Battlemaster Fighters don't exist. Instead, every martial class (non-full caster) starts with 1 superiority die and 2 maneuvers known, and every class that gains Extra Attack gains an superiority die and known maneuver at that level. Unlike regular extra attack, any source of extra attack grants a superiority die so you aren't losing out on anything if you happen to go Paladin 5/Ranger 5 for whatever reason.
Sorcerers know all metamagic from the start, but all other rules still apply. You can also spend Sorcery points to change the element of a spell to something related to your Origin, like Draconic making spells their element or Storm changing their spells to Lightning or Thunder. Wild magic has a random damage type instead.
Wot4E monks either get an additional Wis mod Ki points to their pool or all their costs are reduced by 1 (Minimum 1). I haven't decided which I like better. Elemental Attunement also doesn't cost a discipline spot, you just know it for free.
I've also been working on weapon creation rules for a different game, but they can easily be ported over to 5e.
You create weapons by combining Handles and Heads. By combining those different parts, you get all the aspects of the weapon like damage, damage type, etc.
Handles are 1 Handed, 2 Handed, and Reach. The 1 and 2 Handed handles come in Hilt and Haft varieties while Reach handles are Poles or Whips. Hilts are a generic term for smaller handles with large weapon heads while Hafts are larger handles with a smaller weapon head. Poles are for all polearms and are 2 handed, while whips are 1 handed and include flails for the moment.
Heads are the damage dealing portion of the weapon. They come in two varieties (Blade and Bludgeon) and three sizes (Small, Medium, and Large). Blades apply to Hilts and come in Blunt, Curved, and Straight varieties for Bludgeoning, Slashing, and Piercing damage respectively. Blunt blades are weapons like Clubs and Bar maces. Curved blades are your Scimitars and Falchions. Straight blades are Rapiers and daggers. Bludgeons apply to Hafts and come in Axe, Mace, and Pick varieties for Slashing, Bludgeoning, and Piercing damage respectively. Axes are obviously axes but scythes also. Maces are for maces and hammers. Picks are for picks and spears.
Now all of these combine to create a Complexity score. Complexity determines weapon damage and whether its considered a Simple or Martial weapon. 1 Handed and Small parts add 0 complexity, Reach and Medium parts add 1 complexity, while 2 Handed and Large parts add 2 complexity. You can have a maximum of 5 Complexity on your weapon, but in the case of multiple weapon heads, damage depends on which head you attack with. Complexity 0 and 1 weapons are Simple, 2-4 are Martial. Finesse weapons are any 1 handed weapon with a Medium or smaller head. Complexity 0 = d4 (1 Handed/Small) Complexity 1 = d6 (1 Handed/Medium) Complexity 2 = d8 (Whip/Medium) Complexity 3 = d10 (Pole/Large) Complexity 4 = d12 (2 Handed/Large)
With all these rules, you can create nigh any medieval weapon you desire. The mechanics are all kind of baked internally while any other things can just be fluffed to look like whatever you want. I haven't gotten around to ranged weapons yet, but so far my group is excited about the system. It also makes randomly generating weapons really easy as its essentially just 3 small tables to roll on. Just 3d6 and boom, there's the loot. Eventually I'll get a system for Armor and maybe spells, and then soon enough I won't even need a group to play. I can just play all by myself.
That's...actually a really cool system! Easy to use, but complex enough to kinda take in whatever direction you want. I might look into borrowing something very similar for my campaign
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I know what you're thinking: "In that flurry of blows, did he use all his ki points, or save one?" Well, are ya feeling lucky, punk?
There are three that I can think of off the top of my head that I've utilized. Let me know what you all think!
1. 4e bloodied rule. I was always a fan of this because of the change it invited into the combat encounters. Sometimes villains run, beg for their lives, or are willing to kill everyone including themselves if they're going down.
2. Advantage/disadvantage variant. If a player has knocked an NPC prone, and their allies flank, obviously it will be easier to hit them while they lay on the ground attempting to defend two sides. In this situation I implement "Double Advantage", meaning the player would roll 3 d20's and take the highest. Now some may say that this is OP, and I would agree, but if my players agree to it, then it can also happen to them. This works as well for disadvantage. If you're blinded and prone, it will be more difficult to steel yourself and make a successful attack: double disadvantage.
Wot4E monks either get an additional Wis mod Ki points to their pool or all their costs are reduced by 1 (Minimum 1). I haven't decided which I like better. Elemental Attunement also doesn't cost a discipline spot, you just know it for free.
Replace Darkvision with low-light vision for all races that don’t live underground. Creatures with low-light vision can see in Dim light as if it were Bright light.
So Drow, Sniverfblin, and others who live permanently underground would keep darkvision, but elves, orcs, and other races who live above ground trade it for low-light vision. Suggested to increase drama and make darkness ominous and threatening. Andy feels okay about this.
At character creation, PCs get a number of tokens equal to their Charisma SCORE. Subject to the DM's consent, and only if it is plausible, once per level they can trade in a token to declare that their character was somehow acquainted with an NPC they just met during the game.
This helps integrate PCs into the setting a bit more.
That looks an awful lot like the Plot Points mechanic from page 269 of the DM's Guide.
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"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
When a player hires an NPC for adventuring, porters/bodyguards/etc.. I make 2 separate reference cards. I make 2 quick reference cards with different information.
The first card is for myself for role play purposes. It has the hirelings name, his job, his contracted pay, and 2 or 3 personality traits, which PC hired him/her, and a Morale stat. The morale stat starts at 10, and the players actions and attitude toward the hireling can positively or negatively impact the morale score, adding or subtracting from 10. IE: asking a Cook to sneak ahead into the Kuo-Toa lair would cause a huge penalty and could cause the hireling to leave the PCs service. Long term fair treatment, could possibly lead to the hireling becoming a fully fledged follower.
The second card has the hirelings name, his job, basic stats/skills/equipment. Basically a combat card in case the hireling is forced to enter an encounter with the party. The player controls the hireling during combat because I can't be are**d. lol
The PC also has to agree to an actual adventuring contract with the Hireling. Depending on the hirelings job, this could include salary per day or week, expenses, a predetermined bonus sum for the completed adventure, share of treasure accumulated, and possibly a payment of commutation to the hirelings family in case of death.
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Welcome to the Grand Illusion, come on in and see what's happening, pay the price, get your ticket for the show....
The morale stat starts at 10, and the players actions and attitude toward the hireling can positively or negatively impact the morale score, adding or subtracting from 10. IE: asking a Cook to sneak ahead into the Kuo-Toa lair would cause a huge penalty and could cause the hireling to leave the PCs service. Long term fair treatment, could possibly lead to the hireling becoming a fully fledged follower.
This is interesting, and I've yoinked it to some degree into my own houserules, but I'm of two contradictory minds on it. In part, it's not detailed enough to be truly helpful, in the sense that it leaves so much work up to the DM that the DM might as well make up anything reasonable on the matter. On the other hand, I don't really want to bother tracking these kinds of details for hirelings, so it's already more than I want to deal with. In light of that, perhaps this is a good compromise.
Follow up question: what's a "fully fledged follower?"
Houserule: at 10th level, players choose a save their characters become proficient in. They select another at level 15.
Otherwise, a level 19 or 20 caster imposes a DC 18 spell saving throw. A level 20 target of such a spell who has a relevant ability bonus of, say, +1 and is not proficient in the relevant save will fail that save 80% of the time. The same issue applies to almost any save imposed by a monster of CR 15 or higher. This is problematic due to the existence of save-or-suck spells and effects like Charm Person or Feeblemind. The Resilient feat fixes this, if feats are used, by allowing folks to gain proficiency in the important saves (Dex, Con and Wis), but at the significant cost of one ability score increase and other customization.
All classes have one good saving throw, and this fix gives them a second one at level 10. It's debatable whether a third one (the second italicized sentence above) is necessary, but given the availability of save-or-suck spells at high level, it probably is.
What I mean by "fully fledged follower" is that the hireling now chooses to follow the PC. Much like in 1 and 2E, where a character would gain followers at certain levels. A hireling that started as just a porter might actually gain a level of fighter after being inspired by the PC. The hireling trusts and believes in the PC now, and chooses to adventure with the PC. He/she still needs to be paid, but will be more apt toward risk and danger. The PC would have proven to be a trustworthy friend by this point.
Admittedly, the morale score is arbitrary and I could probably without, but having to keep track of the entire world, all the monsters, all the plots and NPC goals, I end up forgetting that hirelings are supposed to be as real as the Big Bad and the PCs. So the arbitrary hash marks just help me keep track lol
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Welcome to the Grand Illusion, come on in and see what's happening, pay the price, get your ticket for the show....
Companion Boon At 7th level characters have spent enough time working with their adventuring companions that their own skills rub off on their friends. A 7th level character grants one of their fellow adventurers a boon. No character may benefit from more than one boon gifted by a companion. The boon is like a leveling up "gift" the character gets to share with a companion by training them in a bit of what they do. Here are the boons based on the boon-giver's starting class: Barbarian: Train one companion to add +1 to AC when not wearing medium or heavy armor. Bard: Train one companion to grant one bardic inspiration die (d6) per short or long rest. Cleric: Teach one companion a cleric cantrip. Druid: Teach one companion a druid cantrip. Fighter: Train one companion to add +1 to melee weapon attacks. Monk: Train one companion to add +5 ft to their movement speed. Paladin: Permanently increase one companion’s maximum HP by 5. Ranger: Train one companion to add +1 to ranged weapon attacks. Rogue: Teach one companion Expertise in one skill of the recipient's choice. Sorcerer: Teach one companion a sorcerer cantrip. Warlock: Teach one companion a warlock cantrip. Wizard: Teach one companion a wizard cantrip. Spellcasters train their companions in the art and science of magic itself, not in particular spells, so they do not need to personally know the cantrips they teach their companions. Rogues, too, train their friends to hone their own skills, so the rogue does not need to be proficient in the skill they grant expertise in.
Odd Ability Scores Odd ability scores increase saving throws by +1. To give some kind of benefit to an odd ability score, an odd ability score increases a character's saving throw in that ability by +1. For instance, a character with Strength 11 would have +0 to attacks, damages, and ability checks using Str but would add +1 to Str saving throws. Intelligence 9 would still have -1 to checks, attacks, and damage, but would have +0 to Int saves.
Passive Knowledge 10+your skill modifier in Arcana, History, Nature, and Religion is your passive knowledge score in those skills. I use that to determine how much a character knows about a particular topic. A character may attempt an active check to recall more information only if they are trained in that skill or if their character would have a clear reason to have more information (for instance: history pertaining to their own home region or religious lore about a deity they serve). This avoids six players making history checks to see if they've heard of some obscure event and just hoping to roll a natural 20, and assumes a druid with a passive nature score of 18 would easily recognize a common beast and know about its hunting tactics without risking rolling a "1" on a check. Active checks are still used for other applications of these skills (for instance: arcana checks to disarm a magical ward).
Ranged Attacks Into Melee Combat There is a small chance that firing a ranged attack into a heated melee combat may hit an unintended target. If a ranged attack fired at a target currently engaged in melee combat misses with a natural "1," the attack hits an unintended target chosen by the DM. Weapon or spell damage applies to the unintended target as normal, but any effects that would not affect the unintended target do not apply (for instance, sneak attack damage or hunter's mark).
Skill Proficiencies by Background For each background option (including those in the PHB as well as some catered specifically to my homebrew setting), players may select two out of four skill options, rather than having two automatically applied. For instance, acolytes choose two skills selected from History, Insight, Medicine, and Religion.
Companion Boon At 7th level characters have spent enough time working with their adventuring companions that their own skills rub off on their friends. A 7th level character grants one of their fellow adventurers a boon. No character may benefit from more than one boon gifted by a companion. The boon is like a leveling up "gift" the character gets to share with a companion by training them in a bit of what they do. Here are the boons based on the boon-giver's starting class: Barbarian: Train one companion to add +1 to AC when not wearing medium or heavy armor. Bard: Train one companion to grant one bardic inspiration die (d6) per short or long rest. Cleric: Teach one companion a cleric cantrip. Druid: Teach one companion a druid cantrip. Fighter: Train one companion to add +1 to melee weapon attacks. Monk: Train one companion to add +5 ft to their movement speed. Paladin: Permanently increase one companion’s maximum HP by 5. Ranger: Train one companion to add +1 to ranged weapon attacks. Rogue: Teach one companion Expertise in one skill of the recipient's choice. Sorcerer: Teach one companion a sorcerer cantrip. Warlock: Teach one companion a warlock cantrip. Wizard: Teach one companion a wizard cantrip. Spellcasters train their companions in the art and science of magic itself, not in particular spells, so they do not need to personally know the cantrips they teach their companions. Rogues, too, train their friends to hone their own skills, so the rogue does not need to be proficient in the skill they grant expertise in.
Odd Ability Scores Odd ability scores increase saving throws by +1. To give some kind of benefit to an odd ability score, an odd ability score increases a character's saving throw in that ability by +1. For instance, a character with Strength 11 would have +0 to attacks, damages, and ability checks using Str but would add +1 to Str saving throws. Intelligence 9 would still have -1 to checks, attacks, and damage, but would have +0 to Int saves.
Passive Knowledge 10+your skill modifier in Arcana, History, Nature, and Religion is your passive knowledge score in those skills. I use that to determine how much a character knows about a particular topic. A character may attempt an active check to recall more information only if they are trained in that skill or if their character would have a clear reason to have more information (for instance: history pertaining to their own home region or religious lore about a deity they serve). This avoids six players making history checks to see if they've heard of some obscure event and just hoping to roll a natural 20, and assumes a druid with a passive nature score of 18 would easily recognize a common beast and know about its hunting tactics without risking rolling a "1" on a check. Active checks are still used for other applications of these skills (for instance: arcana checks to disarm a magical ward).
Ranged Attacks Into Melee Combat There is a small chance that firing a ranged attack into a heated melee combat may hit an unintended target. If a ranged attack fired at a target currently engaged in melee combat misses with a natural "1," the attack hits an unintended target chosen by the DM. Weapon or spell damage applies to the unintended target as normal, but any effects that would not affect the unintended target do not apply (for instance, sneak attack damage or hunter's mark).
Skill Proficiencies by Background For each background option (including those in the PHB as well as some catered specifically to my homebrew setting), players may select two out of four skill options, rather than having two automatically applied. For instance, acolytes choose two skills selected from History, Insight, Medicine, and Religion.
1. Assumes the party has worked together for a long time. If so, good.
2. Interesting. . .
3. I like it. It makes a lot of sense.
4. I already have something like that; namely, critical failure.
5. That's a lesser, albeit simpler, version of a standard option. PHB, page 125, Customizing a Background.
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"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
1) this is a unique idea, but it should only work if the have spend that time together in my opinion. Maybe I will use that list as an option they can start from creation of their characters, but have to spend atleast the next X level together... Maybe 4 or 5... After that time their teachings where successful
2) I really really like this and will ask my players if they would like this aswell
3) I kinda already use passiv abilities and knowledge already, so yeah :D
4) I would only do that if they roll two nat 1 in a row. Because those are aspiring "heroes". They shouldn't shoot their allies.. However, I almost always apply cover rules when shooting into melee.
5) I let them freely choose their background skills and everything - same as matthias_von_schwarzwald said...
As a DM, I've had a lot of success in speeding up rounds by implementing the Star Wars RPG's initiative rules.
Basically, DM/Players roll initiative as they normally would and a turn-order is mapped out as normal. However, instead of each player having a specific turn, each turn is noted as a Player Turn or an NPC Turn allowing players to select which slot they'd like to act on, as well as the DM more flexibility.
What this has done for our group is allow the party to feel more adaptable to the situation and allows members of the party that are quicker on their feet to act immediately while those who like to think through their turn to take their turn nearer the end. Players with initiative bonuses still have a positive impact on combat but it's applied more as a party benefit than a player benefit.
As with any homebrew, the first try can take longer as the players/DM may have some added anxiety over the new rule but both groups I run that now use this, combat has become much, much more fluid and quick.
A side effect of giving a mechanical reason to make parties discuss things like preferred turn order and tactics before combat starts as they know that regardless of initiative, they can always have someone go first, middle or last. This eased some of that random "Oh, I'm now first?" apprehension standard initiative can provide a player who likes to take more time.
If I didn't explain that well, here's how it looks compared to the traditional order.
Standard Initiative Order:
[1] John Doe PC [2] Goblin Archer NPC [3] Jane Doe PC [4] Janet Doeregard PC [5] Orc Fighter NPC [6] Jim Doerayme PC [7] Hobgoblin Shaman NPC
Homebrew Initiative Order:
[1] PC [2] NPC [3] PC [4] PC [5] NPC [6] PC [7] NPC
When it comes to HP, we roll the dice once. If it's below half, we roll again. If it's still below half, we just take half. I know this takes away from having bad luck with your health rolls, but our Rouge in her first three levels rolled so poorly she would still go down from one hit, so we wanted to make sure it would be good. You would think this would mess up the monsters, but we like to mess around with their HP and attacks too to balance. It's a lot of learning what works and what doesn't work, and we enjoy it a lot.
We also use an alternate Crit Rule, where when you Crit, it's max damage plus additional damage dice. No ability damage or spells that add to an attack damage are doubled (so like a Barbiarian's rage damage is just on its own, and say a Paladin used Branding Smite, that wouldn't be maxed out either, just the damage from the sword)
We also like to mess around with bonus actions. Our current DM is a bit too flexible with them (a player could ask "can I just kick the guy as a bonus" and he'd say "hmmm yea sure" which bugs me cause that's basically an attack), but if it's something like trying to perform a task that wouldn't take too long or something that maybe would take a second (for example I smacked a teammate with my shield to try and knock him out from his charmed state, and then ran forward to do my main action). Again, it's a lot of trial and error to figure out what is okay and what isn't, but we're really just testing out what we like.
Finally, our prone rule is...interesting to say the least. We didn't know that it was advantage from five feet, and disadvantage from more than that, and when I brought that up a lot of were like "that's stupid, why is lying on the ground a disadvantage for someone". So it's now advantage from 5-15 feet (still figuring that), and normal after that.
We do stick to the main rules, but we only started playing a year ago and there's A LOT OF RULES, and we don't play all the time cause we're a big group and aren't always available
Battle Fatigue. If you are brought to 0 hit points and are raised back to consciousness by gaining hit points, you gain 1 level of exhaustion. Also, your death saving throw failures remain, though 1 goes away at the start of each of your turns that you remain conscious. Levels of exhaustion gained in this way do not go away until you are brought to full health or take a short or long rest.
This prevents players from exploiting the unrealistic fighting method of rushing a heavy character in and then healing them each round that they get felled by a bunch of enemies.
Last Stand. When an allied player character (or an NPC the characters care about) dies in battle, all allies who can see them when they die get advantage on the next attack roll, saving throw, or ability check they make before the end of their next turn.
Adds some "NOOOOO!" compensation for having a player die.
Alcohol
There are 5 mugs (4 cp) of ale or mead to a gallon (2 sp), and 6 glasses of wine to a bottle (10 gp).
You can drink a number of mugs’ or glasses’ worth of alcohol equal to your Constitution modifier before you begin to feel tipsy. For each drink after that, you must make a Constitution saving throw against poison with a difficulty of 15 + the number of drinks you’ve consumed total. On a failure, you gain 1 level of drunkenness (see below). After each hour passes, you recover 1 level of drunkenness, and the number of drinks you have drunk is considered to be 1 fewer.
Drunkenness Levels
Disadvantage on Dexterity, Wisdom, and Intelligence ability checks, saving throws, and attack rolls.
Disadvantage on all ability checks, saving throws, and attack rolls
Your movement speed is halved; if you move any farther than this speed in one turn, you fall prone at the end of your movement. You cannot Dash. Standing up costs all your movement.
You vomit, and then fall unconscious for 1d4 hours.
The next time you take a long rest after suffering any levels of drunkenness, you wake up with 1 level of exhaustion due to a hangover.
Class changes:
Battlemaster Fighters don't exist. Instead, every martial class (non-full caster) starts with 1 superiority die and 2 maneuvers known, and every class that gains Extra Attack gains an superiority die and known maneuver at that level. Unlike regular extra attack, any source of extra attack grants a superiority die so you aren't losing out on anything if you happen to go Paladin 5/Ranger 5 for whatever reason.
Sorcerers know all metamagic from the start, but all other rules still apply. You can also spend Sorcery points to change the element of a spell to something related to your Origin, like Draconic making spells their element or Storm changing their spells to Lightning or Thunder. Wild magic has a random damage type instead.
Wot4E monks either get an additional Wis mod Ki points to their pool or all their costs are reduced by 1 (Minimum 1). I haven't decided which I like better. Elemental Attunement also doesn't cost a discipline spot, you just know it for free.
I've also been working on weapon creation rules for a different game, but they can easily be ported over to 5e.
You create weapons by combining Handles and Heads. By combining those different parts, you get all the aspects of the weapon like damage, damage type, etc.
Handles are 1 Handed, 2 Handed, and Reach. The 1 and 2 Handed handles come in Hilt and Haft varieties while Reach handles are Poles or Whips. Hilts are a generic term for smaller handles with large weapon heads while Hafts are larger handles with a smaller weapon head. Poles are for all polearms and are 2 handed, while whips are 1 handed and include flails for the moment.
Heads are the damage dealing portion of the weapon. They come in two varieties (Blade and Bludgeon) and three sizes (Small, Medium, and Large). Blades apply to Hilts and come in Blunt, Curved, and Straight varieties for Bludgeoning, Slashing, and Piercing damage respectively. Blunt blades are weapons like Clubs and Bar maces. Curved blades are your Scimitars and Falchions. Straight blades are Rapiers and daggers. Bludgeons apply to Hafts and come in Axe, Mace, and Pick varieties for Slashing, Bludgeoning, and Piercing damage respectively. Axes are obviously axes but scythes also. Maces are for maces and hammers. Picks are for picks and spears.
Now all of these combine to create a Complexity score. Complexity determines weapon damage and whether its considered a Simple or Martial weapon. 1 Handed and Small parts add 0 complexity, Reach and Medium parts add 1 complexity, while 2 Handed and Large parts add 2 complexity. You can have a maximum of 5 Complexity on your weapon, but in the case of multiple weapon heads, damage depends on which head you attack with. Complexity 0 and 1 weapons are Simple, 2-4 are Martial. Finesse weapons are any 1 handed weapon with a Medium or smaller head.
Complexity 0 = d4 (1 Handed/Small)
Complexity 1 = d6 (1 Handed/Medium)
Complexity 2 = d8 (Whip/Medium)
Complexity 3 = d10 (Pole/Large)
Complexity 4 = d12 (2 Handed/Large)
With all these rules, you can create nigh any medieval weapon you desire. The mechanics are all kind of baked internally while any other things can just be fluffed to look like whatever you want. I haven't gotten around to ranged weapons yet, but so far my group is excited about the system. It also makes randomly generating weapons really easy as its essentially just 3 small tables to roll on. Just 3d6 and boom, there's the loot. Eventually I'll get a system for Armor and maybe spells, and then soon enough I won't even need a group to play. I can just play all by myself.
That's...actually a really cool system! Easy to use, but complex enough to kinda take in whatever direction you want. I might look into borrowing something very similar for my campaign
I know what you're thinking: "In that flurry of blows, did he use all his ki points, or save one?" Well, are ya feeling lucky, punk?
There are three that I can think of off the top of my head that I've utilized. Let me know what you all think!
1. 4e bloodied rule. I was always a fan of this because of the change it invited into the combat encounters. Sometimes villains run, beg for their lives, or are willing to kill everyone including themselves if they're going down.
2. Advantage/disadvantage variant. If a player has knocked an NPC prone, and their allies flank, obviously it will be easier to hit them while they lay on the ground attempting to defend two sides. In this situation I implement "Double Advantage", meaning the player would roll 3 d20's and take the highest. Now some may say that this is OP, and I would agree, but if my players agree to it, then it can also happen to them. This works as well for disadvantage. If you're blinded and prone, it will be more difficult to steel yourself and make a successful attack: double disadvantage.
3. Amnesia mechanic. I used this in my DMs Guild adventure: http://www.dmsguild.com/m/product/207492
The details of the mechanic are in there.
My 5e Houserule Considerations. Please comment freely.
More from my houserules:
Darkvision only for Undergrounders
Replace Darkvision with low-light vision for all races that don’t live underground. Creatures with low-light vision can see in Dim light as if it were Bright light.
So Drow, Sniverfblin, and others who live permanently underground would keep darkvision, but elves, orcs, and other races who live above ground trade it for low-light vision. Suggested to increase drama and make darkness ominous and threatening. Andy feels okay about this.
My 5e Houserule Considerations. Please comment freely.
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Tooltips (Help/aid)
I thought plot points were much more flexible, and could be used to determine any campaign detail. So, yes, but in a more specialized way.
My 5e Houserule Considerations. Please comment freely.
Hirelings:
When a player hires an NPC for adventuring, porters/bodyguards/etc.. I make 2 separate reference cards. I make 2 quick reference cards with different information.
The first card is for myself for role play purposes. It has the hirelings name, his job, his contracted pay, and 2 or 3 personality traits, which PC hired him/her, and a Morale stat. The morale stat starts at 10, and the players actions and attitude toward the hireling can positively or negatively impact the morale score, adding or subtracting from 10. IE: asking a Cook to sneak ahead into the Kuo-Toa lair would cause a huge penalty and could cause the hireling to leave the PCs service. Long term fair treatment, could possibly lead to the hireling becoming a fully fledged follower.
The second card has the hirelings name, his job, basic stats/skills/equipment. Basically a combat card in case the hireling is forced to enter an encounter with the party. The player controls the hireling during combat because I can't be are**d. lol
The PC also has to agree to an actual adventuring contract with the Hireling. Depending on the hirelings job, this could include salary per day or week, expenses, a predetermined bonus sum for the completed adventure, share of treasure accumulated, and possibly a payment of commutation to the hirelings family in case of death.
Welcome to the Grand Illusion, come on in and see what's happening, pay the price, get your ticket for the show....
My 5e Houserule Considerations. Please comment freely.
Additional Save Proficiencies
Houserule: at 10th level, players choose a save their characters become proficient in. They select another at level 15.
Otherwise, a level 19 or 20 caster imposes a DC 18 spell saving throw. A level 20 target of such a spell who has a relevant ability bonus of, say, +1 and is not proficient in the relevant save will fail that save 80% of the time. The same issue applies to almost any save imposed by a monster of CR 15 or higher. This is problematic due to the existence of save-or-suck spells and effects like Charm Person or Feeblemind. The Resilient feat fixes this, if feats are used, by allowing folks to gain proficiency in the important saves (Dex, Con and Wis), but at the significant cost of one ability score increase and other customization.
All classes have one good saving throw, and this fix gives them a second one at level 10. It's debatable whether a third one (the second italicized sentence above) is necessary, but given the availability of save-or-suck spells at high level, it probably is.
My 5e Houserule Considerations. Please comment freely.
What I mean by "fully fledged follower" is that the hireling now chooses to follow the PC. Much like in 1 and 2E, where a character would gain followers at certain levels. A hireling that started as just a porter might actually gain a level of fighter after being inspired by the PC. The hireling trusts and believes in the PC now, and chooses to adventure with the PC. He/she still needs to be paid, but will be more apt toward risk and danger. The PC would have proven to be a trustworthy friend by this point.
Admittedly, the morale score is arbitrary and I could probably without, but having to keep track of the entire world, all the monsters, all the plots and NPC goals, I end up forgetting that hirelings are supposed to be as real as the Big Bad and the PCs. So the arbitrary hash marks just help me keep track lol
Welcome to the Grand Illusion, come on in and see what's happening, pay the price, get your ticket for the show....
Some I've incorporated and enjoy:
Companion Boon
At 7th level characters have spent enough time working with their adventuring companions that their own skills rub off on their friends.
A 7th level character grants one of their fellow adventurers a boon. No character may benefit from more than one boon gifted by a companion. The boon is like a leveling up "gift" the character gets to share with a companion by training them in a bit of what they do. Here are the boons based on the boon-giver's starting class:
Barbarian: Train one companion to add +1 to AC when not wearing medium or heavy armor.
Bard: Train one companion to grant one bardic inspiration die (d6) per short or long rest.
Cleric: Teach one companion a cleric cantrip.
Druid: Teach one companion a druid cantrip.
Fighter: Train one companion to add +1 to melee weapon attacks.
Monk: Train one companion to add +5 ft to their movement speed.
Paladin: Permanently increase one companion’s maximum HP by 5.
Ranger: Train one companion to add +1 to ranged weapon attacks.
Rogue: Teach one companion Expertise in one skill of the recipient's choice.
Sorcerer: Teach one companion a sorcerer cantrip.
Warlock: Teach one companion a warlock cantrip.
Wizard: Teach one companion a wizard cantrip.
Spellcasters train their companions in the art and science of magic itself, not in particular spells, so they do not need to personally know the cantrips they teach their companions. Rogues, too, train their friends to hone their own skills, so the rogue does not need to be proficient in the skill they grant expertise in.
Odd Ability Scores
Odd ability scores increase saving throws by +1.
To give some kind of benefit to an odd ability score, an odd ability score increases a character's saving throw in that ability by +1. For instance, a character with Strength 11 would have +0 to attacks, damages, and ability checks using Str but would add +1 to Str saving throws. Intelligence 9 would still have -1 to checks, attacks, and damage, but would have +0 to Int saves.
Passive Knowledge
10+your skill modifier in Arcana, History, Nature, and Religion is your passive knowledge score in those skills. I use that to determine how much a character knows about a particular topic. A character may attempt an active check to recall more information only if they are trained in that skill or if their character would have a clear reason to have more information (for instance: history pertaining to their own home region or religious lore about a deity they serve). This avoids six players making history checks to see if they've heard of some obscure event and just hoping to roll a natural 20, and assumes a druid with a passive nature score of 18 would easily recognize a common beast and know about its hunting tactics without risking rolling a "1" on a check. Active checks are still used for other applications of these skills (for instance: arcana checks to disarm a magical ward).
Ranged Attacks Into Melee Combat
There is a small chance that firing a ranged attack into a heated melee combat may hit an unintended target.
If a ranged attack fired at a target currently engaged in melee combat misses with a natural "1," the attack hits an unintended target chosen by the DM. Weapon or spell damage applies to the unintended target as normal, but any effects that would not affect the unintended target do not apply (for instance, sneak attack damage or hunter's mark).
Skill Proficiencies by Background
For each background option (including those in the PHB as well as some catered specifically to my homebrew setting), players may select two out of four skill options, rather than having two automatically applied. For instance, acolytes choose two skills selected from History, Insight, Medicine, and Religion.
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Tooltips (Help/aid)
1) this is a unique idea, but it should only work if the have spend that time together in my opinion. Maybe I will use that list as an option they can start from creation of their characters, but have to spend atleast the next X level together... Maybe 4 or 5... After that time their teachings where successful
2) I really really like this and will ask my players if they would like this aswell
3) I kinda already use passiv abilities and knowledge already, so yeah :D
4) I would only do that if they roll two nat 1 in a row. Because those are aspiring "heroes". They shouldn't shoot their allies.. However, I almost always apply cover rules when shooting into melee.
5) I let them freely choose their background skills and everything - same as matthias_von_schwarzwald said...
Using FFG's Star Wars Initiative
As a DM, I've had a lot of success in speeding up rounds by implementing the Star Wars RPG's initiative rules.
Basically, DM/Players roll initiative as they normally would and a turn-order is mapped out as normal. However, instead of each player having a specific turn, each turn is noted as a Player Turn or an NPC Turn allowing players to select which slot they'd like to act on, as well as the DM more flexibility.
What this has done for our group is allow the party to feel more adaptable to the situation and allows members of the party that are quicker on their feet to act immediately while those who like to think through their turn to take their turn nearer the end. Players with initiative bonuses still have a positive impact on combat but it's applied more as a party benefit than a player benefit.
As with any homebrew, the first try can take longer as the players/DM may have some added anxiety over the new rule but both groups I run that now use this, combat has become much, much more fluid and quick.
A side effect of giving a mechanical reason to make parties discuss things like preferred turn order and tactics before combat starts as they know that regardless of initiative, they can always have someone go first, middle or last. This eased some of that random "Oh, I'm now first?" apprehension standard initiative can provide a player who likes to take more time.
If I didn't explain that well, here's how it looks compared to the traditional order.
Standard Initiative Order:
[1] John Doe PC
[2] Goblin Archer NPC
[3] Jane Doe PC
[4] Janet Doeregard PC
[5] Orc Fighter NPC
[6] Jim Doerayme PC
[7] Hobgoblin Shaman NPC
Homebrew Initiative Order:
[1] PC
[2] NPC
[3] PC
[4] PC
[5] NPC
[6] PC
[7] NPC
My god my friends and I like to homebrew a lot
When it comes to HP, we roll the dice once. If it's below half, we roll again. If it's still below half, we just take half. I know this takes away from having bad luck with your health rolls, but our Rouge in her first three levels rolled so poorly she would still go down from one hit, so we wanted to make sure it would be good. You would think this would mess up the monsters, but we like to mess around with their HP and attacks too to balance. It's a lot of learning what works and what doesn't work, and we enjoy it a lot.
We also use an alternate Crit Rule, where when you Crit, it's max damage plus additional damage dice. No ability damage or spells that add to an attack damage are doubled (so like a Barbiarian's rage damage is just on its own, and say a Paladin used Branding Smite, that wouldn't be maxed out either, just the damage from the sword)
We also like to mess around with bonus actions. Our current DM is a bit too flexible with them (a player could ask "can I just kick the guy as a bonus" and he'd say "hmmm yea sure" which bugs me cause that's basically an attack), but if it's something like trying to perform a task that wouldn't take too long or something that maybe would take a second (for example I smacked a teammate with my shield to try and knock him out from his charmed state, and then ran forward to do my main action). Again, it's a lot of trial and error to figure out what is okay and what isn't, but we're really just testing out what we like.
Finally, our prone rule is...interesting to say the least. We didn't know that it was advantage from five feet, and disadvantage from more than that, and when I brought that up a lot of were like "that's stupid, why is lying on the ground a disadvantage for someone". So it's now advantage from 5-15 feet (still figuring that), and normal after that.
We do stick to the main rules, but we only started playing a year ago and there's A LOT OF RULES, and we don't play all the time cause we're a big group and aren't always available
This prevents players from exploiting the unrealistic fighting method of rushing a heavy character in and then healing them each round that they get felled by a bunch of enemies.
Adds some "NOOOOO!" compensation for having a player die.
Alcohol
There are 5 mugs (4 cp) of ale or mead to a gallon (2 sp), and 6 glasses of wine to a bottle (10 gp).
You can drink a number of mugs’ or glasses’ worth of alcohol equal to your Constitution modifier before you begin to feel tipsy. For each drink after that, you must make a Constitution saving throw against poison with a difficulty of 15 + the number of drinks you’ve consumed total. On a failure, you gain 1 level of drunkenness (see below). After each hour passes, you recover 1 level of drunkenness, and the number of drinks you have drunk is considered to be 1 fewer.
Drunkenness Levels
The next time you take a long rest after suffering any levels of drunkenness, you wake up with 1 level of exhaustion due to a hangover.
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Surely there must be some upside to getting drunk?
I know what you're thinking: "In that flurry of blows, did he use all his ki points, or save one?" Well, are ya feeling lucky, punk?
You feel like you can take on the world and and think you are a smooth talker.
... you may also be easily confused and or aggravated.