Dales Campaign House Rules
Hit Points
Zero-level characters and NPCs start out with Hit Points (HP) equal to half their CON rounded up. After this, they gain a die based on class plus their bonus based on CON for each level.
Example: Moe is 1st level Fighter with a CON of 14. Fighters get a d10, and Moe rolls a 6, so at 1st level Moe will have (14/2 = 7) + (6{rolled} + 2 {bonus for a 14 CON}) = 15 HP.
Skills
For Lycanthrope, the Concentration skill aids in either resisting or forcing a change between forms when necessary.
I am using the Campaign Cartographer 2 Pro system for mapping. This system uses symbols to represent things like towns, trees, etc. In order to draw more detailed maps, it is sometimes necessary to rescale a drawing, with the result that objects sometimes appear to move (due to the fact that the “location” of an entity as defined by CC2 is not always the center of the image). Rather than struggle with this, I have decided to adopt the approach that “things are where they are”, and a global rescale gives “accurate” results.
Level Advancement
When a character has enough experience to make a new level, the following occurs:
- Improvement in skills or feats already possessed and additional hit points are gained after the first full nights rest (8 hours) following the attainment of the required experience total (after points are awarded at the end of an adventure). This also applies to improved abilities gained at every 4th level.
- In order to gain a new skill, unknown spell, or feat that is unrelated to previous abilities, a character must practice and train. This normally requires 1 week of full time effort to learn a new skill or ability. For example, Duff the Mage wants to learn horseback riding, and has never been on a horse before. He will need to spend a week practicing in order to gain this new skills. The time requirement can be reduced to 2 days if a suitable tutor can be found. A suitable tutor is one who already has the same or a similar skill to the one being sought, and who is willing to devote their full time to training the character.
Practicing for EP
A character can gain some experience by practicing on their own or with the aid of an individual of higher skill. A character gains experience equal their prime stat per day when practicing on their own. A characters prime stat is the one that is most central to the class that they are highest level in. For example, Lena the Fighter has a 16 Strength. She gains 16 EP per day when practicing.
Material Components
Most spells do not require any material components. The exception to this rule is spells which involve extended rituals, such as divination spells.
Resurrection
When resurrecting, roll a Fortitude save at DC20 to avoid losing a point of Con.
Spells
We don’t use the standard rules for memorizing spells and spell lists. Instead, characters automatically have all 1st-3rd level spells in their spell lists, and can choose any spell at those levels to cast. At 4th level and higher, characters must find spells and add them to their spell lists in order to have access to them, and they need to select which spells to cast for the day (unless otherwise free of this stricture as a result of their class).
Critical Fumbles
Critical fumbles are treated similarly to critical hits. Any roll of a natural 1 in combat risks a critical fumble. The character must re-roll to confirm the fumble. If the second roll is also a miss, then it is a critical fumble. The degree that the second roll misses by determines the severity of the fumble:
| Missed by | Result |
|---|---|
1 - 5 |
Dropped weapon |
6-10 |
Minor Sprain: -1 attack for rest of encounter |
11-15 |
Sprain: -2 attack rest of encounter |
16-20 |
Severe Sprain: -3 attack rest of encounter |