House Rules
M
odified rules, still in the process of
approval, it also contains a compilation
of Variant Rules to be used with D&D
5e.
Character Races
Variant Races
Each Race, other than Human can trade at character
creation, their main attribute bonus (the bonus that grants
attribute +2, if the race does not grant a +2 bonus, select two
+1 bonus instead), for a Racial Feat (Xanathar's Guide to
Everything)
This rule makes other races, besides humans, have the
possibility to start with a feat.
Character Classes - Changes
Fighter
Second Wind - Feature. This feature can’t be used out of
combat.
Sorcerer
Wild Magic Origin - Feature. Immediately after you cast a
sorcerer spell of 1st level or higher, roll a D20, if the number
equals the Spell Level, you roll on the Wild Magic Surge table
(page. 104 PHB), and regain the Tides of Chaos if you don't
have it.
If you roll a 20, you roll on the Wild Magic Surge table, but
don't regain the use of Tides of Chaos.
Damage and Healing
Falling - Adaptation PHB 183
The maximum damage is 58d6 instead of 20d6.
A character can make an Acrobatics check (DC 10, +1 per
20 feet, to a maximum of DC 25) to reduce fall damage by ½
the result, rounded down. (Not cumulative with any previous
resistance)
Injuries - Adaptation DMG 272
When a creature suffers a critical hit that inflicts enough
damage to incapacitate it (0 HP), the player must roll over the
DMG Injuries table (page. 272) to get an injury.
Slow Natural Healing - DMG 266
Characters don't regain hit points at the end of a long rest.
Instead, a character can spend Hit Dice to heal at the end of a
long rest, just as with a short rest.
This optional rule prolongs the amount of time that
characters need to recover from their wounds without the
benefits of magical healing and works well for grittier, more
realistic campaigns.
Stabilizing a Creature - Adaptation PHB
197
Stabilizing is not instant. You must perform all your Death
Saves. A Help action before your turn improves your odds. If
a creature stabilizes that way, it gains a level of exhaustion.
DC Situation
12 Victim makes Death Saves alone, without Help.
10 Victim receives non-proficient Help action.
8 Victim receives Medicine-proficient Help action.
-1 For each +2 Constitution modifier of the victim.
+1 For each -1 Constitution modifier of the victim.
Action Options - DMG 271
Climb onto a Bigger Creature
If one creature wants to jump onto another creature, it can do
so by grappling. A small or Medium creature has little chance
of making a successful grapple against a Huge or Gargantuan
creature, however, unless magic has granted the grappler
supernatural might.
As an alternative, a suitably large opponent can be treated
as terrain for the purpose of jumping onto its back or clinging
to a limb. After making any ability checks necessary to get
into position and onto the larger creature, the smaller
creature uses its action to make a Strength (Athletics) or
Dexterity (Acrobatics) check contested by the target's
Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. If it wins the contest, the
smaller creature successfully moves into the target creature's
space, the smaller creature moves with the target and has
advantage on attack rolls against it.
The smaller creature can move around within the larger
creature's space, treating the space as difficult terrain. The
larger creature's ability to attack the smaller creature
depends on the smaller creature's location, and is left to your
discretion. The larger creature can dislodge the smaller
creature as an action—knocking it off, scraping it against a
wall, or grabbing and throwing it—by making a Strength
(Athletics) check contested by the smaller creature's Strength
(Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. The smaller
creature chooses which ability to use.
PART 1 | HOUSE RULES 1
 Disarm
A creature can use a weapon attack to knock a weapon or
another item from a target's grasp. The attacker makes an
attack roll contested by the target's Strength (Athletics) check
or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. If the attacker wins the
contest, the attack causes no damage or other ill effect, but
the defender drops the item. The attacker has disadvantage
on its attack roll if the target is holding the item with two or
more hands. The target has advantage on its ability check if it
is larger than the attacking creature, or disadvantage if it is
smaller.
Overrun
When a creature tries to move through a hostile creature's
space, the mover can try to force its way through by
overrunning the hostile creature. As an action or a bonus
action, the mover makes a Strength (Athletics) check
contested by the hostile creature's Strength (Athletics) check.
The creature attempting the overrun has advantage on this
check if it is larger than the hostile creature, or disadvantage
if it is smaller. If the mover wins the contest, it can move
through the hostile creature's space once this turn.
Shove Aside
With this option, a creature uses the special shove attack
from the Player's Handbook to force a target to the side,
rather than away. The attacker has disadvantage on its
Strength (Athletics) check when it does so. If that check is
successful, the attacker moves the target 5 feet to a different
space within its reach.
Tumble
A creature can try to tumble through a hostile creature's
space, ducking and weaving past the opponent. As an action
or a bonus action, the tumbler makes a Dexterity (Acrobatics)
check contested by the hostile creature's Dexterity
(Acrobatics) check. If the tumbler wins the contest, it can
move through the hostile creature's space once this turn.
Miscellaneous
Adamantine Weapons - XGE 78
Adamantine is an ultrahard metal found in meteorites and
extraordinary mineral veins. In addition to being used to craft
adamantine armor, the metal is also used for weapons.
Melee weapons and ammunition made of or coated with
adamantine are unusually effective when used to break
objects. Whenever an adamantine weapon or piece of
ammunition hits an object, the hit is a critical hit.
The adamantine version of a melee weapon or of ten pieces
of ammunition costs 500 gp more than the normal version,
whether the weapon or ammunition is made of the metal or
coated with it.
Equipment Sizes - PHB 145
In most campaigns, you can use or wear any equipment that
you find on your adventures, within the bounds of common
sense. For example, a burly half-orc won't fit in a halfling's
leather armor, and a gnome would be swallowed up in a
cloud giant's elegant robe.
2 PART 2 | HOUSE RULES
The DM can impose more realism. For example, a suit of
plate armor made for one human might not fit another one
without significant alterations, and a guard's uniform might
be visibly ill-fitting when an adventurer tries to wear it as a
disguise.
Using this variant, when adventurers find armor, clothing,
and similar items that are made to be worn, they might need
to visit an armorsmith, tailor, leatherworker, or similar expert
to make the item wearable. The cost for such work varies
from 10 to 40 percent of the market price of the item. The
DM can either roll 1d4 × 10 or determine the increase in cost
based on the extent of the alterations required.
Playing on a Grid - PHB 192
If you play out a combat using a square grid and miniatures
or other tokens, follow these rules.
Squares. Each square on the grid represents 5 feet.
Speed. Rather than moving foot by foot, move square by
square on the grid. This means you use your speed in 5-foot
segments. This is particularly easy if you translate your speed
into squares by dividing the speed by 5. For example, a speed
of 30 feet translates into a speed of 6 squares. If you use a
grid often, consider writing your speed in squares on your
character sheet.
Entering a Square. To enter a square, you must have at
least 1 square of movement left, even if the square is
diagonally adjacent to the square you're in. (The rule for
diagonal movement sacrifices realism for the sake of smooth
play. The Dungeon Master's Guide provides guidance on
using a more realistic approach.) If a square costs extra
movement, as a square of difficult terrain does, you must
have enough movement left to pay for entering it. For
example, you must have at least 2 squares of movement left
to enter a square of difficult terrain.
Corners. Diagonal movement can't cross the corner of a
wall, large tree, or other terrain feature that fills its space.
Ranges. To determine the range on a grid between two
things—whether creatures or objects—start counting
squares from a square adjacent to one of them and stop
counting in the space of the other one. Count by the shortest
route.
Diagonals - DMG 252. The Player's Handbook presents a
simple method for counting movement and measuring range
on a grid: count every square as 5 feet, even if you're moving
diagonally. Though this is fast in play, it breaks the laws of
geometry and is inaccurate over long distances. This optional
rule provides more realism, but it requires more effort during
combat.
When measuring range or moving diagonally on a grid, the
first diagonal square counts as 5 feet, but the second
diagonal square counts as 10 feet. This pattern of 5 feet and
then 10 feet continues whenever you're counting diagonally,
even if you move horizontally or vertically between different
bits of diagonal movement.
For example, a character might move one square
diagonally (5 feet), then three squares straight (15 feet), and
then another square diagonally (10 feet) for a total movement
of 30 feet.
Simultaneous Effects - XGE 77
Most effects in the game happen in succession, following an
order set by the rules or the DM. In rare cases, effects can
happen at the same time, especially at the start or end of a
creature's turn. If two or more things happen at the same
time on a character or monster's turn, the person at the game
table—whether player or DM—who controls that creature
decides the order in which those things happen. For example,
if two effects occur at the end of a player character's turn, the
player decides which of the two effects happens first.
Sleep - XGE 77
     Waking Someone. A creature that is naturally sleeping, as
opposed to being in a magically or chemically induced sleep,
wakes up if it takes any damage or if someone else uses an
action to shake or slap the creature awake. A sudden loud
noise—such as yelling, thunder, or a ringing bell—also
awakens someone that is sleeping naturally.
Whispers don't disturb sleep, unless a sleeper's passive
Wisdom (Perception) score is 20 or higher and the whispers
are within 10 feet of the sleeper. Speech at a normal volume
awakens a sleeper if the environment is otherwise silent (no
wind, birdsong, crickets, street sounds, or the like) and the
sleeper has a passive Wisdom (Perception) score of 15 or
higher.
Sleeping in Armor. Sleeping in light armor has no
adverse effect on the wearer, but sleeping in medium or heavy
armor makes it difficult to recover fully during a long rest.
When you finish a long rest during which you slept in
medium or heavy armor, you regain only one quarter of your
spent Hit Dice (minimum of one die). If you have any levels of
exhaustion, the rest doesn't reduce your exhaustion level.
Going without a Long Rest. A long rest is never
mandatory, but going without sleep does have its
consequences. If you want to account for the effects of sleep
deprivation on characters and creatures, use these rules.
Whenever you end a 24-hour period without finishing a
long rest, you must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving
throw or suffer one level of exhaustion.
It becomes harder to fight off exhaustion if you stay awake
for multiple days. After the first 24 hours, the DC increases
by 5 for each consecutive 24-hour period without a long rest.
The DC resets to 10 when you finish a long rest.
Skills with Different Abilities - PHB 175
Normally, your proficiency in a skill applies only to a specific
kind of ability check. Proficiency in Athletics, for example,
usually applies to Strength checks. In some situations,
though, your proficiency might reasonably apply to a different
kind of check. In such cases, the DM might ask for a check
using an unusual combination of ability and skill, or you
might ask your DM if you can apply a proficiency to a
different check. For example, if you have to swim from an
offshore island to the mainland, your DM might call for a
Constitution check to see if you have the stamina to make it
that far. In this case, your DM might allow you to apply your
proficiency in Athletics and ask for a Constitution (Athletics)
check. So if you're proficient in Athletics, you apply your
proficiency bonus to the Constitution check just as you would
normally do for a Strength (Athletics) check. Similarly, when
your half-orc barbarian uses a display of raw strength to
intimidate an enemy, your DM might ask for a Strength
(Intimidation) check, even though Intimidation is normally
associated with Charisma.
Tying Knots - XGE 78
The rules are purposely open-ended concerning mundane
tasks like tying knots, but sometimes knowing how well a
knot was fashioned is important in a dramatic scene when
someone is trying to untie a knot or slip out of one. Here's an
optional rule for determining the effectiveness of a knot.
The creature who ties the knot makes an Intelligence
(Sleight of Hand) check when doing so. The total of the check
becomes the DC for an attempt to untie the knot with an
Intelligence (Sleight of Hand) check or to slip out of it with a
Dexterity (Acrobatics) check.
This rule intentionally links Sleight of Hand with
Intelligence, rather than Dexterity. This is an example of how
to apply the rule in the "Variant: Skills with Different
Abilities" section in chapter 7 of the Player's Handbook.
Combat Rules
Coup de Grace - House Rule
Conditions such as Paralyzed, Unconscious, or Sleeping that
grant automatic critical hits against humanoid creatures
allow you to deal one final blow that kills the target.
When you make an attack that qualifies as an automatic
critical hit, roll a regular Attack roll. If you hit the target's AC
minus Dexterity modifier, the creature takes damage equal to
its current HP and is dying. If you do not hit, the creature
instead takes damage equal to half its current HP (if this
attack is made when in combat, and you roll a 1, the attack
misses).
The target of your attack must be no more than one size
larger than you, and it must be within your reach.
Critical Failure - House Rule
If the d20 roll for an attack is a 1, the attack misses,
regardless of any modifiers or the target's AC, and you must
make a DC 10 Dexterity check, on a failed check, your attack
is a Critical Failure, in that case, roll a d100 in the Weapon
Attack Critical Failure table or Spell Attack Failure table, to
apply a negative effect.
PART 3 | HOUSE RULES 3
 Weapon Attack Critical Failure
Roll
% Description Effect
1 You are embarrassed by your poor You miss your attack.
showing, but nothing remarkable
happens.
2-5 You lose your combat footing, exposing Your target has advantage on their first attack roll against you next round.
yourself to your target.
6-9 You lose your combat footing, exposing Your enemies have advantage on their first attack roll against you next round.
yourself to your enemies.
10- You lose your combat footing and have Your enemies have advantage on their attack rolls against you until the end of
14 difficulty recovering. your next turn.
15- Melee: You get tangled with your enemy Melee: You are knocked prone and your movement is reduced to 0. Your
19 and fall over. target must succeed a DC 10 dexterity check, or they are also knocked
Ranged: You spill your quiver. prone.
Ranged: You must pick up arrows individually from the ground using your
“environmental interaction”, or the “Use an Object” action to nock your bow.
20- You lose your balance while attacking. You fall prone and your movement is reduced to 0.
29
30- As you attack your opponent you begin Disadvantage on your next attack roll against your target.
39 to fear that they are the superior
combatant.
40- You miss an attack and gaze upon the Disadvantage on your next attack roll against any target.
49 chaos of the battle, causing your
confidence to falter.
50- You lose your grip as you attack. Roll a DC 10 Dexterity Check, on failure you drop your weapon at your feet.
59
60- Melee: The weapon slips from your hand Melee: Roll a DC 10 Dexterity Check, on failure you throw your weapon into
69 as you attack. your enemy’s space. DM determines where the item is thrown on large sized
Ranged: Your ammunition gets lodged or greater creatures.
in its container. Ranged: You must use an action to organize the ammunition in its case
before you can make another ranged attack.
70- Melee: You lunge past an enemy Melee: The enemy you were attacking is able to use their reaction to perform
79 exposing yourself to his attack. an attack of opportunity.
Ranged: Your missile startles your allies Ranged: the target can perform an opportunity attack on any ally within melee
near your target. range.
80- Missing what you thought was a critical End your current turn and you are surprised until the end of your next turn.
84 blow causes you to panic.
85- You attack wildly and lose track of the End your turn and move to the bottom of the initiative order at the start of
89 surrounding fight. the next round.
90- You lose your footing while attacking You fall prone. Roll a DC 10 dexterity save, on failure you take 1d6 damage.
94 and fall to the ground bumping your On success take half damage.
head.
95- You lose your footing while attacking You fall prone. Roll a DC 15 dexterity save, on failure you take 2d6 damage.
99 and fall head first. On success take half damage.
100 You lose your footing while attacking You fall prone, take 3d6 damage.
and slam your head into the ground.

4 PART 4 | HOUSE RULES

Spell Attack Failure
Roll
% Description
1 You are embarrassed by your poor showing,
but nothing remarkable happens.
2-5 You get wrapped up in your spellcasting
and forget to watch your target.
6-9 You get wrapped up in your spellcasting
and forget to watch your surroundings.
10- You are so wrapped up in your spellcasting All enemies have advantage on their attack rolls against you until the end
14 that you forget you are fighting a battle.
15- Your spell creates a large plume of smoke
19 obscuring your location.
20- Your spell misfires knocking you over.
29
30- The spell fires in an unexpected manner,
39 causing your confidence in your abilities to
falter.
40- The placement of your spell startles your
49 allies near your target, causing them to
drop their guard.
50- You scramble the ingredients of your
59 component pouch or your focus becomes
overloaded with magical energy and
temporarily stops working.
60- Your arm cramps as you cast.
69
70- You bite your tongue as you cast.
79
80- Your spell misfires and dazes you, causing
84 you to lose track of the fight.
85- Your spell misfires causing you to panic.
89
90- Your spell backfires creating a small
94 explosion causing you to fall and bump
your head.
95- Your spell backfires creating a large
99 explosion causing you to fall and bump
your head.
100 Your spell completely backfires creating a
large explosion causing you to fall and
bump your head.
Effect
You miss your attack.
Your target has advantage on their first attack roll against you next round.
All enemies have advantage on their first attack roll against you next
round.
of your next turn.
The area in a 5 foot radius around your location becomes heavily
obscured for 1 minute. A strong breeze can blow away the smoke in 1
round.
You are knocked prone.
You have disadvantage on any spell attacks, and enemies have advantage
against your spell savings throws until the end of your next turn.
Your target is able to use their reaction to take an attack of opportunity
on one of your allies in melee range.
You are unable to perform material components to cast spells until the
end of your next turn.
You are unable to perform somatic components to cast spells until the
end of your next turn.
You are unable to use verbal components to cast spells until the end of
your next turn.
End your turn and move to the bottom of the initiative order at the start
of the next round.
End your current turn and you are surprised until the end of your next
turn.
You fall prone. Roll a DC 10 dexterity save, on failure you take 1d6
bludgeoning damage. On success take half damage.
You fall prone. Roll a DC 15 dexterity save, on failure you take 1d6
bludgeoning damage, 1d6 thunder damage. On success take half damage.
You hit yourself with your spell. If the spell effect is instant you take the
full effect. If the spell requires concentration the effect persists until the
end of your next turn. You also fall prone, take 1d6 bludgeoning damage,
1d6 thunder damage.
PART 5 | HOUSE RULES 5
 Flanking -
Adaptation
DMG 251
If you regularly use
miniatures, flanking
gives combatants a simple way to gain
+1 on attack rolls against a common enemy.
A creature can't flank an enemy that it can't see.
A creature also can't flank while it is incapacitated.
A Large or larger creature is flanking as long as at least one
square or hex of its space qualifies for flanking.
Flanking on Squares. When a creature and at least one of
its allies are adjacent to an enemy and on opposite sides or
corners of the enemy's space, they flank that enemy, and each
of them has +1 on melee attack rolls against that enemy.
When in doubt about whether two creatures flank an enemy
on a grid, trace an imaginary line between the centers of the
creatures' spaces. If the line passes through opposite sides or
corners of the enemy's space, the enemy is flanked.
Knocking a Creature Out - Adaptation
PHB 198
Sometimes an attacker wants to incapacitate a foe rather
than deal a killing blow. The attacker must declare his
intention before making a melee attack, when the attack hits,
it causes ½ damage, if this attack reduces a creature to O hit
points it falls unconscious and is stable.
The target of your knocking must be no more than one size
larger than you, and it must be within your reach.

36 PART 63 | HOUSE RULES