House Rules
Summary of Changes
Skill Points for the Masses.
I feel that Wizards, Sorcerers, Fighters, and Clerics get the short end of the stick on skill points, but I also understand this is done for balance reasons. So I have decided to keep all things balanced by giving all characters and character classes and prestige classes 2 extra skill points per level (8 extra at first level). Also, I am allowing fighters and sorcerers to choose 1 additional skill of their choice (excluding Use Magic Device)and make it a class skill.
Hovering on Death's Door.
Characters normally are staggered from their wounds only at exactly zero hit points. When they go negative, even a negative 1, they fall unconscious. Later, everyone dies at -10 hit points. No variation because of health or valor. You are simply dead. Under this optional system the wounded individual gets a little more leeway. The severely wounded become staggered at zero hit points and stay awake but staggered until they negative hit points go past the character's constition modifier +1 (minimum of -1). The character does not actually die until their negative hit points equal their constitution score (minimum of -10).
As an example, Salij has a constitution of 14. He becomes staggered at zero hit points and remains conscious, but still staggered, at up to -3 hit points (his +2 modifier +1). At -4 hit points Salij would fall unconscious. Another orc soon stomps across him on his way to slay a halfling. The orc deals 7 more points of damage to the unconscious wizard, sending him to -11 hit points. Salij is still not dead though. He has 2 rounds to be healed or stabilize. If he remains in his present condition he will die in 3 rounds, when he reaches -14 hit points (negative equal to his constitution).
New Combat Maneuvers.
There are two additional combat tactics available for characters. The first is called Back-to-Back and the second is called Drive Back. These can be used as standard attack options, just like tripping, disarming, bull rushes, and sundering.
(These options were first presented in Pyramid Online, Friday Feb. 20, 2004; in the article "Guard, Turn, Dodge, Parry, Spin, Thrust! More Combat Maneuvers for d20 System" written by Justin Bacon)
Back-to-Back: On your turn you can choose to fight back-to-back with an ally as a free action. The ally must be within five feet, and must choose to fight back-to-back with you. While fighting back-to-back, you and your ally work to protect each other -- shoring up each other's defense and, literally, watching each other's back. You and your ally make attacks at a -2 penalty while fighting back-to-back, but so long as you are fighting back-to-back you cannot be flanked.
Note: You can fight back-to-back with multiple allies. However, in order to fight back-to-back with multiple allies, all your allies not only need to be within 5 feet of you, but within five feet of each other.
Drive Back: As a melee attack, you can attempt to drive back your opponent. In doing so, you are attacking in a way that should force your opponent to back away from you. When you perform the drive back maneuver, your opponent can either choose to move five feet directly away from you or remain where he is.
If he chooses to move, he suffers no adverse effects. However, you can choose to follow him (also moving five feet). If he chooses not to move, you resolve your attack against them normally.
Note: The movement taken as part of the drive back does not count against your movement or your opponent's movement for the round. Your movement does not provoke an attack of opportunity from your opponent, nor does his movement provoke an attack of opportunity from you. However, this movement may provoke attacks of opportunity from other combatants.
The Feats Improved Drive Back and Power Drive were designed to work with this option.
A Different Approach to Metamagic
This rule replaces the normal method of using metamagic feats. When a character chooses a metamagic feat they gain the ability to use it three times per day and multiple selections of the same feat are cumulative. Another side affect of this option there is no longer any advanced preparation required. This also means that spontaneous casters must no longer spend a full round action to cast a spell enhanced with a metamagic feat. Giving them the same level of access to it as a typical wizard. However there is still a limitation to the level of spells that a caster can apply any known metamagic feat to.
The maximum spell level a caster can apply a metamagic feat to is equal to the maximum spell level he is capable of casting minus the spell level adjustment of the metamagic feat. If the result of this calculation is less than zero, the character cannot apply the metamagic feat to any of his spells. A caster can apply multiple metamagic feats to a single spell, or even the same feat more than once (if that particular feat allows it) but the level adjustment is cumulative. If both silence and still feats are applied, then the level adjustment is two instead of just one.
For example, the Arch-Mage Zale is being chased by local bandits. Knowing that he has to take out the leader quickly and discreetly, he chooses to cast a maximized (-3) and silenced (-1) magic missile to take out the lead guardsman. A moment later when the enemy cleric runs to add the fallen warrior Zale lets loose with an empowered (-2) and extended (-1) melf's acid arrow. In both instances Zale must be able to cast at least 5th level spells to succeed (5-3-1 = 1st level spell for the magic missile and 5-2-1 = 2nd level spell for melf's acid arrow).
The Proper Way to Fit into Your Armor
Nonmagical armor is always crafted for a specific race and must be worn by a member of that race for the armor to grant its greatest potential benefits. In the event someone of a different race but in the same size category wears it the maximum dexterity bonus is decreased by one and the skill check penalty is increased by one. This means if an orc puts on the breastplate armor of his human victim the maximum dex bonus is +2, but the skill check penalty is -4. This is why there are orcish and orc slave armorers to be found in the wilds. Note that magic armor is a special case. See the next rule.
The Superior Fit of Magical Armor
Magical armor is both masterwork and enchanted. As such it supernaturally adjusts to better fit its wearer. At a +1 enchantment it can be worn by any race of the same size category it was made for without the additional penalties normally incurred (see house rule #4). At +2 the max dexterity bonus is increased by an additional 1. When armor is +3 the skill check penalty is reduced by 1 (skill check penalties can never go below zero regardless of armor modifiers). At +4 the max dexterity is increased by another 1. Finally, when an armor reaches +5 enchantment it reduces the skill check by 1 again and also increases max dexterity by 1 again. Shields receive only the reduced skill check penalty.
As an example here is a chart for full plate armor showing how its statistics are modified by enchantment.
| Full Plate Quality | Effective Armor Bonus | Armor Check Penalty | Max Dexterity Bonus |
| Masterwork | +8 | -5 | +1 |
| +1 | +9 | -5 | +1 |
+2 | +10 | -5 | +2 | +3 | +11 | -4 | +2 | +4 | +12 | -4 | +3 | +5 | +13 | -3 | +4 |
Weapon Selection and the Modern Druid
In the category of "I Don't Know Why" falls two weapons that aren't allowed to the druid; namely the scythe and great club. They are permitted to use the sickle and club but not their larger counterparts. There are many reasons I've heard and a few that even I came up with as to why the druid wasn't permitted, but in the end I figured, why not let them have two more weapons. So from this day forward those two particular weapons are considered weapons allowed to druids.
On Getting Rich Quick Via Wall of Iron and Wall of Stone
In the 3rd edition rules for D&D the standardization of spell definition has made a small change to two spells that was recently noticed, namely Wall of Iron and Wall of Stone; niether can be dispelled now. One of my more "resourceful" players has done a good bit of math based on figures from variious official 3rd edition sources and has discovered that his 9th level illlusionist-cohort can make half a million gold a year selling the iron made by the wall spell, not to mention the construction company potential for being able to cast permanent walls of stone. In Orignal D&D and both the first and 2nd edition of Advanced D&D the wall was always considered "permanent until dispelled" to avoid such "creative" use of the spells in question. To keep the young fellow from running off and getting quite wealthy with his iron sales behind the dutiful back of his fearless leader, I am invoking my right as Annoying Git Behind The Screen to arbitrarily change the rules. Both spells while permanent in nature are still dispellable.
Changing the Nature of Raising the Dead
Under the current set of rules, when a character dies and is then brought back via the 5th level spell Raise Dead or 7th level spell Resurrection, the character loses 1 level or if only first, 1 Constitution point. I don't want to do away with bringing back characters, but I also want it to hurt a little more when they die, after all death is not something to be taken lightly, even in fantasy. So here is the painful change that I have inflicted upon my players, when a character is brought back by either of the spells mentioned above they lose 2 attribute points off a single attribute of the player's choice instead of the normal level loss. As an added restriction, this penalty cannot be applied to the same attribute twice in a row. This is permanent adjustment to the character's attribute (well almost permanent, see the feat Strong Spirit and the new spell Restored Essence). The spell True Resurrection is not changed, that spell is meant to be very potent, it will remain so.
A New Race is Added to the List of Player Choices
The book Savage Species includes an optional new PC race, the Half-Ogre. I've let one player experiment with it and I've decided to throw it out there for the rest of the folks now. The race is very well balanced overall and any issues that might be a problem early on, it definitely evens out over time. So from this day forth a new option is available with no changes made to the class.
Making the rough and tough PC races a little scarier
Half-Orcs, Half-Ogres, and Dwarves all recieve charisma penalties. Whether or not you agree with the rightness of these attribute modifiers they are the way it is currently done. As a side effect though, the races are less intimidating. To make up for this accidental penalty, all three races now recieve a +2 racial bonus to Intimidate. All three races are typically thought to be stubborn and a little scary when angered. This adjustment is simply supposed to help reinforce that image.
The Healing Skill
This is a handy skill for anyone to take and its extremely useful just the way it is, but a little more could still be done with it though. I have decided that whenever a successful first aid check is made the patient heals 1 point of damage (2 points on a natural twenty). This can be done only once for any given wound. While my group's characters were low level, this one minor change helped them to stretch their rather limited magical healing resources.
A Miscellany of Spell Adjustments
Keen Weapons and the Improved Critical Feat
Under the 3.5 version of the rules these two abilities no longer stack. There are many great arguments made for why they should or should not be allowed to. I've seen it done both ways and keen weapons become less common once this is taken into consideration. As a form of compromise between the two I am going to try this new rule.
When a character with the improved critical feat uses a keen weapon they recieve a +4 bonus on the role to confirm the critical instead of doubling the critical range again. This should, in theory, take the middle of the road approach to the argument.
Changes to Item Costs
Weapons now use the same cost progression that armor does
+1 = 1k
+2 = 4k
+3 = 9k
+4 = 16k
+5 = 25k
The following items have had their costs halved
Potions
Scrolls
Rods
The following items have had their base formula cost changed from 375gp to 200gp
Wands (minimum caster level is 5th - all wands are at least of this level caster)
Staves (minimum caster level is 8th - nothing is ever below this caster level)
Special Condition Price Adjustments
Rings that do NOT give skill bonuses are halved. Those that do give skill bonuses are still at full price.
Items that do not change -
Armor
Miscellaneous Magic Items (as this category gives skill bonuses and is prone to the most abuse)
Alternate Aging Rules
I have decided to be completely arbitrary and use the 1st ed. AD&D rules on aging. I happen to like them fairly well and so have listed the ranges and information below. It is a minor indulgance of mine, but it makes the demi-human races more in line with how I feel they were meant to be shown in the World of Greyhawk. I hope the players find no fault with these ranges and modifications, and to be honest, I doubt they will.
__Age Categories__
| Race | Young Adult | Mature | Middle Aged | Old | Venerable |
| Dwarf, Hill | 35-50 | 51-150 | 151-250 | 251-350 | 351-450 |
| Dwarf, Mountain | 40-60 | 61-175 | 176-275 | 276-400 | 401-525 |
| Elf, Gray | 150-250 | 251-650 | 651-1000 | 1001-1500 | 1501-2000 |
| Elf, Grugach | 75-150 | 151-550 | 551-900 | 901-1100 | 1101-1400 |
| Elf, High | 100-175 | 176-550 | 551-875 | 876-1200 | 1201-1600 |
| Elf, Valley | 50-100 | 101-400 | 401-600 | 601-800 | 801-1000 |
| Elf, Wood | 75-150 | 151-500 | 501-800 | 801-1100 | 1101-1350 |
| Gnome | 50-90 | 91-300 | 301-450 | 451-600 | 601-750 |
| Half-Elf | 24-40 | 41-100 | 101-175 | 176-250 | 251-325 |
| Halfling | 22-33 | 34-68 | 69-101 | 102-144 | 145-199 |
| Half-Orc | 12-15 | 16-30 | 31-45 | 46-60 | 61-80 |
| Human | 14-20 | 21-40 | 41-60 | 61-90 | 91-120 |
__Attribute Modifiers Based on Age__
Young Adult: +1 Constitution, -1 Wisdom
Mature: +1 Strength, +1 Wisdom
Middle Aged: -1 Strength, -1 Constitution, +1 Intelligence, +1 Wisdom
Old: -2 Strength, -2 Dexterity, -2 Constitution, +1 Intelligence, +1 Wisdom
Venerable: -2 Strength, -2 Dexterity, -2 Constitution, +1 Intelligence, +1 Wisdom
Unarmed Combat Damage Changes
A character normally deals 1d3 nonlethal damage when fighitng unarmed and provokes an attack of opportunity from armed opponents. If you are wearing gauntlets it becomes lethal damage and no longer provokes an attack of opportunity. This is the same benefit the feat Improved Unarmed Combat provides. So I am going to make a change for those who are proficient in armor and have the Improved Unarmed Combat feat. The gauntlet increases their damage die by 1 step. 1d3 becomes 1d4 (1d2 becomes 1d3 for size small characters). Additionally when a character gains a class feature that increases unarmed damage from 1d3 to 1d4 (such as through Power Strike) the damage is instead increased by 1 step from its current level. For example a Pugulist (variant fighter class) normally deals 1d4 damage. If he goes into the Fierce Grappler prestige class his unarmed damge would go from 1d4 to 1d6 at level 2. When he reached 4th level in the prestige class he would go from 1d6 to 1d8. If the pugulist were also wearing gauntlets damage would become 1d8 and 1d10.
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