Houserules

Below you'll find a collection of houserules or variant rules that are commonly used in all my campaigns. If you have any questions about a rule, feel free to ask me.

None of the following rules are set in stone. If you prefer to play without a particular rule listed below, talk with me.

Chargen/Level Up¶

Allowed Sources¶

All options (race, class, spells, feats, etc.) from the Player's Handbook are allowed without question. Options from Xanathar's Guide to Everything and Tasha's Cauldron of Everything are allowed, but I ask that you run them by me first, so we can work out how they fit into the campaign.

All other options are allowed only on a case-by-case basis. Options from crossover settings (e.g. Wildemount, Strixhaven) will generally not be approved.

A good rule of thumb is that if it's on this website, I'll allow it in the game. This website also contains additional homebrew options that I will allow, so checking this website first rather than build guides or other sources is recommended when trying to pick your options. That said, if you find an option you like that's not on this website, please bring it up with me. I may just have not gotten around to adding it yet.

Uncommon Spells¶

In a world of magic spells, some spells will naturally be more well-known than others. There are some spells that every arcanist knows of and can easily learn, like Prestidigitation or Magic Missile. But there are other spells that, even though they may be low level, many magic users don't even know exist.

When you are preparing your spells in the morning, or picking spells to learn/swap when you're leveling up, all spells from the Player's Handbook (PHB) are fair game. Any non-PHB spell, however, requires some kind of explanation for why your character knows of and has access to it. This rule is not intended to limit the spells you have access to, but rather to keep some spells in the game feeling unique and special. If you wish to pick a non-PHB spell, let me know, and we will work together to come up with an explanation for how you know this spell.

You can view all the spells available to you in the Spell Filter, and you can use that to filter them by their sourcebook.

Non-Prepared Spellcasters¶

For any spellcasters that aren't able to prepare all their spells from scratch every Long Rest (e.g. bards, rangers, sorcerers, warlocks), you can replace one of your known spells with another spell from your spell list for which you have spell slots. The spells' levels do not have to match.

In addition, whenever you gain a level, you can replace any of your known spells with the same number of spells from your spell list for which you have spell slots.

Gameplay¶

Adventurers' Intuition¶

One of the best things about D&D is it gives players the opportunity to take on the role of an adventurer in a fictional world. However, just because someone is playing an experienced adventurer doesn't mean they have all the skills, experience, knowledge, and intuition of that adventurer themselves. This is usually managed in the game by things like Strength (Athletics) or Intelligence (History) skill checks. But in the course of choosing what your character does in a given situation, you may find that lack of experience becomes a problem.

If you are ever in a situation where you don't know what to do or what the right course of action is, you may ask me (the DM) if you can make an Intuition roll. This usually takes the form of a Wisdom (Insight) check, but I may ask for other rolls at my discretion. If your roll succeeds, I will provide you with a hint or a flash of insight or something to help you get unstuck or give you an idea of the best course of action.

Exploration Activities¶

When the party is exploring a dungeon, traveling through the wilderness, or doing anything else that doesn't place them in combat, I may ask everyone to pick an Exploration Activity that they're performing during that time. See the linked page for more detail.

Inspiration¶

You may choose to use your Inspiration after you roll, but before you know the result of your roll. If you had Disadvantage on your roll, you make the reroll with Disadvantage. You cannot use Inspiration to reroll if you had Advantage on your roll. You can still use Inspiration to give yourself Advantage before your roll, as per the normal rules.

Additionally, Inspiration does not carry over between sessions. Instead, anyone who shares a recap in the group chat and/or engages in discussion about the upcoming session will start the session with Inspiration.

Stealth Checks¶

When you do something that would normally trigger a Stealth check, like taking the Hide Action, you do not roll that check immediately. Instead, I will ask you to roll your check when the result of the check becomes relevant, like when someone might notice you. The intention of this rule is to improve the tension and excitement of these important situations.

The rule can also apply to other checks where the result of the check is far separated in time from the action taken, like forging documents or using a Disguise Kit.

Combat¶

Ambushes/Surprise Rounds¶

When a group of creatures wants to sneak up on a group of enemies and ambush them, one member of the sneaking group gets a "free turn" to make an attack. Immediately afterward, initiative is rolled and play proceeds as normal. The sneaking group must succeed on Stealth checks as per the normal rules or the ambush may be foiled.

This replaces the existing Surprise mechanics as written in the PHB. Existing mechanics that interact with the Surprise mechanic (e.g. the Alert feat) will be adjusted as needed.

This houserule is in the "trying it out" phase, so it may be tweaked and adjusted as playtesting is done, and possibly thrown out in the end completely.

Items¶

Adventurer's Packs¶

Instead of choosing an Equipment Pack, you can instead decide to pick up an Adventurer's Pack. The Adventurer's Pack weighs 30 lbs, and costs 25 gp. When you get an Equipment Pack from your class or background, you can exchange it for an Adventurer's Pack at no extra cost.

Each Adventurer's Pack has 5 uses and a Theme. You can expend a use to pull any non-magical item with a value of up to 10 gp that adheres to the Theme. The items pulled out are permanent (add them to your inventory list) and can include any item in the Adventuring Gear section, or whatever you can come up with, subject to DM discretion.

Different Themes will allow different possible items, like the Entertainer theme can contain a disguise kit but an Explorer theme will not.

Each time you expend a use of your Adventurer's Pack, its weight is reduced by 5 lbs. Once you've pulled five items out of your Adventurer's Pack, it is fully expended and just counts as an empty backpack.

Potions of Healing¶

You can drink a Potion of Healing either as an action or as a bonus action. If you drink the potion as a bonus action, you quickly dump the potion into your mouth, possibly wasting some of it as it splashes on you or your surroundings. Roll for the total healing the potion does as normal.

If you drink the potion as an action, the potion does the maximum possible amount of healing it's capable of. For example, a Potion of Superior Healing normally does 8d4 + 8 healing, but if you drink it as an action you will heal 8 × 4 + 8 = 40 hit points.

Administering the potion to another creature takes an action. If you do this, roll for the amount healed.

This rule may also apply to other potions that require a die roll to determine their effect, at my discretion.