I find forced movement very easy in 5e, eg with 3 Eldritch Blasts warlocks can be pushing back enemies 30'; a high level Fighter can use one attack for bullrush to knock foe prone then make a bunch of attacks at Advantage.
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D&D 5E What variant rules should I add to my new campaign?
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I find forced movement very easy in 5e, eg with 3 Eldritch Blasts warlocks can be pushing back enemies 30'; a high level Fighter can use one attack for bullrush to knock foe prone then make a bunch of attacks at Advantage.
Not variants, but I have 2 home brew rules I use:
1. Alternate falling damage. This makes falling short distances slightly more risky than normal, and keeps falling as a serious issue at level 20. You look up the distance fallen on a table for the damage. The creature may make a Dexterity (Acrobatics) check as a reaction to mitigate the damage by the value of the check. Jumping down as part of your movement gives you advantage on the check. This means a commoner has as much chance of walking away from a 10-foot fall as dying from it. And 1,500-foot falls will splatter low-level characters, but high-CON heroes, raging barbarians, and monks will be able to walk away with some of their hit points remaining. http://www.enworld.org/forum/rpgdownloads.php?do=download&downloadid=1410
This made for some high excitement in our campaign a few months ago. The party came under attack as they came upon a damaged bridge crossing a 60-foot chasm. The bottom of the chasm was full of brush that was on fire except for a cart that was a small island in the fire. The monk decided to Dash across the bridge and missed seeing a weak spot that crumbled under him. He failed his Dexterity saving throw to keep from falling. He rolled low on his Dexterity (Acrobatics) throw to mitigate the falling damage. The 60-foot fall did 45 - 10 damage, and the level 3 character was knocked unconscious...in the burning brush...on fire. The bard Dashed across the bridge to the hole and cast healing word on the monk. The monk got up, and the fire damage was low enough that he did not fall unconscious again. He was able to climb out of the fire onto the cart and put out the flames on himself. After the battle, the heroes hauled him back up to the bridge.
2. Matt Mercer's resurrection rules. Outside of true resurrection, coming back from death is not automatic. The healer must make an ability check to bring the creature back from the dead, but other creatures may contribute to that check. Coming back from the dead was a bit too easy in my last campaign, so I am giving this a try. The heroes are being very careful not to die this time around as death might be permanent. https://geekandsundry.com/use-critical-roles-resurrection-rules-in-your-own-campaign/
1. Alternate falling damage. This makes falling short distances slightly more risky than normal, and keeps falling as a serious issue at level 20. You look up the distance fallen on a table for the damage. The creature may make a Dexterity (Acrobatics) check as a reaction to mitigate the damage by the value of the check. Jumping down as part of your movement gives you advantage on the check. This means a commoner has as much chance of walking away from a 10-foot fall as dying from it. And 1,500-foot falls will splatter low-level characters, but high-CON heroes, raging barbarians, and monks will be able to walk away with some of their hit points remaining. http://www.enworld.org/forum/rpgdownloads.php?do=download&downloadid=1410
This made for some high excitement in our campaign a few months ago. The party came under attack as they came upon a damaged bridge crossing a 60-foot chasm. The bottom of the chasm was full of brush that was on fire except for a cart that was a small island in the fire. The monk decided to Dash across the bridge and missed seeing a weak spot that crumbled under him. He failed his Dexterity saving throw to keep from falling. He rolled low on his Dexterity (Acrobatics) throw to mitigate the falling damage. The 60-foot fall did 45 - 10 damage, and the level 3 character was knocked unconscious...in the burning brush...on fire. The bard Dashed across the bridge to the hole and cast healing word on the monk. The monk got up, and the fire damage was low enough that he did not fall unconscious again. He was able to climb out of the fire onto the cart and put out the flames on himself. After the battle, the heroes hauled him back up to the bridge.
2. Matt Mercer's resurrection rules. Outside of true resurrection, coming back from death is not automatic. The healer must make an ability check to bring the creature back from the dead, but other creatures may contribute to that check. Coming back from the dead was a bit too easy in my last campaign, so I am giving this a try. The heroes are being very careful not to die this time around as death might be permanent. https://geekandsundry.com/use-critical-roles-resurrection-rules-in-your-own-campaign/
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smbakeresq
Explorer
Things I use:
Critical hits are max weapons damage plus bonus dice as usual. I don’t want players to get a crit and then roll two 1’s. Same goes for monsters.
Yunru rule about ability scores
Jump checks are DC= distance in feet. No automatic jumps.
Dueling users have option to step up damage die size instead of flat +2 i.e. d8 goes to d12
Powerful build steps up damage one die if you get custom weapons crafted. Powerful build needs more oomph.
I don’t use mob rules, but for large groups I just have half the monsters use help action on other half.
I use inspiration liberally and will use it in the middle of the action - I will grant a bonus d20 right then and there if inspired enough
I don’t use an actual clock but my action timer is about 60 seconds, if a PC doesn’t do some thing by then one of my creatures will.
Flanking but only a +2 bonus for one flanking attacker as you are facing the other one, Shield users can prevent one flank per round (I liked DragonAge)
In general keep the game moving, 5e is very good about that.
Critical hits are max weapons damage plus bonus dice as usual. I don’t want players to get a crit and then roll two 1’s. Same goes for monsters.
Yunru rule about ability scores
Jump checks are DC= distance in feet. No automatic jumps.
Dueling users have option to step up damage die size instead of flat +2 i.e. d8 goes to d12
Powerful build steps up damage one die if you get custom weapons crafted. Powerful build needs more oomph.
I don’t use mob rules, but for large groups I just have half the monsters use help action on other half.
I use inspiration liberally and will use it in the middle of the action - I will grant a bonus d20 right then and there if inspired enough
I don’t use an actual clock but my action timer is about 60 seconds, if a PC doesn’t do some thing by then one of my creatures will.
Flanking but only a +2 bonus for one flanking attacker as you are facing the other one, Shield users can prevent one flank per round (I liked DragonAge)
In general keep the game moving, 5e is very good about that.
Eltab
Lord of the Hidden Layer
Minions do not exist in 5e but should.
"Bloodied" indicators. This does not have to include a mechanical effect. Both I and my players appreciated knowing we were getting somewhere on those "big bag of HP" enemies.
The "spell points" variant on an Enchanter Wizard or a Bard, casting the emotion-affecting spells, feels like psionics.
"Bloodied" indicators. This does not have to include a mechanical effect. Both I and my players appreciated knowing we were getting somewhere on those "big bag of HP" enemies.
The "spell points" variant on an Enchanter Wizard or a Bard, casting the emotion-affecting spells, feels like psionics.
Maxperson
Morkus from Orkus
Yeah. This is listed as a variant in the 5e ability check section, but in my opinion it's a no brainer to include it.
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Hjorimir
Adventurer
We use a pseudo-minion rule, which is basically if you don't one shot the monster it dies the next time it takes damage. No hard and fast rule as to what kind of monsters are minions, but generally orcs and other "support" type monsters once the characters are of sufficiently high level.
smbakeresq
Explorer
I use this also, scaling on level. Sometimes a creature can take 2 hits, sometimes 3.
Nate1970
Explorer
A few things I use....
A critical in combat is figured out as follows… Roll damage die + Max number on damage die + Stat modifier. (ex. Long Sword crit would be 1D8 + 8 + Str Modifier)
In combat a character can choose to act on a lower initiative. That initiative becomes their new one
All die rolls must be done with real dice. No Apps
When a character regains consciousness after being unconscious and making Death Saves, they have one level of exhaustion plus one for each failed death save. This last for the remainder of the combat.
A critical in combat is figured out as follows… Roll damage die + Max number on damage die + Stat modifier. (ex. Long Sword crit would be 1D8 + 8 + Str Modifier)
In combat a character can choose to act on a lower initiative. That initiative becomes their new one
All die rolls must be done with real dice. No Apps
When a character regains consciousness after being unconscious and making Death Saves, they have one level of exhaustion plus one for each failed death save. This last for the remainder of the combat.
TheCosmicKid
Hero
Hah, and gaming comes full circle. Old-school wargaming called this... hit points.
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