Top 5 House Rules for Your D&D Game

[@JISHBOSIN]

On the health potion rule. My homebrew is "If you use a bonus action to drink, you must roll. But if you take a full action to drink, you gain max dice amount.". Gives people an options.

[@chaoshead87]

Interesting idea, not a horrible idea either.

[@autographedcat]

This is my rule as well. Also, feeding an incapacitated player a potion is always an action, but still has to roll.

[@tytonshade]

I came here to comment exactly this. Player agency, healing. Another note: it takes a full action + roll to pour a potion down another person's throat.

[@The-Swift-Kobold]

Great idea I have included this is in my games too

[@Brando2Shoes]

Congratulations on your audition going so well!

[@misfitadventurers]

Thank you!

[@painappledad1352]

I've been DMing like 25 years, so I have play a lot of d&d editions and other games. I don't know if homebrewing was the only option back then (also in South America, so almost no one could read in English, and the books where really hard to find) but I heavily change the systems and mix rules, I use minions rules and the bloody condition cuz they help me to run the game, I even use TTRPG to teach social skills to kids in the spectrum (I'm a teacher). What I really want to say is that every system has is core, and when you find it and understand it, you can change the rest without destroying the game, cuz you understand his core, and if you destroy it by accident, you have enough information to re assembly the chaos, and making a "rollback" or a "flashback" to repair some plot holes and you are ready for DM action. The rest is just get the "skin" you need for your group of players, cuz DMing is like cooking for your friends. You need to understand their likes, allergies, boundaries and then with their permission scare the sh1t out of them with a good plot twist. There is no "meta" in your table/group, so you don't need to use the rules if they don't make your experience better. Good vibes and wishes from South America 🙇🏻‍♂️♿

[@danacoleman4007]

Wow! I have never heard anyone use the cooking analogy before. That is fantastic!

[@TikitheHutt]

Howdy, I too am running a nautical campaign (mixing Dragons of Stormwreck Isle with Ghosts of Saltmarsh, but all set in Theros setting) I always remind my players of the underwater combat rules, and I added two small home rules for water/underwater: Wearing Heavy and Medium armor and/or wearing a shield gives the wearer disadvantage on swimming checks. Wearing no armor gives the wearer advantage on swimming checks. I have a whole bunch of interesting house rules for ship-to-ship combat that are very well play tested if you are interested to make you players more engaged during ship battles.

[@BrianSledd]

I have found with crits, I enjoy big hits that are impactful, I max out the result of the normal weapon damage, so say it's a d8 normally for your damage (not counting bonuses) on a crit you get to roll like you would for normal, but you automatically get the normal damage maxed out, so in the case of the d8 it would be d8 + 8 plus any other bonuses associated with the roll. So a 2d6 maul would be doing 2d6 + 12 on a crit, a d10 damage weapon would crit for d10 + 10, etc. That way a crit is guaranteed to do more than a regular hit could. Now you could also roll that in with your "no 1s" rule so you are at least doing normal damage max +2 minimally. And congrats on the role!

[@misfitadventurers]

That sounds like a really fun way to do crits. I'll have to try that sometime! I have a feeling my players would love it lol And thank you!

[@DMTalesTTRPG]

Old school any character could use a protection scroll, and Thieves had a chance to use wizard schools, which was fun.

[@TheDungeonCoach]

I LOVE me some house rules videos!

[@Leniathan]

Always happy to see content creators I like crossing over ^^

[@galdeveer]

My favorite homerule is letting health go into the negative. Healing doesn't bring you back up unless it brings you back into the positive. I don't do this to make the game harder, I do it because it creates better narrative flow in combat when being down or up is more rigid. That said, I also have a rule that allows you to try to push through unconsciousness to do something for a penalty which overall makes becoming incapacitated much more fun.

[@Dyanosis]

This isn't a house rule, it's literally how D&D use to work. It's only considered a house rule because D&D 5e made it so going to 0 HP makes you "unconscious". Important to note that a player actually dies if they go to negative max health. So a 28 hp fighter would be full on dead if they went to -28hp in a fight.

[@knavesquill9198]

Congrats on snagging that role! This was a very helpful video as well.

[@UltimateMustacheX]

For scrolls, you could have some sort of quest/etc. to teach a character how to read/use scrolls. Maybe a wizard NPC outright teaches them with a check, or maybe they require a small quest for supplies to help teach the player. Then they have a better in world excuse why they can use them. I personally like the aesthetic of scrolls having requirements to use, so basically giving players a learnable feat in game is a good way to maintain that and still fill holes in the party.

[@michaelcole2076]

My homebrew Inspiration rule is simply to treat it as a Well Rested bonus. So I award it every time the characters Long Rest at an inn or the like. It's worked well enough and made it something for folks to consider before long stretches of wilderness travel. Your idea for Inspiration awarded to DMs from players reminded me of the 2D20 system where there's a sort of bargaining system built in. I could see it adapted to 5e's Inspiration where players bargain to turn failed rolls into successes whether in or out of combat.

[@Dyanosis]

So you're not rewarding your characters for creativity, you're just telling them "thanks for playing the game"? But they have to long rest. Your homebrew doesn't reward creativity.

[@JebusKristSuperstar]

The Gengar in the back is lovely. Also I use a similar rule for crits thanks to @DungeonDudes except I let one of the damage dies be max so the crit feels better. Also If you use a full action to drink a potion you get the max benefit or bonus action for a roll. Kind of see it as a hurrying to drink you dribble a bit lol.

[@DMTalesTTRPG]

I had a character from my novel woven into my 5e campaign as an extra-dimensional figure who’d show up every now and again. If I had a pc active, we always said Nobody showed up and took them somewhere. They’d show up the next session able to share their adventures (cotton candy showed up a lot).

[@frankieadriang]

I agree on spell scrolls, though I only allow classes that have spellcasting to use them. If they are capable of any spell casting then they can try, if higher spell than they have available slots, then it is a DC to ensure they cast it.

[@simonrogers6830]

Nice options.

[@dmeep]

Congrats on the lead. Im currently listening through GlassCannonPodcast Giantslayer campaign and im at episode 105 right now. Ive already listened through Strange eons, their sideshow sidesesh where they play single modules, Call of Cthulhu's Time for Chaos mask of nyarlalothep campaign, delta green Get in the trunk thats starts out with single modules and eventually morphs into the impossible landscapes campaign and their blades in the dark campaign all great content. DM is a copyrighted term for D&d so its GM in most other systems although delta green has handler, vampire has a storyteller and CoC has a keeper but GM is the non copyrighted term for it

[@MemphiStig]

Good video. Lots to think about. We always just left characters of absent players back at the inn or camp or whatever. They could always catch up later if that "sudden stomach flu" gets better.

[@Leniathan]

Really like all these rules - I've been using "anyone can use spell scrolls" at my table for a good while and it's only improved the game

[@RIVERSRPGChannel]

All good ideas Inspiration in our game, everyone get 1 at the beginning of each session

[@Dyanosis]

I think you're missing the point of inspiration if everyone gets one every session.

[@jordellfreshbreeze7133]

My DM does that… when we use it we give it to him… when he uses it it goes away

[@DMTalesTTRPG]

Congrats on getting the part! Which show??

[@misfitadventurers]

A Gentlemen's Guide to Love and Murder!

[@DMTalesTTRPG]

@@misfitadventurersheh…you’re going into a show to…murder hobo?

[@misfitadventurers]

Hahahaha

[@dfw_sleepypillz1007]

My Brew rules: Rule of Cool always trumps the Rules as Written. Inspiration tokes - I use clay poker chips - there is always one free re-roll chip for every player every session, more are handed out for great roleplay or outside the box thinking (different color). Character creation: Roll 4d6, drop the lowest for stats, and every level you get max die HP - I scale my CR's a bit on the hard side, so it balances out. Scrolls - as long as the class is capable of learning, or reading magic or cantrips - they can use them. That's all I can think of off the top of my head - I know I have more though. I will ask my players which ones they like best next session :) Rock on!!!!!!!!!!

[@multiversedm]

Anyone can use a scroll in MDM, every fix you spoke about I addressed in a 3 year RPG build. its 75% faster than D&D, but still D&D. I hope to earn your subscription

[@Dyanosis]

An easier variant rule is to assume that a crit can never be less than half the value of the die. For example: If I roll crit and have to roll 4d6, I can never roll less than 3 on any of the d6s. So if I roll 4 d6 and get a 1, 2, 5, 5, then the 1 and 2 become 3s. I like this variant a lot because it allows your players to still roll a bunch of dice (the whole fun in D&D) while also feeling like their crits mean something. And, more importantly, they never do less than max non-crit damage (in this example, the player could never do less than 12 damage).

[@davidjennings2179]

Every table should have some house rules. Make the game your own, whatever you're playing if there is a way to have more fun playing then run with it. Good luck with rehearsals! Can be exhausting. Hope the part isn't too difficult to learn, look after yourself, no stress this side - we'll still be here when you're done.

[@HarryFernandes15]

My homebrew on crits is that they get the choice to double the damage or just straight up add the dmg dice to the roll. So if they roll a d8 they just add 8. But if its a firebolt at level 9 wich is 3d10 adding 10 is usually worse then doubling

[@Dyanosis]

which* than* Also that doesn't really encourage your players to actually want to roll dice or feel like they did something epic. On your firebolt example, doubling 3 (aka 3 1s on 3d10) is only 6. That's terrible.

[@HarryFernandes15]

@@Dyanosis first correcting gramar is a great step to announcing ur a dumbass. Secondly. My players get a choice So in the case u sugested. They would pick to add 10 and not double it . Yes it would still only be 13 but the average damage on 3 d10 is 16.5 which means very often it will be better to double. But thats why theres a choice. Like i said adding 10 would usually be worst . But u can still do it. Doesnt fix crits in every scenario. But its mch better. Also what you mean encourage my players to roll more dice. The game is allready slow enough beacause of the ammount thats rolled. Im making it simple and making crits suck WAY WAY less often Next time read what people are saying before trying to correct spelling

[@tytonshade]

I fully agree with the scroll idea. I can see the wizard being the only one able to read the scroll properly, but to use the scroll??? Any class that has magic ability should get a shot. Maybe a DC to activate the scroll, negatives if the player fails by a set amount, DM sees fit.

[@cadenceclearwater4340]

Couple of my homebrews 😊 Out of combat, health potions give max health. Makes for a tactical choice. Blood Magic. Spend Hit Dice instead of spell levels. Also good if you don't have material components.

[@Dyanosis]

Potions heal for max value out of combat? Where's the adventure in that? Also, you could just say that material components are only needed for truly complex spells (like Resurrect or the like).

[@cadenceclearwater4340]

@dyanosis It probably comes from being told, _eat slowly, savour your food, don't rush it._ The expensive components will come with a much higher blood cost, buuut I haven't settled on a value yet. More research/testing required.

[@lawrencemckenna6249]

1. Limit HPs to level 04. 2. Armour has HPs so it can be destroyed over time during combat.

[@pacoes1974]

My crit rule... Normal damage max and roll a matching die and add it to the total. Short sword 1d6 piercing. damage 6 + 1d6. Marshal class also get clieve. I don't give inspiration I just give advantage when the story calls for it. The players already have a million ways to get advantage they might as well be creative when they want it.

[@danacoleman4007]

Great rule for critical hits!

[@ncpolley]

I think that free ability modifier movement is in Tasha's.

[@misfitadventurers]

I think you're right! It wasn't out when my table got together and started creating our house rules so it slipped my mind. Thank you

[@ncpolley]

@@misfitadventurers Oh no prob! Loathe am I to judge for the happenstance of history. Also congrats on your part.

[@Phsstpok]

I like the house rule on crits: there are none. There is a reason why to hit and damage rolls are separate rolls. One is a true-and-false check if you do damage and the second is the quality of the hit. so, if you roll maximum damage, that is a crit. if you roll a 1 on your damage die. that is a glancing blow. to only acknowledgement to the special position of the 1 and the 20 is that a 1 always misses and the 20 always hits... within reasons... there is no 5% chance to botch a coup de grace or to land an impossible hit.

[@AlbertJanVaartjes]

While I know it is inevitable that games get house rules, 5e has too many instances where I really wonder "Did no one at WotC ever think that was just not fun/good gameplay?" I mean, rolling for health potions, really? Nobody could think ahead and imagine that it sucks to roll two 1s for your healing potion? Or spells, for that matter... We had a good thing in 4E with potions and Second Wind, but of course that had to go, because we don't talk about that edition... xD

[@Dyanosis]

Also, why would you even play that PC while they're not at the table? You think they value the fact that their character died more than they value the fact that their character acted at all? Just send them on a small side quest.

[@misfitadventurers]

Sending the absent PC off on a side quest is def a valid option that I know a lot of DMs go with, it just doesn't work for my table and my DMing style. And I'm sure some players wouldn't want their characters to be played in their absence but at my table we agreed on all of our house rules together so fortunately we don't have to worry about stepping on anyone's toes in regard to that rule