🎲🐉Beyond the Book: Essential D&D House Rules

Want to add some extra spice to your D&D games?

Because you asked for it, in this video, I share my personal favorite house rules I use to enhance my campaign. I also showcase some brilliant house rule suggestions from the D&D community, so you're sure to find something to inspire you.

From minor tweaks to major overhauls, and whether you play Advanced D&D or 5E, these house rules will help you customize your D&D experience and create unforgettable adventures.

Seasoned DMs and new players alike will discover tips and tricks to make your games even more fun!

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*TIMESTAMPS*
0:00 Introduction
3:05 Why House Rules?
11:14 My House Rules
16:53 Ability Scores
22:45 Classes
34:27 Hit Points
36:14 Magic
38:40 Initiative
43:43 Combat
1:00:50 Death & Dying
1:08:11 Ability Checks
1:13:04 Adventuring
1:20:28 Magic Items
1:21:40 Miscellaneous
1:34:05 Other Sources
1:43:34 Special Thanks
1:43:53 Wrap-Up
1:45:40 Bonus Content

*MORE DADDY ROLLED A 1*

*PERFECT MANHATTAN*
1️⃣ 2.0 oz Rye Whiskey
2️⃣0.5 oz Sweet (Italian) Vermouth
3️⃣0.5 oz Dry (French) Vermouth
4️⃣1 dash Angostura Bitters
5️⃣1 dash Orange Bitters

🍊Garnish: Orange peel (or brandied cherry if preferred)
🍸Glass: Stemmed cocktail glass, like a Coupe or Nick-and-Nora

🥄Instructions: Stir the first five ingredients over ice in a large mixing glass for around 30 revolutions. Strain into a chilled glass and garnish with the orange peel.

*"THE GOLDEN HOUR", COMPILATION BY JAZZ DISPENSARY, 2024*

[LynnHermione]

"That's how I knew tweens dont read emails" I am sorry I laughed outloud 😂

[taliesinllanfair]

I loved how you let the players narrate their attack if they rolled a 20. That has more power than the extra damage the hit does. It really increases the immersion. same for the rolling a 1.

[alumroot]

We pretty freely mixed rules from basic and AD&D (some white box rules, too) because they were all out together and we didn’t know any better until we started going to some cons, but by then we didn’t care and continued to play the way we wanted.

[DanielNicolato-qswt]

I second Magic users being able to cast spells straight from the spellbook, without burning a slot, if not in actual action (combat, moving etc.) - and I've been proposing this since the late 90's. I usually rule that this way of casting takes 1d4 turns + spell level and, obviously, requires that the spellbook is actually being carried (which takes up quite some resources if you use encumbrance). The thing is that this is barely a house rule - more like a stretch in the rules. These state that spell memorization can happen during rest - so It sounds logical that a little bit of "rest" (as in the MU is left alone for a while to concentrate) could allow for looking up and casting a single spell on the spot. So memorization is saved for combat and emergency spells. This makes a low level MU more useful in general and let "utility" spells really shine - floating disc, knock, hold portal, read languages, locate object - as these are rarely picked until the character has tons of slots to spend.

[jeffhatch]

Thanks for all the kind mentions and enjoy the initiative rule. It is by far my most popular rule.

[willmistretta]

I always liked simultaneous initiative because it makes combat feel a bit more like a chaotic scramble and less like folks standing around politely waiting to take their turns like in an old Final Fantasy game. Plus, a hero and monster mortally wounding each other in the same instant is always pretty metal.

[WilliamFurby]

You do a great job on your videos! Keep up the great work!

[ChuckBarchuk]

My have two simple house rules: The normal sword is 2-handed for halflings & dwarves. I think this gives the fighter a nice damage advantage. And secondly, I give thieves a flat 4-in-6 chance to succeed with their skills right at level 1. It never changes until they become a master thief at level 10 in which their chance bumps up to a 5-in-6. My players don't like it when I simply hand waive stuff which I tend to do since the abysmal percentages aren't really worth trying to roll. This way they are good at their job right from the start but not perfect.

[danielrowan]

Martin - I love this video. I’m a 1/2e homebrew DM and have significantly tweaked the rules from ability score bonuses (I have them starting at 14 for a +1 bonus), to spell trading (I have a nearly identical mechanic for Clerics to trade for healing), to weapon Initiative modifiers, to critical hits, and so on.
I have a character generation method that has players roll 3d6 down the line - Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, …. But we “keep” the individual d6 rolls recorded for each ability. Then they roll 5d6 and select the top 3 of those and replace individual die rolls within the original ability rolls. Combined with making 14 the cut off for bonus level abilities, this method has made for a generation mechanic where players are practically guaranteed to be able to play the class they want, but they aren’t all cookie cutter 17/18 in primary ability type characters with a dump stat that’s 8/9.
Additionally, I have “beefed up” the importance of Charisma by making it the strength/ force of will stat, with wisdom being the players savvy and perception.

[MarkCMG]

Part three -

After the Initiative section and starting with Combat, a lot of what you added were standard issue in 1E AD&D and much of what we did was by subtraction. We dropped weapon speeds, we dropped weapon hit adjustments by armor type, and encumbrance (I add here due to weapons and armor being a major part of encumbrance) we hand-waved mostly and common sense ruled the day, in the moment. Ammunition could be found and re-used fifty percent of the time 1-3 on a d6 or odds or evens, as called and rolled by the player. Mostly, I just trusted players to follow this rule so the whole table wasn't waiting to see if arrows were broken and bullets could be recovered. Parrying was tried and discarded by my main group back in the day as an idea which lengthened combats. Breaking weapons and sundering armor falls under the same result, IMO.

I've always been against crits and fumbles in any form for friend or foe.

I use 1E AD&D DMG down to -10 rules but I am strict about going below zero meaning you aren't fighting, casting or anything other than hobbling along back to town. Below zero but stabilized means you do not die but you are just shy of needing to be carried back home. You also would need to spend time in town with bedrest as your fate for days or weeks depending on how long you were under. You might also have scarring or missing body parts. Severe burns can also occur. Coming back from below zero also requires a System Shock roll. But all of this is 1E DMG stuff.

I have used Ability Checks as called for by the DM where the player (sometimes the DM secretly) rolls against an attribute, rolling the Ability number or lower. This is something we started doing with (O)D&D to cover anything the rules were lacking. Perhaps as wargamers, it just made some sort of sense.

I've always done searching by the book but the player must describe how it is being done. Saying you are searching a ten foot area isn't enough. I roll as DM secretly and describe the results.

Ernie, who passed away Friday, used to give all PCs "God Points" which could be attempted to be used as adjudicated by the DM. The better the attempt was described, the more likely it worked. Ernie was generous with allowing their use and easier on newer and younger players.

I like the Composure rules and will use some form of them myself some day.

I won't take Manhattan but the Prime Rib Sammy sounds delicious. I'll check out the Jazz Dispensary YouTube channel for The Golden Hour cuts. Thanks!

[theniteowl]

with 1e, i have 3 basic house rules:
1) reworked HP. i use a wounds/stamina system. stamina gets used first and recovers quickly. wounds are actual HP, and death occurs when you lose all of those.
2) everyone starts with a simple magic item (inspired by the cartoon)
3) mages use mana points to cast their memorized spells. they can change their memorized spells, but it takes an hour of downtime to do so.

[gandreassoftware]

BUC (Base Unit Coin) and Joss both come from Gary's Mythus System (used in Dangerous Journeys).

[TroyKnoell]

Thanks for including my ideas in your video. This was a great video. I, also, really liked your history on the Manhattan. I've had the Manhattan and the Black Manhattan. But I haven't had the Perfect Manhattan yet. I've heard of it. YouTuber Anders Erickson has a funny story about it in one of his videos from when he was a new bartender.

[Porphyrogenitus]

I've been missing the campaign advice videos

P.S. a reminder I think the series might benefit from being reframed as campaign advice since DM advice seems to be past its hurst cycle peak, as you mentioned in a previous video.
I think the campaign advice is wonderful too and can do things like further discussions of how to approach older modules, how new players are, and so forth. Basically more of the same I'm just encouraging it.

[WilliamFurby]

Great video! Thanks for the shout out! It is always fun to hear how others play their games.

[FatalDevotee]

Great video, sir! I love making house rules for my games, so it was fun to hear about yours and others rules.

[randyandrews]

Oh this looks fun! Will be watching later today.

[goonnightbaybee]

Hey! Glad you liked my lucky weapon rule, I like magic weapons being very rare and Sword & Sorcery-coded. I do use it in my B/X games but it fits my Dungeon Crawl Classics games a little more. Also pretty good job with the name, it's "Shim-Uh-Less-Key" for the curious. Love a good Manhattan, thanks for the mix!

[doctorlolchicken]

[13:50] Caption Competition: "Realizing it's going to be one of THOSE sessions, the DM arms himself with a gigantic martini." (This joke probably works better if you're watching the video on your phone like me.)

[sststr]

Holy cow! All that artwork in the opening seconds, it's a nostalgia overload!