My House Rules
House Rules for Koren n'Rhys' RC Games[edit]
Ability Checks: Rather than the common practice of ability checks being a straight “d20, roll under”, I use a scalable system. For most checks, roll 3d6, success being equal or below the ability score. For more difficult checks, required rolls may be upped to 4d6 or even 5d6 making success more unlikely, but always still possible.
Death, Healing and Negative Hit Points: Death does not occur at 0 hp, but rather at -10. At 0 hp and below, a PC is unconscious and helpless. At that point they will be killed if they are attacked again (vs. AC 9). When taken below 0 hp, the injured PC must make a Save vs. Death. If successful, they immediately stabilize at that point. If the save fails, they continue to "bleed out" and lose hp at a rate of one per round until stabilized by another character. During or immediately following combat, a character may bind his own or another character’s wounds, stabilizing them and healing 1d3 hit points. Natural healing occurs at a rate of 1 hp per day if the character is active at all, 2 hp per day if resting (including unconscious).
Encumbrance: Tracking encumbrance is one of the fiddly bits of record-keeping that I truly despise. Consequently, I do not track the weight of every little bit of equipment, nor require my players to do so. Instead, I use a very simplistic system to determine the PCs movement rate and how much they can reasonably carry based up on the armor worn by the character. - None/Leather = 120’ - Scale/Chain/Banded = 90’ - Plate = 60’ Beyond that, I will simply eyeball the amount carried and make a ruling as to the amount would bump the PCs movement down another level (or more).
Maximum HP at First Level: All first level PCs start with maximum possible hit points, but will roll for all subsequent hps at level-up.
Natural 20/Natural 1: An attack roll which comes up as a “natural” 20 automatically causes maximum damage for the attack (i.e. the highest possible dice rolls + modifiers). A “natural” 1 is a fumble, which will have varying effects. I will typically make a 1d6 table on the spot with options such as dropping or breaking the weapon, hitting another target (friend or foe), self-inflicted wounds, etc, all dependant upon the particular situation, melee vs. missile, etc.
Shields Shall be Splintered: If a character is the recipient of an attack resulting in damage, he may sacrifice his shield, should he have one, to absorb the full damage from the attack. This may be declared after the amount of damage is determined. The shield will be destroyed, but the PC suffers no damage from the attack.
