Your favorite house rules

[Elf Witch]

Do you consider them to be flat footed as well, or do they just simply miss a round of actions?

Olaf the Stout

No I don't make them flat footed they just lose a round.

I wanted to add to the tension by making rolling a 1 possibly be a bad thing without it being a really bad thing. Losing a round which means you can't move and being flat footed just seemed a little to punitive.

 

[Rune]

I don't remember any of the many houserules I used back in the 2e days. They probably weren't that great anyway.

In 3e, I kept things pretty simple. Aside from stylistic houserules based on the setting, I did make one deliberate change to the Toughness feat. I had the feat also add -3 hit points, in addition to the +3 hit points that it normally added (meaning a character who had taken the feat once would die at -13 hit points, instead of -10). This made the feat particularly attractive to someone who also had Diehard.

In 4e (and other games I currently run, such as an E6 Trailblazer game), aside from stylistic houserules based on the setting, I utilize a variety of rules that provide incentive for the players to play the game I want to run. In particular, two have been extremely beneficial to my games:

1 - Karma Points: The idea is not new, but in my games, I allow for both heroic deeds accomplished within the game and deeds done by players outside of the game that specifically make my job as DM easier to accumulate such points. These points can be used in any game I run for a mechanical benefit (turning a hit into a miss or vise versa, turning a hit into a crit, making a save, etc.), or, more popularly, to change the plot on me. This type of usage has significantly altered the course of campaigns.

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 fraction of a major quest--2:1 or 3:1 work pretty well). This puts the focus squarely on getting the job done, and does not care what means the party chooses to do it.

To this, I should add a couple:

3 - Plus One to Anything Tokens: If a player is immediately ready to begin his or her turn when it comes around, that player earns a "Plus One to Anything Token," which are cumulative and can be used at any time and in any quantity to...well, you can probably figure it out. This helps provide incentive to the players to pay attention and be ready, without penalizing players for carefully considering their actions (as does the common houserule that enforces a delay when a player takes "too long"). These tokens do not carry over from encounter to encounter.

Even with such tokens and karma points in play, sometimes the dice just suck the energy out of the room. This happened last night, and I realize I need a way to combat it, so, starting next game, the following houserule will be in effect:

4 - Karma Favors the Hapless: Three misses or failed saves in a row (in any combination) by any single character earns that character's player a karma point. This means, that a string of debilitating rolls will not keep a character from contributing to an encounter, and gives a player who is definitely not feeling lucky a reason not to feel discouraged. Suddenly, when the second miss in a row comes around, the player can start thinking, "maybe it would be better if I don't hit, next time!"

 

[steeldragons]

To this, I should add a couple:

3 - Plus One to Anything Tokens: If a player is immediately ready to begin his or her turn when it comes around, that player earns a "Plus One to Anything Token," which are cumulative and can be used at any time and in any quantity to...well, you can probably figure it out. This helps provide incentive to the players to pay attention and be ready, without penalizing players for carefully considering their actions (as does the common houserule that enforces a delay when a player takes "too long"). These tokens do not carry over from encounter to encounter.

Even with such tokens and karma points in play, sometimes the dice just suck the energy out of the room. This happened last night, and I realize I need a way to combat it, so, starting next game, the following houserule will be in effect:

4 - Karma Favors the Hapless: Three misses or failed saves in a row (in any combination) by any single character earns that character's player a karma point. This means, that a string of debilitating rolls will not keep a character from contributing to an encounter, and gives a player who is definitely not feeling lucky a reason not to feel discouraged. Suddenly, when the second miss in a row comes around, the player can start thinking, "maybe it would be better if I don't hit, next time!"

So, the players can cheers when they get bad dice rolls? Basically, "random" doesn't exist...or "bad random/random that doesn't work the way you like" gets you presents? The dice "aren't nice" so "I [the DM] will be nice for the dice". Why would a player with bad dice rolls "feel discouraged"?...it's dice...it's chance. It will not "always be so."

Sometimes "random chance" works for us, sometimes it doesn't. Life lesson to learn by...not just gamers, but anyone.

[EDIT] Apologies, [MENTION=67]Rune[/MENTION], this is a thread about "house rules." No one deserves argument for their in-game choices. I was remiss in doing so. [/EDIT]

--SD

 

[Rune]

So, the players can cheers when they get bad dice rolls? Basically, "random" doesn't exist...or "bad random/random that doesn't work the way you like" gets you presents? The dice "aren't nice" so "I [the DM] will be nice for the dice". Why would a player with bad dice rolls "feel discouraged"?...it's dice...it's chance. It will not "always be so."

Sometimes "random chance" works for us, sometimes it doesn't. Life lesson to learn by...not just gamers, but anyone.

[EDIT] Apologies, [MENTION=67]Rune[/MENTION], this is a thread about "house rules." No one deserves argument for their in-game choices. I was remiss in doing so. [/EDIT]

--SD

No apology necessary. You just happen to be 100% wrong with regard to the absolutely miserable game that my group suffered through last night.

Had I had this house-rule in place last night, we all would have had fun. Instead, we all didn't.

And, the kicker was, I (the DM) wasn't to blame--strictly speaking. It's just that the dice kept someone from being able to contribute in any meaningful way. He was completely locked down, and highly frustrated (which is a very contagious mood).

Don't mistake me. It ain't 'cause I'm soft and it ain't 'cause I'm nice. It also ain't 'cause my players are soft. I am a Rat Bastard DM (certified!) and my players like it that way. I don't fudge (I don't even roll behind the screen--if I even use one). I'm perfectly willing to let Fate play its role, and I've never had any problems TPKing a party, if that's what Fate demands.

But when it comes to letting the dice dictate whether or not anyone has any fun at all, I'll be damned if I'm going to let them run the show unchecked. I'm just too much of a control-freak for that.

But fudging is a cheap way out--so I came up with a rule that still keeps the players in a tight spot, while also giving them some means of contributing to (and even, to some limited degree, controlling) the situation. I have no doubt that this rule will do what I intend for it to do. I only wish I had come up with it one night earlier.

 

[steeldragons]

No apology necessary. You just happen to be 100% wrong with regard to the absolutely miserable game that my group suffered through last night.

Had I had this house-rule in place last night, we all would have had fun. Instead, we all didn't.

And, the kicker was, I (the DM) wasn't to blame--strictly speaking. It's just that the dice kept someone from being able to contribute in any meaningful way. He was completely locked down, and highly frustrated (which is a very contagious mood).

Don't mistake me. It ain't 'cause I'm soft and it ain't 'cause I'm nice. It also ain't 'cause my players are soft. I am a Rat Bastard DM (certified!) and my players like it that way. I don't fudge (I don't even roll behind the screen--if I even use one). I'm perfectly willing to let Fate play its role, and I've never had any problems TPKing a party, if that's what Fate demands.

But when it comes to letting the dice dictate whether or not anyone has any fun at all, I'll be damned if I'm going to let them run the show unchecked. I'm just too much of a control-freak for that.

But fudging is a cheap way out--so I came up with a rule that still keeps the players in a tight spot, while also giving them some means of contributing to (and even, to some limited degree, controlling) the situation. I have no doubt that this rule will do what I intend for it to do. I only wish I had come up with it one night earlier.

You, sir, are a gentleman among mortals. And I would be privileged to play in your group. Sounds like great fun. My own games don't run all that differently...I am more than willing to not let the dice "run the show" if it/they get in the way of the fun.

Just didn't sound like that in the original post.

But kudos and thank you.

 

[Dordledum]

some houserules we implemented in our 3.5 games:

1. screw pythagoras: 1 square = 1 square even if it's diagonally.

2. ask for a reroll: you can ask for the DM to reroll healing dice (cure spells) and hit point rolls on level up. When you ask for it you have to take it even if it's lower than your own roll.

3. if you take to long in deciding your action in combat, you lose your turn.

4. the +10 and -10 rules on critical hits and misses, differs who's GM-ing though, I prefer automatically hit and fail options.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

some houserules we implemented in our 3.5 games:

1. screw pythagoras: 1 square = 1 square even if it's diagonally.

2. ask for a reroll: you can ask for the DM to reroll healing dice (cure spells) and hit point rolls on level up. When you ask for it you have to take it even if it's lower than your own roll.

3. if you take to long in deciding your action in combat, you lose your turn.

4. the +10 and -10 rules on critical hits and misses, differs who's GM-ing though, I prefer automatically hit and fail options.

1. We do 1st diagonal = 1 square, 2nd diagonal = 2 squares. 1 for 1 is certainly makes for easier movement though.

2. Last campaign I allowed players to re-roll with 1 dice down (i.e. a d10 becomes a d8, d8 and d6, d6 a d4, d4 cannot be re-rolled). I found that it inflated hit points more than I expected so I dropped it for this campaign.

3. This campaign if players don't give me their action within about 10 seconds I'm going to rule that they are delaying.

Olaf the Stout

 

[jbear]

I've a whole heap of house rules to spice things up, but my favourite ? Without a doubt it has to be the "Do Something Cool Card".

I play 4e, so basically it is an encounter power that all my players have which allows them to alter any of their powers, skills, abilities in a way that is coherent and cool or to make the most of some situation or terrain feature that is present in that moment in a cool or awesome way. It's not just a free for all "I pull a pegasus from my behind and fly away" ... a) because that's not cool and b) because you have to use the situation or the fluff of your powers or background skills even to gain a cool advantage or do something cinematic and awesome. (Moi, le DM of course is final judge of what is cool ... and repeating the same trick over and over for example ... well ... not cool).

It has been the source of many truly awesome gaming moments, and to me, that's what it's all about