The Nature GM

A game should be alive. It should breathe. Like a recipe, it offers a baseline which can be adjusted to suit one’s taste. And thus was born the house rules.

Even the rules as written are forgotten at times, but as these hallowed words are recorded on the walls of civilization, it is a mere matter of minutes to call them up and have the Way be known.

We have been so haphazard and slapdash at creating house rules that there is nearly no chance of recalling them all during gameplay. And so this post is an effort to codify (in chalk) the particular rules of my table (of the moment), until they are inevitably changed again.

These are modifications to the original Fifth Edition. We have not adopted One D&D.

Experience Points

Player characters level up every time they reach 100 XP, with the exception that level 2 is reached at 50 XP. Experience points are gained as follows:

• Trivial combat or accomplishment – 0 XP
• Smallest meaningful combat or accomplishment – 5 XP
• Level-appropriate combat or accomplishment – 10 XP
• Pushing the limits combat or accomplishment – 15 XP

Experience is still gained if a combat encounter is averted by clever negotiations or trickery. It is not gained for running away or a deus ex machina rescue.

An accomplishment is something such as retrieving an item for an NPC or making an alliance that is needed for the plot.

This approach to experience works well because I always tinker with monster stat blocks anyway, and I do not need to recalculate how much experience should be gained from my custom monster. I prefer to award experience rather than use plot checkpoints to level up because players are encouraged to look for trouble and take risks in exchange for XP.

Level Up Options

If you roll a 1 when rolling for HP on a level up, you instead take a 2. This is a small mercy; you knew the risks when you opted not to take the average.

When you level up, you may exchange one cantrip you know for another on your spell list. This is in addition to other legal spell exchanges.

If you took a feat, and it turns out to be useless, you may exchange the feat one time on the next level up. It is a game after all, and it should be enjoyable.

Actions and Movement

Drinking a potion is a bonus action instead of an action. (Thank you, Baldur’s Gate 3.)

Standing up from prone uses half your movement instead of all of it.

Moving away from an opponent during combat does not invoke an opportunity attack from them. We adopted this one very recently and are still adjusting to it, but so far it seems to increase the number of viable options in combat. In general, more options means more fun. I may give certain assassin NPCs and player character rogues a reaction feature that adds opportunity attacks back in; this is a future problem as we do not currently have any rogues in the party.

Called Shots

If you say that you want to hit a specific body part to achieve a related outcome (e.g. hitting something in the eyes to blind it), and you roll a natural 20 on the attack, then you make the called shot and achieve the desired outcome. This is cool when it happens, which is infrequent, and encourages the players to be creative in combat for the 5% chance of that epic outcome.

Inspiration

Players (as well as the game master) can award inspiration to other players. It still does not stack, and only one point of inspiration can be held at a time regardless of source.

My players rarely remember to use or award inspiration, but the option to do so provides no detriment.

Magic Items

An item can be attuned as an action when you exert your will upon it instead of during a long rest (credit to XP to Level 3). The rules as written always reminded me of sleeping with a textbook under your pillow in order to study; pure nonsense.

Attuning to a magic item does not grant you full knowledge of all of its features. It does, however, allow you to use the magic item. If an attuned but unidentified magic item has more than one effect when you use it blindly, the GM rolls randomly for which effect occurs (or chooses which one makes a better narrative in the moment).

Magic items are available for sale and are generally more affordable than the 5e rules state. Typically only common and uncommon items are available for sale.

Item Type	Rarity	Example	Base Price
Consumable – Spell Scroll	Common	1st level spell	25 gp
Consumable – Spell Scroll	Uncommon	2nd level spell	50 gp
Consumable – Potion	Common	Potion of Healing	25 gp
Consumable – Potion	Uncommon	Potion of Greater Healing	100 gp
Consumable – Potion	Rare	Potion of Superior Healing	1,000 gp
Wonderous – Minor	Common	Clockwork Amulet	50 gp
Wonderous – Minor	Uncommon	Driftglobe	200 gp
Wonderous – Major	Common	Adamantine Weapon	100 gp
Wonderous – Major	Uncommon	+1 Magic Weapon	400 gp

I really enjoy having a pawn shop type store that deals in a medley of trash and treasure. It has resulted in some memorable magic trinkets, as well as some throwaway jokes that unexpectedly stuck around (who would have thought the players would blow nearly 1,000 gp on a Trunk of Rabid Loyalty?).

My current players are level 6, and they are beginning to outgrow my junk shops and +1 weapon stores. I am working to establish that more powerful items can be sought out in dangerous places, such as the lair of the evil dragon overlord.

Downtime

When you are in town for a few days between adventures, you might spend your time in one of these ways:

One-Day Activities

• Assist With Sacred Rites
• Seek A Spiritual Encounter
• Craft Something Non-Magical (1/2 selling cost)
• Craft A Healing Potion (20 gp, then 15 gp)
• Gamble (min 5 gp stake)
• Spread Rumors
• Study A Scholar’s Notes (1 gp for gifts)

Multi-Day Activities

• Curry Favor (Total Days: 5); Cost per day:
  • 5 sp for commoner
  • 1 gp for merchant/artisan
  • 5 gp for noble
• Train In Tool Or Language (Total days: 15); Cost: 5 gp per day

Each activity also requires a relevant ability check to see how successful you are at your activity. A high success might receive an additional benefit (e.g. gaining a favor from an NPC, making more money) and a failure usually comes with a penalty (e.g. irritating an NPC, learning incorrect information).

The players seem to enjoy downtime, and how they spend their time has evolved as they level up. I have found that as a storyline intensifies it becomes less natural feeling to have downtime.

Conclusion

Everything we change is to make the game more closely match our ideal of an epic fantasy adventure. We want options, we want to be heroes, and we want it to be chock full of fantastical elements.

I am always interested in learning what rule modifications other tables have tried. Please feel free to share your own house rules or link to others’.

After all, tabletop roleplaying games are where we flex our creativity and build a world together.