Your favorite house rules

[scruffygrognard]

For 2nd edition AD&D I did not use kits other than those in Skills & Powers... and did not use anything else, other than the PHB and DMG, for character creation. The game was too munchkin-able once other books were used. Other than that, I made up stats for Perception (the average or INT and WIS), Willpower (the average of WIS and CHA) and Endurance (the average of STR and CON).

For 3.X my group learned to stick to the core rules. The only PrCs that we used were those that helped emulate AD&D-style multiclassing (the Arcane Trickster, Eldritch Knight, Mystic Theurge and the Warpriest).

For Castles & Crusades, I use my own houserules which, once again, help it to better simulate AD&D. Sadly, my website is down for some reason so I can't post a link.

 

[Grogg of the North]

If it sounds awesome, go ahead and try it. It may just work.

And the more you describe what you're doing, the more Super Secret DM Modifiers you'll get.

 

[was]

Party members who kill other party members without reason spontaneously combust.

 

[kitsune9]

i have a few houserules which I implement to fit the theme of the campaign or to encourage the use of some aspect of it.

My favorite is the hiring and use of mercenaries, experts, and commoners. I use my own system.

Right now I have a few rules for the Carrion Crown campaign I'm running. They are:

1. Diplomacy modifiers for dealing with the insular Ustalav people.
2. Mob rules should you be revealed as a "witch".
3. Death is permanent, but you get one Fate Point in which to avoid death. If you die a second time, roll up a new character.
4. Merc rules.
5. Dealing with lycanthropy which is a very difficult process in removing.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

I used to have quite a few house rules in my game. Over time I've cut them back where I found they were becoming rules just for the sake of extra rules, rather than adding to the game. Here are a few of the house rules

1. No spiked chains or floaty shields. They do not exist in my game.

My experience with spiked chains in my game has been that they are too powerful. I think floaty shields are borderline, plus I really don't like the concept of them either (yes, I realise the irony of this in a game where PC's fight giant eyes that fire rays at you and shoot balls of fire from their hands).

2. Rogues are automatically entitled to a Search check to find traps when moving carefully (half-speed) and passing within 5 feet of a trap. This ability works like the Elven ability to find secret doors.

I found this rule stops the continuous "I'm searching for traps" that can sometimes occur.

3. To increase ranks in a skill that you already have ranks in, or in a skill that you can use untrained, you must have used the skill during your previous level. This may have been during the adventure or in the down time between adventures. If it was during the down time during adventures provide a short explanation as to how you used the skill.

I just think it adds a little bit of realism to the game (once again I realise the irony of this statement, but I don't care! )

4. Characters die at -10 minus their constitution modifier (instead of -10).

5. Failing a massive damage save drops you to -1 hit point (instead of immediately killing you).

Both of these rules help reduce character death a little, without putting the baby gloves on too much. Plus the massive damage saves start becoming commonplace at higher levels.

6. On a threat, a 20 on the critical confirmation roll adds an extra multiple to the damage and you roll again, adding an extra multiple every time you roll another 20 (i.e. a 20 on a critical confirmation roll increases a x2 critical to a x3 critical).

I don't like the auto-kill on a triple 20 roll, but I do think that confirming on a 20 should be worth a little more. The best I think we got was a x3 weapon that got increased to x4 after a 20 on a confirmation roll.

7. Characters receive 3 action points per level. They can be used as per the rules in Unearthed Arcana. Points do not carry over from one level to the next. When you level up all unused action points are lost.

I like the action points rules, but I found that the players ended up with too many. Capping them at 3 max means that they are still there to use, but are limited.

They normally get used to increase save rolls where a player has rolled low, or to emulate the Improved Toughness feat to give a PC more hit points to save him from death. It only lasts for 1 round, but that is usually enough time for the Cleric to get over and save his buddy.

It has meant there have been less deaths in my game, but I'm fine with that as myself and the players play long ongoing campaigns and generally don't change PC's. It allows me to not hold back with my punches for the bad guys as I know that there is a little bit of a safety net there.

It doesn't mean that there are no deaths in my game, but it has stopped a few.

Olaf the Stout

 

[Rune]

4. Characters die at -10 minus their constitution modifier (instead of -10).

I did this with 3.5, as well, but I don't think it ever actually added anything to my game.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

I did this with 3.5, as well, but I don't think it ever actually added anything to my game.

It reduced the number of character deaths in my game. There were a number of times where PC's were taken down to -11 to -14, but saved from being dead due to a good Con modifier.

Olaf the Stout

 

[AeroDm]

Decaying magic items instead of charges. It was not a rule of my own creation, but it entirely changed the way people used magic items (for the better!) and made tracking much easier. The gist is that instead of 50 charges, an item might be a d10. Every time you use a charge, you roll the d10 and if it comes up a 1 then the item decays into a d8. Repeat until d4 and then destruction. It was much more tense and people were willing to use them more often.

At some point, I turned it on its head. All of the players were cursed by a demon. The demon grafted itself onto the soul of one player in particular. Anytime he failed a d20 roll by 1, the demon whispered in his mind "Would you like to succeed?" If he said 'yes', he rolled a d10 and saw if his soul decayed. If it decayed, his 'soul' became a d8 and if he failed a d20 roll by up to 2 the demon made the same offer and so on.

Within a few sessions he had decayed to a d6 (adding up to +3 to any d20 roll) and just decided to shut it down cold turkey. You'd be amazed how many times you fail what feels like a really critical d20 roll by just a point or two.

 

[Janx]

in 2e, casters did not have to memorize spells (like Sorcerors in 3e). They were still used the spell slots, limited by what spells they knew etc. They just didn't have to write down what they memorized, and could cast any spell they knew.

Worked well, made for a lot more varied spell usage. Folks used their special-purpose spells more often and in creative ways.

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

Regardless of edition, I have a few universal house rules including:

2 - Levels Through Quests: The problem with XP is not that it's overly-fiddly (although it is), it is that it assumes that the players fight (and succeed). A lot. Some will (and that's okay with me), but some groups will (and do) prefer to find other means of accomplishing their goals, and I want to reward that behavior no less than I would a hack-and-slash party. I do that by advancing players a level based on a number of quests accomplished (with each minor quest being equal to a major quest). This puts the focus squarely on getting the job done, and does not care what means the party chooses to do it.

Also...

2. I use a hex map for combat. Deal with it.

3. Area spells/powers can be reduced in size at the time of casting. IME, area effects are underused for a variety of good reasons. This rule at least lends these spells/powers a bit of flexibility.

4. Instead of banning whole splatbooks or having exhaustive spell ban lists, I reserve the right to retro-ban or -nerf material that becomes problematic. This rule is mostly for 3.x.

I used to have a 30-some page document of 3.5 house rules, but I recently trimmed it down to a 7-page document of really essential tweaks to 3.5. They include, but are not limited to:

For 3.5e:

No favoured classes - characters can multiclass freely.

No multiclass restrictions on Paladins and Monks - characters can multiclass freely.

Fixed hit points per level (3 for the d4 classes, 5 for the d6/d8 classes, 7 for the d10/d12 classes). At 1st level, characters get the same as above, plus 5 hit points (that is, 8, 10 or 12 hit points). Con modifier applies normally.

Pathfinder skill rules.

4. Characters die at -10 minus their constitution modifier (instead of -10).

I also wrote an 'innate bonus' system, because I got tired of checking and rechecking WBL and the general Diablo loot dynamic.