[3.5] Your Favorite Houserules?

[Dsurion]

Houserules. Every group has them. Some are the standard stuff in Unearthed Arcana, and some border on obnoxious, like requiring spellcasters' players to recite incantations for every spell they cast (while awesome from an immersion perspective, it got old), or for the bard player to sing or play an instrument every time they use bardic music.

So, what are your favorites?

[Yora]

No XP-penalties for multiclassing ranks pretty high.

Also considering every hit point roll as minimum half the max number also always makes people very happy. (d6 hit dice give at least 3+Con hp per level)

[Comet]

In D&D 3.5:
You roll a 1 when attacking and fail the next roll to avoid a fumble, your sword flies onto the nearest wall/foor

and

you roll enough 20s in a row (three+), the target gets slaughtered instantly.

Unfair, unbalanced but so much fun!

[Dusk Eclipse]

No multi-classing penalty.

If you get one class skill even for 1 level; you get to treat them as class skills for the purposes of max ranks and how many skill points it cost to raise forever (yes a factotum dip gives you all skills as class skills for ever)

Extra skill points per level for all classes.

[balistafreak]

+1 to "triple-20" insta-vorpal effect. Even on enemies without discernable anatomy. A 1-8000 chance has a right to happen when it wants to. :smallbiggrin: When used by a player, insta-gib of target. When used against a player... no insta-gib, but insta-drop to -1. Good enough. :smalltongue:

+1 to no XP-multiclass penalties.

I use "sense rolls". You can make Charisma, Intelligence, and Wisdom checks (depending on circumstance) to get a clue in-character, when you're stumped OOC.

[Eldan]

In D&D 3.5:
You roll a 1 when attacking and fail the next roll to avoid a fumble, your sword flies onto the nearest wall/foor.


I dislike that rule for one reason: it means that more trained fighters, i.e. those with more than one attack per turn, fumble more often than less skilled ones.


Anyway:
-Multiclassing has been mentioned.
-Ignoring most alignment restrictions
-LA buy-off

[Veyr]

Fractional BAB/Saves is something I consider mandatory; I won't play in a game without those. Same with waiving multiclassing XP penalties.

Getting to improve two different ability scores by 1 each every four levels is a good one.

Banning Artificer, Archivist, Cleric, Druid, Fighter (maybe allow a 2 level dip, maybe allow Dungeoncrasher), Monk (maybe allow a 2 level dip), Ninja, Paladin (probably allow a 2 level dip), Ranger, Samurai, Truenamer, and Wizard can do wonders for intra-party balance. I'd actually consider banning all classes that rely only on the standard combat rules (i.e. no spells, powers, soulmelds, maneuvers, etc), since they're all pretty much awful, and then banning Psion, Sorcerer, and other Tier 2 classes would also work (though now you're looking at a pretty much "Tier 3 only" game).

Consolidating skills a la Pathfinder is often a good move. Generally improving skill points per level (the Archivist, Psion, and Wizard are the only classes that deserve 2+Int, for example) can also help.

More feats, especially at low levels, improve the game. Flaws are a terrible way to make that happen, though - I'd prefer to just give free feats, rather than waste time with min-maxed flaws. Two free feats to start opens up a lot of interesting options for characters.

[Crossblade]

No multi class exp penalty.
Max hp per level up.
Eschew materials is free for everyone.

[Comet]

I dislike that rule for one reason: it means that more trained fighters, i.e. those with more than one attack per turn, fumble more often than less skilled ones.


That's true, but it hasn't really been a problem in our games. Could be we're just lucky, but usually by the time you're dishing out more than one attack per turn, you have a high enough attack bonus to hit most things you should be hitting and, as such, you also have a high enough attack bonus to avoid the fumble with an additional roll.

In any case, that rule isn't in effect nearly all of the time, just when the players themselves remember it and start screaming "fumble" with glee. The triple-20 rule, though? Always in effect, with glorious results. I'm just glad our group doesn't see much PC vs PC violence.

[Zanatos777]

Spells per Day

When a new arcane trickster level is gained, the character gains new spells per day as if he had also gained a level in a spellcasting class he belonged to before adding the prestige class. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained, except for an increased effective level of spellcasting. If a character had more than one spellcasting class before becoming an arcane trickster, he must decide to which class he adds the new level for purposes of determining spells per day.

Ignoring this ^ in favor of the following for all caster classes.


Spells per Day/Spells Known

When a new archmage level is gained, the character gains new spells per day (and spells known, if applicable) as if he had also gained a level in whatever arcane spellcasting class in which he could cast 7th-level spells before he added the prestige class level. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained. If a character had more than one arcane spellcasting class in which he could cast 7th-level spells before he became an archmage, he must decide to which class he adds each level of archmage for the purpose of determining spells per day.

[Veyr]

Ignoring this ^ in favor of the following for all caster classes.
Does anyone not do that? That's almost as bad as Monk unarmed strike non-proficiency....

[Zanatos777]

Does anyone not do that? That's almost as bad as Monk unarmed strike non-proficiency....

Hence favorite houserule. No one would even think to run without it. Also it amusing me because 90% of people don't realize its a houserule.

[Curmudgeon]

Monks are proficient with their unarmed strikes.
Ranged full attacks provoke AoOs on every shot.
Swordsages don't get x6 skill points at first level; they get x4, like every other class.
Rules Compendium conflated all miss types to be the same as concealment, so they don't stack. But they also include a DM's option to adjust miss chance for the conditions. I always adjust the miss chance to be exactly the same as if that first new rule didn't exist. :smallwink:

[Amphetryon]

Death at -CON instead of -10, with -10 being the default for anyone with a negative modifier on their CON score. Gives players another round or three to get to a fallen comrade, assuming the DM didn't have the bad guy CdG fallen player characters.

[Telonius]

Weapon Finesse has no prerequisites. Rogue20 grants an Rogue Special ability.

Monk has full BAB and the ability to enchant his body/natural attack as though it were a magic weapon/armor.

Paladins take the alignment of their deity, Paladin Code is determined by the deity.

Ignore encumbrance unless it gets silly.

All Clerics are cloistered. Druids use the Wildshape variant.

Several egregious spells do not exist or are nerfed. Dust of Sneezing and Choking does not exist. Divine Power is War domain only.

Pun-Pun has already ascended, and is the in-game avatar of the DM. He will not allow anyone to reach his level of power.

[Comet]

Ignore encumbrance unless it gets silly.



This is a good one. I hadn't even thought of it, since we stopped paying attention to encrumbrance rules quite a long time ago.

[Darth Stabber]

+1 to no multiclass xp penalty

+1 to fractional BAB (Fractional saves optional on a per character basis)

Cross class skills cost 1 point per rank (but the cap remains in place)

Free Eschew Components for Spontaneous casters, wizards still need the feat or a component pouch (that will never come up again, even if they lose it)

the 3 UA paladin variants.

No Paladin code (they just maintain Alignment)

Psicraft = Spellcraft, Use Psionic Device = Use Magic Device

Reroll 1s on hitdie rolls. d8 and up classes also reroll 2s.

Bards MUST have a fully ranked perform skill, and it must be an audible one. The party members are too busy fighting to watch you dance. TWF + Light Maces = PERFORM(PERCUSSION).

Polymorph rules are heavily altered.

Altered alignment related stuff. (IE to a system that makes sense)

free feat at first level, must be related to the society you grew up in (modified regional bonus feat basically). Current party grew up in necromancer ruled country, Free Tomb Tainted Soul (as the country has a lot of negative energy).

All halflings are strongheart.

Ninjas are actually classed rogue, Samurai classed fighter or paladin, Monks are classed fighter or unarmed swordsage.

No cast time increase for spontaneosly casted metamagic'd spells.

The feats that gives bonuses to 2 skills are modular (ie you can just pick two skill and get a +2 each), under the condition you come up with a cool name for a non-phb combo.

[Curmudgeon]

Reroll 1s on hitdie rolls. d8 and up classes also reroll 2s.
Hah. That made me realize I forgot to include one.

No rolling for any character development. Use point buy for ability scores, and figure hit points after first level as ½ point above average on each die:

3 HP for each d4 http://home.comcast.net/~ftm3/ASMoNM/d4.gif
4 HP for each d6 http://home.comcast.net/~ftm3/ASMoNM/d6.gif
5 HP for each d8 http://home.comcast.net/~ftm3/ASMoNM/d8.gif
6 HP for each d10 http://home.comcast.net/~ftm3/ASMoNM/d10.gif
7 HP for each d12 http://home.comcast.net/~ftm3/ASMoNM/d12.gif

[Thrice Dead Cat]

Big fan of no multiclassing penalty. Spells known go up with PrCs as per FAQ. You can take either average or roll for HD, max at first as per normal. Die at -CON, even though that means diddly practically past, say ~3rd level. Full transparency with psionics up to and including skills. Most things from UA are kosher, although fractional saves generally mean only one 2+ per save. Druids get choice of 2 between spells, companion, and wildshape. Alternatively, they can take the animal companion at ranger growth rates and keep the shifting from PHB2 and the spells.

[Kaje]

-No multiclass XP penalty.

-Ignore most alignment restrictions for base classes. Exceptions: Clerics, Paladins (though the UA variants are allowed), Incarnates, Soulborns, possibly Crusaders (though I could see a true neutral Crusader of Balance.) Also ignore most member ship requirements for PrCs.

-Sorcerers get Eschew Materials free at level 1. Sorcerers use Favored Soul spell progression.

-Healers cast spontaneously from entire spell list, which includes the vigor line of spells. They use the Dread Necromancer spell progression. They have Ride as a class skill (seriously, who thought a class whose best feature is a unicorn mount shouldn't have Ride?) and any PrCs that progress animal companion or special mount also progress unicorn companion. They do all their spellcasting using either wis or cha, chosen at level 1.

-Warblades get Ride as a class skill.

-Fighters get Diplomacy as a class skill.

-Spot and Listen are rolled into one skill, Perception, which is a universal class skill. Hide and Move Silently are rolled into one skill, Stealth.

-Monks are proficient in unarmed strike.

-Full attack is a standard action. As is flurry of blows. Martial classes are now much more awesome. This applies only when in one's natural form, not when in some different form, via wild shape, a polymorph spell, or similar effect, unless the form comes from your race or template.

-After initiating a maneuver as a standard action, you may additionally make a single attack with a weapon, natural weapon, or unarmed strike at any point during the remainder of your turn. This is to help martial adepts keep up a bit more with the now more powerful full-attackers.

-Dragonfire Adepts qualify for metabreath effects.

-When one breath weapon goes on cooldown, others from different sources are unaffected.

-Hobgoblins are LA 0.

-GitP classes allowed: Esper Knight (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=169532), Vestige Summoner (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=171823), Midnight Occultist (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=157493), Summoner (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=150194).

-Use gestalt rules. Can progress in two prestige classes at once. Dual-progression PrCs are allowed but take up both sides of the gestalt, so don't use them unless they have really awesome class features you want.

-Encumbrance rules are stupid. Just be reasonable.

-Max HP every level.

[Lyndworm]

No XP-penalties for multiclassing ranks pretty high.

I also use this rule.



If you get one class skill even for 1 level; you get to treat them as class skills for the purposes of max ranks and how many skill points it cost to raise forever (yes a factotum dip gives you all skills as class skills for ever)

Ditto



-Ignoring most alignment restrictions
-LA buy-off

Same.



Fractional BAB/Saves is something I consider mandatory; I won't play in a game without those. Same with waiving multiclassing XP penalties.

Consolidating skills a la Pathfinder is often a good move. Generally improving skill points per level (the Archivist, Psion, and Wizard are the only classes that deserve 2+Int, for example) can also help.

More feats, especially at low levels, improve the game. Flaws are a terrible way to make that happen, though - I'd prefer to just give free feats, rather than waste time with min-maxed flaws. Two free feats to start opens up a lot of interesting options for characters.

I do this, as well. My skills are as follows:
Acrobatics - Dex
Athletics - Str
Concentration - Con
Craft - Int
Deception - Cha
Diplomacy - Int
Knowledge - Int (Academia, Arcane, Cosmology, Divine, Location, Medicine, Nature)
Perception - Wis
Perform - Cha
Profession - Wis
Read/Write Language - N/A
Speak Language - N/A
Stealth - Dex
Thievery - Dex
Use Magic Device - Cha

Monks are proficient with their unarmed strikes.

Yep.



Death at -CON instead of -10, with -10 being the default for anyone with a negative modifier on their CON score. Gives players another round or three to get to a fallen comrade, assuming the DM didn't have the bad guy CdG fallen player characters.

Yeah.



Weapon Finesse has no prerequisites.

Monk has full BAB and the ability to enchant his body/natural attack as though it were a magic weapon/armor.

Paladins take the alignment of their deity, Paladin Code is determined by the deity.

I do the same, though I also allow Paladins to be unattached to a deity. They must still follow a code, however.



Cross class skills cost 1 point per rank (but the cap remains in place)

the 3 UA paladin variants.

free feat at first level, must be related to the society you grew up in (modified regional bonus feat basically). Current party grew up in necromancer ruled country, Free Tomb Tainted Soul (as the country has a lot of negative energy).

No cast time increase for spontaneosly casted metamagic'd spells.

Yeppers.



-Sorcerers get Eschew Materials free at level 1.

-Use gestalt rules. Can progress in two prestige classes at once. Dual-progression PrCs are allowed but take up both sides of the gestalt, so don't use them unless they have really awesome class features you want.

Also this.



I also use homebrewed/houseruled fixes for a lot of feats. Power Attack and Weapon Finesse are regular attack options, as are Called Shots, which are basically ranged Power Attacks. The Weapon Finesse feat adds Dex to damage, the TWF feats are all combined into three feats, shield-related feats are combined into three feats, and ranged combat feats are combined into four feats.

Fighters get weapon-specific bonus feats (Weapon Focus, etc.) on odd-numbered levels.

Favored Enemy works differently and Ranger Combat Styles use different feats/progressions.

Paladins can Smite Cha Mod+1/4 level/day, Smite works with ranged attacks, and Remove/Cause Disease by expending Lay on Hand/Deadly Touch points. They also have a good Will save in addition to Fortitude.

[Sillycomic]

My favorite 3.5 Houserules are Pathfinder.

[Amphetryon]

One that I've included for those occasions where the player declined to play a Warblade in favor of a Fighter:

Ignore the printed Bonus Feat acquisition table. Fighters get a Bonus Feat at 1st, and again at every level where they would not get a standard feat. 5th level Fighter is no longer the dumbest idea since the Toffee Spear.

[Lyndworm]

Ignore the printed Bonus Feat acquisition table. Fighters get a Bonus Feat at 1st, and again at every level where they would not get a standard feat. 5th level Fighter is no longer the dumbest idea since the Toffee Spear.

I really like this... OK, I've revised my Fighter based on that rule. it now looks like this:
{table=Head] Level | Base Attack | Fort | Ref | Will | Class Features
1 | +1 | +2 | +0 | +0 | Bonus Feat, Weapon Focus
2 | +2 | +3 | +0 | +0 | Bonus Feat
3 | +3 | +3 | +1 | +1 | Weapon Specialization
4 | +4 | +4 | +1 | +1 | Bonus Feat
5 | +5 | +5 | +2 | +2 | Bonus Feat
6 | +6/+1 | +5 | +2 | +2 | Improved Weapon Focus
7 | +7/+2 | +6 | +2 | +2 | Bonus Feat
8 | +8/+3 | +6 | +3 | +3 | Bonus Feat
9 | +9/+4 | +7 | +3 | +3 | Improved Weapon Specialization
10 | +10/+5 | +7 | +3 | +3 | Bonus Feat
11 | +11/+6/+1 | +8 | +4 | +4 | Bonus Feat
12 | +12/+7/+2 | +8 | +4 | +4 | Greater Weapon Focus
13 | +13/+8/+3 | +9 | +4 | +4 | Bonus Feat
14 | +14/+9/+4 | +9 | +5 | +5 | Bonus Feat
15 | +15/+10/+5 | +10 | +5 | +5 | Greater Weapon Specialization
16 | +16/+11/+6/+1 | +10 | +5 | +5 | Bonus Feat
17 | +17/+12/+7/+2 | +10 | +5 | +5 | Bonus Feat
18 | +18/+13/+8/+3 | +11 | +6 | +6 | Crushing Strike, Driving Attack, or Slashing Flurry
19 | +19/+14/+9/+4 | +11 | +6 | +6 | Bonus Feat
20 | +20/+15/+10/+5 | +12 | +6 | +6 | Bonus Feat, Weapon Supremacy[/table]

Improved Weapon Focus:
Prerequisites: Weapon Focus with selected weapon, BAB +6
Benefit: You gain a +1 bonus on all attack rolls you make using the selected weapon. This bonus stacks with other bonuses on attack rolls, including the one from Weapon Focus.

Greater Weapon Focus:
Prerequisites: Improved Weapon Focus with the selected weapon, BAB+10
Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on all attack rolls you make using the selected weapon. This bonus stacks with other bonuses on attack rolls, including those from Weapon Focus and Improved Weapon Focus.

Improved Weapon Specialization:
Prerequisites: Weapon Specialization with the selected weapon, BAB +8
Benefit: You gain a +4 bonus on all damage rolls you make using the selected weapon. This bonus stacks with other bonuses on damage rolls, including the one from Weapon Specialization.

Greater Weapon Specialization:
Prerequisites: Improved Weapon Specialization with the selected weapon, BAB +12
Benefit: You gain a +6 bonus on all damage rolls you make using the selected weapon. This bonus stacks with other bonuses on damage rolls, including the one from Weapon Specialization and Improved Weapon Specialization.

[FMArthur]

Rich's Diplomacy fix combined with a "co-operativeness" stat that actually accounts for variations in disposition and personality. Basically a number somewhere between -10 and 0 that applies to Diplomacy checks made against the character and by the character. Players can certainly use it and 'abuse' it to make NPCs less likely to convince them to do something, which is fine since it prevents them from doing the same for NPCs, and it means that an NPC's stubbornness is not quite so attached to their Wisdom and character level.

As an addendum to the rule, you can change the number by 1 per level and 1 per month - all people are capable of change, but people who go on adventures, overcoming trials of body and mind, are more likely to engage in rapid personal character growth than a person just working a day job.

Obviously the rule doesn't work if you contrive it against the players every time; not every guard should have -10 co-operativeness, for instance, but perhaps a tendency in that can be observed for those who make being a guard their living and are good at it to be on the lower end of the spectrum.

[T.G. Oskar]

Mine are really simple, not yet fully fleshed. Most are taken from DMs I've played with.

If using rolls for ability scores, three 1s are considered an 18 (thus, the absolute lowest score is 4).
When rolling hit dice, either take half the amount or roll (and if rolling, you get what you roll).
Being bilingual, one language (usually English) is chosen as Common, and any other languages are spoken in the other language (usually Spanish). The last campaign switched that, however.
No encumbrance, unless it would be obvious. The most obvious example is if you're holding lots of tchotchkes (such as three swords, two bows, four spears, five maces, two shields, six suits of armor and so on) or if holding way too much money (over 500 gp is a good moment where to define encumbrance)
For your convenience, there are banks where you can deposit money. It is quite safe, since it's their hard-earned money, so no sudden losses (being Eberron, it's obvious that the dwarves of House Kundarak deal with it).
All games have action points, but they are unlocked once the first dungeon has been completed. This goes for all types of gamers, whether newbs or vets.

I mostly stay within the rules, but whenever it's necessary I can bend them a bit. These are the most common I use on my table (and about half of them in other tables).

[FMArthur]

Oh, I also use this variation on fractional saves:
The starting 2 from having a "good" save can only be applied once.

Which is (stupidly) not part of UA's fractional Base Bonuses sidebar. Otherwise with some multiclassing people can wind up with over +10 in save bonuses by level 5, and even just non-abusive multiclassing winds up being unfairly good in this one area.

[Lyndworm]

Oh, I also use this variation on fractional saves:
The starting 2 from having a "good" save can only be applied once.

Which is (stupidly) not part of UA's fractional Base Bonuses sidebar. Otherwise with some multiclassing people can wind up with over +10 in save bonuses by level 5, and even just non-abusive multiclassing winds up being unfairly good in this one area.

I use that as well, but I forgot to mention it. Good save. :smallbiggrin:

[jguy]

I really like this... OK, I've revised my Fighter based on that rule. it now looks like this:
{table=Head] Level | Base Attack | Fort | Ref | Will | Class Features
1 | +1 | +2 | +0 | +0 | Bonus Feat, Weapon Focus
2 | +2 | +3 | +0 | +0 | Bonus Feat
3 | +3 | +3 | +1 | +1 | Weapon Specialization
4 | +4 | +4 | +1 | +1 | Bonus Feat
5 | +5 | +5 | +2 | +2 | Bonus Feat
6 | +6/+1 | +5 | +2 | +2 | Improved Weapon Focus
7 | +7/+2 | +6 | +2 | +2 | Bonus Feat
8 | +8/+3 | +6 | +3 | +3 | Bonus Feat
9 | +9/+4 | +7 | +3 | +3 | Improved Weapon Specialization
10 | +10/+5 | +7 | +3 | +3 | Bonus Feat
11 | +11/+6/+1 | +8 | +4 | +4 | Bonus Feat
12 | +12/+7/+2 | +8 | +4 | +4 | Greater Weapon Focus
13 | +13/+8/+3 | +9 | +4 | +4 | Bonus Feat
14 | +14/+9/+4 | +9 | +5 | +5 | Bonus Feat
15 | +15/+10/+5 | +10 | +5 | +5 | Greater Weapon Specialization
16 | +16/+11/+6/+1 | +10 | +5 | +5 | Bonus Feat
17 | +17/+12/+7/+2 | +10 | +5 | +5 | Bonus Feat
18 | +18/+13/+8/+3 | +11 | +6 | +6 | Crushing Strike, Driving Attack, or Slashing Flurry
19 | +19/+14/+9/+4 | +11 | +6 | +6 | Bonus Feat
20 | +20/+15/+10/+5 | +12 | +6 | +6 | Bonus Feat, Weapon Supremacy[/table]

Improved Weapon Focus:
Prerequisites: Weapon Focus with selected weapon, BAB +6
Benefit: You gain a +1 bonus on all attack rolls you make using the selected weapon. This bonus stacks with other bonuses on attack rolls, including the one from Weapon Focus.

Greater Weapon Focus:
Prerequisites: Improved Weapon Focus with the selected weapon, BAB+10
Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on all attack rolls you make using the selected weapon. This bonus stacks with other bonuses on attack rolls, including those from Weapon Focus and Improved Weapon Focus.

Improved Weapon Specialization:
Prerequisites: Weapon Specialization with the selected weapon, BAB +8
Benefit: You gain a +4 bonus on all damage rolls you make using the selected weapon. This bonus stacks with other bonuses on damage rolls, including the one from Weapon Specialization.

Greater Weapon Specialization:
Prerequisites: Improved Weapon Specialization with the selected weapon, BAB +12
Benefit: You gain a +6 bonus on all damage rolls you make using the selected weapon. This bonus stacks with other bonuses on damage rolls, including the one from Weapon Specialization and Improved Weapon Specialization.

I really like this but do you think that you should allow the warblades retraining? I mean, yeah, you can focus really well on 1 weapon but it sucks when random treasure is rolled and the really good weapon that pops up isn't of the type you want. Also means that Exotic Weapon Proficiency isn't a waste of a feat either.

[Lyndworm]

I really like this but do you think that you should allow the warblades retraining? I mean, yeah, you can focus really well on 1 weapon but it sucks when random treasure is rolled and the really good weapon that pops up isn't of the type you want. Also means that Exotic Weapon Proficiency isn't a waste of a feat either.

Yeah, probably. I'll put that in my own copy, but I'm not going to bother updating the table. Thanks for the suggestion.

As for Exotic Weapon Proficiency... I have some rules about that that I forgot to mention. Mostly, I've changed a lot of the weapons to make them (more) worth the feat. For example, hand-and-a-half weapons (like the bastard sword) add 1.5xStr to damage and Power Attack on a 1:2 basis, like two-handed weapons. It's still a work in progress, however.

[Glimbur]

My favorite houserule is the one where where we slid all spontaneous casters up one level on their spells known and spells/day progression. That means an 11th level sorc has 6th level spells, the same as a wizard. Now the decision between spont and prepared casting is deciding between more skills and more cha.

[Telonius]

Forgot a few of my other houserules...

Druids get Knowledge (Religion) as a class skill.

Clerics get Sense Motive as a class skill. All Clerics gain proficiency in their Deity's favored weapon.

Wizard loses the bonus metamagic feats; Sorcerer gains them.

Metamagic takes no longer than usual for spontaneous casters. Quicken works for them as normal.

Half-elves can choose to get either a bonus feat at first level, or an extra skill point each level.

Half-orcs lose the Charisma penalty.

Orcs gain a +4 racial bonus to intimidate; Half-orcs gain a +2.

TWF scales with level. You get an extra attack with each iterative. ITWF lessens the penalty by one; GTWF lessens the penalty by an additional one (eliminating it altogether for characters wielding a light weapon in the off-hand).

Toughness disappears and is replaced by Improved Toughness.

Skill Focus scales with level. The bonus provided is equal to (character level/4)+3.

I also have a couple variants for the "+2/+2" skill feats, depending on what the players prefer. The first is that they scale slightly, improving to +3/+3 at level 10, and to +4/+4 at level 15. The second is that they're treated as "Traits," and selected one for free at character creation.

[Kuma Kode]

If a character yahtzee's during character creation (rolls four 6's), the score is a 20 instead of an 18. The chances of it happening are, like, 1 in a thousand.

[arguskos]

I have a lot of the prior ones, but a fun one I haven't seen mentioned yet is the Final Strike rule I use.

The Final Strike rule is that when a named character (PC or NPC) is killed, they always get a final, immediate, round of actions. I like to keep things semi-cinematic, and this has produced some truly glorious moments (including someone managing to kill his killer in a Final Strike), so I'm fine with it.

[Nachtritter]

Our game has always been fond of the "triple 20 instakill" rule, but we've also recently incorporated a rule that neatly reverses it. If you roll a 1, you fumble, and have to confirm it. If you roll a 1 AGAIN, you injure yourself for how much damage you were going to inflict on your target, and have to roll the d20 a third time. If, by some miracle of fate, THAT rolls up a one, you've automatically killed yourself.

It happens oh so rarely, but when it does, it's always good for a laugh.:smallbiggrin:

[VictorianMale]

Big fan of no multiclassing penalty. Spells known go up with PrCs as per FAQ.

Can you be more specific? I cannot seem to find the section of the FAQ that appliess to spells known...

[faceroll]

I really like this... OK, I've revised my Fighter based on that rule. it now looks like this:
{table=Head] Level | Base Attack | Fort | Ref | Will | Class Features
1 | +1 | +2 | +0 | +0 | Bonus Feat, Weapon Focus
2 | +2 | +3 | +0 | +0 | Bonus Feat
3 | +3 | +3 | +1 | +1 | Weapon Specialization
4 | +4 | +4 | +1 | +1 | Bonus Feat
5 | +5 | +5 | +2 | +2 | Bonus Feat
6 | +6/+1 | +5 | +2 | +2 | Improved Weapon Focus
7 | +7/+2 | +6 | +2 | +2 | Bonus Feat
8 | +8/+3 | +6 | +3 | +3 | Bonus Feat
9 | +9/+4 | +7 | +3 | +3 | Improved Weapon Specialization
10 | +10/+5 | +7 | +3 | +3 | Bonus Feat
11 | +11/+6/+1 | +8 | +4 | +4 | Bonus Feat
12 | +12/+7/+2 | +8 | +4 | +4 | Greater Weapon Focus
13 | +13/+8/+3 | +9 | +4 | +4 | Bonus Feat
14 | +14/+9/+4 | +9 | +5 | +5 | Bonus Feat
15 | +15/+10/+5 | +10 | +5 | +5 | Greater Weapon Specialization
16 | +16/+11/+6/+1 | +10 | +5 | +5 | Bonus Feat
17 | +17/+12/+7/+2 | +10 | +5 | +5 | Bonus Feat
18 | +18/+13/+8/+3 | +11 | +6 | +6 | Crushing Strike, Driving Attack, or Slashing Flurry
19 | +19/+14/+9/+4 | +11 | +6 | +6 | Bonus Feat
20 | +20/+15/+10/+5 | +12 | +6 | +6 | Bonus Feat, Weapon Supremacy[/table]

Improved Weapon Focus:
Prerequisites: Weapon Focus with selected weapon, BAB +6
Benefit: You gain a +1 bonus on all attack rolls you make using the selected weapon. This bonus stacks with other bonuses on attack rolls, including the one from Weapon Focus.

Greater Weapon Focus:
Prerequisites: Improved Weapon Focus with the selected weapon, BAB+10
Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on all attack rolls you make using the selected weapon. This bonus stacks with other bonuses on attack rolls, including those from Weapon Focus and Improved Weapon Focus.

Improved Weapon Specialization:
Prerequisites: Weapon Specialization with the selected weapon, BAB +8
Benefit: You gain a +4 bonus on all damage rolls you make using the selected weapon. This bonus stacks with other bonuses on damage rolls, including the one from Weapon Specialization.

Greater Weapon Specialization:
Prerequisites: Improved Weapon Specialization with the selected weapon, BAB +12
Benefit: You gain a +6 bonus on all damage rolls you make using the selected weapon. This bonus stacks with other bonuses on damage rolls, including the one from Weapon Specialization and Improved Weapon Specialization.

This is by far my favorite fighter fix:
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30692

[McSmack]

My favorite 3.5 Houserules are Pathfinder.

+1

Been a bit of a pain converting it to fit into my Eberron game though. Right now it's a 3.5/PF hodgepodge.

[Aricandor]

Fractional BAB/Saves, no multiclass-penalty and some bonus feats based on one's Charisma modifier (one at 1 for +1, one at 1 and 2 for +2, then 5/8/11... for more) would be among the quickest and dirtiest ones.

Weapon Focus gives +1 attack and damage with the selected weapon and can be taken once per 4 Fighter levels, rather than have a whole chain of specialization/focus feats. Feats that key of specific ones instead require the corresponding number of Weapon Focus taken to be able to take.

Encumbrance largely ignored unless it gets obviously silly. As long as you can wear your combat gear without breaking load thresholds you're fine.

All primary spellcasters (9th level spell access) gain Improved Counterspell and (I think it was) Reactive Counterspell as bonus feats.

Lots of various class things, all of which I'm quite fond of.
All wizards are Focused Specialists.
Clerics and druids are spontaneous casters.
Sorcerer spellcasting unstaggered and spontaneous casters can use metamagic as normal, and they gain some heritage feats as bonus feats.
Fighters use maneuvers a la ToB but with their own, homebrew set and discipline division (Offensive/Defensive/Tactical).
Rangers can choose between combat maneuvers from a subset of fighter ones and their spellcasting (which is at full caster level).
Bards get to choose a combat specialization that give them feats for it (melee/archery) or improved spellcasting (up to 8th level spells on their own little expanded list).
Rogue, Paladin, Hexblade and Barbarian have been house-tuned, gaining more special abilities earlier and from a greater list (rogue), uses an old Wizards-forum found version (paladin) or have more powerful and frequent uses of their class-defining abilities (hexblade, barbarian).
Warlocks learn more invocations.
Shadowcasters learn a lot more mysteries.

I'll stop now before it becomes a list of everything. :smallsigh:

[Fitz10019]

The Final Strike rule is that when a named character (PC or NPC) is killed, they always get a final, immediate, round of actions. I like to keep things semi-cinematic, and this has produced some truly glorious moments (including someone managing to kill his killer in a Final Strike), so I'm fine with it.

I've never heard of that one. It sounds like fun.

Here's one I use that hasn't been mentioned:

If levelling in a class gives you a feat that you already have, then that class feature feat becomes an open feat. For instance, a character with a thrower build might have chosen Quick Draw before taking his first level of Master Thrower.

Another: Bards buff. If it's a buff spell, bards can choose it.

[arguskos]

I've never heard of that one. It sounds like fun.
Oh, it is. It is. I tend to be somewhat... lax, in my strictness when enforcing precisely how the Final Strike works. If someone wants to do something, I pretty much just let it fly (though rolls obviously matter, and more than a few final strikes have been... underwhelming).

For example, I had a player who was killed via a dragon being all "hey gais, i herd u can't fly" and Awesome Blow'd the guy off a 200-ft high cliff. The hit killed him (full to dead, one hit, the dragon was Power Attacking, he had low HP, it was ugly), so he asked for his final strike to be a last-ditch arrow shot against the dragon, but with the arrow tied to himself, hoping to do a kind of harpoon deal. I was like "uh... there is no way you have the actions for that... but ok, it's a final strike, sure why not". He made his shot, and ended up acting as a constant penalty to the dragon's attacks and movement speed, as the 250 lb corpse dangling off a cliff was slightly annoying to deal with.

The final strike rule is meant to let players get a final word in and to do something cinematic, thus keeping death from being *too* harsh.

[NichG]

Game balance houserules:

- Diplomacy checks give you a hint as to what the NPC in question would respond positively to, rather than setting the NPC's attitude.
- Bluff checks make the person believe that you're telling the truth (e.g. that you believe something), as opposed to making them believe that what you're telling them is actually true. An Epic-scale modifier (depending on how crazy the thing is) can apply to bypass this restriction, so if you say 'You're an eel!' with a Bluff check of 120, and they get a 20 on Sense Motive, then yes they think they're a eel.
- Bluff, Diplomacy, etc cannot be used against other PCs

- The knowledge given by divinations is granted by specific sentient beings well-disposed to the caster: local spirits, deities, etc. This means:
- If you ask about something that no one (who is well-disposed towards you) knows about, you get no answer or a 'huh?'
- You inform the creature you're asking of the question you ask, whether or not they actually know the answer.

- The creatures summoned by Gate/etc are not bound to do the caster's bidding
- Wish cannot create magic items without xp expenditure, even as an SLA

- Damage done by the impact of heavy objects scales logarithmically with weight based on the strength bonus needed to throw them, as opposed to linearly.

Fun game imbalancing houserule:
- Advanced d20 Magic, but using Will saves instead of Fort saves to cast.

Player Convenience rules:
- One level per game can be retrained
- Feats and skill ranks can be retrained between games, but only once (you can't swap out, craft, swap back in)
- Standard set of fixes (Monks are proficient in unarmed strike, etc)
- Alignment and alignment-based prerequisites are dropped

Expediency houserules:
- You can take a non-natural 1 on any roll that you only need a 1 to succeed on.
- You can (and are encouraged to) take average on damage rolls.

[PollyOliver]

We have a lot. Favorites include:

-No multiclass penalties
-LA buyoff (and sometimes, depending on the campaign, we'll get a free +1)
-Class skills stay class skills if you put a point in them while they were
-Half +1 HP at level-up (you can roll if you want, but you have to decide first)
-You can take average damage on your attacks if you want (again, before rolling); this is mostly to save time at high levels with the ToB twfs have too many attacks for their own good
-Some skills work differently; some of the athletic skills can run off STR or DEX; hide can be used without concealment or cover, but not if you're being actively observed (but if the guy is being wailed on by the fighter, he's probably not watching you all that intently); bluff and diplomacy can only rarely have outrageous results; etc.
-Monks have full BAB
-Fighters get warblade-style weapon aptitude (not that many of us use fighters for more than feats)
-Lots of classes have minor class skill alterations
-Spontaneous casters get eschew materials
-Several re-worked subraces of the PHB classes roughly equal in power to the "high" LA 0 races; some even get feats
-Certain spells (gate, wish, miracle) are not so much win buttons as "we really screwed this up, give us a chance to fix it" buttons; other spells are heavily tweaked

[navar100]

Do not lose a level after being raised/resurrected. Instead, lose (level - 1) x 1,000 XP. Retain everything that means to be your current level. The number of XP needed to gain your next level as per the XP table is still there. Since you do not lose a level for True Resurrection you do not lose the XP for it. You get delayed gratification of gaining levels but no longer lose the fun of the levels you currently have.

Hit points:
d4 -> 1d2 + 2
d6 -> 1d3 + 3
d8 -> 1d4 + 4
d10 -> 1d6 + 4
d12 -> 1d6 + 6

[Lyndworm]

If levelling in a class gives you a feat that you already have, then that class feature feat becomes an open feat. For instance, a character with a thrower build might have chosen Quick Draw before taking his first level of Master Thrower

I do that, too. I'm so used to it that I didn't even think to mention it. :smallredface:



This is by far my favorite fighter fix:
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30692

In my opinion, that's not a fix; that's a homebrew. The difference is slight, but there. I took a class that only gets bonus feats, added a few more to the list, and changed how often it receives them. That class has all of the regular class features, plus an entirely new system of abilities never before seen. I'm certainly not saying that that's a bad thing, or that that's a bad homebrew, only that I don't (personally) consider it a fix.





Let's see... I've also heavily modified most races. They're still recognizable as the originals, but they fit better into the Campaign setting on which I'm working, and are (somewhat) more balanced against one another. They're all balanced around a "standard" +1 LA or so, excluding the three Lizardfolk races, which are balanced around +1 and +2.

[arguskos]

Do not lose a level after being raised/resurrected. Instead, lose (level - 1) x 1,000 XP. Retain everything that means to be your current level. The number of XP needed to gain your next level as per the XP table is still there. Since you do not lose a level for True Resurrection you do not lose the XP for it. You get delayed gratification of gaining levels but no longer lose the fun of the levels you currently have.

Hit points:
d4 -> 1d2 + 2
d6 -> 1d3 + 3
d8 -> 1d4 + 4
d10 -> 1d6 + 4
d12 -> 1d6 + 6
d10s get screwed here. You do know that such a thing as a d5 exists, and would make this progression far fairer, right? I highly suggest use of it, just to not screw over d10 classes. Otherwise, that's a neat method of doing it.

[FMArthur]

On Fighter fixes: one of the groups I played with in Ottawa gave them a feat at every level with the caveat that even and odd level feats could not interact with one another in prequisites or in together in a single action. It sounds complicated but it really isn't; what it accomplished were Fighters who could specialize, would not go overboard on that specialization too fast, and were never ever centred around one gimmick. It was, in my impression, the very spirit of ToB without so much as touching the maneuver system itself.

[arguskos]

On Fighter fixes: one of the groups I played with in Ottawa gave them a feat at every level with the caveat that even and odd level feats could not interact with one another in prequisites or in together in a single action. It sounds complicated but it really isn't; what it accomplished were Fighters who could specialize, would not go overboard on that specialization too fast, and were never ever centred around one gimmick. It was, in my impression, the very spirit of ToB without so much as touching the maneuver system itself.
So, basically, you had two "tracks" of feat acquisition? The even levels were one thing, and the odd levels were another thing? That's... that's pretty clever. I can dig it.

Actually, I seriously like that. I may have to steal that for personal use in fact.

[lightningcat]

I had would have expected this one to have been mentioned by someone else, but Smite per Encounter instead of per Day.

[Warlawk]

I'm actually in the process of putting together a list of things to get a formal list of houserules for our group. I think a few of our things have already been touched on here (TWF Feats), but I'm just going to copypasta from my list. There are still things to be added to it (Archery feat revamp) and some cleanup to be done and such, but this is the basis. We tend to play pretty low optimization, our arcane casters are usually blasters and our clerics usually have a lot of healing handy. This means that there is not a huge disparity between martial and casters for us. With the standard action full attack and a bit of feat cleanup it should be pretty smooth.

Skills
Players no longer multiply their skill points by 4 at first level. You may place one rank in any skill for each level or HD that you possess. A 5th level character for instance may have 5 ranks in any skill. A player gains +3 to any skill which is on his class skill list if he has placed at least one skill point in that skill.

Listen and Spot have been combined into Perception (wis).
Hide and Move Silently have been combined into Stealth (wis).
Open Lock is folded into Disable Device (dex).
Gather Information is folded into Diplomacy (cha).
Balance, Tumble, and Jump have all been combined into a new skill, Acrobatics (Dex, may use str for jump checks).
Forgery, Decipher Script and Speak Language combined into a new skill Linguistics (int).

Multiclass XP penalty
This rule has been removed, as well as racial favored classes.

Spellcasting
When a caster has reached the maximum number of level 0 spells he may gain, when he next increases his level in that casting class he gains a number of bonus castable level 0 spells equal to the number of bonus level 1 castable spells he would gain from his casting stat.

Notes:
Fighter gains 4 skill points per level.

The Full Attack option is the equivilent of a standard action.

All characters begin with an additional 10 Hit Points.

Feats

Combat Expertise and Weapon Finess as written in the PHB are gained by all characters when they achieve a +1 Attack Bonus. New versions of those feats are available.

Combat Expertise
Prerequisite: Int 13

Benefit
When using Combat Expertise to gain an AC bonus, the amount of AC you gain is increased by 1 more than the amount of AB penalty you choose to take. This benefit increases to 2 at +6 AB, to 3 at +11 AB and +4 at +16 AB. Please note that the maximum of 5 AC gained remains in place.

Special
A fighter may select Combat Expertise as one of his fighter bonus feats.

Weapon Finesse
Prerequisite: Dex 13

Benefit
When using a weapon which qualifies for Weapon Finesse, or any ranged weapon, you may add your dexterity bonus to the damage instead of your strength bonus. If you are using a two handed weapon which qualifies you may instead add 1.5 times your dexterity modifier.

Two-Weapon Fighting [General]
Prerequisite: Dex 15

Benefit
Every time you attack with your mainhand weapon using the standard attack action, you can make an additional attack with your offhand weapon. All your attacks take -2 penalty on a turn use choose to exercise this option. Please note that this only applies to basic attacks and may not be combined with special attack actions such as trip or Martial Maneuvers, if a question arises the DM will decide if you may use your offhand attacks in the given situation.

Special
A 2nd-level ranger who has chosen the two-weapon combat style is treated as having Two-Weapon Fighting, even if he does not have the prerequisite for it, but only when he is wearing light or no armor. A fighter may select Two-Weapon Fighting as one of his fighter bonus feats.

Improved Two-Weapon Fighting [General]
Prerequisite: Dex 15, Base Attack Bonus 6

Benefit
Reduce the AB penalty for two weapon fighting by 1. Furthermore you gain a +1 shield bonus to AC when wielding a weapon in each hand.

Special
A 6th-level ranger who has chosen the two-weapon combat style is treated as having Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, even if he does not have the prerequisite for it, but only when he is wearing light or no armor. A fighter may select Improved Two-Weapon Fighting as one of his fighter bonus feats.

Greater Two-Weapon Fighting [General]
Prerequisite: Dex 15, Base Attack Bonus 11

Benefit
You may attack one time with both of your weapons whenever you make an attack of opportunity and you gain an additional +1 shield bonus to AC, bringing the total to +2.

Special
An 11th-level ranger who has chosen the two-weapon combat style is treated as having Greater Two-Weapon Fighting, even if he does not have the prerequisite for it, but only when he is wearing light or no armor. A fighter may select Greater Two-Weapon Fighting as one of his fighter bonus feats.

Perfect Two-Weapon Fighting [General]
Prerequisite: Dex 15, Base Attack Bonus 16

Benefit
Reduce the AB penalty for two weapon fighting by 1, this reduces the penalty to zero. Furthermore you gain your full strength bonus to your offhand attacks.

Special
An 16th-level ranger who has chosen the two-weapon combat style is treated as having Perfect Two-Weapon Fighting, even if he does not have the prerequisite for it, but only when he is wearing light or no armor. A fighter may select Perfect Two-Weapon Fighting as one of his fighter bonus feats.

[Toliudar]

I share many of the above houserules. Also, to reduce the randomness of skill checks, I use 3d6 instead of 1d20 in many campaigns.

[Lyndworm]

Two-Weapon Fighting [General]
Prerequisite: Dex 15

Benefit
Every time you attack with your mainhand weapon, you can make an additional attack with your offhand weapon. All your attacks take -2 penalty on a turn use choose to exercise this option.

Special
A 2nd-level ranger who has chosen the two-weapon combat style is treated as having Two-Weapon Fighting, even if he does not have the prerequisite for it, but only when he is wearing light or no armor. A fighter may select Two-Weapon Fighting as one of his fighter bonus feats.


Greater Two-Weapon Fighting [General]
Prerequisite: Dex 15, Base Attack Bonus 11

Benefit
You may attack one time with both of your weapons whenever you make an attack of opportunity and you gain an additional +1 shield bonus to AC, bringing the total to +2.

Special
An 11th-level ranger who has chosen the two-weapon combat style is treated as having Greater Two-Weapon Fighting, even if he does not have the prerequisite for it, but only when he is wearing light or no armor. A fighter may select Greater Two-Weapon Fighting as one of his fighter bonus feats.

Just pointing out that you can already use both weapons on AoOs, Warlawk.

[Qwertystop]

Hence favorite houserule. No one would even think to run without it. Also it amusing me because 90% of people don't realize its a houserule.
I can't even tell the difference between the two, except that the second one requires higher-level spells.


Fractional BAB/Saves is something I consider mandatory; I won't play in a game without those. Same with waiving multiclassing XP penalties.

What's Fractional BAB/Saves?

[Warlawk]

Just pointing out that you can already use both weapons on AoOs, Warlawk.

Like I said, it's a rough list that still needed some cleanup. You know what was intended ;) But you're right, the verbiage does need a little cleanup.

Two-Weapon Fighting [General]
Prerequisite: Dex 15

Benefit
Every time you attack with your mainhand weapon using the standard attack action, you can make an additional attack with your offhand weapon. All your attacks take -2 penalty on a turn use choose to exercise this option. Please note that this only applies to basic attacks and may not be combined with special attack actions such as trip or Martial Maneuvers, if a question arises the DM will decide if you may use your offhand attacks in the given situation.

Special
A 2nd-level ranger who has chosen the two-weapon combat style is treated as having Two-Weapon Fighting, even if he does not have the prerequisite for it, but only when he is wearing light or no armor. A fighter may select Two-Weapon Fighting as one of his fighter bonus feats.


I can't even tell the difference between the two, except that the second one requires higher-level spells.



What's Fractional BAB/Saves?

The first selection says you can casting advancement as if you had gained a level.

The second says that you gain casting advancement and spells known as if you had gained a level.

By the first reading, a wizard advancing in a PRC would not gain the two spells per level he would normally learn. By the second you still learn those new spells every level.

Fractional saves/bab means that if you multiclass two classes that have partial AB advancement (for instance cleric and monk) you gain AB as if your levels were combined for the chart, instead of having your AB determined by your individual class levels. For instance a 5/5 cleric/monk by the PHB would have a 6 BAB, 3 from each class. This hurts your character because of the way partial AB works, the fractional AB rules mean that you would just look at the chart and total it up, meaning you have a 7 BAB exactly as if you had taken 10 levels in a single class with partial AB advancement.

It's much easier to understand if you have the book in front of you to look at. Unfortunately I don't think that's part of the unearthed arcana content that was moved to the SRD.

[Kuma Kode]

Just pointing out that you can already use both weapons on AoOs, Warlawk.

Where does it say that? Is it somewhere in Rules Compendium or something? Two weapon fighting says you get one extra attack with the off-hand weapon. Elsewhere it states that if you have extra attacks, such as from a high base attack bonus or multiple weapons, you have to take the full-attack action to use them.

I don't think you can use two weapons if you're only taking a standard action or making an attack of opportunity.

Admittedly I usually houserule that you can use both weapons, but I don't think it's RAW.

[Lyndworm]

I was referring to the houserules posted by Warlawk, not any RAW data. I thought that quoting him made it pretty clear, but it wouldn't be the first time I was wrong.

[Kuma Kode]

I was referring to the houserules posted by Warlawk, not any RAW data. I thought that quoting him made it pretty clear, but it wouldn't be the first time I was wrong.

AH! You meant that the first feat already covered it so it was redundant in the second one. It looked instead like you were highlighting incorrect information present in both feats. I understand now, sorry.

[Physics_Rook]

Some House Rules I've been thinking about implementing.

One of the important things to remember when deciding upon any new rule is whether or not it will help improve gameplay. It's easy to get carried away and implement a whole slew of new rules to help balance things out, but don't forget that this also means new rules for all the players to familiarize themselves with.

All told, many of these rules I'm not sure I would implement all at once, as it might overwhelm my players. But I feel confident that if exposed gradually over the course of a couple sessions or so, the changes to the mechanics of the gameplay would be easier to learn and understand for them.

I've also been playing around with the idea of an action point table. Players could spend points to create a certain effect from the table depending on the effect's action point cost. This would include things like bonus damage, replenishing spells, extra actions, automatic critical hits, and even instantly regaining all hitpoints. I feel it might help share some of the GMs power of creating a story with the PCs, and I think that might be an interesting and largely unexplored aspect of the game.

House Rules v3.8 for D&D 3.5.

GM Related
Allowable D&D Material.
You must seek DM approval of all material (whether or not it is from WotC or not) you plan on using to build your character.


Characters
Action Points.
At the beginning of every game session, all players and the DM receive one action point.

A player or DM can spend an action point to reroll the last die they rolled. They can then choose to take either the original roll or the new roll. For players that roll all their dice at the same time, it's up to the DM's discretion what dice they can reroll.
Example: Player Bob just rolled a d20 to attack, and the result was a 3. He spends an action point to reroll the d20 with a new result of 15. Bob can choose to keep either the 3 or the 15, he chooses to keep the 15.
Example: Player Steve is rolling 2d6 sneak attack damage. The result of his first d6 is 1. The result of his second d6 is 5. Steve wants to spend an action point, but the only roll he can affect now is the last roll he made (the d6 that resulted in a 5).

A player or DM can spend an action point to add +1 or -1 to any roll they've just made.
Example: Player Craig has just rolled his attack roll and seen that the result is just two points short of a successful attack, so he decides to spend two action points to boost his attack roll into a successful attack.

Action points can be hoarded, and hoarding is encouraged.

Action points need not be kept, and spending them as soon as you get them is encouraged.

There is no restriction on how frequently you can spend action points, and spending them all at once is encouraged.

Alignment.
The alignment requirements and restrictions for Classes and Prestige Classes are changed to alignment suggestions. Check with your DM as to how much of a "suggestion" something is, and how your character fits into/against the suggestion.

Multiclassing.
There is no experience penalty for multiclassing.

Hit points.
At first level, all PCs receive double the maximum amount of hitpoints at first level.

All PCs receive maximum hit points at every level after first.

Base Attack Bonus & Saves.
Fractional saves and base attack bonuses are used.

Class Changes.
The Monk class receives full base attack bonus (BAB equal to class level).

The Flurry of Blows class feature (found primarily in the Monk class, Player's Handbook page 40) is no longer a full round action, and takes only a standard action to use.

The Flurry of Blows class feature (as from the Monk class, Player's Handbook page 40) is treated as an attack action and/or a standard action, whichever is deemed most beneficial.

The Favored Enemy class feature (as from the Ranger class, Player's Handbook page 46) now allows precision damage and critical hits against favored enemies normally immune to such things. This effects even monsters without a discernible anatomy or no living vitals, such as the gelatinous cube, zombie, or golem.

Your familiar's abilities are determined by your character level, instead of your class level.
Example: A wizard 2/sorcerer 2 would have a familiar with 4th level abilities.
Example: A wizard 2/fighter 10 would have a familiar with 12th level abilities.
Example: A rogue 5/wizard 2/cleric 2 would have a familiar with 9th level abilities.

The potential experience loss from the death of a familiar is now 100xp per character level.
Example: If a wizard 2/sorcerer 2 loses a familiar, the potential xp loss is 400xp.
Example: If a wizard 10/fighter 5 loses a familiar, the potential xp loss is 1500xp.

Once per day per character level (not class level), if your familiar would be reduced to -10 or fewer hitpoints, you may make a Willpower save DC 10+(damage dealt). If successful, your familiar lives and is left stable with 0 hit points. This ability does not work if you are not on the same plane as your familiar.

Replacing a familiar requires either one month and one day (instead of one year and one day), or until the next experience level for that character is reached, whichever takes longer.

You may scribe your class level (not character level) in spells to your spellbook per day (this does not assume you have access to any spells to scribe). Classes that stack for determining your arcane spell progression, stack for determining how many spells you can scribe per day.
Note: A limiting factor to consider when implementing this rule is the availability (either by rarity, price, or protection, ect ...) of scrolls to be scribed.

Ability Scores.
Ability score increase points are now given out at every even level (instead of every level divisible by four).
Example: Characters receive bonus attribute points at levels 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20 ect ...
Note: Implement with caution. Without enough proper play testing data, it's uncertain how much this would affect gameplay.

Skills.
All skills are considered class skills.

Since Speak Language is now a class skill for both PCs and NPCs, it requires only 1 skill point to learn a language.

At first level all player characters receive 16 bonus skill points.

At every level after first all player characters receive 4 bonus skill points.

The Open Lock skill is no longer used, and all it's functionality is replaced by the Disable Device skill.
Example: Upon encountering a locked container, the appropriate skill to use would be the Disable Device skill.

Skill synergy bonuses don't stack.

Tumbling past an opponent's square requires a DC check equal to 10 + Opponent's BAB.
Example: To tumble past a square a 3rd level Fighter (BAB equal to +3) threatens (but is not occupying), you must succeed on a tumble check with a DC of 13.

Tumbling through an opponent's square requires a DC check equal to 20 + Opponent's BAB.
To tumble past a square a 16th level Fighter (BAB equal to +16) threatens (but is not occupying), you must succeed on a tumble check with a DC of 36.

Characters may choose a single profession, craft, or perform skill. At each level, the chosen profession/craft/perform skill automatically receives enough free bonus skill points in that skill to max out the number of allowable ranks in that skill. These bonus skill ranks cannot be retrained.

Skill tricks cost only a single skill point, and there is no limit on the number or type of skill tricks a character can acquire.

As a move-action, a character can bestow a competence bonus to both (one, the other, or both) the hide and move silently skills of nearby allies. The bonus to either of the skills is equal to one half the ranks of the originating character. The radius of effect is equal to five feet per rank, and is limited to line of sight (the characters involved must be reasonably aware of each other to both direct and receive commands).

Feats.
In addition to feats gained through experience levels, bonus feats are given at second level and every four levels after second (this would amount to 5 bonus feats through levels 2 to 18).
Example: Characters receive bonus feats at levels 2, 6, 10, 14, 18, ect ...
Example: Characters receive bonus feats (denoted by an asterisk *) and regular feats at levels 1, 2*, 3, 6, 6*, 9, 10*, 12, 14*, 15, 18, 18*, ect ...

Leadership does not exist as a player selectable feat.

Leadership.
A player's character may be awarded the Leadership for their actions within the game.

A player's character may be awarded the partial benefit of the Leadership for their actions within in the game.


Levels & Experience
Experience.
Bonus experience is awarded for being an active participant in the game and role-playing your character appropriately.

Experience is rewarded for defeat as well as success (albeit less xp is rewarded for defeat).

Level Adjustments.
Level Adjustments can be bought off, as per the Unearthed Arcana variant rules.


Game Mechanics
Retraining
Retraining is allowed, provided the DM reviews, understands, and okays your changes.

Encumbrance.
The weight and bulk of coins is ignored in favor of faster and simpler game play. Abuse of this rule is unwise.

Medium Encumbrance is removed from the game. Light Encumbrance is now extended to include both light loads and medium loads. This has no effect upon class features or abilities affected by Medium Armor. Medium Armor still acts exactly like Medium Armor, only medium loads have been changed, as no character can ever have a medium load now (since they no longer exist).
Example: A character with an 11 strength would have a maximum light load of 76lbs, and a heavy load of 77lbs - 115lbs.

Drawing & Sheathing Weapons.
Sheathing a weapon requires the same amount of effort as drawing a weapon.
Example: The Quickdraw feat would allow you to draw a weapon as a free action, as well as sheath a weapon as a free action.
Example: A character with a +1 Base Attack Bonus or higher as a free action can draw or sheath a weapon during a move action.

Magic Items.
Any magic item that takes up only one hand, will only take up one-half of the hand magic item slot. This effect is extended to other "half-slot" items.
Example: A Glove of Storing only takes up one half of the hand magic item slot. So a character would be able to wear two Gloves of Storing.

Magic items are now considered to be magical effects which can be applied in any combination and on any item. (e.g. you can now create a Shirt of Striding and Springing, or Boots of Wizardry I & Elvenkind.)

Spells stored inside items can have meta-magic effects placed upon them, but they are treated as a spell of the modified level.
Example: A wand of Empowered Magic Missile would be priced as a 3rd level wand.

Eternal Wands (Magic Item Compendium page 159) can hold any type of spell, be it arcane, divine, or other.

The World Environment.
Fall damage now deals xd6 damage where x = (Distance_Fallen / 10)^2. In other words, divide the distance fallen by 10 and then square it, and the result is x. For simplicity, round your distance fallen to the nearest 10 foot increment. Terminal velocity for an earth-like planet will cap at 3000ft for a medium-sized humanoid creature.
Example fall damage table.
10ft = 1d6
20ft = 4d6
30ft = 9d6
40ft = 16d6
50ft = 25d6
60ft = 36d6
70ft = 49d6
80ft = 64d6
90ft = 81d6
100ft = 100d6
3000ft = 90,000d6 (Avg = 315,000 HP of damage).

New Actions.
Once per encounter, as a free action, a character can make an appropriate Knowledge check of DC 10 + (Monster HD) to allow themselves the ability to score precision damage (such as Sneak Attacks) and critical hits against identified monsters that are normally immune to precision damage, for duration of the encounter.
Example: A Knowledge Religion check against a 2 hit die Human Commoner Zombie is DC 12 (10 + 2HD). Success means the character can now apply precision damage (such as Sneak Attacks) and make critical hits against the monster for the rest of the encounter.


Spells
Level 0 Spells.
At the beginning of every turn or every six seconds, spellcasters regain all 0th level spells they've cast. 0th level spells that are meta-magicked to be of a higher level, and higher level spells that somehow take up a 0th level spell slot do not count as being 0th level spells.

Healing Spells.
All Cure and Inflict spells can be treated as though they were maximized (as per the meta-magic feat Maximize) at the cost of having their casting time increased to 1 minute.
Note: This increased duration is meant to be calculated last so these spells cannot be cast in this way without having their duration increased.

Spell Components.
Spell components with a cost less than 50gp*(Character Level) are ignored, up to a maximum of 1000gp.
Example: A level 2 Wizard must keep track of all spell components worth 100gp or more.
Example: A level 2 Wizard/4 Fighter must keep track of all spell components worth 300gp or more.
Example: A level 22 Sorcerer needs to keep track of spell components worth 1000gp or more (since it caps at 1000gp).

Feather Fall.
Feather Fall is an immediate action to cast, and can be cast while flat-footed.


Death & Dying
Negative hit points.
Your negative HP cap is equal to your Constitution score.
Example: A character with a 12 Constitution score would be dying between -1 HP and -12 HP, and dead at -13 HP.

The player of a character that is dying may not announce either how close to death they are, or how far under 0 hitpoints they are.

A character adjacent to a dying character may make a free Heal check DC10 to determine how close to death a character is. This action provokes an attack of opportunity.

Using a spell to raise a creature from the dead requires an amount of wealth equal to 1000 * Character Level to be sacrificed. This amount is used instead of the usual amount of diamonds used in these kinds of spells.

Stabilizing.
Stabilizing when you're dying is d100 versus your Constitution score.
Example: A character with an 8 Constitution would have to roll 1d100 and score equal to or less than 8 on the result.

Death by massive damage.
The "death by massive damage" rules are not applied to PCs, BBEGs, and some supporting characters.

Death by massive damage occurs when the total amount of damage from a single instance exceeds twice the victim's Constitution score.

Coming back from the dead.
Creatures with only one hit die do not lose a point from any of their ability scores when they are raised from the dead.


I don't feel particularly comfortable using alternate or modified feats, since it usually means more work for my players who're stuck with relearning what effects each feat will have on game balance.

They are still handy to keep around though, just in case a player feels like taking a normally subpar feat, and would like to try out a stronger version instead.

Alternate feat options for D&D 3.5.

Edited Feats
Skill feats that give a bonus to two different skills (such as Acrobatic, Deceitful, Investigator, ect) now give a bonus equal to your level divided by five (rounded down) plus two.

The Endurance feat and the Diehard feat have been combined into a new feat called "Superior Endurance". Superior Endurance can be used in place of Endurance or Diehard to qualify for a feat, prestige class, or other special ability.

Weapon Finesse is applied to all finesse-able weapons.


New Feats
Spell Cinematics [General]
Your spells have a distinct cinematic theme reflected in their manifestation.
Benefit: Choose a theme for your spells, such as "Fire", "Ice", or "Accordions". All spells you cast have this theme in their manifestation, although this does not actually change the spell in any way. You cannot use this feat to make your spells invisible, and this spell does not alter any of the actual mechanics of the spell in any way. A theme does not have any actual effect on the mechanics of the spell. For example, a fireball themed to appear as a screaming frostball still behaves exactly like a fireball, and deals only fire damage.
You may choose to apply the effects of Spell Cinematics as you desire on a per spell basis during casting. You gain a number of themes available to apply to your spells equal to 1/2 your level plus your primary spellcasting ability modifier (e.g. a 4th level wizard with a 12 Intelligence has 3 themes). You may apply more than one theme to a spell. At the beginning of each day, you may choose to change the concepts for your Spell Cinematics themes.
Special: All spellcasting players receive this feat for free at 1st level.

Superior Toughness [General]
You are extremely resilient to physical harm.
Benefit: For the purpose of determining your hit points, your Constitution score is treated as being four points higher than it actually is. For every feat with the word Toughness in its name, your constitution score is treated as being one extra point higher above and beyond the initial four.
Special: Superior Toughness can be used in place of Toughness to qualify for a feat, prestige class, or other special ability.
A fighter may select Superior Toughness as one of his fighter bonus feats (see Player's Handbook 3.5 page 38).

Superior Fortitude [General]
Your body is tougher than normal.
Benefit: You get a bonus on all Fortitude saving throws equal to your level divided by five (rounded down) plus two.
Special: Superior Fortitude can be used in place of the Great Fortitude feat to qualify for a feat, prestige class, or other special ability.

Superior Will [General]
Your will is stronger than normal.
Benefit: You get a bonus on all Will saving throws equal to your level divided by five (rounded down) plus two.
Special: Superior Will can be used in place of the Iron Will feat to qualify for a feat, prestige class, or other special ability.

Superior Reflexes [General]
You react faster than normal.
Benefit: You get a bonus on all Reflexes saving throws equal to your level divided by five (rounded down) plus two.
Special: Superior Reflexes can be used in place of the Lightning Reflexes feat to qualify for a feat, prestige class, or other special ability.

Superior Dodge [General]
You are practiced in evading attacks.
Prerequisite: Dex 13.
Benefit: During your action you designate a number of opponents equal to your level divided by five (rounded down) plus one, and receive a dodge bonus to your Armor Class equal to your level divided by four (rounded down) plus two against those opponents. You can designate a new opponent on any action.
A condition that makes you lose your Dexterity bonus to Armor Class (if any) also makes you lose dodge bonuses. Also, dodge bonuses (such as this one and a dwarf's racial bonus on dodge attempts against giants) stack with each other, unlike most other types of bonuses.
Special: Superior Dodge can be used in place of the Dodge feat to qualify for a feat, prestige class, or other special ability.
A fighter may select Superior Dodge as one of his fighter bonus feats (see Player's Handbook 3.5 page 38).

Superior Weapon Focus [General]
Choose one type of weapon, such as a greataxe. You can also choose unarmed strike or grapple (or ray, if you are a spellcaster) as your weapon for purposes of this feat. You are especially good at using this weapon. (If you have chosen ray, you are especially good with rays, such as the one produced by the ray of frost spell).
Prerequisite: Proficiency with selected weapon, base attack bonus +1.
Benefit: You gain a bonus on all attack rolls you make using the selected weapon equal to your level divided by 5 (rounded down) plus one.
Special: Superior Weapon Focus can be used in place of the Weapon Focus feat to qualify for a feat, prestige class, or other special ability.
A fighter may select Superior Weapon Focus as one of his fighter bonus feats (see Player's Handbook 3.5 page 38).
You can gain this feat multiple times. It's effects do not stack. Each time you gain this feat, it applies to a new type of weapon.

Superior Weapon Specialization [General]
Choose one type of weapon, such as a greataxe, for which you have already selected the Weapon Focus feat. You can also choose unarmed strike or grapple as your weapon for purposes of this feat. You deal extra damage when using this weapon.
Prerequisite: Proficiency with selected weapon, Weapon Focus with selected weapon, fighter level 4th.
Benefit: You gain a bonus on all damage rolls you make using the selected weapon equal to your level divided by 5 (rounded down) plus two.
Special: Superior Weapon Specialization can be used in place of the Weapon Specialization feat to qualify for a feat, prestige class, or other special ability.
A fighter may select Superior Weapon Specialization as one of his fighter bonus feats (see Player's Handbook 3.5 page 38).
You can gain this feat multiple times. It's effects do not stack. Each time you gain this feat, it applies to a new type of weapon.

Superior Quick Draw [General]
You react faster than normal.
Prerequisite: Base attack bonus +1.
Benefit: You can draw a weapon as a free action instead of a move action. You can draw a hidden weapon (see the Sleight of Hand skill, Player's Handbook page 81) as a move action.
A character who has selected this feat may throw weapons at his full normal rate of attacks (much like a character with a bow). You also gain a bonus to all initiative checks equal to your level divided by five (rounded down) plus one.
Normal: Without this feat, you may draw a weapon as a move action, or (if your base attack bonus is +1 or higher) as a free action as part of movement (see Player's Handbook page 142). Without this feat, you can draw a hidden weapon as a standard action.
Special: Superior Quick Draw can be used in place of the Quick Draw feat to qualify for a feat, prestige class, or other special ability.
A fighter may select Superior Quick Draw as one of his fighter bonus feats (see Player's Handbook 3.5 page 38).

Superior Martial Weapon Proficiency [General]
You understand how to use all types of martial weapons in combat (see Player's Handbook Table 7-5: Weapons, page 116, for a list of martial weapons).
Benefit: You make attack rolls with martial weapons normally. You are considered proficient with all martial weapons.
Normal: When using a weapon with which you are not proficient, you take a -4 penalty on attack roles.
Special: Superior Martial Weapon Proficiency can be used in place of the Martial Weapon Proficiency feat to qualify for a feat, prestige class, or other special ability.

Superior Skill Focus [General]
Choose a skill, such as Move Silently. You have a special knack for that skill.
Benefit: You get a bonus on all checks made with that skill equal to your level divided by four (rounded down) plus three. If you have ten or more ranks in the skill chosen for this feat, you can take ten on that skill even under stressful conditions.
Special: You can gain this feat multiple times. It's effects do not stack. Each time you gain this feat, it applies to a new skill.

Superior Weapon Finesse [General]
You are particularly adept at using weapons that can benefit as much from Dexterity as from Strength.
Benefit: You may use your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier on attack rolls. You may use your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier on damage rolls, apply your full Dexterity modifier with no bonus or penalty for using one or more hands.
Special: Superior Weapon Finesse can be used in place of the Weapon Finesse feat to qualify for a feat, prestige class, or other special ability.
A fighter may select Superior Quick Draw as one of his fighter bonus feats (see Player's Handbook 3.5 page 38).

Superior Rapid Reload [General]
You can reload ranged weapons more quickly than normal.
Benefit: The time it takes you to reload a weapon is reduced to a free action (if it was originally a move-action) or a move action (if it was originally a full-round action).
Special: Superior Rapid Reload can be used in place of the Rapid Reload feat to qualify for a feat, prestige class, or other special ability.
A fighter may select Superior Rapid Reload as one of his fighter bonus feats (see Player's Handbook 3.5 page 38).

Superior Two-Weapon Fighting [General]
You are proficient in fighting with a weapon in each hand. You can make one extra attack each round with the second weapon.
Prerequisite: Dex 15.
Benefit: Your penalties on attack rolls for fighting with two weapons are reduced. The penalty for your primary hand lessens by 2 and the one for your off-hand by 6. If your base attack bonus is +6 or higher, you get a second attack with your off-hand weapon, at a -5 penalty. If your base attack bonus is +11 or higher, you get a third attack with your off-hand weapon, at a -10 penalty. When wielding a double weapon or a two weapons (not including natural weapons or your unarmed strikes), you gain a shield bonus to your Armor Class equal to your level divided by five (rounded down) plus one.
Normal: See Two-Weapon Fighting, page 160, and Table 8-10: Two-Weapon Fighting Penalties, page 160.
Special: Superior Two-Weapon Fighting can be used in place of the Two-Weapon Fighting , Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, and Greater Two-Weapon Fighting feats to qualify for a feat, prestige class, or other special ability.
A fighter may select Superior Two-Weapon Fighting as one of his fighter bonus feats (see Player's Handbook 3.5 page 38).


If you've any comments or advice on how these new rules (largely untested so far) would affect gameplay, it might help to know some of the context of why these rules might be applied.

I like giving my players as much rope as they need to build everything from suspended bridges to hangman's knots. To that end I don't mind freeing up their characters to focus on and pursue like mad anything that interests them.

I feel it helps a player flesh out their character when that character isn't constantly having to fit into a specific little nook that their class defines for them. So I do things like open up all skills as class skills, give out more skill points and feats per level, and maximize hitpoints per level, ect ect.

In addition, I try my best to run all the players' enemies intelligently. This becomes especially important for the BBEGs, as I don't pull punches on my players' behalf when they start to interfere in the plans of a ruthless and efficient strategic genius.

All in all, I feel that this encourages players to branch out with their characters, and focus more on how they want to define their characters, rather than how the system tends to define their characters (e.g. the always tripping/always charging fighter, the batman wizard, the two-weapon fighting UMD rogue, the dragonfire inspiration bard, ect ... ). These archetypes aren't bad, but doesn't seem to be much room in the classical D&D system for expansion away from them in terms of effective gameplay mechanics.

I hope these house rules give players more viable options to break away from the standard character archetypes in D&D.

[Drork]

My favorite with out reservation house rule is when an action point is used you need to add something to the description of combat. Such a simple rule can turn bad number crunching players into table leaping chandelier swinging adventures. It adds to the moment and inspires new players to add more to normal play with special flair each action point.

Having seen the level 4 barbarian with 15 hp. I normally run with HP role if you dont like the result rerole and stick with that one. The only problem with it is it hurts those with larger dice. Greater variance dice cause for a higher chance to roll lower on the second roll. Which is most of the reason I see you want to have a different HP system. The Fighter gave up spell casting to get a chance at greater HP seems kind of lame if you dont get it.
I have been toying with the idea of the 1D4 for all HP roles and add the remaining amount to let them get max HP. Im yet to implement it yet.
1D4 = 1D4
1D6 = 1D4+2
1D8 = 1D4+4
1D10 = 1D4+6
1D12 = 1D4+8

[panaikhan]

My favorites:

Death at -CON. Anything that gives insta-death, instead drops the character to 'dying' with three rounds in which someone ELSE can try to save them.

Apply the 'action point' mechanic from Eberron to all settings.

And an odd one. Wizard Robes. armour bonus of 1, no spell failure, 5lbs, can be enchanted as armour. Cost: how flashy you want to look :smallbiggrin:

[Altair_the_Vexed]

Me I like my "you can take a move action during another move action" rule.

It lets you move 10 feet up to a door, open it and move 20 feet beyond the door.
Or move up to your dropped weapon 20 feet away, pick it up, and move 10 feet further.

You get no more movement than under RAW, but you get to spread it out over the whole round. Feels more natural.

[navar100]

Fractional BAB/Saves is something I consider mandatory; I won't play in a game without those. Same with waiving multiclassing XP penalties.

Getting to improve two different ability scores by 1 each every four levels is a good one.

Banning Artificer, Archivist, Cleric, Druid, Fighter (maybe allow a 2 level dip, maybe allow Dungeoncrasher), Monk (maybe allow a 2 level dip), Ninja, Paladin (probably allow a 2 level dip), Ranger, Samurai, Truenamer, and Wizard can do wonders for intra-party balance. I'd actually consider banning all classes that rely only on the standard combat rules (i.e. no spells, powers, soulmelds, maneuvers, etc), since they're all pretty much awful, and then banning Psion, Sorcerer, and other Tier 2 classes would also work (though now you're looking at a pretty much "Tier 3 only" game).

Consolidating skills a la Pathfinder is often a good move. Generally improving skill points per level (the Archivist, Psion, and Wizard are the only classes that deserve 2+Int, for example) can also help.

More feats, especially at low levels, improve the game. Flaws are a terrible way to make that happen, though - I'd prefer to just give free feats, rather than waste time with min-maxed flaws. Two free feats to start opens up a lot of interesting options for characters.

If you have to ban over half the game, then just admit to yourself you don't like 3E already and play something else.

[Veyr]

If you have to ban over half the game, then just admit to yourself you don't like 3E already and play something else.
There are about 100 base classes for 3.5; I recommend banning 12 of them. There might even be some others I missed, but they're far from half of 3.5.

They are well over half of the Player's Handbook. The PHB is, by far, the worst-balanced book in 3.5. Obviously, there are some basic rules in there you can't play without, but if you played 3.5 without any of the classes, spells, or feats from the PHB, you'd be playing a more balanced game than otherwise. There'd be lots of issues with feat pre-reqs that require the PHB, or new classes with spells from the PHB, but it would still be better than actually having it.

[Warlawk]

I forgot to make a change in my original list that was kind of key to the point.

The Full Attack option is the equivalent of a standard action for any being or creature with at least one class level.

This means you don't need a complete rewrite of the MM books for balance purposes and also gives your DM the option of tossing a class level on to any MM creature and giving it this upgrade. It's a nice boost in power that can keep your players on their toes and makes for some very thematically appropriate baddies. Orc barbarians, Hobgoblin Fighters, Goblin rogues all become a credible threat but it keeps you from running into the problem of a dragon getting a full move and full attack that will just one shot most targets.

[Volos]

When running pure dungeon or pure combat games, a triple fumble is an auto kill for a player or a monster. It hasn't happened often, but it seems to ballance out the triple 20 means instant death rule. In one silly game I ran we extended this to outside of combat. Every time you rolled a 1 or 20, you had to roll two more times. If you happened to triple fumble a skill check like perform, you sang yourself to death. If you triple 20'ed a saving throw like a will save, your mind killed the caster who tried to cast a spell or use an effect on you.

But on the day to day basis, I like my houseruling of everything weighing apple. As long as I okayed it, a player could carry whatever. A suit of armor? Wieghs apple. A bag of potions? Wieghs apple. A castle? Wieghs apple +1, which is too heavy for you. We had a halfling with Str 4 join the group for a little while, and the joke was everything weighed apple seed.

[Techsmart]

Initiative is handled on a party basis, not an individual. DM rolls initiative, one being for the party, using the party's average initiative modifier, and one using the mob's average initiative modifier. It speeds things up, since I don't have to do much math myself (my mobs tend to be small or consisting of similar critters), and I don't have to go around the table, asking 5 people "what's your initiative?" when some may be distracted. Also, it gets the party to talk to each other more than the cleric saying "is anyone incapped?" This also makes it easier for me to get people to pay attention in combat. Someone who's not paying attention skips his turn and is berated by the party. They can't get mad at me, since I let the rest of the party handle making him respond.

I usually allow rangers the druid's animal companion growth.

my #1 though... DM gets last calls whenever food is involved.

[Kuma Kode]

From the SRD...

Weapon Group Feats (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/buildingCharacters/weaponGroupFeats.htm)
Bell Curve Rolls (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/adventuring/bellCurveRolls.htm)
Players Roll All the Dice (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/adventuring/playersRollAllTheDice.htm)
Vitality and Wound Points (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/adventuring/vitalityAndWoundPoints.htm) > Only for d20 Modern. It really doesn't function properly against spells or things like sneak attack. Dunno why it was even suggested for a D&D game in Unearthed Arcana.
Recharge Magic (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/rechargeMagic.htm) Gets rid of the 15 minute workday.
Sanity (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/campaigns/sanity.htm) > Only for d20 Modern horror games.

[navar100]

There are about 100 base classes for 3.5; I recommend banning 12 of them. There might even be some others I missed, but they're far from half of 3.5.

They are well over half of the Player's Handbook. The PHB is, by far, the worst-balanced book in 3.5. Obviously, there are some basic rules in there you can't play without, but if you played 3.5 without any of the classes, spells, or feats from the PHB, you'd be playing a more balanced game than otherwise. There'd be lots of issues with feat pre-reqs that require the PHB, or new classes with spells from the PHB, but it would still be better than actually having it.

If you can't stand the PHB, then you can't stand 3E.

[navar100]

Initiative is handled on a party basis, not an individual. DM rolls initiative, one being for the party, using the party's average initiative modifier, and one using the mob's average initiative modifier. It speeds things up, since I don't have to do much math myself (my mobs tend to be small or consisting of similar critters), and I don't have to go around the table, asking 5 people "what's your initiative?" when some may be distracted. Also, it gets the party to talk to each other more than the cleric saying "is anyone incapped?" This also makes it easier for me to get people to pay attention in combat. Someone who's not paying attention skips his turn and is berated by the party. They can't get mad at me, since I let the rest of the party handle making him respond.

I usually allow rangers the druid's animal companion growth.

my #1 though... DM gets last calls whenever food is involved.

I don't like this one. It hampers tactics. Sometimes you want to delay or ready actions.

Everyone on one side going before the other side is quite an advantage.

[Kuma Kode]

If you can't stand the PHB, then you can't stand 3E. This isn't "Critique Other People's Houserules."

Anyway, that argument is fallacious. Not liking the material initially presented ≠ hates the underlying system.

[Veyr]

If you can't stand the PHB, then you can't stand 3E.
Incorrect, and your continued telling me what I do or do not think is starting to get exceedingly insulting. Please stop.

[stainboy]

Fractional BAB, no multiclass penalties, fixed HP/level, no BAB +1 prereqs on feats, and standard-action dualwielding, but those are already covered. Anyway...

-Redundant Knowledge skills are replaced with other skills. Knowledge (Nature) is Survival. Knowledge (Arcana) is Spellcraft. Knowledge (Local) is Gather Information. Knowledge (History) is probably Decipher Script but it's never come up.

-All PC classes grant a +1 deflection bonus to AC at levels 2, 6, 10, 14, 18 and a +1 enhancement bonus to existing natural armor at 4, 8, 12, 16, 20.

-There are a few additional special attacks (loosely defined and unfortunately not written down), to allow players to temporarily blind enemies, limit enemies' movement, or climb onto the backs of larger creatures without getting annihilated by size modifiers.

[Larpus]

+1 Ignore weight rules unless it gets silly.

+1 Triple natural 20s = instant kill.

- No Multiclass penalties, however, Humans and Half-Elves also get a little extra (usually a feat from a specific list) since that was a racial feature now lost.

- Wizards and similar casters (as in, those who prepare from a book or something) can cast any spell in their list as long as: 1. They have at least 1 hour to prepare and are not under too much stress (as in, in a battle or in peril of death) and 2. Can still cast spells of the desired level for the day.

- Some Knowledge skills cost 1/3 of a point to be bought (Architecture, History, Local, etc).

- Knowledge Planes needed for any spells regarding other planes (Summon Monster, Planar Binding, Polymorph, etc), with enough ranks no check needed.

- Knowledge Nature needed for any spells regarding animals and nature (Summon Animal, Wild Shape, Polymorph, etc), with enough ranks no check needed.

- Full HD for everyone up to level 5, then the lowest HD value possible is half the HD max value.

- Scrolls for personal use (aka. not for sale) and for reasonable spells (utility ones) cost no XP, but the amount of them a spellcaster can use is equal to 1/2 their max amount for the day.

- Except for very specific skills (Spellcraft, Disable Device, etc), all skills are available as long as it makes sense with your background (yes, it does allow a Barbarian to have Knowledge Arcane if the story adds up).

- Any class with a skill modifier of 2+INT uses 3+INT instead.

[McSmack]

Initiative is handled on a party basis, not an individual. DM rolls initiative, one being for the party, using the party's average initiative modifier, and one using the mob's average initiative modifier. It speeds things up, since I don't have to do much math myself (my mobs tend to be small or consisting of similar critters), and I don't have to go around the table, asking 5 people "what's your initiative?" when some may be distracted. Also, it gets the party to talk to each other more than the cleric saying "is anyone incapped?" This also makes it easier for me to get people to pay attention in combat. Someone who's not paying attention skips his turn and is berated by the party. They can't get mad at me, since I let the rest of the party handle making him respond.

I usually handle this by making someone "Initiative B*tch" or "Initiative Wench" depending on my mood. I usually assign this to either a player I feel is distracted, to bring them back into the game, or someone trustworthy, like my wife. They jot down the combat order and keep it flowing while I describe the action.
I also allow players to reroll Hit Dice for leveling up or take the average.

[Telonius]

my #1 though... DM gets last calls whenever food is involved.

Ah, that's similar to another one of my favorite (unspoken) rules. Bribing the DM with beer gives immunity to Save or Die attacks for the duration of one session.

[aboyd]

So, what are your favorites?
I went into my game forum, found my bulleted list of house rules, and boiled it down to the 6 I deem most important to game play. Here they are:


You can re-roll 1s when rolling for hit points. If your class uses a d10 or d12, you can even re-roll 2s.
Raise Dead rule: just as Raise Dead causes a PC to lose a level, so does bringing in a new character for any reason.
If you make something with Craft (alchemy) that is not magical, there is no need to be a spellcaster (basically, the expert class can make Alchemist's Fire).
Abrupt Jaunt wizards: must follow the same limitations as described for the teleportation items in the Magic Item Compendium (need line of sight & line of effect, and so on). However, the teleport does remain as an immediate action. Also, you can only teleport as many times as your caster level or intelligence bonus, whichever is lower.
Any dimensional portal inside of another "merely" stops working. No explosions or death. Otherwise, a Handy Haversack inside a Rope Trick = end of life as you know it.
Game has an E6-like cap, but at level 14. Beyond that, PCs gain feats, not levels.

[Bobikus]

So, to anyone that's used the bell curve rolls, how much of an effect did it really have?

[Yora]

In the long run, probably a rather small one.
However, the game becomes more predictable as it's very unlikely to roll under 5 or that enemies roll over 15. If an 8 is enough to succeed at a task, it becomes much more likely that you will always succeed at it, but if you need a 16, chances become very low. Generally, randomness always works against the PCs, so having things more predictable means more security for the players. There's a lower chance to roll very low and a much lower incentive to gamble for a really high roll.
If you beat 4 orcs once, you'll beat a similar encounter much more often, there's much lower chance that one rolls a freak 20 (or 18) and does a tripple-crit with his greataxe.

[RndmNumGen]

I like Rich's Diplomacy fix(Extended to Bluff and Intimidate), Monks proficient with US, and fumble on a natural 1(Where the confirm roll is at full BAB so skilled fighters are more likely to recover from a fumble).

[Qwertystop]

I like Rich's Diplomacy fix(Extended to Bluff and Intimidate), Monks proficient with US, and fumble on a natural 1(Where the confirm roll is at full BAB so skilled fighters are more likely to recover from a fumble).

How are Monks not already proficient with Unarmed Strike? I know it's got an entry as a simple weapon on the weapons list, but aren't all creatures automatically proficient with their natural weapons? How are fists/feet not natural weapons?

[Kuma Kode]

Unarmed Strike and "natural weapon" is not the same thing. Power attack's wording refers to them as two different things
You can’t add the bonus from Power Attack to the damage dealt with a light weapon (except with unarmed strikes or natural weapon attacks)

and the description of Natural Weapon (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/specialAbilities.htm#naturalWeapons) states that natural weapons threaten an area, do not provoke attacks of opportunity, deal lethal damage, and do not follow normal base attack iterative attack rules, which does not describe an unarmed strike at all. Creatures are automatically proficient with all natural weapons they possess, but humans possess no natural weapons. Instead, we use unarmed strikes, which are simple weapons.

Clearly an oversight, but that's how the rules minutia works.

[druid91]

Personally I like my PbP DM's [awesome] system for feats. You get a feat every level.... but certain feats are given the [awesome] tag, this is most every feat you would want to take normally if allowed. Such as mindsight, or leadership, or quicken spell. Those you can only take in the slots given you by the standard feat progression. So it works out like..

1 feat

2 feat

3 awesome feat

4 feat

5 feat

6 awesome feat

Etc..

It ups the power on Melee guys quite a bit, combined with gestalt it works wonders.

[Mayhem]

Monks are proficient with their unarmed strikesHoo boy, I didn't realise that was a houserule. That's terrible :smallannoyed:.

[Malevolence]

Hoo boy, I didn't realise that was a houserule. That's terrible :smallannoyed:.

This is Monks we are talking about.

[Quietus]

Personally I like my PbP DM's [awesome] system for feats. You get a feat every level.... but certain feats are given the [awesome] tag, this is most every feat you would want to take normally if allowed. Such as mindsight, or leadership, or quicken spell. Those you can only take in the slots given you by the standard feat progression. So it works out like..

1 feat

2 feat

3 awesome feat

4 feat

5 feat

6 awesome feat

Etc..

It ups the power on Melee guys quite a bit, combined with gestalt it works wonders.


I actually quite like that. Hmm..

[stainboy]

That's gotta be an oversight. You never see monk example characters who spend a feat on Simple Weapon Proficiency.

[Veyr]

That's gotta be an oversight. You never see monk example characters who spend a feat on Simple Weapon Proficiency.
Of course it is. No one plays with Monks being nonproficient in their Unarmed Strikes. It's just a good example of how patently stupid RAW can be.

[Curmudgeon]

That's gotta be an oversight. You never see monk example characters who spend a feat on Simple Weapon Proficiency.
There are a bunch of oversights. For another instance, you'll provoke an attack of opportunity if you make a ranged attack as a standard action. But the rules also say full attacks don't provoke, and don't make any exceptions. So 1 shot with your bow, when you're right in some enemy's face, will provoke an AoO. But a full round of bow shots in the same position won't provoke even once. :smallbiggrin:

[danzibr]

Next time I DM:

60 point buy
feat every even level
stat point every odd level
LA/2 rounded down

[aboyd]

On this old page:

http://replay.waybackmachine.org/20030403013448/http://www.d20reviews.com/eric/3ecombat.htm

...Sean Reynolds is quoted as saying that "Everyone is automatically proficient with their own natural weapons (punches, kicks, and so on for humans)."

[Veyr]

So? That's not RAW and there are lots of problems with generally treating UAS as a natural weapon.

[Curmudgeon]

You might want to note that he's also referring to 3.0 D&D.

So? That's not RAW and there are lots of problems with generally treating UAS as a natural weapon.
Yet the rules are consistent. While it's got unique properties, an unarmed strike is a natural weapon. (It's not like your kicks and head butts come from the weapons smithy.)

You can’t cast this spell on a natural weapon, such as an unarmed strike.
You can’t cast this spell on a natural weapon, such as an unarmed strike (instead, see magic fang).
Magic fang gives one natural weapon of the subject a +1 enhancement bonus on attack and damage rolls. The spell can affect a slam attack, fist, bite, or other natural weapon. (The spell does not change an unarmed strike’s damage from nonlethal damage to lethal damage.)
A fanged ring grants its wearer the Improved Unarmed Strike feat and the Improved Natural Attack (unarmed strike) teat.

[Kuma Kode]

Personally I like my PbP DM's [awesome] system for feats.
✂-----
A friend of mine and I did something similar, except we called them "lesser" and "greater" feats, with feats that grant new abilities or options being "greater" and ones that grant a static bonus, like skill feats, being "lesser."

[Veyr]

Yet the rules are consistent. While it's got unique properties, an unarmed strike is a natural weapon. (It's not like your kicks and head butts come from the weapons smithy.)
Huh. OK, looks like I'm wrong. I thought there'd be all sorts of places where UAS was assumed to not be a natural weapon and that's why we couldn't just call it one.

It still doesn't behave anything like a natural weapon (barring spells that affect it)...

[Lyndworm]

That would mean to me that it counts as a natural weapon only for spells and feats and such that specifically affect natural weapons or manufactured weapons, but not both. In any other situation, the unarmed strike is treated as something else entirely, even by RAW.

[Dsurion]

Well, now that I realized I never actually posted my own houserules...

All skills are counted as class skills for all classes. Yes, really. Yes, that includes Use Magic Device (No one has used it yet either way).

All classes with two skill points are bumped up to four.

Craft and Profession can be handed out for free (as in, costing no skill points, and continuing to scale with level) if you can justify why you'd have it.

Armor is DR

Special combat actions (Bull rush, Disarm, Feint, Grapple, Overrun, Sunder, Trip) don't invoke an attack of opportunity unless the opponent has a higher BAB than the initiator.

Power Attack and Combat Expertise are combat actions, not feats. You still have to meet prerequisites.

Weapon Finesse is likewise a combat action that is not a feat, that you can apply at any time to a weapon it could normally apply to. +1 BAB not required.
Two-Weapon Fighting can be applied whenever you could make a standard attack action, not just on a full attack.

The Two-Weapon Fighting tree is collapsed into a single feat. In a similar vein, Point Blank Shot and Precise Shot are one feat. Cleave and Great Cleave are as well. Mounted Combat, Mounted Archery, and Ride-By Attack are a single feat. Weapon Focus/Specialization are a single scaling feat. (We've collapsed others, too, but I think you get the point)

Feats gained every other level, but with the expectation that everyone takes at least one of the crappy skill feats early on. (This is less about being arbitrary and more expecting you to take something to be a little more well-rounded)

Toughness adds 5+level (scaling) HP

Infinite Cantrips similar to Pathfinder, including the change to Cure Minor Wounds

One that I'm considering is to allow most class abilities like Bardic Music and the Barbarian's Rage to have 3+level uses, depending on the ability.

If you could realistically hit the enemy with a pommel on a bladed weapon, or with the haft of another, you can do that for d4 bludgeoning damage. It's stupid that you couldn't before, and it doesn't take a blown feat to do it, nor the -4 penalty. Along the same lines, certain weapons will get additional bonuses depending on the weapon and its function. If someone tells me they're using a Dane Axe, its physical stats won't change, but I'll give a bonus to, say, disarming shields. Most of this is pending historical context, with which most of us are familiar.

Most importantly is rule of fun. Anything can be overruled if it is sufficiently awesome.

A few notes, though, we pretty much only ever play what most people would consider E6... Truth is we've never been beyond level three before.

Our group tends to really NOT like fullcasters. So most of what's here was to give the mundanes a boost in that sort of game.

While I'll say our game is technically D&D 3.5, it's more like a bastardization of it, plus Conan d20, and really whatever other rules we happen to like grabbed from another system. The additional combat actions from Conan are awesome, and as per the rule of fun...

[Parasyn]

my favourite houserules are
Exotic weapon proficiency when taken for a 2h martial weapon so far only these 3 have been allowed (falchion heavy flail or greatclub) allows you to use the weapon 1 handed (like bastard sword or dwarven waraxe both can be wielded 2h as martial)
rerolling 1s when rolling hp sure is nice
and our dm thinks preparing spells for anyone other than a wizard is stupid so druids and clerics get spontaneous casting

[stainboy]

Yet the rules are consistent. While it's got unique properties, an unarmed strike is a natural weapon. (It's not like your kicks and head butts come from the weapons smithy.)

That's not correct, see this article. (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rg/20070403a) Unarmed strikes are explicitly not natural weapons.

[LOTRfan]

Hobgoblins and Blues are LA +0.
In skill checks, a natural 1 is actually a -10, and a natural 20 is actually a 30.
Sorcerers have Eschew Materials as a bonus feat at level 1.
Planetouched have the subtype of whatever humanoid parent they have (ex. Aasimar have the Human subtype, Tanarruk has the Orc).

[Geohound13]

Landing on free parking and getting all the money in the middle! :smallbiggrin:

[Dsurion]

Landing on free parking and getting all the money in the middle! :smallbiggrin:...And now I must play a Monopoly flavored D&D game!

[Curmudgeon]

That's not correct, see this article. (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rg/20070403a) Unarmed strikes are explicitly not natural weapons.
That's more nonsense from Skip Williams. (Those "Rules of the Game" articles are as much a collection of his house rules as actual D&D game rules.) I've provided real sources which show D&D rules say unarmed strikes are natural weapons, while Skip is just being confused.

Unarmed strikes are natural weapons; they're just a unique case.

[Blackjackg]

All feats and prestige classes that have a requirement of "Toughness" instead have a requirement of "Toughness or Improved Toughness."

All feats and prestige classes that have a requirement of "Combat Casting" instead have a requirement of "Combat Casting or Skill Focus: Concentration"

[StreetPizza]

These are the houserules that have seen on the forums and liked. I've also used some of them.

Max or average hp gain upon leveling up
Natural 1 = -10, natural 20 = 30
No multiclassing penalty
Buying off or outright disregarding LA up to a certain point

This is one that came naturally to me because I like having especially large battles. I find that it helps keep the game nice and fast.

Initiative is done on a unit-by-unit instead of individual basis and is entirely dependent on the commander's Initiative modifier

[Bugbeartrap]

Curmudgeon's knowledge of RAW is the stuff of legend!

Now to add my house rules:

PC's auto-confirm crits, because they're PC's that's why!


PC's reroll HP if below half die total


Usually 1 lvl of LA is ignored especially for non-casters

[stainboy]

That's more nonsense from Skip Williams. (Those "Rules of the Game" articles are as much a collection of his house rules as actual D&D game rules.) I've provided real sources which show D&D rules say unarmed strikes are natural weapons, while Skip is just being confused.

Unarmed strikes are natural weapons; they're just a unique case.

Got a link? If you don't treat Skip's articles as RAW, I get why, but all the evidence that I can find for natural weapon = unarmed strike is 3.0. And Psionic Fist uses the language "unarmed strike or natural weapon" which is at least ambiguous.

[Curmudgeon]

Got a link?
Links:
Align Weapon (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/alignWeapon.htm):

You can’t cast this spell on a natural weapon, such as an unarmed strike.
Magic Weapon (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/magicWeapon.htm):

You can’t cast this spell on a natural weapon, such as an unarmed strike (instead, see magic fang).
Magic Fang (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/magicFang.htm):

Magic fang gives one natural weapon of the subject a +1 enhancement bonus on attack and damage rolls. The spell can affect a slam attack, fist, bite, or other natural weapon. (The spell does not change an unarmed strike’s damage from nonlethal damage to lethal damage.)
A fanged ring grants its wearer the Improved Unarmed Strike feat and the Improved Natural Attack (unarmed strike) teat.

[Provengreil]

I notice that no multiclass penalties is highly favored. we do this too, but with a deal; it only counts that way if you finish your class. no dipping 2 levels for something special(fighter is the exception, it's just generic training) like mindsight and then dropping the class. you go all 5 or ten or whatever levels or take penalties.

[Amphetryon]

I notice that no multiclass penalties is highly favored. we do this too, but with a deal; it only counts that way if you finish your class. no dipping 2 levels for something special(fighter is the exception, it's just generic training) like mindsight and then dropping the class. you go all 5 or ten or whatever levels or take penalties.Emphasis mine.

How do you both multiclass AND 'finish' your class?

[Provengreil]

Emphasis mine.

How do you both multiclass AND 'finish' your class?

mostly aimed at prestige classes, though I admit i may have been unclear. taking a prestige class to get only the first few abilities is kinda frowned upon in my group, but we waive XP penalties for going through all the levels.

take the geometer. not the best of classes, but paying a few gp to spontaneously choose to silence a given spell without increasing its spell level is pretty good, and you can do that at level one. if you only take the one level, we give you multiclass penalties. if you have all five levels or are in the process of achieving them, there are no associated penalties.

[Sacrieur]

Spells don't require material components (unless they're specifically required, like rope trick).

Personally I found the whole component thing to be completely distasteful and tacky. It adds a level of mysticism to spellcasters I just never cared for.

[Veyr]

mostly aimed at prestige classes, though I admit i may have been unclear. taking a prestige class to get only the first few abilities is kinda frowned upon in my group, but we waive XP penalties for going through all the levels.

take the geometer. not the best of classes, but paying a few gp to spontaneously choose to silence a given spell without increasing its spell level is pretty good, and you can do that at level one. if you only take the one level, we give you multiclass penalties. if you have all five levels or are in the process of achieving them, there are no associated penalties.
Barring my intense distaste of anti-dipping rules, PrCs RAW do not have multiclassing penalties and the multiclassing penalties, IIRC, do not penalize you at all if you have only 1 level in the other class.

[Provengreil]

Barring my intense distaste of anti-dipping rules, PrCs RAW do not have multiclassing penalties and the multiclassing penalties, IIRC, do not penalize you at all if you have only 1 level in the other class.

I never saw that, though i admit i only gave the multiclassing section a skim because I was learning most of the RAW and getting ready to teach them to the rest of the group at the same time. as for your intense distaste of anti-dipping rules, that's your opinion and this is ours, so all I can say is you wouldn't like to play with us then.

[Malevolence]

Would now be a good time to mention that we completely abolish the multiclassing XP rules, as they are poorly written and completely fail to do as they are intended to do?

[big teej]

TWF + Light Maces = PERFORM(PERCUSSION).
.

thankyou so much for my next character concept.

anyways, houserules that we use that I can think of off the top of my head

rolling a 1 provokes a 'confirm roll' and if you miss again, you fumble badly

if you roll a 1 on this confirm roll, I pull out an evil fumble chart.

if you roll a 1 followed by a 20, this averages out to 10.

no multi-class XP penalties

uhm....
what else...

I'm struggling to think of anything else that comes up consistently.

oh wait I've got one

power attack = power shot for ranged attacks. (same effect, same feat, different name)

thats everything I can quickly call to mind, except one thing.

if you multi class, any thing on either class' skill list is a class skill, always.

[DwarfFighter]

I dislike that rule for one reason: it means that more trained fighters, i.e. those with more than one attack per turn, fumble more often than less skilled ones.


Bah. They also score more crits by virtue of the same.

My personal favourite is that actions that provoke attacks of opportunity cannot be used as attacks of opportunity.

-DF

[Malevolence]

Bah. They also score more crits by virtue of the same.

My personal favourite is that actions that provoke attacks of opportunity cannot be used as attacks of opportunity.

-DF

The negative always outweighs the positive.

[Qwertystop]

Bards MUST have a fully ranked perform skill, and it must be an audible one. The party members are too busy fighting to watch you dance. TWF + Light Maces = PERFORM(PERCUSSION).

Is it possible to get Perform(Loud imaginative screaming) or even just (screaming)?
Bar uses Inspire Competence on the Rogue's Hide Check:
COME ON, THE TARRASQUE CAN HIDE BETTER THAN THAT!
Rogue is now completely undetectable by anyone who's not staring straight at him.
:smallbiggrin:

[Amphetryon]

Is it possible to get Perform(Loud imaginative screaming) or even just (screaming)?
Bar uses Inspire Competence on the Rogue's Hide Check:
COME ON, THE TARRASQUE CAN HIDE BETTER THAN THAT!
Rogue is now completely undetectable by anyone who's not staring straight at him.
:smallbiggrin:

:smallbiggrin: "Move, move, move, move silently...."

[stainboy]

My personal favourite is that actions that provoke attacks of opportunity cannot be used as attacks of opportunity.


Ooh, forgot about that one, but I did it in reverse: you do not threaten an area while performing an action that provokes an AoO. This house rule has been brought to you buy unimproved Trip and two guys with Combat Reflexes.

[Aspenor]

All "broken" (everyone knows the ones I'm talking about) prestige classes lose a spellcaster level at 1st level. You want neat tricks? Pay for it. You want early spell access? Play a wizard...or cleric...or whatever your base class is.

[Calimehter]

Faves?

- E6

- some form of "taking HP damage causes penalties before you hit zero". We've tried out multiple versions of this. The key is not to have the effects start *too* early (otherwise the frontliners get penalized every fight) and to make sure that the effects are meaningful when they finally do kick in (no simple "-1 to hit"). Right now, I am just using a simple expansion of the range of the Disabled condition, but we've used more complex systems in the past too.

- Diceless character generation and advancement. Fixed HP, point buy, etc..

[Last Laugh]

you roll enough 20s in a row (three+), the target gets slaughtered instantly.

Unfair, unbalanced but so much fun!

Last game, going up against the big bad meaniehead
Dm: *rolls dice* oh! *rolls more* OH! *rolls a third time* Hey guys, do you wanna use the triple twenty houserule? Three twenties and it instagibs?
Us: nope :smallcool:

[Qwertystop]

E6

What's E6?

[Dsurion]

What's E6?Here (http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/206323-e6-game-inside-d-d.html) ya go. Read up.

[LOTRfan]

Don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but:

Special Monk weapons deal damage equal to the Monk's unarmed strike damage. Those shurikens look a little more dangerous now, eh? :smallamused:

[Jaraak]

Frenzied Berzerker is banned. Improved Power Attack from that class is allowed as a feat, however.

[Jack Zander]

Special Monk weapons deal damage equal to the Monk's unarmed strike damage. Those shurikens look a little more dangerous now, eh? :smallamused:

I really like this. It could make playing a monk power attacking with a quarterstaff actually viable now.

[GoatBoy]

Characters wielding a shield are considered to be wielding their weapon with two hands until they are attacked by an attack to which their shield bonus applies. At this point they immediately gain the shield bonus to AC until the beginning of their next turn, but are no longer wielding their weapon with two hands. The character may elect to not apply the shield bonus if they wish to continue wielding their weapon with two hands.

Shield bonuses do not apply to characters who are flat-footed or denied their Dex bonus to AC.

Light shields provide an additional +1 AC and large shields provide an additional +2 AC when the wielder is fighting defensively, using total defence, or using Combat Expertise.

Characters with a shield may make a single shield bash as an Attack of Opportunity, even if they have exceeded their limit of Attacks of Opportunity for the round. The character loses their shield bonus to AC until the beginning of their next turn.

Shield bonuses to AC apply to a character's touch AC.

A character wielding a shield may give up their shield bonus to AC until the beginning of their next turn, in order to avoid one Attack of Opportunity. The decision must be made before the attack is declared, and the attacker may elect to not make the Attack of Opportunity rather than have it wasted.

Yay, shields.

[Veyr]

Characters with Exotic Weapon Proficiency in a hand-and-a-half weapon (e.g. Bastard Sword) may wield it in one hand while treating it as two-handed for the purposes of adding Strength to damage and using Power Attack.

[Lyndworm]

Characters with Exotic Weapon Proficiency in a hand-and-a-half weapon (e.g. Bastard Sword) may wield it in one hand while treating it as two-handed for the purposes of adding Strength to damage and using Power Attack.
I've just implemented that rule of of a few days ago. So far, I like it.

[stainboy]

Characters with Exotic Weapon Proficiency in a hand-and-a-half weapon (e.g. Bastard Sword) may wield it in one hand while treating it as two-handed for the purposes of adding Strength to damage and using Power Attack.

Is this true even if they dualwield?

[Veyr]

Is this true even if they dualwield?
Well, you can't dual wield two of them (because having two one-handed weapons results in huge penalties), and you spent a feat on it in an already-feat-strapped build, so yes, yes it does.

[Lyndworm]

Well, you can't dual wield two of them (because having two one-handed weapons results in huge penalties), and you spent a feat on it in an already-feat-strapped build, so yes, yes it does.
The penalties aren't that huge, and you can take another feat in your already starved build to remove them (Oversized Two-Weapon Fighting, Complete Warrior).

[Veyr]

If you take that many feats, then you deserve that bonus. I see nothing wrong with the situation.

[Lyndworm]

Neither do I. Melee doesn't get enough nice things anyway; spending three feats to dual-wield bastard swords as two-handers isn't going to break the game (because that doesn't count Power Attack, Leap Attack, Shock Trooper, etc..).

[Dsurion]

I was thinking of something I might do in a campaign I'm working on. Since none of my players ever play casters, I'm thinking of allowing people to learn spells from various sources peppered conservatively throughout the area, Diablo-style, as long as they have the Intelligence that would be required to cast the spell.

[Alabenson]

I implemented the ability score increase rules from 4e

at every 4th level (4, 12, 20) players increase any 2 ability scores by +1 each
at every 8th level (8, 16) players increase all of their ability scores by +1

[stainboy]

That's a good one. A rogue increasing Dex is a no-brainer, but choosing what to do with a second point is more interesting. Also makes MAD builds less painful.

[Viktyr Gehrig]

Solve multiclass spellcasting, level dipping, and monster PCs in one fell swoop:

You don't pick your class every level. Whenever you gain a level, you advance a level in all of your classes simultaneously, Gestalt-style, but the number of classes you have determines how many XP it takes to gain a level.

Deciding to add a new class-- base or prestige-- is easy. Your XP reverts to zero, and you gain new XP normally for a character with your classes; you retain all of your old abilities, but you do not gain any abilities from your old class(es) until your new level exceeds your old level.

Races other than Human count as one or more separate classes, including Savage Species monster progression, and receive racial features that scale with level.

[gomipile]

Medium creatures die at -Con rather than -10, larger creatures die at larger multiples of their Con, that scale the same as encumbrance(without the modifier for four legged creatures.)

[T.G. Oskar]

Solve multiclass spellcasting, level dipping, and monster PCs in one fell swoop:

You don't pick your class every level. Whenever you gain a level, you advance a level in all of your classes simultaneously, Gestalt-style, but the number of classes you have determines how many XP it takes to gain a level.

Deciding to add a new class-- base or prestige-- is easy. Your XP reverts to zero, and you gain new XP normally for a character with your classes; you retain all of your old abilities, but you do not gain any abilities from your old class(es) until your new level exceeds your old level.

Races other than Human count as one or more separate classes, including Savage Species monster progression, and receive racial features that scale with level.

Old-school multiclassing! And it also resembles the leveling system in Dungeons: the Dragoning. Still: perhaps it's a bit too far on most races, since while templates work well under this system, some lesser races might not gain enough abilities to work it out. You'd have to redefine each race, with humans only having the trait of increasing through levels faster, making humans the absolute best race around.

Plus: it's old-school multiclassing BUT a new level is gained through the dual-classing method. Or that's how I interpret it.

[Viktyr Gehrig]

Old-school multiclassing!

I got my start in AD&D. I got a little tired of people who build characters with levels in five different PrCs telling me that the idea of advancing in two base classes at the same time is "horribly broken".


Still: perhaps it's a bit too far on most races, since while templates work well under this system, some lesser races might not gain enough abilities to work it out.

Work in progress. I actually started with the idea that the various races would have each had their own racial class, a la Classic D&D. I've moved away from that idea, but I'm at something of a loss on how to make Humans balanced again when their chief benefit-- ease of multiclassing-- was negated. I'm tempted to go back.


Plus: it's old-school multiclassing BUT a new level is gained through the dual-classing method. Or that's how I interpret it.

Yep. You want to go back and become a Cleric? Change class. You want to pick up a Prestige Class? Meet the prerequisites, then change class.

[Jack Zander]

This seems very similar to a method of multiclassing that I wanted to try out once but never had the chance to playtest.

PCs start with 1,000 xp and 1 level in a PC class. Each class has its own level progression. If you want to take your first level of a class, it costs you 1,000 xp. The second level in a class costs 3,000 xp and so on. Your highest level class is your character level. All other classes gestalt with each other for each level which the are stacked.

Example: A wizard5/rogue3/fighter1 would cost 19,000 xp, have 1st level gestalt fighter/rogue/wizard, level 2&3 gestalt rogue/wizard, and levels 4&5 would be single-classed wizard. (+4 BAB, +3 Fort, +4 Ref, +4 Will, 1d10+2d6+2d4 hit dice, etc.) It would certainly make it easier for characters to splash a bit of spell casting or melee into their builds. It was meant to fix the problem of a level 15th character taking his first level of fighter and it costing him 15,000 xp when a first level character can take his first level of fighter for only 1,000 xp.

[T.G. Oskar]

Work in progress. I actually started with the idea that the various races would have each had their own racial class, a la Classic D&D. I've moved away from that idea, but I'm at something of a loss on how to make Humans balanced again when their chief benefit-- ease of multiclassing-- was negated. I'm tempted to go back.

Actually, you can retain the "favored classes" bit if you want. You mentioned that XP made a reset, and that you required an extra amount of XP to get to the newer level (so, if you were level 1 Fighter and then wanted to get level 1 Cleric, you reset your XP to 0 but, let's say, increase the amount of XP to 20% of normal, so that a Fighter 1/Cleric 1 requires 1,200 XP to level). You apply one such increase for each class they take (and probably halve it for PrCs, or even ignore it), but the race's favored class is ignored (thus, a Dwarf that wanted to get one level of Cleric after its level on fighter would require 1000 XP as usual to level up because they're ignoring Fighter). Those with [Favored Class: Any] ignore the first class they take, so if they're going for Bard 1/Cleric 1 and their first level was Bard, they take only 1000 XP to level because Bard is ignored. That makes Humans capable of multiclassing with a bit more freedom than usual but simplifies progression.

That can be expanded to templates and monster races. If a character starts with racial HD, that's their favored class (alongside any other favored class they have) and they must get their levels in said racial class before advancing to any other class (thus, an Ogre needs to gain its racial HD first before advancing to another class). In the case of templates, a natural template can be chosen alongside a class but you automatically get the penalty (so you can start as a [Class 1/Template] but require 1,200 XP to level up, unless the class is a favored class) and progresses as usual. That makes Savage Species and a few other documents a bit more important than usual, in any case.


Yep. You want to go back and become a Cleric? Change class. You want to pick up a Prestige Class? Meet the prerequisites, then change class.

Eep. Most people might have some trouble with that, esp. if it's, let's say, a PrC that can't be entered until 10th level.

On the case of Prestige Classes, though...most stop at 10th level, so all classes will have to be limited to 10th level in order to retain that Gestalt/AD&D multiclassing trait. Recall that you can't advance PrCs beyond 10th level unless you're Epic, and even then only 10-level PrCs are fair play. So, you may want to work it out so that a PrC replaces one class in one column; thus, a Rogue that enters into Assassin shouldn't be penalized, but a Rogue/Fighter that enters into Assassin should be able to replace Rogue levels for Assassin levels while progressing with Fighter, so a...say, Rogue 5||Fighter 5 eventually progresses into Rogue 5/Assassin 1||Fighter 6 or something. Once you get somewhere along the lines of Rogue 5/Assassin 10||Fighter 15, you can return to your old Rogue progression as usual on the last 5 levels.