House Rules

The following here are a list of House Rules that I intend on using in order to balance some corners of the game (in my opinion), and add more flavour to the world/game. **These house rules are subject to change. If determined to negatively effect the game experience, new items may be added and existing items removed**

Combat Rules

Flanking - In combat, any character standing on the direct opposite side of an enemy, from an ally can provide a "flanking bonus" to their ally. The flanking character may expend a bonus action to provide advantage on the next attack for the opposite player. One cannot provide Flanking if they themselves are flanked.
Critical hits - When rolling the damage for a critical hit, roll the weapon damage once, then add the maximum allowed damage for the weapon, rather than rolling twice or doubling the number. All other damage effects and rolls are done normally (ie. sneak attack). Eg. a critical hit with a longsword (1d8 dmg) = 1d8 + 8 (the max of 1d8) + Strength + any other effects.
Players combat turns (To be used as needed) - Players will have 20-30seconds to begin making a move when their turn comes up in initiative. Failing to decide on an action will result in them defaulting to the dodge action, and missing the rest of the turn.
Potions in Combat - Due to the nature of potions, in that they're often sealed by corks, wax or twine, they are difficult to open in the midst of combat. All potions will require an action to use. A potion can be successfully used as bonus action with a successful Dex (Sleight of Hand, the DC to match the situation) check, but a failure will result in dropping the vial leading to its possible destruction. Exceptions to this include the Rapid Drinker feat (see below), and other situations as discussed with the DM.
Sentinel Feat - Opponents two sizes larger than the wielder make a contested strength check to be affected by the movement impairing effects. (eg. Medium vs. a Huge)
Polymorph/Banish - Creatures of a “huge” size or larger gain advantage against the effects of polymorph/banish spell.

Role Play Rules

Natural 20s on ability/skill checks- Natural 20s on ability checks outside of combat do not automatically equal a critical success. There is a much better chance of something strange, wonky and fantastical happening, but will still fail if the DC of the action is not met. Eg. Rolling a natural 20 on Persuade Check to ask the king to give up his kingdom to you, will not automatically result in a success.
Professions and Crafting Items - Players are encouraged to role play their professions and background. To this end, players who wish to pursue activities such as Alchemy (making potions), blacksmithing, tinkering, scroll making, etc. will be able to do so, with real in game impacts. Example: I have a list of various potions and the materials required to make them. Should a player choose to pursue alchemy, i will sprinkle in supplies and recipes into the world in shops and as rewards, you’ll be able forage for fresh herbs with nature checks, and you’ll be able to create a wide variety of potions either for sale or use during the in-game downtime.
Scry Spell - The Scry spell only focuses on the target of the spell, everything seen or heard, happening outside of a 10ft radius of the target is obscured from view.
Divine Assistance - Every player should be rewarded for piety towards their god, even if they're not a cleric. I'm examining several ideas such as the Piety system from the Mythic Odyssey of Theros book, or allowing each player to roll divine intervention (a cleric ability), but to a weaker extent. More to follow.

Miscellaneous Rules

Firearms/Guns - The power of firearms has not been unlocked, or is inaccessible to the majority of the world. If you'd like to use firearms, please discuss with DM. Many fire arms will require a quest chain, and or narrative engineering to "create" the weapons before use.
Fall Damage - Fall damage in the game is fairly underwhelming. As it stands a mid level character can jump off a cliff from hundreds of feet in the air and know with certainty they'll survive. Fall damage in this world will be more realistic, and unmitigated falls over a certain height WILL result in death (as it should).
**Darkvision** - Darkvision has become nearly ubiquitous in the game, with the majority of races having access to it. This to me diminishes the value of lighting the game world. Many of the races in my world do not match the origins as presented in the Players Handbook. As such, the following races will lose access to Darkvision, excluding a narrative discussion with the DM:

• Elves (except Wood Elves and Drow which retain their Dark vision)
• Half-Elf
• Orcs
• Half-Orc
• Hobgoblin

Roll Stealth only at the moment of possible detection - Players make (Dexterity) Stealth rolls only when someone is in a position to see them or look for them. The Player’s Handbook doesn’t say exactly when players are supposed to roll their stealth skill and many players will use the skill as if they’re “entering stealth mode” with a roll up-front, so this is more of a clarification of how I handle things. When a character announces they are going to creep somewhere, I won't ask for a roll. Instead I wait until a moment of potential discovery and ask the player to roll at that moment.
Additional Feats:
Rapid Drinker Feat - Through a lifestyle of hard, competitive drinking, you’ve learned how to quaff drinks at an incredibly accelerated pace. You gain the following benefits:

• You can drink a potion as a bonus action, instead of as an action without needing a Sleight of Hand check.
• You have advantage on any saving throws triggered by ingesting an alcoholic or dangerous substance.

Spelldriver Feat - Prerequisite: Character level 8th or higher: Through intense focus, training, and dedication, you’ve harnessed the techniques of rapid spellcasting. You are no longer limited to only one non-cantrip spell per turn. However, should you cast two or more spells in a single turn, only one of them can be of 3rd level or higher.
Mystic Conflux Feat - Through your repeated exposure to the natural flow of arcane magic throughout Othlorias, you’ve adapted to attune with additional enchantments, though the process can be physically taxing. You gain the following benefits:

• You have advantage on Intelligence (Arcana) checks when investigating the nature of a magical object or device.
• You can now be attuned to a maximum of four magical items, rather than the normal limit of three.

Trained Sight Feat - Either through training or circumstances of upbringing, your eyes are trained to see everything and seek out even the smallest details in the dark. You gain:

• Darkvision of 60 feet. If you already have darkvision, its range increases by 60 feet. Additionally, you also have advantage on Investigation and Perception checks that rely on sight.

Death

Death itself required a rework. Once the players reach mid-game, death tends to lose its meaning when a player can be fairly easily resurrected, or revived from unconsciousness repeatedly like a yo-yo. In a grimdark, gothic fantasy, death must feel like a real threat on a near constant basis.
Alternative Resurrection Rules Character death can often prove to become a minor inconvenience in some campaigns once the adventuring party reaches a certain level, with spells being available to return fallen comrades from the afterlife with temporary setbacks, robbing a small element of danger and threat to future conflicts and challenges within the story.
Resurrection Rules - The Fading Spirit To resurrect a dead character, and pull their soul back to their body is no easy task. A Resurrection Challenge takes place if a character is dead, and a return from death is attempted by a spell or spell effect with longer than a one action casting time. Up to 3 members of the adventuring party can offer to contribute to the ritual via skill checks. The DM asks them each to make a skill check based on their form of contribution, with the DC of the check adjusting to how helpful/impactful the DM feels the contribution would be.
For example, praying to the god of the devout, fallen character may require an Intelligence (Religion) check at an easy to medium difficulty, where loudly demanding the soul of the fallen to return from the aether may require a Charisma (Intimidation) check at a very hard or nearly impossible difficulty. Advantage and disadvantage can apply here based on how perfect, or off base, the contribution offered is.
Resurrection Check - After all contributions are completed, the DM then rolls a single, final Resurrection success check with no modifier. The base DC for the final resurrection check is 10, increasing by 1 for each previous successful resurrection the character has undergone (signifying the slow erosion of the soul’s connection to this world). For each successful contribution skill check, this DC is decreased by 3, whereas each failed contribution skill check increases the DC by 1. Upon a successful resurrection check, the player’s soul (should it be willing) will be returned to the body, and the ritual succeeded. On a failed check, the soul does not return and the character is lost. Only the strongest of magical incantations can bypass this resurrection challenge, in the form of the true resurrection or wish spells. These spells can also restore a character to life who was lost due to a failed resurrection ritual, should you allow it.
Quick Resurrections - If a spell with a casting time of 1 action is used to attempt to restore life (via the revivify spell or similar effects), no contribution skill checks are allowed. The character casting the spell makes a Rapid Resurrection check, rolling a d20 and adding their spellcasting ability modifier. The DC is 10, increasing by 1 for each previous successful resurrection the character has undergone. On a failure, the character’s soul is not lost, but the resurrection fails and increases any future Resurrection checks’ DC by 1. No further attempts can be made to restore this character to life until a resurrection spell with a casting time higher than 1 action is attempted.
Taxing Return - The process of restoring someone to life corrodes a fraction of their vitality, slowly consuming the body until it can no longer sustain life. Each time a character is brought back to life (permanent death, not unconsciousness) via a spell or ritual, that character suffers a permanent loss of 2 separate, randomly determined points from their ability scores (ie. you constitution, wisdom, etc.) This loss cannot be restored outside of a carefully worded wish spell. Use of the spell true resurrection to restore a character does not impose this loss of ability score. Characters that reach an ability score of 0 are permanently dead and cannot be resurrected.
Seeing the Light, and getting pulled back - Within this rule, the process of slowly dying on the battlefield and being pulled back from the brink repeatedly is a harrowing experience. Repeated battlefield trauma takes its toll on your body and psyche each time, leaving you less and less the person you were. Each time a character is brought back from unconsciousness, they take on an additional point of Exhaustion. Additional times the PC is brought back from the brink in the same battle will continue to stack points of Exhaustion, and their effects.