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jguy
2010-08-27, 03:19 AM
It's time for another houserule thread! I am making a compilation of mine that I think some of you might like and can find a couple. These are in no particular order, just as I thought of them.


Half-Orc: +2 strength. +2 to Intimidate, Gather Information, and Sense Motive
Half-Elf: Gain +1 skill point at each level as human (x4 at first level)
Full Attack as Standard Action *as PC
Druids use PHBII shape-shifting variant
Spot and Listen are always class skills
Hide and Move Silently are one skill. Stealth
Disable Device and Open Lock are one skill. A Dex Check
Tiefling and Aasmir are LA+0 for martial characters but remain +1 for casters
Paladins are the alignment of their deities
Clerics gain weapon proficiency of their deities favorite weapon
All Exotic Weapons are considered Martial Weapons
Rangers have "Two Handed Technique" which is Power Attack at level 2, Cleave at 6, and Favored Enemy Power Attack at 11th
Fighter Progression uses the Races of War variant
Barbarian uses the Races of War variant
Sorcerers gain Eschew Materials Feat at level 1 and spell casting progression starts from level 2.


Anyway, those are my house rules that I will be using. Attempting to give martial characters a little bit more so they aren't completely overshadowed at higher levels.

The Pressman
2010-08-27, 03:49 AM
Interesting. I definitely like the Spot and Listen always class skills part.

dsmiles
2010-08-27, 04:13 AM
*as PC

Anyway, those are my house rules that I will be using. Attempting to give martial characters a little bit more so they aren't completely overshadowed at higher levels.

What exactly do you mean by "as PC?" Does that mean that the monsters and NPC can't do that? If so, that seems a little unbalanced in favor of the PCs...:smallconfused:

Aroka
2010-08-27, 04:15 AM
How do you find combining Hide and Move Silently, but not Spot and Listen, works?

BobVosh
2010-08-27, 05:48 AM
•Tiefling and Aasmir are LA+0 for martial characters but remain +1 for casters

How does this work with bards, duskblades, and other halfcasters?

Mongoose87
2010-08-27, 07:39 AM
Pathfinder skills
Toughness is Improved Toughness
Others I forget

Greenish
2010-08-27, 08:29 AM
Did you push sorcerer casting back another level? :smallconfused:

Greenish
2010-08-27, 08:56 AM
Looks like he advanced it a level.Where did you get that? If their spellcasting starts at 2nd level, what are they even supposed to do the first?

Gray Mage
2010-08-27, 08:58 AM
•Disable Device and Open Lock are one skill. A Dex Check

By a dex check you mean like a strenght check can break a door? If so they wouldn't be able to put ranks in it, which is not nice.

dsmiles
2010-08-27, 09:30 AM
Characters die when their negative hp exceeds (con + lvl).

Hmm...I've gone the opposite way on that one. Everything (except deities and the tarrasque) dies at 0 HP.

The Rose Dragon
2010-08-27, 09:33 AM
A few of my house rules.

- Lunar Exalted use these (http://wiki.white-wolf.com/exalted/index.php?title=Peter_Schaefer_on_Lunar_Character_ Generation) character generation rules.
- Essence 3 (and only Essence 3) costs 5 bonus points for Solars and Abyssals and 7 bonus points for Lunars.
- Solars and Abyssals get 5 free Excellencies chosen from their Caste and Favored Abilities and Lunars get 2 free Excellencies chosen from their Caste and Favored Attributes.
- All Dragon-blooded either get 1 dot of War and 1 dot of either Melee, Martial Arts or Archery OR 1 dot of Socialize and 1 dot of either Presence, Performance or Investigate for free.
- New fields of Craft can be opened by paying the cost of a one-dot Craft specialty. Anyone who buys dots in Craft starts with one free field. This specialty does not add dice to Craft rolls.
- There are only 9 fields of Craft: Air, Earth, Fire, Water, Wood, Glamour, Magitech, Vitriol and Genesis. Any other Craft ability either uses another Craft, the lower of Craft and another ability, or Lore.
- Sorcery and necromancy initiation Charms grant one spell of the appropriate circle for free.
- Flaws and Merits are allowed on a provisional and case-by-case basis. Note that Flaws will give me carte blanche for springing undesirable things on your character and should be carefully taken even when allowed. Past Lives is expressly forbidden.
- Artifact reinforced breastplate costs 2 dots, while artifact articulated plate and superheavy plate cost 3 dots.
- Homebrew Charms are allowed on a case-by-case basis as long as you provide me the source and ask for my approval. Anything not from a printed book is considered homebrew for the purposes of this rule.

Roderick_BR
2010-08-27, 10:31 AM
Where did you get that? If their spellcasting starts at 2nd level, what are they even supposed to do the first?
He said progression, as in, he gains more things at 2nd level, although I think he meant 3rd level, that is where he doesn't gain a new spell level, like clerics and wizard does.


•Disable Device and Open Lock are one skill. A Dex Check

By a dex check you mean like a strenght check can break a door? If so they wouldn't be able to put ranks in it, which is not nice.
He means that the new combined skill is Dex based, since Disable Device is originally Int based.


•Tiefling and Aasmir are LA+0 for martial characters but remain +1 for casters

How does this work with bards, duskblades, and other halfcasters?
Better question: what about multiclass? Start as fighter, then you multiclass into wizard for a non-duskblade warrior/mage build.


On full attacks, I'm working on some rules, but will post it later when I get the wording less confusing.

Greenish
2010-08-27, 10:37 AM
He said progression, as in, he gains more things at 2nd level, although I think he meant 3rd level, that is where he doesn't gain a new spell level, like clerics and wizard does.I read the "[sorcerer's] spell casting progression starts from level 2" as meaning that they don't have spellcasting in the first level.

I mean, "spellcasting progression" usually means having a caster level and spells to cast, no? As in "ranger's spellcasting progression starts at 4th level".

Milskidasith
2010-08-27, 10:43 AM
Why don't we just agree that the sorcerer thing needs a revision for clarity? Either way, it's bad; sorcerers being worthless at first level and a further level behind after that is very bad, and starting them with a higher caster level is somewhat unbalancing. I'd just give them wizard spell level progression with a couple more spells known on the higher level slots (not because they need the boost, but to make them comparable to wizards; if you don't see them needing the boost, then you may want to drop wizards more).

All exotic weapons being martial makes all martial weapons useless.

Clerics automatically getting weapon proficiency A: makes the war domain power rather bad (IIRC, it grants proficiency, right?) and B: means every cleric gets a free spiked chain (as a cleric of a cause; in some cases, that cause may be "advancing Pelor through use of the freedom domain and liberal spiked chain beatings.")

Greenish
2010-08-27, 10:46 AM
A: makes the war domain power rather bad (IIRC, it grants proficiency, right?)Proficiency and weapon focus. You'd want to give it something more.

Dogmantra
2010-08-27, 11:19 AM
I read the "[sorcerer's] spell casting progression starts from level 2" as meaning that they don't have spellcasting in the first level.

I read it to mean that it starts AT level one FROM level 2, that is to say that it starts as if the sorceror was level 2.

Thefurmonger
2010-08-27, 12:57 PM
I read it to mean that it starts AT level one FROM level 2, that is to say that it starts as if the sorceror was level 2.

This is what I got out of it, so the Sorc has the same spell level as a Wiz

Mongoose87
2010-08-27, 01:07 PM
All exotic weapons being martial makes all martial weapons useless.

That reminds meo f my other one:

Fighters are proficient in exotic weapons.

Cyphrus
2010-08-27, 01:29 PM
J, you really gotta be clear on how you word things, Haha.

He's definitely meaning sorcerers begin their progression of spellcasting based as a second level sorcerer at level one, spare caster level, that's normal.

it's just to boot the sorcerer in the right direction and not have them be the complete red-headed stepchild of all full-casters.

Stealing my ideas, J, tsk,tsk...

Speaking of spontaneous casters? Has anyone played with the UA variant that changes clerics and druids into basically sorcerers?

Tyndmyr
2010-08-27, 01:32 PM
It always irked me that hp bonuses from con increases are retroactive, but skill points from int are not. I make them both retroactive, to the delight of skillmonkeys everywhere.

Shademan
2010-08-27, 02:00 PM
I have some lying around...

Gode husregla å huske på

NEW RULES:
Bows and crossbows gets bonus damage equal to Dex modifier. Meaning that if you have DEX+3 you do 1d6+3 damage with a shortbow, etc etc
you gain two extra attacks when throwing shurikens but they decrease in attack bonus by1. meaning that a lv2 character with +2 in ranged attack can throw three shurikens at +2 +1 +0. This hardly breaks the game and lets shurikens actually be used ;P

{Scrubbed}

Weapons that are within in one size category of you, can be used without penalty as long as you have the required proficiency. Example: a Halfling can wield a medium longsword two-handed or a human can wield a small greataxe one handed. (this rule might change to giving you a mere -1 to attacks)

Alignment restrictons: the paladin which must be any good. chaotic monks and lawful barbarians are A-ok. druids can be whatever

MONKS:
monks have full BaB ! yaaay!
oh, and if you have a good reason to have a skill as class skill I'll allow it. (forexample a fighter who spent his days as a thief guild thug might have bluff, sleight of hand and hide/move silently. and a wizard living alone in the woods may have survival).

you can spend gold in cities to squander it (ie: party like it's 1199). You gain an amount of XP by doing this.
Xp gained= half of sum spent in GP. So partying away 1000gp will net you 500XP


NEW ITEM: Throwing dagger! exactly the same as a normal dagger but with 20 in range! also: it gets -1 to hit when used it melee 8D

And you know the spear? Two-handed simple weapon? Yeah that is one-handed/two-handed now. you choose whether to use one or both hands.

Also: I am very open to weapon customization. if your character want to make a double-spear then go ahead!
certain weapons will also be more realistic, if your warhammer is built more historically accurate then you can choose wether to strike with the hammerhead (normal warhammer damage) or with the pick end (battle pick damage).


maybe Use something like maneuvers from GURPS. No skill tricks or TOB. If you have high enough skill you should be able to do amazing things.
Consider using the hit locations from gurps or similar
Magic has consequences. Polymorph for example may change your mindset…. For better or worse

Races:
Humans as usual
Dwarves does not get racial bonus vs goblins and giants. Dwarves turn to stone when they die
Half-orcs does not have -2 to charisma (making cleric and sorcerer possible classes)
Half elves have +2 to cha and -2 to wis
Gnomes does not get racial bonuses vs kobolds or giants
Elves as usual except: elves can not touch iron without serious discomfort. Weapon familiarity is with spears, bows, javelins and guisarmes instead of usual
Halflings as usual
Half-dwarf, don't know yet
goblins, as usual apart from these additions: +2 wis(they carefully weigh their actions and are always on high alert) +2 to fort vs poison, +2 to ride,animal empathy or diplomacy when used on wolves, worgs, winter wolves or werewolves.
Hobgoblin, oh boy this one is tricky... how to get them down to cr0?
Orcs, as usual, however, I see little reason to dazzle them in sunlight, since they are not subterran and not nocturnal creatures


and I'm still working on it

Vantharion
2010-08-27, 02:08 PM
I'm thinking of allowing a player to spend a couple skill points on a skill to allow it to be considered a class skill from that point on. It would work in effect towards what Pathfinder's class skills giving a bonus. (You're slightly penalized for using non class skills, but not as heavily). After all, my wizard knows how to swim because... my wizard knows how swim.

I have some custom built fighter feats (Feats that are more competitive with caster spells).
You get at least half your hit die in hp when you level. The roll must be done in front of the dm and its for the extra 2-6 hp you could get above average.

Ticking off the DM enough to get him to force change your alignment usually causes him to take a point off of an ability score. [I don't have problems with people changing alignments, but not playing their alignment]

Magical items don't have to be masterwork.

Identify gives an additional bonus if cast with pearl juice... It can be cast without for Detect Magic+Bonus on spellcraft checks out of combat.

All forms of divination, detection, masking and identification are based upon caster level or character power. (A strong enough power evil could suppress his evil aura from a level 1 paladin.) In short, you can turn down your aura like you can your air conditioning, its a built in feature and you don't need something to do it for you... things that do it for you, just help you do it better.

You try to break the universe, the universe breaks you. There is a special form of Inevitable for those who try to damage reality. [Physics Golem vs your bag of holding filled with all the chalk on the nation.]

Negative levels are in most cases stupid and won't be used (much).

A few of mine.

Pechvarry
2010-08-27, 02:25 PM
The way I'd like to try handling the Sor spell levels: insert a 0 on the odd levels. Meaning, they gain access to 3rd level spells at 5th level instead of 6th, but with only bonus slots from high stat to cast.

jguy
2010-08-27, 04:06 PM
For all those who asked, yes, sorcerers spells at level 1 start as if they were level 2. No delay in getting their new spells.

For tieflings and Aasmir who start as fighters and become wizards and multiclass would be LA +1. This is to allow very flavorful characters more easily get into the game (since the stats they don't influence martial characters as much as a caster). Half-Casters such as Hexblades, Bards, Spellswords would still be LA+0 since they are more like gish's. In fact it'd help them more then either martial or full caster since it'd allow the person to focus on other stats.

Exotic Weapons being martial come from this thought. Unless the weapon has absurd abilities or is extremely useful, it's pointless on wasting a valuable feat on it. Problem is, there are so many fun, flavorful weapons out there that no one would ever use since they don't want to waste the feat. At low levels, a 2D6 weapon with reach is very strong. At 10th level you might as well wield any reach weapon since all your damage comes from strength and magic, not weapon dice.

Giving full attack on standards to PC's but not monsters is to keep the PC's alive. A fighter full attacking after a move gives an extra attack or two, depending on level. Giving it to monsters would on average give them 2 or 4 more attacks! It'd be unfair to the PC's. Also, it is not like nearly every martial character tries to get Pounce. A single dip in Barbarian is all anyone needs.

I was tempted to combine Spot/Listen into Perception like in 4th but I kept them separate for a little more flavor. A person could have good eyes but bad ears and vice versa. On the other hand, anyone with any skill who can hide in a corner of darkness and not be seen can control how he sounds. It removes that annoying habit of "Move Silent 40, Hide 10" where it's virtually pointless. It does hurt characters a little since a monster gets effectively 2 checks to spot someone. I'll need test this one out a little more.

Milskidasith
2010-08-27, 04:13 PM
The way I'd like to try handling the Sor spell levels: insert a 0 on the odd levels. Meaning, they gain access to 3rd level spells at 5th level instead of 6th, but with only bonus slots from high stat to cast.

The problem is they don't know any spells of that level at that point, either. You can't cast what you don't know.

Temotei
2010-08-27, 04:22 PM
It always irked me that hp bonuses from con increases are retroactive, but skill points from int are not. I make them both retroactive, to the delight of skillmonkeys everywhere.

I do the same.

Marnath
2010-08-27, 04:29 PM
And you know the spear? Two-handed simple weapon? Yeah that is one-handed/two-handed now. you choose whether to use one or both hands.


...It's called short spear. You don't need to let them use regular spears one handed.

Mongoose87
2010-08-27, 04:59 PM
...It's called short spear. You don't need to let them use regular spears one handed.

A. This way, you can switch.

B. One-handed reach weapon for phalanx-style fighting.

Pechvarry
2010-08-27, 05:10 PM
The problem is they don't know any spells of that level at that point, either. You can't cast what you don't know.

Obviously, you'd need to fix that, too. Just moving all of the columns for spell levels 2-9 up one spot does the trick. The same is true for anyone who says "use wizard table for what level new spells are learned" so I omitted that detail in my variation on the... variant.

And yes, retroactive skills are very yes. Did I mention? Yes.

Greenish
2010-08-27, 05:14 PM
A. This way, you can switch.

B. One-handed reach weapon for phalanx-style fighting.A. You can use a short spear with two hands.

B. A spear is not a reach weapon. That would be longspear.

Dusk Eclipse
2010-08-27, 05:49 PM
I have some lying around...


<snip>
Hobgoblin, oh boy this one is tricky... how to get them down to cr0?
<snip>

and I'm still working on it

I think they are already LA 0, they don't get anything extremele useful anyway

Greenish
2010-08-27, 05:58 PM
I think they are already LA 0, they don't get anything extremele useful anywayDarkvision and pretty nice stat bonuses with no drawbacks.

Not enough to warrant +1 LA, but pretty good for 0.

Marnath
2010-08-27, 07:09 PM
Darkvision and pretty nice stat bonuses with no drawbacks.

Not enough to warrant +1 LA, but pretty good for 0.

Unless goblins have it good in your campaign, the RP backlash of getting burned out of every little hamlet in the world for their skin color would, in my opinion, offset any doubts about whether they're too strong for LA +0.

Greenish
2010-08-27, 07:14 PM
Unless goblins have it good in your campaign, the RP backlash of getting burned out of every little hamlet in the world for their skin color would, in my opinion, offset any doubts about whether they're too strong for LA +0.Perhaps. On the other hand, some of us play in civilized worlds.

Yeah, I'm a shameless Eberron fanboy. So sue me. :smallwink:

[Edit]: Hat of Disguise is 1800 gp. Does "every little hamlet in the world" come with True Seeing using casters? If not, it's a temporary inconvenience.

Marnath
2010-08-27, 07:18 PM
I prefer Forgotten Realms, but eberron is cool, yeah. I like that picture of the orcs saving a gnome from an otyugh. Priceless. :smallbiggrin:
Even there though, there are places where goblins are at best treated with scorn.

*edit for above: Isn't the DC to see through that absurdly low? Like 10 or 11? But yeah, that would work against anyone who didn't actually look right at you.

UserClone
2010-08-27, 11:51 PM
Nope. They have to interact with the illusion, like with touch, hearing his voice, or...smell.

BobSutan
2010-08-28, 07:36 AM
I much prefer to use 4E / Pathfinder's skills instead of 3.5's. It's one of the only things from 4E I actually like better. Giving PC's passive and active perception checks and lumping spot & listen together just makes sense IMO. Same as rolling hide & move silent together as Stealth.


Something I like is allowing Keen & Improved Critical to stack:

Keen - Doubles threat range
Improved Critical - Improves critical multiplier

The White Knight
2010-08-28, 07:56 AM
Weapon Finesse is no longer required. Anyone can apply their Dexterity modifier to attack with a light weapon, rapier, whip or spiked chain if it is in their favor to do so.

I've toyed with the idea of leaving Weapon Finesse as a feat and allowing it to apply Dexterity modifier to damage (similar to Shadow Blade) -- I'll see how this one turns out soon.

Greenish
2010-08-28, 10:13 AM
Giving PC's passive and active perception checksNotpickity pick. You already have passive and active spot/listen checks in 3.5.

Hat of Disguise offers save for those who interact with it. Passing the save reveals that it's an illusion, but not what the wearer really is.

Sindri
2010-08-28, 11:28 AM
For a one handed reach weapon, take a longspear from one size category smaller than you. It keeps all the weapon qualities for a mere -2 to hit. You can even dual-wield them.

Edit: the same works for spiked chains, polearms, and any other two-handed reach weapons. Alternatively, the lance becomes one handed whenever you're mounted; get a medium mount with the Mighty Steed feat and you don't even have problems with where you can take it. And, of course, the whip is one handed with a 15ft reach; it doesn't usually deal damage on it's own but it's great for tripping, disarming, disrupting spellcasters (assuming they don't have armor) and, of course, delivering magical effects.

SSGoW
2010-08-28, 12:34 PM
I tried this once or twice and it worked out pretty well

First rule is that you can never have more than 5 levels in any 1 class

You keep the skills of your original class no matter what class you take later on.

There are no PrC (or take away majority of restrictions of all like skill ranks)

This is a game of multiclassing and therefore there are no multiclassing penalties. This is not your standard multiclassing

Exotic = Martial

The only way to play a > LA+0 race is to have everyone play a >LA+0 race that is equal to the one you want to play

If you play a class that is your race's favorite class then you get +1 free feat that must be connected to that class (ex: fighter can't take a metamagic feat but a wizard could).

No bonus spells for having high ability scores

On a critical of natural 20 you may choose to not hurt the target, instead you hit the target's weapon. That weapon is sundered.

Druid uses the Unearth Arcana variant for wildshape, some adjustments are made for 8th level variants to be used at 5th level.

With exceptions of spells, daily limits are now set to per encounter. Weekly limits are set to per day.

Example character

Lvl 10 Human
Fighter3/wizard3/cleric3/barbarian 1

BAB: 3 (F) +1 (W)+ 2 (C) + 1 (B) = +7 BAB
Fort: 3 (F) +1 (W)+ 3 (C) + 2 (B) = +10 fort
Ref: 1 (F) +1 (W)+ 1 (C) + 0 (B) = +3 Ref
Will: 1 (F) + 3(W)+ 3 (C) + 0 (B) = +7 Will

Spells:
Arcane: 4,2,1 (arcane familiar)
Divine: 4,2+1,1+1 (turn undead)

Other:
Rage 1/enc
Fast movement

Feats:
+1human
+1 fav class
+3 from levels


Skills/Armor/weapons: as fighter
Restictions occur as normal for spells



The characters made some pretty nifty characters when using this that could do tons of stuff without being over powered :D

Marnath
2010-08-28, 01:18 PM
For a one handed reach weapon, take a longspear from one size category smaller than you. It keeps all the weapon qualities for a mere -2 to hit. You can even dual-wield them.



Umm...no. A reach weapon is only a reach weapon for people of the proper size. A small longspear in a humans hands doesn't have reach.

Greenish
2010-08-28, 01:30 PM
Umm...no. A reach weapon is only a reach weapon for people of the proper size. A small longspear in a humans hands doesn't have reach.Citation needed. Insofar as I know, there are no rules for a weapon losing the reach quality for some wielders.

Marnath
2010-08-28, 01:38 PM
Srd:

Reach Weapons
Glaives, guisarmes, lances, longspears, ranseurs, spiked chains, and whips are reach weapons. A reach weapon is a melee weapon that allows its wielder to strike at targets that aren’t adjacent to him or her. Most reach weapons double the wielder’s natural reach, meaning that a typical Small or Medium wielder of such a weapon can attack a creature 10 feet away, but not a creature in an adjacent square. A typical Large character wielding a reach weapon of the appropriate size can attack a creature 15 or 20 feet away, but not adjacent creatures or creatures up to 10 feet away.



Underlined it. The way that's worded precludes the idea that a large character could use a medium reach weapon as such.

Greenish
2010-08-28, 01:48 PM
Underlined it. The way that's worded precludes the idea that a large character could use a medium reach weapon as such.Doesn't stop medium creatures though. :smallwink:

…But Rules Compendium seems to prevent that. Typical WotC ambiguity though: "A wielder gains no reach from a reach weapon that is too small."

Still, a kobold could wield a tiny reach weapon one-handed just fine and get the reach. Powerful Build might work too…

BobSutan
2010-08-28, 03:25 PM
"A wielder gains no reach from a reach weapon that is too small."

That's dumb. If a small creature gets the benefit of reach, obviously it's a big enough weapon to get that extra range in those little hands. If anything it should be even more reach in a larger PC's hands, just not as much as a regular sizes similar weapon would. Maybe give it an extra 5' ever other size increment the creature wielding it goes up.

Marnath
2010-08-28, 04:07 PM
That's dumb. If a small creature gets the benefit of reach, obviously it's a big enough weapon to get that extra range in those little hands. If anything it should be even more reach in a larger PC's hands, just not as much as a regular sizes similar weapon would. Maybe give it an extra 5' ever other size increment the creature wielding it goes up.

Except that a reach weapon designed for a smaller person is as long as a non reach weapon designed for the larger person.

Terazul
2010-08-28, 04:12 PM
Except that a reach weapon designed for a smaller person is as long as a non reach weapon designed for the larger person.

Actually, by that logic, shouldn't it be longer, to make up for the fact that the smaller person is well... smaller? To give the same distance of reach.

Marnath
2010-08-28, 04:13 PM
Actually, by that logic, shouldn't it be longer, to make up for the fact that the smaller person is well... smaller? To give the same distance of reach.

Smaller people get smaller radius' with their size of reach weapon....larger people get longer reach with their reach weapons..

jguy
2010-08-28, 04:52 PM
Well considering these are houserules, its entirely up to him whether or not he wants a small longspear to be a 1 handed reach weapon. It is kind of the point of the thread. If he really wanted, he could make Spinning Swords martial and just go with them.

Tequila Sunrise
2010-08-28, 05:22 PM
Weapon reach is just one of those areas where any sense of internal consistency or realism goes out the window, when playing D&D. Small creatures have half the arm length that Mediums do, but are somehow able to threaten just as much distance. So a halfling with 18" arms can go toe-to-toe with a human with 3' arms in a fist fight.

Yet the designers found it inconceivable that the same halfing should wield a pole arm with the same reach as the human. :smallconfused:

Yeah, whatever guys.

BobSutan
2010-08-29, 04:20 PM
Actually, by that logic, shouldn't it be longer, to make up for the fact that the smaller person is well... smaller? To give the same distance of reach.

Exactly. It just doesn't make sense.

The Dark Fiddler
2010-08-29, 05:36 PM
Oh boy, an excuse to finally get to writing down my houserules like I always intended!

Skills
No such thing as class skills, all skills cost the same and have the same max ranks as class skills.
All classes gain extra skills per level, either 2 (classes with 4/5 per level already) 4 (classes with 2 per level, bard, other psuedo-skill monkeys) or 6 (rogue).
General consolidation rules (Listen and spot > perception, etc.)

Races
Half-Orc only takes a penalty to one mental ability score, player's choice and gains Weapon Focus as a bonus feat. Also gains +2 Con
Half-Elf gains a +2 Dex, and the extra skills points of humans.
Most races following the pattern from the PHB either lose their ability penalty or gain a second bonus (Dwarves become +2 Strength, +2 Con, -2 Dex while Elves become +2 Dex).
Favored class for human becomes Any NPC.

Classes
Favored class gives +1 HP and +1 Skill Point per level.
Barbarian: No Illiteracy.
Bard: Extra spells known equal to bonus spells per day.
Fighter: d12 HD, one free exotic weapon proficiency, Weapon Aptitude (as Warblade, at level 1).
Paladin: Smites are per day, abilities use either Wisdom or Charisma (player's choice), Lay on Hands pool equals Paladin Level x 2 x Charisma Modifier.
Ranger: Gains Animal Companion at druid level equal to ranger level - 4 instead of half.
Rogue: Additional Special Ability at level 14.
Sorcerer: Eschew Materials as a bonus feat at level 1, bonus feats as a Wizard, bonus spells known equal to bonus spells per day. Proficiency with one martial weapon of player's choice, d6 HD.
Crusader: d12 HD.
Warblade: d10 HD.

Feats:
Two-Weapon Fighting tree uses strength or dexterity score as prerequisite.
Weapon Finesse gives dexterity to damage to weapons that can normally use the feat and dexterity to attack rolls on weapons that can't. Weapons that could normally use Weapon Finesse (Rapier, Dagger) can use dexterity on attack rolls as an inherent part of the weapon.
Taking Weapon Proficiency for simple or martial weapons when already proficient with at least two weapons of the level grants proficiency with the whole level.

General:
A natural 20 counts as a roll of 25, a natural 1 as a roll of -5.
Ranged weapons add 1/2 dexterity modifier to damage when within 30 feet.



May not be the best set, but I've found it makes the games with my group generally a bit more fun.

Marnath
2010-08-29, 05:42 PM
Races
Half-Orc only takes a penalty to one mental ability score, player's choice and gains Weapon Focus as a bonus feat. Also gains +2 Con
Half-Elf gains a +2 Dex, and the extra skills points of humans.
Most races following the pattern from the PHB either lose their ability penalty or gain a second bonus (Dwarves become +2 Strength, +2 Con, -2 Dex while Elves become +2 Dex).
Favored class for human becomes Any NPC.



Love your half-elf. I'm confused about your half-orc, is that +2 con in addition to the +2 str or instead of it?

The Dark Fiddler
2010-08-29, 06:02 PM
Love your half-elf. I'm confused about your half-orc, is that +2 con in addition to the +2 str or instead of it?

That's in addition to, to be more in line with the +2 to two stats, -2 to one that I added/nicked from a lot of other houserule sets.

Most of the race stuff doesn't really matter anyway, since my players mostly play humans. It's mostly beneficial to me when I DM, with my NPCs.

Mongoose87
2010-08-29, 07:07 PM
The only way to play a > LA+0 race is to have everyone play a >LA+0 race that is equal to the one you want to play

Consider this alternative:

Allow players playing lower LA races to gain the benefits of an equal number of levels of the paragon classes, minus HP and spellcasting advancement.

Aran Banks
2010-08-29, 07:18 PM
Why do planetouched give +1 LA for a caster? Druid Tieflings shouldn't be punished... neither should wizard Aasimars. In fact, why are Aasimar warmages punished while Aasimar binders can go around wreaking havoc?

Either keep them at +1 LA or don't. The "non-casters don't get penalized" bit is a poor houserule. You'd be better off giving fighter-balanced classes a +1 LA.

ericgrau
2010-08-29, 07:24 PM
"Full Attack as Standard Action": I understand you're trying to balance melee vs. casters, but they already have plenty of damage. Polarizing encounters even more to either "rapidly killed by damage" or "can't be harmed by damage" only breaks the system more. Either encounters become trivial or you have to send foes that make martial classes seem to suck more when they can't do anything.

"Tiefling and Aasmir are LA+0 for martial characters but remain +1 for casters": Works ok for Aasimir but I can't see a reason why a rogue would ever pick any PHB class over a tiefling like this

"Sorcerer... spell casting progression starts from level 2": I know the theoretical OP boards will point out that the wizard can potentially have any spell, but practically speaking 95% of the time people who play wizards prepare the same spell list and 95% of the time your sorcerer with that same spell list will be strictly stronger b/c he has at least as many spells prepared, more per day and the option to use the same spell multiple times. Maybe your players are different, but I doubt it. Save this rule for the hardcore, maybe.

Hobgoblins: Are quite firmly LA +0.5. Too strong for LA +0 (unless you think all LA is too high and remove it from other monsters too), but too weak for LA 1. IIRC I ran some simplistic combat simulations and found that another +2 to a physical stat makes them a perfect fit to LA 1.

The rest of the changes seem minor. So, sure, if that's what you enjoy then go for it.

RebelRogue
2010-08-29, 09:47 PM
It always irked me that hp bonuses from con increases are retroactive, but skill points from int are not. I make them both retroactive, to the delight of skillmonkeys everywhere.
I'm pretty sure the reason for that rule has to do with what happens when you lose temporary bonuses to Int. Let's say the Archmage Monkee McKnowitall dons a Headband of Intellect +6. Now he suddenly, retroactively is an expert on History, Engineering and the weaving of baskets! That's a bit weird, but it's magic so that's perfectly reasonable to handwave. But what happens if the headband is stolen by Stealthydude the Master rogue? Which skills does he lose? Does it have to be the three skills he previously learned retroactively? Or can he choose to forget some other skills? If the former is true, it means you have to keep separate track for which skills are associated with which non-permenent Int bonus (just what the game needed: more things to keep track of). Of it's the latter, you can use it to instantly retrain skills by taking the headband off and on again! I'm not saying it's a huge problem in practice (and indeed I have played characters than would have loved this houserule), but as I said, I'm almost positive that's why this house rule isn't the default.

Mongoose87
2010-08-29, 10:34 PM
I'm pretty sure the reason for that rule has to do with what happens when you lose temporary bonuses to Int. Let's say the Archmage Monkee McKnowitall dons a Headband of Intellect +6. Now he suddenly, retroactively is an expert on History, Engineering and the weaving of baskets! That's a bit weird, but it's magic so that's perfectly reasonable to handwave. But what happens if the headband is stolen by Stealthydude the Master rogue? Which skills does he lose? Does it have to be the three skills he previously learned retroactively? Or can he choose to forget some other skills? If the former is true, it means you have to keep separate track for which skills are associated with which non-permenent Int bonus (just what the game needed: more things to keep track of). Of it's the latter, you can use it to instantly retrain skills by taking the headband off and on again! I'm not saying it's a huge problem in practice (and indeed I have played characters than would have loved this houserule), but as I said, I'm almost positive that's why this house rule isn't the default.
Pathfinder handled this issue well: each Headband of Int has a skill per +2 bonus. These skills have ranks = level, while the headband is worn.

ericgrau
2010-08-29, 11:55 PM
Hmm that works. Though remember pathfinder gives a +3 to class skills and only 1 max rank at level 1, so ranks = level essentially means the skill is maxed out

Mongoose87
2010-08-30, 12:19 AM
Hmm that works. Though remember pathfinder gives a +3 to class skills and only 1 max rank at level 1, so ranks = level essentially means the skill is maxed out

I'm aware of that.

Greenish
2010-08-30, 11:31 AM
Skills
No such thing as class skills, all skills cost the same and have the same max ranks as class skills.

General consolidation rules (Listen and spot > perception, etc.)

Races
Half-Orc only takes a penalty to one mental ability score, player's choice and gains Weapon Focus as a bonus feat. Also gains +2 Con
Half-Elf gains a +2 Dex, and the extra skills points of humans.
Most races following the pattern from the PHB either lose their ability penalty or gain a second bonus (Dwarves become +2 Strength, +2 Con, -2 Dex while Elves become +2 Dex).
Favored class for human becomes Any NPC.

Classes
Favored class gives +1 HP and +1 Skill Point per level.Is it just me, or is there some pathfinder influence there? :smallamused:

Why do planetouched give +1 LA for a caster? Druid Tieflings shouldn't be punished... neither should wizard Aasimars. In fact, why are Aasimar warmages punished while Aasimar binders can go around wreaking havoc?You know that the planetouched give more than just a few stat bonuses, right? Aasimar wizard is proficient with all martial weapons (handy for gishing) and has the outsider type for all sorts of morphing cheese from Alter Self to PaO.

I'll admit though that treating all full casters as if they were equal is somewhat questionable, given that they range from tier 1 all the way to tier 5.

Ravens_cry
2010-08-30, 12:38 PM
Things like rage that give you hit points give you temporary hit points, as it is far too easy to die at the end of raging at mid to high levels.

UserClone
2010-08-30, 02:13 PM
Things like rage that give you hit points give you temporary hit points, as it is far too easy to die at the end of raging at mid to high levels.

This is a pretty compelling one. Actually makes me want to play a barbarian! :smallbiggrin:

Shademan
2010-09-02, 02:43 AM
...It's called short spear. You don't need to let them use regular spears one handed.

the thing is, as far as I'm concerned, there are two kinds of spear. the two handed one the spearmen use which a 10 foot reach(not a pike, mind you), and the arming spear which men at arms use. shortspear is a much shorter weapon, barely more than a glorified pointy stick. and armingspears can EASILY be used one handed.
I come to this conclusion based on my experiences as a reenactor.

Heliomance
2010-09-02, 05:14 AM
I'm currently building a fairly heavily modified setting, with a bunch of houserules. A couple I'd like a bit of feedback on, though, are bumping every flight spell up one level, and making every teleport spell Range: Personal, Target: You.

It is a modern world, so there are aeroplanes and such, and my cosmology features planes that can be used to travel similar to the shadow plane, reachable without spells. With the teleport thing, I want to simultaneously lessen the utter reliance on casters, nerf scry and die, and avoid having distance being utterly useless as an obstacle. With the flight, in most stories, a wizard that can lift himself into the air by sheer brute magical force tends to be a very powerful wizard indeed, and I've always felt that flight in D&D is too easy. The fact that again it makes casters slightly less god-like is an added bonus.

jguy
2010-09-02, 05:49 AM
Some people have talked about having the planetouched be LA +1 for some and LA+0 for others as convoluted and mishmashed, that I should either leave them as 0 for all or +1 for all. This doesn't really work the way I want it to.

Leaving it +1 for all defeats the purpose completely. I really like the planetouched, they are really flavorful and I want them in my games more but I know that giving a wizard +2 Int and +2 dex is way more powerful than giving it to a rogue or ranger. Same way as a cleric or druid Aasmir gets more mileage out of that +2 Wisdom and Charisma than a paladin. Now a druid tiefling in all respects would be a LA+0, I'd rule it that way since a little more int and dex isn't much stronger. In fact, I think that'd be a very flavorful character, a demon descendant that reveres nature sounds really cool.

Now someone said that a way around this is to give martial classes a free LA +1. Now that is something I could think on. There are a couple pretty decent LA 1's out there that aren't too OP'd but are flavorful and beneficial. It would have to depend on the power level of the game and what race or template it was. A Draconic fighter or barbarian won't be too strong in the long run. Low levels that stats are a big bonus but late levels that +2 strength averages only and extra 1-2 damage a swing. Or being a hobgoblin, who could realistically be a LA 0, is a good candidate. Now being a Half-Ogre or Minotaur is entirely different which would constitute keeping the LA there.

Again, these are all houserules in my games and no one is required to listen to them.

Greenish
2010-09-02, 09:02 AM
the thing is, as far as I'm concerned, there are two kinds of spear. the two handed one the spearmen use which a 10 foot reach(not a pike, mind you), and the arming spear which men at arms use. shortspear is a much shorter weapon, barely more than a glorified pointy stick. and armingspears can EASILY be used one handed.And how would you know that arming spears correspond to spears (which are mechanically different) rather than short spears (which are mechanically the same)? :smallconfused:

Shademan
2010-09-02, 10:15 AM
what do you mean "mechanically different"? there is no arming spears in D&D.
thats my point, a arming spear is a one handed weapon used in conjunction with a shield. it can be thrown and it can be set against a charge, just as a spear in D&D can. The longspear in D&D fits the description and reach for the two handed spears used by spearmen.
Furthermore, the D&D spear have no reach and it being two-handed is pretty much NEVER used by neither players nor NPC's. I would also argue that 1d6 damage of a shortspear is no way near the damage you can do with a proper arming spear.

making the spear one handed is not only making it viable for use but also simply plain logic

Greenish
2010-09-02, 10:36 AM
there is no arming spears in D&D. thats my point, a arming spear is a one handed weapon used in conjunction with a shield. it can be thrown and it can be set against a chargeNow you're actually describing what in D&D is called trident.


Furthermore, the D&D spear have no reach and it being two-handed is pretty much NEVER used by neither players nor NPC's.Much like many, many other weapons. And really, who would use a spear even if it was a one-handed weapon?

I would also argue that 1d6 damage of a shortspear is no way near the damage you can do with a proper arming spear.1d6 is enough for a commoner to kill another commoner with a single solid blow. You really can't make very definitive statements about the weapon damage in an abstract HP system of D&D and it's relation to the real world.

making the spear one handed is not only making it viable for use but also simply plain logic"Logic" would be using the existing stats that fit the weapon.

Shademan
2010-09-02, 10:51 AM
from the SRD:
Spear

A spear can be thrown. If you use a ready action to set a spear against a charge, you deal double damage on a successful hit against a charging character.

also, the arming spear is the weapon of a soldier. A warrior should be able to kill another warrior with one blow of it, warriors have a HD of D8.

here's a short vid http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nf6ZSjVz93g
that shows a little on the use of arming spears.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AnUZ5WwUeM&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbVq2vfsaEA&feature=related

and the art in the PHB show the shortspear being JUST as long as the javelin. tough that does not REALLY prove anything

Greenish
2010-09-02, 10:55 AM
also, the arming spear is the weapon of a soldier. A warrior should be able to kill another warrior with one blow of it, warriors have a HD of D8.Okay, how about following stats for an arming spear: one-handed martial, 1d8 piercing damage, x2 crit, can be thrown or set against charge?

[Edit]: I suggest utterly disregarding the PHB art.

Shademan
2010-09-02, 11:13 AM
isnt that the stats for a spear?
EDIT: well I would argue just making the spear onehanded. 'course if I had to compromise with you then I would agree very much

Greenish
2010-09-02, 11:23 AM
isnt that the stats for a spear?That's the stats for trident, actually, but they do pretty much exactly what you wanted from the arming spear.

Of course, if you made spear one-handed, it (a simple weapon) would be better than a martial weapon (though still probably not worth using).

Shademan
2010-09-02, 11:38 AM
well I wouldnt say BETTER than a martial weapon. but thats kinda the thing with spears. theyre easy to use and REALLY effective weapons!
but in terms of mechanics, bumping the crit down to x2 might indeed balance it out a little

ericgrau
2010-09-02, 12:17 PM
Now someone said that a way around this is to give martial classes a free LA +1. Now that is something I could think on.
Finally a boost to martial that actually makes sense. There are a lot of boosts to martial classes out there via feat or item tax, and people trying to justify breaking the system in convoluted ways with such and such just because martial supposedly sucks so much. Even if that were so, allowing something broken that slipped past the authors on part 3 of feat X on page ### of book Y and thus only to the experienced players who might actually know of its existence is pretty retarded.

I like the idea of saying "Hey, I want martial classes to be a little stronger, here's a free LA +1." There, done, nothing retarded or untested. The only gripe I might have is that this does nothing for their versatility, and again they already have plenty of power in what they currently do. But at least this is only 1 LA, and it won't make them broken at what they do (which would only make it more obvious that they can't do other things). Personally I'm fine with that; IMO parties should have different classes handling different things. But just understand that boosts like this do nothing to solve the common complaints, don't go crazy with these boosts, and your games should be fine. I'm still against screwy full attack standard actions btw.

Piedmon_Sama
2010-09-02, 01:31 PM
1. My campaigns combine class defense bonus (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/adventuring/defenseBonus.htm) with Armor as DR (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/adventuring/armorAsDamageReduction.htm), letting the Defense bonus stack with reduced armor bonuses. Damage Conversion (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/adventuring/damageConversion.htm) is used, using the full value of the armor to allot nonlethal damage.

So this means a 1st-level Fighter, for example, wearing scale mail combines his +6 Class Bonus and 1/2 the armor rating for an AC of 18. Everytime he's hit, 4 points of damage are treated as nonlethal. The point of this is partly to make armor less necessary but still valuable, and partly to compensate for a presumed lack of clerical assistance since I run low-magic games.

NOTE: I allow the monk to use the best class defense bonus and drop the Cleric's to 3/4ths (e.g equal to the Barbarian's).

2. Combat Facing (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/adventuring/combatFacing.htm). While difficult to employ in online games where we're replacing the battlemat with our IMAGINATIONNSSS, I do use combat facing to give penalties/bonuses to hit when I remember (so if you tumble right behind an opponent, give yourself a flank bonus whether you have a buddy or not). This rule also allows rogues to backstab on their own, making them a much deadlier melee class.

3. We have stripped Alignment (and the traditional D&D cosmology) out of the game in my campaign. It's replaced with the concept of deific piety, essentially: the enemies of your god would be the targets of a Smite spell if you're a Cleric. This means two "goodly" clerics can duke it out with impunity if their gods get into dispute (which isn't unknown to happen).

4. Being caught flat-footed with a ranged weapon at further than 5 ft. and no further than 1/2 the weapon's range increment results in automatic critical damage. This means if I catch you offguard with my longbow from 30 ft. away and hit you, it's x3 damage because I am presumably a trained marksman (proficient at least) and pointed the arrow at your face and there is nothing you can do about it.

5. I allow called shots and ad-hoc the penalties based on the target, your weapon, what you want, etc. It's easier to slide a rapier through an enemy's visor than a greataxe, but it's still pretty damn hard. The basic "I sweep his legs" "I hack at his shoulder" called shots are -4, aiming for the neck is like -8, the head -10 and so on.

6. Death by Massive Damage starts at 50 pts. Fort DC is 1/2 the damage, meaning they start at DC 25 and get tougher from there.

7. All ranged weapons have their damage die bumped up by one. Longbows do d12, light crossbows do d10, javelins do d8 and so forth. Firearms are available: pistols do d10 range 50 ft, muskets 2d6 range 80 ft, both with x3 crit. Old-school harquebuses actually require you to roll a d3 to determine which of three squares the ball lands in. :V

8. I ad-hoc injuries. If you take burns all over your body from, say, a naptha flamethrower (which happened to one of my players) expect to take say, 6 Str and Dex damage. If you fall from a great height, expect some broken ribs or legs. I don't like the simplistic and abstracted form of HP, you can probably tell by now.

9. Not only do monks get the best class bonus, they also add their WIS bonus to AC (didn't they take that away in 3.5?), and also flurrying is now a standard action.

9. Setting stuff: Orcs gain +2 survival/+2 intimidate, weapon familiarity (doublesword, shotput), DR 2/lethal, infravision, option to take the scent feat. Gnomes lose, uh, basically everything except their small size, Con bonus/Str penalty, gain a bonus feat and human skill points. Half-Orcs gain Orc skills (+2 survival/+2 intimidate) and human skill points. Hobgoblins get stonecunning and automatic crossbow/longsword proficiencies. Elves get crazy good stat bonuses, spell-like abilities, and are generally not for Player Characters.

Only minor, disposable magic items (scrolls, wands, potions) can be bought or sold with the permission of the Archmagi (the big high muckety-mucks of all non-elven wizards). The Archmagi forbid all Wizards from interfering with the societies of the mortal kindreds (humans, orcs, etc.) except in self-defense.

I've reset the economy to something more realistically medieval, where a nonmasterwork weapon is likely about a third of its PHB price, trading in gold is virtually never done, and serious magic items have no price attached--you have to have something else the holder wants, or be prepared to perform some serious quest-type service.

Only Elves (and Half-Elves) and some monstrous races can take the Sorcerer class. Duskblade and Bard skills can be taught by the Elves to other races, but only very rarely. Wizards are basically forbidden on pain of death from selling magical services or items of any kind to any community of mortal kindred. The Paladin class is banned (doesn't exist in the setting), the Knight class's stupid restrictions are waved, no ToB, there's only 4 clerics and maybe 400 druids scattered over the world.

Greenish
2010-09-02, 01:59 PM
Not only do monks get the best class bonus, they also add their WIS bonus to AC (didn't they take that away in 3.5?)They didn't, so that's not a houserule. :smallcool: