Some of these are modifications of the outstanding rules set forth in DM Yourself, but adjusted to my style of play.
1—- Using a potion only takes a bonus action rather than a full action (administering a potion to another character still takes a full action).
2—- Two short rests per Long Rest.
3—- In a long rest, one ration is consumed and the character regains all hit die expended for healing, and all other long rest triggered abilities are recharged. The character also regains all lost hit points up to their current maximum.
4—- In a short rest, short rest abilities recharge. If one use of a Healers Kit is used, or a character passes a DC10 Medicine check treating the injured party, a character may expend any number of unused hit die to regain lost hit points.
5—- When travelling roll three times per day on the appropriate terrain table. One for morning, afternoon and evening encounters. There is roughly a 25% chance of an encounter in each time slot based on my encounter tables. At night, if the party makes a to find a safe place to rest – DC 10/15/20 for safe, normal, or dangerous territory respectively. If they pass the test, they won’t have an encounter during the night; if they fail the roll, then the random encounter table is rolled.
6 (simplified) If a hero is dropped to 0 hit points, and survives by virtue of rolling a natural 20 on a death save, the character is revived with one hit point and may act as normal (they were simply dazed or something).
If the character is revived by either making three death saves, none of which were natural 20’s, the DC 10 use of a healer’s kit, or a “spare the dying” type spell, the character is revived with one hit point but is Severely Injured.
Severely Injured characters suffer the following penalties :
a. disadvantage on Attack and Skill rolls,
b. maximum movement speed is halved,
c. maximum hit points are halved
The next day, roll to see if the character will recover, this DC 10 test will be made using the character’s Constitution Saving throw. A second roll may be made by a Wisdom (Medicine) roll by anyone treating the character and using one charge from a healer’s kit (or equivalent resource).
a. If only the Constitution Save is passed: The character will recover in 3d6-(con modifier) days, but will roll to check for a permanent injury unless treated with a lesser Restoration spell or greater.
b. If only the Medicine Save is passed: The character will recover in 3d6-(con modifier) days, but will roll to check for a permanent injury unless treated with a lesser Restoration spell or greater.
c. If both rolls are passed: The character will recover in 3d6-(con modifier) days, and will not suffer any permanent injuries
d. If both rolls are failed: The character will die in d4 days unless life saving magic (Rebuke Death, Raise Dead, or Resurrection) are used. If such magic is applied, then the character must roll for a permanent injury unless treated with a lesser Restoration spell or greater.
To test for Lingering Injury, the character must pass a DC 10 Con Save or will suffer a lingering injury.
7.–Where’s the Grenade? Consumable items for party use are not tracked by individual party member. If a party member needs it, and is within “toss it here” distance of other party members, that party member is assumed to have it. This rule is inspired by Nuts! by Two Hour Wargames.
8.–The Weave is my Weapon-Damage dealing Cantrips get a damage bonus equal to their caster’s casting ability score modifier. As a light weapon receives from dexterity or a strength based weapon gets from strength. Otherwise, a dagger or crossbow is going to be preferable to a Cantrip because of the more consistent damage at low levels.
9.–An Arcane Caster starts play with 6 spells in their book, and gains 2 spells of their choice at each level, as normal. In order to learn additional spells, the caster must find a copy of the spell, and pass an Intelligence (Arcane) test DC 10+ Spell level to add it to their repertoire.
10.–Touch spells may be delivered through a bone or wooden wand, club or quarterstaff. The attack roll of the weapon is combined with any necessary to-hit roll for the spell, and both damage sources apply.
11.–Intelligence matters. A character may select one additional language, or an additional tool proficiency per bonus point of intelligence.
12.–Identifying magical objects. One can either cast Identify, or one can study the object with a Intelligence (Arcane) role. DC 10 for Common, DC 15 for Uncommon, DC 20 for Rare, DC 25 for Very Rare, DC 30 for Legendary. To determine command words, the next higher target is needed (or the Identify Spell). Studying a magic item takes one hour of research for a permament artifact, or one minute for a potion.
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