding metamagic adjustment) equal to or less than 1% of your maximum total, it may be cast for free (typically up to 1st level spells for high level wizards/clerics, 2nd level spells for 20th level).
  
  Recovering spell points: Characters regain points while they are getting actual sleep or bed-rest. However, they don't automatically get everything back every night. They get 5% of their total back per hour of sleep. Thus 40% per standard 8-hour rest. When travelling in a wagon where they can get a semblance of rest in the rocking wagon (or an equivalent type of broken peace), they get 2% back per hour. All of this does take a minor bit of calculating (takes 10 seconds), but who does not have a calculator or basic math skills handy? Obviously, people will note that casters cannot use all of their spells everyday. This is intentional, and it reflects my gritty setting.
  
  When a caster is out of spell points: When a caster still needs to cast a spell but has no points left (or not enough), he may dig into himself for power. When he scours himself for spell points, he trades a point of Constitution AND a point of Strength for a number of spell points equal to his Casting Ability Modifier squared (4pts at 14 Intelligence, 9 pts at 16, 16 pts at 18, etc). The traded ability score points are treated as Ability Score damage, and they may ONLY be healed naturally; no form of magical healing will cause them to return faster.

• Power Components and XP costs: Nothing costs XP in my game, but anytime an XP cost is called for, a required power component is needed to cast the spell or make the item. Fortunately, my group is such that they work with me and get creative about what sorts of components would be appropriate for a particular spell or item. Some items cost gold to obtain, and some are things they have to quest/trade for. Occasionally, power components are in the form of specific rituals (requiring preparations, time, various numbers of adepts, or even specific conditions like a full moon or magical location).

I use and ignore various Rule Variants throughout the core books, but these are the only actual new house rules. Other things are more or less setting effects that reflect the gritty game (difficulty in pawning off or buying magical items, etc.)

 

[jdrakeh]

I definitely want to use a different magic system (possibly spell points or similar to Arcana Evolved) and action points. I'll probably tone the level of magic items down a tad, especially since I'll be using AP's. I might remove some of the more troublesome spells as well.

I've been thinking about this myself, lately. Reading The Slayers d20 got me started and watching Krull this morning pretty much hammered the final nail home. D&D magic is convenient, easy to grasp, and easy to teach to new players. It isn't, however, particularly magical. That whole "learned by rote" thing gets in the way of unique, individual, magic being custom-tailored to a given character.

Watching Krull, I realized I wanted a magic system that would allow for a character to have access to some incredibly powerful magic (such as the ability to momentarily stop time) without being a walking arsenal of spells. When reading The Slayers d20, I realized that I wanted a magic system that could do "Blow Up a House" fireballs without requiring the character to be Epic Level in stature.

Luckily, the magic system in The Slayers d20 can be easily tweaked to do both of these things (where the default D&D system really can't). So impressed was I that I ordered a second copy of the rulebook in question (you can grab it for like $10, new, at Noble Knight Games).