Gritty Rules

Gritty rules have been added to the campaign to help balance difficulty and realism with the amount of players we have. It can be too easy to overcome obstacles when there are 6 pools of resources. Rule changes in this category are designed to better balance the game and focus more on a narrative experience.

Crunchy Crits

DM Decision

Crit damage will always be maximum normal damage + the additional damage dice. Meaning a 1d12+4 becomes 12+1d12+4 (instead of 2d12+4 or 2 * (1d12+4))

Examples: Fireball 6d6 (max damage is 36) so crit damage is 36+6d6. This means the lowest you can roll is 42 and the highest is 72. (the old range was 12-72)

Resting

DM Decision

Short rests have been changed to an 8 hour rest and long rests have been changed to 3 days (opposed to the 7 day rule). This has a few purposes but primarily is to make the narrative story happen over a longer period of time and not over the course of 2 months. As a result, there will be less time based goals with more of a focus on general timelines and not set times. Taking a long rest can lower a negative sanity score (but will not push it into positives).

Fall Damage

Adventure Style (crunchy survival)

Maximum fall damage upped to 150d6 (because barbarians are not squirrels) (number based on fall time to terminal velocity being 1,500 feet and you take a d6 for every 10 feet)

As always, yes, this applies to enemies. Knocked a dragon out of the sky at 300 feet? Boom, 30d6 damage. Pushed an arch duke off a sky castle wall at 1,000 feet? Boom, 100d6 damage. Your wizard lost concentration on the fly spell at 500 feet? Boom, 50d6 damage. 

In addition to the new fall damage, if you begin to fall and are not surprised, you may immediately take a reaction to either:

1. Use any normal reaction

2. Grab the ledge with a dex save

3. Grab an ally for help (acrobatics from grabber / athletics from grabee)

4. Brace yourself for the fall and reduce a d6 of damage per dex modifier, minimum 0.

If you are surprised, you may take a reaction after you fall for 50 feet. Only 1 reaction may be used for the duration of the fall. Actions and bonus actions are not available unless they are a held action and then used as the reaction. Reactions in the air based on how far you have fallen are difficult to achieve. Up to the DM's discretion. 

Intoxicated Condition

Adventure Style (crunchy survival)

A common condition in the many bars, saloons, taverns, and brothels of any major city or remote town, a creature can become intoxicated by imbibing too much alcohol or other substance. An intoxicated creature is mentally impaired. 

• You suffer disadvantage on all skill checks and saving throws for: Constitution, Intelligence, Dexterity, and Wisdom.

• You gain advantage on all skill checks and saving throws for: Strength and Charisma.

If the creature is subjected to the intoxicated condition and is already intoxicated (due to drinking additional spirits or because of the ability or attack of another creature) it must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or fall unconscious for 1 minute. Each time the creature takes damage, and at the end of each of its turns it can make a new saving throw, ending the unconscious condition (but not the intoxicated condition) on a success. The intoxicated condition can be removed by completing a short or long rest. 

A Medium creature can drink four drinks per +1 to it's constitution modifier. A creature that is Large or Larger can drink twice as many drinks as the size category below it (8 per +1 for Large, 16 per +1 for Huge, etc.) A Small or Tiny creature can drink half as many drinks as the size category above it (2 per +1 for Small, and 1 per +1 for Tiny). 

Corruption Effect

Adventure Style (crunchy survival)

Corruption is a rare effect that is obtained from specific situations and/or monsters. This is only somewhat tied to your Sanity score where both can move independently, but on occasion, may move together. Corruption effects are a mental state so powerful, it alters reality through the power of The Dreamer. See the Awakened Rogue subclass for full details.

Core Rules

Core rule changes have occurred usually to get back closer to rules as written (RAW) or rules as intended (RAI). On occasion, a core rule may also be changed to better balance the game or to make interactions more fun. 

Rule of Cool

Passed Vote

Rule of cool is an official rule in our games. This allows for a chance to do something that may not prescribe to the normal rules based on it being cool or narrative. Players can ask to evoke this to the DM's discretion. This may result in no roll necessary, unlikely outcomes, and/or one-time rule exceptions. Rule of cool generally are one offs and the same situation to occur again is typically impossible. This is primarily for narrative potential or harmless activities. When in combat, it is highly unlikely to be a no-roll situation but with a good enough luck check (or other applicable check) it can still happen! This is also usable by NPCs.

Hero Tokens

Passed Vote

At each level, all players gain 1 hero token. This token can be used at any time to change the outcome of a roll that they made or that was made directly against them. Additionally, per the players, the DM will have 3 tokens. The DM cannot use their token to undo a player token, but the players may use their token to undo/prevent a DM token if the action is directed at them. Hero tokens may be used for death saves, but not Finality saves. See Finality below.

Finality

DM Decision

When you go down, after 3 failed death saves (on the same turn you rolled/received the 3rd fail), roll an additional d20. If greater than 10 - luck modifier, you stabilize but have a grievous wound that is permanent to this body that poses a negative impact on the character. The player then rolls on the injury table to determine the effect. If less than, your character dies. If hit while stabilized in this way, your character dies. If not you have not received medical attention in 1 minute, your character dies.

Encumbrance

Adventure Style (crunchy survival)

Encumbrance and coin weight will be in effect. This is to help ensure balance as 6 pools of resources being able to carry infinite items has proven to be a problem for balance. As a way to meet in the middle, I am setting up a magic banking system that will be accessible in most major cities that has a shared inventory unique to the party. There is a party banking system so you can each have access. Individuals may have their own accounts as well for gold specifically, but magic item vaults are in short supply so to store goods, the party will need to act as a collective.

Spell Components

Adventure Style (crunchy survival)

Spell components will be used. This is not intended to make casting spells more difficult, but to allow for narrative voice in how new spells are introduced. Additionally, homebrew spells tend to hand purpose in their components. As an additional aside, components can also have creative uses other than spell casting as well.

Spell Swaps

Passed Vote

Casters that typically cannot change spells may change their spells at level up without restriction. This does not apply to Wizards due to the nature of how their spells work.

Counterspell

Passed Vote

We will be using the DND One counterspell rules. This means: 

• Counterspell is always a level 3 spell and cannot be upcast - or at least does not gain anything from an "upcast" when using a higher spell slot.

• Counterspell instead makes the target use a Con Save against the counterspell caster's save DC.

• If you are counterspelled, you do not lose the spellslot.

• If you cast counterspell, you still lose the spell slot if they save.

• Counterspell can still be counterspelled.

• This allows a caster to try to fight through a counterspell rather than just being "poofed" from doing anything.

Stowed and Disarmed Conditions

Passed Vote

We will be using a new condition called "Disarmed". Being disarmed means there is no weapon, shield, staff, bow, etc. in your hands. This can be because it is stowed or because you have been disarmed by an enemy. This condition applies for both PCs and NPCs. Having an action to draw a weapon still feels a bit much so we voted and the vote decided to instead be a bonus action (vote between bonus or reaction). This means to pull an item from your inventory is now a bonus action. This includes weapons, shields, magic items, misc. items, etc. Potions will still get the same pass we have always given them. So that this change does not feel like a punishment, there are social benefits to having your weapons stowed when persuading and benefits to having it drawn when intimidating. Having an ability such as alert or other abilities that grant the "cannot be surprised" trait negates this and you no longer need to use a bonus action to draw weapons (getting items from bags and such is still a bonus action).

Can only people with feats and class abilities disarm others? No. On page 271 of the DMG: A creature can use a weapon attack and instead of dealing damage, they can force the creature to make an athletics or acrobatics check. On a failure, the creature drops the item they are holding. What is the DC? It is not definitively set, but we will run DC 15 - your ability score. So you use acrobatics (dex) and have a +2 dex? The DC is 13 (and yes you add your +2 to the roll, essentially lowering the DC by 4). Also, it is important to note that spell casters can have their spell focus, components, etc. knocked from their hand - which is required to cast many spells depending on class.

In summary: There will be a few identifiers for if someone is armed or not.

Disarmed: weapon removed from person

Armed: person -clearly- holding a weapon

Stowed: weapon is seen and "holstered"

If no marker is shown, the condition is not obvious.

Character Creation

To help the gradual growth of character strength, as well as encourage the use of more creation features, some rules have been changed around character creation intended to act as a buff.

Ability Points

Passed Vote

We are using standard array, starting at 70 points. Every second level, (even levels), everyone will be granted a +1 to a skill. The final level for the campaign is not yet determined, but for example, if we end at 16, each player would have 78 skill points. This will allow for a skill progression to reflect more gradually. In addition, We will NOT be using the ability score increase option when presented with feat choices. We will only be taking feats so that we are not double dipping in ability score improvement. However, as always, if you want a custom feat, lets talk about it.

Health

Passed Vote

We are rolling health but it must be at least 33% of the die. So a d6 must be 2 or better, a d8 must be 3 or better, and a d10 must be 4 or better.