House Rules are such lovely little things, they seem to crop up in play at every table I game with. The best kinds really seem to be the ones that are developed in play with player buy-in rather than those enshrined into the game before play begins. Some of my favorites seem to parthenogenerate in the moment, in response to specific situations.
So, here’s a table with a hundred, hand-picked, House Rules/Rulings, quite a few of which have seen at least a degree of play at my tables over the years (even if for only a one-shot or so). Some are stalwart favorites, that re-occur whenever prior players re-convene for a new game, whilst others are probably best considered strange smelling by-products of tinkering and experimentation. Still others might just seem like a good idea on paper or wholly preposterous to some Referees, and a few just stem from flagrant misinterpretations (or worse: strict readings shiver) we had in the very early days of the hobby without the benefit of oral tradition or online communities to codify play a certain way.
I suppose if you’ve ever had the perverse urge to quite literally “roll your own” version of those older Fantasy Adventure Games, this could be just the ticket. I know I’d be curious to see how that turned out 😊.
"Level-drain tears corners from character sheets" that is amazing! And rounding up/down depending on whether you are in the dungeon is just delightful, can easily be applied to plenty of other adjudications as well.
ReplyDeleteIt really does make them even more terrifying in a way. These types of foes already attack the act of play itself and making it more visceral seems to hammer it home more. It also makes the brush with death a little more "sticky" until they undertake a transfer over to a fresh sheet of course. Dungeon rounding has also been a fun way to communicate how much the Dungeon doesn't like you, but definitely fits in with a more Mythic Underworld approach where the rules kind of seem to bend ever so slightly in those liminal spaces :)
DeleteThis one is great and made me chuckle: "Money spent on PC funeral grants XP to next character."
ReplyDeleteClicked on your link in the comments section over at Grognardia. Cool/fun chart. Thanks for sharing!
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