The 4th edition of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D;) was released in 2008. Since then, Wizards of the Coast (WotC) has printed thousands of pages of rules and hundreds of pages of errata. Despite this plethora of rules, many players find parts of the rules lacking and create house rules to augment their game. Some house rules exist only in one game in the world, while others are quite common. The following are some of the most common house rules for 4th edition D&D.;
Free Feats – Despite years of development, the mathematical models for the game aren’t perfect. This shows up at all levels, but particularly at epic levels of the game. As a partial solution to this problem, WotC printed various feats that “fix” the math of the game. Many DMs consider it unreasonable that players have to spend precious feat slots taking feats that fix a problem with the rules. As such, these DMs let their players take one Expertise feat, three non-AC defense boosting feats, and Melee Training for free. An alternate, but similar approach to giving free feats is for a DM to dictate that players get a +1 feat bonus to all attacks and non-AC defenses per tier and can use any attribute to determine the attack value of melee attacks.
Fixed Enhancement Bonus – This house rule is similar to the previous one. This house rule gives characters a +1 enhancement bonus to all attacks and defenses per every five character levels. The purpose of this rule is to de-emphasize magic items. Most DMs that use this rule use the chart on page 209 in the Dark Sun Campaign Setting, though others decide to give the bonuses at different levels than suggested in that book. Either way, this house rule is nearly critical for any game with less than the suggested number of magic items.
Ranged Attack Rules – 4th edition D&D; uses rather simple rules for ranged attacks. While simplicity helps speed up the game, some players prefer more realistic or gritty rules. Often considered a throwback to earlier editions, many DMs house rule that allies provide cover for ranged attacks and that ranged attacks take an additional penalty when firing at a target engaged in melee. If these house rules are introduced, it is common for the DM to also introduce feats to negate them. For the most part, only old-school players use these house rules.
Realism Rules – Speaking of old school players, there are a group of players who prefer rules to be as realistic as possible. For these players, knocking an ooze prone, injuring a red dragon with a fireball, or stunning a golem seems unreasonable. Strictly realistic rules are rarely spelled out. Instead, whenever a situation would be realistic, the DM usually just rules that it doesn’t happen that way. Assuming all players and the DM agree in principal to such a house rule, the game usually runs fine, if very different from a D&D; game without this house rule.
NPC / PC Transparency – The ultimate realism rule is one where all NPCs are built using exactly the same rules as PCs. This means that all NPCs have a class or maybe the DM creates new classes for NPCs like Merchant or Peasant. Because NPCs follow the same rules as PCs, they tend to have fewer hit points, deal much higher damage, and have access to powerful daily abilities and more healing. This creates a much grittier game and can severely affect game balance, but it is popular among players who feel that the game should be as close to a reality simulator as possible.
Tough Minions – The rules for minions are rather simple. Minions only take damage from attacks that hit, only have one hit point, and always deal static damage. At low levels, minions work well and create the feel of fighting multiple enemies without completely overpowering the PCs. At higher levels, minions don’t work as well. Tough minions are a solution to that problem. Versions of tough minions that exist are minions that take two hits to kill (bloodying after the first hit), minions that have damage resistance, or minions that can’t be killed by attacks without attack rolls. These rules can even be combined to make even tougher minions.
Mooks – Continuing on the idea of tough minions, mooks are a step between minions and regular enemies. Mooks are similar to regular enemies in that they deal variable damage and have a meaningful hit point total. Mooks are usually built by taking a normal enemy and removing all attacks other than basic attacks. Additionally, mooks either have half the hit points of normal enemies or automatically surrender, retreat, or die when bloodied. Mooks are designed to allow DMs to increase the number of enemies in an encounter slightly, without overwhelming the PCs.
Hex Grid – One of the biggest criticisms of 4th edition D&D; is that movement rules defies physics. Because moving diagonally between squares is the same as moving orthogonally, actual distance moved can differ based on routes taken. One solution to this is to use a hex grid. On a hex grid, movement is normalized. In order to use a hex grid, blasts have to be converted to cones, but other than that, the rules pretty much don’t change. There are downsides to this house rule, including the fact that the pre-painted minis that exist for the game don’t fit well on a hex grid, but those downsides can be overcome and the rule is popular in some quarters.
