Lore and Legends of the Dezzyverse

Six new rules I’m using in my next campaigns.

Introduction

House Rules have been a part of Table Top Roleplaying since it’s wargaming roots. The earliest pre-D&D experiments in role playing were, in essence, house rules. Many of the developments in most of the currently published systems started as house rules that became widely adopted. Almost by definition, any game built off of an SRD could be considered a set of house rules.

Point is, we as gamers, just love to tinker and modify the rules as written to suit our own needs. Which brings us to some new house rules I’m using with my next D&D campaign. Some of these, were just alternative suggestions from the 2024 5e rules, others are lifted from, in my case, the Black Hack, and there is a “Salt Bae” pinch of Cypher System in here too. If they work during play as well as I imagine they would, I’ll keep em. Otherwise, we’ll just throw ‘em out and move on.

House Rule #1; Initiative

This one comes from an adaptation of the Cypher System initiative mechanic.

When rolling Initiative, players all roll a Dexterity ability check against the adversaries’ Difficulty Class (DC) based on 10 + their Initiative Bonus.. Characters who succeed on this check go before the adversaries and those who fail go after, in an order decided by the players. The adversaries take their turns in order decided by the GM.

In the case of varied Initiative DCs Only a single Initiative check is made against all the DC values, and characters take their turn based on the success or failure of the roll when measured against each DC in order as determined by the players.

Because Initiative is defined as a Dexterity ability check, all bonuses, penalties, buffs or debuffs that affect a Dexterity ability check applies to the initiative check. If the modifier comes as a spell or class/ monster ability, only using a bonus action or reaction will allow the spell or ability to be used in most encounters. The intention for this house rule is to encourage strategy and engagement among the players. The order of action is determined on each round, though the initiative roll is applied for the entire encounter.

House Rule #2: Usage Dice

The Black Hack defined Usage Dice as a “push your luck” mechanic. Instead of tracking the inventory of a consumable item (ammunition, rations, water, oil, magic item charges, etc..) each resource is assigned a Usage Die. The Usage Die is a single die; d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, or d20 that is rolled every time the resource is used. If a 1 or 2 is rolled on the Usage Die, it is downgraded by one die type, until the d4 is downgraded, at which point the resource in question is exhausted. This mechanic is unpredictable, and is completely dependent on the whims of the dice. Some games, the resource seems inexhaustible, other games the dice will turn against the players.

At the GM’s discretion, the Usage Die can be increased outside of the resupply or camp. In these cases the Usage Die only upgraded by a single die type.

House Rule #3: Advantage / Disadvantage

This House Rule is also lifted from the Black Hack, and is a small redefinition of the 5e Advantage / Disadvantage rule. Instead of being restricted to d20 rules, Advantage and Disadvantage can be applied to any die roll. When Rolling with Advantage, two dice of the designated type are rolled together and the player makes the choice of which result is used. When rolling with Disadvantage, two dice of the designated type are rolled together and the GM makes the choice of which result is used. Like the 5e rule, Advantage and Disadvantage can only be applied once to a single die roll, and if both are applied to the same roll, they cancel one another out.

In instances of multiple dice being rolled, Advantage and Disadvantage only add a single die to the pool, and the player or GM chooses which dice they count. Advantage or Disadvantage results are counted before the results are applied. Example: A greatsword inflicts 2d6 damage to a single target. With Advantage and Disadvantage, an extra d6 is added and two of the three dice are added together to calculate damage. If the greatsword rolls a critical hit, the damage dice are doubled to 4d6, and only one extra d6 is added. The pool of 5d6 is rolled and four die results are added together.

House Rule #4; Doom Dice and the Doomed condition

This house rule comes out of the Black Sword Hack. Doom Dice are a special application of Usage Dice that represents the role of destiny or fate plays in a character’s life. Characters only have a single Doom Die at any given time. Doom Dice start at a d6 and can be used in several ways; a Doom Die can be rolled and the result added to a die roll, the Doom Die can be rolled when the character wants to add a minor element to the scene, the GM can ask the player to roll the Doom Die in instances when fate has turned against the character. In the latter two examples the result of the Doom Die is not applied to anything. The Doom Die can only be applied to the character whose player rolled it.

Like all Usage Dice, on a result of 1 or 2, the Doom Die degrades. When a Doom Die is exhausted, the character will gain the Doomed condition. Only finishing a Recovery IV can replenish the Doom Die, and only when the Doom Die is exhausted. Under certain, special circumstances as determined by the GM, the Doom Die can be increased to a d8.

The Doomed condition is a miserable state where Fate has turned against the Character. If a character’s Doom Die is exhausted, the character will suffer this condition until they finish a Recovery IV, at which point the condition is removed and the character’s Doom Die is replenished to it’s starting value (usually a d6, but in some cases it could be higher). While suffering the Doomed condition, the afflicted character has disadvantage on every ability check, attack roll, damage roll, saving throw, and effect roll they initiate. Effects placed on the character (like a Bless spell, Bardic Inspiration, or Cure Wounds spells) by another source are not affected by the Doomed condition.

House Rule #5: Spellcasting Dice

Spellcasting Dice are another application of the Usage Dice. Spellcasting classes earn increasing Usage Dice for casting spells of a given spell level. When a spell of a given level is cast, the character rolls the appropriate spellcasting die, the result is only used to determine if the Spellcasting Die for that level is degraded or not. If the Spellcasting Die is exhausted, the caster is no longer able to cast spells of that level until they finish a Recovery that refreshes their Spellcasting Dice. Casters can roll a Doom Die to give themselves Advantage on their Spellcasting Die check. Though different spellcasting classes refresh their Spellcasting Dice differently. Characters who multiclass with two or more spellcasting classes always use the highest die their classes and levels dictate. Classes that use Sorcery Points track that resource as a Useage Die.

House Rule #6: Recovery

This system replaces the Short and Long Rest mechanic with something similar to the recovery mechanic found in Cypher System. Following a Recovery IV, characters have four Recoveries they can take. Each Recovery requires a designated amount of time to complete before the Recovery benefits can be gained. Every Recovery needs to be taken in order and once expended will only recover following a Long Recovery. Multiple available Recoveries can be used if the duration of the highest recovery is finished.

• Recovery I – One Action. Finishing a Recovery I allows the character to use up to their Proficiency Bonus in available Hit Dice to regain hit points. This can be used as a character’s turn in a combat round.

• Recovery II – Fifteen Minutes. Finishing a Recovery II allows the character to use up to their Proficiency Bonus in available Hit Dice to regain hit points in addition to any Hit Dice from a Recovery I, if that recovery is still unused. Some abilities and Spellcasting Dice can be recovered with this recovery as detailed in the characters classes and levels. Spells and rituals that require this amount of time or less to cast can be cast while taking this recovery.

• Recovery III – One Hour. Finishing a Recovery III allows the character to use all available Hit Dice to regain hit points. Some abilities and Spellcasting Dice can be regained with this recovery as detailed in the characters clsses and levels. Magic items that require Attunement can be Attuned after finishing this recovery. Spells and rituals that require this amount of time or less to cast can be cast while taking this recovery.

• Recovery IV – 12 Hours (or half-a-day depending on the campaign setting). Finishing a Recovery IV regains all lost hit points, regains one level of exhaustion, ends the Doomed condition, and makes all recoveries available to take again. All abilities, spellcasting dice and Doom Dice can be restored. Characters who are incapacitated, stable, and at 0 hit points will return to being awake and alert with all their hit points. Certain Magic Items can recover their Usage Dice for charges as described for each item. This recovery marks the end of the day (regardless of the time when the recovery is started and finished) for purposes of abilities that are daily use.

Conclusion

I’m pretty excited for these rules, they’re written to compliment a sword-and-sorcery campaign more than a standard D&D Epic High Fantasy model (though I think they can be used pretty seamlessly there). Feel free to adapt these house rules to your own campaign if you like them. Let me know your experiences and thoughts in the comments