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techpriest35

Pro
t Member since 12/13/12 \/ G GM of 42 games \/ 2768 Hours Played \/ 306 Forum Posts
Achievements
Bio

i have been playing d&d and other table top role playing games since i was 6 years old. as of 2023 i am 34.i am a straight white male.i tend to change my play style based on the group i am with. i like riddles rhymes and puzzles.my preferred classes to play are rogues wizards and druids. most of the time i dm for my groups.

i have several house rules, some of which may be a bit overpowering.as a dm most of the time if you have a good backstory, a good logical reason why something should work and a bit of luck i will let you attempt most things.my philosophy for d&d is that the dice decide what is truly allowed. i do not use video chat as it just makes roll20 lag for me. i prefer text/image chats but will use a mic if needed.the first rule i have is that if it is not fun do not include it in the game. this is why i tend to make a forum for each game where i post a recap of the events of each session and then ask for player feedback.
i have played 3.0,3.5,4th,and 5th edition d&d i have played legends of the 5 rings briefly and i have played some pathfinder 1.0. i prefer to dm 3.0/3.5 but i will only play as a player in other editions as i do not know the rules enough to run the games.

i have participated in beta tested 4th and 5th edition and pathfinder 2.0. i also have been to a few dungeons and dragons events for modules. my favorite module for new groups is the sunless citadel from the yawning portal set.

how to build a character in my games:
step 1 roll 4d6
step 2 remove the lowest result
step 3 check to see that the result is a 12 or higher if not repeat steps 1 and 2.
step 4 using the method above generate 6 numbers of 12 or higher
step 5 replace the lowest generated number with a 20 before racial modification
step 6 choose your class(i know most people want to choose their race first but i find that once you know what kind of character you want to make the race comes easier
step 7 choose your race
step 8 pick all the other minor details such as feats skills spells etc

house rules:
1.have fun if you are not having fun let me know and i will try to alter the game so every one has maximum fun.this is not optional as games are supposed to be fun for as many people as possible if we can not find a way for you to have fun i wish you the best and hope you can find another game that you will have more fun in.

2.racial modification -humans: instead of gaining only 1 feat at 1st level i allow humans to gain 1 feat at every level in addition to any other feats they normally gain this means at first level a human has 2 feats and at 2nd they have 3 feats and at 3rd they have 5 feats. this may unbalance some games but it makes the humans more adaptive. i felt that the level 1 human had limited options on their bonus feat due to the low level of a character and the single skill point each level didn't feel very helpful

3.race modification-half orcs:i noticed the attributes of the half orc were not balanced on par with the rest of the player's handbook races. any race except the half orc has 1 positive attribute modification for each negative attribute modification example elves have +2 dex(positive) and -2 con(negative) but half orcs normally have +2 str(positive) -2int(negative) and -2 char(negative) this does not balance them the same as other races. then adding in the fact that half orcs are given no real abilities other than orc blood,(does not really help as most things that activate on orc blood are for killing orcs) and darkvision 60ft in black/white that is why my upgraded orc gains a +2 con. i do not play orcs enough to give them special abilities that fit the theme if the players agree and its ran by me ahead of time i may add more to the half orc

3.character starting wealth is always maxed out+1,000 gold+7days preparation.unfortunately i can not share the character starting wealth table as that is not part of the open game license. my reasoning for the extra 1,000 gold is that a fighter can not even afford master work heavy armor and still get a couple good weapons i feel that characters will have a more diverse set of options if they have a little more spending gold upon character creation.this does not mean that the shops will have extra money if they try to flood the markets.the in game explanation for the extra gold is to represent your character graduating from their ordinary lives to that of adventurer. the exact nature of the extra gold is up to the individual player.the 7 days prepreation gives more weight to characters with item creation feats/skills and to characters with the profession/perform skills as they will have access to more items at 1st level. the prep time assumes that no adventurer leaves without preparing for their adventure and this makes characters more likely to pick item creation feats/skills and/or profession/perform skills

4.magic does not disappear:the idea that energy and matter can not be destroyed only converted into the other is what made me think of this rule. to clarifiy the magic of unused spell slots remains available until used.for this example lets use a level 1 wizard with an intelligence of 20. this provides 2 bonus level 1 spells per day in addition to the 1 level 1 spell and the 3 level 0 spells per day for a total of 3x level 1 spells and 3x level 0 spells per day. if the wizard casts 1x level 1 spell and 3x level 0 spells in one day but does not use the other 2x level 1 spells normally at the end of the day those spells are lost and the energy just disappears with no reasoning.with this rule on day 2 the above wizard would have 2x level 1 spells+3x level 1 spells +3x level 0 spells for a total of 5x level 1 spells and 3x level 0 spells.this makes a patient wizard more capable later on but makes the party have to carry them while they save their spells

5.spell slot upgrade: with this rule i add extra spells per day to all magic classes both arcane and divine. according to the player's handbook it says that it takes a long rest(8 hours or 4 hours if a full blooded elf) and 1 hour of studying the spellbook for wizards to renew their spells per day but with the normal rules if they cast spells with in a 24 hour period they count towards the spell limit of their daily spells. if we assume a 24 hour day cycle like real life that means most people could prepare spells every 9 hours or every 5 hours if full blooded elves.but the normal rules prevent any already used spell slots in a 24 hour period from being prepared. this made no sense so all magic both arcane and divine can gain a full set of daily spells every long rest + 1 hour devoted to studying spell/prayer books or meditating on the source of their power.spells follow all normal rules for gaining new spells and the limit on levels like a level 1 wizard will be capable of only level 1 and level 0 spells anything else will take spell craft checks and or magic items/scrolls to cast and of course the above level 1 wizard would not have access to the cleric spells as they would be using their normal list

6.martial upgrade: all non magic classes gain feats much more often to help balance out the magic upgrades. instead of 1 at 1st,3rd,6th,9th,12th,15th and 18th level non magic classes gain bonus feats on every odd level in addition to any feats normally granted example a rogue at 1st level gains 1 for first level 1 for bonus feat then at 2nd level they gain nothing(unless they are also human) then they gain another 2x feats at 3rd level gain 1x feats at 5th and 1x feats at 6th etc this makes the martial classes have a way of staying relevant with higher level magic classes.

7.unless other wise stated only level adjustment +0 or lower can be used and only from the books in the allowed list

8.increased magic effectiveness(optional and not always used ask first):normally when a caster gets bonus spells from a high casting stat they only apply the bonus to spell levels they can already cast with the extra spells of higher level being wasted. with this change a caster can choose to convert the extra spells to spell levels they can currently cast example. a level 1 wizard with intelligence 20 gains 2x level 1 spells,1x level 2 spells,1x level 3 spells,1x level 4 spells and 1x level 5 spells but because they are only able to cast level 1 spells they only have access to the 2x level 1 spells yet their talent or effort that led to the high casting stat is wasted beyond the 2 extra spells.
with this rule the extra spells (2nd-5th level spells) are converted to spell slots that the wizard can cast. each bonus spell is worth the spell's level in extra spell slots for example a level 2 spell counts as 2x level 1 spells or 1x level 1 spell and 2x level 0 spells or 4x level 0 spells. this only applies to spells per day not spells known.at level 3 when the wizard gains level 2 spells they would then make a choice how how to convert the 3rd level spell slot-5th level spell slot into level 0,level 1, and/or level 2 spells. this choice is permanent until the next time they level up that spell casting class to a level with new spell level slots.once they are capable of casting the max level spell for that class this effect is no longer available.this is only using the casting stat assuming no temporary increases only perm increases affect this rule.

9.according to the player's handbook only wizards have meta magic/item creation feats granted at 1st,5th,10th,15th, and 20th levels.in player's handbook 2 they say the alternate sorcerer can give up their familiar to gain these bonus feats at the same levels i have not seen any other classes that allowed for metamagic or item creation feats thats why all magic classes gain meta magic or item creation feats at 1st,5th,10th,15th, and 20th level and must meet all prereqs of the feats in order to use them.these feats are in addition to any other bonus feats gained but does not allow for more than 1 source of meta magic/item creation feats meaning a wizard or meta magic sorcerer can not gain a second set of meta magic feats as they already have access.

10.feats can be bought in game: in order to acquire any feat in game,other than the ones gained normally from leveling up, i require the character to spend some gold and time training to gain extra feats. my general rule is that a feat with no prereqs costs 1,000 gold and 1 week training and each prereq requires an additional 1,000 gold and an additional week training. you must still meet all prereqs to gain the feat. example if you wanted the alertness feat(no prereqs) you would need 1,000 gold and 1 week training your alertness i will probally require a few spot and/or listen checks to represent your training i may also require a trainer depending on the player's description of their training. if you wanted point blank shot(requires strength 13) you would need 2,000 gold and 2 weeks training along with a few attack rolls with ranged weapons at short distances you would also still need strength 13 or higher to gain the benefit of the feat.

11.all characters begin at level 1 unless otherwise stated during character creation

12.spell modification: i have changed the amount of hp that cure/inflict minor wounds heals/damages. the other spells of the same type are all based on d8s, but in standard the level 0 spells are only listed as healing/inflicting 1 point of hp. if level 0's are supposed to be half as powerful as a level 1 then the level 0 spells cure minor wounds and inflict minor wounds should be half as powerful as the level 1 cure light wounds and inflict light wounds and a flat 1 is not half of 1d8.my change makes the level 0 versions heal/inflict 1d4 instead of 1 hp.

13.heirloom items: sometimes i like to give each player a unique item that grows as they grow. after character creation i allow players to choose weapon,armor, or utility. weapon represents any damage dealing ability armor is any protective ability and utility is any ability that is not directly related to damage or protection. i then randomly roll up abilities based on your race and classes and character concept. these items may never be sold traded or discarded and the loss of these items is similar to a caster being cut off from magic or a divine character being shunned by their deity or the tank breaking their main weapon/armor. these heirloom items are part of the identity of the character they treasure them even if they are not currently viable.at 5th,10th,15th, and 20th levels(effective character level) i upgrade these items to reflect the advancement of the player

14.generally unless other wise stated only content from the following books and https://www.d20srd.org/index.htm can be used
book list:complete adventurer,complete arcane,complete champion,complete divine,complete mage,complete scoundrel,complete warrior,any other book in the complete series,defenders of the faith,deities and demigods,dungeons master guide 1,dungeons master guide 2,draconomicon,frostburn,magic item compendium,masters of the wild,planar handbook a player's guide to the planes,player's handbook 1,player's handbook 2,sandstorm,song and silence,spell conpendium,stronghold builder's guidebook,sword and fist,tome and blood,tome of magic. i may allow other books or content depending on the game

15.no psionics: i hate the mechanics of the psionics so i ban all content from all psionic books and i ban all content related to psionics in other books

16.ties go to the defender: any time there is no clear ruling on who wins a tied result the character on defense wins this will some times benefit the players and sometimes the npcs.

17.all my rulings are final if you do not like a ruling talk to me after the session and i will try to work with you to change the rules to be more suitable if your reason is good and it does not directly impact the overall fun factor of the group. for example if you did not like the ties go to the defender rule you could explain why and i might be able to find an acceptable alternate rule.also if i say the cave collapses from the fireball's explosion after the session you may try to argue why you think fireball's exploding wont cause cave collapses and i may change future events to include your ruling.

18.i reserve the right to deny any thing not in the 3 core rule books and the right to change the world rules if i find there is an imbalance of power among players. if i change any world rules i will let players know before the rules are changed and before the next session starts. usually if i change rules i will compensate players with some reward in game as i know the chaos that rule changes cause.

  1. i reserve the right to add more rules or not use some of these rules.any and all rule changes will be brought up before a game session to assess how the group reacts.
Enjoys Playing
D&D 3.5, Other Games