House Rules

Aetregyr uses the Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 rules, with a few minor adjustments.

Character Generation

For character generation rules, refer to the following article: here.

Materials and Excluded Content

Generally, most official 3.5 published book content will be considered in play. However, the following materials are either disallowed or requires special approval from the DM:

Anything from the following sources is banned and may not be used during character creation or in the game:

• Tome of Battle: The Book of Nine Swords
• Magic of Incarnum
• Psionics Handbook - 3rd ed. (instead use material from the Expanded Psionics Handbook or Complete Psion)

Content from the following sources is not expressly banned, but is only allowed after permission from the DM:

• Unearthed Arcana
• Savage Species - 3rd ed.
• Ghostwalk
• Oriental Adventures
• Any material from Official Campaign Settings such as Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, etc, that has not been expressly allowed above.

Hit Points

At first level, characters get the maximum hit points of their Hit Die + their Constitution modifier. At subsequent levels, players must declare whether they are taking the average hit points for their class or making a roll. If taking the average, they receive Hit Die + Constitution modifier/2 (rounded up). If rolling, they roll their hit die type as normally written in the rules, add their constitution modifier and take the result. If the result of the roll is a 1, they may re-roll once.

Regardless of their Constitution score, characters always gain at least 1 hit point/level.

Classes

Monks:

Monks gain proficiency in unarmed strike at level 1, in case this was not clear from the rules as written.

Feats

Dodge:

Dodge grants a +1 dodge bonus to AC (as opposed to having to pick one opponent to which it applies each round).

Weapon Groups:

For certain feats, characters may select from "Weapon Groups" rather than individual weapons. When selecting a weapon group for these feats, the character gets the benefit of the feat for all of the listed weapons in the group. Weapon Groups do not replace Weapon Proficiencies, however, and only affect the following weapon-specific feats: Weapon Focus, Greater Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialization, Greater Weapon Specialization, Improved Critical

Weapon Groups:

One-handed concussion: Light flail, light mace, club, light hammer, warhammer, morningstar, magical staff**, sap*, whip*, nunchaku**

One-handed edged: Whip*, whip dagger, light pick, heavy pick, dagger, punching dagger,* short sword, longsword, rapier, scimitar, hand axe, battle axe, kama, kukri, sickle, dwarven waraxe, sai, wakizashi, siangham**, katana**, bastard sword**

Two-handed: Heavy flail, heavy mace, dire mace, hooked-hammer, maul, greatsword, two-bladed sword, falchion, greataxe, double axe, urgrosh, quarterstaff*, magical staff**, nunchaku**, siangham**, katana**, bastard sword**
Polearm: Quarterstaff*, magical staff*, halberd, scythe, spear, longspear, glaive, guisarme, ranseur, lance, trident, naginata
Missile: Light crossbow, light repeating crossbow, heavy crossbow, heavy repeating crossbow, hand crossbow, short bow, long bow, composite shortbow, composite longbow, sling*
Thrown***: Sling*, dart, javelin, throwing axe, shuriken, net, bola
Brawling: Unarmed, punching dagger,* spiked gauntlet, sap*, spiked armor, light shield, light spiked shield, heavy shield, heavy spiked shield

*These weapons belong to multiple weapon groups at the same time, the character needs only select one group to get the benefits of the feat, but the benefits do not stack if both groups are selected
**These weapons belong to both a one-handed group and the two handed group or polearm group. The benefits for having a one-handed group feat only apply if the weapon is being wielded one-handed, and only apply for having a two-handed/polearm group feat if it is being wielded two-handed.

***Similarly, certain weapons may be wielded in melee or thrown, such as daggers. But the benefits for having a melee group feat only apply if the weapon is being wielded in melee, and only apply for having a thrown group feat if it is being thrown.

Level Adjustments

As per the rules in Unearthed Arcana p. 18-19, players may pay off their character's level adjustments using experience points. Using this method, characters who start with the burden of a Level Adjustment, may eventually catch up in class levels to their companions.

Movement

When unhampered, a single diagonal movement always costs 1 square, as opposed to alternating between 1 and 2 squares.

Critical Hits

The players will decide at the beginning of the campaign on one of the two following systems:

• Rules as written - confirm critical hits, multiply all rolls and modifiers
• Rules as written, except crits on natural 20's use a randomized system of damaging special effects pulled from a deck of cards. This will add an element of danger to combat, but will also make it more entertaining and realistic.

Death and Resurrection

The rogue sneaks up behind a drunken guard with dagger in hand. The evil baron holds a knife to his hostage's throat, using her as a human shield. The wizard at the back of the marching order did not see the approaching drow, and now has a hand crossbow to his head. Sometimes death should feel imminent and unavoidable. Therefore, in situations such as these, where one quick action should realistically almost always kill the character, the threshold for death from massive damage is lowered from 50 to 25+1/hit die of the character. If you fail the subsequent saving throw (Fort DC 10+damage dealt) then roll a D10. The result becomes the character's negative hit point total. On a result of 10, the character is instantly dead. Massive damage rules may also apply on coup de grace hits to helpless defenders.
Aetregyr is a high fantasy campaign setting. As such, magic exists which might be able to bring characters back from beyond the pale. However, such magic is rare and always comes with a price. That price is not always measured in gold pieces. The rules surrounding resurrection is considered "Find Out in Game" (FOIG) and will be revealed as part of the narrative. Player spells that can bring characters back to life, such as Revivify, Raise Dead, Resurrection, True Resurrection, Reincarnate, and Clone are not available to the players until they are "unlocked" through the narrative. Wish and Miracle may be taken by characters as normal, and may be used to resurrect characters, but there is still FOIG information surrounding these spells.