House rules for 3.5

[Inquisitor Tremayne]

Since this will be my first concerted effort into DMing a 3.5 game I was wondering what everyone's house rules were for 3.5 overall. Since I am far from knowing all the minutia that can be exploited.

the only concrete thing I have so far is limiting the books used, here is my list:

Available books
DMG
DMG II
MIC
PHB
PHB II
RoD
RoS
RoW
RC
Spell Compendium
All 3.5/3.0 FR books
All Complete Books


NO psionics!



What are yours?


Thanks

[d-_-b]

1) I have tweaked the Toughness feat to add +1 hp pr. level and the Improved Toughness feat to add +2 hp pr. level. I like my front line fighters tough and the added survivability makes for a more satisfying game for both me and the players.

2) I require the players to describe in character the prestige class they want to take and to find a willing teacher to learn from. In other words, Bromm the rogue/wizard won't say he'd like to be an Arcane Trickster but instead describes how he would be able to combine his rogue abilities with his spell casting to better the latter. Obviously I then accommodate his wishes by working it into the story line.

3) I don't allow the creation of magic items using the combo of divine metamagic and the persistent spell feat as it allows you to create rings etc. with spell abilities for 10 percent of the actual cost.

[Pushkins]

Something you should kill right away, with the books you are using the monster known as Sarrukh should either be eliminated or have it's type changed to Outsider.

If this creature remains, as is, it brings up the loop hole of Pun-Pun

This creature has a supernatural ability that is frankly, GOD like, if characters choose the feat assume supernatural ability and combine it with a players ability to shapechange things will quickly get out of hand

[outrider]

This is part of the house rules for my 3.5 game



NEW 1/25/08 Non class skills only cost one point but are still limited by cross class skill limits. New campaigns
NEW 5/26/08 The Duskblade and Knight from PHB 2 will be allowed. Check racial restrictions.
NEW 9/15/09 following will be allowed- Hengeyokai, Nezumi, and Spirit folk from Oriental adventures. See class restrictions below.
I have restrictions on character races and classes. I freely admit to bias to certain combinations of race and class. For example there will never be a dwarvish wizard or sorcerer in my campaign. I have also compiled the list of allowable classes for the main part of my campaign from the core and other books and the races allowed for them.
CLASSES ALLOWED: Core book all, Swashbuckler, scout, spellthief, psion, pyschic warrior, soulknife, spirit shaman, , Duskblade,knight guttermage (book of Roguish luck-Malhavoc press)
shugena, wu jen, ninja, samurai generally in a far eastern style campaign but allowable on the west coast campaign. PRESTIGE CLASSES-complete warrior kensai
PRESTIGE CLASSES ALLOWED; Fist and Sword-devoted defender, warmaster, tribal protector. Complete Warrior-cavilier, drunken master, halfling outrider, tattooed monk, hunter of the dead, order of the bow, spellsword. Defenders of the faith-Templar, Complete divine-church inquisitor(not all faiths, hospitaler, sacred exorcist, warpriest(Helm and Tempus), sacred fist, Tome and Blood-the wayfarer guide, Races of Stone-battlesmith, deep warden, Song and Silence-spymaster, complete Adventurer-dread pirate, ollam(dwarf only), thief-acrobat, wild plains rider, Races of the Wild champion of Corellon, luckstealer(human instead of halfling tyche follower), dallah thauns luck feat taken by human, rauther, DMG dwarvish defender, arcane trickster, duelist, loremaster, hierophant.
paladins are followers of Tyr, Torm and Helm only.
I may allow a new PRC with discussion with the player but the above is allowed without the need for discussion
RACE ELIBIBILITY FOR RACES
HUMANS ALL,
ELVES AND 1/2 ELVES ALL BUT BARBARIAN, PALADIN, MONK, AND FAR EAST CLASSES.H
DWARVES- ONLY FOLLOWING CLASSES FIGHTER, CLERIC, ROGUE, SWASHBUCKLER, SCOUT
GNOMES- ONLY FOLLOWING CLASSES FIGHTER, RANGER, CLERIC, WIZARD, BARD, ROGUE, SPELLTHIEF, GUTTERMAGE
HALFLINGS- ONLY FOLLOWING CLASSES FIGHTER, RANGER, CLERIC, ROGUE, SWASHBUCKLER, SPELLTHIEF, WIZARD, GUTTERMAGE
1/2 ORCS- ONLY FOLLOWING CLASSES BARBARIAN,FIGHTER, CLERIC, SORCERER, ROGUE, WIZARD
CENTAUR- ONLY FOLLOWING CLASSES FIGHTER, RANGER, CLERIC, BARD, DRUID, SPIRIT SHAMAN, KNIGHT
LIZARDMAN ONLY FOLLOWING CLASSES-FIGHTER, BARBARIAN, CLERIC, SORCERER
HENGEYOKAI-WU JEN
NEZUMI-ROGUE
SPIRIT FOLK-SAMURAI, WU JEN, ROGUE, SHUGENA
--- Merged from Double Post ---
In addition. I also have feats every other level instead of every three levels. I will also add additional feats for background for a character. Generally these are skill based feats.

I have an extensive list of changes for the priests as I have had speciality priests that I imported from my second ed campaign.

[d-_-b]

I'm running a FR 3.5 game, and as Inquisitor Tremayne I disallow Psionics because they are inappropriate for that setting. Other than that I generally try to avoid setting up restrictions to classes/races and stick to the rules that are already part of the game. I still retain the ability to say "no" if one of my players wants to choose a race/class/etc I don't want in my campaign but I much prefer entering into a dialog about it. As a rule the players can freely choose any normal player race and class from the Forgotten realms Campaign Setting book without having to take it up with me. Beyond that we talk about it

Fx, I strongly discourage players from choosing the Spell Thief class because I don't feel it is appropriate for the setting in which we play and because I think the class is flawed in it's dependency on viable target from which to steal spells and spell-like abilities from.

[DMMike]

Dying: your max negative hit points are equal to your Constitution score.

Sleeping: a full night's rest for you is 8 hours less your Con bonus.

Morale: when you reach half your hit points, or half your party flees or falls, you must save vs. Will DC 20 or become Shaken. Failure by 10 means you become frightened.


Common is not a language.

Difficult languages, like monstrous or planar ones, require extra skill points.

A paladin's warhorse does not come from another plane. Cheeeez-y.

And there's more where that came from...

[Inquisitor Tremayne]

And there's more where that came from...

Let's hear 'em!

i like the morale check, old 2e hold over.

I also like common not a language! I think I am implementing that one!

[TheYeti1775]

1. Dying -10 Rule - Modified to -10 with Con Bonus adjusting it.
Example:
18 Con = Con bonus +4 So Dying would be to -14
9 Con = Con bonus -1 So Dying would be to -9


2. Toughness - +1 / Level

3. Improved Toughness - Increase hit die rolled per level by one Non-Retroactive
Example: Use Table 7-4 in PHB Page 114 to adjust properly going from Medium to Large Damage. Just apply it to the dice used for hitpoints.
1d4 is now 1d6; 1d6 is now 1d8 etc.
Never had an issue with anyone taking it twice, but it could be abused in that way if you aren't careful. Takes trust in your players or you can just say it can only be taken once or give it progressively harder requirements.

4. Bonded Items (taken from a friend) - rather than filling hoards of treasure so everyone trades in/up after every dragons hoard. A character can bond with an item/weapon (exp cost for each bonding) that allows it to grow with the characters level. Allows for a great customization of an item for each player. I use an every 5th Level of power requires a bond to open it up further. Really can make for an epic item in itself once you reach those levels. (haven't had any with bonded make it that far yet)

5. Anything is possible with a good backstory to it. I don't automatically say no, but ask you how it fits in the world. D&D is the ultimate jigsaw puzzle, but it has to fit to look right.

Those are the biggies, the rest vary per campaign.

[DMMike]

Let's hear 'em!

i like the morale check, old 2e hold over.

I also like common not a language! I think I am implementing that one!

by popular demand...

Darkvision only works when eyes adjust to total darkness.

Commander aura: characters with a charisma bonus can grant low-level bonuses to dedicated followers within 30 feet. (Can help to counteract morale failures)

Ready weapon: you may assume that your character has a light weapon ready at all times. Heavier weapons would cause fatigue. (Gives value to quick draw)

People races are neutral, and affected by most Protection, Circle, and aligned spells. Only planar beings have a polar alignment.


Defense rolls! Keep PCs on their toes...

[Inquisitor Tremayne]

So this is good. I was particularly looking for any house rules to cover any place where there might be vagueness in the rules or to cover any loop holes or what-not.

[DMMike]

You don't really run into loopholes until you start dealing with prestige classes. And we've been talking about alignment vagueness in the Good Assassin thread. I solved the problem by making alignment subjective (gods being the subjects). Positive and negative energy are basically life-focused; one fosters life and the other destroys it. Some creatures are objectively aligned though: outsiders, undead, and tax collectors.

[tesral]

Where do I start?

I rewrote the whole thing.

[Inquisitor Tremayne]

Where do I start?

I rewrote the whole thing.

Spill it!

[tesral]

Spill it!

Rather than ty and post a whole book. The Whole Book

MD&D 2.8 Player's Manual.

[Hoitash]

THE TEN HOUSE RULE COMMANDMENTS



I. Thou shalt not play Lawful Evil, Neutral Evil, or Chaotic Evil, lest ye succumb to party kills.

II. Thine critical rolls are automatic critical, thy needst not confirm.

III. Thine natural 1’s are automatic failures, thy consequences shall follow.

IV. Monks are right out.

V. Creatures who have suffered half of their hp lost shalt not need to make Fortitude saves.

VI. A die that rolls off the table shalt be re-rolled.

VII. All rolling shalt be done in public of all players, excepting the DM when he deems it.

VIII. Thou shalt not quote Monty Python, ever.

IV. If thy roleplays well, thou shalt not ask for XP, for it will be given as I deem fit.

X. A creature that hast lost half its hp is in shock, and thus incapable of moving, for one round.

Most of the people I DM for are newbs.