GameBanshee Forums

I would like some ideas of tried and true house rules to smooth over gameplay. No one can deny that D&D is full of complex rules and some of them don't fit in with your own group's style.

Here's some of my ideas for 3.5 edition:

Cure potions-Players can heal more HP by always getting at least half the damage the potion can heal even if they roll lower

Grapple: No need to provoke atk of opportunities

Monster Crits: Basic monsters can't deal extra damage on critical hits

I know most of you wouldn't like these rules but they help my groups a lot. Here are some situations I wonder if there are simpler House rules you could help me with:

-Turning Undead
-Grapple
-Attack of opportunities
-Carrying cappacity

Or any other contributions are welcome.

If you play some builds to their strength, the "no AoO grapple" will really hurt. But good grapplers will have Improved Grapple anyway, so it might be ok. Before Freedom of Movement rings/spells, grapple is about the worst thing most monsters can do, and effectively lock down a character. Just something to keep in mind.

As for carrying capacity: we tend to just ignore it/move it to the background. At least as far as gold is concerned.

As for our houserules:

We use the skillgroupings and favoured classes from Pathfinder.
Two Weapon Fighting has got a boost, because it sucks too much otherwise:the basic idea is that Two Weapon Fighting acts as Epic TWF (i.e. as much offhand attacks as mainhand attacks).
Races that get racials bonuses to skills get more as their HD increase, so that the bonus stays significant.

We also have a gentlemen's agreement that we don't abuse the power of casters.

For me, a few of my common ones are

Max HP curing outside of combat- When drinking a potion or otherwise utilizing a cure spell that relies on a random die variable, you cure a maximum value of that when not in combat or other strenuous activities.

Negative Levels from resurrection- instead of losing a level, I prefer negative levels. Effectively the same thing, but doesn't make XP all out of whack.

Special enchantments require only masterwork- Thus, if you want a flaming sword, you don't need to have it as +1 already.


This applies to 3.5 though, I'm still getting used to pathfinder so I don't know what house rules I'd use there all the time.

We have one that states if you roll a natural 1 to hit in combat, whatever you were attempting to hit gets an attack of opportunity- since you screwed up so spectacularly. Same rules apply for monsters too, giving the PCs an attack if they roll a 1.

We also ignore the damage reductions given to skeletons and zombies.

Some things in particular.........
1. when leveling up if you are in a town you get max hit points, If still on an adventure you must roll for hit points.
2. Us the CMB/CMD from pathfinder for grapples...soooo much easier.
3. allow wizards to cast any spell they know rather then prepare specifics for a day. (if they know 3 first 2 second and a third and have4 1st 5 second and 2 third in there spell book they may choose what to cast as they need it but may cast no more then 3 first 2 second and 1 third in a given time frame) that way wizards are not so hampered but still must have a spell book in there possession.
4. a 1 on your attack roll always misses and is considered a fumble regardless of your bonuses. Also if you have multiple attacks and roll a 1 you lose your additional attacks if any are left when the fumble occurred.
5 have just recently started using critical and fumble decks which seem to be fun so far but haven't made a final judgment on that yet.

3 is a perfect way to make wizards be all end all

Ur-Quan wrote:3 is a perfect way to make wizards be all end all

Even without houserule 3, they're already godly. This only enhances it.

Now, that I have time, I will elaborate.

Wizards aren't equal sorcerers. Wizards are supposed to be versatile, and adjustable, while sorcerers have XX spells, and excel at casting them multiple times. While a wizard can change the spells for the situation, a sorcerer has to go with his pool.

With that house rule you make wizard a sorcerer with every spell to choose. Have fun having a wizard just popping out a spell whenever he wants it, and being the ultimate party character. An enemy? Magic Missile. A locked door? Knock. A trap chance? Summon 1. A high damage dealer? Stoneskin. etc. The wizard would just be so adjustable it would ruin any chance of other party members shining.

in defense of house rule three

though we give wizards the chance to cast any spell they know we do not give them the chance to cast ANY spell. Also the amount of spells they can cast are limited by the amount they can cast per day. wizard knows 3 first 2 second and one third ....that is all they can cast in a given day regardless of what they might know. As far as what they knows it simply comes down to what they have available in their spell book, if they have 4 first level spells hold portal, mage armor, sleep, and shocking grasp they could cast any 3 of those during the day or one of them 3 times but they could not cast either magic missile or identify since they have not been learned and recorded to their spell book. And should they lose their spell book they are limited to the spells recorded to memory and once those are cast they cannot restudy since they have no spell book to reference. It is a frightful situation when a mage decides to partake of the public bath or some female or male companionship only to find out someone has copped their spell book while they were busy. Wizards are meant to be powerful and this brings them back in line while still leaving and obvious weakness and something they have to pay more attention to. So unless you give your wizard a spell book with every spell in the compendium written in it, it really does not imbalance the game at all. And if you do give that spell book away it should weigh well over75 lbs and be large enough that it will not fit into any regular sack and would require some sort of special way to protect it cuz your wizard is now marked for death by anyone hearing about that fabulous tome and who now possesses it.

GawainBS wrote:Even without houserule 3, they're already godly. This only enhances it.

This may be the case in your gaming group but I find even the high level wizards to not be so difficult should you be able to get close to them, A simple improved disarm will more often then not cause them to drop the staff or wand they are using and if in spell casting will cause them to drop the spell component needed to cast the spell they are attempting thereby causing them to lose the spell altogether. Now should they attempt to retrieve the item be it staff wand or component it leaves them open to an attack of opportunity as well as if they attempt a new spell. A simple magic item with blinking or teleport on it will get you right next to the caster without having to suffer any deadly attacks. And regardless whether you have taken your action or not, when the wizard takes his casting turn you get that free AOO. If he casts defensively you have now forced him to make a DC which is still better then letting him cast freely. This method if done wisely and with a 2nd or 3rd party member has felled many powerful wizards in a number of our campaigns. When it works its a beautiful thing when it doesn't it gets messy real quick.

ancientdm wrote:This may be the case in your gaming group but I find even the high level wizards to not be so difficult should you be able to get close to them, A simple improved disarm will more often then not cause them to drop the staff or wand they are using and if in spell casting will cause them to drop the spell component needed to cast the spell they are attempting thereby causing them to lose the spell altogether. Now should they attempt to retrieve the item be it staff wand or component it leaves them open to an attack of opportunity as well as if they attempt a new spell. A simple magic item with blinking or teleport on it will get you right next to the caster without having to suffer any deadly attacks. And regardless whether you have taken your action or not, when the wizard takes his casting turn you get that free AOO. If he casts defensively you have now forced him to make a DC which is still better then letting him cast freely. This method if done wisely and with a 2nd or 3rd party member has felled many powerful wizards in a number of our campaigns. When it works its a beautiful thing when it doesn't it gets messy real quick.

It just doesn't work that easily.
a) You're assuming you can detect the Wizard in the first place. (Etherealness, Invisible,...)
b) You're assuming you can hit the Wizard. Godly AC thank to spells, Miss chances.
c) You're assuming you can reach him. (Flying, ...)
d) You're assuming he cares about his staff or component pouch. (Eshew Materials, and why not take it?)
e) Most importantly: you're assuming there's anything left to threaten the Wizard after his turn. (He will go first, because he has very decent initiative, due to spells, feats and items; most non-casters need their feats & money to purchase more necessary things, like Power Attack, Two Weapon Fighting,(Ha!), Improved Trip, Combat Reflexes and weapons are damned expensive.)
f) The DC for casting defensively is neglible.
g) Ever looked at what Polymorph can do?

On the lower levels (up untill 10th orso), your tactics *can* work. Mind the stress on *can*. Spells like Glitterdust or sleep end an encounter right from the start. But, granted, a 1st lvl Wizard isn't that impressive once he exhausts his spellslots.
The higher the level, the more the above points hold true.
Also, in most parties, the Wizard isn't alone, and the rest of the party will defend him, just as he will help his party members.

As for the spellbook argument: a wizard has almost 50% of his wealth by level to spend on spells. That's a lot of money. Combine it with Boccob's Blessed Book, and the weight and space issues are reduced severely. Moreover, you don't need "every spell". Six per level are enough. I think it's safe to assume a Wizard will learn many, many more than this.
Also, why would a Wizard leave his spellbook unprotected? There's his familiar, there's the Geass spell (just make it a Geass that forces the un-rightfull owner of the book to return it), there's Ropetrick, and there's plain common sense: would you be willing to risk the wrath of someone capable of slaying the Tarrasque on lvl 13 by stealing his most precious possession? (It can be done, and rather easily, google it.)
Stealing a spellbook (no matter how improbable) is a great plothook, but if it occurs all too often with DM's fiat, he stopped being fair to that player.

If you want to learn more about Wizards, visit [url="http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=394.0"]here[/url]. Many D&D-smart people there, and if you post your houserule there, I'm pretty sure you'll get better arguments than from me.

So, by your rule, you gave the Wizard all the advantages of the Sorcerer, without the drawbacks. At higher levels, you'll never run out of spells, so the "less spells" isn't really valid.
Does this also apply to Metamagic? You simply have to use a higher level slot, without preparation?

The more I think about it, the less I like the fumble rule on multiple attack: the more experienced a warrior gets, the more often he fails? I don't like nerfs to melee/archery anyway, since casters are already so overpowered.

P.S.: Almost everything I said about Wizards goes for other fullcasters too. Also, I do not doubt you can find very specific situations where casters will get trumped. Judicious use of Anti-Magic Field seems the best bet, but that's only in a very limited area. Then again, outside of Core, I know of ways to get around Anti-Magic Fields.

I have to agree on your premise on wizards when they have enough time to prepare, but otherwise they are no faster then a good thief as far as initiative. All the spells you mentioned are correct and assuming ymust have played a wizard at some time, how often did you take eschew materials and for which particular spells? I see parties go into town all the time and rent rooms and put magic protections up but rarely do I see it happen with there spell books and if you are going to take those types of spells then it limits the number of spells you have available. Being somewhat realistic unless the wizard has time to buff himself up for the upcoming combat he wont be that prepared and most likely will have a completely different set of spells. If he constantly makes sure he knows all the buffs and wardings then he is limiting himself. Even the NPC nemesis spellcasters have certain spells ready dependant on what they are doing or where the party comes across them. It would be interesting to see some of these scenarios played out but as yet for myself and our group so far no imbalance. I do know a few things about wizards spells character enhancement and role playing as I have been DM'ing since 1976 granted the 3.5 and4.0 are alot different and I do have to take exception sometimes with whats happening on the board so I can go back and review a particular capability or skill or feat but as I have said so far so good. Enjoy your input gives me pause to think as to how that may apply within my game. thanks

As for initiative: [url="http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/resources/systems/pennpaper/dnd35/soveliorsage/spellsMtoO.html#moment-of-prescience"]This[/url].
Also, as I said, other characters have to spend more resources on more pressing needs, and this includes thieves.
Most buffs are either hours/lvl (easily castable at the start of the day), or 10 minutes/lvl, which can be Extended. (Also, a paragraph in the DMG explains that you may assume encounters start with spells with this type of duration being active. I can't recall the passage though.)
And yes, I would cast Geass on my spellbook. And/or keep it somewhere extra-dimensional.
[url="http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/resources/systems/pennpaper/dnd35/soveliorsage/spellsC.html#contact-other-plane"]Contact Other Plane[/url], for example, when cast before preparing spells, would allow you to be well prepared. Remember, this Wizard has somewhere along 25-30 INT, so he easily can phrase his question as to get a foulproof answer.
As well, other Divinations help you prevent getting surprised, and your Familiar can scout ahead. (Combine it with Scry for more fun.)
Now, once lvl 17, add in things like Timestop (get a free 1d4+1 rounds to litter the Battlefield with Walls, Gated creatures, Everards Tentacles, Solid Fogs, and Shapechange yourself in a Solar or Balor or something.
Eshew Materials works with all spells, btw. (Except the very costly component one.)

To go outside of Core for a moment: Nerveskitter (+5 initiative) costs no action to cast, and Shock and Awe is a Swift Action and gives the enemy -5 (or -10?) on Initiative.
The spells Heart of Fire, Earth, Water and Air last one hour/lvl, and grant you immunity to crits, temporary HP, fire resistance, better flying, ... Consider them cast at the morning.
Adamantine Wings gives flying, one hour/lvl.
There are many more spells like this. These are the ones my Fighter/Wizard used mostly.
Celerity and its cousins give you extra actions. Win.
There is also Persist Spell, which makes spells last 24 hours.

The bottom line: both in fluff (having godly INT and probably decent WIS and tons of Divinations) and in player-strategy, a well-played Wizard (Or any Caster, like a Druid: just take Natural Spell) is extremely hard to beat without very specifically, probably meta-gamed, designed encounters.

As a houserule: we don't play full-casters all-out, so that other characters get to shine to. It's a gentlemen's agreement.

Ok that all makes sense based on the wiz being 17th lvl or higher and if so the party going after him will be comparably equipped for the mission. So to get a better grasp on this let me give you a scenario where a10th level Lawful evil wizard has just gotten news some of his minions have just returned to his stronghold with the daughter of the local baron who's land, holdings, and fealty he is seeking. What would his spell list look like at this time?

After questioning the Barons daughter he prepares for what will obviously be a rescue mission of some sort. He does not know who when or how many will come as of yet but expects some moderate attempt based on his knowledge of the Baron and his Troops. So does he change any spells and if so which and why?

Finally the rescuers have arrived they have fought there way to his lvl of the stronghold any attempts at scrying them have been rebuffed due to magical protection. Clearly these are not the Barons troops for he has no such power at his command so it must be some adventuring group enamored with a rescue the princess tale of heroism. Now does he change once more and what does he change and why.

Also please list the wizards original spell book he would have and limit his spell choices to that. Dont forget to use up any spells he may have cast in each of the three parts as this takes place in a 24 hour time period.

Thanks and hope you enjoy strategising this.

You're taking this out of context: I talked about the Wizard as part of a party.

Secondly, I'll admit, I'm lazy. But, I'll repost this on another board, where I'm certain people will come up with better strategies than mine.

I'll link you the post in an IM, so you can follow there.

Edit: IM'd you the link.

This imaginary situation is not realistic. A group of adventurers that would be hunting a level 10 wizard won't have reliable means to obfuscate divination, unless you're assuming level 15 adventurers hunt level 10 wizards and waste their time on rescuing spoiled nobles.

Basically, the wizard will know who is coming, and when they are coming, before he even decides to kidnap the princess. He will know how many, their first and last names, their abilities, and what color shoes they wear.

He will plant tons of Symbol spells and a small army of Simulacrums in his tower, and not even be IN the tower with the princess when the adventurers arrive. He will have teleported her to somewhere safer, like in temporal stasis from Sepia Snake Sigil and stuffed in a Bag of Holding on his back while he sips cocktails on the beach.

These Symbols and Simulacra will be standard issue for his tower. He will have put them in place before ever putting his plans in motion, and will refresh the symbols as needed.

Edit: On-topic
Fractional BAB/Saves

Also on topic:

We never play without Fractional BAB & Saves as well.

ok thanks, and i was looking at it as a NPC wizard not a party wizard. That being the case isnt it a little more difficult to achieve those goals what with resting required time to re study etc etc. Anyway i will check your message.

Thanks again.

liquid150 wrote:This imaginary situation is not realistic. A group of adventurers that would be hunting a level 10 wizard won't have reliable means to obfuscate divination, unless you're assuming level 15 adventurers hunt level 10 wizards and waste their time on rescuing spoiled nobles.

Basically, the wizard will know who is coming, and when they are coming, before he even decides to kidnap the princess. He will know how many, their first and last names, their abilities, and what color shoes they wear.

He will plant tons of Symbol spells and a small army of Simulacrums in his tower, and not even be IN the tower with the princess when the adventurers arrive. He will have teleported her to somewhere safer, like in temporal stasis from Sepia Snake Sigil and stuffed in a Bag of Holding on his back while he sips cocktails on the beach.

These Symbols and Simulacra will be standard issue for his tower. He will have put them in place before ever putting his plans in motion, and will refresh the symbols as needed.

Edit: On-topic
Fractional BAB/Saves

going off topic too long so I will respond shortly.....10th lvl wiz gets 1 5th level per day is he really going to spend his 5th lvl spell on symbol which will take him tons of days to put up and yes the party would be around 8th level but my have acquired a magic item causing non detection and my not even be aware they have it yet. But thanks for the feed back.

Contrary to popular belief, a Wizard10 has at least 4 level 5 spell slots per day; 2 base + 1 from high INT + 1 from specialization. Focused specialists and very smart people (tm) have more.

Were I a thorougly prepared (and paranoid) Wizard, I would spend days spamming symbol spells. Once, I had a Wizard who cast explosive runes twice per day for months just so she could lob 96d6 rune grenades with little fear of running out.

She cast secret page once or twice per day for two years to get a complete set of Wizard spells.

NPC Wizards only accentuate this situation. Since they typically aren't run by kill-happy players, these Wizards literally have nothing better to do than to ensure their survival. If they aren't killing the nearest threat, they probably have plenty of time to fortify their base.