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House Rules

Ability Scores

• The Ability Scores of player characters are not to be rolled, but assigned. The numbers to be used are 16, 15, 14, 12, 12, and 10. Appropriate modifications because of race and/or additional levels still applies.

Character Levels

• To maintain game balance for those players who are unable to consistently attend game sessions, no player character may be more than two levels higher than any other player character. If such a condition exists, the player character with the lower level is given additional experience points to compensate for this, place them at the beginning of appropriate level.

• For example, if a player character were to earn enough experience point to attain 9th level (36,001 XP), but a fellow player character was only 6th level (less than 21,000 XP), then the DM will award the appropriate amount of experience points to ensure the lower level player character is no more than two levels behind; this being 7th level (21,001 XP).

Doors

• Glass door: DC 5 strength check

• Wooden door: DC 10 Strength check

• Wooden door that is barred or reinforced in some manner: DC 15 Strength check

• Increase the DC by 5 if the door is made of stone.

• Increase the DC by 10 if the door is made of iron.

• Increase the DC by 20 if the door is made of a legendary material.

• Increase the DC by 50 if the door is actually Santo Koribayed, plus take 100 points of unholy damage for trying to force him to do anything, fool.

• Decrease the DC by 5 if the door has been weakened in some manner.

Hit Points

• All hit points will be assigned the maximum possible rolls for all player characters from 1st through 5th levels. Any levels gained after 5th level will be randomly generated as per the core standards.

Initiative

• In order to streamline combat, group initiative can be used with the party. The initiative order will start in clockwise order from the GM’s chair for the first round, and then switch to counter-clockwise order for the next round.

• This allows for players to alternate their actions during each round. Subsequent rounds will follow the clockwise/counter-clockwise method until the end of combat.

Passive Checks

• A passive check is a special kind of ability check that doesn't involve any die rolls. Such a check can represent the average result for a task done repeatedly, such as searching for secret doors over and over again, or can be used when the DM wants to secretly determine whether the characters succeed at something without rolling dice, such as noticing a hidden monster.

• Here’s how to determine a character’s total for a passive check:

  • 10 + all modifiers that normally apply to the check

  • If the character has advantage on the check, add 5. For disadvantage, subtract 5. The game refers to a passive check total as a score.

Proficiency Bonus

• Occasionally, your proficiency bonus might be modified (doubled or halved, for example) before you apply it. If a circumstance suggests that your proficiency bonus applies more than once to the same roll or that it should be multiplied more than once, you nevertheless add it only once, multiply it only once, and halve it only once.

Spells

• Call Lightning (PHB page 220). In the first paragraph, "100 feet" is now "within range." In the second paragraph, "within range" is now "under the cloud." - Wizards.com Players Handbook errata. "Call lightning is an odd spell because its range is measured from the effect it creates—the storm cloud—not from the caster." - Jeremy Crawford

Talking During Combat

• Talking is a free action, but monologues are not.

"Wah"

• Rather than repeat dialogue every player has heard, PCs and NPCs can “Wah” each other information in order to streamline gameplay.

• The “wah” refers to the odd sound made by the teachers in the Charlie Brown television series. Most of the Peanut’s characters usually looked up while the teacher spoke, and replied “I understand”.

Campaign Redundancy

• bale tempest - magical superstorms which randomly appear and disappear on the continent of Gantara. Arcane preparations of civilized areas (the spoke design) and most thoroughfares of the Royal Road allow citizens some sort of protection.

• baron - royal title bequeathed by a duke to a government official responsible for one of Gantara's baronies.

• duke - royal title bequeathed by the overlord to a government official responsible for one of Gantara's duchies.

• Gantara - the least explored of the four continents of Oerth until 1000 years ago when the first monster races first set foot upon the land.

• jindroll - an advanced interstellar alien race with starships capable of faster-than-light travel.

• lord mayor - local town official assigned by the leader of the barony.

• overlord - the principal leader of the continent of Gantara.

• patua - an interdimensional race of being, acting outside of space and time.

• "The Plenitude" - the name given to a mysterious blinding flash of light returning magic to Oerth; the magic had returned, but it had changed in some way.

• prifit - a holy leader of a good or neutral deity.

• royal road - an epithet applied to paved roads extending from Hightower to duchies throughout the continent. One significant aspect is these road are magically protected from bale tempests.

• sacrifit - an unholy leader of a neutral or evil deity.

• "storm peace" - a common greeting and a tradition that developed when settlers first set foot on the continent of Gantara. The vicious storms that troubled the land were unpredictable and sprang up spontaneously without warning. It is said this tradition comes from the old country of Nyrond as a way to put aside differences when weather became too dangerous. When a person declares “storm peace”, an immediate ceasefire is enacted between agreeing parties during instances of inclement weather, particularly bale tempests. The effects of bale tempests can be so damaging that most people realize self-preservation is more important than any current conflict. Although rare, there have been instances when individuals and groups have rebuffed the offer, disregarding their own personal safety. The popularity of declaring “storm peace” has even gone as far as to be used in situations when strangers meet each other during inclement weather, or when seeking a warm evening fire after a long day of travel. Storm Peace is a human tradition, which has been adopted elves, dwarves, and other races of Gantara. However, there have been folktales of where giants, dragons and even a beholder have asked for Storm Peace in the middle of a bale tempest, and it was agreed upon by both parties. These tales are stories of myth in which credible witnesses are missing, and few citizens of Gantara wish to put these stories to a test.

• "trok" - slang for any non-human race; to be underfoot.

• wardens of the Red Star - now defunct, these warforged were wandering representations of law throughout Gantara, until the Source (also knowns as the Great Forge) was extinguished and their lifeforce ceased.

"Hattori wakizashi (curved Japanese short sword)" by xxx, "KA-BAR 1218 serrated edge fighting knife" by xxx