We have been thinking about house rules lately,rules and systems - I want to put them up here, as a reference.
The first part is this: to create a compendium of rules. we have talked about things we should try, but have not implemented much of it, partly because when you are playing, you have to have fairly stable sources for the rules. Rules shouldn't change on the fly. They can change - but when possible, the changes should be put into tangible form, for future reference. This is probably something important, as we start playing more and more - to get a compendium of material related to our games together in one place. Some of the posts I started doing this winter were aimed at that - to get a kind of background document together,about the setting. That bogged,but it's still there, and moving - what's here is more complicated than anything I would put together for the table,but it is the base. Or will be, once I do it some more.
Anyway - this is for house rules and optional rules. Things we want to do in our games, apart from the regular rules; as well as which optional rules we want to use. So - get to it. I will explain the rules, an add notes on their purpose.
1. • Fighting Style: Fencing
If you are wielding finesse weapon(s), and wearing light or no armor, you may add your intelligence to your AC.
- I liked 3.x's duellist prestige class - the rapier wielding specialist, that kind of thing. This is basically that rule - I think this fits the style. I am not sure if this is balanced completely - though it seems to fit he frameworks the game already has - similar mechanic to unarmored defense fo monks or barbarians.
2. Standing from prone provokes an attack of opportunity.
- I have been harping on this for 3 years - I don't know if this needs to be very complicated. The main reason to get this inhere is to make knocking people down more valuable. Half movement penalty can be relevant, but not often enough (in combat) to make knocking people down a strong option. At least that I have seen. There is logic to it too - it's not easy standing up with someone whacking at you.
3. Add Healing word to paladin spell list.
- This may or may not matter, but I like it. It feels right from a flavor standpoint - why shouldn't paladins be able to shout at their allies and heal them? Paladins ought to shout a lot. Apart from that, at low levels,at least,paladins feel -hamstrung. They have a lot of real power, but other than boosting attacks, they seem constrained - everything is an action. Adding this might gve them a bit more flexibility.
4. If a creature attempts to interact with an object not on their person, you may use your reaction to attempt to prevent whatever action they are trying to do. This imposes a strength or Dexterity check against theirs. (Both parties may choose the ability.) In case of ties: if the object is in either character’s space, they win; if it is not in their space, the status quo remains in place.
- This is tentative - I don't know how well it works, or even if it is necessary to make a rule of it. Again - this is to make actions like disarming someone more valuable. If anyone can just grab an object sitting on the ground, the value of disarming becomes entirely a function of where you are in the initiative order. So - give someone the chance to block someone else trying to grab such an object. This seems like it would work.
These are optional rules from the DMG, which we haven't used,but should. Putting them here is to make sure everyone understands them at the table:
1. Disarming - make a weapon attack vs DC = strength or dex; success disarms the enemy. Disadvantage vs 2-handed weapons; dis- or advantage if you are a size smaller or larger.
- I think we have used this before - this is a way to keep the rule more handy than the optional section of the DMG. Also, obviously,becomes more important combined with the pick up rule above...
2. Overrun - Strength vs strength (size gives advantage or disadvantage), and success moves the enemy and lets you move through.
3. Shove Aside = like shove, but move to the side, at disadvantage.
4. Tumble - same as overrun, but with Dex (acrobatics) vs dex.
- I'm less convinced of this - from a simulation standpoint more than the rules. This is up to others.
5. Hitting cover: if the attack roll would have hit the target without the cover - have ti hit the cover. If a creature provides cover, the creature is hit; if an object - the missile is in the cover.
- we are lax about the cover rules - a creature should be able to provide cover for another creature. we should use those more - if we did, this would be important, I think. There should be some of these things.
6. Morale - DC 10 wisdom saving throw - if lower, run if they can, surrender if they can’t.
- this is useful too. I have done things like this in fights - though making it up on my own. Usually better to use a rule that exists - they have thought these things out more than I have.
And finally - this is a idea about systems for tracking limited actions during encounters. Basically - give everyone a set of markers for different kinds of actions - when they do these things, they toss one into the pot. When they get them back (long rest,short rest, etc) - they get one back. These are the main types of actions I can think of, and ideas about the kinds of tokens to use for them.
1) Spells: use poker chips - colors per level. When you cast one, you put the chip into a pot. When you get them back (from an arcane recovery, a rest, using a different resource, like sorcery points), you take the chip back.
2) Class features:
(A) most of these should use dice (some literally are dice, but dice work for most. Any token could of course. there are a LOT of these, so dice could run into problems, given the number of dice already on the table.) These include:
- Barbarian Rages
- Cleric Channel Divinity
- Druid wild shape
- Fighter superiority dice
- Monk Ki points
- Paladin channel divinity
- Sorcerer points
(B) Some would work better with other means:
- Second Wind & Action Surge are single use abilities, so would be better served with tokens or chits
- Paladin Lay On Hands is more complicated, as they are not limited by their uses but by the number of points to use. Chits, again, would probably work better.
- Might also be true for ki and sorcerer points
3) Racial Features - these are best represented by some kind of token - a toy or something.
- Dragonborn Breath
- Goliath damage reduction hit dice
- Half-orc relentless endurance
- Maybe eladrin fey steps?
- Maybe gith psionics?
4) Hit Dice: probably best representing with chits - like the ones in those Dungeon Command type games! which I have plenty of...
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