Here are the common houserules that I use for all of my D&D games:

General In-Game Rules

• With the exception of the Grim Hollow game, we will use Hero Points. Points are awarded as follows:
  • 1 Point is awarded at the beginning of each session if you arrive within the first 10 minutes of the scheduled time.
  • 1 point can be earned if you bring a community snack (food or beverage).
  • IF you have expended all of your Hero Points, 1 may be REWARDED by making the entire table react to something you said or did that was funny, in character, or appropriate to the situation. This is something that is AWARDED, not EARNED.
• Hero Points may NOT be banked and carried from one session to the next; a maximum of 2 hero points may be used in any one session.
• Inspiration is REWARDED. Do something heroic, role play your character true to the role, or do something really cool and you are rewarded with Inspiration.
• I do not base leveling on accumulation of XP; I use milestone leveling and will advise when you level.
• Spellcasters must track their spell components, where applicable.
• The overarching story and character evolution/story are foundations of my games.
• Powergaming and min/maxing are not suitable for my games. Whilst you are the heroes of the story, you are not gods amongst mortals, so all of my campaigns will run the gamut of being FUN by being funny, sad, tragic, hopeful at various times.
• Every character deserves and will get the opportunity to shine. This means not just me as the arbiter of who speaks and when, but also asking my players to be mindful of others so that they get the chance to speak/act/interact.
• Player agency is crucial! The rule of cool is secondary, but not at the expense of player agency. This is often manifested as me blocking an effort to control or manage another player’s actions, take action that involves the other player without prior consent or tactical application, or generally acting in any way that takes away the direction, actions or consequences from another player.

Character Creation

• NO GIMMICKY CHARACTERS. I am interested in running the game with PCs who are invested and “real”. This means that unless there is a substantial and substantive story element, no goofball shit. We can make this fun, have some laughs, and enjoy playing it through.
• Character races and classes must be sourced from D&D Beyond
• Players have the choice of using the Standard Matrix in D&D Beyond OR rolling their stats as follows: Roll 4d6, dropping the lowest and rerolling 1s, a total of 7 times, then dropping the lowest dice roll.
• All characters will start the game at 1st level. New or replacement characters that join later will join at the Average Party Level of the group
• All players will be equipped with the standard starting equipment PLUS any additional items I deem necessary to start us off.
• Backstories do not have to be detailed and immersive, but are a requirement. They can simply be bullet points that cover the following:
  • What brings or brought you to north of the Spine of the World?
  • What do you seek most for your character?
  • What was your character like before we started? Were you a criminal? A noble? A merchant? A pauper?
  • What family and friends might you have, here or left behind?
• Alignment and Morality. I do not run EVIL campaigns, but alignment is not a 9 pointed star that everyone fits neatly within. It’s a general GUIDE to what a character’s morality is, and it is not an absolute due to the application of free will. Alignment is more about society’s view of good and bad; it’s the mores of a given society as a guide, but it is not a litmus test. Alignment itself comes into play when we’re dealing with laws, or religion, but does not constrain the individual from taking actions. It MAY create consequences (such as alignment change, falling into disfavor with one’s gods, legal consequences), but it does not LIMIT you from making choices if you’re willing to face the consequences. The job of being the heroes of a story is not filled with glory and positivity. One could even argue that a party of heroes were the villains to the opposing elements in the story.

Game Sessions

• If more than one player cannot attend a scheduled session, we will cancel.
• Minimum number of PCs in a campaign will be four (4), maximum number of PCs in a campaign will be eight (8), but we will only exceed 6 players by unanimous consent.
• My commitment to you is that I’m not going to railroad you into the story. But I ask that your commitment be that you will neither attempt to derail nor monopolize it.
• If we are running the game session or campaign virtually, the following applies:
  • Games will run in Foundry VTT and on Discord.
  • Depending on comfort levels, we MAY stream or record our sessions for airing on Twitch and on Youtube. For those who do not want their actual image on these platforms, I respect that, so we will use character images if/when we go down that route unless a player wants to appear.

Combat House Rules

• The optional rules of Flanking apply: If you are flanking an opponent, attacks are rolled at advantage. But the same applies for monsters with intelligence greater than 6. REMEMBER: Flanking means DIRECTLY across from your ally.
• Drinking a potion is a bonus action.
• Pouring a potion down someone’s throat is an action.
• Changing weapons readily accessible is a bonus action.
• Rolling damage more than double an opponent’s remaining hit points results in becoming Inspired for your next action.
• You can speak during combat and they can respond on their turn but the full conversation has to happen in 6 seconds.
• Called Shots: A called shot is when a PC declares a specific location on an enemy during combat (or out of combat). Recognizing that the need is to be precise in the attack (or action), these rolls must be made at Disadvantage.
• Ranged attacks into melee combat. This is on me completely, but I’ve not been happy with seeing ranged attacks where a creature is surrounded by the other players. Therefore, the rules for cover will be applied as follows for creatures of size Small to Large:
  • An enemy creature engaged in melee with ONE other creature gains the benefit of half-cover against ranged attacks. This grants them a +2 bonus to AC.
  • An enemy creature engaged in melee combat with MORE THAN ONE creature gains the benefit of 3/4 cover, granting them a +5 bonus to AC against ranged attacks.
  • A size Tiny creature gains 3/4 cover if it’s engaged with ONE PC and gains TOTAL cover (cannot be targeted by ranged attacks) if engaged with MORE THAN ONE PC.
  • A size Huge or greater creature does NOT face these additional rules, and uses the basic rules around Cover.
• Ammunition: For all ammunition (arrows, bolts, etc.), it is the player’s responsibility to track how many of that ammunition have been shot in the encounter. At the end of combat, if the PC is harvesting the items, they will roll a d100. The result is the percentage of ammunition that can be harvested successfully. For example: during combat, 15 arrows are shot at the opponents. At the end of this combat, the PC rolls a d100 and gets a 20, which would mean 20% of the 15 arrows (3) can be retrieved. In addition, magical ammunition, once fired, irrespective of a hit or a miss, loses it’s magic “charge” and can be retrieved further as mundane ammunition going forward.
• Boomerang: The boomerang is a ranged attack weapon. On a successful hit, the owner will need to spend a bonus action plus movement to retrieve it. On a miss, the item returns to the owner’s hand, but the owner must expend a bonus action to catch it.
• Grievous Wounds: Generally, injuries do not tie directly to a specific area or region on the body. There are, however, weapons that do damage to specific areas. In terms of injury to a specific area (broken leg, broken rib, dislocated shoulder, etc.), these are handled as special exceptions to rest and recovery. Specifically, a short rest will NOT heal the damage done to a body part, only magical healing or a period of long rest over several days will heal deliberate and concrete internal injuries when they have been specified. Broken bones, dislocated joints, or other trauma that is not healed magically can only be recovered over a period of days with no action other than rest.

As an example: Ursa received a wound that broke her ankle. A short rest is sufficient to recover HP, but not the injury itself. However, a short rest along side magical healing in excess of 12 HP is sufficient to return the affected area to normal utility and mobility.

Ability House Rules

Skills

Perception checks are for noticing something, it’s your general sense of awareness. Investigation checks are for searching for something. Investigation is when you are actively searching for something not in plain view. The first is about your general ability to perceive things, the second is your ability to deduce things. Similarly,

Athletics is about your physical strength, sheer brute power to overcome an obstacle.

Acrobatics is about your ability to use your reflexes and nimbleness to solve an issue.

Lastly, Insight, which is the most abused skill in 5e. Insight is NOT a lie detector, and it is not generic. MANY players get caught up in trying to use it as such. Insight is specific to a single application to assess intent to deceive. A good example is this: You suspect and NPC is lying to you. An Insight check is called for (opposed or not). You win the roll. This means that you feel something is “off” about what they’re saying, but it does not prove they are LYING. It also does not unwind every thing they’ve told you before or ahead. Think of this like my map example above: namely, if you catch someone in a single lie, this should not empower you to then conclude that everything they’re saying is a lie, nor should it draw you to conclusions greater than the subject at hand. This is where it gets abused, and I’m going to be more diligent about it going forward.

Hunter’s Mark

As written:

You choose a creature you can see within range and mystically mark it as your quarry. Until the spell ends, you deal an extra 1d6 damage to the target whenever you hit it with a weapon attack, and you have advantage on any Wisdom (Perception) or Wisdom (Survival) check you make to find it. If the target drops to 0 hit points before this spell ends, you can use a bonus action on a subsequent turn of yours to mark a new creature.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd or 4th level, you can maintain your concentration on the spell for up to 8 hours. When you use a spell slot of 5th level or higher, you can maintain your concentration on the spell for up to 24 hours.

Clarification: If there is not a suitable enemy target to transfer as this spell to as the creature drops to 0 hit points, the spell ends. It cannot be carried forward to the “next enemy” encountered within the spell’s duration.

Deflect Missiles

A missile weapon, for purpose’s of a monk’s Deflect Missile’s ability, applies only to items of a total mass less than 4 pounds. This means that a monk may deflect arrows, crossbow bolts, rocks and even very small cannonballs, up to a total mass of 4 pounds. Anything greater than that may not be affected by this ability.

Dimension Door, Teleportation and Misty Step

All three of these spells cause confusion, as only Teleportation says explicitly that it is within the same plane of existence. As Teleportation is a 5th level spell, Dimension Door is a 4th level, and Misty Step is a 2nd level, I’m henceforth house ruling that NONE of these spells will allow one to translate from one plane of existence to another.

Rage

For game purposes, the effects of the Barbarian’s rage are only relevant against an object or creature, and only during active combat. The resistance to damage types conveyed by rage does not mitigate damage from weather or other “greater” effects. For example, a barbarian may not choose to rage as they fall off a cliff, reducing the bludgeoning damage from a fall.

Magic House Rules

Costs of transcribing spells: Spells may be transcribed from a scroll or spellbook into a PCs spellbook at the following cost and time scale:

Magic Item House Rules

Blood Fury Tattoo As written, there is some ambiguity in the extent of its uses. So this is to clarify a few points:
1. May only be used for MELEE attacks.
2. May only be used ONCE per turn for ONE attack.
3. If used for an attack, may not also be used for the reaction in the same turn.