House-rules from my OSR homebrew

     My TTRPG experience began with DnD 5e and I enjoyed it for about a year. However, it was too complex for my taste; combat took an hour (or longer) and involved too much math; I personally found it time-consuming to prep before sessions, and difficult to wing on the fly during sessions; and I kept noticing that myself and players felt restrained by the rules and a system of “class builds.” While the ideas were fun, I wanted something more free form, relaxed, open to imagination, and thankfully found this in the OSR.

   Nowadays, I play a homebrewed Frankenstein system mostly based on LotFP, with tidbits from BFRPG, LL, OD&D, AD&D, inspiration from various other OSR bloggers, and my own ideas for good measure. These systems are all pretty much compatible and follow the same basic rules, but here is a list of my house rules that differ from others.

   Some systems are simpler, but I think mine is a good balance between simplicity and options. It also helps having a Character Sheet with all the info and adjustments at a player’s fingertips for easy reference. In a future post I’ll attach the Character Sheet I use.

 

     But for now, my house rules:

• Ascending Armor Class.
• LoTFP Encumbrance rules.
• Silver standard, 1 SP = 1XP.
• Experience points also awarded for defeating enemies, completing quests, and exploring the world.
• In the past I’ve ran games with all the 5e races ported over to be more OSR-like. Most recently ran with Humans only. Next campaign I’ll probably allow the common fantasy races, but fluff only, no mechanical differences. 

Saving Throws
     Original 5, but named Doom, Mobility, Area Effect, Device, and Magic. The names aren’t as sexy as Death, Paralyze, or Dragon Breath, but players seem to grasp them better.

     I’ve also adjusted Saving Throw numbers to make a little more sense to myself and players: base number is 14, good save is 12, bad save is 16. Each class has at least one good save and one bad save. Specialists have the best saves of all. Saving Throw numbers are lowered as you level up. Saves at level one are:

                  Doom / Mobility / Area / Device / Magic

Fighter        12            14           14          14         16

Specialist    14            12           12          12         14

Mage           14           16           12          14         12

   

     I should note that I don't like the "one save or die" aspect of some old school games. For things like petrification that are deadly, I give two chances. For example, if you fail the first Doom Save, you feel your legs freeze in place as you begin turning to stone, you can not take any further action this round. Next round, make a second Doom Save. Succeed and you are immobilized, but not dead. Fail, and you are completely turned to stone.

Ability Scores

• 3d6 down the line, swap one score with another. If total modifiers add up to be below zero, start over and reroll all.
• Ability Checks are usually a d20, roll at or under your ability score. Occasionally an Ability Check is a d20+Modifier versus a set Difficult Class (DC).
• At level up, choose two Ability scores. Roll a d20. If you roll higher than your current score, then it is increased by 1 point.
• STRENGTH – modifier added to melee attacks; Fighters add modifier to melee damage.
• DEXTERITY– modifier added to Armor Class (AC) and to ranged attacks; Fighters add modifier to ranged damage.
• CONSTITUTION – modifier added to Flesh and Grit points (more on that later).
• INTELLIGENCE – also called Knowledge; modifier added to number of Skill Points gained, and added to number of starting spells known for MU’s. Knowledge checks are used to gain information during play.
• WISDOM (Renamed WILL) – measures a character’s inner willpower and “sixth sense”; modifier added to all Saving Throw rolls.
• CHARISMA – modifier added to Reaction checks and Loyalty scores of henchmen and companions. 

Classes
     Core classes are Fighter, Specialist, and Magic-User (Mage).
     Cleric spells are combined with MU spells.
     I feel any “archetype” can be accomplished with these three and some imagination, possibly with some Multi-classing. If you wish to play your typical “armor and mace-wielding undead-killing cleric,” then you can be a multi-classed F/MU (more on multi-classes later).

     Fighters gain a point to their Attack Bonus (AB) every level, and gain a +1 to damage at certain levels; Fighters are also the only class to add their STR/DEX Mods to damage. Specialists gain a point of AB every three levels, and MU’s gain a point of AB every four levels.

     Fighters and MU’s begin with 1+INT Modifier Skill Points, and gain 1 Skill Point every three levels. Specialists begin with 4+INT Mod Skill Points and gain two more every level.

     This keeps the class niches of LotFP, but still allows some overlap between classes. Fighters are still the best at fighting and dealing damage, Specialists are skill monkeys and survivors thanks to good Saving Throws, and MU’s can obviously cast magic.

New Skills:

• Arcana – MU’s begin with 2 Skill Points invested in this (does not count towards their starting Skill Points). Arcana checks are used to identify magical items and interact with magical objects. Fighters and Specialists may also cast spells from scrolls by passing an Arcana check; if the check is failed, there is a 1/6 chance the scroll is wasted and backfires; otherwise, nothing happens.
• Inspire – essentially a “Bard Song.” On a successful roll, the party gains a bonus equal to the number rolled on the dice; this bonus can be added to their Attack Bonus, Saving Throws, or Morale checks. Alternatively, this can be used to enforce a penalty against enemies in the same manner.
  (Idea inspired by Sword and Scoundrel [1].)
• Medicine – Used to stabilize fallen allies, properly address lingering wounds, and increase the amount of healing received upon rest.
  (Pretty much taken wholesale from Cavegirl [2].)
• Faith – Skill Points are not invested in this. They are rewarded by the DM for good roleplaying. At any time, a player may make a Faith check to apply a bonus to a d20 roll, to beg for divine intervention from their gods, or to perform a spell or ability they typically couldn’t. This is to be negotiated with the DM. Once the check is made, the score resets to 0/6 skill points, regardless of success or failure. 

Combat
     All attacks deal d6 damage, regardless of weapon or player class. However, the type of damage (bludgeoning, piercing, slashing) is considered, as some enemies are resistant to certain damage types.

     Two handed weapons such as Greatswords or Polearms deal damage by rolling 2d6 and keeping the higher dice, discard the lower.

     Some rolls are made with Advantage/Disadvantage from 5e: roll 2d20s, keep the highest or lowest. Other rolls receive smaller bonuses/penalties of 1 or 2 points. This depends on the situation and can vary from round to round depending on position, assistance, etc. There aren’t really any set rules for this, but it is up to DM interpretation.

     My base AC is 11 for no armor, Light Armor 13, Medium Armor 15, Heavy Armor 17.
     Dexterity modifiers applied to Base or Light. Dex Mod only applied to Medium armor if your STR score is 15+, and Dex Mod is only applied to Heavy armor if your STR score is 17+.
     I do this because Heavy Armor (plate) is very rare and expensive in my setting, so YMMV.

Combat Options

• Aggressive Stance – player has Advantage on the attack / enemies also have Advantage on their attack.
• Defensive Stance – Enemies have Disadvantage on attacks against the Defender / Defending player also has Disadvantage on their attack.
• Disarm, Trip, Push back, Grapple, Stun, etc – On a successful attack, instead of dealing damage, Enemy makes Mobility Saving Throw with a penalty equal to your BASE AB + STR/DEX Modifier.
• Single Weapon (nothing in Off-hand, or a Torch) +2 to AB.
• Dual Wielding Weapons +1 AB and +1 AC.
• Shields +2 AC (+3 vs ranged attacks).
• Great weapons 2d6 damage keep higher. 

Flesh/Grit
     Flesh is your actual number of “Health” points.
     Grit is your stamina and ability to not get hit.
     Once you run out of Grit, damage goes to Flesh. Critical Hits (nat20s) and Surprise Attacks go straight to Flesh.
     Flesh maxes out at your full HD size + (Con Mod per level).
     Flesh is regained by 1 point per night of rest (2 if resting in the safety of town). Grit is regained by one HD roll per Turn of rest.

     I’m soft on my players and allow them to begin at level one with their full HD size + CON Mod in Flesh, and allow them to roll one HD die worth of Grit. At each level up, they gain 1+CON mod in Flesh (minimum of Zero), and roll another HD die worth of Grit. CON Mods are also added to Grit.

     (Flesh and Grit is also taken pretty much wholesale from Cavegirl [3].)
     I also use Cavegirl’s Horrible Wounds as my Death/Dismemberment table [4].


Fatigue and Exhaustion
     During prolonged strenuous activity (marches for days on end, being severely-encumbered, etc) a player can be asked to make a Constitution check. If two Constitution checks are failed in a one-day period, they suffer one point of exhaustion, increasing from Fresh, Lightly Fatigued, Heavily Fatigued, and Exhausted.
     A good night’s rest removes one level of Fatigue.

• Lightly Fatigued causes a -2 penalty to Attacks, Saves, Ability Checks; -1 penalty to all Skill checks; and increases chance of Mana Drain to 1-3.
• Heavily Fatigued increases these penalties to -4 / -2 / 1-4; also cuts your Grit max in half; and cuts movement speed in half.
• Exhausted further increases these penalties to -6 / -3 / 1-5; removes all Grit; and quarters movement speed. 

Alternate Magic System
     My system’s magic is based on Mana Dice.
     MU’s have a Mana Die up to a size d12, which is rolled each time they cast a spell; on a roll of 1-2, their Mana Dice is drained (lowered) by one step (i.e. d12 -> d10 -> d8, etc) until depleted.
     Some spells can be “powered up” by increasing the chance of Mana Drain by one point (from 1-2 to 1-3, etc).

     There are no spell levels, some are just better than others. There are also no spell slots; you may continue casting as many times as possible until you run out of Mana.

     This magic system needs more playtesting, but so far has worked pretty well for us. I will probably make another post about it later.

Multi-classing or Hybrid-classing
     (Rules taken from Sword and Scoundrel, then slightly modified [5].)
     Full Multi-classing takes all the features of both classes, averages the HD and Saves, and combines the total XP requirement of both classes.
     Hybrid-classing is more of a “Full primary class, half secondary class.” HD and Saves are averaged. XP cost is 1.5 times your primary class.
     Secondary class benefits are:
          Fighters +1 AB every odd level.
          Specialists +1 Skill Point every level.
          MUs cast as if they were half their level, and begin with a smaller Mana Die. 


     And that’s about it! Thanks for reading my first blog post! What are your favorite house rules, or notable aspects of your homebrew?



     I use so many tidbits from so many sources that I can’t keep track of them all, but here are the blogs I can remember. As for anything else, credit belongs to its original author and I’d be happy to add a link for them.

[1] http://swordandscoundrel.blogspot.com/2016/07/simple-bards-for-lamentations-of-flame.html

[2,3] http://cavegirlgames.blogspot.com/2018/02/cavegirls-really-simple-d.html

[4] http://cavegirlgames.blogspot.com/2018/08/horrible-wounds-in-osr-games.html

[5] http://swordandscoundrel.blogspot.com/2015/07/lotfp-multiclassinghybrids.html