MedievalMans House Rules

[MedievalMan]

These are my current House Rules. As of this time I consider them complete, and I am just placing them here for others to peruse (and to have a record in case GoogleDocs eats my copy there).

House Rules
Bind Wounds:
Any character can bind wounds, binding wounds takes 1 turn and heals 1d4 hit points plus Wisdom modifier. A character can only have their wounds bound once per day.

Cantrips and Orisons:
Cleric and Magic-User characters will be allowed to use 0 level spells.

Duel-Wield:
When duel-wielding weapons you make a single attack with your primary weapon as normal, if you miss with your primary weapon you may attack the same target with your offhand weapon. Off-hand weapons must be small sized weapons.

Healing Per Night:
Characters heal 1 hit point per hit die + Constitution modifier per night.

Lay on Hands:
Clerics have the ability to lay on hands, with a touch of their hand they may heal up to 2 hit points per level per day. Alternately, they may expend all their healing for the day to allow a touched character a saving throw vs paralyzation or disease. Evil clerics may instead harm individuals with their touch.

Light Weapons and Skillful Warriors:
A character may use their Dexterity modifier instead of Strength modifier for to-hit rolls with small sized weapons.

Sneaky Thieves:
Thieves can Move Silently and Hide with a combined roll of those two skills. The thief only moves half his normal movement speed while doing so.

Starting Hit Points:
Characters begin with max hit points for first level.

Thieves in Armor:
Thieves are allowed to wear metal armor. However, when doing so they cannot Move Silently and their thieving skills other than Open Locks and Listen are reduced by 50%.

Thief Hit Dice:
Thieves use d6 for hit dice instead of d4.

Weapon Restrictions:
Clerics are allowed to use all types of weapons. Magic-Users may use the crossbow (both light and heavy), the dagger, the club/cudgel/walking staff, and the quarterstaff.

Weapon Specialization:
Starting at first level fighters choose a single type of weapon (longbow, shortsword, maul, etc), while using this type of weapon the fighter gets a +1 bonus to hit and a +1 bonus to damage. At every fifth level thereafter the fighter may choose to specialize in a different weapon (gaining the same benefits as listed above) or choose to continue specializing in the same weapon, in which case they gain an additional +1 bonus to hit and +1 bonus to damage.

[Hywaywolf]

Do characters die at 0 hp?
Can a PC use dual wield to increase their AC by 1 if they use a small weapon defensively in their off hand? Does the off-hand attack get a penalty?
When using Dex modifier with to hit rolls, do you still use the str modifier for damage or the dex?
When you say "At every fifth level thereafter" are you saying that they get weapons specialization at level 1 and lvl 6 and lvl 11 and and lvl 16?

[MedievalMan]

Do characters die at 0 hp?

Eeyup, but getting raised from the dead isn't as difficult.

Can a PC use dual wield to increase their AC by 1 if they use a small weapon defensively in their off hand? Does the off-hand attack get a penalty?

At one time this was a yes, but since it was brought to my attention that the shield would be basically useless, I changed it to the way it is today. Also the second attack gains no benefit and take penalty.

I might just use combat options, but I need to think about it.

When using Dex modifier with to hit rolls, do you still use the str modifier for damage or the dex?

You still use strength. The Dex is only replacing your to-hit bonus.

When you say "At every fifth level thereafter" are you saying that they get weapons specialization at level 1 and lvl 6 and lvl 11 and and lvl 16?

Gah, its supposed to be at level 5, 10, 15, and 20. Sorry for the confusion there.

[Hywaywolf]

Bummer on the dagger/short sword/torch in the off hand not giving a bonus to the AC. It was something my thief characters always liked.

[MedievalMan]

Its the trade off of not using a shield. Why use a shield if sword gives you both an attack and AC bonus.

[Hywaywolf]

thieves can't use shield, but I can see what you mean, except that you don't get the attack and ac bonus at the same time. It would make a difference if when you used duel wield you also added different types of shields that gave more bonuses to your ac (buckler, etc). Or a magical shield with its bonus would be useful.

[seandon4]

Its the trade off of not using a shield. Why use a shield if sword gives you both an attack and AC bonus.

I think of shields (of decent size) as being better against missile attacks than a +1 AC dagger; so one could argue no +1 AC dagger/sword bonus vs missile attacks, though this hasn't really come up so it's open to argument.

[Hywaywolf]

The no defense against missile attacks for off hand weapons rule is actually in the supplement, I believe. Also, IIRC, that the +1 is only against a single attacker.

[seandon4]

Ah yes I remember now; it doesn't mention missile attacks, but does say "+1 AC vs single melee attack", effectively the same.