House Rules

Character Creation:

Character Sheet

Ability Scores

Use set scores or roll

• Set scores: use 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8
• Rolling:
  • Roll 4d6
  • Reroll any 1’s
  • Add the top 3 dice
  • Do this for all 6 scores
  • Add up all 6 scores. If they do not add up to between 62 and 82 then reroll them all
• Once you have your 6 base scores, assign them to the desired abilities
• Add any bonuses for race
• Move up to 2 points.
  • Subtract 2 from one ability and Add 2 to another ability -or-
  • Subtract 1 from each of two abilities and Add 2 to another ability -or-
  • Subtract 1 from each of two abilities and Add 1 to each of two abilities -or-
  • Subtract 1 from one ability and Add 1 to another ability -or-
  • Leave them all as is

First Level Feats

At level 1 you get a feat from the following list:

• Alert
• Crafter
• You are adept at crafting things and bargaining with merchants, granting you the following benefits:
• Tool Proficiency. You gain Tool Proficiency with 3 different Artisan’s Tools of your choice
• Discount. Whenever you buy a nonmagical item, you receive a 20% discount
• Faster Crafting. When you craft an item using a tool with which you have Tool Proficiency, the required crafting time is reduced by 20%
• Healer
• Lucky
• Magic Initiate
• Musician
• You are a practiced musician, granting you the following benefits:
• Instrument Training. You gain Tool Proficiency with three Musical Instruments of your choice.
• Inspiring Song. As you finish a Short Rest or a Long Rest, you can play a song on a Musical Instrument with which you have Tool Proficiency and give Inspiration to allies who hear the song. The Number of allies you can affect in this way equals your Proficiency Bonus.
• Savage Attacker
• Tavern Brawler
• Tough

House Rules

Logistical

• Rolls only count if they’re on the table
• No alcohol
• No drugs
• Please eat dinner. Food and beverage are encouraged during the game.
• The DM will try to build in regular breaks
• Everything said in game is taken as in character unless specified otherwise.

Good Gameplay

• The point of the game is to have fun, so try to justify character choices that don’t ruin gameplay for others such as:
• Try to stick together unless the group decides to split up. Even then, try to keep it short because then not everyone can play
• Avoid excess confrontation in the party. I don’t care if it’s a “character choice”- make a better character choice
• Not healing your friends, letting them die
• Rushing at the end of battle to search bodies before your teammates can because you won’t split treasure
• Go a step further and justify character choices that enhance others’ gameplay

Battle Strategy and Support

• Instead of casting a blasting spell to deal damage, consider a support spell to skyrocket a teammate’s damage
• Interact with others to learn more about their character
• Share loot in a way that optimizes your teammates’ characters
• It’s a role playing game, not a video game. Trying to guess what the DM wants or what you need to do in a situation or what the screen shows is not the game. Most of the time, the DM has not worked out a “correct” resolution- they’ve merely presented you with a challenge and will decide on-the-fly the results of your attempts to solve the challenge.
• Make decisions your character would make in the world, not decisions to “beat the game”.
• Surviving and defeating encounters will award XP. This does not mean just killing.
• For example, if your objective is to retrieve a rare jewel from a dragon, the same amount of XP will be awarded whether you kill it and take the jewel, if you talk it into giving you the jewel, or if you sneak past it and steal the jewel.
• Good roleplaying and genuine character decisions will award XP
• Creative thinking to resolve the encounter will award XP
• Take notes.
• Don’t ask the DM if you can do something. Either do it or don’t do it in game. Try to frame questions in terms of the rules.
• Don’t get stuck in your character sheet. Try things and let the DM decide how to make it happen
• Questions should be reserved for gameplay clarification. So instead of “can I jump over this river?” ask “what are the rules for attempting to jump long over this river?”
• Related, it’s always better to describe what you want to do and let the DM decide the rules. So when someone is trying to pickpocket, don’t say “I’d like to use a help action to give them advantage” say “I’d like to sing a song and do a dance to help them by distraction”. More fun role play, same game mechanics. It also allows the DM to dig into the rules even more to help the players pull it off (maybe you have proficiency in performance).

Specific Game Mechanics

Called Shots

When you want to specify part of the target to hit ie their leg
Generally speaking, called shots are not part of the D&D rules so are not allowed. The idea of hitting a particular sub-target of your target is accounted for in the math in a combination of Critical Hits, Hit Points, and Armor Class. Trying to “call a shot” undermines certain game mechanics like the Rogue’s sneak attack or the Ranger’s Precise Shot. That said, sometimes it comes up in gameplay and will be handled as follows:

• You can call a non-lethal shot (ie arm or leg) and it will be handled as a critical hit. The only way to execute the called shot is to roll a natural 20 on the dice.
• You can call a lethal shot (ie cut off their head, stab its throat) but you must hit and reduce their hit points to zero for it to be lethal, otherwise it deals damage as normal.
• If you are fighting a monster that is a multi-target monster the DM will specify that there are multiple targets and ask for clarity on which target you are aiming for. Each target will have its own hp, AC, and consequences for being defeated.
• For example, an encounter against a huge dragon may be just a simple encounter. But if the DM decides to break out the targets, they could assign hp to head/neck, legs, wings, and tail. If you defeat the legs, it loses dex bonus to AC. If you drop the head/neck below a certain hp it loses its ability to breath fire. This kind of targeting is not the norm, and will specifically be communicated by the DM at the beginning of the encounter.

As always, individual cases are at the DM’s discretion because Called Shots aren’t part of the rules.
It is a better approach to narrate what happened after the dice have been rolled and you know the results.

Critical Hits

On a critical hit, the second damage die is automatically maxed
So a critical on a weapon that normally does 1d8 + 3, instead of becoming 2d8 + 3 it is now 1d8 + 3 + 8
In Roll20 adjust weapons to “8” instead of “1d8” in the crit spot
If it isn’t set up, when roll20 displays both dice rolls, the second die automatically becomes max

Flanking

Flanking occurs when a line drawn between the center of 2 allies crosses through one or more squares of their foe.
This only applies to allies, not 2 different foes. The idea is that they are working together to get an advantage on their foe.
If there are two enemies that are not working together, they do not get a flanking bonus
All creatures who are flanking their target gain a +2 bonus to Attack Rolls.

Tool Proficiency

• 5e tool proficiency rule:
• When performing an ability check with the tool, add your proficiency bonus
• For example, if making a wooden toy you would make a Dex check. If proficient with the tools used, you make a dex check plus your proficiency bonus
• In addition to the above, if using a tool as part of a skill check, you may also roll for the tool ability check, taking the higher of the two rolls
• For example, if proficient with climber’s kit and using it to climb a cliff, you would roll an athletics skill check and a climber’s kit tool check and use the higher of the two results.
• Help Action
• You may only use the help action using a tool or skill you are proficient in.
• This is still ultimately up to the DM to rule in a given circumstance

Ritual Casting

Every spellcasting class now has Ritual Casting

Equip/Unequip

This is a free action. Just switch your weapons.

Potions

If you spend an action to drink a potion, it heals for max. If you use a bonus action, roll to see how many hp is healed. Number of potions available for purchase will be limited and must be purchased in-game
Potion of Healing: 10hp, 50GP
Potion of Greater Healing: 20hp, 100GP
Potion of Superior Healing: 40hp, 500GP
Potion of Supreme Healing: 60hp, 1000GP, usually not available for purchase

Leveling Up:

Experience is assigned during Short and Long Rests.
Leveling up happens immediately.
Hit Dice- reroll 1’s (2’s if d10)
HP Fully Restored upon leveling up