House Rules

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Seven
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Re: House Rules

Post by Seven »

Nah. It just leads to the Clerics casting more spells instead of saving them.

I once played in a tournament with random competitors. The cleric had the habit of selecting spells he liked to cast instead of the ones the party was most likely to need. This had the drawback of having to rest often for the sole purpose of the cleric re-selecting more healing spells. It felt like a waste of time and sure enough we didn't get very far into the dungeon/castle.
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tkdco2
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Re: House Rules

Post by tkdco2 »

Depending on the setting, I may restrict certain classes. This can be a bit tricky, as BFRPG only has 4 basic classes, but I can always add stuff from the downloads section.

I got the idea from an early issue of White Dwarf. Lew Pulsipher wrote up a Moria adventure and detailed the Fellowship. His take on the setting was that magic appeared to be clerical in nature, so magic-users didn't exist. Gandalf was therefore written up as a cleric, albeit with access to certain magic-user spells.

I have thought about doing a low magic campaign where only clerics can cast spells. I may allow characters with limited spell-like ability, such as the bard or the paladin. I haven't done much with this except for a couple of my solo Middle-earth games. Clerics were renamed healers, and their spells are more like skills and lore.
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Tazer_The_Yoot
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Re: House Rules

Post by Tazer_The_Yoot »

For a BFRPG campaign, my general houserules would be roughly:

Level 1 PCs begin with highest possible hitpoints for their level and CON score. (So a Fighter with a +1 modifier would get 9 HP at level 1 whereas a Cleric with a -1 would get 5 HP at level 1)

Abilities 15 and over:

Fighters with a STR of 15 or over get an additional +1 to hit and +1 damage as well as an additional HP per level.

Clerics with a WIS of 15 or over get an additional level 1 spell.

Magic-Users with an INT of 15 or over get an additional level 1 spell.

Thieves with a DEX of 15 or over get a 5% bonus on all Thieving skills.

All characters with CON 15 or over get an additional +1 HP per level. This stacks with the Fighter STR bonus.

All characters with a CHA 15 or over get +1 to reaction rolls and 1 free hireling at level 1.

A PC who drops to 0hp gets a final Save vs Death. If s/he passes, rather than being dead, the PC is simply KO'd until the second day of resting in a safe place, at which place they're restored to 1 HP.

XP will be rewarded not only for defeating monsters, but for acquiring treasure, for RP, for discovering new locations, and for completing personal goals and quests.
Seven
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Re: House Rules

Post by Seven »

Full hp is a most.

I typically give some cantrip level magic items to starting characters so they don't have to deal with 1/0 spell per day.

For thieves, I mostly just set easy locks. Thieves is a class in which you learn by failure.
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Metroknight
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Re: House Rules

Post by Metroknight »

My house rules tend to be mostly the optional supplements (additional races, combat options, class option supplements, etc) but pure house rules are a few easy ones such as max hp for first level characters, crit hits do weapon damage roll plus max die damage (example: long sword does 1d8 so it would be 1d8 +8 + str bonus), but then there are a few that are unusual. The unusual ones range from a stat increase mechanic that is limited to humans or combo class mechanic ((class xp + class xp)/2)*1.5 and if the race usually get's XP bonus, it does not get it.

I have a few others.
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tkdco2
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Re: House Rules

Post by tkdco2 »

I have been thinking of allowing single-class fighters (not the subclasses) to make multiple attacks as they go up. Perhaps allow one attack per five levels. I already allow fighter-only options like shield bash and set spear vs. charge.

I am trying to work out nonmagical healing abilities for clerics. Maybe they can treat more people in a given day as they rise in level and/or increase the number of hit points restored.

I have been thinking of critical hits and misses. I'd keep this simple. On a natural 20, roll again. If the attack misses, it's a regular hit; if it hits it's a critical. Do maximum damage + STR modifier. On a natural 1, roll again. If it's a hit, then it's just a regular miss. If it's another miss, it's a fumble. Lose your next action.
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Solomoriah
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Re: House Rules

Post by Solomoriah »

I find that using the specialization rules from Combat Options gives enough attacks per round while limiting the power expansion (since not all weapons are affected).
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tkdco2
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Re: House Rules

Post by tkdco2 »

Yeah, weapon specialization works. Two-weapon combat may also work, as long as the penalties are used to keep things from going out of control.
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knottyprof2
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Re: House Rules

Post by knottyprof2 »

Tazer_The_Yoot wrote: Mon Aug 15, 2022 5:57 am For a BFRPG campaign, my general houserules would be roughly:

...
A PC who drops to 0hp gets a final Save vs Death. If s/he passes, rather than being dead, the PC is simply KO'd until the second day of resting in a safe place, at which place they're restored to 1 HP.
We implemented a Death save a session or so ago with the caveat that it will only be for 1st/2nd level characters and it requires someone to render aid the same round as the character is reduced to 0 or less. Characters that survive are out for 24 hours and regain 1 hp at that point and then must recuperate for 1d4 days before being able to return to adventuring (regaining hp normally during that time).
The game world is low magic so healing potions are going to be rare. Instead using salves and such to regain additional hit points per rest and just added a new house rule where characters can spend 10 minutes (1 turn) after a skirmish to bind wounds and must make a successful Int or Wisdom check to regain 1 hp. Only one try per post combat but it may be used after every combat for anyone that suffered damage.
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Played the original OSR back in the 80's and never looked back, though paused a couple of times.
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tkdco2
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Re: House Rules

Post by tkdco2 »

The death save rule from 5e is the only rule I'd incorporate into my OSR games.
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