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View Full Version : [Pathfinder PEACH] My house rules, version 3.1



Roxxy
2012-02-06, 05:25 PM
I like to modify my Pathfinder games a bit. Here is what I have, critiques, suggestions, and requests for explanations or justifications are appreciated.

Many of these rules are similar to the 3.0 version posted here, but some things were removed and some things added.



Materiel from the Core Rulebook, Advanced Player's Guide, Ultimate Combat, and Ultimate Magic is allowed. Firearms are restricted to campaigns specifically intended for them.

From the third party supplement Psionics Unleashed, everything except the races is allowed.

The GM owns the following 3E/3.5 books (http://thyressa.wikia.com/wiki/Books_The_GM_Owns). Materiel from these books is allowed or disallowed on a case by case basis, and may be tweaked if necessary.

Online materiel may or may not be allowed. The GM will make this decision prior to character creation. If the GM decides that it is allowed, materiel from Grit and Gunslingers and the Ardwright (http://www.pathfinderdb.com/character-options/classes/288-ardwright) are allowed, and materiel from Maxximilius's Archetypes (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1T54NZ_Hyz0Tj6b0DGO4uuihfhT7zjZ-aF3I_nD24PyI/edit?pli=1), Meepo's Archetypes (http://paizo.com/forums/dmtz51hq?Epic-Meepo-Presents-Archetypes), and SmiloDan's Classes (http://paizo.com/forums/dmtz4fr8?Im-bored-give-me-ideas-for-a-new-base-class-I) is allowed by GM approval of the specific option in question.

If the GM allows something that proves to be unbalanced, the player may be asked to modify or replace the option in question.

The GM will provide a list of races that exist in her campaign setting prior to character creation. Some races, such as Gnomes and Halflings, are not available. Some new races are available, and some other races are modified. The list provided will explain all of this.

All races may use human stats in place of their racial stats if desired, or the official stats for the race may be used. This is a temporary house rule, in effect until the Advanced Race Guide is released.

Combat maneuvers may be taken as move actions if desired. This does not replace the official rules for combat maneuvers, it adds to them.

Casting a spell causes you to become flat footed until your next turn.

Ultimate Combat katana stats are not used. Katanas use longsword, bastard sword, or great sword stats, depending on the size of the individual sword.

All classes except the fighter get an additional 2 skill points per level. This applies to archetypes that modify skill points.

Fighters get an additional 4 skill points per level. This applies to archetypes that modify skill points.

Spontaneous casters do not increase a spell's casting time when using metamagic.

Spontaneous casters do not get delayed spell progression (spell list under construction).

Sorcerers get +1 spell known per spell level.

Divine spellcasters posses spellbooks as a Wizard (1-9 level spells) or Magus (1-6 level spells). 1-4 level casters do not posses spellbooks.

Fighters add the following skills to their list of class skills: Acrobatics, Bluff, Diplomacy, Fly, Heal, Knowledge (Any), Linguistics, Perception, Perform, Sense Motive, Spellcraft, Stealth, Use Magic Device

Two Weapon Fighting and Vital Strike scale with level. This means you gain the improved version for free as soon as you meet the prerequisites.

All characters get Vital Strike for free.

All Characters get Combat Expertise, Power Attack, Weapon Finesse, Point-Blank Shot, and Precise Shot for free.

Polearms with the trip feature or ability to grapple may be used to, with a trip or grapple attempt at a -2 penalty, pull rider from her mount, causing her to fall prone in a space next to her mount.

Scimitars, Quarterstaffs, Bo Staffs, and Longswords are finessable weapons.

A Spear (not a Longspear or Shortspear) may be used as a double weapon if desired, with the blunt end treated as a Quarterstaff.

You can shield bash with a buckler. It is treated as a light shield with a -1 damage penalty.

A crossbow can be sized for a strength bonus. It gains this bonus to damage, just like a composite bow, and sizing it for a strength bonus costs the same as sizing a composite bow for a strength bonus. Using a crossbow sized for a strength bonus you do not possess does not give you a penalty to attack rolls. However, it does make it difficult to reload, as you must put a lot more effort into it. Add a full round action to the reload time for each point of strength bonus the crossbow is sized for that you do not possess. If the crossbow has no strength bonus and you have a strength penalty, reload time is not increased. You may not purchase a crossbow with a strength bonus more than 2 points higher than your modifier.

Divine spellcasters may be polytheistic.

Each paladin has a personalized code of conduct put together by the GM and player during character creation. The Core Rulebook code of conduct does not apply, this personalized code does. If it is violated, the paladin begins to fall from grace.

A paladin's fall from grace takes a long time, with the character losing paladin abilities for antipaladin abilities one by one as she descends further and further into unacceptable actions, until finally there is nothing left of her paladin abilities whatsoever. The GM decides when a paladin begins to fall, and the GM will not have a paladin begin falling without warning her about her actions so that she may avoid falling, unless she does something extremely evil, like genocide. Redemption works the opposite way, with antipaladin abilities being traded out for paladin abilities one by one as the paladin steadily ascends towards the path of good.

Alignment is not used. Here (http://paizo.com/forums/dmtz389l?Intelligence-Check-Removing-Alignment-from#0) is an explanation of how this effects the game.

The atonement spell does not exist. Things that would require it are handled via RP.

Plane shifting spells are not available to mortals, only to outsiders. Plane shifting requires special techniques and components that require multiple adventures just to discover. The existence of planes and outsiders is known, but they are not well understood. They can be summoned and bound with the proper spells.

Any outsider of good bent is called an Angel, and any outsider of evil bent is called a Demon.

No time stop, wish, or miracle spells, including limited wish or minor miracle. Time Stop does not exist, and wishes and miracles are the domain of powerful outsiders, fey, and magic items.

Teleportation magic is only allowed for summoning, spell like abilities, or supernatural abilities. Spellcasters may not cast teleportation spells, but class abilities that teleport still work, and monsters with innate teleportation ability can use it.

You may reroll a failed knowledge check if you come across a source of additional information such as a book or an overheard NPC comment.

There is no level or stat loss when being raised from the dead. However, it does cause mental stress. Roll a will save (DC 10 + character level + days dead). If you fail, you gain an insanity (3.5 Unearthed Arcana insanity, not Gamemastery Guide insanity). Insanities are not determined randomly. Instead, the GM talks with the player to see which insanity the player is most comfortable roleplaying, and gives the character that insanity. Characters who are raised from the dead have no memory of what happened to them after they died. The fate of the dead is unknown to mortals.

All medium armor uses the stats for either hide or breastplate, and all heavy armor uses full plate stats. Armors can still be made out of unusual materials (such as adamantine or mithril). The reason for this house rule is that there is no reason to wear medium armor that isn't a breastplate (unless you are a druid or first level character) or heavy armor that isn't full plate once you have the gold for it, and I dislike that, so I prefer for medium and heavy armor to have the same stats, with the differences being aesthetic. That way, you can wear chainmail instead of a breastplate or heavy lamellar instead of full plate without being less effective for it.

Traits are not used.

Ability scores are 25 point buy. Alternatively, you may roll 4d6, drop lowest die 6 times, then reroll the lowest result, in the presence of the GM.

When leveling up, you may either roll HP in the presence of the GM or just assume an average roll (which is half of the maximum dice roll, not a fraction).

Witches have a choice between summoning a familiar and forming an arcane bond. Witch familiars work the same as witch familiars, except they do not store spells, and the arcane bond feature works as the Wizard class feature, except that it also provides one extra spell level per two witch levels that must be spent on metamagic. A witch writes spells in a grimoire, which functions like a wizard's spellbook but holds a great deal of ritual significance to the witch. A witch who loses a grimoire is treated as a witch in another Pathfinder game who has lost a familiar. A witch coven does not need to posses a hag. Bluff is on the list of witch class skills. The witch is considered an alternate class of the wizard.

No communing with deities. Aside from the occasional cryptic sign or message, the deities don't talk to mortals very much.

Divine spellcasters can't lose their powers for becoming corrupt. Divine law forbids this. One's divine power can, however, be warped by one's emotions, meaning that, say, a Paladin could become an Anti-Paladin.

Ammunition, food, and water is not tracked unless scarcity is important to the adventure. Spell components are only tracked if they have a specific cost or scarcity is important to the adventure. If the GM decides to track resources, she will inform the players ahead of time so that they may prepare for this.

All characters are literate regardless of class except for those with the true primitive archetype.

Magic ratings (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/magicRating.htm) are used. Arcane and divine magic ratings do not stack with each other.

Ultimate Combat called shots are allowed.

The following classes are renamed:

Barbarian - Berserker
Samurai - Vassal
Ninja - Trickster

All spells with the healing subtype belong to the necromancy school.

There is no such thing as positive and negative energy. Instead there is healing energy (which acts like positive energy) and harming energy (which acts like negative energy). If you can channel energy, pick one of these two abilities or an alternative channel from Ultimate Magic each time you channel energy.

Undead are healed by healing energies and harmed by harming energies. This means that channeling healing energy will NOT harm undead as is usual.