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  1. - Top - End - #121
    Dwarf in the Playground
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    Default Re: House rules, what has worked for you

    I'm a big fan of a UA homebrew initiative alternative:

    https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/une...awk-initiative

    Once the players get the hang of it, I really like it. Any action they want to do, you just create a die for initiative. Roll multiple die, lowest scores win. No dexterity or stat modifiers (although I am experimenting with that).

    I've kind of homebrewed the whole system for myself and working out the kinks.

    I just really don't like how strong DEX is in 5th edition and really don't like initiative RAW. This kind of fixes both issues.

  2. - Top - End - #122
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    SolithKnightGuy

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    Default Re: House rules, what has worked for you

    Quote Originally Posted by Luccan View Post
    Since this is a thread on houserules, how about Witch Bolt damage as a bonus action? Too much or too little?
    How about:
    1. action to cast
    2. bonus action to do extra damage
    3. remove the range limitation after the initial hit
    4. cannot affect a creature you cannot see (full cover, invisible, hidden, darkness, fog cloud...)
    ?

  3. - Top - End - #123
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    SwashbucklerGuy

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    Default Re: House rules, what has worked for you

    Have we hit the end?

  4. - Top - End - #124
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    Man_Over_Game's Avatar

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    Default Re: House rules, what has worked for you

    Quote Originally Posted by cullynthedwarf View Post
    Have we hit the end?
    I made a bunch, ran them threw a few veterans on the forums, and used them in real-play. They all do a good job for what they're designed for.

    Improved Stealth: Summarized, if Stealth would end on your turn (from something other than an attack), it instead ends when your turn does unless you take a Hide Action and succeed on your check (Contested against all creatures who you would have revealed yourself to on your turn). Total, this means that people can actually do solo stealth missions, use melee attacks while hidden, and other shenanigans. It's fully laid out so there's no ambiguity for pretty much any situation. Let me know if you want the details.

    Improved Initiative: Summarized, roll Initiative at the end of Long or Short Rests instead of at the start of combat, reroll throughout the day if good-or-bad things happen to a player. With a static initiative, the DM can call for immediate action without the dreaded "Roll For Initiative" Syndrome, where players only care about threats when Initiative is relevant. With options like Advantage/Disadvantage on a character's initiative, players will also be incentivized to prepare for their resting conditions. Let me know if you want the details.

    Prestige Options: Link in my signature. Classes can utilize alternate primary stats (like Wizards using Wisdom), so long as very specific requirements are met. Should those requirements not be met, the character simply reverts to using the default stat. A few examples are Strength-Monk, Dexterity-Barbarian, Intelligence-Bard, Charisma-Druid. Balance justifications behind every single Option (with at least 1 Option per class) are provided in the link.

    Adrenaline Surge: Link in my signature. Halfway through a fight, something big happens and Players get a Short Rest while badguys get a mechanic change to the encounter. This allows DMs who prefer fewer fights in a day to separate their encounters into 2 fights instead of 1 (meaning difficulty can be accounted for), Short Rest classes get their bonuses (so Warlocks aren't shafted in a 1-fight-per-day group), Hit Dice get used (important for Barbarians/Melee Classes), and fights don't get stale. The event could be triggered by a boss entering a new form, enemy waves using a new strategy, or an environmental effect creates a moment of confusion for both sides.

    Pain (Note: Not playtested yet): Link in my signature. Sacrifice damage and a bonus action to make a Called Shot, which can hit a creature or a target object. When hitting a creature, you might inflict a temporary Exhaustion effect, "Pain", on a target if they fail a Constitution Save. Pain goes away when the creature is fully healed, from a Medicine Check, or when taking a Rest, but otherwise works identically to (and stacks with) Exhaustion. This gives martial combatants more options in combat, as well as forcing enemies to lose their Legendary Resistances. The downside is that the DM will occasionally have to remember that things start going downhill for units as early as 2-Pain.
    Last edited by Man_Over_Game; 2019-12-11 at 12:42 PM.
    Quote Originally Posted by KOLE View Post
    MOG, design a darn RPG system. Seriously, the amount of ideas I’ve gleaned from your posts has been valuable. You’re a gem of the community here.

    5th Edition Homebrewery
    Prestige Options, changing primary attributes to open a world of new multiclassing.
    Adrenaline Surge, fitting Short Rests into combat to fix bosses/Short Rest Classes.
    Pain, using Exhaustion to make tactical martial combatants.
    Fate Sorcery, lucky winner of the 5e D&D Subclass Contest VII!

  5. - Top - End - #125
    Orc in the Playground
     
    GnomePirate

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    Default Re: House rules, what has worked for you

    Quote Originally Posted by Man_Over_Game View Post
    Improved Stealth: Summarized, if Stealth would end on your turn (from something other than an attack), it instead ends when your turn does unless you take a Hide Action and succeed on your check (Contested against all creatures who you would have revealed yourself to on your turn). Total, this means that people can actually do solo stealth missions, use melee attacks while hidden, and other shenanigans. It's fully laid out so there's no ambiguity for pretty much any situation. Let me know if you want the details.
    Details are good. I want them. Gimme!


    My DM allows paladins to Lay on Hands as a BA, which I would ordinarily have said is bad, but it's the only thing that allowed us to avoid TPKs several times (because I spent my turn dodging and reviving allies for most of the battle). I think he might overtune combat a teeny bit.

    Another houserule that works is "NPCs are only allowed to benefit from a crit 1 / round". This was after my paladin was crit 6 times in 3 rounds of combat (plus several crits on other PCs). There isn't any counterpoint to limiting the crits PCs get.

    Spoiler: Houserule that didn't work
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    Crits deal max damage of attack + whatever the dice rolled. This was scrapped after one combat, before the limit on DM crits was imposed.



    Spoiler: Some rules I've considered if I were to run a game
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    Spoilered because they haven't actually been used yet:

    1. Merge all of the weapon feats (Tavern Brawler, Charger, XBE, Defensive Duelist, Grappler, GWM, Shield Master, Weapon Master, Dual Wielder, PAM, SS), into a single feat, but weaken the outliers (GWM / PAM / SS / XBE), and buff a few (Dual Wielding, Grappler, Weapon Master). This allows anyone who takes the feat to be good with ALL weapons (Weapon Master gives proficiency with all weapons, too, instead of just 4)

    2. Replacing the weapon / armor tables with the info in my signature (allows a lot more variety in equipment before accounting for magic items)

    3. Crits no longer deal extra damage. Instead, they impose conditions based on the damage types used in the attack / spell. Each damage type has 3 tiers of crit effects (strong, moderate, and weak). PCs deal Moderate crits. Most enemies deal Weak crits (while elite enemies would deal Moderate crits, and bosses would deal Strong crits). Lvl 5 Rogues deal Strong crits (when other martials get Extra Attack).

    ---The most interesting crit effect would be Radiant: the target gets a bonus to attacks and forces penalties to saves they impose, but take disadvantage to ability checks they make and take 2d8 * [attacker's Proficiency bonus] damage every turn. The effect lasts until the target spends an action to calm themselves and clear their soul.

    4. Not really a houserule, but still: Full use will be made of the DMG "Skills with Different Abilities" variant on PHB 175. Also, passive checks will be used a lot (any situation that would normally have opposed rolls, the defender uses their passive score).

    5. Again, not really a houserule, but enemies will be made / chosen to spread out the save effects across all 6 stats, rather than focusing primarily on DEX/CON/INT.
    STR and INT become mostly for avoiding things that trap you (physical restraints | illusions).
    DEX and WIS become mostly for avoiding highly damaging effects, or some other effects (prone | fear).
    CON and CHA become mostly for avoiding nasty statuses (poison | possession) or being moved (pushes | teleports).
    --- PC spells / abilities aren't impacted by this change.



  6. - Top - End - #126
    Firbolg in the Playground
     
    Man_Over_Game's Avatar

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    Default Re: House rules, what has worked for you

    Quote Originally Posted by malachi View Post
    Details are good. I want them. Gimme!
    The Deets:
    Quote Originally Posted by Man_Over_Game View Post
    The Rules:


    • You may attempt to Hide when you are Heavily Obscured from every enemy's detection (including from Full Cover)
    • If you move into an enemy's line of sight, you are still considered hidden until the end of your turn, when you are then revealed. You may not be revealed if you end your turn while in a location you could attempt to Hide in, and you take the Hide Action before your turn ends. This cannot be the same Hide action that you took to initiate your Stealth.
      • If you enter an enemy's line of sight while not Partially Obscured (I.E. dim lighting, fog, heavy rain), then they have Advantage with their passive Perception to detect you.
    • If you are spotted and are within 15 feet of where you were last seen, Perception Checks and Passive Perception made against your Stealth Checks have advantage until the end of your next turn.
    • If an enemy cannot hear you, their Perception checks and Passive Perception to detect you have Disadvantage.
    • Attacking is the exception; if you attack, you are immediately revealed to the target after your attack resolves.
    • If you are revealed to a creature, you are revealed to all other creatures that can communicate with it.

    These abilities are subject to change to other abilities in-game, as in instances related to Wood Elves or the Skulker feat.
    Quote Originally Posted by KOLE View Post
    MOG, design a darn RPG system. Seriously, the amount of ideas I’ve gleaned from your posts has been valuable. You’re a gem of the community here.

    5th Edition Homebrewery
    Prestige Options, changing primary attributes to open a world of new multiclassing.
    Adrenaline Surge, fitting Short Rests into combat to fix bosses/Short Rest Classes.
    Pain, using Exhaustion to make tactical martial combatants.
    Fate Sorcery, lucky winner of the 5e D&D Subclass Contest VII!

  7. - Top - End - #127
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    DrowGuy

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    Default Re: House rules, what has worked for you

    Level 4 gives an ASI and a Feat.

    Minimum HP/level before Con mod = average of your hit die, rounded down.

    Group Skill Checks - When multiple people want to do the same thing, additional parties are force multipliers. Mostly applies to Stealth but could also be useful for “need X of something to advance” (pushing things, gathering food) or “get X done at what speed” (scavenger hunts, crossing a bridge tethered to each other).
    Cookie Count: One

    Quote Originally Posted by digiman619 View Post
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  8. - Top - End - #128
    Dwarf in the Playground
     
    Griffon

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    Default Re: House rules, what has worked for you

    Quote Originally Posted by Demonslayer666 View Post
    House rules that all the DMs at our table use:
    If you roll poorly on HP, you can take the DM's roll, but you have to take it.

    House rules when I DM:
    Long rest no longer heals you to full, HD recovery is slower. Added Very long rest to heal to full.
    Flanking is +2 to hit.
    Shoving takes an attack instead of an action.
    Grappling can be advanced to restrained with another successful check (but at disadvantage).
    Restrained also causes actions to be difficult to perform, like spell casting - requiring a Concentration check.
    Advantage and Disadvantage stack, one will not cancel out all of the other.
    Dropping to zero HP gives you a level of exhaustion.
    Subdual damage for non-lethal attacks, tracked as negative temp HP. Heals with any rest or magical healing.
    Identifying magic items during a rest only reveals 1 property per hour spent researching the item.
    Bonuses to Passive perception add to Perception (Observant feat).
    Bloodied - like fourth edition, I let the players know when opponents fall below half.
    I like these house rules quite a bit. All of them except for the flanking one. In a D&D edition where walking circles around an enemy doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity, even a +2 bonus is too much.
    Last edited by Solusek; 2019-12-11 at 03:10 PM.

  9. - Top - End - #129
    Firbolg in the Playground
     
    Man_Over_Game's Avatar

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    Default Re: House rules, what has worked for you

    Quote Originally Posted by Solusek View Post
    I like these house rules quite a bit. All of them except for the flanking one. In a D&D edition where walking circles around an enemy doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity, even a +2 bonus is too much.
    One thing I've used is +1 to hit for each other creature adjacent to that target that is its enemy. Deduct this bonus by -2 if the target has a shield, -1 if the target is wielding a different weapon in each hand, +1 for each of the target's adjacent enemies that has Pack Tactics.

    So if you're surrounded by 4 creatures, each of them gets +3 to hit. If you have a shield, each of them gets only +1 to hit.

    If you're surrounded by 3 creatures, and all of them have Pack Tactics, they each get +4 to hit (+1 for each other adjacent enemy, +1 for each other adjacent enemy with Pack Tactics).

    It makes Great Weapon Fighting have some severe downsides, while buffing Two-Weapon Fighting and Sword-and-Board Fighting more preferable, while also encouraging your allies to engage in melee combat (which helps divide damage evenly across the party, which is optimal for 5e).


    This cuts down on circling (which is easy, as you've mentioned), but still provides incentive for engaging and surrounding a solitary target, or bottlenecking enemies. Lastly, it provides a well-needed boon to melee combatants, as Ranged combat is superior in almost every way.
    Last edited by Man_Over_Game; 2019-12-11 at 03:22 PM.
    Quote Originally Posted by KOLE View Post
    MOG, design a darn RPG system. Seriously, the amount of ideas I’ve gleaned from your posts has been valuable. You’re a gem of the community here.

    5th Edition Homebrewery
    Prestige Options, changing primary attributes to open a world of new multiclassing.
    Adrenaline Surge, fitting Short Rests into combat to fix bosses/Short Rest Classes.
    Pain, using Exhaustion to make tactical martial combatants.
    Fate Sorcery, lucky winner of the 5e D&D Subclass Contest VII!

  10. - Top - End - #130
    Dwarf in the Playground
     
    Griffon

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    Default Re: House rules, what has worked for you

    Quote Originally Posted by Man_Over_Game View Post
    One thing I've used is +1 to hit for each other creature adjacent to that target that is its enemy. Deduct this bonus by -2 if the target has a shield
    I do like that added benefit for using a shield. Swarms of things might get out of hand with a bonus that could scale to +9 or higher! Perhaps capping out at no higher than +2 after all modifiers could be a compromise.

  11. - Top - End - #131
    Troll in the Playground
     
    Luccan's Avatar

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    Default Re: House rules, what has worked for you

    Here's one I have used: everyone starts with a feat. I used this for a non-standard game (everyone was some kind of goblinoid) so not sure how I'd work it with V. Human (other than no double feat). It didn't go on as long as it should have thanks to college, but what play it saw wasn't broken. Mostly it freed up a few character concepts.
    Quote Originally Posted by Nifft View Post
    All Roads Lead to Gnome.

    I for one support the Gnoman Empire.
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    E6 Iron Chef XVI Shared First Place: Black Wing

    E6 Iron Chef XXI Shared Second Place: The Shadow's Hand


  12. - Top - End - #132
    Orc in the Playground
     
    GnomePirate

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    Default Re: House rules, what has worked for you

    Quote Originally Posted by Man_Over_Game View Post
    The Deets:
    Thanks! It looks completely reasonable, and that it'd add fun for that playstyle.



    Quote Originally Posted by Man_Over_Game View Post
    One thing I've used is +1 to hit for each other creature adjacent to that target that is its enemy. Deduct this bonus by -2 if the target has a shield, -1 if the target is wielding a different weapon in each hand, +1 for each of the target's adjacent enemies that has Pack Tactics.

    So if you're surrounded by 4 creatures, each of them gets +3 to hit. If you have a shield, each of them gets only +1 to hit.

    If you're surrounded by 3 creatures, and all of them have Pack Tactics, they each get +4 to hit (+1 for each other adjacent enemy, +1 for each other adjacent enemy with Pack Tactics).

    It makes Great Weapon Fighting have some severe downsides, while buffing Two-Weapon Fighting and Sword-and-Board Fighting more preferable, while also encouraging your allies to engage in melee combat (which helps divide damage evenly across the party, which is optimal for 5e).


    This cuts down on circling (which is easy, as you've mentioned), but still provides incentive for engaging and surrounding a solitary target, or bottlenecking enemies. Lastly, it provides a well-needed boon to melee combatants, as Ranged combat is superior in almost every way.
    Quote Originally Posted by Solusek View Post
    I do like that added benefit for using a shield. Swarms of things might get out of hand with a bonus that could scale to +9 or higher! Perhaps capping out at no higher than +2 after all modifiers could be a compromise.
    It feels like that would get a little bit more complex than is expected for 5e, and makes swarms more dangerous than they already are - up to +8 for swarms w/out pack tactics, or +16 for those with it (or +6 and +14 for a target with a shield). It fits the simulationist "its dangerous to be outnumbered, even by inferior enemies", though.

  13. - Top - End - #133
    Firbolg in the Playground
     
    Man_Over_Game's Avatar

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    Default Re: House rules, what has worked for you

    Quote Originally Posted by malachi View Post
    Thanks! It looks completely reasonable, and that it'd add fun for that playstyle.







    It feels like that would get a little bit more complex than is expected for 5e, and makes swarms more dangerous than they already are - up to +8 for swarms w/out pack tactics, or +16 for those with it (or +6 and +14 for a target with a shield). It fits the simulationist "its dangerous to be outnumbered, even by inferior enemies", though.
    It'd be 1 (or 2, with PT) less than your numbers, since a creature doesn't count himself.

    This'd mean that a character with a shield can take on 3 units at once before suffering Flanking problems.

    Account for the +2 AC on the shield, and that means that a character with a Shield starts being hit "as normal" when surrounded by 5 creatures. That is, a shield-user surrounded by 5 creatures is just as easy to be hit as a Greataxe user surrounded by 1.

    Additionally, regardless of how much bonus to hit they have, they will still be capped by their normal methods of damage (1d4+1 or whatever). 4 damage per hit, at 100% chance to hit, is still only 4 damage per attack. Compared to not being surrounded, who'd have roughly a 50% chance of being hit, would take 2 damage per attack. Honestly, it seems pretty reasonable.

    But you do make a good point. As reasonable as that sounds, +14 to hit is not.
    Last edited by Man_Over_Game; 2019-12-11 at 05:32 PM.
    Quote Originally Posted by KOLE View Post
    MOG, design a darn RPG system. Seriously, the amount of ideas I’ve gleaned from your posts has been valuable. You’re a gem of the community here.

    5th Edition Homebrewery
    Prestige Options, changing primary attributes to open a world of new multiclassing.
    Adrenaline Surge, fitting Short Rests into combat to fix bosses/Short Rest Classes.
    Pain, using Exhaustion to make tactical martial combatants.
    Fate Sorcery, lucky winner of the 5e D&D Subclass Contest VII!

  14. - Top - End - #134
    Pixie in the Playground
     
    WhiteWizardGirl

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    Default Re: House rules, what has worked for you

    Hi! One house rule I've used is when someone drops a dice on the floor they get disadvantage on that roll. It encourages people not to roll wildly but I've found it makes things a little more fun when people drop their dice.

  15. - Top - End - #135
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    HalflingRogueGuy

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    Default Re: House rules, what has worked for you

    Quote Originally Posted by CheddarChampion View Post
    Holding a spell focus allows a caster to perform somatic components with the same hand. A cleric with a holy symbol on their shield holding a shield and a mace can now cast sacred flame, for example.
    Just pointing out that this isn’t a house rule.

    You can always use the hand your using for your material component for your somatic component.

  16. - Top - End - #136
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    Lizardfolk

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    Default Re: House rules, what has worked for you

    The best houserule I played under is an alternative death and dying rules.

    At 0 HP, you dont get knocked out, though someone can try it (3 saves and if they choose to knock you out, you are knocked out and not dying).

    0 HP is level 1 of exhaustion

    1 failed save is level 2 of exhaustion

    2 failed saves is level 3 of exhaustion

    3 failed saves is death.

    This exhaustion doesn't stack with normal exhaustion.

  17. - Top - End - #137
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    SolithKnightGuy

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    Default Re: House rules, what has worked for you

    Quote Originally Posted by Trustypeaches View Post
    Just pointing out that this isn’t a house rule.

    You can always use the hand your using for your material component for your somatic component.
    AFAIK the spell you cast needs to have 'a material component that can be substituted with a focus' for the hand with the focus to be able to perform the somatic components.

    No material component -> cannot use same hand for somatic
    Material component is consumed -> cannot use same hand for somatic
    Material component has a listed price -> cannot use same hand for somatic

    Again this is just AFAIK.

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