House Rules

House Rules

Characters and Character Creation

• Begin at the level indicated by the DM
• Ability scores: Use the standard 15/14/13/12/10/8 array
• Species found in the Playable Species category are preapproved for play (even if the source is otherwise only Usually Permitted With DM Review)
  • With regards to species ability scores, you may use the Tasha's Cauldron of Everything/5.5e rules -- pick any score to add +2 to, any other score to add +1 to (your character, being an unique individual, does not need to be representative of the shifted bell curve among NPC of your species for any given ability score). However, consider the ability scores given bonuses in earlier versions of a species to be strong suggestions as to where your choice of score bonuses ought be put.
• Use fixed hit point values
• Begin with the listed gold equipment for your background, plus the amount of gold indicated by the DM. This gold may be used to begin play with:
  • Common magic items may be started with for 100gp each
  • Uncommon for 1000gp each
  • At your option, you may choose for the DM to select one or more items, at their whim and/or caprice, for you to begin with, using your starting gold:
    • WotC-official magic items, fully functional but not necessarily obviously useful for any situations you'll find yourself in, at a price point of 80% (80gp for Common, 800gp for Uncommon)
    • Functional but unofficial magic items, roughly (very roughly) equivalent in power (but not necessarily usefulness) to Common or Uncommon items, straight from the DM's Big List of Crap One Might Find In A Dungeon, for 600gp apiece
    • Useless, cursed, or joke magic items, for 400gp apiece
• Feats are permitted
• Multiclassing is permitted
• Some species (including tiefling, aasimar, dragonborn, warforged, kobold, and triton) and conditions (including necropolitan and alithi elves) have dual creature type
  • If any favorable effect would affect either or both of your types, it affects you. If any unfavorable effect would affect one of your types but not the other, you can be affected by it but you have advantage on saves against it. If any effect would affect neither of your types, you are immune to it. If any effect would affect both of your types, you do not gain immunity or resistance to it from your types
• When adding a new spell to your Spells Known by any means, including free spells from level-up or copying a spell into your spellbook: learning a spell that is not on your class's list is on the table, although it may cost, at the DM's discretion: additional time, money, tutelage from a character that knows the spell, and/or Arcana or Religion skill checks

Situational

• When a spell or ability almost can but can't quite achieve a desired effect, or achieves the desired effect with the most generous reading but not a narrower reading, the caster or user can alter the effect slightly on the fly. This requires an appropriate skill check -- generally intelligence(arcana) for arcane spells, intelligence(religion) for divine spells, and strength(athletics) or dexterity(acrobatics) for physical abilities such as battlemaster fighter maneuvers -- generally at a base difficulty of 15
• You may attune to a number of magic items at one time equal to your proficiency bonus, instead of 3
  • The class features that the Artificer gains at 10th, 14th, and 18th levels simply add 1 each to the Artificer's attunement limit
• When a PC reduces a non-significant NPC or creature to 0hp through damage, the player may decide whether the damage rendered the NPC or creature unconscious or dead, whether it was with a melee attack, a ranged attack, a spell, or anything else
• When a character is slain and resurrected by any means, they physically age 1d20 years from the ordeal (inherently)
  • True Resurrection and Reincarnate negate this penalty

Complete List of Permitted Sources

Explicitly Permitted Sources

• This High Seas Reference Document (the right to amend homebrew in this document is reserved)
• Combat Wheelchair
• Cute Creatures Compendium
• Dungeon Master's Guide (except Chapter 9: Dungeon Master's Workshop)
• Eberron: Rising from the Last War
• Monster Manual
• Player's Handbook

Sources Usually Permitted With DM Review

• Any other official 5e Wizards of the Coast-published source (splatbook, adventure, etc)

Explicitly Banned Sources

• Most homebrew outside this document