Hey Doc,

I see the documents hosted on the web site as official, and I've dotted every i and crossed every T to make certain that they are all OGL safe. I could not host such a collection of house rules, especially ones that dance with 5e rules and things of that nature. I try to stay away from that stuff with a 10-foot pole, but feel free to chat about those sorts of things here at the forum. I'm just not going to host formal documents (even if they are just house rules) on the site. Sorry! I do appreciate that you've taken the time to share some of your personal tweaks. Make the game your own! That's the spirit.

Doctor_Rob wrote:

In a lively (and fun) discussion elsewhere in the forum on possible rules mods to include in the second AS&SH printing, a suggestion was made regarding a compilation of 'popular house rules'. This got me thinking (being a compulsive rules tweaker) of asking folks about thier favorite house rules. If the list is good (and concise), and if time permits, I'd be tempted to compile them into a pdf. (Ghul, would you be ok with this, and hosting such a document on the Hyperborea site?).

The danger with this is the list gets carried away with a lot of material, the sheer volume of which is off-putting to potentially interested users (and the compilation becomes impossible or impracticable - so no promises...).

Ok, to get things started, here are my house rules of choice. (Note that these suggestions are not original to me, but they seem like a good idea...)

1. Poison. Call me soft on my players, but I've never been a huge fan of PC instant death by poison. As such, on a failed save, lethal poison will inflict 1d6 damage per HD of attacking foe. Thus, poison from a 1HD monster has a 50% chance of finishing-off the avdeage 0 level human. As an option, damage fom creatures of more than 1HD is inflicted at the rate of 1d6 per combat round (allowing a window for neutralising the poison).

2. Level drain. I like the 5e idea of necrotic damage. Thus, in place of level drain, the victim's maximum possible HP is reduced by the amount of attack damage inflicted. Across multiple hits, maximum HP can fall to zero, at which point the effect is the same as if level had been reduced to zero. The reduction in maximum HP is removed by a significant period of meaningful rest.

3. Petrification. Again, this is a lift from 5e. Petrification occurs across two rounds, and a successful save in either round negates all effects. In the first round, a failed save affects the victim as if under a Slow spell (as their limbs stiffen, etc). In the following round, the player makes a second save, and if this is also failed, they are subject to the full effects of petrification.

4. Corrupting effects of magic. See my post here: http://hyperborea.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?id=355


Ok, that's it from me (for the time being). Please add your own favorite house rules and let's see what we end up with...

(Note: this thread may or may not be someting for the rules discussion section, but because the above does not concern questions etc on existing rules, I thought perhaps it would be ok here... )

I like 1-3.  Always had a round or two delay on the effects of poison and paralyzation. The level drain was not permanent but took real time to heal.  Good stuff!

The characters in my campaign start with their Con in HP.  As their normal HP (by the rolling of HD) passes their Con total then that becomes the new Total HP.  HP above their Con heals with overnight rest.  HP taken into their Con needs actual healing.  Where a normal hit subtracts from Total HP first, a critical hit subtracts from Con HP first then Total HP. I toyed with the idea of the character losing consciousness if they lost their Con HP (regardless of remaining Total HP) through a lucky Critical but never implemented.

Though I do this in my home campaign I generally run RAW in a convention game.

Morgan


 

mabon5127 wrote:

The characters in my campaign start with their Con in HP.  As their normal HP (by the rolling of HD) passes their Con total then that becomes the new Total HP.  HP above their Con heals with overnight rest.  HP taken into their Con needs actual healing.  Where a normal hit subtracts from Total HP first, a critical hit subtracts from Con HP first then Total HP. I toyed with the idea of the character losing consciousness if they lost their Con HP (regardless of remaining Total HP) through a lucky Critical but never implemented.

Interesting, I've toyed with something similar with the CON = "real injuries" and HP = "grit/fatigue/scratches", but currently use a "major wound" rule of any damage >=1/2 max HP gets a roll on the old Stormbringer major wounds table.
 

Blackadder23 wrote:

Heh heh you guys are softies.
My personal philosophy is more along the lines of "save or die" (or in the case of energy drain, "just die").

I'm trying to be more killer!  Honest!