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House Rules
Index
Campaigns
Sub Categories
Experience Points
We use the Experience Points system from the Forgotten Realms campaign setting; i.e. all awards are based on Character Level, not average party level.
- Fight Award
- Half the standard XP; i.e. cross reference the character's level with the EL or CR of the encounter on DMG table 7-1, and divide this figure by twice the number of characters in the adventuring party.
- Story Award
- Max 500 XP times Character Level; this is based around the Mission Goals option (DMG 168), with the award for a party goal being more than the XP for any single encounter on the mission, but not more than all standard encounter awards put together.
- Role Playing Award
-
Max 50 XP times Character Level per session;
CL times Description 10 XP Showing up for the session. Unprepared or not contributing. 20 XP Being prepared for, or actively contributing to the session. 30 XP Actively enhancing everyone's enjoyment, and utterly prepared for the session. 40 XP Role playing in character knowing it might hurt the PC. Taking charge, moving the story ahead in an entertaining way. 50 XP Role playing in character knowing full well that it will hurt the PC substantially. Sacrificing something of the PC to dramatically rescue someone or something else.
Unofficially an award greater than 500 XP times Character Level should be very rare!
Levelling
A minimum rest period equal to your current Character Level in days is required in order to gain a new level.
Alignment
- Neutral
- A rating of 1 is considered neutrality and shows a lack of commitment to any given ideal.
- Weak
- A rating of 2-3 means you're slightly aligned this way morally or philosophically.
- Normal
- A rating of 4-6 is the regular definiton of this alignment according to the PHB.
- Fanatic
- A rating of 7 equals fanaticism on the level of psychosis.
Law
- Generally tries to keep his promises and, when in doubt, follows the rules
- Has a set of guidelines he generally lives by
- Genuinely respects authority figures for their positions
- Willing to see one person killed or hurt if it helps large numbers of people
- Willing to follow a code or a strict set of principles even if it brings misfortune on himself
- Would be willing to see many people harmed or killed if it helped society as a whole
- Follows a set path in such an orderly manner that it risks blind self-destruction. Despises and fears individuality.
Chaos
- A bit of a nonconformist or free spirit
- Will lie if it suits him, hates to be ordered around
- Disorganized but extremely easygoing
- Rejects the idea of majority rule
- Would prefer anarchy to any other form of organization
- Occasionally destroys things in reckless abandon
- Hates structure and order so much that destruction for its own sake becomes desirable
Good
- Doesn’t like to see bad things happen to others
- Helps others occasionally, particularly friends
- Willing to help strangers on occasion
- Gives of himself to help others, whether it be time, money, possessions, or something else
- Takes concepts like purity, innocence, and other higher principles very seriously
- Would sacrifice anything, even his life, for others in a heartbeat
- Refuses to harm anything or anyone, even if it brings misfortune or death on himself
Evil
- Finds joy in the misfortune of others, but usually wouldn’t act to hurt others
- Willing to cause others pain or misfortune to better himself
- Actively enjoys lying, stealing, and inflicting pain on others
- Willing to cause harm even to friends to get ahead
- Willing to kill to better himself
- Will kill for the sheer pleasure of bringing pain and death to others
- Hates life, goodness, and light and does everything in his power to destroy them
Classes
Sub Categories
Paladins
Although the Player's Handbook states that paladins need not dedicate themselves to a single deity, many do. Beyond being champions of good, these paladins represent the ideals of the deity's religion. Unlike a cleric, who might be seen as a shepherd, a guide, or a guardian, the paladin serves as a champion, a defender, and an avenger.
Paladins of a specific god gain the domains of the god in the same way as clerics, and gain access to the domain powers as well. They earn an additional spell each spell level, which must be a domain spell.Of course, the paladin doesn't gain spells until 4th level at the earliest, so she cannot take advantage of the additional spells until then. A dedicated paladin does not gain a domain spell for a particular level until she can actually cast spells from her normal list at that level. Paladins gain domain spells only up to 4th level, since their own spells go no higher than that.
In exchange for these abilities, the dedicated paladin loses Divine Grace, Divine Health, and the ability to Remove Disease.
The Paladin's Code
It is possible, and in fact likely, that different paladins probably follow different codes of conduct. The code defines what a paladin is, what he does, and how he acts. When deciding how a paladin should act, do not simply seize upon notions of what is "good" or "lawful" and take them to the extreme. Being a paladin is more than that. It is about honor and nobility. It is about dealing harshly with evildoers because in so doing one preserves what is good. It is about being forgiving and generous with those who are innocent and good — putting others before oneself and putting higher principles such as truth, nobility, and purity above all else. To live such a lifestyle is obviously difficult. To help, paladins develop codes that they follow like a road map toward what is right and good.
Code of Conduct
Often, a paladin's code of conduct is very simple. Some say, for instance, that you can judge a warrior by how he treats his enemies:
- Do not maim when harming will suffice.
- Do not kill when maiming will suffice.
- When you must kill, do it quickly and take no pleasure in it, for killing is a product of evil, to be sure.
- If there were no evil in the world, there would need never be any killing.
More often, however, a code deals not only with one's enemies, but how one treats all others, including friends (and helps define whom a paladin calls friend). For example, consider a chivalrous code. It involves paladins acting with honor and courtesy. Chivalry requires that knights be brave, loyal, and just. It demands that they speak only the truth, be fair to their enemies, help people in distress, show mercy to the weak and defenseless, and to never harm women or children.
Chivalry
A typical chivalric paladin code of conduct might read as follows:
- Thou shalt respect the weak and shalt constitute thyself their defender.
- Thou shalt make war against evil — those who attack the weak and the poor — without cessation, and without mercy.
- Thou shalt never lie and shalt remain faithful to thy pledged word.
- Thou shalt be generous and give largesse to everyone.
- Thou shalt be everywhere and always the champion of the Right and the Good against Injustice and Evil.
Tenets
A paladin's code might be broken down into various tenets, like the dogmatic structure of a religion.
- Prowess
- Seek excellence in all endeavors expected of a paladin, martial and otherwise, gaining strength to be used in the service of justice, rather than in personal aggrandizement.
- Justice
- Seek always the path of good, unencumbered by personal interest. Recognize that the sword of justice can be a terrible thing, so it must be tempered by humanity and mercy.
- Loyalty
- Be known for unwavering commitment to the people and ideals you choose to live by. There are many places in life where compromise may be needed. Loyalty is not among them.
- Defense
- Seek always to defend your nation, your lord, your family, your companions, and those whom you believe worthy of loyalty.
- Courage
- Being a paladin often means choosing the more difficult path, the personally expensive one. Be prepared to make personal sacrifices in service of the precepts and people you value. At the same time, a paladin should seek wisdom to see the difference between courage and foolishness. Courage also means taking the side of truth in all matters, rather than seeking the expedient lie.
- Faith
- A paladin must have faith in his beliefs, for faith roots him and offers hope against despair.
- Humility
- Place value upon the contributions of others. Do not boast of your own accomplishments, wait for others to do this for you. Tell the deeds of others before your own, according them the renown rightfully earned through virtuous deeds.
- Largesse
- Be generous insofar as your resources allow. Place the needs of others before your own. Keeping this in mind makes decisions regarding justice much simpler.
- Nobility
- Seek great stature of character by holding to the virtues and duties of a paladin. Realize that, though one can never teach such ideals, the quality of striving toward them makes one truly noble. Through your nobility you can also influence others, offering a compelling example of what one can accomplish in the service of good.
- Principle
- Although a paladin shows wisdom in his actions and commits no act without due consideration, when in doubt, do what is right and good for its own sake. Truth, virtue, fidelity, and honor are motives unto themselves, and each is larger than any single paladin.
- Franchise
- Seek all these achievements as sincerely as possible, not for the reason of personal gain but because it is right. Do not restrict your exploration to a small world, but seek to infuse every aspect of your life with these qualities. Should you succeed in even a tiny measure, you will be well remembered for your quality and virtue.
Combat
Sub Categories
Recovering with Help
A dying character can be made stable with a Heal skill check DC 15.
One hour after the tended, dying character becomes stable, he makes a Fortitude save DC 20 to regain consciousness. If successful, he becomes disabled. If he remains unconscious, he makes the same Fortitude save ever hour until he becomes conscious. Even while unconscious, he recovers HP naturally, and he can return to normal activity when his HP rise to 1 or higher.
Each time he misses his hourly roll to become conscious, he loses 1 HP. He also does not recover HP through natural healing.
Note: This rule replaces the official core rules.
Recovering without Help
Each round, a dying character (HP -1 to -9) makes a Fortitude save DC 20. If the save fails, he loses 1 HP and must make another save on his turn the next round. If the save succeeds, the character becomes stable. A stable character stops losing HP every round, but remains unconscious.
If no one tends to the stable character, he remains unconscious for 1 hour, at which point he makes a Fortitude save DC 20. If the save succeeds, the stable character regains consciousness, becoming disabled. His current HP total remains where it is, however, even though it's negative. If the save fails, the character remains unconscious.
An unaided stable, conscious character who has negative HP (and is disabled) doesn't heal naturally. Instead, each day the character makes a Fortitude save DC 20 to start recovering HP naturally that day; if the save fails, he loses 1 HP.
Once an unaided character starts recovering HP naturally, he is no longer in danger of losing additional HP (even if his current HP total is still negative).
Note: This rule replaces the official core rules.
Heroic Actions
An unconscious character, when at -1 to -9 hit points, can attempt to muster energy enough for a heroic action. Make a Fortitude save with a penalty equal to your negative hit point total at DC 15. If you succeed with the save you get a partial action and upon completion lose d3 HP and fall back into unconsciousness.
Divine Magic
Sub Categories
Nonautomatic Remedies
The cleric's spell arsenal allows him to basically remedy any malady that a character can encounter. Being struck blind, being cursed, falling victim to a disease, or being poisoned become fairly trivial — or at least mundane matters — when you have a cleric ally. Worse, a DM is hard-pressed to create a plot where an important person has been struck with a malady and a quest must be undertaken to find its cure.
Treat remove disease, neutralize poison, remove blindness/deafness, remove paralysis, and remove curse in a similar manner to dispel magic. That is to say, using these spells would involve a caster level check. For diseases, poisons, curses, blindness, and so on that result from a spell, the cleric should make a d20 check, adding his own caster level. The Difficulty Class for this check is 11 plus the level of the original caster. For afflictions that do not result from a spell, such as wyvern poison or mummy rot, use the saving throw Difficulty Class of the poison, disease, or other malady as the Difficulty Class for the caster level check.
Uses for Consecrate/Desecrate
Spells cast in temples tend to operate better than normal, as if the caster were one level higher than normal. This rule would not work in a newly consecrated area, but in one that has been hallowed for at least a year, with a proper altar and structure dedicated to the deity. This bonus to the caster level would affect even spells where the caster normally has achieved the highest levelbased effect possible. Thus, a 6th-level cleric could cast cure light wounds and cure 1d8+6 points of damage rather than the normal maximum of 1d8+5 points. What effect would this change have on the campaign? It would always be better for a cleric to attempt to remove a curse, dispel magic, break an enchantment, or provide healing within a temple.
Cost of Magic
Clerics have a monopoly on the resurrection of the dead, and a virtual monopoly on curative magic and restorative magic that undoes some of the terrible things that can befall a person: disease, blindness, and so on.
Clerics demand a greater amount of sacrifice to their god in the form of money or valuables for a few really important spells — like raise dead, resurrection, and, perhaps most importantly, true resurrection. Whether they call this a sacrifice, a donation, or just an outright fee, a cleric of high enough level to cast true resurrection should be able to ask for whatever she wants and expect to get it. This is not merely an inflated price — although it can be — add the cost to the material components.
Cost modifications appear in this table:
| Spell | GP Adjustment |
|---|---|
| Remove blindness/deafness | +100 |
| Remove curse | +500 |
| Remove disease | +500 |
| Raise dead | +1,000 |
| Resurrection | +2,000 |
| True resurrection | +4,000 |
Raising the Dead
Charging more is also a good way to explain why everyone isn't resurrected when they die. If the costs are so prohibitive that even the wealthy have to scrape the bottoms of their coffers, then having such magic available might appear to fit more logically into the campaign. Likewise, a society with an average number of clerics won't be free of disease or other maladies.
The components for certain powerful, culture-shaping spells, like raise dead, are not only costly, but very rare. The component — a rare herb, gemstone, etc. — would be the object of quests and adventures, a treasure unto itself. Thus, clerics don't "waste" it on what they consider a frivolous or unwise use.
Equipment
Sub Categories
Equipment
Archer's Assets
Arrow, Gas
Exotic arrow, 1gp, no damage, 1/3 lb each
Using a wide variety of noxious herbs, toxins, and less savory substances, the gas arrow creates a nauseating cloud when it hits its target. Instead of a pointed head, the tip of the arrow consists of a tightly bound pouch. When it impacts, the pouch ruptures, releasing a roiling green cloud that envelops a 5 ft. radius around the point of contact.... All targets within the area of effect must make a Fortitude save (DC 18), or suffer a -2 penalty to all attack rolls, saving throws, and skill checks for 1d4 rounds. The cloud itself remains suspended for only a single round. The package requires an Alchemy check (DC 20) to create.
Arrow, Vial
Exotic arrow, 1 gp, Crit x2, 4 / pound, piercing
The shaft just behind the head on each vial arrow is significantly larger than a typical arrow of its type, and the heads are modified hunting heads designed to be easily pulled free from a wound, each with several holes cut into them to allow liquids into the hollow shaft of the arrow. The reality is that most of these arrows are broken when used, but some (20%) remain intact at the scene of a battle, each containing an ounce of blood or ichor from the targets struck.
Arrow, Whistling
Martial arrow, 5 sp, 1d4 damage, Crit x3, Piercing
Used primarily for signalling during a battle or as a warning by a sentry, whistling arrows are occasionally used to deliver a warning or on arrows that carry a note, making the arrow easier to find once fired. Whistling arrows create a very high-pitched sound when fired that is easily heard by anyone within 50 feet of the flight path of the arrow. Anyone within 300 feet of the flight of the arrow will hear it with a DC 10 listen check. Whistling arrows deal damage two dice smaller than a typical arrow in the style of bow used to fire it, because they are much lighter, and the head of the arrow has the grooves that create the distinctive whistling sound.
Crossbow, Folding Hand
Tiny exotic weapon, 150 gp, 1d3 damage, Crit 19-20 x2, 20 ft range increment, 3 lb, piercing
The folding hand crossbow is identical to the standard hand crossbow in size and use, though the bow section of the crossbow folds down making the folding hand crossbow flat during concealment. The weakness of these joints does make the crossbow weaker, lessening it's damage potential and range.
Crossbow, Wrist
Small exotic weapon, 80 gp, 1d4 damage, Crit 19-20 x2, 30 ft range increment, 4 lb, piercing
A historic revision of the hand crossbow, this device is effectively a hand crossbow mounted on a metal or reinforced leather bracer, clasped around the wielder's wrist. The standard design is somewhat difficult to load, as the channel has metal clasps that hold the bolt down even during normal activity such as walking or even melee. This makes the loading of the wrist crossbow a full round action, like loading a heavy crossbow. Loading takes two hands, but firing the crossbow only requires one.
Crossbow, Wrist, Quick-loading
Small exotic weapon, 75 gp, 1d4 damage, Crit 19-20 x2, 30 ft range increment, 2 lb, piercing
This version of the wrist crossbow does not have the restraints to hold the bolt in the channel, and thus cannot be carried loaded. Normally it is carried with the bow drawn back, but no bolt in place. Loading a quick-loading wrist crossbow is a move-equivalent action.
Stabiliser
Cost 75 gp, Weight 3 lbs
Stabilisers are mounted the front of a bow, where the weight helps keep the weapon stable, improving longrange shooting. Using a bow (but not a crossbow) with these stabilisers reduces the penalty for shooting at long ranges by 1.
Dagger, Balanced
Tiny martial weapon, 6 gp, 1d4 damage, Crit 19-20 x2,15 ft range increment, 1 lb, piercing
A balanced dagger is effectively a throwing knife of larger scale. These fine, sharp blades are mounted on a slim but heavy handle, usually flat, unadorned with pommel or a real hilt.
Knife, Throwing
Tiny martial weapon, 3 gp, 1d3 damage, Crit 19-20 x2, 15 ft range increment, 1/2 lb, piercing
A small, fine blade, balanced for throwing. Throwing knives typically lack any sort of crossguard, and usu- ally have a flat, small handle without ornament or pommel.
Feats
Sub Categories
Dodge
Grants you either a +1 dodge bonus to AC against all opponents, or a +2 dodge bonus against one opponent. Any situation that prevents you from using your Dexterity modifier also negates dodge bonuses. Happily, dodge bonuses are not limited by armor (unlike your Dex modifier), and all dodge bonuses stack unless otherwise stated.
Skills
Sub Categories
Spellcraft
Because their powers and methods are so different, casters suffer a -5 penalty to Spellcraft checks to identify spells of the opposite type; characters who do not cast spells but have ranks in Spellcraft should specify whether their knowledge pertains more to the divine or the arcane. This is true whether the character is observing spellcasting or using the skill to identify magical writing (like a scroll). Multiclass casters of both arcane and divine spells suffer no penalty.
Languages
Language skills is a special category of Knowledge skills. At creation a character recieves 1 + Intelligence bonus times 4 Language Points, and 1 + INT bonus at each advancement (minimum of 1 Language Point per level).
Speak Language
Speak Language is an Intelligence-based skill.
Read/Write Language
Speak Language is a prerequisite for the Read/Write Language skill, which is an Intelligence-based skill. Read/Write language may not exceed Speak Language by more than 4 ranks. The following classes have the Read/Write Language skill as a class skill:
- Aristocrat
- Bard
- Basiran Dancer
- Cleric
- Rogue
- Spellsinger
- Wizard
It is a cross-class skill for all other classes, but Experts can select it as one of their class skills as normal.
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