What Are Some Recommend House-Rules For 5e?

[drrockso20]

apologies if this would be more appropriate for Homebrew, but as the title says, what are some House-Rules you would suggest for 5e, cause I'm contemplating running a campaign in the near future, and while I've heard the balance overall is pretty decent, I've also heard there are some issues, such as Rangers being apparently awful, and the non-Casters(and Monks) having some issues keeping up with caster classes at higher levels(but nowhere near as badly as in 3.5), but I could be horribly wrong about this, so tell me about your house-rules and why you think they are needed, or at least how they help the game

[Malifice]

apologies if this would be more appropriate for Homebrew, but as the title says, what are some House-Rules you would suggest for 5e, cause I'm contemplating running a campaign in the near future, and while I've heard the balance overall is pretty decent, I've also heard there are some issues, such as Rangers being apparently awful, and the non-Casters(and Monks) having some issues keeping up with caster classes at higher levels(but nowhere near as badly as in 3.5), but I could be horribly wrong about this, so tell me about your house-rules and why you think they are needed, or at least how they help the game

Most of my House rules have come from minor tweaks to many classes and the addition of quite a few original feats (and tweaking other feats).

Aside from that, healing seems to be the big one most people play with.

I also capped small races starting Str to 12 (with a minimum of 6) and raised their max dexterity score to 16 (before racial mods). Just because.

I also ported a little bit of 3.5's AoO rules (standing up in, picking something up in and moving out of a threatened square provokes an AoO).

[Giant2005]

My biggest issue in 5e (And DnD in general) is that it places too much emphasis on hack and slash and not enough on roleplay. The background section of the PHB tries to help the issue but it is basically applying a band-aid to try and save a decapitation victim.
To solve that issue, I port over the experience rewards from a different system. In addition to gaining XP from kills, the players can the following XP values for their accomplishments:
10-25 points for performing the right skill (successful or not), at the right time, for the right reason, for mid to high level characters (4th level and up), this might apply only to skills performed when they are absolutely critical or done under stressful conditions.
25-50 points for a clever, but futile idea.
25-50 points for using good judgment or one's power or skill well.
25-50 points for playing in character when it would have been easier not to.
25-100 points for a clever, useful/helpful idea or action.
50-100 points for avoiding unnecessary' violence; self-restraint or talking, bluffing or intimidating oneself (and associates) out of trouble or danger.
50-100 points for a small act of self-sacrifice, or an act of kindness, mercy, or compassion.
50-100 points for insightful and helpful deductive reasoning or keen observation.
50-100 points for a successful daring or heroic action (whether it was clever or not).
75-150 points for playing in character/playing one's alignment when circumstance or powerful temptation begged otherwise.
100 points for a quick thinking idea or action that was helpful.
100-200 points for insight or deductive reasoning that plays a huge role in a critical plan or saving lives.
200 points for a critical plan or action that saves the character's own life and/or a few comrades.
400-1000 points for a critical plan or action that saves the entire group and/or many innocent people.
100-300 points for endangering the character's own life (self-sacrifice) to help or save others.
500-700 points for a genuine life and death self-sacrifice in a situation where the character's heroism seemed likely (or almost certain) to cost him his life. Eeaping in front of an energy blast meant for someone else to save that person, even though the blast is likely to kill the hero, or offering his/her own life to save the group or an innocent person (and the exchange truly seems to be a death sentence with no apparent chance for escape). Odds are that the character will really die!


I also track XP for each character individually. Everyone gets equal XP for kills as per the norm but roleplay xp applies only to those that earn it.

[Psikerlord]

I recommend the following:

1. Have a "session zero" where you flag your potential houserules and ask players for their input/suggestions. Also be sure to discuss how you intend to adjudicate stealth (easy/moderate/hard approach) - esp if you have a potential rogue player.
2. delete the -5/+10 aspect of great weapon master and sharpshoot feats. Give +1 str or dex in lieu.
2. no multiclassing
3. no flanking
4. dont use passive perception. Just roll.
5. slow healing option (stops long rest = full reset)
6. injuries table for when reduced to zero hp (discourage yoyo tactics)
7. delete revivify, raise dead and resurrection from PC spell lists
8. when they level up, players reroll any HD roll less than half

Best of luck!

[calebrus]

I have tons of house rules to make the game play exactly as I like it.
I don't have time to list them all right now, so I'm posting here to get subbed so that I'll notice it and remember to compile them for you on Wednesday night.

[TheOOB]

Magic AC bonuses from shields and armor do not stack is the only big one we have right now. Haven't finished our first campaign.

[Gritmonger]

So far, I haven't house-ruled much.

Like some, I figured I'd see how it played - the only optionals I have introduced so far:
The optional lingering injury rules - and that only if a critical hit results in reducing a character or npc to 0 hitpoints.
The optional magical item details tables (not randomly)
The Trinket rolls for starting characters.

The Trinket rolls have actually turned out quite well for story hooks, as by pure chance two players rolled up exactly the same trinket.

[Malifice]

My biggest issue in 5e (And DnD in general) is that it places too much emphasis on hack and slash and not enough on roleplay. .

Yet this is the first edition of DnD to feature backgrounds as core, the first ever core DnD narrativist mechanic (inspiration - a mechanical benefit tied to roleplaying) and tons of other options in the DMG (plot points etc) for narratavist style play.

This is the most 'roleplay' friendly DnD yet.

Still very gamist though. Dont get me wrong.

[Demonic Spoon]

Here's what I use. Note that in general, the RAW works quite well, and if you're not sure, go without the houserule at first.


1. No Observant feat.

Why: Passive checks in 5e are presented as a DM tool to replicate repeated checks or average values. The only place where the rules specifically call for a passive checks are in the stealth rules, and that's because the stealth check itself already presents one avenue for randomness.

Thus, the Observant feat can go one of two ways: If the DM uses passive perception/investigation often, then it's massively overpowered and a must-take.
If the DM does not use passive perception/investigation often, then it's bad and the player wasted a feat.

2. Moon druids restricted to CR 1/2 forms until level 4.

Why: Moon druids RAW gain the ability to transform into Cr1 forms at level 2. In addition to being full casters, a shifted moon druid is outright stronger than a barbarian or fighter of equal level. The only real argument I've ever seen in favor of this is that it only lasts for a couple of levels. As someone who believes that all classes should be balanced at all levels, this obviously doesn't work for me. Black bears and other CR 1/2 forms are still plenty powerful for level 2-3.

3. Medicine checks can be used to tend wounds during a short rest, which maximizes a certain number of hit dice rolls. Full details here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?380538-5E-Changes-to-Wisdom(Medicine))(the rules are a little more janky than I'd like)

Why: There are two issues I was trying to solve here. Issue #1 was that by RAW, there are few ways to get good mileage out of the Medicine skill. The other issue is that, while a dedicated healer is not required in 5e, someone is will likely have to expend magical resources between fights to keep the party in shape. I wanted to offer a mundane solution (other than the Healer feat) towards curing wounds in the form of making hit die rolling more efficient.

[Rhaegar14]

One I used was to cut down short rests from an hour to twenty minutes. They still have to make sure they've secured the area and are safe for a little while, but a group may often feel that if they can afford to rest for an hour they can afford to rest for eight. Cutting down the rest time eliminates that problem. This only becomes a serious issue if there is a Warlock in your party, since their main mechanic is balanced around the assumption that your players are taking short rests.

[TrollCapAmerica]

Funny thing that I played OWOD Vampire probably the most RP focused game in the hobbies history and I still had wannabe Ninjas with Silver Katanas Protean discipline never going over 2 and more shotgun filled trench coats than I could shake a 10 foot pole at

Ants house rules I like at my table

1) Get a feat at 1st level. It worked good in 3.5 and wie still like the idea here

2) Reroll any HP roll less than half. Less punishment for Bad luck and making a guy drop in tank value because D12s love rolling 1s

[Rhaegar14]

1) Get a feat at 1st level. It worked good in 3.5 and wie still like the idea here


I forgot this one. I did a slightly modified version where they got a free feat at SECOND level, so they had gone through one adventure to familiarize themselves with the game first, but this was because I had a bunch of new players who had played tabletop RPGs, but mostly rules-light homebrew systems rather than any edition of D&D.

[Forrestfire]

This is the houserule doc I had in my game; it's been working pretty nicely so far. Overall, it created a game that's a bit higher-powered than most 5e games, but not by a significant margin (middle-ish ability scores, extra feat, starting at higher level because levels 1 and 2 are a mess of lethality).


Starting at level 4, because that's when the first ASI comes online.
Everyone can roll 4d6b3 six times, and the best pile of dice among you becomes the array for people to use, or people can get a single 16, then 25 point buy for the other five scores (seems like it'd end up with some nice arrays)
Everyone gets a feat (not an ASI, just a feat) at level 1, in addition to the normal 4/8/12/16/19 progression.
When multiclassing, the above progression is based on character level, not class level. Fighters get a bonus ASI at class levels 6 and 14, and Rogues get one at 10.
Ignore ammo tracking, unless you get some sort of special thing like Slaying Arrows or the like.

Inspiration (cribbed from FATE Core, because, well, if they're going to copy the concept from another game, may as well bring in the whole thing for even more fun)

You can have more than one Inspiration point at any one time. At any point, you can spend one of these to gain Advantage on a single d20 roll, but only once per Short Rest.
If you are rolling an ability check for which an aspect applies positively, you can spend an Inspiration point to invoke (http://fate-srd.com/fate-core/fate-points#invoking-an-aspect)that aspect, gaining a +4 on the roll.
If you are rolling an ability check for which an aspect would negatively affect you, the DM can suggest a compel, which causes an automatic failure on the skill check unless you spend an Inspiration point to negate the compel (http://fate-srd.com/fate-core/fate-points#compels).
You can also spend an Inspiration point to declare a story detail (http://fate-srd.com/fate-core/fate-points#declaring-a-story-detail).


Eberron races stuff (as the UA link except as stated here)


Changelings get an extra +1 to either Dex or Cha, and your shapeshifting ability gives you Advantage on Deception checks to pass for someone else.
Shifters get +1 to Wis on top of their other stuff. Longtooth Shifters get the ability to use their Bite as part of an Attack action if they have Extra Attack, rather than as an action.
Warforged get +2 to Con and either +1 to Str or +1 to Dex, instead of the ability scores listed. In addition, they have proficiency in Light and Medium Armor (any armor they're wearing is fluffed as upgrades to their composite plating).


General Rules

Advantage and Disadvantage cancel each-other on a 1:1 basis, rather than the way it says in the book, because the book's way is pretty dumb, even if it's simpler to adjudicate (book has any source of Disad canceling all sources of Adv, and vice-versa).
Two-weapon fighting adds your ability score mod to the bonus action attack’s damage (buffed from the way it works RAW, which is no bonus damage on the attack).
Getting proficiency in heavy armor armor gives you proficiency in shields if you don't already have it (relevant to dwarves and warforged).


Options

Dragonmarks grant their cantrip as a cantrip (not as a 1/long rest thing), and if you’re a spellcaster, they’re tied to your casting stat.
The Grappler feat lets you grapple creatures of any size without penalty.
The Crossbow Expert feat lets you double-tap with your hand crossbow. And works with other crossbows, because sure why not.
Don't use Conjure Woodland Beings to summon eight Pixies to each fire Sleep spells at people, please.
Multiclass warlocks can get higher-level warlock spells known by using the "exchange for a higher level spell" clause. Useful, but not too ridiculous, since you lose out on spell slot progression if you multiclass into pact magic as another spellcaster.
If you want to learn a cantrip or spell from off-list as a caster, ask me about it. A lot of them fit nicely in other classes. Some don’t (like shillelagh and eldritch blast), but a Sorcerer with Vicious Mockery or a Cleric that pokes people with Shocking Grasp and the like are neat.




tl;dr: extra feat (not ASI, just a feat) at level 1, Inspiration becomes full-on Fate Points, Grappler makes you awesome, and ability scores end up being a little more well-rounded, and higher overall, while still staying below 16 at the start. I believe we also had short rests as being "any decently-sized unit of time that isn't combat or chase scenes or something."

[jaydubs]

For your first game with any system, you're going to want to try to experience as close to the "norm" as possible before contemplating houserules. In my experience, the norm is:

-Feats allowed
-Multiclass allowed
-Custom backgrounds allowed
-Human variant allowed
-27 point buy instead of rolling
-Take average HP rounded up, max at first level

Everything else, pretty much as-is from the Player's Handbook. Try that, and then tweak it afterwards if any part of it bothers you.

Now you might be thinking, why is the standard experience important? Why not start with a few tweaks right away?

Well the closer you are to the normal gameplay experience, the easier it is to add players, and the more relatable your experience is with other DMs/players/forums/guides/whatever. It makes it easier for you if you end up playing in someone else's game (you're less likely to mix up your rulesets). And it makes it easier for your players if/when they find another DM down the line.

That's not to say you should never houserule. Just that all else being equal, there are costs to houseruling. So reserve it for parts of the system that cause you issues.

[TrollCapAmerica]

Hmm I expected more powergamer accusations and derision fro allowing a first level feat but it seems fairly popular

Maybe I hang around /tg/ too much after all

[ChubbyRain]

3. no flanking

Isn't flanking an optional DMG rule to begin with?

I totally wouldn't past some people to allow a rule just to ban it, but I'm away from book and was just wondering about this one.

Yes I've seen different DMs allow rules just so they can ban them in their games for effect. Like they would introduce a house rule or variant rule in 3.5/4e and then say it was banned like they was trying to get other people to hate it too or something.

[MeeposFire]

I houserule bonus action spell casting. The change is now

"In any turn that multiple spells are cast and on of them is a bonus action spell at least one of the spells cast in that turn must be a cantrip".

This enforces what I see as the intent of the rules (forcing you to cast a cantrip that turn) while giving you maximum flexibility (does not prevent the use of reaction spells during your turn and allows you to cast a regular spell if you use a bonus action cantrip or you can can choose to use a bonus action regular spell and then use your action spell on a cantrip your choice) and preventing even the possibility of a loop hole (the cast the non-cantrip before casting a bonus action spell idea).

[Draken]

I recently instated this houserule for poisons. In some aspects, more of a clarification really.

Poison can be applied to a weapon as an action and remains active for one minute. Or it can be applied to up to ten pieces of ammunition for the same duration. Every hit with a poisoned weapon applies its damage, forcing a constitution saving throw for half damage and against any other effects it might have.

The save DC against poisons is 8 + the modifier of the ability used on the attack + the attacker's proficiency mod if he is proficient with a Poisoner's Kit.

[Malifice]

2. Moon druids restricted to CR 1/2 forms until level 4.

Why: Moon druids RAW gain the ability to transform into Cr1 forms at level 2. In addition to being full casters, a shifted moon druid is outright stronger than a barbarian or fighter of equal level. The only real argument I've ever seen in favor of this is that it only lasts for a couple of levels. As someone who believes that all classes should be balanced at all levels, this obviously doesn't work for me. Black bears and other CR 1/2 forms are still plenty powerful for level 2-3.

Here is what I use for Wild shape:

• A Druid in Wild shape retains the mental ability scores (Cha, Wis and Int), proficiencies, class features, Hit Dice and hit points of his normal form. The Druid gains the physical ability scores (Str, Dex, Con), size, AC, proficiencies, attacks, movement modes, speed, senses and special abilities of the wild shaped form.
• Druids gain a pool of temporary HP equal to (Druid level x 2) whenever they assume a Wild shape from their natural form.
• A Druid in Wild shape may calculate his AC by adding his proficiency bonus to the base forms AC.
• A Druid in Wild shape cannot use Multi attack if the form has the ability to do so. When a Druid in such a form takes the attack action, he may only use one of the listed attacks under Multi attack unless he also has the extra attack class feature. A character with at least 5 levels in Druid ignores this restriction, and can freely use multi attack if the beast he wild shapes into has the multi attack ability.
• A Druid may use either his own proficiency bonus or the beasts proficiency bonus (whichever is higher) for any melee or ranged attack, skill or save that either the Druid or the beast are proficient in. The Druid retains his own proficiencies (however some may be unusable in his new form) and gains the creatures proficiencies in its listed skills, saves and with its natural attacks. If the new form has abilities that require a saving throw to resist, the Druid may substitute his own Spell attack DC for the DC of the special attack.

Here are my house ruled feats:

Tactical Leader
You are an expert at leading your allies to victory, directing their strikes against the most powerful enemies you face, and making sure they get into position swiftly. You gain the following benefits:
• You gain + 1 to your Charisma Score to a maximum of 20.
• If you take the Attack action on your turn and successfully deal damage to a creature with a melee attack, you can use the Help action as a bonus action on the same turn. The creature you Help must be adjacent to the creature you struck, and be able to see and hear you to receive this benefit.
• You can use a bonus action on your turn to grant a creature the ability to move up to half its speed as a reaction. The creature must be within 30’ of you when you activate this ability and be able to see and hear you to move this way.

Aegis
Prerequisite: Protection fighting style
You have honed your ability to protect nearby allies. You gain the following benefits while you are using a shield:
• When you activate your protection fighting style, all attacks directed at the target protected by you are at disadvantage until the start of your next turn.
• You may activate your protection fighting style once per round without expending your reaction. You can still only protect one target per round.

Expert Bowman
Prerequisite: Proficiency in at least one of the Short bow or Longbow
You are an expert archer and fletcher and are capable of firing rapidly with your bow. You gain the following benefits:
• You gain +1 to your dexterity score to a maximum of 20.
• Whenever you take the Attack action with a long bow or shortbow and reduce a creature to zero hit points, or score a critical hit with such a weapon, you may make an additional ranged weapon attack with that weapon as a bonus action.
• You gain proficiency in bowyer and fletching tools.

Combat Reflexes
Your reactions are honed to quickly take advantage when your foes let their guard down. You gain the following benefits:
• You gain an extra reaction each round. This reaction can only be used to make an opportunity attack.
• Your opportunity attacks with weapons, and any weapon attacks made with the sentinel or mage slayer feat, are made at advantage.

Brutal Thug
Prerequisite: Proficiency in intimidate, Strength 13 or greater
You are a vicious and terrifying opponent. You gain the following benefits:
• You may perform a sneak attack with any weapon, not just ranged and finesse weapons.
• You may use your Strength score instead of your Charisma score when making intimidate checks
• When you score a critical hit with a melee weapon, you can attempt to frighten the creature struck as a bonus action on the same turn. The creature struck must make a wisdom save (DC 8 + Your Strength or Charisma modifier + your proficiency bonus) or be frightened of you for 1 minute. The creature can attempt a new saving throw at the start of each of tis turns to remove the frightened condition. A creature that makes a successful save against this ability can’t be affected by it again for 24 hours.

Elemental Adept
You have a natural gift for a particular element, making you resistant to its damage, and able to call on its power easily. You gain the following benefits:
• You learn the firebolt cantrip, and can cast it at will as an action.
• Choose one element out of cold, fire, lightning, thunder and acid. Whenever you cast a spell or use a class feature that deals damage of one of those types it instead deals damage of the type you chose when you selected this ability.
• You have resistance to damage caused by the element you choose, and advantage on saving throws against attacks involving that element.

Agile duellist
Prerequisite: Dexterity 13 or greater
You have learnt to take advantage of your great agility in combat where other people cannot. You gain the following benefits:
• You gain +1 to your AC when you are using a single finesse weapon in one hand and have your other hand free.
• You may treat all melee weapons that do not have the two handed or heavy quality as if they had the finesse quality as long as you wield them.

Weapon Specialisation
Prerequisite: Fighter level 8 or greater
You have mastered the use of a single weapon. Select one weapon you are proficient in. You gain the following benefits whenever you wield your chosen weapon:
• You gain +1 to hit with weapons of the type chosen.
• You deal +1d6 points of weapon damage with weapons of the type chosen.
• You have advantage on (strength) athletics checks against attempts to disarm you of your weapon.
• You may spend 1 month of downtime to change the weapon you have chosen to specialise in to a different weapon. During this month, you lose the benefit of this feat.

Charger (errata)
You can use your momentum to deal devastating attacks. You gain the following benefit:
• If you (or a mount you ride, and you forgo your action) use your action to Dash, you can make a melee weapon attack or a Shove attack as a bonus action at the conclusion of your movement. If you move at least 10’ in a straight line before making this attack, you deal an extra 2d6 weapon damage on a hit. Increase this damage by 1d6 for every extra attack you have from the extra attack class feature. If you instead choose to shove your opponent and are successful with the shove attempt, your opponent is pushed back 10’ and is knocked prone.

Hell knight
Prerequisite: Proficient in heavy armor, acceptance into a hellknight order, lawful alignment.
• You gain +1 to either your Charisma or Strength score to a maximum of 20
• While wearing heavy armor, you gain resistance to fire, advantage on saving throws to resist being charmed or frightened and darkvision out to 60’
• While wearing heavy armor you have advantage on intimidate checks made against chaotic creatures and known criminals, and advantage on charisma (persuasion) checks against lawful fiends

Healer (errata)
Prerequisite: Proficiency in medicine

• When you use a healers kit to stabilise a dying creature, it regains 1 hit point
• As an action you can expend one use of a healer’s kit to grant an adjacent creature a new saving throw against a poison or disease they are currently suffering from (at the same DC as the initial effect). Once you do so, you must wait until the creature has taken a long rest before attempting on that creature again.
• As an action you can expend 1 use from a healer’s kit and restore a number of hit points to a wounded creature equal to (your wisdom modifier plus your proficiency bonus) plus 1 extra point for every hit dice the creature has. Once you do so, you must wait until after a short rest before attempting on that creature again.
• You may expend 1 use of a healers kit to treat a lingering injury. The healing time for the injury is reduced by a number of days equal to the result your wisdom (medicine) check exceeds DC 10, to a minimum of one day.

Powerful build
Prerequisite: Strength 13 or higher, medium size or larger
• You gain +1 to your Strength score to a maximum of 20
• You can use the two handed damage dice of versatile weapons when you use them one handed. If you use them two handed, you may increase the damage dice by 1 step.
• You have advantage on strength (athletics) checks to grapple or shove any opponent your size or smaller

Pistolero
Prerequisite: Proficient in firearms

• Being within 5’ of a hostile creature doesn’t impose disadvantage on your ranged attack rolls
• When you use the attack action and attack with a one handed firearm, you can attack with a one handed firearm or a melee weapon that you wield in your off hand as a bonus action
• When a foe provokes an opportunity attack from you, you can make your opportunity attack with any loaded one handed firearm you are holding.

Gunslinger
• You gain proficiency in firearms and gunsmithing tools
• On your turn, if you spend a bonus action to aim, your first ranged attack with a firearm this turn has advantage. You cannot move before or after this attack to gain this benefit. Aiming provokes an attack of opportunity from any foe that can reach you.
• You obtain a battered firearm; either a musket or a pistol. If you ever roll a natural 1, 2, 3 or 4 on an attack roll when firing this weapon, it misfires requiring an action to clear. You can spend 1 week of downtime and gp equal to half the price of the weapon to remove this last property from the firearm.

Devastating Critical (savage attacker errata)
Your critical hits are particularly brutal. You gain the following benefits:
• When you score a critical hit, you may also double your static damage modifiers in addition to rolling your damage dice twice.
• When you score a critical hit, you can attempt to knock the creature struck prone as a bonus action on the same turn. The creature struck must make a Strength save (DC 8 + Your ability modifier + your proficiency bonus) or be knocked prone. The ability modifier that you use to set the DC to knock your opponent prone must match the ability score you used to make the attack.

Skill focus
You have exceptional skill in a particular area. Select one skill or tool proficiency you are proficient in. You gain the following benefits:
• You double your proficiency bonus with that skill or tool proficiency
• You add +1 to the statistic that governs that skill or tool, to a maximum of 20.

Chaneller
Prerequisite: Ability to cast spells
• You gain +1 to your Charisma, Wisdom or Intelligence score to a maximum of 20
• Whenever you are required to expend a fifth level or lower spell slot, you can choose not to expend the spell slot. If you choose not to expend the slot, you instead gain one level of exhaustion. You cannot use this ability if you currently have three or more levels of exhaustion.

Metamagician
Prerequisite: Ability to cast spells
• You have one sorcery point. You may add this sorcery point to any sorcery points you already have. You recover spent sorcery points on a long rest.
• You know one metamagic option of your choice from the list available to sorcerers on page 102 of the PHB. You can spend your sorcery point on this or any other metamagic option you know.
• As a bonus action on your turn, you can expend any one spell slot and gain extra sorcery points equal to the level of the spell slot expended.

Weapon Kata
Prerequisite: Martial arts class feature
• You gain proficiency in any one melee weapon aside from the lance
• Select one melee weapon aside from the lance that you are proficient in. You may treat this weapon as a monk weapon. If the weapon has the heavy or two handed property, you can no longer use your dexterity modifier instead of your strength modifier when you use your martial arts class feature
• If you wield two manufactured monk weapons at the same time, you may add +1 to your AC.

Durable (errata)
• You gain +1 to your constitution score to a maximum of 20
• Whenever you roll hit dice to regain hit points, the results of the dice are maximised.
• When you roll on the lingering injuries chart, you may roll twice and take either result.

Grappler (errata)
Prerequisite: proficiency in the athletics skill, proficiency in unarmed strike
• You have advantage on attack rolls against a creature you are grappling
• You can use your action to try to pin a creature grappled by you. To do so, make another grapple check. If you succeed, you and the creature are both restrained until the grapple ends. At your option, you may stop a creature you restrain in this manner from speaking.
• If you hit a creature with an unarmed strike on your turn, you can use your bonus action to attempt to grapple the creature
• You can attempt to escape a grapple as a bonus action on your turn.

Brawler (tavern brawler errata)
• You gain +1 to your strength score to a maximum of 20
• You are proficient with unarmed strikes and improvised weapons
• Your unarmed strikes deal 1d4 points of damage
• If you hit a creature with a melee attack on your turn, you can use your bonus action to attack the same creature with an improvised weapon (such as your weapons pommel or your shield) or an unarmed strike on your turn.

Polearm master (errata)
• When you take the attack action and attack with a quarterstaff, spear, trident, glaive, or halberd two handed, you may make an additional attack with the butt of the weapon as a bonus action on your turn. This attack inflicts 1d4 bludgeoning damage. If you use a glaive or halberd, you can instead inflict piercing damage (using the spike on the tip of the weapon). You may add your strength modifier to the attack and damage rolls with this attack, and you are considered proficient in it.
• If you are armed with a spear, trident, pike, halberd or glaive, you may use your action to set the weapon against a charge. Until the start of your next turn, you may use your reaction to make an opportunity attack against a creature that enters your reach. If you successfully strike a creature with this opportunity attack you deal an extra 2d6 points of weapon damage. This increases to an extra 1d6 for each additional attack you can make with the extra attack class feature.
• You inflict 1d12 base damage with a pike.
• When armed with a quarterstaff and using it two handed you gain +1 to your AC

Self-assured
• When you spend a point of inspiration, you gain advantage on all d20 rolls you make until the start of your next turn. Alternatively you may choose to expend your inspiration as a reaction, and reroll any one d20 you have just rolled.

Seductive
• You add +1 to your Charisma to a maximum of 20.
• You have advantage on Charisma (persuasion) and (deception) checks when used against creatures that are sexually attracted to you.

Artificer
• You gain +1 to your intelligence score to a maximum of 20
• If you focus on a single magic item during a short rest, at the end of the short rest you learn the items properties as well as how to use it, as if you had cast an identify spell.
• When making magical items (aside from potions and scrolls) during downtime, you may work at a rate of 100gp per day.

Alchemist
• You gain +1 to your intelligence score to a maximum of 20
• You gain proficiency in the alchemist kit
• When using downtime to craft potions, you may work at the rate of 25gp per day
• As an action, you may identify potions without an intelligence (arcana) check by tasting them.
• When you mix two or more potions together and roll on the potion miscibility chart, you may roll twice and take either result.

Master Craftsman
Prerequisite: proficiency in at least one set of artisans tools
• Select one set of artisans tools you are proficient in. You may double your proficiency bonus when using those tools. When crafting items during downtime using those tools, you may work at the rate of 25 gp per day. If the item is a weapon, tool or armor, you may also attempt to craft a masterwork version of the item.
• When practicing your profession during downtime you can maintain a comfortable lifestyle.
• When using the artisans tools you choose when you selected this feat, you may make wondrous items and magical weapons and armor, without needing to be a spellcaster. Your DM has the final say on what you can make with this ability.
• You may add your proficiency bonus on intelligence checks made to determine the value of items you could normally make with your artisans tools.

Carouser
• You add +1 to either your charisma or constitution score to a maximum of 20
• When you roll on the carousing table, you may roll twice and take either result.
• You have advantage on charisma checks in any area where your carousing has become the subject of local legend, and your audience is likely to be impressed by your carousing ability.
• You have advantage on any constitution checks or constitution saving throws related to alcohol consumption.

Fast learner
• You add +1 to your intelligence score up to a maximum of 20
• When training to learn a new language or proficiency, you halve the time required.
• When training to advance a level, it costs you half as much gold, and takes you half as much time.

Master Herbalist
Prerequisite: proficiency in the herbalism kit
• You gain +1 to your wisdom score to a maximum of 20
• When using a herbalism kit to craft potions of healing, your potions are enhanced and always heal the maximum amount.
• When using downtime to craft potions of healing or antitoxin, you may work at the rate of 25gp per day

Words of power
Prerequisite: ability to cast spells
• You gain +1 to your intelligence score to a maximum of 20
• When scribing a protection or spell scroll, you may work at the rate of 25gp per day
• As an action, you can identify a scroll by reading it without needing to make an arcana check

Sharpshooter (errata)
• Attacking at long range doesn’t impose disadvantage on your ranged weapon attack rolls.
• You ignore disadvantage for firing into melee with ranged and thrown weapon attacks
• Before you make an attack roll with a ranged weapon that you are proficient with, you can choose to take a -5 penalty to the attack roll and gain a +10 bonus to the damage roll on a successful hit.

Martial adept (errata)
• As written but now grants 2 superiority dice.

Spell sniper (errata)
• As written but you now ignore disadvantage for firing into melee with spell attacks instead of ignoring cover.

Burden to bear
• You add +1 to your strength score to a maximum score of 20
• Your speed is not reduced due to being encumbered
• You automatically pass constitution checks to sleep in armor and gain advantage on constitution saves to resist exhaustion from forced marches.

Dual wielding mastery
Prerequisite: dual wielder feat, two weapon fighting style, proficiency bonus +5
• You gain +1 to your dexterity score to a maximum of 20
• You can make two attacks with your off hand as a single bonus action when fighting with two weapons

[Mr.Moron]

EDIT: These are the ones I provided in written form for my players at the start of my most recent game.

Rolling Hit Points: Divide your hit die by 2, roll two of those die and sum the result for hit points gained.
1d12->2d6
1d10->2d5
1d8->2d4
1d6->2d3

This keeps things closer to average and raises the floor just a tad, without removing the variability entirely. I've used average gains variants before and I find it seems to kill some of the excitement that seems to come from rolling. This struck me as a good compromise.

Hero Points: At each level gained players game 1 Hero Point. Each session players have 1 "Temporary" hero point in addition to the current total, that must be spent that session or lost. Maximum hero points (including temporary) is 5. They have a lot of uses but here are some basic examples:

1: Gain Advantage on some check, impose disadvantage on an enemy check, re-roll a damage or other variable non-d20 roll.
2: Prevent your death and automatically & stabilize, use an ability that restores on a Short Rest without expending a use even if you have no uses left.
3: Regain abilities as though you took short rest, use an ability that requries a long rest to restore without spending a use even if you have no uses left.

This gives players some extra power/control over the dice without doing anything to change to overall magnitude of their abilities. Most importantly it basically gives them 1 free "Out" vs death a level, which is important because I never run in settings where resurrection is a thing.

Spells: Given how wide reaching and powerful spell effects are, please understand that I need to vet spell selections - not everything is allowed. I don't have the time or energy to pre-screen and assemble a ban list for the entire PHB and any subsequent additions to the game but you can understand these general guidelines apply:

Anything that allows you to affect an enemy with no save or failure chance is generally not OK.
Anything that replaces an entire skill with no save or failure chance is generally not OK.
Anything that has the potential to bypass large sections of the game world (Flight, Teleportation, & Long Distance Communication) is generally not OK.

The above list has fuzzy edges. If something violates some of those constraints but could be made to work with some modifications I'm probably willing to propose an alteration. In general I'm going to be conservative with spell power as even restricted they're still going to represent the upper bounds of player power in the game. Finally don't feel constrained to what's strictly in the books. If there's a a cool effect that isn't really available from a spell but is in keeping with the spirit of the above guidelines throw it out there and we can see what we can cook up.

[PersonMan]

To solve that issue, I port over the experience rewards from a different system. In addition to gaining XP from kills, the players can the following XP values for their accomplishments:

In its defense, I do think that 5e awards XP for 'overcoming challenges', not only killing enemies.


...
25-50 points for using good judgment or one's power or skill well.
25-50 points for playing in character when it would have been easier not to.

I can see why you made these the same XP value, but might it be worth it to make the latter worth more? If I have to deal with IC trouble because of issues my character's character got them into, it would be nice to at least get more XP than if I had just used 'good judgement'.


50-100 points for avoiding unnecessary' violence; self-restraint or talking, bluffing or intimidating oneself (and associates) out of trouble or danger.
50-100 points for a small act of self-sacrifice, or an act of kindness, mercy, or compassion.

I assume this is part of a general preference for nonviolence+Good in your games? I can see at least a few cases where these wouldn't really fit (i.e. a character who is not the kind to be self-sacrificing or self-restraining doing these wouldn't really be acting in character).


Some of the others have similar effects - it seems like it's as much giving benefits for roleplaying as it is giving benefits for roleplaying Good characters who dislike violence.



I also track XP for each character individually. Everyone gets equal XP for kills as per the norm but roleplay xp applies only to those that earn it.

How does this work in a situation where, say, the party gives one person the role of 'party face' and they do things like talk the party out of trouble, when behind the scenes the entire party contributed (a la 4 players talk OOC about a plan, then one presents it IC)?

[themaque]

Rolling Hit Points
Roll 1d4 then add the difference for your normal hit dice. So a fighter rolls 1d4+6. Wizard 1d4+2 and a Barbarian is 1d4+8. It gives some variances for chance but keeps it consistently high.

Champion : Remarkable Athlete bonus is added even if you are proficient.

No individual XP: Xp is handed out as a group or you level at set story points. Individual rewards will either be given in game or of some other value.

[Psikerlord]

Isn't flanking an optional DMG rule to begin with?

I totally wouldn't past some people to allow a rule just to ban it, but I'm away from book and was just wondering about this one.

Yes I've seen different DMs allow rules just so they can ban them in their games for effect. Like they would introduce a house rule or variant rule in 3.5/4e and then say it was banned like they was trying to get other people to hate it too or something.

Yep its optional, just like MCing and feats. I think many tables try it though just the same, esp those coming from 3e, 4e.

[Malifice]

My class house rules:

Barbarian

• At 1st level Barbarians gain 3 skill proficiencies instead of two.
• Change the second bullet point of the rage ability to read: While under the effects of a rage, when you make a melee or ranged weapon attack using strength, you gain a bonus weapon damage dice on each successful attack. This extra damage increases as you gain levels in barbarian. This bonus damage dice is an extra +1d4 at 1st level, increasing to an extra +1d6 at 9th level, and then increasing to an extra +1d8 at 16th level.
• At 2nd level barbarians gain a Fighting style (chosen from: Duelling, Great weapon fighting, Protection, Two weapon fighting).
• Danger sense can’t be used while you wear heavy armor.
• At 12th level you gain the Die Hard ability. You may reroll a failed check to stabilise when you are reduced to 0 hit points.
• At 19th level, Barbarians gain the Insensate fury ability: Beginning at 19th level, you have advantage on constitution and wisdom saving throws you make while you are under the effects of your rage.
• The frenzy ability of the berserker primal path can now be used once per short rest without causing a level of exhaustion.

Bard

• Expertise also allows the Bard to select a skill or tool proficiency that they are not proficient in from their list of class skills and gain proficiency in that skill (instead of doubling the bonus of a skill or tool already known).
• Replace Magical secrets with Greater inspiration: At 10th level you may expend 1 use of bardic inspiration to affect 2 creatures at once with your bardic inspiration as a single bonus action; however the dice type reduces by one step when you use this ability (d10 becomes d8, d8 becomes d6 etc.). You may affect up to 3 creatures at once as a single bonus action at 14th level and you may affect up to 4 creatures at once as a single bonus action at 18th level. All creatures must be within 30 feet of you for you to grant them an inspiration die, and must be able to hear you. A creature can only have one bardic inspiration dice at one time.

Cleric

• At 1st level, Clerics are proficient in religion and two skills of choice from their list.
• Clerics must be within one step of their deity’s alignment. Evil clerics (or neutral clerics of evil aligned deities) inflict necrotic damage with any class feature or spell that normally inflicts radiant damage. A cleric that changes his alignment loses access to his channel divinity, domain, divine intervention and spellcasting class features until he atones, or is accepted by a new deity.
• Turn undead is now called ‘turn the unholy’ and works the same as the paladin class feature of the same name (see below).
• Destroy undead is now called ‘destroy the unholy’ and also works on fiends.
• Evil clerics and neutral clerics of evil deities exchange turn undead for bolster the unholy: ‘As an action you present your holy symbol and speak a prayer infusing nearby undead and fiends with unholy power. Each undead or fiendish creature that can see or hear you within 30’ gains temporary hit points equal to your cleric level plus your wisdom modifier, and can dash as a bonus action for 1 minute after the bolstering takes effect.’
• At 5th level evil clerics and neutral clerics of evil deities exchange destroy undead for command the unholy: ‘As an action you present your holy symbol and speak a prayer commanding nearby undead and fiends to obey your will. Each undead or fiendish creature eligible to be affected that can see or hear you within 30’ must make a wisdom saving throw. Use the ‘destroy undead’ table to determine the maximum HD of creatures you can affect with this ability. Instead of being destroyed creatures who fail the save are dominated (as per dominate monster) until you use this ability again. The total combined CR of creatures you can control at any one time with this ability cannot exceed your cleric level’.

Druid

• At 1st level, Druids are proficient in nature and two skills of choice from their list.
• Druids must maintain a neutral component to alignment. Druids who violate this alignment restriction lose access to spellcasting, wild shape and druid circle abilities until their alignment conforms to the above. Druids who wear metal armor lose access to spell casting, wild shape and druid circle abilities until they doff the armor, and for 24 hours thereafter.
• A Druid in Wild shape retains the mental ability scores (Cha, Wis and Int), proficiencies, class features, Hit Dice and hit points of his normal form. The Druid gains the physical ability scores (Str, Dex, Con), size, AC, proficiencies, attacks, movement modes, speed, senses and special abilities of the wild shaped form.
• Druids gain a pool of temporary HP equal to (Druid level x 2) whenever they assume a Wild shape from their natural form.
• A Druid in Wild shape may calculate his AC by adding his proficiency bonus to the base forms AC.
• A Druid in Wild shape cannot use Multi attack if the form has the ability to do so. When a Druid in such a form takes the attack action, he may only use one of the listed attacks under Multi attack unless he also has the extra attack class feature. A character with at least 5 levels in Druid ignores this restriction, and can freely use multi attack if the beast he wild shapes into has the multi attack ability.
• A Druid may use either his own proficiency bonus or the beasts proficiency bonus (whichever is higher) for any melee or ranged attack, skill or save that either the Druid or the beast are proficient in. The Druid retains his own proficiencies (however some may be unusable in his new form) and gains the creatures proficiencies in its listed skills, saves and with its natural attacks. If the new form has abilities that require a saving throw to resist, the Druid may substitute his own Spell attack DC for the DC of the special attack.

Fighter

• You cannot cast a spell with the extra action granted from Action surge.
• Combat superiority: At 7th level a Fighter selects either strength or dexterity. The fighter has advantage on any contested ability checks made in combat situations involving that ability score, and advantage on opposed attack rolls. At 15th level, the fighter also gains advantage on any contested ability check in combat situations with the other ability score. This ability extends to initiative checks (if the fighter selects Dexterity).

Monk

• Monks begin the game with 3 skill proficiencies instead of two
• Monks may choose to treat attacks with unarmed strikes and attacks with monk weapons made using the martial arts class feature as attacks with finesse weapons as long as he is able to apply his dexterity modifier to the attack and damage rolls.
• A Monk regains Ki points on a short rest, as long as he has spent at least 30 minutes in meditation at some point during the previous long rest centring himself.
• At 14th level, a monk using the step of the wind ki ability gains the ability to fly for 1 round as the 14th level Eagle totem barbarian ability.
• At 18th level you gain the Mystic Adept ability: Select three ability scores and increase them each by 2. Your maximum score in these abilities is now 22. This replaces the empty body ability.
• At 19th level Monks may make 2 extra unarmed attacks as a single bonus action with their martial arts class feature, and may make 3 extra unarmed attacks with flurry of blows as a single bonus action (for 1 ki point).
• A creature that successfully saves against stunning strike cannot be affected by it again for 24 hours.

Paladin

• A Paladin must be of lawful good alignment to select the oath of devotion. He must be of any non-good alignment to select the oath of vengeance. He must be of any good alignment to select the oath of the ancients. He must be of any evil alignment to select the oath breaker oath. A paladin that violates this restriction loses access to spellcasting, divine smite, lay on hands and the benefits of his oath until he atones. Evil paladins inflict necrotic damage with any class feature or spell that ordinarily inflicts radiant damage.
• Creatures whose individual challenge ratings exceed your paladin level have advantage on saves against the turn the unholy and turn the faithless class features. Creatures whose CR exceeds your paladin level by 5 or more are immune to the effect. Antipaladins gain command unholy (as a cleric) at 3rd level instead of command undead.
• At 1st level, Paladins gain the lesser divine smite ability: Once per long rest you may declare a successful melee attack to be a divine smite. You inflict an extra 1d8 radiant damage with this attack. When you reach second level, you lose this ability and gain divine smite in its place (see below)
• Divine smite does not require a spell slot to use. It inflicts a fixed 2d8 damage at 2nd level, 3d8 damage at 5th level, 4d8 damage at 9th level, 5d8 damage at 13th level, and 6d8 damage at 17th level. The paladin can use divine smite twice per short rest. This increases to three times per short rest at 9th level, and four times per short rest at 19th level.
• At 19th level, a paladin can use cleansing touch and lay on hands as a bonus action (Instead of an action), and may activate both abilities simultaneously with a single bonus action if desired.

Ranger

• Rangers (and the rangers’ animal companion if any) gain advantage on attack rolls and opposed ability checks against the rangers favored enemies.
• At 9th level Rangers gain Expertise as a Bard.
• At 13th level Rangers gain the improved critical ability, however this only functions against their favored enemies.
• At 19th level Rangers gain extra attack (2).
• The Foe Slayer ability gained at 20th level allows a Ranger to add their wisdom modifier to damage against favored enemies.

Rogue

• Expertise also allows the rogue to select a skill that they are not proficient in from the class’s skill list and gain proficiency in that skill (instead of doubling the bonus).
• A Rogue who is already proficient in wisdom saves gains the expertise class feature again at 15th level instead of gaining slippery mind.
• At 19th level Rogues gain Crippling strike: A creature that is damaged by your sneak attack must make a constitution saving throw (DC 8 + your dexterity or strength modifier + your proficiency bonus) or have disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks for 1 round. Undead and constructs are immune to this ability.

Warlock

• Fiend pact and Great old one pact warlocks can be of any non-good alignment. Fey pact warlocks can be of any non-lawful alignment. A warlock that violates this restriction loses access to pact boon, invocations, his mystic arcanum and pact magic class features until he atones. Invocations require a minimum warlock level to learn. Warlocks can use mystic arcanum slots to cast enhanced warlock spells known via the pact magic class feature.
• Change Eldritch master to ‘If you ever roll initiative and you have no warlock spell slots remaining from your pact magic class feature, you regain 1 spell slot’
• Eldritch blast cantrip is now a single target attack roll (adding extra d10 damage at 5th, 11th and 17th level).
• The Agonizing spear invocation allows you to add your warlock level to your damage with successful hits with Eldritch blast.
• The Lifedrinker invocation now has a minimum warlock level of 11th. In addition to its normal benefit, each time you reduce a living creature with a CR of at least half your level to 0 hit points with your pact weapon, you may cast Haste (targeting only yourself) as a bonus action at the start of your next turn. Your pact weapon maintains concentration on this spell for you. The spell automatically ends if your pact weapon is dismissed or after 1 minute, whichever occurs first.
• New invocation: Accursed blast. Prerequisite: Warlock level 5th. When you hit a creature with your eldritch blast and that creature is under the effects of a hex spell cast by you, you inflict an additional 1d6 points of necrotic damage. This damage increases to an extra 2d6 points of necrotic damage at 11th level, and an extra 3d6 points of necrotic damage at 17th level.
• New invocation: Enhanced pact magic: Prerequisite: Warlock level 7th, Pact of the tome class feature. You gain an extra spell slot to use with your pact magic class feature.
• New invocation: Improved familiar: Prerequisite: Warlock level 7th, Pact of the chain class feature. You may add your proficiency bonus to your familiars AC, attack rolls and damage rolls, as well as any saving throws or skills it is proficient in, and to the DC to save against any of its special abilities (such as poison). Its hit point maximum now equals its normal maximum or 4 times your warlock level whichever is higher. In addition, you can use a bonus action on your turn to direct your familiar to use one of its actions listed in its entry, the dodge action or the help action on its next turn.
• New invocation: Grand Grimoire: Prerequisite: Warlock level 18th pact of the tome class feature. When you select this invocation select 1 spell of each level 1-5 from your choice of one of the Bard, Druid, Sorcerer or Wizards spell list. These spells appear in your Tome of Shadows, and you add them to your list of spells known.
• New invocation: Bladebound: Prerequisite: Warlock level 18th, pact of the blade class feature. Each time you reduce a living creature with a CR of at least half your level to zero hit points with your pact weapon, you may remove one level of exhaustion. If you have no levels of exhaustion, you may instead regain one expended warlock spell slot.
• New invocation: Soul link: Prerequisite: Warlock level 18th pact of the chain class feature. When you cast a Warlock spell of 5th level or lower that requires concentration, your familiar can maintain concentration that spell for you. Your familiar must be within 30 feet of you to maintain concentration and if it ever finishes its turn outside this radius the concentration immediately ends. Your familiar can only maintain concentration on a single spell for you at once.

Wizard

• At 1st level, Wizards are proficient in Arcana and two other skills from their list.

[Giant2005]

In its defense, I do think that 5e awards XP for 'overcoming challenges', not only killing enemies.
It does but it doesn't have any hard rules about it, instead leaving it entirely in the hands of DM discretion. The modules are pretty good about it but I haven't actually encountered a DM that has given any xp other than those earned through combat.


I can see why you made these the same XP value, but might it be worth it to make the latter worth more? If I have to deal with IC trouble because of issues my character's character got them into, it would be nice to at least get more XP than if I had just used 'good judgement'.
I assume this is part of a general preference for nonviolence+Good in your games? I can see at least a few cases where these wouldn't really fit (i.e. a character who is not the kind to be self-sacrificing or self-restraining doing these wouldn't really be acting in character).
Some of the others have similar effects - it seems like it's as much giving benefits for roleplaying as it is giving benefits for roleplaying Good characters who dislike violence.
I didn't actually come up with any of those conditions for receiving XP, nor did I come up with the values - I just ported them over from a different system.
As for the bonuses benefiting the good characters more, there is certainly merit to that argument although I see it more as a means of compensation for being good rather than a bonus for being good. the evil character will kill everything in sight and probably get more XP than the meagre bonus for avoiding combat and the good character is most likely losing something in order to attain the self-sacrifice bonus. The evil character might not get that reward but he doesn't take the loss either.


How does this work in a situation where, say, the party gives one person the role of 'party face' and they do things like talk the party out of trouble, when behind the scenes the entire party contributed (a la 4 players talk OOC about a plan, then one presents it IC)?
Any xp bonus that applies to more than one character, including decisions made between two or more characters regardless of who actually performed the task (Unless the bonus was due to taking a risk, then the character actually taking the risk would solely gain the bonus) would be given to all of the characters involved. That doesn't really happen a lot though - most decisions are made impulsively and as such whichever player had that impulse would gain the benefit. The disparity probably sounds like a really bad thing but it has much more positive effects than what the list of conditions and bonuses imply. Basically better roleplayers do end up with a lot more XP than their peers but such effects are usually very short lived - the players that fall behind quickly adapt and increase their roleplaying proficiency to meet the challenge.

[FightStyles]

...SNIP...



Most of these feats have now been officially stolen ;-]

However, it does appear that you play with a lot of optional "hard mode" rules, that I haven't implemented such as learning magical item properties and sleeping in heavy armor. But they'll be good if I ever do decide to use them.

[Mr.Moron]

I forgot some things I've been doing that I never codified into written "House Rules" but have become standard practice at my table.

Everyone has a consistent persistent low-level "detect magic" sort of effect. This is weakest in non-casters, who can only feel the the most overt and powerful effects when they are close by. This is strongest in wild magic sorcerers who can get a yes/no on even faint magic at close range. Detecting magic like this usually doesn't reveal much about magic beyond the presence of it, and typically requires a charisma check of varying difficulty.

Most magic items don't need to be identified, their uses are apparent more/less with a little bit of concentration on it.

Tool Proficiencies also act as knowledge skills in a related field. For example proficiency with masons tools also grants proficiency on knowledge checks about stonework or architecture.

[GWJ_DanyBoy]

-Quarterstaves must be used 2 handed in order to gain the bonus attack from Polearm Master
-Rangers may be prepared spellcasters if the player wishes (Exactly as a paladin, except WIS-based)
-27 point buy or standard array stat generation only

[Joe the Rat]

I probably ought to codify mine more. Beyond the setting docs, it's more of a "Does this sound good? let's do this" approach.


My biggest issue in 5e (And DnD in general) is that it places too much emphasis on hack and slash and not enough on roleplay. The background section of the PHB tries to help the issue but it is basically applying a band-aid to try and save a decapitation victim.
To solve that issue, I port over the experience rewards from a different system. In addition to gaining XP from kills, the players can the following XP values for their accomplishments:
>snip<
Ah, the Palladium XP table. An excellent source of inspiration.
I award XP for meeting objectives (personal and "story"), and passing hazards/challenges. Also, remember "defeat" doesn't have to mean "take to 0 hp."


One I used was to cut down short rests from an hour to twenty minutes. They still have to make sure they've secured the area and are safe for a little while, but a group may often feel that if they can afford to rest for an hour they can afford to rest for eight. Cutting down the rest time eliminates that problem. This only becomes a serious issue if there is a Warlock in your party, since their main mechanic is balanced around the assumption that your players are taking short rests.
I take the "About" of about an hour fairly liberally. The less people need to do, the shorter the short rest. You can always finish your short rest before rope trick expires.


2) Reroll any HP roll less than half. Less punishment for Bad luck and making a guy drop in tank value because D12s love rolling 1sI do something similar, except that they just get "average" if they roll below half.


Beyond that:
DMG Options: Death Domain Cleric, expanded poisons, potion miscibility, player-awarded Inspiration (because I keep forgetting). Seriously, try putting Inspiration in their hands.
Morale. Some Monsters/NPCs may break and run when their numbers get too low, or enough damage is taken. This includes hirelings. I've been using Wisdom saves (with the "leader" adding his Cha modifier), but there are other options.
Setting-specific races/sub-races. Decide what fits your game, and add/remove/alter as necessary. I have five elves, none of which are drow.
Class/subclass variants. Make thematic restrictions (or tendencies, if you don't want to be too limiting), and/or add elements to fit your setting (I have an additional barbarian totem option based on a setting-specific creature) or concepts (a weapon-based monk tradition). These are really just "world-building features," but building a setting may suggest rule options.

[Demonic Spoon]

Instead of artificially raising the number of hitpoints everyone gets per level by not letting them roll below average, why not just have them take the average rounded up? That way, no one gets screwed by the RNG, and you don't mess with the balance. Or, you could just use a die rolling scheme that's less random (d4+2 instead of d8 for example).

[Galen]

I have one houserule I really like:

If you cast a spell with Concentration on a willing target, you may have the target Concentrate on the spell instead of you.

Makes the casters more apt at buffing multiple allies.

[JFahy]

* The time required for a short rest is inversely proportional to how badly I think the party needs it.

* No Lucky feat. (This is temporary - my intuition is that it's too good. I'll probably test it at some point, but not right now.)

* The casting time for a paladin's Find Steed is inversely proportional to how cool it would be if the steed arrived really soon.

* If you have Shield Master, you can take the bonus-action shove before you attack. (I'm 65% sure this isn't how the rule was intended to work. My 10-year-old son, playing his first character, has this and loves to knock things down and then smash them. It ups his damage somewhat, no big deal. Significant fun benefit for a very slight balance cost.)

* Spirit Guardians and similar spells don't take effect if they pass over you, only if you actively walk into them or start your turn in them. (In general I feel like somebody running the spell over you should suffice to trigger the effect, but that interpretation takes Spirit Guardians from 'pretty nice' to 'devastating'.)

* No Identify spell. Sorry, part of my fun is knowing stuff and gradually sharing it with you. I will try to make the discovery stage fun for you as well.

* Enough with the flying familiars already.

I think that's about it. :smallsmile:

[Psikerlord]

I have one houserule I really like:

If you cast a spell with Concentration on a willing target, you may have the target Concentrate on the spell instead of you.

Makes the casters more apt at buffing multiple allies.

hmmm interesting idea, I might try this one out

[Gritmonger]

* No Identify spell. Sorry, part of my fun is knowing stuff and gradually sharing it with you. I will try tomake the discovery stage fun for you as well.

Yeah, I put the kibosh on the spend-an-hour version of this, where all a person has to do is take a short rest to identify an object.

[AmplSi]

As I'm pretty new to D&D, I don't have any house rules for myself due to having never DM'd. However, I have had a couple DM's and one of them had two noteworthy house rules:

First is the system for ability scores. If a player were to choose normally, they can either roll the normal way or do the standard 27 point buy, but out of the belief in the occasionally overpowered heroic figure and the risk-reward of a gamble, the DM would allow players to roll a d20 against him. If the player scored lower, they were no longer allowed to use the point buy and had to roll the 4d6b3, but if they scored higher, they were able to use a 42-point-buy, with the following specifications: A score of 8 costs 0 points, 9 costs 1, 10 costs 2, 11 costs 3, 12 costs 4, 13 costs 5, 14 costs 7, 15 costs 9, 16 costs 11, 17 costs 14, and 18 costs 17.

His other home rule was on the usage of RP Inspiration (as opposed to Bardic). Instead of gaining advantage, players who use inspiration in receive an automatic success or can achieve some otherwise-impossible feat (at his discretion). The only downside is that, if using Inspiration, what would normally be a critical is treated as any other roll - meaning if you get a 20 when rolling a d20, no critical bonus is added, it is just 20. Inspiration can still be passed on to other players as it's written.

That's about it. I think it's pretty cool.

[GorogIrongut]

Here are my house rules...

Initiative never quite worked the way I felt it should, ergo this rule.
Initiative is the same except, you get a special turn if your initiative is greater than 20. If you roll 21 or higher, you are able to take a special turn 20 levels after your first turn. So in the case of 21, you act normally at 21 and get the special turn on initiative 1. During this special turn you get a free, extra dodge, disengage or object interaction.

I'm a big fan of multi classing. This takes the potential sting out of any mistakes and allows you to choose what character you want to play at any time during the game.
You can at any time, drop enough xp to go down a level. You can choose what class to drop a level in. This allows you to correct any levelling mistakes you feel you may have made by retraining your classes. This is obviously only of use where the player chooses to multiclass.

We needed a few more feats. I'm contemplating doing one for Bard's Cutting Words, but haven't gotten there yet.
New Feats:
---Magical Mastery - Feat Having studied long and hard, you begin to see the building blocks that underpin the magic of the World. You gain the ability to use one MetaMagic ability from the Sorceror character class. To power your metamagic, after a long rest you gain 1d2+1 Sorceror Points.
If you already have taken a metamagic ability from some other source (i.e. are a Sorceror), and you choose to specialize in it by taking it again with this feat, uses of that ability can be accomplished for half the normal cost rounded up in sorceror points.
You can select this feat multiple times only if you are a sorceror. Each time you do so, you must choose a different type of metamagic.
Can only be taken after 8 full casting levels. You can use only one Metamagic option on a spell when you cast it, unless otherwise noted.
---Skilled (the feat) now reads as follows. You gain proficiency in any combination of four skills or tools of your choice. You may choose instead to obtain expertise, as listed on the bard or rogue classes in two skills or tools of your choice. This second option can only be done at level 4 or later.
---Darkness is life - Feat
Obsessed with things that bump in the dark, your passion for the occult has led you to making pacts with lesser known 'entities' as you drew ever closer to the darkness. Unwilling to go farther you haggled with these beings for the scraps of power that you were able to bear. What did you give up in exchange? It probably wasn't your soul.
You gain access to two eldritch invocations from the following list. All rules apply for each invocation:
Armour of Shadows/Beast Speech/Beguiling Influence/Devil's Sight/Eldritch Sight/Eyes of the Rune Keeper/Fiendish Vigour/ Gaze of Two Minds/Mask of Many Faces/Misty Visions/One with Shadows/Otherworldly Leap
---Unarmored defence
When you select this feat choose one of Constitution, Wisdom, Charisma, or Intelligence. • When you are not wearing armor or using a shield and are not incapacitated, you may calculate your AC using 10 + Dex + the abilty score modifier you choose when you select this feat. • You add +1 to your chosen ability score to a maximum value of 20.

I've followed you in giving away a feat at level 1, but I hedged which ones you could take.
The rule of sub optimal feats.
Your player starts off the game with a free sub optimal feat from the list below:
Actor/Charger/Dual Wielder/Dungeon Delver/Durable/Grappler/Healer/Keen Mind/Lightly Armoured/Linguist/Moderately Armoured/Savage Attacker/Skilled/Skulker/Tavern Brawler/Weapon Master.

5. Blacksmithing
You have one of two options when smithing. As a player you must choose one of these and provide me well reasoned, in character motivation for you to be able to change it.


The Quick, Fast and Dirty
To craft an item, you must have possession of the necessary materials and tools. If you have these, make a craft roll by rolling 2d6 and adding your proficiency bonus. On a 13+ you have succeeded and choose one from the list of (Quickly, Cheaply, Well). Those desiring a second option may choose one by sacrificing the third, taking double time, double cost, or making a purposefully flawed item both cheaply and quickly. On a 10-12, you succeed with no greater effect, and can choose one from the list at the expense of both others as listed above. On a 9 or less, you make a flawed item.
-Quickly An item that was produced quickly is made in half the expected time with no drawback in quality.
-Cheaply An item produced cheaply cost only half as much as expected to create with no drawback in quality.
-Well An item produced well is of high quality and has advantage against being broken, or for consumables either has unexpected potency or is extremely delicious.
-Flawed An item that is flawed is prone to breaking apart, having reduced potency, or tasting terrible. In all cases, it could lead to injury. On the use of a flawed item, roll another craft check with the modifier of the crafter. On a success, the item functions at reduced capacity, potency, or enjoyment. On a partial success, the item fails to function, is inert, or is inedible. On a failure, the item causes injury in an appropriate way.


The More Complicated Way For every day of downtime you spend crafting, you can craft one or more items with a total market value not exceeding 10 gp, and you must expend raw materials worth half the total market value. If something you want to craft has a market value greater than 10 gp, you make progress every day in 10-gp increments until you reach the market value of the item. For example, a suit of plate armor (market value 1,500 gp) takes 150 days to craft by yourself.
Multiple characters can combine their efforts toward the crafting of a single item, provided that the characters all have proficiency with the requisite tools and are working together in the same place. Each character contributes 10 gp worth of effort for every day spent helping to craft the item. For example, three characters with the requisite tool proficiency and the proper facilities can craft a suit of plate armour in 50 days, at a total cost of 750 gp.
There are roughly 3 tiers of blacksmithing tools. Those tools may be exceptionally well crafted for their given level and this will bring them up one level of efficacy.
--Level 0 Your tools are completely improvised. This can't be used for creating anything new. This level of tools are only usable for repairing items and even then at a -3 to the DC Check. Improvised tools cannot be well crafted.
--Level 1 Travelling rig. More intended for repairs and simple farming level creation. Cannot create anything with a DC greater than 15. Gives no bonuses when making the DC Check.
--Level 2 Village Blacksmith. Suitable for a wide array of repairs and creation. It's good, but there are better. Cannot create anything with a DC greater than 20. +2 when making the DC Check.
--Level 3 Royal Armourer. This smithery is kitted out and can be used to create almost anything. This level of smithing can be found in the bigger cities... but there are also many hermit blacksmiths who've sought the solace of the wild to better focus on their craft. Cannot create anything with a DC greater than 30. +6 when making the DC Check.
Yes it is possible to have an exceptionally well crafted Royal Armourer level setup. This enables you to attempt legendary level creations (i.e. greater than a DC 30). No further bonuses are provided for this. Your reward is the ability to attempt legendary creations.
Crafting, as per the rules, normally takes a crap ton of time to accomplish. The PHB rules are halved in this rule system. There are further shortcuts that can hasten the 10gp/per day creation rule. They are as follows:
a. Use of magic in the process can halve the time required. This can be innate magic or actual spellcasting magic. In some fashion the person is able to harness their magic in a beneficial avenue. If using a finite magic source, spells/ki/etc. should be expended to show this.
b. The quality of materials being used for the job can also hasten the creation process. The more refined the ore the quicker you're able to work. Quality materials can cut 5 days off of creation. The finest most pure and stock materials can cut 10 days off of creation.
c. The player may be willing to hasten the crafting process, cutting corners and trusting to his/her skill as a blacksmith. For each day of work doing this, it counts as two days work... but adds a -1 to the final DC Check. A player can conversely take their time in crafting. For each day spent lovingly crafting an object, it counts as half of a creation day but adds a +1 to the final DC Check.
d. A full days work is 8 hours. Fewer hours provide you a proportional fraction of work accomplished. You cannot hasten or take your time on a fractional day.

Further pluses/minuses to the DC Check are as followed:
--If the blacksmith is familiar with his tools he gets a +2.
--If familiar with the metals being used, the player adds a +4 to his DC check. If unfamiliar with the metals a -4 to the final DC Check. Familiarity is bred through use. To be familiar with a metal you have to have successfully crafted 5 items with the metal.
--Familiarity with the weapons or armour being crafted. This can occur through use of the items or experience crafting past items. Familiarity imparts a +1. Lack of familiarity imparts a -1 to the DC Check.
--A well thought out design can go a LONG way to working out the kinks of a creation. If the player creates a detailed diagram of what they're making and how it is intended to work, then give them advantage to the final DC Check. No design imparts disadvantage.

On the final DC Check, a roll of a natural 20 or any score above a 30 guarantees master crafting of the object.
When you are wearing Masterwork Armor and are hit with a weapon attack, the attacker must re-roll all damage dice that land on their maximum result (i.e. a 12 on a d12, 6 on a d6)
When you hit an enemy with a Masterwork Weapon, you re-roll any damage dice that land on a result of 1.
It also receives a minor magical effect.
On any successful DC Check roll where mastercrafting did not occur, the DM privately rolls a dice. On the a roll of a 1 or a 2, the object appears to have been crafted perfectly and the smith is elated at their success. There is however a flaw in the creation and it is left to the DM to decide if the object has been cursed or will shatter horrifically at the most inopportune of moments. If magic has been used in the forging process then this occurs on the roll of a 1, 2 or 3 and the likelihood of it being cursed increases.

If the DM deems it appropriate, the player may attempt to stress test their work. Identifying the flaw/curse can be found on a DC Check equal to the crafting check.

Special
A dwarf has a +2 racial bonus on Craft checks that are related to stone or metal, because dwarves are especially capable with stonework and metalwork.

Item Rarity Check DC
Common DC 15
Uncommon DC 20
Rare DC 25
Very Rare DC 30
Legendary DC 35

Taking crafting a step farther, I like to give my players the ability to create magic items.
Making Magic Items
Any item in which magic is to be imbued must be a masterwork of whatever craft it is. In the example of something being forged, this occurs during the forging process whenever the DC Check roll is a natural 20 or has a total score over 30. Normally this would impart special bonuses. These bonuses however are lost/exchanged during the process of making it a magical item When intending to create a magical item, the creator must expend the initial magical energy to begin the process BEFORE the DC Check roll (i.e. the initial magical energy will be wasted if mastercrafting doesn't occur.)
There are also special materials required that conduct magic that needs to be used in the creation of the magical items. This might be a blessed holy symbol, the heart of an elemental or even having it forged in dragon fire. Such materials come with a cost. Either gifts and tributes for the creature helping or just stabilizing reagents that are necessary to bind the item. Depending on the complexity of the item, multiple specializing materials may be required.

Half of the material cost is used in the creation of the object. If the process of creation does not result in mastercrafting, then that half of materials and their cost are lost. If successful, the second half of the material cost is used during the second stage, called the Attunement stage.

You see, the initial creation makes a vessel ready to conduct magical energies. It kickstarts the magical fire but this will only be a temporary effect unless it is made to endure, which occurs during the attunement process. The creator must
a. Surround the object with the second half of the material cost. These materials resonate at just the right magical/spiritual/material frequencies to amplify the magical effects, turning a momentary magic effect/echo into something much, much bigger until all the molecules of the magical item vibrate with magical energy.
b. Attune to the object for the specified time on the table below. You may attune to only one magical item you are crafting at a time. During this period you must always be near the item, using it daily or the magic will not become permanent. If this is interrupted for more than one day, the power begins to fade quickly and the process must be restarted from the beginning within a month or the magic will either be diminished or lost forever.
Magical Crafting
Rarity Material Cost Attunement Duration Magical Level Required (full)
Common 75gp 1 week 6
Uncommon 300gp 1 month 9
Rare 4000gp 3 months 12
Very rare 20000gp 6 months 15
Legendary 100,000 1 year 18

The creation of magic items is a highly variable process. Expect multiple different magics to need to be used as well as multiple different magic items. This is entirely up to the DM's discretion, though the player should be willing to put forward ideas of what they feel would logically be required for the 'recipe'.

As a general rule, only items in the DMG may be created.

Lastly, these are the rules we try and live by at the table.

When playing there are two kinds of game play... that of Narrative and that of Combat.
a. Narrative occurs at every stage of the game, but plays a larger role in the setup to any battles. It's the drive of and building of the story that makes you want to play. As such, while there may be a few hiccups along the way, all players are requested to play in character. I know this won't be perfect. There are times you're going to have to break character. I would hope for an 80/20 mix.
b. Combat needs to feel real. Because you're breaking free from the narrative, this has the biggest opportunity to detract from the story; it's very easy to dither... to get distracted by a world of numbers and probabilities. THIS stops you from staying in character and in the story. Fights are hectic. You spend your time scrambling and thinking on your feet (not taking up 5 mins to come up with the ideal response to what is essentially a 6 second snippet of time). To encourage you staying in the story and in the combat, I will be firm about the amount of time I will give you to respond as to what you're doing. If you take too much time, then you will miss your turn and count as having used the action Dodge.
Remember, you still have all of the time in the world to plan. You've got the turns of all your group to plan what you would like to happen when it's up to you to act.
Now, that doesn't mean I won't let you ask questions. A question can inform your understanding of the situation and help you to decide what to do. That said, questions can bog down the flow. You're allowed one and a half questions. What I mean by one and a half is that you can ask a question and if another question comes to mind that follows on from that question, you can ask it. In the 6 seconds a round takes, you don't have time to think of anything else.
c. As we get used to these rules, leniency will of course occur. The first couple sessions will when it will be most in evidence. By session 3 or 4, you should have a hang of things. By session 5, you most definitely should have a firm grip of how it should be.

d. Copious amounts of inspiration can and will be given to players for staying in character. You can save these up and use them at a particularly vital moment (i.e. it's not a one and done situation).

To further encourage speed in playing, I would like to enforce a rule. If we come to a rules question where there's a disagreement with the DM, remember the DM wins. Don't pull out the rulebook and try and argue with me. You can do that after the session is over via email. If you make good points, I will probably change my mind. I may even retroactively give you something to compensate for the my mistake. The whole point is that getting angry and emotionally charged about rules... will completely destroy the suspension of belief that we all need to stay immersed in the party narrative.

As an adjunct to that rule, if you're going to play a character and more specifically a class (I'm looking at you spellcasters). You need to know the rules (and spells for your character). Print them out on a sheet for ease of reference. The more we have to flip back to the rule books, the more we get pulled out of the story. Keep things quick and easily referenced please.

I liked the comment earlier about establishing xp for roleplaying. I may try and absorb or remake what they put in this thread.

[Logosloki]

I have a few minor tweaks that I make for a game session/campaign but I only really have one house rule. If you do it, NPCs can too. It cuts down nicely on some of the cheese that wafts through any hefty tome like D&D and at the same time lead to the final battle in a game being one where everyone was fighting like they were in a wuxia epic.

[Contrast]

For your first game with any system, you're going to want to try to experience as close to the "norm" as possible before contemplating houserules...

Another good reason to follow this advice is that if you decide to put a houserule in and then a player wants to do something which interacts with that rule and they want to know why you ran it that way. The answer 'the internet told me to' is not likely to be very satisfying.

If I was to run a 5e game I would probably run it as jaydubs said. That said, I would likely dump XP entirely and use the milestone level up system.

[Sception]

The main House Rule I typicially implement as a DM or ask for as a player is:

Animate Dead can reanimate any corporeal animal corpse as a skeleton or zombie, not just medium humanoid ones. If the target is not a medium humanoid, then use alternate skeleton or zombie stats were possible, or ad lib them. If the resulting skeleton or zombie is mechanically stronger than the typical human skeleton or zombie profile, then have it count multiple times against the limit of undead created or controlled as appropriate (possibly requiring some up-casting as a result). Weaker skeletons or zombies don't come cheaper, however, to avoid potential bag-of-rats situations.

[Talyn]

Milestone XP, and you need to be wielding a quarterstaff in both hands to gain the benefit of the Polearm Master feat.

[The Shadowdove]

Triple 20's is an autokill. Triple 1's is am autodeath.

All of Mathew Mercer's table rules from critical role and force grey/etc.

[Captain Panda]

Honestly, the only house rule I use is that corpses don't count as difficult terrain. Makes it so I can't periodically clear the map to make room, and creates a mess. Apart from that, I think the game is as balanced as it needs to be.

[Asha Leu]

I tend to use the following house rules in my games:

Flanking is used, but just gives +2 to attack roles, not advantage.

5 foot steps are still a thing.

Characters can add their Con bonus to death saves.

I don't bother with passive perception. PCs roll every time.

And I suppose its not really a house rule, but multiclassing and feats are always allowed.

And that's about it for most games. Otherwise, I find RAW seems to works pretty well for 5E.

[Laurefindel]

We play pretty much RaW, except that we don't award inspiration based on roleplaying your traits (partly because we tend to forget). Instead, the DM awards them as milestone achievement for the group (you finally make it across the desert; you all gain inspiration).

Speaking of inspiration, we use it as a re-roll rather than being announced ahead of time (partly because we tend to forget that we have inspiration in the first place)

[Rhedyn]

apologies if this would be more appropriate for Homebrew, but as the title says, what are some House-Rules you would suggest for 5e, cause I'm contemplating running a campaign in the near future, and while I've heard the balance overall is pretty decent, I've also heard there are some issues, such as Rangers being apparently awful, and the non-Casters(and Monks) having some issues keeping up with caster classes at higher levels(but nowhere near as badly as in 3.5), but I could be horribly wrong about this, so tell me about your house-rules and why you think they are needed, or at least how they help the game
Let the summoner pick their summons. If a summon becomes a problem, change the monsters CR.

Also, ignore Sage Advice and make your own rulings

[Asha Leu]

Oh, yes, and I've never used inspiration in my games, mainly because I always tend to forget that it exists.

[ChubbyRain]

Let the summoner pick their summons. If a summon becomes a problem, change the monsters CR.

Also, ignore Sage Advice and make your own rulings

I found that Sage Advice is best used when dealing with Adventure's League.

Many of the DMs and players really dont read the rules so when you try to do xyz... They flip out, one guy threw a 12 sided d4 at me, I kept it.

It's nice having a way to back up what you are doing without looking like you are trying to cheat the game.


*****

For inspiration I give everyone an inspiration per short rest... Makes it easier and people dont have to "beg" for it when they do something alligned with their background or whatever.

[Hrugner]

Here are a few usability tweeks.


Replace darkvision with "light sources all have a base radius of 60ft when seen by a creature with darkvision. If their radius is already 60ft or more, then increase the radius by 60ft.
Exhaustion is reduced by 1 level per meal consumed while resting. A long rest could be bookended by meals, a short rest may include one. Goodberries count as one meal and can't be used as a meal more than once a day.
Monk weapons are also considered finesse weapons.
Arcane Trickster and Eldritch Knight aren't restricted by spell school.
Polearm Master requires two hands on the weapon for all effects.
+1 to relevant stat for Charger, Healer, Inspiring Leader, Medium Armor Master, Savage Attacker, Skilled, Weapon Master.
Special bonus actions may be taken as actions.
Find Steed added to the EK spell list.
Blade Lock not restricted to melee only until he finds a ranged magic weapon.
Wizard schools granted at first level along with second level abilities.
Multiclassing to cleric doesn't grant heavy armor from chosen domain.
A grappler can make a grapple check as a reaction in order to regain control of a target moved by an outside force.
Beastmaster Rangers who also have find familiar may use a familiar's abilities through their beast if no familiar is summoned.

[Grondsmash]

D&D 5E House Rules

Generation:
Player can choose option, but must stick with choice
Option 1: use PHB point buy system with 30 points to spend
Option 2: use 4d6, removing lowest die, sort results as wish

Racial modifiers are always added afterwards.

Allowing all variants and sub-races, but anything strange must be OK'ed by DM (better bring a good backstory!)

Backgrounds
Modifications to existing backgrounds are fine, as long as the player sticks to the parameters set out in the PHB .

Intelligence gives additional languages known as 1/2 bonus (rounded up).
One additional "kit" is awarded in the area of your highest ability score.

Classes
Allowing all variants and sub-Classes (WoTC only), but no homebrews.

The Additional Score Increase (ASI) is tied to your Character level, not a specific class level.
Fighters and Barbarians gain an additional ASI at 7th and 14th Class Level
Rangers & Paladins gain an additional ASI at 10th Class Level

Moon Druids can Wildshape into twice the level on the chart, and CR 3 at 10th Class Level.
Beastmaster Rangers can use a Move action, Bonus Action or Action to command their Companion to attack.
Beastmaster Rangers get Companions at the same level as the Druid Wildshape chart.

Magic Item Attunement
You can Attune to a number of items equal to 1 + half your Proficiency Bonus (so 2-4).
Common and Uncommon items that require attunement still follow rules around attunement, but they do not count against the number of items allowed, so a 3rd level character with a Ring of Jumping still must be attuned to you over a short rest, but once attuned it does not count against your other two items.
There is still only one "slot" for a magic item at each location, 1 ring for each hand, 1 on head, but no double ups (if you try it, neither of them work).

Multiclassing
When entering a new class you get what is listed in PHB plus:
One of the two saves of new class
One skill of new class that is not offered in your class (it is silliy to have a Rogue who can't sneak)

For Class Scaling Abilities your ability(s) are to the combined level system set out in the PHB, but ONLY for similar kinds of the same Primary Ability Score (Str for battle things, Dex for sneaky things, and magic must come form the same place within you). Divine and Arcane do not stack for CSAs unless you have a class that converts one to the other like the Bard's 10th level Magical Secrets Ability, the Sorcerer's Favored Soul Origin, etc. If there is any doubt, the DM has the last word. Spells and Slots are still as per the PHB section on Multiclassing.

Ritual Spells
If you have the Ritual Caster Feat or Class Ability, then almost any spell is a Ritual Spell for you. Those without it can only cast those listed, as they are widely known and taught. for those with the extra ability, you can cast more ritual spells, but only up to 6th level, and DM has final say, so you might want to keep note of the ones you can cast that way.

Resting
Short Rest - All hit points gained are Temporary Hit Points and last only 8 hours.
All other rules apply, both about short rests & Temporary Hit Points.
Long Rest - you roll your total Hit dice (die type and number according to level, no Con bonus) and recover those hit points after an 8 hour rest.
Spellcasters need 7 hours of rest plus one hour of study/meditation/attunement to recover all spells. This is modified by 1/2 hour for every Con bonus the character has, so some casters can take a 2 hr. watch. Non-casters can extend the normal 2 hr. max on watch by the same amount, 1/2 hour per Con bonus.

[Puh Laden]

I allow most any homebrew race or class if it feels balanced as long as it fits into the world. Balanced homebrew spells can also be allowed if the character spends downtime doing research. I also ignore the druid's metal restriction.

My main house-rule that's actually "core rules-related" is to make hand crossbows compatible with two-weapon fighting.

Other house-rules are more rulings on how things created by spells exist in the world. For example, grease that's been conjured up can be harmlessly burned away with fire.

I also usually let the player roll for stats, and if they are unsatisfied with the results, they can replace them with point buy.

[Dromuthra]

My houserules are as follows:

1. Everyone gets an extra skill or expertise, their choice.
2. Bonus languages based on starting Int
3. Two concentration spells allowed at once, provided one is a buff (doesn't negatively affect enemies) and one debuff (negatively affects enemies). I realize this increases the power of casters, but it's something I'm okay with in my games.
4. Melee classes and 1/3 spellcasters get a bonus feat at 1st level.
5. Warlock invocations are based off of Warlock level, but non-Warlock levels count as 1/2 levels, much like initiator level from 3.5's ToB.
6. There is no ranger class printed in Core; it did not exist in 5E until Revised Ranger. Not sure why they called it Revised...
7. Advantage and disadvantage cancel each other out at a 1-1 rate. If you have two sources of advantage and one of disadvantage, you end up with advantage on the roll.
8. Most UA allowed. Cursebringer is a 1-handed shortsword instead of a greatsword from the Warlock UA.

[JNAProductions]

I was with you till ASIs. They're tied to class level FOR A REASON.

Why are you making Moon Druids more powerful?

Why are you making Multiclassing a LOT more powerful?

No idea what you mean by the scaling thing.

[Malifice]

I was with you till ASIs. They're tied to class level FOR A REASON.

Why are you making Moon Druids more powerful?

Why are you making Multiclassing a LOT more powerful?

No idea what you mean by the scaling thing.

Im dipping fighter in his campaign. A single level gets me Con saves, 2 extra ASI/ feats, a skill, armor and weapons and more.

[Pex]

If it's your first time DMing 5E, even if you've DMed before, I recommend little to no house rules until you've DMed one campaign to know how the rules are working out for you. Still, if you are going to have house rules, I recommend do not use any that fundamentally change how the game is played. House rules for this would be tweaks, not outright bans. What bothers other players here may not be a bother to you so don't need to be altered. For example, I am perfectly happy with multiclassing, Identify, Revivify, Raise Dead, Resurrection, Feats, PCs getting back all hit points on a long rest, etc.

What would help to determine is how to handle various vagueness that 5E has. Sage Advice has its answers, but not everyone agrees with its reasons or solutions. Some vagueness you may need to decide for yourself are:

Does Great Weapon Style apply to a Paladin's smite.

Who decides what creatures are summoned when a caster casts a summon spell.

What DCs will you set for Knowledge checks to allow for players to know about in character the various creatures that inhabit the characters' world.

Can a player identify a spell an NPC is casting and if so, how? Keep in mind how this would work with Counterspell.

[Strill]

* No Identify spell. Sorry, part of my fun is knowing stuff and gradually sharing it with you. I will try to make the discovery stage fun for you as well.

Don't get rid of it entirely. Identify also tells you which spells are affecting an object or creature. For magic items, make Identify just tell you what school(s) of magic the item falls under.

[Cespenar]

-You can take 10 in proficient skills in non-threatened situations (like 3.5).

-Natural 1s are critical failures, but only in non-proficient rolls.

-If you fall to 0 hp, you gain 1 Exhaustion.

-Delay is back.

[NNescio]

1. Simulacrums cannot create more Simulacrums, either via casting Simulacrum normally, via Wishing for a Simulacrum, or via any other possible method to create a Simulacrum.

2. True Polymorph cannot transmute creatures into magical items.

3. Creatures created/transmuted by True Polymorph do not benefit from class levels of their transmuted form (No going Archmage for Timestop).

4. Shapechange does not give you Legendary Resistance or Innate Spellcasting.

5. Objects and materials created or transformed by magic (Wish, True Polymorph , Minor Creation class feature, Minor Alchemy/Major Transformation class feature, Illusory Reality class feature. etc.) cannot be used as material components for a spell. Fabricate is the sole exception to this houserule (provided the materials used for Fabricate were not provided by some other spell or magical ability).

[Corsair14]

No monks. Unless we are playing Oriental Adventures, combat monks have no place in Western Europe/standard DND realms.

Proficiencies- I think its nuts that everyone is good at everything with only a minor bonus separating proficient and non proficient.
- If its a class skill and character is not proficient in it, they have no bonuses, just a straight roll vs DC.
- Non-class skill and character is not proficient, they have -2 penalty.
- Any crafting skill that cant arguably be related to their background gets a -5 penalty. Its like telling someone to go make a working suit of platemail but they have never so much as lifted a hammer to knock out even a dent in plate. Good luck.
-Crafting with some what related background, just a -2.

[MrFahrenheit]

I forbade vhumans, but fixed standard ones "with this one simple trick" ;) ...

...allow the player to swap out any number of the ability score +1s for an equal number of skill proficiencies (yes I know +1/+1/4 skills = vhumans with skilled feat, but that's neither here nor there, since human PCs in my campaign could do any combination).

[Ursus the Grim]

2. Moon druids restricted to CR 1/2 forms until level 4.

Why: Moon druids RAW gain the ability to transform into Cr1 forms at level 2. In addition to being full casters, a shifted moon druid is outright stronger than a barbarian or fighter of equal level. The only real argument I've ever seen in favor of this is that it only lasts for a couple of levels. As someone who believes that all classes should be balanced at all levels, this obviously doesn't work for me. Black bears and other CR 1/2 forms are still plenty powerful for level 2-3.

Coming from someone who generally holds a visceral hatred for house rules, I honestly like this one. Moon Druid Level 2 is, I think, the most powerful character in a given party. The high level spellcasters have some wiggle room but they leave a lot of things up to DM interpretation. Not so when you, RAW, can be a brown bear in a group of level 2 characters. Twice.

[Oramac]

6. There is no ranger class printed in Core; it did not exist in 5E until Revised Ranger. Not sure why they called it Revised...

I lol'd at this. But I definitely agree.

I don't really have many houserules, per se. But here's a few things I allow/encourage.

- Spell Point variants are strongly encouraged.
- Feats/Multiclassing is allowed.
- UA is allowed at my discretion. For example: Revised Ranger is ok, the new Mystic UA is not.
- My personal homebrew (see sig) is allowed.
- Contagion (the spell) is treated as RAW, not RAI.

That's pretty much it. 5e RAW actually works pretty well.

[Corsair14]

Oh yeah, multi-classing, I have a rule that characters can level up in the wild or in a dungeon in their own class or one of the classes they have already. To multi-class into a brand new class requires them to find an instructor and pay 100gp per character level and spend a week learning the basics.

[Desamir]

Free feat at 1st level is my personal favorite. Feats are often playstyle-defining, and I like characters to get their mechanical identity as early as possible.

I also ban variant human and buff base human (currently, it's 2 extra skills and 1 extra save proficiency).

[Desamir]

Contagion (the spell) is treated as RAW, not RAI.

I assume you mean triggering the disease effects immediately, rather than after three failed saves. Doesn't Slimy Doom trivialize solos with that reading?

[Misterwhisper]

I don't have very many house rules:

1. No rolling HP when you gain levels, just take max roll + con. They will need it.

2. Advantage and disadvantage are canceled out 1 for 1 not 1 vs all.

If you have 2 sources of advantage and 1 source of disadvantage, you still roll with advantage due to having more of it.

3. Because of rule 2, the Lucky Feat gives you 3 levels of advantage a day applied when you need them, not extra dice that magically turn disadvantage into better than advantage.

We had a player in our group who when he really needed to hit something with his sword he would close his eyes to give himself disadvantage and then use a use of Lucky to roll 3 dice and pick what he wanted. That concept is just plain stupid.

[Naanomi]

Only one is *really* necessary to me:

1) You can only have one Simulacrum active at any time, regardless of the source

I have a few others as well...

2) Rogues can trade in their 'thieve's cant' for another language or tool proficiency
1a) Characters of the 'criminal' background know thieve's cant instead of having a gaming tool proficiency

3) I have a list as to what races and UA material are allowed (maybe not a houserule, per se)

4) The Grappler Feat lets you attempt to grapple creatures of one size category larger than you are, with disadvantage (to replace the 'does nothing' part of the feat)

5) Use the 'average' HP roll for levels above first (d6=4, d8=5, d10=6, d12=7)

[Waterdeep Merch]

When my players level up and roll for their hit point increase, I divide their number rounded down, then add half of the overall die back. I do this to keep bad luck from ruining characters while allowing for the fun of a little luck making things even better. This WILL mean greater average hit points for everyone, but I've never found that to be a problem.

Example: Bill the Barbarian just gained a level. They roll their d12 and get a 7. 7/2=3.5, rounded down to a 3. Half of a full d12 is 6. 3+6=9, so Bill gained 9 hit points for his new level. Bill did not embarrass his mighty ancestors this day.

[DanyBallon]

Here's a few homerules we have:

Rest
Normal adventuring day use normal rest, but you don't get all HP after long rest only those gained from spending HD.
Travel use long rest variant and you get back all HP after long rest.

Feat
Great Weapon Master:
-5/+10 only workes with heavy weapon used two-handed, no polearms

Polearm Master:
Works only when holding weapon with two hands.
Bonus attack as a reach of 5ft.

Sharpshooter:
Double normal range withou disadvantage, instead of full range.

Skills
Perception is always passive and works for spotting creature, finding traps, etc. without doing it actively
Investigation is alway an active skill, and covers any active action for looking, finding, spotting, etc.

A skill related ability is only a recommandation and can be changed for another ability if it makes sense.

[Laserlight]

Stats: roll 2d6+6
You get +2 to any one stat and +1 to any other, regardless of race.
Multiclassing is allowed.
Warlocks may use INT instead of CHA for spellcasting and related features.
You get a feat to start with. (Nobody has taken a VHuman since)
Players get Inspiration points, may spend one per d20 roll, and may spend htem on other people's rolls.
Initiative: everyone rolls, then agree who gets what roll. (If the healer rolls 19 and the paladin rolls 3, the healer may decide to trade with the paladin).
Short rest is about 15 minutes.
If you drop to zero hp, you roll a save as if for Concentration; if you succeed, you remain conscious. You may spend Inspiration to reroll. Every time you drop to 0hp, you gain a level of Exhaustion; it is therefore possible to die from dropping to 0hp too often, even if you never fail a Death Save.

[Deleted]

apologies if this would be more appropriate for Homebrew, but as the title says, what are some House-Rules you would suggest for 5e, cause I'm contemplating running a campaign in the near future, and while I've heard the balance overall is pretty decent, I've also heard there are some issues, such as Rangers being apparently awful, and the non-Casters(and Monks) having some issues keeping up with caster classes at higher levels(but nowhere near as badly as in 3.5), but I could be horribly wrong about this, so tell me about your house-rules and why you think they are needed, or at least how they help the game

My Pittsburgher friend (heh, he hates being called a Pittsburgher lol) showed our groups a really fun way to play the game.

Take some poker chips and red = disadvantage and blue = advantage (unless you play by Pokemon rules where it's opposite).

Whenever you have advantage or disadvantage, stack the chips up. Whichever stack is higher is if you have advantage, disadvantage, or neither (if even).

Now, you can do things like long term disadvantage or advantage but be able to overcome the odds and grab advantage.

Say, you are blind. You always have 1 disadvantage when it comes to most things. However, say you are sneak attacking something AND you are gaining advantage on the attack roll from a spell. That's 1 disadvantage and 2 advantages... You have advantage on the roll.

We have found that this pushes players to be more active in combat and actually try to make things advantageous for them... Which is what one would do in such a situation. They can also do more cool things without worrying about taking disadvantage... Like beating a creature to death with the (dead) body of a goblin.

edit===

Oh might I suggest that you allow Strength or Dexterity to be part of AC when it comes to being unarmored or armored (medium still is capped). It makes classes like the Barbarian, Fighter, Rangers and others less MAD when they want to wear light or medium armor but still carry a big stick.


Note: I actually prefer, though I would get used to the original system first, something like this...

All external effects (Str, Dex, AC) are attacks versus AC. Some effects may do half damage.

All internal effects (Con, Int, Wis, and Cha) are saving throws versus a DC.

Half-prof on saves (Con, Int, Wis) if not proficient.

AC: Armor Rating (or 10) + Str or Dex + Misc

Con Save: Con Mod + Prof
Int Save: Int Mod + Prof
Wis Save: Wis or Cha mod + Prof

Skill checks will be creature versus environment/situation and not creature versus creature (that's what AC and saves are for).

[Desamir]

Because of rule 2, the Lucky Feat gives you 3 levels of advantage a day applied when you need them, not extra dice that magically turn disadvantage into better than advantage.

We had a player in our group who when he really needed to hit something with his sword he would close his eyes to give himself disadvantage and then use a use of Lucky to roll 3 dice and pick what he wanted. That concept is just plain stupid.

My houserule is similar: when you use Lucky with disadvantage, you resolve the disadvantage first, and then you roll your Lucky d20 and choose either.

In other words, it's HIGHEST(1d20, LOWEST(1d20, 1d20)) instead of HIGHEST(1d20, 1d20, 1d20).

[Oramac]

Initiative: everyone rolls, then agree who gets what roll. (If the healer rolls 19 and the paladin rolls 3, the healer may decide to trade with the paladin).

If you drop to zero hp, you roll a save as if for Concentration; if you succeed, you remain conscious. You may spend Inspiration to reroll. Every time you drop to 0hp, you gain a level of Exhaustion; it is therefore possible to die from dropping to 0hp too often, even if you never fail a Death Save.


How do these two work for you? They seem pretty darn good, but how are they in practice?

[Mhl7]

To the OP: don't use any house rule in the beginning. Just play and see what fits for you.

My house rules are:

- No Lucky Feat. It is good for every build and I don't want every PC to have the same feat.
- No static modifier to magic weapons/armors/shields. It is not that big an issue for the +1, but after that things get nasty. With bounded accuracy a +2 (or +3) is a big deal: the difference between a PC with a +2 weapon and one without it is going to be felt heavily at the table. Hence, I feel like I either give a +2 weapon to ever PC or to none and, since 5e is low magic item setting, I opted for the latter.
- The Berserk can make one attack during the same bonus action used to enter frenzy.
- I allow the Revised Ranger. However I just saw 1 level of ranger in my games thus far.

These are not really "intended":
- I always forget about inspiration. I constantly ask my players to remember me to use it, but they forget as well.
- I forget to use Passive Perception.

[Laserlight]

Originally Posted by Laserlight:
Initiative: everyone rolls, then agree who gets what roll. (If the healer rolls 19 and the paladin rolls 3, the healer may decide to trade with the paladin).

If you drop to zero hp, you roll a save as if for Concentration; if you succeed, you remain conscious. You may spend Inspiration to reroll. Every time you drop to 0hp, you gain a level of Exhaustion; it is therefore possible to die from dropping to 0hp too often, even if you never fail a Death Save.

How do these two work for you? They seem pretty darn good, but how are they in practice?

We've been doing initiative that way for a while, in two campaigns. Nobody gets into arguments over going first and it solves the issue of "we're stacked at the door with the paladin in front and the bard at the end, but the bard rolled high and the paladin rolled low--even though they have the same stat". Occasionally a player needs to act early in the initiative cycle to do a Really Cool Thing.

For 0hp, I should have phrased it as "If you drop to 0hp, and every time you take a Death Save thereafter". We were previously using the Angry DM's "Fighting Spirit" (http://theangrygm.com/fighting-spirit/), but that was too forgiving and caused some anomalies. We wanted people to be diligent about avoiding 0hp but also to at least have a chance to stay conscious, both to keep them from diving into Facebook for half an hour and to simulate the Dead Man's Ten Seconds. We've only had one PC drop to 0hp since then, but it worked well.

[GPS]

A kinda mixed bag houserule I came up with, but if you're using Conjure Woodland Beings to summon 8 CR 1/4 Fey, only half of them can be the same type of fey. This makes it slightly harder to mess up fights by summoning 8 pixies, then targeting 8 enemies with Polymorph in one turn, or targeting one enemy with 8 polymorph saves in 1 turn, basically bruteforcing the save.

[kladams707]

My biggest issue in 5e (And DnD in general) is that it places too much emphasis on hack and slash and not enough on roleplay. The background section of the PHB tries to help the issue but it is basically applying a band-aid to try and save a decapitation victim.
To solve that issue, I port over the experience rewards from a different system. In addition to gaining XP from kills, the players can the following XP values for their accomplishments:
10-25 points for performing the right skill (successful or not), at the right time, for the right reason, for mid to high level characters (4th level and up), this might apply only to skills performed when they are absolutely critical or done under stressful conditions.
25-50 points for a clever, but futile idea.
25-50 points for using good judgment or one's power or skill well.
25-50 points for playing in character when it would have been easier not to.
25-100 points for a clever, useful/helpful idea or action.
50-100 points for avoiding unnecessary' violence; self-restraint or talking, bluffing or intimidating oneself (and associates) out of trouble or danger.
50-100 points for a small act of self-sacrifice, or an act of kindness, mercy, or compassion.
50-100 points for insightful and helpful deductive reasoning or keen observation.
50-100 points for a successful daring or heroic action (whether it was clever or not).
75-150 points for playing in character/playing one's alignment when circumstance or powerful temptation begged otherwise.
100 points for a quick thinking idea or action that was helpful.
100-200 points for insight or deductive reasoning that plays a huge role in a critical plan or saving lives.
200 points for a critical plan or action that saves the character's own life and/or a few comrades.
400-1000 points for a critical plan or action that saves the entire group and/or many innocent people.
100-300 points for endangering the character's own life (self-sacrifice) to help or save others.
500-700 points for a genuine life and death self-sacrifice in a situation where the character's heroism seemed likely (or almost certain) to cost him his life. Eeaping in front of an energy blast meant for someone else to save that person, even though the blast is likely to kill the hero, or offering his/her own life to save the group or an innocent person (and the exchange truly seems to be a death sentence with no apparent chance for escape). Odds are that the character will really die!


I also track XP for each character individually. Everyone gets equal XP for kills as per the norm but roleplay xp applies only to those that earn it.

What kind of accomodations are made for the quiet/introverted player?

[Deleted]

What kind of accomodations are made for the quiet/introverted player?

Being that I know the people I typically play with, I would give them a couple shots and make them play a bard and if they don't do a decent job I'll make them play Final Fantasy Mystic Quest.

[Puh Laden]

2) Rogues can trade in their 'thieve's cant' for another language or tool proficiency
1a) Characters of the 'criminal' background know thieve's cant instead of having a gaming tool proficiency



Stealin' this.

[GPS]

No monks. Unless we are playing Oriental Adventures, combat monks have no place in Western Europe/standard DND realms.

...

St. Benedict's got a flurry of blows with your name on it. They don't call him the patron saint of bringin' the pain for nothing!
(Credit to Squiddish for coming up with the brilliant character concept behind this joke: a Benedictine monk who just happens to be good at punching)

[Cespenar]

You get a feat to start with. (Nobody has taken a VHuman since)


Dude, two feats? I'd take VHuman even faster now. Imagine starting with Polearm Master and GWM at level 1.


We had a player in our group who when he really needed to hit something with his sword he would close his eyes to give himself disadvantage and then use a use of Lucky to roll 3 dice and pick what he wanted. That concept is just plain stupid.

That's hilarious.

[kladams707]

Being that I know the people I typically play with, I would give them a couple shots and make them play a bard and if they don't do a decent job I'll make them play Final Fantasy Mystic Quest.

I'm glad my GM never forced me into a class or out of game just because I wasn't the most vocal player. That's an easy way for a new player to lose interest in the hobby even if you do know the person.

I understand role-playing is an important aspect, but often times that aspect of the game can go by so quickly for many, especially for new players or introverts who need to think before saying something. I used to find myself lost in the fray of roleplaying, finally thinking of something to say only for another character to say it or that role-playing encounter being over. And it took me much longer than a couple of sessions and a class switch to be able to jump into that aspect of the game.

[Deleted]

Dude, two feats? I'd take VHuman even faster now. Imagine starting with Polearm Master and GWM at level 1.


Polearm Master and Mobile

Crossbow Master and Skulker

Crossbow Master and Sharpshooter

Alert and Lucky

Medium Armor Prof + Heavy Armor Prof (Str based Warlock, Strength based Rogue, Strength Based Ranger)

Cleric (Tempest or other Cleric Sword n Board): Mobile + Charger. Dash + Bonus Action Attack (bonus damage) then keep running away from the creature and don't take an OA. You only ever get one attack so charger works well for you. 1d8 + 3 + 5 = 12.5 average damage, +10 feat, no OA on your target, and you can push instead of +5 damage. You can use your spells for things other than spiritual weapon :p.


Edit===



I'm glad my GM never forced me into a class or out of game just because I wasn't the most vocal player. That's an easy way for a new player to lose interest in the hobby even if you do know the person.

I understand role-playing is an important aspect, but often times that aspect of the game can go by so quickly for many, especially for new players or introverts who need to think before saying something. I used to find myself lost in the fray of roleplaying, finally thinking of something to say only for another character to say it or that role-playing encounter being over. And it took me much longer than a couple of sessions and a class switch to be able to jump into that aspect of the game.

As I was saying, I know the people I typically game with. We push each other to get out of our comfort zones in and out of game because we all know we need to "adult up" and push through things.

I wouldn't give a random stranger shots or more importantly, I wouldn't subject them to the horrors that is Mystic Quest. That's just mean.

But even for random new people, I tell them I give out inspiration and random bonuses for role playing and for engaging the game... If you don't do that, then its on you. Don't complain when everyone else is getting inspiration, side quests related to their character, and titles/recognition.

You can play a quiet character but if you aren't engaging the game, the game isn't going to engage you.

[Naanomi]

Dude, two feats? I'd take VHuman even faster now. Imagine starting with Polearm Master and GWM at level 1.
Or just 'Keen Mind' and 'Observant' for your wizard to start with 18 Int on the point-buy?

[Athoren]

In order to take a short rest you have to eat a ration. Max 3 per day

[kladams707]

As I was saying, I know the people I typically game with. We push each other to get out of our comfort zones in and out of game because we all know we need to "adult up" and push through things.

I wouldn't give a random stranger shots or more importantly, I wouldn't subject them to the horrors that is Mystic Quest. That's just mean.

But even for random new people, I tell them I give out inspiration and random bonuses for role playing and for engaging the game... If you don't do that, then its on you. Don't complain when everyone else is getting inspiration, side quests related to their character, and titles/recognition.

You can play a quiet character but if you aren't engaging the game, the game isn't going to engage you.

I think there's a bit of misunderstanding. I'm fine with giving players in-game rewards for good roleplaying. My original question was concerning the person who ties XP rewards to roleplaying. That to me would put naturally quiet players at a disadvantage fairly quickly, especially if they're new and just now exploring the game.

This is getting off the rails, so I'll stop there.

[Deleted]

I think there's a bit of misunderstanding. I'm fine with giving players in-game rewards for good roleplaying. My original question was concerning the person who ties XP rewards to roleplaying. That to me would put naturally quiet players at a disadvantage fairly quickly, especially if they're new and just now exploring the game.

This is getting off the rails, so I'll stop there.

If we are giving out XP for role playing and you don't role play, you don't get XP. Everyone knew you would get XP for role playing so do it or not, that's on you.

Not all games are for all people.

I prefer no XP games, you just level up every so often, but we do it multiple different ways and sometimes we keep track of XP.

[KorvinStarmast]

If it's your first time DMing 5E, even if you've DMed before, I recommend little to no house rules until you've DMed one campaign to know how the rules are working out for you. This, about ten times over. First master the rules for this edition, then tweak a bit.

Kind of like playing an instrument: it's hard to improvise well if you have not first mastered the instrument. (My own experience playing piano and guitar informs that observation).

[Laserlight]

Dude, two feats? I'd take VHuman even faster now. Imagine starting with Polearm Master and GWM at level 1.

Sounds good to me too, and if it ever came up, I'd say "There are no Vhumans", but....two campaigns, three DMs, at least nineteen new characters, and nobody has taken Vhuman or even asked "Hey, does that mean I would get two feats at L1"? YMMV. Probably part of it in our case is people trying out Volo's races for the novelty.

[kladams707]

If we are giving out XP for role playing and you don't role play, you don't get XP. Everyone knew you would get XP for role playing so do it or not, that's on you.

Not all games are for all people.

.

I WAS going to stop, but since you want to knock the trsin back off...

You're right not all games are for all people but it sounds to me like you would expect everyone to take to RP'ing like fish to water. This is such a negative way to look at players who don't immediately meet your expectations that it would never play into getting someone out of their comfort zone in a meaningful way. You seem to view someone who doesn't roleplay well or not at at all as someone who doesn't deserve a chance.

If they're falling behind because of a lack of role-playing, ask them about it. You may find they just need help breaking in. As I said, often times it's just a matter of not being quick enough to say something before the role-playing encounter is over.. It could be a matter of being more help beyond session 0 to flush out the character. You talk about pushing others out of their comfort zone, but I see no evidence of support fire things like providing cues directed at the player. To turn the phrase a bit, you can't make a horse drink water, but I don't even you leading it for a chance to drink.

[Deleted]

I WAS going to stop, but since you want to knock the trsin back off...

You're right not all games are for all people but it sounds to me like you would expect everyone to take to RP'ing like fish to water. This is such a negative way to look at players who don't immediately meet your expectations that it would never play into getting someone out of their comfort zone in a meaningful way. You seem to view someone who doesn't roleplay well or not at at all as someone who doesn't deserve a chance.

If they're falling behind because of a lack of role-playing, ask them about it. You may find they just need help breaking in. As I said, often times it's just a matter of not being quick enough to say something before the role-playing encounter is over.. It could be a matter of being more help beyond session 0 to flush out the character. You talk about pushing others out of their comfort zone, but I see no evidence of support fire things like providing cues directed at the player. To turn the phrase a bit, you can't make a horse drink water, but I don't even you leading it for a chance to drink.

No.

They are adults, or at least 18, and they can deal with the issue like so. We aren't going to pamper anyone and to do so is very insulting.

You may like insulting people, but I treat them as equals. I also like being treated as an adult and I treat others like an adult.

If you decide to join a game that does XYZ and you don't like it, you are free to find another group. I joined a group that used random tables for 1's and 20's and loved it. Told them that the game wasn't for me and went on my way. It would have been extremely rude if I tried to force their hand. I told them why I was leaving and they said something like "stuff happens, maybe we'll play again sometime".


Don't try to force houserules onto the group. That never ends well. You can ask, but if they already are doing something one way and don't want to change then conform, leave, or suck it up and deal with it.

[Gryndle]

The biggest house rule we use is that we don't use the short rest mechanic at all. All abilities that recharge on a short rest are instead useable 3 times per long rest (or resources like ki or warlock spell slots are Yx3 per long rest).

The way we deal with the so-called 5-min work day is simple, the game world doesn't stop while we rest. we discussed it as a group, if you blow all your resources on your first fight, sure you are gonna steam roll over everything that isn't a major threat. but then you have to choose between facing threats with limited resources or taking those precious 8 hours to recover, in which case the world keeps right on moving...bad guys can recover, regroup, prepare or even retaliate during that time.

Unless faced with an obvious killer threat, my group doesn't tend to "nova" that much. Resource use seems to be pretty measured for the most part, though as the game has progressed we have developed an unspoken pattern.

That rule has had an odd effect on our teamwork. One character might use 1/2 his resource in one fight, only to be very reserved in later fights, during which another character might unload half his resources then become very cautious about spending them, and etc around the table. In effect, the rule has resulted in the group taking turns on who shines in each fight. One fight it might be my crazy jester-monk, the next it might be the fighter or the sorcerer or the warlock.

[TentacleSurpris]

Ban multiclassing.

It's an optional rule anyway.

The classes aren't really well-designed for it.

Now in 5e you have the following game elements to make your character unique and fit a fantasy archetype:

Race
Subrace
Class
Subclass/Archetype
Background
Your actual backstory and personality

Adding more classes to a character doesn't add anything to roleplaying, it only adds to minmaxing.

[NNescio]

Ban multiclassing.

It's an optional rule anyway.

The classes aren't really well-designed for it.

Now in 5e you have the following game elements to make your character unique and fit a fantasy archetype:

Race
Subrace
Class
Subclass/Archetype
Background
Your actual backstory and personality

Adding more classes to a character doesn't add anything to roleplaying, it only adds to minmaxing.

Stormwind, etc. etc.

[Oramac]

For 0hp, I should have phrased it as "If you drop to 0hp, and every time you take a Death Save thereafter". We were previously using the Angry DM's "Fighting Spirit" (http://theangrygm.com/fighting-spirit/), but that was too forgiving and caused some anomalies. We wanted people to be diligent about avoiding 0hp but also to at least have a chance to stay conscious, both to keep them from diving into Facebook for half an hour and to simulate the Dead Man's Ten Seconds. We've only had one PC drop to 0hp since then, but it worked well.

Ok, help me out here, because I think I want to steal this idea.

- Drop to 0 hp: 1 level of Exh; make a Con save, failed (same as failing a Death Save?)

- Next Turn: Con Save, Fail -> now 2 failed Death Saves?

- Next Turn: Con Save, Success -> player now has 1 hp?

[kladams707]

No.

They are adults, or at least 18, and they can deal with the issue like so. We aren't going to pamper anyone and to do so is very insulting.

You may like insulting people, but I treat them as equals. I also like being treated as an adult and I treat others like an adult.

If you decide to join a game that does XYZ and you don't like it, you are free to find another group. I joined a group that used random tables for 1's and 20's and loved it. Told them that the game wasn't for me and went on my way. It would have been extremely rude if I tried to force their hand. I told them why I was leaving and they said something like "stuff happens, maybe we'll play again sometime".


Don't try to force houserules onto the group. That never ends well. You can ask, but if they already are doing something one way and don't want to change then conform, leave, or suck it up and deal with it.

What houserules have I tried to force in this hypothetical? I haven't said a player couldn't leave if they didn't like the roleplay XP. My argument is about giving them a chance before they give up. And mechanical houserules are vastly different from what I'm referring to. How is offering the player a little help in finding their character or giving them appropriate cues pampering? It helps them engage your world and the other players. They'll come into their own thanks to your priming and no pampering was had.

You certainly do not treat players as equals. You treat them as the same. These are two different things and you should learn those differences.

[Sabeta]

There's a lot of people who don't understand balance here trying to talk about balance. The game doesn't revolve around DPR people.

TC, play the game Vanilla, and if you notice someone clearly standing out or falling behind make very minor adjustments until it's level.

And by Vanilla I mean AL rules, because seriously I would walk from any table that doesn't allow feats and multiclasses. They're integral to fulfilling my fantasy. Just ask your players to be reasonable. Don't let them dip 2 warlock levels because they just want Eldritch Blast. Dipping is fine, if there's a story reason for it: Ie, picking up a few tricks from the party rogue being judged to justify a one level dip.

Player Agency is important. Allow your min maxers to min max, as it's how that player wants to have fun. Don't arbitrarily take away their freedom because you can't balance monsters properly.

TLDR: Play the game as intended, and make adjustments to suit the needs of your table.

[DanyBallon]

Stormwind, etc. etc.

Stormwind isn't an argument. It's a lame excuse used to try to shut down a opinion on roleplaying. You may disagree but refering to the Stormwind fallacy isn't a valable argument and shouldn't even be used as one.

Sorry if I come rude, it's not directed toward you in particular, but I'm sick and tired of people using the Stormwind fallacy to win an argument. It's as good as saying that my dad is stronger than yours, it's pointless!!!

[Oramac]

Don't let them dip 2 warlock levels because they just want Eldritch Blast. Dipping is fine, if there's a story reason for it: Ie, picking up a few tricks from the party rogue being judged to justify a one level dip.

This is what I do. Multiclassing is fine, if there's a legit story reason for it. Or, if your backstory supports it. But just "I heard I can sell my soul for Eldritch Blast" doesn't cut it.

[Naanomi]

This is what I do. Multiclassing is fine, if there's a legit story reason for it. Or, if your backstory supports it. But just "I heard I can sell my soul for Eldritch Blast" doesn't cut it.
I prefer players to talk about their multiclassing plans early. After all, a Rogue 1/Fighter 1/Rogue +18 may just be a martially inclined swashbuckler, it doesn't necessarily ever represent a 'change' in the progression of the character. My Sorcerer 1/Warlock 4/Sorcerer +3/Fighter 2/Rogue 3/Warlock +1/Sorcerer +11 looks like a mess on paper, but if they were always the 'sorcerous son of the bandit chieftain, always looking for shortcuts to power to impress his father; while still slowly learning the more traditional bandit lifestyle' from level 1 then it isn't such a disaster

[DanyBallon]

As a player and as a DM I prefer when character developpment is not planned in advance. As a player, it evolves with the story, if theres is a plausible reason for my fighter to pick some rogue level, then I may do so, but I don't pick rogue level for specific abilities. So far as a DM, I've been lucky as none of my players ever considered multiclassing so I did not have to face such a situation.

[Naanomi]

As a player and as a DM I prefer when character developpment is not planned in advance. As a player, it evolves with the story, if theres is a plausible reason for my fighter to pick some rogue level, then I may do so, but I don't pick rogue level for specific abilities. So far as a DM, I've been lucky as none of my players ever considered multiclassing so I did not have to face such a situation.
I see strengths both ways. When using the 'class as a building block', your character never really 'took a level in rogue' inasmuch as they were 'always a little sneaky for a fighter, and now are getting some abilities to represent that'

[DanyBallon]

I see strengths both ways. When using the 'class as a building block', your character never really 'took a level in rogue' inasmuch as they were 'always a little sneaky for a fighter, and now are getting some abilities to represent that'

Like I said, it's a matter of preference for me, but I see your point and I agree that it perfectly make sense.

[Laserlight]

Ok, help me out here, because I think I want to steal this idea.

- Drop to 0 hp: 1 level of Exh; make a Con save, failed (same as failing a Death Save?)

- Next Turn: Con Save, Fail -> now 2 failed Death Saves?

- Next Turn: Con Save, Success -> player now has 1 hp?

The Concentration rolls are purely to see whether you stay conscious or not. It has no effect on your HP, your Death Saves or your Exhaustion.

Drop to 0hp, you A) gain a level of Exhaustion, and B) make a Concentration roll. Succeed and you stay on your feet. Fail and you're out cold.

If you're still awake, then every time you take a Death Save, you also make another Concentration-to-stay-awake roll. That's regardless of whether the save is from taking damage or just time passing, and it's also regardless of whether you succeed or fail (unless you crit succeed and regain 1hp). If you have a good CON and/or some luck. it's possible to bleed out and die but stay functional the whole time. (See "Dead Man's Ten Seconds"). Of course, if you actually did die like that, you probably should have stopped to drink a Health Potion.

[Oramac]

The Concentration rolls are purely to see whether you stay conscious or not. It has no effect on your HP, your Death Saves or your Exhaustion.

Drop to 0hp, you A) gain a level of Exhaustion, and B) make a Concentration roll. Succeed and you stay on your feet. Fail and you're out cold.

If you're still awake, then every time you take a Death Save, you also make another Concentration-to-stay-awake roll. That's regardless of whether the save is from taking damage or just time passing, and it's also regardless of whether you succeed or fail (unless you crit succeed and regain 1hp). If you have a good CON and/or some luck. it's possible to bleed out and die but stay functional the whole time. (See "Dead Man's Ten Seconds"). Of course, if you actually did die like that, you probably should have stopped to drink a Health Potion.

Gotcha. So basically it lets a player stay in the fight even with zero HP. I like it.

[Pex]

Stormwind isn't an argument. It's a lame excuse used to try to shut down a opinion on roleplaying. You may disagree but refering to the Stormwind fallacy isn't a valable argument and shouldn't even be used as one.

Sorry if I come rude, it's not directed toward you in particular, but I'm sick and tired of people using the Stormwind fallacy to win an argument. It's as good as saying that my dad is stronger than yours, it's pointless!!!

It's shorthand rather than typing a much longer response that keeps needing to be said.

The desire and fun a player may have in creating characters that utilize game mechanics in various ways has no relation whatsoever to the desire and capability that player has towards the art of roleplaying and vice versa.

To say that anyone who multiclasses is min/maxing and does not roleplay thus multiclassing should be banned violates the fallacy. There is nothing inherently wrong with min/maxing. There is nothing wrong with player enjoying the mechanics of gameplay. That same player can just as well enjoy roleplaying. For example, a paladin of the ancients/fey pact warlock may see his eldritch blasts as unleashing nature's fury against those who would despoil it.

[DanyBallon]

It's shorthand rather than typing a much longer response that keeps needing to be said.

The desire and fun a player may have in creating characters that utilize game mechanics in various ways has no relation whatsoever to the desire and capability that player has towards the art of roleplaying and vice versa.

To say that anyone who multiclasses is min/maxing and does not roleplay thus multiclassing should be banned violates the fallacy. There is nothing inherently wrong with min/maxing. There is nothing wrong with player enjoying the mechanics of gameplay. That same player can just as well enjoy roleplaying. For example, a paladin of the ancients/fey pact warlock may see his eldritch blasts as unleashing nature's fury against those who would despoil it.

I agree with you, but in most case people use Stormwind as a mic drop. If you don't agree with what you consider a fallacy then get your argument up and take the time to get a complete answer. If it's too troublesome, then just don't bother to answer.

As for the fallacy in itself, it's true that min/maxing and roleplaying aren't mutually exclusive, but you'll agree with me that on internet forums, most thread about optimization don't even consider the roleplaying aspect and only care about the numbers.

[Vogonjeltz]

apologies if this would be more appropriate for Homebrew, but as the title says, what are some House-Rules you would suggest for 5e, cause I'm contemplating running a campaign in the near future, and while I've heard the balance overall is pretty decent, I've also heard there are some issues, such as Rangers being apparently awful, and the non-Casters(and Monks) having some issues keeping up with caster classes at higher levels(but nowhere near as badly as in 3.5), but I could be horribly wrong about this, so tell me about your house-rules and why you think they are needed, or at least how they help the game

I'd suggest none at all if you haven't run the system before.

Remember to take class criticism with a vat of salt, much of it is totally uninformed.

Case in point:


Triple 20's is an autokill. Triple 1's is am autodeath.

All of Mathew Mercer's table rules from critical role and force grey/etc.

That results in a player characters completely unstoppable death every 5000 rolls. Assuming a party of 4 against 4 opponents, that's every 625 rounds of combat, or every 62nd combat assuming 10 rounds per combat. At an estimated 8 combats per day that means you will lose one PC for every week the party adventures.

That's assuming you don't encounter enemies in groups larger than 4 of course, which is ridiculous, they could go up to 15+ easily in 5e. Now you're looking at a PC death every 3 days.

That means, if you were playing Out of the Abyss, the entire party would be dead multiple times over before they could even get out of the Underdark, for sure.


1. Simulacrums cannot create more Simulacrums, either via casting Simulacrum normally, via Wishing for a Simulacrum, or via any other possible method to create a Simulacrum.

2. True Polymorph cannot transmute creatures into magical items.

3. Creatures created/transmuted by True Polymorph do not benefit from class levels of their transmuted form (No going Archmage for Timestop).

4. Shapechange does not give you Legendary Resistance or Innate Spellcasting.

5. Objects and materials created or transformed by magic (Wish, True Polymorph , Minor Creation class feature, Minor Alchemy/Major Transformation class feature, Illusory Reality class feature. etc.) cannot be used as material components for a spell. Fabricate is the sole exception to this houserule (provided the materials used for Fabricate were not provided by some other spell or magical ability).

This is how all these things already operate, none of them are house rules.


In other words, it's HIGHEST(1d20, LOWEST(1d20, 1d20)) instead of HIGHEST(1d20, 1d20, 1d20).

That doesn't sound like Lucky for a character unless the player is lucky themselves.

[GPS]

Stormwind isn't an argument. It's a lame excuse used to try to shut down a opinion on roleplaying. You may disagree but refering to the Stormwind fallacy isn't a valable argument and shouldn't even be used as one.

Sorry if I come rude, it's not directed toward you in particular, but I'm sick and tired of people using the Stormwind fallacy to win an argument. It's as good as saying that my dad is stronger than yours, it's pointless!!!
Honestly, I feel like there's a lot of fun ways to work with your DM in order to make multiclass builds work from a story perspective. If you're not willing to put in the effort, that's fine, but that doesn't mean that multiclassing optimization is inherently damaging to RP as a notion.


I'd suggest none at all if you haven't run the system before.

Remember to take class criticism with a vat of salt, much of it is totally uninformed.

Case in point:



That results in a player characters completely unstoppable death every 5000 rolls. Assuming a party of 4 against 4 opponents, that's every 625 rounds of combat, or every 62nd combat assuming 10 rounds per combat. At an estimated 8 combats per day that means you will lose one PC for every week the party adventures.

That's assuming you don't encounter enemies in groups larger than 4 of course, which is ridiculous, they could go up to 15+ easily in 5e. Now you're looking at a PC death every 3 days.
Honestly, we run with these rules, and we've never had that problem. You know how the old saying, darn lies and statistics. I don't think a player has ever been killed in our group by a triple crit fail.

[DanyBallon]

Honestly, I feel like there's a lot of fun ways to work with your DM in order to make multiclass builds work from a story perspective. If you're not willing to put in the effort, that's fine, but that doesn't mean that multiclassing optimization is inherently damaging to RP as a notion.

Don't get me wrong, I don't mind multiclassing. Especially if it's ties to your story.
On a personal perspective, I don't like planning ahead my character, so when I multiclass a character it's more often related to the story than for mechanical benefits.

[Sabeta]

As for the fallacy in itself, it's true that min/maxing and roleplaying aren't mutually exclusive, but you'll agree with me that on internet forums, most thread about optimization don't even consider the roleplaying aspect and only care about the numbers.

Because you can fluff it anyway you want to.

Oathbreaker Paladin + Infernalpact = A demonic Paladin sent forth from hell to lay waste to the land, or perhaps instead of going CE with it you can go LE and you're instead hunting down other evil souls so that you can fast track them to hell for use in some underworld wars.

GOO Warlock + Ancients Paladin = A mind slave of some incomprehensible horror. You aren't in control of your character, the Horror is, and right now the Horror is making you play nice with these heroes for reasons you can't comprehend (see: Durkon x Vampirism)

You can find optimal solutions which achieve mechanical desires or min/max to your hearts content, and still walk out of it with an interesting character concept that is cohesive. Hell, my current character is a Favored Soul, and I could VERY easily justify taking Paladin or Warlock levels at almost any time, either to have my character return to the light, or step further into darkness.

In short, there's no point in talking about the roleplaying aspect of smashing classes together, because we as players will come up with our own reasons for why it works. I personally don't like it when my players suddenly decide they want EB midway through a campaign, but if they're willing to perform some Arcana checks to try a basic level demon/fairy summoning ritual and contract out with an Imp/Psudodragon" then I'll probably let it fly, so long as that character has a good reason for doing so. (ie: A Sorcerer who realizes they're own power is not enough, or an Oathbreaker Paladin who has decided to dive headfirst into the evil pool after some traumatic event)

TLDR: Class Mechanics/Min-Maxing has ****all to do with roleplaying, that's why we make separate threads for roleplaying versus Class Optimization.

[GPS]

What houserules have I tried to force in this hypothetical? I haven't said a player couldn't leave if they didn't like the roleplay XP. My argument is about giving them a chance before they give up. And mechanical houserules are vastly different from what I'm referring to. How is offering the player a little help in finding their character or giving them appropriate cues pampering? It helps them engage your world and the other players. They'll come into their own thanks to your priming and no pampering was had.

You certainly do not treat players as equals. You treat them as the same. These are two different things and you should learn those differences.

I'm actually going to express a semi-controversial, but i'm gonna have to disagree with this. Let me give some background. For the first year or so of joining a new d&d group, I was just kind of going through the motions, almost in a sort of fuge state. I'd just roll a dice, tell an unmodified number, and hope someone would tell me what to do. I didn't know the rules, features of any class I played, and my backstory for an entire 5 campaigns (or DM got antsy and liked to switch it up a lot back then) was, "I got drunk and woke up with the party." No more detail, nothing. I enjoyed those early games a bit, but not nearly as much as I would later on. I eventually actually started paying attention, RPing, and really enjoying the game, but for 6 months I was a blank face with a borrowed dice set. I honestly think that when I was starting out, an RP XP thing may have encouraged me to get engaged much sooner. I do, however, think that the system is a temporary one to be replaced by the regular 5e system as soon as needed. That doesn't mean I think that it can't be used permemantly. I feel like this isn't really punishing new players, it's just rewarding an integral portion of the game. Nothing wrong with not liking the system, but there is something a bit off about accusing the dude who uses it of being some horrible DM who hates new players.

[Desamir]

That doesn't sound like Lucky for a character unless the player is lucky themselves.

He's still luckier with the feat than he is without it. It serves its purpose just fine, without creating a perverse incentive to close your eyes before attacking.

[Ruslan]

The biggest house rule we use is that we don't use the short rest mechanic at all. All abilities that recharge on a short rest are instead useable 3 times per long rest (or resources like ki or warlock spell slots are Yx3 per long rest).
That's good, but I hope you added the caveat "but no more than once per fight". Otherwise, a low-level Warlock able to burn SIX spells in one fight is too much of a nova.

But six spells per day, and no more than 2 in a single fight is fine.

[Gryndle]

That's good, but I hope you added the caveat "but no more than once per fight". Otherwise, a low-level Warlock able to burn SIX spells in one fight is too much of a nova.

But six spells per day, and no more than 2 in a single fight is fine.

actually we don't. this house rule might not work for every group. However, the people at my table are smart enough to know that if you blow all your resources on one encounter, then you are screwed for the rest of the day.

We are also very aware that the game world doesn't stop when we rest. so blowing all our resources at once isn't smart. that's how you win battles and lose wars. so if the warlock does let loose with all his spell slots in fight, the party doesn't stop until it's safe for them to do so, so now the warlock is relying purely on cantrips or his pact blade the rest of the day.

the most we see one character drop in a single encounter is half his resources, and then for the rest of the day they have to be pretty stingy with them. the result has actually been an increase in teamwork between the players. We don't see much in the way of the "nova because I can" play style at all.

[Deleted]

There's a lot of people who don't understand balance here trying to talk about balance. The game doesn't revolve around DPR people.

TC, play the game Vanilla, and if you notice someone clearly standing out or falling behind make very minor adjustments until it's level.

And by Vanilla I mean AL rules, because seriously I would walk from any table that doesn't allow feats and multiclasses. They're integral to fulfilling my fantasy. Just ask your players to be reasonable. Don't let them dip 2 warlock levels because they just want Eldritch Blast. Dipping is fine, if there's a story reason for it: Ie, picking up a few tricks from the party rogue being judged to justify a one level dip.

Player Agency is important. Allow your min maxers to min max, as it's how that player wants to have fun. Don't arbitrarily take away their freedom because you can't balance monsters properly.

TLDR: Play the game as intended, and make adjustments to suit the needs of your table.

AL rules are not the game being played as intended.

The game being played as intended has a lot of DM interference and MC/feats as optional rules.

You would be walking away from a game that is being played as intended.

AL is a set of rules made for public play so that everyone is suposably playing with the same base rules and you can go from table to table.

You obviously don't understand balance, or want it part of the game, if you think MC should be part of the game.

[War_lord]

...And they're perfectly entitled to walk away from a Table that's playing a game totally stripped of player options in the name of "balance".

[Deleted]

...And they're perfectly entitled to walk away from a Table that's playing a game totally stripped of player options in the name of "balance".

You realize that nothing was stripped from the game based on the DM, right?

The game is made where feats and MC are optional based on the DM's opinion. They are NOT player options unless the DM says they are.

You are confsing 5e with 4e and 3e. Lol.

By not allowing feats or MC, nothing is being taken from you. By allowing feats and MC something extra is being given to you.

I'm not sure why this is hard to grasp, it's in the book in black & beige that these are optional rules granted to players by the DM and NOT automatically player options unless grabted to the players.

People are so entitled that they think not giving you something is the same as taking something away lol.

[Rhedyn]

Like I said, it's a matter of preference for me, but I see your point and I agree that it perfectly make sense.
Your preference is your stuff. If you as a DM apply it to others it's not just your preference it is a belief you are enforcing and you should be expected to defend it.

[Rhedyn]

You realize that nothing was stripped from the game based on the DM, right?

The game is made where feats and MC are optional based on the DM's opinion. They are NOT player options unless the DM says they are.

You are confsing 5e with 4e and 3e. Lol.

By not allowing feats or MC, nothing is being taken from you. By allowing feats and MC something extra is being given to you.

I'm not sure why this is hard to grasp, it's in the book in black & beige that these are optional rules granted to players by the DM and NOT automatically player options unless grabted to the players.

People are so entitled that they think not giving you something is the same as taking something away lol.
This is stupid. Skill checks doing anything is also optional, but if the DM says skills don't do anything, then that would be scummy DMing.

[Deleted]

This is stupid. Skill checks doing anything is also optional, but if the DM says skills don't do anything, then that would be scummy DMing.

So, you hate how the base game is made? Ok, but that doesnt change the base game.

Funny enough, skill checks aren't a thing.

An Ability Check can do stuff.

But if there is no room for failure the DM can say that a player doesnt have to roll.

Pretending that the rules are something other than they are is really silly. Yeah, houseful away, I love homebrew/house rules, but don't pretend that the base game is something it isn't.


Edit===

There is only ability checks, not skill checks.

https://www.5thsrd.org/rules/abilities/ability_checks/

Attack Rolls, Ability Checks, and Saving Throws.

There are skills, but those allow you to add prof to an ability check.

[Sharur]

This may just be me, but I felt that there weren't enough attacks of opportunity happening, so:

"Moving within an enemy's threatened area provokes an attack of opportunity; alternatively, a square is an area, a threatened square is a threatened area."

Also, one I haven't implemented, but am thinking about (I don't like introducing house rules in the middle of a campaign, unless something is very broken)

"Making a ranged attack when in melee does not give disadvantage if the target is in melee range of the attacker; making a ranged attack while engaged in melee provokes an attack of opportunity from all who threaten the attackers square."

[NNescio]

This may just be me, but I felt that there weren't enough attacks of opportunity happening, so:

"Moving within an enemy's threatened area provokes an attack of opportunity; alternatively, a square is an area, a threatened square is a threatened area."

Also, one I haven't implemented, but am thinking about (I don't like introducing house rules in the middle of a campaign, unless something is very broken)

"Making a ranged attack when in melee does not give disadvantage if the target is in melee range of the attacker; making a ranged attack while engaged in melee provokes an attack of opportunity from all who threaten the attackers square."

So, basically, the above house rules have zero effect (other than buffing ranged attackers) because the terms "threatened area", "threatened square", "threaten" and "attack of opportunity" are undefined in 5e.

On a more serious note, your houserules would be highly confusing to people who aren't familiar with the the 3.5e or 3.PF ruleset, as they use specific jargon that only exist in those editions (which do not exist in the current 5e). This makes it a bad recommendation (IMHO) by virtue of its wording alone — confusing, ill-defined rules are bad rules (houserule or no). And that's before game balance considerations.

(Side observation, it seems like a lot of houserules floating around are attempts to 'patch' 5e to conform to 3.5e standards. Most of which usually wind up hosing martials and sneaks.)

[Rhedyn]

So, you hate how the base game is made? Ok, but that doesnt change the base game.

Actually, yes. 5e is an incomplete half-baked game. You must house rule to handle basic activities.

[War_lord]

You realize that nothing was stripped from the game based on the DM, right?

You've stripped out feats and multiclassing, which are actually part of the game.


The game is made where feats and MC are optional based on the DM's opinion. They are NOT player options unless the DM says they are.

Technically everything in the game is optional based on the DM's opinion. As a DM you also have the right to decree that non-variant Human Rangers are the only player option available. Players and other DMs have the right to point out how dumb that logic is is and refuse to go near your table.


You are confsing 5e with 4e and 3e. Lol.

Not sure how I'm "confsing" two systems I've never played with 5e.


By not allowing feats or MC, nothing is being taken from you. By allowing feats and MC something extra is being given to you.

Mechanical customization of characters is being taken way. A department in which 5e is already lacking without yet more homogenization in the name of "balance".


I'm not sure why this is hard to grasp, it's in the book in black & beige that these are optional rules granted to players by the DM and NOT automatically player options unless grabted to the players.

It's in the DM's guide in black & grey that I can interpret the rules as I like, but I restrain myself from the natural urge to tinker, because the game ultimately isn't about me the DM. It's about the players. And if I ever get to the point where I'm being stricter then the AL, and acting like using variant rules from the PHB is an act of charity towards my players, I've failed to uphold that.


People are so entitled that they think not giving you something is the same as taking something away lol.

Actually, entitled is expecting players to suffer through bad DMing instead of just getting up and leaving. And acting like allowing the players to use the contents of their PHB is doing them a favor is bad DMing.

[VoxRationis]

You've stripped out feats and multiclassing, which are actually part of the game.
...
Technically everything in the game is optional based on the DM's opinion. As a DM you also have the right to decree that non-variant Human Rangers are the only player option available. Players and other DMs have the right to point out how dumb that logic is is and refuse to go near your table.
How true that is depends very much on the specific thing in the game. Multiclassing and feats are explicitly referred to as optional rules to be used as the table/DM desires; attack rolls and the fighter class are not.

[War_lord]

How true that is depends very much on the specific thing in the game. Multiclassing and feats are explicitly referred to as optional rules to be used as the table/DM desires; attack rolls and the fighter class are not.

The point is that As per the DMG I could restrict anything, not just the things tagged with "variant rule". But all restrictions, allowances and house rules should be based on what improves play, not "it's a variant so I don't have to allow it, I'm doing you a favour".

[Squiddish]

AL rules are no

The game being played as intended has a lot of DM interference and MC/feats as optional rules.

You would be walking away from a game that is being played as intended.

AL is a set of rules made for public play so that everyone is suposably playing with the same base rules and you can go from table to table.

You obviously don't understand balance, or want it part of the game, if you think MC should be part of the game.

Please, not the same old "multiclassing and feats are OP" argument.

Multiclassing is not OP. Feats are not OP. Builds can be OP, and multiclassing and feats allow more OP builds primarily because they allow more builds, plain and simple. Can you create an OP single-class build without feats? Yes. Can you create a balanced multiclass build with feats? Yes.

So far, most of the powerful multiclass builds I've seen are pretty much just "normal character+warlock", which is rather unimpressive. Others seem impressive but fall apart in actual play, and others involve a trade-off.

And guess what? There's a way to allow good, balanced multiclassing without allowing broken builds. It's called talking to your players. Ask them why they're multiclassing. If they can give a good reason for their character to have those skills, or just want to see how it plays, you should allow it as long as the build isn't obviously broken. If the only reason they can give is "Well, with this multiclass, I can blow up the moon in a single hit..." you should respectfully decline.

TL;DR: Don't blanket ban multiclassing and feats, talk to your players about multiclassing and feats.

[DanyBallon]

Please, not the same old "multiclassing and feats are OP" argument.

Multiclassing is not OP. Feats are not OP. Builds can be OP, and multiclassing and feats allow more OP builds primarily because they allow more builds, plain and simple. Can you create an OP single-class build without feats? Yes. Can you create a balanced multiclass build with feats? Yes.

So far, most of the powerful multiclass builds I've seen are pretty much just "normal character+warlock", which is rather unimpressive. Others seem impressive but fall apart in actual play, and others involve a trade-off.

And guess what? There's a way to allow good, balanced multiclassing without allowing broken builds. It's called talking to your players. Ask them why they're multiclassing. If they can give a good reason for their character to have those skills, or just want to see how it plays, you should allow it as long as the build isn't obviously broken. If the only reason they can give is "Well, with this multiclass, I can blow up the moon in a single hit..." you should respectfully decline.

TL;DR: Don't blanket ban multiclassing and feats, talk to your players about multiclassing and feats.

The game was designed and balanced without feats and multiclassing. Adding one or both will absoluty affect the balance of the game. I wouldn't go as far as to say that either are OP, but they add an element that wasn't taken in consideration when balancing the races/classes/features.

[War_lord]

The game wasn't designed around Magic Items either, but no one is seriously calling for a ban on those. I don't see the point of complaining about not being super balanced. It's not a competitive game. So long as no one player overshadows the others totally, that's all the balance you need.

[DanyBallon]

The game wasn't designed around Magic Items either, but no one is seriously calling for a ban on those. I don't see the point of complaining about not being super balanced. It's not a competitive game. So long as no one player overshadows the others totally, that's all the balance you need.

No one is calling for feats and/or multiclassing ban either.
From what I read in this thread, some suggest not using feats or multiclassing to teach new players, or for a different type of game. Then others objected that they wouldn't play in a game where the DM remove stuff from the players, and Deleted replied that nothing was trully removed as by design they are not part of the game. Allowing them is giving a bonus on the base game.

[Lance Tankmen]

Honestly I have a **** ton of homebrew. But some of its to fill in gaps or just so when some one says Hey do I get drunk I don't have to make it up on the spot every time.

As to feats some are clearly amazing with others lack luster but I ban muti-classing for a number of reasons. One is it takes from feats, why get light or medium armor feat for my wizard when I could just dip 1 level in fight or two for action surge? Two is I've only ever seen dips simply for the spell or ability to be better. Not for any fluff reason, to be fair my groups may not have been the best at writing backgrounds.

[FilthyLucre]

My favorite house rule is that I give every 1st level character a bonus feat of their choice.

[gameogre]

The game wasn't designed around Magic Items either, but no one is seriously calling for a ban on those. I don't see the point of complaining about not being super balanced. It's not a competitive game. So long as no one player overshadows the others totally, that's all the balance you need.

The game however does actually go out of it's way to limit magic items.

Since you view optional rules as not really optional or up to the DM's needs I take it your game does include flanking? As well as Proficiency dice and Hero Points?

You DO use Honor and Sanity right? your not one of THOSE DM's who limit their players right?

Your game uses Healing Surges and Epic Heroism Healing to I'm sure.

After all to not use those things would show how messed up you are and none would ever want to sit down at your limited table.

I can't wait to play in your game and play my halfling ranger with a shotgun and laser pistol! After all it's in the book as a optional rule and you have already established any good DM would never limit their players by picking and choosing what optional rules to use. I can't wait to use a plot point in your games so your Big Bad is in love with me!

In case I was being to hard to understand and the sarcasm wasn't dripping from my words enough.....

Optional rule means just that. Use it or don't use some of them or all of them as is your want. They do indeed change the game in many ways . With feats and multiclassing players can become overpowered in comparison to the monsters very fast. If you don't mind that then use away! If you want a more old school feel to your game...don't use them.

[GPS]

The game however does actually go out of it's way to limit magic items.

Since you view optional rules as not really optional or up to the DM's needs I take it your game does include flanking? As well as Proficiency dice and Hero Points?

You DO use Honor and Sanity right? your not one of THOSE DM's who limit their players right?

Your game uses Healing Surges and Epic Heroism Healing to I'm sure.

After all to not use those things would show how messed up you are and none would ever want to sit down at your limited table.

I can't wait to play in your game and play my halfling ranger with a shotgun and laser pistol! After all it's in the book as a optional rule and you have already established any good DM would never limit their players by picking and choosing what optional rules to use. I can't wait to use a plot point in your games so your Big Bad is in love with me!

In case I was being to hard to understand and the sarcasm wasn't dripping from my words enough.....

Optional rule means just that. Use it or don't use some of them or all of them as is your want. They do indeed change the game in many ways . With feats and multiclassing players can become overpowered in comparison to the monsters very fast. If you don't mind that then use away! If you want a more old school feel to your game...don't use them.

1) You're confusing variant rules with setting variants. The guns are clearly defined for the setting they are intended for, on the list.

2) I'm going to have to disagree with the whole feats and multiclassing not being balanced thing. Wizards put a lot of work into balancing the multiclassing rules, and feats are very limited compared to 3.5e.

3) Feats were a large part of "old style" games, unless you're going all the way back to 2e with your homerules. In that case, why play 5e?

[Beelzebubba]

The game was designed and balanced without feats and multiclassing. Adding one or both will absoluty affect the balance of the game. I wouldn't go as far as to say that either are OP, but they add an element that wasn't taken in consideration when balancing the races/classes/features.

Got a source for that, if you don't mind? I'm DMing soon and want to read up.

[Beelzebubba]

I think house rules are for when most of the table agrees there's a problem.

Wait until one presents itself. Different groups may not even stumble on one flaw.

[DanyBallon]

1) You're confusing variant rules with setting variants. The guns are clearly defined for the setting they are intended for, on the list.

2) I'm going to have to disagree with the whole feats and multiclassing not being balanced thing. Wizards put a lot of work into balancing the multiclassing rules, and feats are very limited compared to 3.5e.

3) Feats were a large part of "old style" games, unless you're going all the way back to 2e with your homerules. In that case, why play 5e?

2) The argument is not that feat are not balanced, but that their addition move the power curve of the PC up compared to the design of the core game. This do not make charcters being OP, but some encounters may become easier than expected.

3) This is rather funny as I find that 5e is the edition that bring back the feel of older editions like 1e and 2e, and that's what got me back in the game :smallsmile:

[Squiddish]

The game however does actually go out of it's way to limit magic items.

Since you view optional rules as not really optional or up to the DM's needs I take it your game does include flanking? As well as Proficiency dice and Hero Points?

You DO use Honor and Sanity right? your not one of THOSE DM's who limit their players right?

Your game uses Healing Surges and Epic Heroism Healing to I'm sure.

After all to not use those things would show how messed up you are and none would ever want to sit down at your limited table.

I can't wait to play in your game and play my halfling ranger with a shotgun and laser pistol! After all it's in the book as a optional rule and you have already established any good DM would never limit their players by picking and choosing what optional rules to use. I can't wait to use a plot point in your games so your Big Bad is in love with me!

In case I was being to hard to understand and the sarcasm wasn't dripping from my words enough.....

Optional rule means just that. Use it or don't use some of them or all of them as is your want. They do indeed change the game in many ways . With feats and multiclassing players can become overpowered in comparison to the monsters very fast. If you don't mind that then use away! If you want a more old school feel to your game...don't use them.

Nah, in my group, the players and the DM(s) have agreed that we don't want to use flanking, proficiency dice, hero points, or healing surges. We've also agreed that we're sticking to standard rules for healing, and not using plot points.

And guess what? Everyone has agreed on this, and is okay with it, because those aren't the kind of rules that we want in our game. A game doesn't belong to the DM, and it's up to the players and the DM to talk to each other and decide whether or not they want to use optional rules. If the DM alone is deciding, and he's going against the wishes of the players in the name of helping the players, he's not doing a good job. The most important thing about DMing isn't being able to write plots, or balance encounters. It's being able to talk to your players and make sure everyone has fun. If for your group that means you can't have feats and multiclassing, that's okay. For most people, though, feats and multiclassing are part of the game, and taking them out of the game will interfere with the fun of the game.

[DanyBallon]

Got a source for that, if you don't mind? I'm DMing soon and want to read up.

Not an actual quote, but the fact that both multiclassing and feats are part of a chapter named "Customization Options" and that some feats makes the character just plain better than other class features while other feel pretty bland. And that multiclassing allows to get features sooner that some archétypes (i.e. multiclassing allow for 2 fighting style sooner than Champion which sould be one of their exclusive ability) also like someone pointed out, dipping is often better than some feet (armor mastory feats, or weapon master to name a few.)

As far as DMing a game with feats and multiclassing, it's not a big difference. You might need some time to adjust encounters for your group but that's pretty much all you need to do. Due to the variety of options available to players, there is not a specific formula that would let you know right away how to modify your encounters.

[GraakosGraakos]

Hmm I expected more powergamer accusations and derision fro allowing a first level feat but it seems fairly popular

Maybe I hang around /tg/ too much after all

As much as I love that board, they can be some of the most "muh balance" and badwrongfun people ever. If it fits your game, I say go for it. Feats are fun and I think choosing between them and an ASI was a design mistake.

[gameogre]

1) You're confusing variant rules with setting variants. The guns are clearly defined for the setting they are intended for, on the list.

2) I'm going to have to disagree with the whole feats and multiclassing not being balanced thing. Wizards put a lot of work into balancing the multiclassing rules, and feats are very limited compared to 3.5e.

3) Feats were a large part of "old style" games, unless you're going all the way back to 2e with your homerules. In that case, why play 5e?

2- You are flat out wrong. WOTC said the monsters are not balanced with feats or multiclassing.This is one of the key reasons so many people are finding 5E monsters too easy.

3- Feats are only in 5E as a optional rule. I get you love feats but that doesn't change the fact that they are optional and many many people will play without them. They are optional! If you don't like that Why play 5E? Why don't YOU go play 4E or 3.5? See not very nice is it?

Once again people, if you see someone playing D&D different than you play, it doesn't need to be attacked.

I'm fine with feats and all the rest if that's what the DM wants.

Why are you not fine with some other DM deciding to not use them?

[Blue Lantern]

Well, I'm a bit late to the party and I see the thread has already degenerated toward pointless arguments and finger pointing, but I'll give my two cents anyway.

Options:


No feats
No multiclassing
Average HP at level up


House rules


Rolled stats in this way, roll 3d6, drop lowest, add 4
Pact of the blade summon weapon as a bonus action, also uses CHA as stats for the weapon
Paladin Divine Smite changed into a spell, work similar to the various "X Smite" all those spells also have damage and scaling a bit reajusted
Sorcerer gets more spells known, 3 at level 1, plus 1 per level till level 18.
Some UA may be allowed.
This will probably never come into play, but Druid capstone is changed to regain wildshape when rolling initiative instead of infinite wildshape.


I will probably add the one I read in this thread about limiting Moon Druid wild shape CR for levels 2-4

[DanyBallon]

Well, I'm a bit late to the party and I see the thread has already degenerated toward pointless arguments and finger pointing...


Isn't that the ultimate goal of every thread? :smalltongue:

[sir_argo]

I monitor this thread to see if there's any good house rules that could be added to my campaign. Sadly, the last 30 messages are arguing if feats and MC are optional/OP or who cares.



Personally, I hate how cantrips cannot be changed. That just seems odd to me. Every class has the ability to change out their spells in one way or another, but not cantrips.

Does anybody use a houserule that allows for changing of cantrips, and how has it worked out in your campaign?

[DanyBallon]

Personally, I hate how cantrips cannot be changed. That just seems odd to me. Every class has the ability to change out their spells in one way or another, but not cantrips.

Does anybody use a houserule that allows for changing of cantrips, and how has it worked out in your campaign?

Just allow cantrip swap when they get a new one. This should happen twice if you don't multiclass.

[Pex]

2- You are flat out wrong. WOTC said the monsters are not balanced with feats or multiclassing.This is one of the key reasons so many people are finding 5E monsters too easy.

3- Feats are only in 5E as a optional rule. I get you love feats but that doesn't change the fact that they are optional and many many people will play without them. They are optional! If you don't like that Why play 5E? Why don't YOU go play 4E or 3.5? See not very nice is it?

Once again people, if you see someone playing D&D different than you play, it doesn't need to be attacked.

I'm fine with feats and all the rest if that's what the DM wants.

Why are you not fine with some other DM deciding to not use them?

It's fine if a DM doesn't want to use feats, but such a DM shouldn't be telling others not to use them either just like you probably don't want DMs who do use feats to tell others they must use them too.

The use of feats or not isn't a "house rule". It's a "variant". That might not make a difference in effect, but it is making a difference in philosophical discussion and vocabulary of the game.

[Rhedyn]

I have yet to find a feat that obliterates CR vs APL more than twinned polymorph at level 7. Two CR 7 Giant Apes allowed our party to crush to a CR 16 blue dragon.

Feats and multiclassing can go home before that power that is spells. All multiclassing ever does is delay your good spells.

Forgive me for thinking it is complete BS that monsters were "balanced" without feats and MC in mind. They weren't balanced with half the spells in mind, let alone a good chunk of all class features.

[Vogonjeltz]

Honestly, we run with these rules, and we've never had that problem. You know how the old saying, darn lies and statistics. I don't think a player has ever been killed in our group by a triple crit fail.

It is the average :).


He's still luckier with the feat than he is without it. It serves its purpose just fine, without creating a perverse incentive to close your eyes before attacking.

It's a measily 3 times per day (long rest), which isn't much for a Gladstone Gander type character.

[gameogre]

Players love feats so in general I like to use em. I don't like that they unbalance things so much in the pc's favour, making it harder to challenge them without adding more monsters and in our games that means more exp.

One House Rule I am kicking around right now is this.

Monsters get feats.

I'm thinking of adding in feats to monsters starting at 4HD,8HD,12HD,16HD and 20HD. Probably by just slapping a sticky note on the monster manual under each creature with that creatures feat list.

I think that might be a bit much though. So maybe I will just do it at like 4HD,12HD and 20HD.

[Malifice]

He's still luckier with the feat than he is without it. It serves its purpose just fine, without creating a perverse incentive to close your eyes before attacking.

I like that it creates this incentive.

I can see a lucky person closing their eyes, and taking the shot with the queue behind their back just fine.

The worse the odds, the greater the chance they pull it off.

Of course if a player made a habit of doing it, Id expect them to do it when they had no luck points remaining as well from time to time. They dont know how much 'luck' they have left, even if the player does. Otherwise, they can save it for when they're at disadvantage without intentionally giving themselves disadvantage.

[gameogre]

For my O5R Game I use the following house rules.

1-At zero hit points you die unless the attacker states it's subduing.
This has lead to character deaths becoming much more common.

2-We don't use skills but instead use Ability Check Proficiency.
This has given the game a 1E feel but actually wasn't as big a change as I thought it would be.

3-No Feats.
This makes pc's much more balanced verse monsters but some Class's seem to be effected more than others.

4-I do not use encounter building guidelines at all. Some fights are very easy, some are not possible to beat.
This is one of the big ones to give a old school feel but this is both a good and a bad thing. There are times pc's do not realize they are overpowered up front and only realize it well into the encounter and they have issues being able to get away. Some players like this but others feel cheated when killed through no real fault of their own. I secretly think this is working as intended as in AD&D I remember many times characters would die leaving the same feeling.Nostalgic feelings often gloss over these issues.

This also has lead to pc's being MUCH more interested in not fighting and trying to talk or find another solution to combat.

5-We limit the class's to the four core class's.
Limited class selection so far doesn't seem to have had much impact.

[Malifice]

I have yet to find a feat that obliterates CR vs APL more than twinned polymorph at level 7. Two CR 7 Giant Apes allowed our party to crush to a CR 16 blue dragon.

Your DM sucks then.

[Rhedyn]

Your DM sucks then.
Or we got the jump on the dragon and it couldn't run away from +9 athletics checks.

The DM doesn't suck, the game does.

[Mhl7]

5e isn't balanced.




Because Sage Advice is full of garbage rulings and those poor devs are probably why 5e has systemic problems and is widely unbalanced even when compared to 3.5.



5e is an incomplete half-baked game.



The DM doesn't suck, the game does.

What about go playing something else? Or else drink a beer and discuss the weather? Are you forced into this 5e thing?

[Malifice]

Or we got the jump on the dragon and it couldn't run away from +9 athletics checks.

He presumably had legendary actions at CR 16. One of which is 'Make a wing attack and then fly up 40 feet'.

So sorcerer wins initiative and casts twinned polymorph. Then the Dragon flies up 40 feet.

Your move ape(s).

I mean you could have ambushed him but he has perception of +12 and is kind of supposed to be a menacing threat with a high level of intelligence and thousands of years of experience.

Your DM sucks. Find a new one.

I can assure you if I was dungeon mastering that game you would be ****ing dead.

[Strill]

Or we got the jump on the dragon and it couldn't run away from +9 athletics checks.

The DM doesn't suck, the game does.

Firstly, an Adult Blue Dragon has a +7 on Athletics checks, so I don't see why it had so much trouble with your grappling.

Second, an Adult Blue Dragon has an Intelligence score of 16. Why didn't he recognize the spell and use his lightning breath on your Sorcerer to break his concentration?

Third, this dragon has 60 feet of Blindsense, and a Passive Perception of 22. How in the world did you get the jump on it? Why didn't he fly up into the air or burrow into the sand well before you reached him? Frankly the biggest question is why wasn't he burrowed into the sand to begin with? That's what blue dragons prefer to do most of the time.

Fourth, a Giant Ape has only a +1 to Wisdom saving throws. How did you withstand the dragon's Frightful Presence?

Fifth, a Giant Ape has only a +2 to Dexterity saving throws. How did you withstand the Dragon's Wing Attack, which would knock you prone, giving the dragon Advantage on attacks against you?

Sixth, if this happened in the dragon's lair, he would have a Lair action that can cause rubble to fall on a player, burying them in the ground, which would then free the dragon from your grapple.

I agree with Malifice. Your DM royally screwed up playing that Dragon.

[Malifice]

If you're curious, on its turn its next move is to move 80 feet and catch the Wizard and as many other people as it can in its breath weapon.

66 lightning damage vs 9th level mage (38 + con x 9 Hp) and a DC 33 constitution save to maintain concentration on polymorph.

Even with a Constitution of 16 you drop to 0 hit points, and both apes are no longer apes.

Now it's your turn again. Then I'll take my next legendary action.

Yeah, your DM sucks.

[Rhedyn]

Firstly, an Adult Blue Dragon has a +7 on Athletics checks, so I don't see why it had so much trouble with your grappling.

Second, an Adult Blue Dragon has an Intelligence score of 16. Why didn't he recognize the spell and use his lightning breath on your Sorcerer to break his concentration?

Third, this dragon has 60 feet of Blindsense, and a Passive Perception of 22. How in the world did you get the jump on it? Why didn't he fly up into the air or burrow into the sand well before you reached him? Frankly the biggest question is why wasn't he burrowed into the sand to begin with? That's what blue dragons prefer to do most of the time.

Fourth, a Giant Ape has only a +1 to Wisdom saving throws. How did you withstand the dragon's Frightful Presence?

Fifth, a Giant Ape has only a +2 to Dexterity saving throws. How did you withstand the Dragon's Wing Attack, which would knock you prone, giving the dragon Advantage on attacks against you?

Sixth, if this happened in the dragon's lair, he would have a Lair action that can cause rubble to fall on a player, burying them in the ground, which would then free the dragon from your grapple.

I agree with Malifice. Your DM royally screwed up playing that Dragon.We invaded it's lair and killed his children. The NPC let us know that the dragon normally comes when people step through it treasure. It flew up and found two apes in the room.
My sorcerer was already hiding in a side cave and untouchable. The apes grappled the dragon so it couldn't get away.

It then got smashed.

The wing attack did knock the apes prone but the dragon was auto hitting them anyways so it didn't help.

Our paladin boosted the apes saving throws.

We did have falling rock but we had two apes.

Our floor of the lair had no sand.

Regardless. An apl+9 encounter shouldn't even have trouble wiping our party. It should have been laughing at our feeble powers.

[Strill]

We invaded it's lair and killed his children.First, how did you find a lair that's buried underground in the middle of a desert, which no one but the dragon knows about? Second, why didn't the wyrmlings just burrow into the ground and escape?


The NPC let us know that the dragon normally comes when people step through it treasure. It flew up and found two apes in the room.
My sorcerer was already hiding in a side cave and untouchable.So you're suggesting that a dragon would be stupid enough to put its secret underground lair in a place with "side-caves" that it can't access? Yep. Your DM played the dragon incredibly stupidly.


The apes grappled the dragon so it couldn't get away.And how did your apes grapple a flying dragon?


Our paladin boosted the apes saving throws.And your Paladin was able to just stand there within 5 feet of them without getting killed?


We did have falling rock but we had two apes.That's not enough. The dragon should've still been able to escape.


Turn 1. Apes grapple dragon somehow, both get lucky and succeed.
Turn 2. Dragon buries Ape #1. Ape #1 uses its Action to make a Strength check to escape.
Turn 3. Dragon buries Ape #2 and flies away before Ape #1 can grapple it again.


In addition to its lair action, the Dragon can also attempt to shove the Apes away in place of any of its attacks, freeing it from your grapple if it succeeds. The dragon has +7 vs your Apes' +9, and it also has Advantage because your Apes were knocked prone by its Wing Attack.


Our floor of the lair had no sand.Again, your DM has no idea what he's doing. Blue dragons live in the desert. That's why they have a Burrow speed.


Regardless. An apl+9 encounter shouldn't even have trouble wiping our party. It should have been laughing at our feeble powers. Indeed. Your DM played it extremely poorly.

[Naanomi]

So you're suggesting that a dragon would be stupid enough to put its secret underground lair in a place with "side-caves" that it can't access? Yep. Your DM played the dragon incredibly stupidly.
In all fairness, the White Dragon at the end of Dragon Queen module explicitly has its lair setup this way as a weakness

[Strill]

In all fairness, the White Dragon at the end of Dragon Queen module explicitly has its lair setup this way as a weakness

That's because white dragons are stupid. Look at the Ancient White Dragon. It has an intelligence of only 10. It takes a White dragon a thousand years just to reach the intelligence of your average human. Other white dragons are even stupider.

[MeeposFire]

In all fairness, the White Dragon at the end of Dragon Queen module explicitly has its lair setup this way as a weakness

Also in fairness white dragons are seen as being pretty dumb compared to most dragons...

[Naanomi]

That's because white dragons are stupid. Look at the Ancient White Dragon. It has an intelligence of only 10. It takes a White dragon a thousand years just to reach the intelligence of your average human. Other white dragons are even stupider.

Also in fairness white dragons are seen as being pretty dumb compared to most dragons...
I don't disagree, just saying that it is feasible for a particularly dense dragon to set themselves up this way

[Malifice]

We invaded it's lair and killed his children. The NPC let us know that the dragon normally comes when people step through it treasure. It flew up and found two apes in the room.
My sorcerer was already hiding in a side cave and untouchable. The apes grappled the dragon so it couldn't get away.

It then got smashed.

The wing attack did knock the apes prone but the dragon was auto hitting them anyways so it didn't help.

Our paladin boosted the apes saving throws.

We did have falling rock but we had two apes.

Our floor of the lair had no sand.

Regardless. An apl+9 encounter shouldn't even have trouble wiping our party. It should have been laughing at our feeble powers.

Allow me to run that same encounter.

I'm prepared to bet itll will wind up a TPK

[Rhedyn]

The dragon's cr was more than twice the level of anything else in kingdom. It never had any reason to fear anyone until one 4th level spell was twinned and the result stood next to a paladin. With the saves boosted, those apes were suddenly the equivalent of high level champion fighters.

I don't care how crafty and careful the dragon (cr 16) could have been. It should never have been in danger from a mere level 7 party. We should be running from it, not it having to run and kite us.

You got people thinking feats and multi classing is "too strong" when neither of those can begin too compare to base single class, class features.

[Malifice]

The dragon's cr was more than twice the level of anything else in kingdom. It never had any reason to fear anyone until one 4th level spell was twinned and the result stood next to a paladin. With the saves boosted, those apes were suddenly the equivalent of high level champion fighters.

I don't care how crafty and careful the dragon (cr 16) could have been. It should never have been in danger from a mere level 7 party. We should be running from it, not it having to run and kite us.

You got people thinking feats and multi classing is "too strong" when neither of those can begin too compare to base single class, class features.

Yeah man. Your DM sucks.

[Blue Lantern]

So we went from pointless heated discussion about each table houserules, to pointless heated discussion about a particular encounter...

Somebody calls the thread police.

[Beelzebubba]

Not an actual quote, but the fact that both multiclassing and feats are part of a chapter named "Customization Options" and that some feats makes the character just plain better than other class features while other feel pretty bland. And that multiclassing allows to get features sooner that some archétypes (i.e. multiclassing allow for 2 fighting style sooner than Champion which sould be one of their exclusive ability) also like someone pointed out, dipping is often better than some feet (armor mastory feats, or weapon master to name a few.)

OK, so it's a considered opinion, fair enough, but I don't really agree it's all that bad - some always good stuff, some situationally good stuff if the DM is considerate, a few trap options. It's typical D&D :smallamused:

This edition, anyone can dual wield now, fighters get that dual weapon style at 1st level, and the feat is about the same power as the fighting style (and compliments it nicely when also taken), so I'm not really seeing how it's that bad. Any human non-fighter taking the dual wielder feat is being pretty sub-optimal anyway.

As far as multi-classing, they eliminated the 'front load' silliness by limiting what you pick up from each class, and stuff like ability score increases and/or feats get pushed back too, so it's still not clearly superior that I can see. This isn't 3.x - getting the next level spell slots later than other casters really hurts.

So, not saying you're wrong, but I think it's a bit less of a big deal. My current group has several people new to D&D, and none of them fell into 'traps' or min-maxed, so we're doing just fine. The biggest problem I see is that we rolled for stats, and a couple characters are clearly better due to that.

[DanyBallon]

OK, so it's a considered opinion, fair enough, but I don't really agree it's all that bad - some always good stuff, some situationally good stuff if the DM is considerate, a few trap options. It's typical D&D :smallamused:

This edition, anyone can dual wield now, fighters get that dual weapon style at 1st level, and the feat is about the same power as the fighting style (and compliments it nicely when also taken), so I'm not really seeing how it's that bad. Any human non-fighter taking the dual wielder feat is being pretty sub-optimal anyway.

As far as multi-classing, they eliminated the 'front load' silliness by limiting what you pick up from each class, and stuff like ability score increases and/or feats get pushed back too, so it's still not clearly superior that I can see. This isn't 3.x - getting the next level spell slots later than other casters really hurts.

So, not saying you're wrong, but I think it's a bit less of a big deal. My current group has several people new to D&D, and none of them fell into 'traps' or min-maxed, so we're doing just fine. The biggest problem I see is that we rolled for stats, and a couple characters are clearly better due to that.

As a matter of fact, I'm fine with feats, a bit less with multiclassing, especially multiclassing done only for mechanical benefits. All that I've said is that as per design the core was balanced without taking feats and multiclassing in consideration, and using one or both move the power level of the character up by a little bit.
Also playing a game without feat and/or multiclassing can be great for new players, some even limit options to the 4 base race, or for a different type of game.

[TrinculoLives]

*ahem*

On the subject of Recommended House-rules for D&D Next:

If you cannot see a creature that also cannot see you, you have disadvantage on attack rolls made against that creature.

This way, if you cast fog cloud on a group of archers, they won't somehow be able to hit you just as well as if the fog cloud was not there.

Or if two blinded combatants are swinging around at each other, they won't be able to hit each other just as well as if they could see.

I don't know, it feels right to not simply allow disadvantage and advantage to cancel each other out in these cases.

[Squiddish]

For my O5R Game I use the following house rules.

1-At zero hit points you die unless the attacker states it's subduing.
This has lead to character deaths becoming much more common.

2-We don't use skills but instead use Ability Check Proficiency.
This has given the game a 1E feel but actually wasn't as big a change as I thought it would be.

3-No Feats.
This makes pc's much more balanced verse monsters but some Class's seem to be effected more than others.

4-I do not use encounter building guidelines at all. Some fights are very easy, some are not possible to beat.
This is one of the big ones to give a old school feel but this is both a good and a bad thing. There are times pc's do not realize they are overpowered up front and only realize it well into the encounter and they have issues being able to get away. Some players like this but others feel cheated when killed through no real fault of their own. I secretly think this is working as intended as in AD&D I remember many times characters would die leaving the same feeling.Nostalgic feelings often gloss over these issues.

This also has lead to pc's being MUCH more interested in not fighting and trying to talk or find another solution to combat.

5-We limit the class's to the four core class's.
Limited class selection so far doesn't seem to have had much impact.

1. This rule will inevitably lead to players either not caring about their characters or being huge cowards.
2. What?
3. Yep, in that fighters suffer and wizards grow more powerful.
4. Understandable.
5. This is the worst rule I have ever seen in my life. You say this doesn't have an impact. Have you tried playing with other classes?

If you want to limit your players to just playing the same old classes over and over again, and discourage them from actually getting invested in their characters, that's fine. But that's no sort of advice to give a brand new DM.

[DanyBallon]

If you want to limit your players to just playing the same old classes over and over again, and discourage them from actually getting invested in their characters, that's fine. But that's no sort of advice to give a brand new DM.

Limiting the available classes to the four base classes isn't as bad as you think for a new DM. It limit options to learn. Then as the DM and players are more familiar with the rules you can add more. For an experienced group, it's something worth trying for a change of style.

[gameogre]

A LOT of AD&D 1E players have come to 5E and want to use it to run a more old school game. I have no issues with doing that as long as they know what they are getting into.

I run four games right now and only one is O5R. I run it for a group of guys who normally play AD&D.

I think those guys will probably play a more standard 5E game next time. I'm kinda easing them into it.

[Strill]

The dragon's cr was more than twice the level of anything else in kingdom. It never had any reason to fear anyone until one 4th level spell was twinned and the result stood next to a paladin. With the saves boosted, those apes were suddenly the equivalent of high level champion fighters.

I don't care how crafty and careful the dragon (cr 16) could have been. It should never have been in danger from a mere level 7 party. We should be running from it, not it having to run and kite us. It doesn't matter how powerful a monster is, if you play it totally incompetently, it's gonna lose. Even putting aside the stupidity necessary to have tiny holes into your dragon's treasure trove, there's actually nothing stopping the dragon from going through them. The dragon could've simply burrowed through that "side tunnel", and eaten your party's sorcerer. Then what?

The fact of the matter is that spellcasters in D&D are a trump card, meant to drastically weaken fights. Concentration, and generally low HP and sustained damage is the balancing factor for spellcasters. If any monster, dragon or not, completely ignores a spellcaster, they're gonna get shat on.

[blurneko]

*ahem*

On the subject of Recommended House-rules for D&D Next:

If you cannot see a creature that also cannot see you, you have disadvantage on attack rolls made against that creature.

This way, if you cast fog cloud on a group of archers, they won't somehow be able to hit you just as well as if the fog cloud was not there.

Or if two blinded combatants are swinging around at each other, they won't be able to hit each other just as well as if they could see.

I don't know, it feels right to not simply allow disadvantage and advantage to cancel each other out in these cases.

I very much agree with this and I intend to use it when I next play.

[Squiddish]

Limiting the available classes to the four base classes isn't as bad as you think for a new DM. It limit options to learn. Then as the DM and players are more familiar with the rules you can add more. For an experienced group, it's something worth trying for a change of style.


A LOT of AD&D 1E players have come to 5E and want to use it to run a more old school game. I have no issues with doing that as long as they know what they are getting into.

I run four games right now and only one is O5R. I run it for a group of guys who normally play AD&D.

I think those guys will probably play a more standard 5E game next time. I'm kinda easing them into it.

Ah, that seems okay. I originally thought you meant that he should use those rules permanently. I agree that it can be useful to limit choices for new players, provided you stop once they aren't new.

[Ruslan]

I don't like the fact that a single goblin with a bow can kill an entire flying party on a lucky shot and a blown Concentration check. Hence:

If you lose concentration on a Fly spell, the subject(s) become affected by a Feather Fall spell instead.

It's admittedly a niche that doesn't come up often, but I like it better this way.



If you cannot see a creature that also cannot see you, you have disadvantage on attack rolls made against that creature.
I like it, but here's a more watertight wording for all you rules lawyers out there:

Replace the rule: "When a creature can’t see you, you have advantage on attack rolls against it." (PHB 195)
With: "When a creature can’t see you, and you can see that creature, you have advantage on attack rolls against it."

The rule: "When you attack a target that you can’t see, you have disadvantage on the attack roll." (PHB 194) remains unchanged.

[Doug Lampert]

I like it, but here's a more watertight wording for all you rules lawyers out there:

Replace the rule: "When a creature can’t see you, you have advantage on attack rolls against it." (PHB 195)
With: "When a creature can’t see you, and you can see that creature, you have advantage on attack rolls against it."

The rule: "When you attack a target that you can’t see, you have disadvantage on the attack roll." (PHB 194) remains unchanged.

I like that, specific exceptions to fix problems often mean the general rule is broken in some way, and it seems to me Ruslan has identified where the general rule is broken and fixed that. This will probably cover edge cases that a single exception would miss.

[Vogonjeltz]

*ahem*

On the subject of Recommended House-rules for D&D Next:

If you cannot see a creature that also cannot see you, you have disadvantage on attack rolls made against that creature.

This way, if you cast fog cloud on a group of archers, they won't somehow be able to hit you just as well as if the fog cloud was not there.

Or if two blinded combatants are swinging around at each other, they won't be able to hit each other just as well as if they could see.

I don't know, it feels right to not simply allow disadvantage and advantage to cancel each other out in these cases.

They cancel out because a character who can't see the enemy can't defend themselves normally.

i.e. You may not see me when you're swinging...but I also can't see you to block your wild swing. Thus it's just as dangerous as if we could both see (or maybe less so if you'd have advantage normally and I wouldn't).

That's why Fog Cloud is a counter to pack tactics or Barbarian Rage.

[draken50]

1:No full casters for New Players.
Why:New players have enough to learn and I've never seen it not slow down a game.

2:No Multiclassing
Why:My players are generally only in my game... so they haven't gotten bored with the base classes, multi-classing usually resulted in over-planned less useful characters at my table. I tend to be less roll dependent as well. If I played long enough to see the classes go stale, I'd relinquish this one.

I understand why it's in other games and don't detest it, for now though. Not at my table.

[Puh Laden]

*ahem*

On the subject of Recommended House-rules for D&D Next:

If you cannot see a creature that also cannot see you, you have disadvantage on attack rolls made against that creature.

This way, if you cast fog cloud on a group of archers, they won't somehow be able to hit you just as well as if the fog cloud was not there.

Or if two blinded combatants are swinging around at each other, they won't be able to hit each other just as well as if they could see.

I don't know, it feels right to not simply allow disadvantage and advantage to cancel each other out in these cases.

Technically since heavily obscured areas only make creatures effectively have the blinded condition when trying to see something in the heavily obscured area (via errata), the archers would have advantage on their attack rolls rather than advantage and disadvantage cancelling out if you follow RAW. That's not the way I would run things like smoke and fog cloud, but the annoyance you describe is technically already a house-rule in the archer scenario (but not the melee scenario). Though it is the way it worked before the errata came out, to my understanding. (I have the updated PHB not the original.)

Edit: never mind. Your scenario still works RAW because heavily obscured areas still block vision entirely, making it so that neither attacker nor target can see the other so that this is covered by the section "Unseen Attackers and Targets" rather than the [effectively] blinded condition as I thought.

[TrinculoLives]

I don't like the fact that a single goblin with a bow can kill an entire flying party on a lucky shot and a blown Concentration check. Hence:

If you lose concentration on a Fly spell, the subject(s) become affected by a Feather Fall spell instead.

It's admittedly a niche that doesn't come up often, but I like it better this way.


I like it, but here's a more watertight wording for all you rules lawyers out there:

Replace the rule: "When a creature can’t see you, you have advantage on attack rolls against it." (PHB 195)
With: "When a creature can’t see you, and you can see that creature, you have advantage on attack rolls against it."

The rule: "When you attack a target that you can’t see, you have disadvantage on the attack roll." (PHB 194) remains unchanged.

Excellent, thanks for the re-wording.

[2D8HP]

I may be tempted to steal some rules for building and maintaining strongholds/manors from old D&D, or Pendragon, but otherwise I don't perceive any lack of rules.

[Citan]

apologies if this would be more appropriate for Homebrew, but as the title says, what are some House-Rules you would suggest for 5e, cause I'm contemplating running a campaign in the near future, and while I've heard the balance overall is pretty decent, I've also heard there are some issues, such as Rangers being apparently awful, and the non-Casters(and Monks) having some issues keeping up with caster classes at higher levels(but nowhere near as badly as in 3.5), but I could be horribly wrong about this, so tell me about your house-rules and why you think they are needed, or at least how they help the game
Hi!

The few things I would suggest...
- NO UA content (well, it's technically not a house-rule, just a simple way to avoid bad surprises ^^).
- Monk: be clear about what you would allow if Druid multiclass.

Tweaks I think should be normal behavior

Sorcerer: +CHA damage applies to every instance of the damage. Regains used Sorcery points up to proficiency bonus every short rest. Learn additional Metamagic at level 7.

Evoker Wizard: +INT to damage applies to every instance of damage roll.

Undying Light Warlock: same (ops, sorry that one is UA ^^).

Unarmored Defense: they obviously don't stack, but if you gain another one you can choose once (and only once).

4E Monks: you learn one additional Discipline each time (so you start with 3, and learn 2 additional instead of just 1).

EK: can cast again BOTH bound weapons as a bonus action provided both hands are free. Can bind a shield (well, this is not explicitely against RAW in the first place ^^).

Houserule you could consider (thinking only multiclass potential "problems", nearly nothing to tweak on base class):
Monk / Druid: access Unarmored Defense on 2/2, Step of the Wind on 3/3, Martial Arts on 4+/4+: everything else (including Stunning Strike) works from the get-go.

Monk / Rogue: consider any light Monk weapon as finesse at 2/2. All Monk weapons become "finesse" at 4/4.

Monk / Barbarian: consider any two-handed, non heavy weapon as "Monk" from 4/4. Consider all weapons as Monk from 8 / 8

These are just rules I make to reward players that really go through with their concepts.

Other fun tweaks
4E: instead of the basic Discipline, give choice of three cantrips among Druidcraft and elemental-themed utility cantrips.

Elemental Bane: upcast = choose one willing creature to benefit of same effect as you.

Darkness/Silence : upcast = +10 feet radius.

Fog Cloud: upcast = bonus action movable 5 feet. Higher level = additional +5 feet on move.

Longstrider: upcast = +5 feet move.

Jump: upcast = modifier=(x+1).

Aid: upcast = +10 instead of +5.

Witch Bolt: upcast = +5 range, +1 die damage on both counts.

Twin: affects "equipment buff" spells.


My biggest issue in 5e (And DnD in general) is that it places too much emphasis on hack and slash and not enough on roleplay. The background section of the PHB tries to help the issue but it is basically applying a band-aid to try and save a decapitation victim.
To solve that issue, I port over the experience rewards from a different system. In addition to gaining XP from kills, the players can the following XP values for their accomplishments:
10-25 points for performing the right skill (successful or not), at the right time, for the right reason, for mid to high level characters (4th level and up), this might apply only to skills performed when they are absolutely critical or done under stressful conditions.
25-50 points for a clever, but futile idea.
25-50 points for using good judgment or one's power or skill well.
25-50 points for playing in character when it would have been easier not to.
25-100 points for a clever, useful/helpful idea or action.
50-100 points for avoiding unnecessary' violence; self-restraint or talking, bluffing or intimidating oneself (and associates) out of trouble or danger.
50-100 points for a small act of self-sacrifice, or an act of kindness, mercy, or compassion.
50-100 points for insightful and helpful deductive reasoning or keen observation.
50-100 points for a successful daring or heroic action (whether it was clever or not).
75-150 points for playing in character/playing one's alignment when circumstance or powerful temptation begged otherwise.
100 points for a quick thinking idea or action that was helpful.
100-200 points for insight or deductive reasoning that plays a huge role in a critical plan or saving lives.
200 points for a critical plan or action that saves the character's own life and/or a few comrades.
400-1000 points for a critical plan or action that saves the entire group and/or many innocent people.
100-300 points for endangering the character's own life (self-sacrifice) to help or save others.
500-700 points for a genuine life and death self-sacrifice in a situation where the character's heroism seemed likely (or almost certain) to cost him his life. Eeaping in front of an energy blast meant for someone else to save that person, even though the blast is likely to kill the hero, or offering his/her own life to save the group or an innocent person (and the exchange truly seems to be a death sentence with no apparent chance for escape). Odds are that the character will really die!


I also track XP for each character individually. Everyone gets equal XP for kills as per the norm but roleplay xp applies only to those that earn it.
My Gosh!!
I totally agree with you that roleplay and more generally alternative solutions to plain kill should always be rewarded...
But this system is overly tedious...

You are DM, you are the one who knows how much XP players will get: just hint that killing is not the most rewarding path, and if they follow it give much more xp than expected initially.
Then award on the fly xp when players unsuspectedly behave smart or pacifist.

[CaptainSarathai]

My major suggestions:

1) Use the following Rest rules
Short = 8hrs (current Long Rest)
Long = 24hrs
Long rests can only be initiated in a "safe place" and must include 8hrs of sleep. Players are not allowed to enter combat (roll initiative) or take damage during this time. They may still craft, interact with NPCs, roll Skill Checks, and use any remaining spell slots. At the end of the 24hrs, everyone gets their health, slots, and abilities back as usual.
--This is useful for campaigns that are not just constant slogs through encounters, as the game is balanced around a 6-8 Encounter day, with 2-3 Short Rests between each Long. That's a LOT of time spent in a day! This breaks that up to roughly a "work week" of adventuring.

2) PAM+HWM don't stack.
Heavy Weapon Master cannot be applied to the d4 attack from PAM.

3) Switch TwoWeaponFighter and DualWielder.
Swap it so that TWF now allows a character to use non-light weapons. Dual Wielder allows the addition of your Ability to damage.
--This makes dual-wielding better for ALL classes, and (except for VHuman) puts a delay on the damage spike from getting Stats to your Bonus Attack. Before L5, going with vanilla TWF is better than fighting with a greatweapon, for 2d6+2Stat rather than 2d6+Stat.
---

These are the house rules that I always use. Other rules come and go by nature of the campaign or party. These are steadfast though.

[DeathEatsCurry]

1. Clarify if targets are aware when a spell is being cast on them, when the spell has no outwardly noticable effects and the caster isn't seen casting (either through Subtle Spell or by just not being seen). This matters a lot for certain spells like Hex. Whether or not a target is aware that they're Hexed changes a lot in the dynamic of using that spell, particularly for social and stealth situations. You can go either way on this, but clarify in your rules.

2. Clarify specific class-interactions (and make sure to check errata). Even if the PHB says Paladins Smite with pally spell slots, it's been clarified this works with any spell slot, for instance. Particularly worthy of note is the interaction between Monks and Wild Shape. YMMV if this even comes up.

3. Clarify what you do with Natural 1's. Now I know the book just says this is an automiss and that's it, and I agree with this. But the Natural 1 = ridiculous failure houserule is so engrained in the community, people often think this is an actual rule. I personally abhor this houserule, for several reasons, but make sure your party is aware of your stance on this due to how often it comes up.


My personal houserules:

1. You're allowed to bring any kind of (RAW legal) character to the table, on two conditions: First, you need to be able to explain in your own words (so no prints of forum posts) how your characters and their interactions function. Second, once I understand your interactions, you have to realize that I can use them against you. Anything you can bring, I can bring. Note that this rule is a lot more relevant for 3.5, 4e and other systems I run like Shadowrun. In 4e there many builds that relied on really complex (and imo fun) interactions that you needed to understand, so forcing my players to be able to explain them ensured they didn't slow the game down. The second part is in place to ensure my players treat every build with a grain of common sense, and they don't bring stupid, obviously broken builds to the table, but stick to the optimized and sane stuff.

2. No decision-heavy (Sorcadin especially, most casters) or micro-heavy (Necromancers, Conjure Animals) characters for players I know are slow thinkers. Yes Bob, I know you want to play a necromancer with a zombie horde, but your turns were ridiculously slow when you were playing a straightforward barbarian, so let's not for everyone's sake.

3. If someone wants to play a straight Ranger, I direct them to the UA on the revised Ranger. This is one of two UA I allow at my table without question. They're perfectly fine sticking to the PHB Ranger, I just want to have my players be informed.

4. If you pick an unusual and MAD multiclass, and you have a very good story reason for it, I waive attribute requirements to allow them to still pull their weight. Note this only applies to multiclasses that are generally considered to be pretty poor even beyond MAD (so no Sorcadin shenanigens). These characters are already punished enough, and I see this more as a hybrid class than an explicit multiclass if my players convince me of this through good storytelling.

5. Similarly, if you want to have an odd race/class coupling for RP reasons, I allow the player to switch the highest attribute bonus for the primary attribute of that class. Only if it's for RP reasons though. If you're in an odd race to exploit a racial trait, you stick to RAW. Again, this is to ensure people aren't punished mechanically for reasons that are solely RP.

6. If you mentioned natural-1-fails or stat rolling, I hit you with a book.