When do we REALLY need house rules? Really?

[Emirikol]

I've heard horror stories abotu 179 page house rulebooks to counter and counter-counter every dang rule combo under the sun. I myself have fallen prey to the 15+ page house rulebook syndrome. Since I dropped the little technical bureaucratic fine print mentality, my group has hinted they are happier..even though it meant me taking away some bonus feats and benefits for the PC's.

When do we REALLY need house rules and do they even ever do any good?

jh



..

 

[drexes]

Need? Never. I need water, food, oxygen and shelter. But want? I think some of us want the crunchy bits to better reflect our own style of campaigns and play. My house rules (not including races/prestige classes/etc.) is only a couple of pages long and reflects changes I felt added a unique flavor to our campaign world and fit our style of play more. I've seen it taken too far by some groups (at least I felt that way) and in other groups I could see how a simple change would have made them all so much happier. So, yes, I think they do some good. The trick as I see it is this, don't change things just for the sake of changing them, but if there is a REAL reason, beyond "this makes more sense to me", then approach it cautiously.

My argument against "this makes more sense logic": I hate reading, "well I'm a martial artist so I know how fights really are", or some other such nonsense. Martial Arts have rules and even the least restrictive among them involves very little attempting to kill a 9,000 pound fanged beast with a large pointy metal object and a fireball. I've taken several years of martial arts and can honestly say they really teach very little of actual fighting. Now I get in fights alot at work and well I can say this most end up in massive grapple on the floor and none are the same. This is my example of the fact that everybodies experience differs greatly and so what makes sense to you rarely reflects the actual truth.

I prefer to only house rule for flavor. Sometimes I house rule for simplicity or to "correct" a balance issue my group and I have noticed.

Drexes

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

Agreed with Drexes..

as to have they ever helped? See "Dodge gives a bonus against everyone", This HR helps smooth the flow of combat.

I try to limit my list of HRs as much as possible in order to make it easier for people to learn the game. But I am not adverse to tweaking bits and pieces to make them 'fit' a little better or fill in a gap..

Examples include:
- Altered Bow/X-Bow system that takes into account the bow
- Rules for object falling on your head
- Rules for fluency at language affecting social skills
- Rules for throwing Kobolds {or other characters..}
- Rules for calling Animal Companions that make Vlad Taltos' style
- Altered races to split out racial vs cultural abilities {work in progress}

Do I need these? Nope. However I think they add a layer of detail that makes the game better... or in the case of the Kobold, provides the answer as to how to rule it when you chuck the Dwarf over at the Orcs....

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

I constantly see things in the game that just don't make sense to me, so of course i love making house rules. Unfortunately I've found that most players don't find 17 pages of them to be fun. My new strategy to deal with this is to lump all of my HRs together in a total d&d revamp, but to also have a short list of HRs that apply to 3.5.

This shorter list is composed of rules that reflect my homebrew and rules that just make the game simpler and more intuitive. Whenever i think of a new houserule that 'just makes more sense' i ask myself: 1) Will i ever need to refer to my own HR list to find/remember it? 2) Is it likely that the average player will balk at it or easily forget it? 3) Will this HR add a new mechanic or any more complication to the game? and 4) Can I just let RAW be illogical in this particular case without having an aneurism?

If the answer to any of these questions is Yes, i drop the houserule. I currently have one or two house rules concerning each chapter of PHB, and I'd like to keep it that way while I continue to work on my system revamp.

 

[XCorvis]

For my next game, I've actually made a list of some house rules. Normally my group doesn't use them, except for a few basic ones (die at -Con, not -10; ignore multiclass XP penalties, fractional BAB and saves), but I want my next game to have a different feel to it. I'm upping everyone's skill points by two, replacing Diplomacy (because it's stupid, not because it's broken), making tumble an opposed roll, etc. I'm not nerfing anything (at least, not intentionally), but I'm trying to add rules that add to the game or change it on a deeper level than "Class X is not allowed".

 

[genshou]

My Universal House Rules aren't too bad. If I ever compiled all my d20 Modern fixes in one place, it'd blanket the whole Earth, I swear.

I only made a 20+ page house rule book once. I haven't felt the desire to do so since.

 

[Felix]

The only house rules I really like are the ones that simplify the mechanics of DnD (Dodge gives +1 AC vs all enemies) and the ones whose purpose is to change the flavor of the setting (no sorcerers or monks). As soon as house rules start becoming complicated treatises, they lose their appeal for me.

 

[genshou]

The only house rules I really like are the ones that simplify the mechanics of DnD (Dodge gives +1 AC vs all enemies) and the ones whose purpose is to change the flavor of the setting (no sorcerers or monks). As soon as house rules start becoming complicated treatises, they lose their appeal for me.

What about ones that encourage players to create fun characters and worry less about optimization, or ones that make ability scores more fair among the party members, without sacrificing random rolls?

 

[Plane Sailing]

As far as I'm concerned there are two main reasons:

1. To give specific flavour to campaigns

2. To increase fun

Supplementary reasons include

a. To cover new situations consistently

b. To remove loopholes

c. To correct things that we consider 'errors'

Cheers

 

[Meatboy]

Most of It has been covered by the people before me but, house rules are not "needed". WoTC and everyone before have made a very playable game right out of the book. Sometimes however you want to do something or be something or have something or do something in a different way. Thats when you want house rules. That is when you "need" house rules.