House Rules

We are playing using a variety of "House Rules" - most of these are documented in the extensive Variant Rules document that Rob has created - a mash-up of existing 5th Edition rules and improvements, many of which come from the new One D&D that (as of when this was edited Oct '24) was still in the process of being released, known as 2024 rules - and they cover all aspects of the game, from races, classes, spell casting, equipment, skill usage and various other areas as well.

This page however summarises some of the key rules that have the possibility of affecting our actual session game play as well as some that aren't even documented in Rob's wonderful document.  :-)

1) Casting Spells

1. The restriction about casting more than one spell on your turn is lifted. In other words, if you want to cast a spell with your ACTION, and then another spell that has the ability to be cast as a BONUS ACTION, then you can. This exemption only applies to ACTION plus BONUS ACTION. You can't cast two spells that require a full ACTION to cast in the same turn - even if you are hasted!
2. ALSO, If you have used all your spell slots, you can still cast a spell - but at the cost of gaining levels of exhaustion per level of spell slot you would have used. (see also in Exhaustion below)

2) Exhaustion

• EFFECTS OF EXHAUSTION:
  • Standard rules have a maximum of 6 levels of exhaustion. In this game we have a maximum of 10 levels of exhaustion.
  • While Exhausted you experience the following effects:
    • Levels of Exhaustion. This Condition is cumulative. Each time you receive it, you gain 1 level of exhaustion. You die if your exhaustion level exceeds 10.
    • d20 Rolls Affected. When you make a d20 Test, you subtract your exhaustion level from the d20 roll.
    • Spell Save DCs Affected. Subtract your exhaustion level from the Spell save DC of any Spell you cast.
    • Speed Affected. Subtract five times your exhaustion level from your movement speed. When your speed reaches 0 you cannot move more than 5 feet without assistance and must ride, be carried or dragged.

Ending the Condition. Finishing a Long Rest removes 1 or 2 levels of exhaustion (depending on the quality of the long rest - see below). When your exhaustion level reaches 0, you are no longer Exhausted.

• GAINING EXHAUSTION:
  • Being reduced to 0 Hit Points results in 1 level of exhaustion, cumulative with any current levels of exhaustion.
  • Every failed Death Save results in 2 levels of exhaustion.
  • Being killed outright results in the equivalent of 10 levels of exhaustion (i.e. Raise Dead would bring the character back with 9 levels of exhaustion).
  • Interrupted Sleep. If your sleep is interrupted with combat, you must make a DC10 Constitution Check to gain the sleep benefits of a Long Rest. Failure by 5 or more means that you gain a level of exhaustion.
  • Casting spells once spell slots have already been used. Essentially, if a spell caster has used all their spell slots, they can still cast a spell, but it will give them a level of exhaustion for each spell level cast.

• REMOVING EXHAUSTION:
  • Casting Greater Restoration can remove 2 levels of exhaustion (i.e. the equivalent of a luxurious Long Rest).
  • Getting a Long Rest. - Note - the quality of a Long Rest is determined by access to Shelter, Food and Water, some method of dealing with injuries - use of equipment/supplies/skill checks/spells can improve the quality of each of these. The average recovery conditions and how they effect the recovery of hit points, hit dice and levels of exhaustion are listed below.

• RECOVERY CONDITIONS

Conditions	Hit Dice rolls	Hit Dice recovery rolls	Exhaustion recovery
Wretched, Squalid	Disadvantage	None	None
Poor	Disadvantage	Disadvantage	Roll to recover 1 level
Modest	Roll Normally	Roll Normally	Roll to recover 2 levels
Comfortable	Advantage	Advantage	Recover 1 level, roll with advantage for an extra level
Wealthy, Aristocratic	Advantage	Advantage	Recover 2 levels

NOTE: Sleeping in Medium or Heavy armour does not remove exhaustion levels, imposes Disadvantage on Hit Dice rolls to recover Hit Points, and Constitution Checks to recover spent Hit Dice regardless of the recovery conditions.'

3) Short Rests

Characters can only gain the benefits of a short rest a maximum of 4 times in a day, and not within 3 hours of a previous short rest.

4) PIETY

Being a god's champion carries no benefits in and of itself. Each god's description in this chapter paints a picture of the god's typical champion, including ideas for how a player character might end up in that position and provides ideals that represent the god's interests. The gods do reward the devotion of their champions, though. The strength of your devotion to your god is measured by your piety score. As you increase that score, you gain blessings from your god.

Piety has nothing to do with faith or belief, except insofar as a person's thoughts and ideals drive them to action in a god's service. Your piety score reflects the actions you have taken in your god's service-actions that the god richly rewards.

When you choose a god to worship as a beginning character, your piety score related to that god is 1. Your piety score increases by 1 when you do something to advance the god's interests or behave in accordance with the god's ideals. The gods expect great deeds from their champions, so your piety score typically increases only when you accomplish a significant goal (such as the completion of an adventure), make a significant sacrifice of your own self-interest, or otherwise when the DM sees fit. Each god's description in this chapter includes a discussion of the god's goals and ideals, which your DM uses to judge whether you earn an increase in your piety score. As a general rule, you can expect to increase your piety by 1 during most sessions of play, assuming that you are following your god's tenets. The DM decides the amount of any increase or decrease, but a single deed typically changes your piety score by only 1 point in either direction unless your action is very significant.

BENEFITS OF PIETY

The gods bestow favors on those who prove their devotion. When your piety score crosses certain thresholds- 3, 10, 25, and 50-you gain a benefit detailed in the sections describing the gods' champions throughout this chapter. If your piety score exceeds and then falls below one of those thresholds, you lose the benefit you gained at the higher tier. Check out Gods for more details.

If you choose the Oracle supernatural gift, you gain different rewards for your piety score, instead of the ones normally granted by your god. This gift and its benefits are described in chapter 1 .

INSPIRATION AND PIETY

To some extent, piety is its own reward. Behaving in accordance with your god's dictates and ideals inspires you and might enable you to succeed where you might otherwise fail. At your DM's discretion, whenever you increase your piety score, you might also gain inspiration, reflecting the improvement in the harmony between you and your god.

IMPIETY

Not every hero chooses the life of a divine champion. Leonin, in particular, are known for rejecting the worship of gods. If you don't devote yourself to a god, you don't have a piety score and you gain no rewards for piety, but you don't suffer any negative consequences. The Iconoclast supernatural gift (described in chapter 1) offers a way for characters to gain benefits similar to rewards for piety without being devoted to a god.