OMG if I listed all the "House Rules" I employ in my campaign, it would be a mighty lengthy document!!! I'm sure some of the 'regulars' on this site would agree, given what they've read about my games, perspectives, infinite queries, etc., already.
I DO have a document typed some many years ago that my main player/DM and I jointly fashioned, more to keep consistency and remind us what we agreed upon, more than planning on adding more people to our gaming circle (I play 2e mainly, and most folks these days are 3e, 4e, or Pathfinder, anyhow).
Your topic DOES interest me, and I have LONG intended to scribe such a thread myself, but glad you beat me to the proverbial punch, so to speak, as I am curious what others do, as well.
-Lanthorn, "Old School" Gamer
p.s. for the record, this thread may be better served by placing it in the General Forums column, UNLESS you only want 1e input. Ask Cebrion his thoughts on that...or perhaps he can create multiple threads, one for each different edition?
I look forward to reading what you have, but if it's that long, be sure to bullet, or enumerate, it for easier reading! I am interested to see what overlap may ensue between readers.
I've decided to employ saving throws versues Energy Drain. The idea of a character losing two levels to a vampire's touch; man that's way too rough without a saving throw.
I've decided to employ saving throws versues Energy Drain. The idea of a character losing two levels to a vampire's touch; man that's way too rough without a saving throw.
I did that too, after reading some magic item description that gave a bonus to a save vs energy drain. It stood to reason that if some magic item(s) gave a BONUS, there had to be a saving throw to give the bonus to.
However, to not depower the undead too much, I changed it so the level is drained, and on the day after fighting the undead, the saving throw is made to gain the level back. This is repeated each day as needed, until either a saving throw is failed, at which point no more levels can be regained, or when the character is back to "original" level.
I've decided to employ saving throws versues Energy Drain. The idea of a character losing two levels to a vampire's touch; man that's way too rough without a saving throw.
Ditto. Though if failed, you are screwed and you must regain them through experience.
However, to not depower the undead too much, I changed it so the level is drained, and on the day after fighting the undead, the saving throw is made to gain the level back. This is repeated each day as needed, until either a saving throw is failed, at which point no more levels can be regained, or when the character is back to "original" level.
I've also turned all my spell-casters (priests and mages alike) basically into Channelers by creating a Mana Pool system from which they draw their magical (arcane or divine) magic use.
Cool change on the save -vs- Energy Drain, can I ask what category you lump that with in 1e? I am going to add that one change in.
Lanthorn, gonna check that out right now, but that change for spell casters is exactly one of the things I am working on in regards to some house rules, look forward to reading it. Than maybe I can get to finalizing up my list of 1e house rules. _________________ Chris Morris
Cool change on the save -vs- Energy Drain, can I ask what category you lump that with in 1e? I am going to add that one change in.
vs Death Magic, in my game, given its deadly effect.
Quote:
Lanthorn, gonna check that out right now, but that change for spell casters is exactly one of the things I am working on in regards to some house rules, look forward to reading it. Than maybe I can get to finalizing up my list of 1e house rules.
I've also turned all my spell-casters (priests and mages alike) basically into Channelers by creating a Mana Pool system from which they draw their magical (arcane or divine) magic use.
I found a great article on Dragonsfoot.org that is a 54 page PDF file entitled "House Rules & Clarifications for First Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons". It was written by Ken Marin and is a free PDF you can download.
There are some great rules and insights in this article. Check it out, then pick and choose what works for your game. If you have trouble finding it, PM me and I'll send it to your e-mail.
I allow any race to multi or dual-class, permitted of course they can choose that class of interest (dwarves cannot be mage-priests, for instance).
I don't divide the XP right down the middle between classes (or thirds, if triple classed) but rather allocate XP based on which class (or classes) was/were used to 'defeat' the enemy. For instance, casting priest or mage spells give XP only to those respective classes. Thiefly skill use garners XP only to the thief class. And so on and so forth.
- I no longer roll for damage! (gasp!) Instead, I let the die roll determine the damage. How, you may ask. The hit roll or saving throw determines it. Basically, in short, if you need a 12 to hit your foe, and you roll it, you do minimum damage. If you roll a 19, on the other hand, you do maximum damage. I still use crit hits.
To find how much damage is done within the continuum, use algebra (a ratio) between the maximum damage and minimum damage.
This is indeed a slower method and likely won't work for large groups, but I wanted to 'reward' higher die rolls 'to hit'. By the same token, a '19' save grants the recipient minimum damage from damaging spells while a '1' imposes maximum damage (and a crit hit).
- I no longer roll for damage! (gasp!) Instead, I let the die roll determine the damage. How, you may ask. The hit roll or saving throw determines it. Basically, in short, if you need a 12 to hit your foe, and you roll it, you do minimum damage. If you roll a 19, on the other hand, you do maximum damage. I still use crit hits.
To find how much damage is done within the continuum, use algebra (a ratio) between the maximum damage and minimum damage.
This is indeed a slower method and likely won't work for large groups, but I wanted to 'reward' higher die rolls 'to hit'. By the same token, a '19' save grants the recipient minimum damage from damaging spells while a '1' imposes maximum damage (and a crit hit).
Yeah, I am a meticulous number-cruncher.
-Lanthorn
Lol, wow, yeah you are sir. But I love it, maybe not to use, but the fact of the thought that goes into getting something right for you.
Still working on my list gonna throw some stuff up soon I hope, as soon as work gives me the time.
Found the two 1e "House Rules" that are on Dragonsfoot, yeah both are huge, but again, cool to see what people come up with. _________________ Chris Morris
Two main things I am working on right now are making a Bard a class of it's own for 1e and tweaking the Monk some at lower levels.
#56 (December 1981) of Dragon Magazine had an article called, Singing a New Tune. That streamlined the Bard and was for AD&D. The Best of the Dragon, Vol. III included that article and another called, He's Got a Lot to Kick About, which improved the Monk for AD&D. I grew up using those two re-writes for the Bard and Monk class as they were vast improvements on the originals from the Player's Handbook.
Two main things I am working on right now are making a Bard a class of it's own for 1e and tweaking the Monk some at lower levels.
#56 (December 1981) of Dragon Magazine had an article called, Singing a New Tune. That streamlined the Bard and was for AD&D. The Best of the Dragon, Vol. III included that article and another called, He's Got a Lot to Kick About, which improved the Monk for AD&D. I grew up using those two re-writes for the Bard and Monk class as they were vast improvements on the originals from the Player's Handbook.
SirXaris
Sweet, think a buddy of mine has that BoD issue. Thanks! _________________ Chris Morris
Firstly, I altered their Turning ability based on what the priests are capable of doing. For instance, a priest of Heironeous Turns undead at a 2 lvl penalty, meaning a 3rd lvl priest of the Archpaladin Turns at 1st lvl ability. Thusly, since paladins Turn as clerics -2 lvls, a paladin of Heironeous suffers a 4 lvl penalty. So only at 5th lvl can a paladin of Heironeous Turn undead, and that only at 1st lvl.
Here is the breakdown for other paladins in my game:
St Cuthbert: -6 lvls
Pholtus: standard -2 lvls
Pelor: -1 lvl
Rao: -6 lvls
Since I use Skills & Powers I charge less for those paladins with a reduced ability to Turn Undead than those who have 'standard' ability (Pholtites) but charge slightly more for the paladins of Pelor (increased Turning ability).
Additionally, I have altered the Spheres for those paladins who are of high enough level to cast spells based on the Power they worship. It made sense to me that paladins of different Powers should/would have different spell-casting abilities and they would not be 'cookie cutter' in nature, just as priests/clerics in 2e do not have the same spell selection.
The standard Spheres of paladins are Combat, Divination, Healing, and Protection. I altered that to the following, based on the paladin's patron Power:
Heironeous: Combat, Healing, Protection, War
Pelor: Guardian, Healing, Protection, Sun
Pholtus: standard Spheres
Rao: Charm, Divination, Healing, Thought
St Cuthbert: standard Spheres
Well, I finally finished (never really finished) up my House Rules and got to 8 pages worth. Think I will post a few shorter ones now and then to have you all comment and post any ideas.
Thanks for all of the comments so far. _________________ Chris Morris
OK, here is the first part that covers abilities and races.
Determining Abilities-
Each character gets a pool of 81 + d3 points to distribute to the six abilities. No more than 2 ability scores of 18 (before modifiers) per character.
Comeliness is being used, but characters do not roll for this ability, instead any number from 3-18 can be picked by the player. In addition, this ability does not have any reaction bonus derived from it. It is simply a determination of the characters looks.
Every four levels (i.e. 5th level, 9th level, 13th level, and so on) each character can increase any ability they choose by one.
All races minimum/maximum ability scores are 3/18 before modifiers.
Ability Bonus Changes:
Strength- +1 to hit and +1 damage extend down to 13 Str
Wisdom- +1 Magical Attack Adj. extends down to 13 Wis
Dexterity- -1 Defensive Adj. extends down to 13 Dex., Reaction/Attacking Adj. extends down to 14 Dex
Constitution- +1 Hit Point Adj. extends down to 13 Con
Classes & Races-
There are no maximum class level limitations for any race.
All races can multi-class.
All classes from 1e PH and UA are open to PC’s except the Cavalier.
Allowed Races for PC’s:
All races are open to all Player Characters that are in PH and UA except, Drow Elves, Wild Elves, Grey Dwarves and Deep Gnomes.
There are changes to the allowed classes for each race, they are-
Human: All classes
Dwarf: Paladin, Cleric, Fighter, Barbarian, Ranger, Thief, Thief-Acrobat, Assassin and Bard
Elf: All classes except Monk
Half-Elf: All classes
Gnome: Cleric, Fighter, Ranger, Magic-User, Illusionist, Thief, Thief-Acrobat, and Assassin, Bard
Halfling: Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Ranger, Magic-User, Thief, Thief-Acrobat, and Assassin, Bard
Half-Orc: Paladin, Cleric, Fighter, Barbarian, Ranger, Magic-User, Thief, Thief-Acrobat, and Assassin _________________ Chris Morris
Rangers get both Hide in Shadows and Move Silently as if the Ranger is a Thief of half the level (rounded down), but also using the applicable ability, racial and armor modifiers as thieves do.
Monks now fight as Cleric using that class’ combat tables (no longer fight as thieves). They use the Saving Throw tables of Thief class’. Also, Monks get to use all combat ability modifiers (i.e. to hit and damage bonus from Str, AC adjustment from DEX, ect.).
Fighters HD per level is now d10+1.
Assassins do not have to be an Evil alignment, however thought must go into a “code” for non-Evil assassins. Only “Evil” aligned Assassins can use poison. Also, the killing blow ability is changed. The Assassin only makes a roll on the Assassination Table if the victim is surprised and the targeted victim is at least two levels or HD lower than the level of the Assassin making the attempt. Last, since alignment languages are not being used the Assassin can pick any language they want per rules on pg. 29 of PH.
Magic-Users and Illusionists get bonus spells as clerics do, but using Int. as the modifier instead of Wisdom, but still using the Wis. Table for the bonus spells per level (PH, pg. 11).
All spell caster classes figure the total number of spells per day as rules dictate. However, instead of having to choose specific spells to fill those “memorized slots” the character simply keeps track of the total spells per level per day and then can cast from any of the spells that are at their disposal for the appropriate level. Once a spell is cast subtract that spell used from the appropriate level total that remains to be cast for that day. So if a 1st level Cleric can cast 3, 1st level spells per day and she casts a Cure Light Wound, she can cast two more 1st level spells that day of her choosing.
Spells are regained per normal rest rules.
The DM will pick the starting spells, min./max. determined by Int. score, for Magic-Users and Illusionists. Players can pick one additional random spell to be in their spell book.
Bard
Bards are now a separate class that can be started at first level. They get d8 per level for Hit Point determination. They use the Cleric class table for combat. They use the Thief table for Saving Throws. They get all Thieving Abilities of as Thief but at half the level (using all applicable ability, racial and armor adjustments). They can wear up to Chain Mail armor, but cannot use a shield. They get all of the regular Bard abilities, use Druidic spells and have the same ability requirements per page 117 of PH.
Weapons Permitted: Club, Dagger, Knife, Dart, Javelin, Sling, Spear, Scimitar, Spear, Staff, Light & Hand Crossbow and all Swords (except Two-Handed).
All classes get HD rolls to 20th level; then after level 20 the HP per level begins (per character tables in PH). The two exceptions are Druids and Monks.
All characters have maximum Hit Points at first level.
Minimum Hit Points per Level: M-U’s and Illusionists can re-roll a roll of 1; Thief-types, Cleric-types, Bards and Monks can re-roll a hit point roll of 1 or 2; Fighter-types can re-roll a roll of 1, 2 or 3.
Psionics are being used.
Characters can pick or roll their starting age using the table on pg. 12 of DMG for the roll or as a guidepost if picking their age. No age ability modifiers will be used for starting characters and will go into effect only if the character ages during the course of play.
Characters can pick or roll for their height and weight using the table on pg. 238 of the DMG for the roll or as a guidepost if picking their height and weight.
Characters can pick or roll for their Social Class & Rank and Circumstances of Birth using the tables on pg. 82 and 83 of UA for each. If rolling consult those tables if picking use the tables as a guidepost. _________________ Chris Morris
No offense intended, here, fellas, but I must say that the more house rules you post, the more it seems you're trying to turn your older edition of D&D into a home version of 3.5e. 90% of the changes you guys post, in this thread and others, have been made official rules in 3.5e.
No offense intended, here, fellas, but I must say that the more house rules you post, the more it seems you're trying to turn your older edition of D&D into a home version of 3.5e. 90% of the changes you guys post, in this thread and others, have been made official rules in 3.5e.
SirXaris
What?! They made an edition after first? _________________ Chris Morris
No offense intended, here, fellas, but I must say that the more house rules you post, the more it seems you're trying to turn your older edition of D&D into a home version of 3.5e. 90% of the changes you guys post, in this thread and others, have been made official rules in 3.5e.
No offense intended, here, fellas, but I must say that the more house rules you post, the more it seems you're trying to turn your older edition of D&D into a home version of 3.5e. 90% of the changes you guys post, in this thread and others, have been made official rules in 3.5e.
No offense intended, here, fellas, but I must say that the more house rules you post, the more it seems you're trying to turn your older edition of D&D into a home version of 3.5e. 90% of the changes you guys post, in this thread and others, have been made official rules in 3.5e.
SirXaris
Seeking converts, are we?
-Lanthorn
Sorry, if I sounded like I was being critical. Really, I didn't mean to be.
Instead, I'll phrase my previous statement as a question: If the changes you are making as personal 'House Rules' are so similar to the official changes to the rules made in later editions, why not just use the newer rules?
I do understand some potential issues - lack of desire to invest in an entire new set of rule books, dislike for some of the changes in the newer editions. Are there other reasons?
No offense intended, here, fellas, but I must say that the more house rules you post, the more it seems you're trying to turn your older edition of D&D into a home version of 3.5e. 90% of the changes you guys post, in this thread and others, have been made official rules in 3.5e.
SirXaris
Seeking converts, are we?
-Lanthorn
Sorry, if I sounded like I was being critical. Really, I didn't mean to be.
Instead, I'll phrase my previous statement as a question: If the changes you are making as personal 'House Rules' are so similar to the official changes to the rules made in later editions, why not just use the newer rules?
I do understand some potential issues - lack of desire to invest in an entire new set of rule books, dislike for some of the changes in the newer editions. Are there other reasons?
SirXaris
No offense taken, I totally got what you meant and yes it all falls on your later point as an overall dislike of the majority of changes made in later editions, and maybe even more the feel of the game with said later changes. I guess comfort level is where most of this comes from plus the fact that I love to play around with rules. _________________ Chris Morris
While I run 2nd edition (when I get to be DM), it is easy enough to use in 1st.
First, I corrected the Wisdom bonus spells at 19. Rather than a 1st and a 4th level bonus, I made it 1st and 3rd. I never liked how priests with that crazy high Wis would end up with more bonus 4th level spells than 3rd; this fixes that. Continuing that, at 23 Wis, instead of two 5th level spells, I made it a 1st and a 5th level. Granted, no PC is going to have a Wis that high, but I wanted to keep it consistent.
Originally, another change I made was simply moving the Cure Serious Wounds spell from 4th level to 3rd. It never seemed right to me that priests got Cure Light Wounds as a 1st level spell, then nothing else for healing until 4th level spells. Now at least there was a healing spell at 1st level, 3rd level, and 5th level.
Eventually I read a writeup for a 2nd level Cure Moderate Wounds spell. This got me to thinking of having a healing spell for every clerical spell level, and I wanted them increasing in a regular pattern, so I Added a new 4th level healig spell to replace the one I dropped to 3rd level, and "smoothed out" the progression in damage healed.
Here is what I came up with:
Cure Light Wounds (1st): 2d4 + Level healed
Cure Moderate Wounds (2nd): 2d6 + Level healed
Cure Serious Wounds (3rd): 2d8 + (2 x Level) healed
Cure Extreme Wounds (4th): 2d10 + (2 x Level) healed
Cure Critical Wounds (5th): 2d12 + (3 x Level) healed
And of course, the 6th level Heal spell after that.
Level, of course, is the level of the priest casting the spell; I only say it now to ensure clarity. And before anyone "calls me out" on it, yes, I think I dd appropriate adding the priest's level to the damage healed from 3rd edition.
While I run 2nd edition (when I get to be DM), it is easy enough to use in 1st.
First, I corrected the Wisdom bonus spells at 19. Rather than a 1st and a 4th level bonus, I made it 1st and 3rd. I never liked how priests with that crazy high Wis would end up with more bonus 4th level spells than 3rd; this fixes that. Continuing that, at 23 Wis, instead of two 5th level spells, I made it a 1st and a 5th level. Granted, no PC is going to have a Wis that high, but I wanted to keep it consistent.
Originally, another change I made was simply moving the Cure Serious Wounds spell from 4th level to 3rd. It never seemed right to me that priests got Cure Light Wounds as a 1st level spell, then nothing else for healing until 4th level spells. Now at least there was a healing spell at 1st level, 3rd level, and 5th level.
Eventually I read a writeup for a 2nd level Cure Moderate Wounds spell. This got me to thinking of having a healing spell for every clerical spell level, and I wanted them increasing in a regular pattern, so I Added a new 4th level healig spell to replace the one I dropped to 3rd level, and "smoothed out" the progression in damage healed.
Here is what I came up with:
Cure Light Wounds (1st): 2d4 + Level healed
Cure Moderate Wounds (2nd): 2d6 + Level healed
Cure Serious Wounds (3rd): 2d8 + (2 x Level) healed
Cure Extreme Wounds (4th): 2d10 + (2 x Level) healed
Cure Critical Wounds (5th): 2d12 + (3 x Level) healed
And of course, the 6th level Heal spell after that.
Level, of course, is the level of the priest casting the spell; I only say it now to ensure clarity. And before anyone "calls me out" on it, yes, I think I dd appropriate adding the priest's level to the damage healed from 3rd edition.
Interesting thought on the healing spells, thanks, I will talk to my group about it. Thanks! _________________ Chris Morris
If you have Spells & Magic, there is a "healing" spell called Repair Injury that is 3rd level. Therefore, with a 'complete' collection of books (Player's Handbook, Tome of Magic, and Spells & Magic) you will have a "healing" spell for all levels 1-5.
I've shifted other spells around, too, as well as added Spheres to those I thought were appropriate.
Repair Injury (Player's Option; Spells and Magic, page 169, 2nd Edition) is rather limited in scope, the way its written. Its 1d10+1 restored hit points are rather "specific."
Adjustments would have to be made in order for it to serve as a "true" Healing spell. Not that such an adjustment would pose any difficulty upon the DM, but be careful of Rules Lawyers. _________________ Mystic's web page: http://melkot.com/mysticscholar/index.html
Mystic's blog page: http://mysticscholar.blogspot.com/
My main player/ fellow DM and I have restructured all the healing spells with respect to the amount of damage restored to d8 points per spell level. Thusly, a 1st lvl Cure Light Wounds spell restores d8, the 2nd lvl Cure Moderate Wounds heals 2d8 pts, and so on. We allow Repair Injury to either heal 3d8 pts, or be used to do what the spell originally lists (and consequently, only d10+1 pts are mended as a side effect, too).
The reason why we did this was b/c we didn't like how healing spells seemed haphazard, without a 'logical' progression, on the amount restored. Just our own 'house rule' amendment. We also made Regenerate a 5th lvl Healing spell and kicked Raise Dead up to a 6th lvl Necromantic spell.
One house rule the 1st ed. game I played in for about 7 years was that there were still level caps on races/classes, but the DMs made it a soft cap. Rather than limit the level you can continue to exceed the capped levels but you only gained half the experience in them
So I had an Elven Fighter/Magic-User and while the MU was unlimited the fighter "capped" at 7th level, so after that I gained half as much xp in that class.
So if I were to get say 1000 exp, my MU class would receive 500 and my Fighter class would receive 250.
It actually didn't slow my progression as drastically as I thought, as by campaign end I was 12 fighter/14 MU. I think the rule worked out ok.
There were many other house rules and I'll post them if they come to mind.
Oh yeah and ALL rolls by players were to be made via the dice roller constructed by the DM that sat in front of his screen. It was an interesting contraption and worked fine until I had to roll 42d6 and 7d4 in one turn :P (3 fireballs and a magic missile at 14th lvl caster, that's a long story and yes it was broken but that was the DMs fault lol ) I basically clogged the dice machine haha
For all cure spells, the minimum amount cured will be the caster's level.
I also tweaked the levels to make it a more geometric progression. I do like the idea of adding the cleric's level. That would be easy to do, and then I could just drop the pluses as well as the minimum. Of course, evil priests who use Cause Light Wounds will do damage the same way too....
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