User:Malachai/Campaign Rules
Stay a while, and listen.
As a player in my world, please refer to the following additional rules and rule changes. While these are mostly favorable to you, encounters are intended to be more difficult to compensate. In addition, please refer to my main user page linked above. All mundane items, spells, and class options found there are available for use, with the exception of power word crash. All magic items there are to be considered part of the world. If you would like to introduce additional homebrew content, please send it to me to review first. I will generally allow it as long as it's complete, balanced, and world-fitting, and I reserve the right to alter it if it does not meet these criteria in my opinion.
Rules which are linked here are balanced such that I feel they would be appropriate for any game. The rest is meant almost exclusively to provide empowerment.
Character Creation
Quirks, Strengths, and Weaknesses (5e Variant Rule) - I understand that the Strengths and Weaknesses portion of this can be abused to a degree, but I encourage you to please select a weakness you think will actually matter in gameplay. I may allow you to take two quirks or a quirk in addition to a strength and a weakness as long as their effects are neither synergistic nor contradictory: they must be completely unrelated to one another and preferably only one of them will have an effect on combat.
Bearable Sunlight Sensitivity (5e Variant Rule) - Made this much more forgiving since you could just negate it by using save-or-suck spells anyway. Note that this change affects enemies as well, with the exception of creatures who take damage from sunlight.
Racial Versatility - It is not uncommon for individuals to become adventurers because they are natural outliers among their kin. When your race grants you a +2 bonus to one ability score and a +1 bonus to another, you instead gain a +1 bonus to the ability score which previously received a +2 bonus and you may distribute two bonus points to any ability scores of your choosing. If you have a +3 bonus in a single ability score from your race, you suffer a -1 penalty in a different ability score of your choice.
Heroic Standard Array - Instead of the typical standard array for ability scores, you may choose the heroic array: 17,15,13,12,10,8. You can choose to use the heroic array before or after rolling for stats.
1st Level Feat - All characters now receive a free feat at 1st level. You cannot choose the Variant Human race. Instead, the normal Human race now grants one skill proficiency and one tool proficiency of your choice in addition to the +1 bonus to all ability scores.
Custom Background - If the available backgrounds don't suit your purposes, feel free to change one of the skill proficiencies provided by a background to another of your choice that remains thematically appropriate. Alternatively you can create a custom background, which includes the following:
- 2 Skill proficiencies
- 1 Language or Tool proficiency
- Clothes of your choice
- An inexpensive object of sentimental value
- 15gp worth of additional equipment or cash
- A feature which provides some social convenience and does not affect combat ability
- A Trait, Bond, Flaw, and an Ideal
Paladin and Ranger Cantrips - I always felt it was strange that these classes didn't get cantrips considering even third-casters like the Eldritch Knight or Arcane Trickster can use them. If you play a Paladin or a Ranger, you now receive the Spellcasting feature at 1st level, but you still do not receive 1st level spells or any spell slots until 2nd level. At first level, you learn a single cantrip, and you learn one additional cantrip at 9th and 16th levels. As a Ranger, you choose your cantrips from the Druid spell list. As a Paladin, you choose your cantrips from the Cleric spell list. I will approve cantrips from alternative spell lists if they are appropriately thematic to your character.
Barbarian - At first level, you gain the Enduring Spirit feature: On your turn, you can use a bonus action to reduce your current level of Exhaustion by one. You regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. In addition, you may now choose to forgo the Reckless Attack feature for a more refined approach to combat. At 2nd level, you may instead choose a Fighting Style from the Fighter class feature. You may choose any option except for Archery.
Fighter - At 5th level, a Fighter gains an additional choice of Fighting Style in addition to the Extra Attack feature.
Monk - Your Step of the Wind ability from your Ki feature at 2nd level no longer requires a ki point to use. You may choose to expend a ki point when using it to gain the benefit of the Disengage and Dodge actions simultaneously. In addition, the maximum damage of your Martial Arts die is increased by 2 at all levels, with a minimum of 1d6 and a maximum of 1d12.
Rogue - You are proficient with scimitars. Additionally, when you deal your Sneak Attack damage to a creature, that creature can't make opportunity attacks against you for the rest of your turn.
Warlock - You gain a single Eldritch Invocation at 1st level. You must choose an invocation with no prerequisites, even satisfied ones. This is a permanent bonus invocation; it doesn't count against your invocations known and it cannot be changed later by any means. In addition, whenever an invocation grants the ability to cast a spell "once using a warlock spell slot" per long rest, you instead gain the ability to cast that spell once without using a spell slot. You regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Whenever an invocation grants the ability to cast a spell without expending a spell slot once per long rest, such as Undying Servitude, you instead regain the ability to do so when you finish a short or long rest.
General Gameplay Changes
Equalized Death Saving Throws (5e Variant Rule) - The Fates no longer favor your survival.
Cover and Flanking (5e Variant Rule) - These are now more analogous to each other and flanking has been nerfed. You must now "surround" an enemy to gain advantage on attacks against it.
HP Gain - When you roll a Hit Die to determine HP gained on a level-up and you roll below half the maximum roll, you gain that value instead.
Universal Bonus Action - All creatures can now use a bonus action to perform an additional object interaction on their turn.
Battle Potions - A magical potion is not a large beverage which must be chugged sloppily in the midst of combat (looking at you, Elder Scrolls) but rather a small, quickly-downed concentrated brew. Higher quality potions of the same type are achieved by an increase in potency rather than volume. You can use a bonus action to consume a potion on your turn, or an action to give a potion to an unconscious creature.
Bandages and Reliable Healing Potions - For 2 copper, one can purchase a single-use bandage roll. Applying a bandage takes 1 minute and restores 1d12 HP when complete. Once you have been bandaged a number of times equal to your Constitution modifier, you cannot benefit from bandages again until you finish a long rest. Healing potions are now more effective in general. All dice rolled to restore HP when consuming a healing potion are now d12s, but they no longer receive an additional bonus. For example, a common quality Potion of Healing now restores 2d12 HP instead of 2d4 + 2. A Potion of Supreme Healing instead restores 16d12 HP.
Unarmed Attacks - When a medium or larger creature makes an unarmed attack, it now deals bludgeoning damage equal to 1d3 plus their Strength modifier unless otherwise specified.
Unarmored Defense Stacking - When you have multiple active features or abilities which change your AC calculation when you are not wearing armor, you can now choose the best one and gain a +1 bonus to AC for each other effect. For example, a Lizardfolk Barbarian under the effect of mage armor could have an AC of 13 + their Dexterity modifier + 2.
Critical Saving Throws - When you make a saving throw using an ability score, you are now guaranteed to fail the saving throw on a roll of one (a critical fail) or succeed on a roll of 20 (a critical success). If the save is to avoid damage and the effect which caused it targets only you, you take no damage on a critical success or the effect's damage dice is doubled on a critical fail.
Currency - Electrum does not exist in my world because I find it redundant. Silver is not used as currency in my world because it bears too many practical applications to be justified. One hundred copper pieces is still equal to a single gold piece. When an item is priced in silver, it costs 10x that price in copper instead. For the sake of consistency to the 100x conversion rate, a platinum piece is now worth 100 gold pieces.
Multiclassing - You cannot take a level in a new class until you have at least 4 levels in your first class. You cannot take levels in more than two classes.
Brutal Critical Hits - Optional Rule - This will not be implemented unless all players agree that they want it because it's a double-edged sword which can easily result in untimely deaths. When a critical hit on an attack roll or a critical failure on a saving throw results in double damage dice dealt, the damage is instead dealt normally and the target takes bonus damage equal to the sum of the maximum possible rolls for all damage dice. For example, a critical hit with a mace would deal weapon damage equal to 1d6 + 6 instead of 2d6.