Topic: So, what house rules do you use ?

It's no secret, we all come with our set of house rules.

My tweaks :

Skills
All characters start with 8 skill points they can put in any skill they want (the Specialist gets 12 points). No skill can receive more than 4 points.

So we can have a Fighter with a 4 in Bushcraft (here is our Ranger !) or a Druid (Magic-User + Bushcraft 4 + Smells funny).

My skill list : Backstab, Climb, Open locks, Pick pockets, Stealth, Survival, Traps, Tinker.


Now let's see what you have !

Last edited by Kobayashi (2011-05-10 12:49:11)

Re: So, what house rules do you use ?

I'm debating scrapping the specialist and just giving each character Specialist-level skills.

Dennis Higgins, The Higgipedia.
So mellow, he's probably not REALLY a grognard.

Check out Gaming All Over The Place: http://gamingallover.blogspot.com/

Re: So, what house rules do you use ?

We allow dwarves, elves and halflings to advance partially in fighting ability - +1 attack bonus every two levels instead of every level.  Fighters are the best, demihumans fight half as well as fighters, and clerics, magic users and specialists bring up the bottom.  (Although specialists can turn themselves into nasty ninjas by pumping points into sneak attack).

A future house rule I'm considering is adding 1-2 new skills for specialists - something to cover music or performance and something to cover legend and lore - so the specialist can pinch-hit as a skald or bard in certain settings.

The idea of giving other classes some skill points here and there is pretty intriguing.

Re: So, what house rules do you use ?

Since I'm running a fantasy Earth campaign, I'm not using the demi-humans.  If I use them in a future campaign, I don't think I'll use the race-as-class concept.  Instead, I'll have minimum/maximum ability scores and a maximum level cap and let the players pick whatever class desired for the demi-human.
Also, I am not using the Specialist.  Clerics, Fighters, and M-Us get the skill points instead, and I've added some simple rules for firearms.

Regards,

V

Re: So, what house rules do you use ?

Interesting...

I beefed up the dwarf a bit : he gets +1 to damage at levels 3, 6 and 9. +3 Damage at level 9 seems correct without going overboard.

Re: So, what house rules do you use ?

Just started playing, but thus far:

1. No demihumans (though I'm considering using the elf rules as the basis for another race altogether).
2. Roll 4d6 - 1 and distribute as desired for chargen. All characters start with maximum HP.
3. Druids! Using the spell list from Eldritch Wizardry (along with a few extra spells I found here and there). XP/HP as magic-user. Saving throws based on MU, with a few tweaks.
4. Specialists are called thieves.

Campaign blog: http://deadlake.wordpress.com
Other, rarely updated blog: http://tigerchamber.wordpress.com

Re: So, what house rules do you use ?

Errant Tiger wrote:

4. Specialists are called thieves.

Ah, yes, same here !

Re: So, what house rules do you use ?

I'm thinking of giving Dwarves a d12 hit die AND increasing their minimum HP at first level to 10 HP. This would make them REALLY TOUGH, as they are supposed to be.

Last edited by golan2072 (2011-05-16 11:05:53)

Re: So, what house rules do you use ?

Kobayashi wrote:
Errant Tiger wrote:

4. Specialists are called thieves.

Ah, yes, same here !

Right on! While I can appreciate the intent of "specialist," in practice it just feels clunky to me. And the player who's taking that role in our game, when asked what she wanted to play, immediately said "I wanna be a thief!" So who am I to argue?

Plus, "specialist" always gets an old Dead Milkmen song in my head.

Campaign blog: http://deadlake.wordpress.com
Other, rarely updated blog: http://tigerchamber.wordpress.com

Re: So, what house rules do you use ?

I used the Shields Shall be Splintered rule, but haven't played enough to add in any more house rules yet.

Re: So, what house rules do you use ?

Yeah, that's a good point - I tend to use a ton of houserules for basic D&D (applied to LOTFP as well), but giving the dwarves and elves a combat boost was the only LOTFP specific one.

A few other common ones include first aid (can recover d4-1 hp immediately after a combat), "chop when they drop" - a cleave house rule for fighters, and allowing characters to be brought back from negative hit points (when you go negative, continue to lose -1 hp per round at which point death is irreversible; if enough magic healing can be applied to bring the person to 1 hp or more, they're still alive).

Re: So, what house rules do you use ?

I added some things after reading Grognardia and the post James made a couple of years back about his Dwimmermount Campaing House Rules.

I let the characters start with max Hps at first level but must re-roll all Hp dice upon gaining a new level.  Con bonus are added as appropriate to the new total.
Two handed weapons.  I allow a fighter or dwarf to re-roll the damage of a two handed weapon and take the new damage.(a slightly toned down version of the dwimmermount rule)
A fighter, Elf or Halfling with Dexterity 13+ may wield two weapons simultaneously, but makes only a single attack roll at +1 “to hit.” A successful attack deals the normal damage for the weapon, however.

I've also included the 'Shields will Splinter' rule and am trying to think of similar rule for deliberating breaking your weapon to do more damage.  These are only useable by PCs.

Longbows can re-roll their damage dice once if they dont like their initial damage.  New roll must then be taken.  They cost 3 times a short bow and their advantage is a longer medium range and overall range.  Long range bow battles arent something that come up much in my game.

I didnt want to muck about with the skill points so we are trying something a bit different.  Our group split all the skills evenly between Int and Wis (except Languages which was too obvious and sneak attack).  When a character makes a skill check they roll 1 dice plus a number of dice equal to their stat bonus for that skill.  For most characters that still means they need to get a 1 on a d6 but they have more chance of doing so.  If I, as the GM, decide a test is particularly hard I will subtract one dice or two for ridiculously difficult test.  If this would drop a character to 0 dice I instead get them to make the test with a d8 for 0 or d10 for -1.  I felt that Wis and Int were so underused as opposed to the other stats. 
While this might make it much easier for specialists to succeed and their test I really dont have a big problem with that!
With any skill that a halfling only has one dot in she get  +1 dice to represent Halflings luck!

I also want to incorporate a system whereby non specialist characters skill can increase as the make successful tests. 

No one wanted to play a dwarf.  Its a shame really that they are so crap game mechanics wise! (the bonus to damage Kobayashi mentioned above certinaly make them a bit more attractive.  So would an active way of using those great saving throws but I havent though of one yet.)

Re: So, what house rules do you use ?

Aaron C wrote:

No one wanted to play a dwarf.  Its a shame really that they are so crap game mechanics wise! (the bonus to damage Kobayashi mentioned above certinaly make them a bit more attractive.  So would an active way of using those great saving throws but I havent though of one yet.)

Yeah, the "problem" (YMMV) is that most of the dwarf advantages (saving throws and HPs) are passive in nature.

One thing I haven't tried : let the dwarf trade hit points for bonus to damage rolls and save throws when he wants to. (3 points for a +1 ?).

Re: So, what house rules do you use ?

Kobayashi wrote:

Yeah, the "problem" (YMMV) is that most of the dwarf advantages (saving throws and HPs) are passive in nature.

One thing I haven't tried : let the dwarf trade hit points for bonus to damage rolls and save throws when he wants to. (3 points for a +1 ?).

Ha ha.  It is a bit scary how closely we are thinking alike!  When the players first made characters a couple of weeks ago I was explaining one of the rules changes and I was giving the Dwarf +1 damage.  Hadnt though to scale it at that stage though.  The guys still thought they were pretty crap and didnt take it up so I dropped it.

Just the other day I was thinking about them using Hp's for extra damage as well, but I couldnt decide on a figure.  It was in the car on the way home and of course it goies out of your mind once you get home and real life intrudes on your thoughts again!
3 for a +1 sounds ok.  What limit though?  Maybe +1 per every 2 levels?  Or maybe there is no need for a limit as healing takes so long?

Re: So, what house rules do you use ?

Yeah, maybe I'd go with this limit : your Constitution or Strength modifier (whichever is higher).

On the other hand, one of my players decided to play a dwarf because he thinks dwarves are fun. He decided that he was a grave robber and so his people kicked him out. He has a lot of fun with it.

So making the dwarf more sexy for players ? Naaah we'll just end up with spoiled brats ^o^

Last edited by Kobayashi (2011-05-25 09:33:19)

Re: So, what house rules do you use ?

My current houserules only concern healing at the moment. 
I let natural healing scale by level (so natural healing remains an option at level 5+ without having to stay in bed for a month), and ignore the "less then half the hit points" rules (for ease of use). 
Other healing (stat loss, ...) remains unaffected

1 full night’s rest (8h): heal 1HP per 2 levels (Fighters & Dwarves: per level)
1 full day’s rest (24h):  heal 2HP per 2 levels (Fighters & Dwarves: per level)
1 full day’s rest in comfortable surroundings: heal 3HP per 2 levels (Fighters & Dwarves: per level)
fractions are rounded up (so a 3rd level wizard heals 2 hp on a night's rest)

In addition, every character has the "first aid" skill (or bind wounds, healing,... whatever you like to call it) at 1 in 6.
Only 1 first aid attempt can be made on a single character, and only hit points recently lost are eligible for healing.
A first aid attempt takes 1 turn, and needs a healing kit to perform (attempting first aid with an improvised kit may be assigned a variable penalty).  A successful attempt heals "1 night's rest", up to the number of hp recently lost. 
This skill may be increased as usual by the specialist class, giving them the option of a "combat medic"-role.

And an addition to the equipment list:
Healing kit (5sp)
A collection of bandages, ointments, pliers,… used with the First Aid skill.
One kit holds enough supplies for 5 First Aid attempts.

Re: So, what house rules do you use ?

Another house-rule I'm considering: instead of rolling 3d6 six times in order for your ability scores, roll 3d6 six times and assign to your abilities as desired. If you have a total of less than +1 for your modifiers, you can reroll. This house-rule is designed for my smaller-than-usual group size, to allow the player(s) to have a wider selection of characters without making them too powerful.

Re: So, what house rules do you use ?

Though I've yet to actually get my players organized for a game, I've use a variant character creation based off of one of the methods in the AD&D 2e Player's Handbook:
Each Ability Score starts at 7.
The player rolls 8 dice, noting each die's number.
The player then, using each die once, adds as many dice as he wishes to each ability score.

This has let me see that the scores generally end up in the 'upper norm' to 'markedly above average' range of 10-14, though it allows more flexibility with where penalties and bonuses are.

Have yet to run a game with these though, as I've said.

Re: So, what house rules do you use ?

Basically four things:

1. I allow the PCs to be anything they want. For example, a player can be a kensai from the 1st edition AD&D Oriental Adventures book, or a witch hunter from Arduin, or a cavalier from Unearthed Arcana, or a bard from Castles & Crusades, or a sorcerer from Carcosa, or some kit from 2nd edition AD&D, or a balrog, or a dragon, or whatever. Caveat: The only books I take to the game are the LotFP rules and the Random Esoteric Creature Generator. If a player wants to be something not found in those 2 books, then he needs to bring the book (or print-outs or photocopies) himself.

2. I use delta's Target 20 armor class system.

3. I use Gary's coinage system found in his first Gord the Rogue novel.

4. I'm very casual with the rules. They are there for my convenience. I never feel bound by them. Very frequently I will, by pure DM fiat, give a PC a percentage chance to do something.

Last edited by Geoffrey (2011-06-26 05:52:25)

Re: So, what house rules do you use ?

Geoffrey wrote:

2. I use delta's Target 20 armor class system.

3. I use Gary's coinage system found in his first Gord the Rogue novel.

Could you elaborate these options please ? I want to know more !

Re: So, what house rules do you use ?

Oops. I apologize for not noticing your request sooner.

Click here for the Target 20 System: http://www.superdan.net/oed/target20/

Here's the quote from the Gord novel: "The lowest form of currency is an iron drab. Five of these are equal to one brass bit, and ten bits comprise one bronze zee. The copper common is the next most valuable, equal to five zees, and four commons make up the value of one silver noble. An electrum lucky is equal to five nobles, and ten luckies are the same worth as one gold orb. Atop the pyramid is the platinum plate, equal to one gold orb plus one electrum lucky. Thus, for comparison, a silver noble is worth one thousand iron drabs, an electrum lucky equates to one thousand brass bits, a gold orb has the same value as one thousand brass bits, a gold orb has the same value as one thousand bronze zees, and a platinum plate is equal to fifty five thousand iron drabs."

I use a copper standard. All the prices in silver in the LotFP rulebook I regard as copper. Here's another way to look at this coinage system from the point of view of copper pieces:

1 copper piece = 250 iron pieces
1 copper piece = 50 brass pieces
1 copper piece = 5 bronze pieces
4 copper pieces = 1 silver piece

20 copper pieces = 1 electrum piece

200 copper pieces = 1 gold piece
220 copper pieces= 1 platinum piece

Last edited by Geoffrey (2011-07-09 04:55:59)

Re: So, what house rules do you use ?

I don't have any just yet, but I can imagine that I might allow a character to do one of the following as a level every four levels:
Roll a d10 for HP, take +1 to hit, take +1 damage, or take 2 skill points.
For any of the last three options, roll a d6 for HP. Level progression just continues where it left off.
If you take this option at fourth level, you will need enough XP for 5th level to be 4th level in your class.
I've always been a fan of all around characters (if not out and out multiclassing), so I could see doing this.

Re: So, what house rules do you use ?

Geoffrey wrote:

Oops. I apologize for not noticing your request sooner.

There was no hurry, thanks !

Re: So, what house rules do you use ?

I'm considering the following:

Dwarves make a follow up attack after rolling a 20 and a counterattack if their opponent rolls a 1.

Magic-users can memorize one more spell per day than they have slots for. They are still limited by their slots when it comes to casting, the 'extra' gives them more choice only. (Thanks to Lord Inar in the MU/Elf thread for this one).

Shields can be sacrificed, reducing the damage of a blow to its minimum value. A sacrificed shield will be broken and unusable thereafter.

Armour may be sacrificed in the same way as a shield, reducing its base AC by 2. This can be done once only before repairs are required (Repairs cost half the armour’s initial value and take a number of days equal to its base AC -10. A skilled armourer must be on hand to repair chainmail and plate. Leather can be repaired by a leatherworker).

Two Weapon fighting: One weapon must be small or lighter. +1 AC when wielding both. On a successful hit roll both damage dice and pick the higher.

Re: So, what house rules do you use ?

Andrew S wrote:

Magic-users can memorize one more spell per day than they have slots for. They are still limited by their slots when it comes to casting, the 'extra' gives them more choice only. (Thanks to Lord Inar in the MU/Elf thread for this one).

Glad you like it!