House Rules of Valakis

One of the amazing aspects of B/X Dungeons & Dragons, and by extension the Old-School Essentials ruleset, is that the system serves as a fantastic framework for customization. The following are the house rules I have implemented for my Valakis campaign setting, specific the adventures in the Shadow of the Skyspire. Some of the rules were included after being found on other forums, blog posts or discussion on Reddit. Others are entirely of my own making, though they may be similar or even identical to things others have thought up.

The intent is to keep the old-school spirit of the game intact, while providing a more options, flexibility, and a few safeguards against capricious dice. So far, the rules have been working really well for my group, but if things change drastically, I may do an update post at some future date.

Leif Heanzo

Character Creation & Leveling

Ability Score Swap

When rolling ability scores, a player rolls in order as per the character creation rules. The player may choose to swap values between two scores after they have been rolled, but before applying racial bonuses.

 

Carousing 

A player can choose to have their character spend coins carousing, as a religious tithe, or some other expense with no mechanical effect but for roleplay. If a player spends their treasure in this way, 75% of the spent treasure is awarded as experience points towards the player's next character (due to death or retirement).

Hit Points when Leveling Up

When rolling hit points as part of leveling up, if the hit points gained would be less than 1, a character gains 1 hit point instead.

Max HP at 1st Level

Low level play is notoriously deadly. To help increase longevity, players do not roll hit points at 1st-level. Instead, characters begin with the maximum allowed by their class' HD.

Minimum Ability Scores

If a character's ability modifiers combine for a total of less than +0, the player may opt to reroll. All prior ability score rolls are deleted and a totally new set of values are rolled.

Antonio J. Manzanedo

Combat

Critical Hits

A roll of a natural 20 for an attack is an automatic hit. Fighters (and only fighters) who roll a 20 on an attack roll deal maximum weapon damage. This applies to both PC and NPC fighters. This maximum damage is in addition to any weapon-specific critical effects.

A critical hit with a weapon which has the Blunt property stuns the defender for 1d4 rounds.

A critical hit with a Torch causes the defender to light on fire (assuming the creature is capable of combustion). At the start of its turn, the defender takes 1d4 damage. Putting the fire out takes a round.

Disarming Attacks

A character can attempt to disarm an opponent. An attack roll to disarm does no damage. Instead, the defender must save versus petrification or lose the weapon being held. Recovering a weapon takes a round.

Reckless Attacks*

Before making an attack, a player can roll with a -2 penalty and add the same number to the attack's damage. Martial characters (those with a D8 hit die, aka Barbarians, Dwarves, Fighters, Knights, Paladins, and Rangers) can choose to modify their attacks/damage by either 2 or 4.

Shields Shall Splinter

A character using a shield may choose to take the full force of an attack on their shield, destroying it but reducing the damage to 0. Fighters can choose to destroy a shield in this way after damage has been rolled for an attack. All other characters must do so before damage is rolled.

Slow Weapons

Weapons with the slow property act in initiative order without penalty. This, in conjunction with the updated weapons table, should help justify two-handed weapons.

Frank Frazetta

Death & Dying

0 HP and Dying

When a character is reduced to 0 hit points, they must save versus death or die. If a character succeeds, they are considered unconscious. Further attacks on a character below 0 hit points force the character to make another save versus death for each successful attack.

An unconscious character can be revived immediately by magical healing or with a healing potion. An unconscious character that is not revived through magical means regains consciousness when they recover the standard 1d3 hit points from completing a rest.

Healing the Dying*
If a character receives healing while dying, they return to consciousness with hit points equal to the amount healed. Dying is a harrowing experience. A character saved from the brink of death suffers a -3 penalty to all d20 rolls for 1d3 days. If a character that has been saved from death's door and is still subject to the -3 penalty is reduced to 0 hit points again, they are dead.

Matt Ray

Miscellaneous

Carrying Capacity

A character's baseline carrying capacity is 1600 coins + 300 coins x Strength modifier. 

• Eg. A character with 16 (+2) Strength could carry 2200 coins without issue, while a character with a 7 (-1) Strength can only carry 1300 coins effectively.

Command Undead
Instead of turning undead, clerics of a Chaotic alignment command them. Undead that would be Turned are instead under the cleric's control for 1 turn per cleric level. Undead which would have been destroyed are instead controlled for 1 day per level of the cleric.

Secret Doors
Investigating a room/hallway gives a 1 in 6 chance to discover secret doors (2 in 6 for elves). A full search of a room (1 turn per 40 feet of walls per person searching) WILL reveal a secret door.

Svetlin Velinov

Weapon Specialization & Training

New characters begin their careers with training in a limited number of armaments (see the Weapon Proficiency rules p.23). Many adventurers specialize in a particular type of weapon during their early years. However, as an adventurer gains experience and treasure, they may wish to learn how to use new weapons more effectively. Weapon training has the following rules:

Basic Weapon Training

Learning how to use a new weapon takes both time and money. Gaining proficiency in a weapon costs 200gp and requires 2d6 days of dedicated training with that weapon.

Training in a Non-Class Weapon

A character may learn how to use a weapon outside of their listed class weapons at three times the normal rate (600gp). The character gains basic proficiency after 1d3+1 weeks of dedicated training.

Specializing in a Weapon

Becoming a specialist in a weapon is a long and difficult task. A character may only specialize in weapons available to their class. In order to specialize in a weapon, a character must first find a weapon master who trains others in that weapon’s fighting style. A character must convince the weapon master to train them. Training under a master takes 2d3 months. Costs vary between weapon masters, but such training generally costs upwards of 1,500gp.

Special Weapon Techniques

Some weapon masters also have knowledge of rare, ancient techniques unique to a specific school, style or weapon type. They may be willing to teach worth students, but will often require payment, send the potential student on a quest to prove their worth, or some other prerequisite for training.

• Example: Swordmaster Gerhard can train a martial character the double slash technique: while using a sword, if a 1 is rolled for damage, the player may reroll the die, but must lower the damage die by 1 step (8 ▶ 6 ▶ 4).

Zhihui Su

Weapons & Damage

Weapon Damage

Torches use a d4 for damage rolls.

One-handed weapons use a d6 for damage rolls.

Two-handed weapons use a d8 for damage rolls.

Special Weapon Effects

Weapons have special bonuses based on their weapon class. The following additional rules apply:

• Monsters with HD greater than that of the attacker are not affected by a weapon's special effect.
• Player characters, humanoids, and NPCs with class levels (regardless of HD) are always affected by a weapon's special effect.
• Weapon effects do not apply to attacks made against undead, or creatures that can only be harmed by magical attacks.
•  The referee may make exceptions to any of these rules on a case to case basis (eg. damaging a skeleton's chainmail armor with an axe).

Axes (battle axe, hand axe)

On a damage roll 6 or greater, the target must save vs death or suffer a -1 AC penalty until they have their armor repaired by a blacksmith or using an armor repair kit.

Blunt Weapons (club, mace, maul, warhammer)

On a damage roll 6 or greater, the target must save vs paralysis or be knocked unconscious for 1d4 turns. Creatures without a head are unaffected.

Piercing (arrow, bolt, dagger, seax knife, javelin, short sword, spear)

On a damage roll 6 or greater, the target must save vs death or suffer a -1 penalty to attack rolls until they complete a night's rest or are able to bandage the wound.

When a Thief uses their Backstab ability while wielding a dagger, the Thief rolls two damage dice and doubles the higher result. If this results in maximum damage, the dagger's weapon effect is triggered.

Reach Weapons (polearm)

Weapons with reach can attack a creature from up to 10' away, making them ideal for use in a second rank.

Swords (longsword, two-handed sword)

After reducing an enemy to 0 HP, the wielder can make a free attack against another foe within reach.

Torches

On a maximum damage roll, the target must save vs breath or be lit on fire (assuming the creature is capable of combustion). While on fire, the target takes 1d3 damage at the start of its turn until it takes a round to put the fire out.

* My group uses the Ascending Armor Class option in OSE.