What kind of rule changes have you folks tried at your tables, and how have they worked out for your games? Good? Bad?
Two of the houserules I implement for every campaign I run:
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No multiclassing until after 5th level, and no further multiclassing unless you have at least 5 levels in all your existing classes. I do this for two reasons, the first being to ensure that every character has access to extra attack/third level spells and slots/some other equivalent before they start dipping elsewhere, and to keep the munchkins at my table from taking multiple 1-3 level dips into classes just to set up a niche wombo combo. Even then, I’m pretty stringent on what I’ll allow from a storytelling perspective - I want to know what motivates your Paladin to dip into Warlock besides getting to use CHA for attack and damage modifiers.
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Instead of an ASI or a Feat, every ASI level gives a +1 and a feat. My players and I like this rule because it allows them to pick something fun at those levels instead of feeling obligated to dump straight into the primary stat, and encourages grabbing those fun half-feats like Actor or Linguist that would otherwise go by the wayside.
1d10 or 1d12 for initiative rolls, decided at start of campaign. If you somehow have a +10 init, you should never be in the 50th percentile. Initiative overall is too volatile and random on the d20 range. Tie breaker is Dex score value, followed by Wis>Int>Cha then if it’s still a tie roll for it. Ambushes mechanics exist and modify base initiative also; a situational +/-1 because the sun is in their eyes or whatever becomes important and rewards good planning and execution.
Delayed and prepared actions define a logical trigger instead of requiring a reaction. Anything - movement, bonus action, even reactions - can be delayed. Can spend your reaction to either trigger the action early, or cancel it and prevent it from activating. The logic is strict flowchart logic and you are severely limited in how complex it can be/how many triggers can happen based on the action/situation/etc.
Rolled stats are EITHER 3d6*8 choose 6; OR 4d6 drop lowest rolled in a predefined order. You can already break the game 1000 ways with point buy, get good just let people roll. Random stats tend to breed better player creativity anyways. They’re so bad they need to be played creatively; or they’re so strong the character build gets to be fancy and unique.
Personally, I forgo rolling altogether because the requests to roll stats tend to come from the players who want to minmax, and I allow plenty enough of that with the feat rule I described above.
If you have a table that absolutely insists on rolling, have them roll together and use the same array for every player, then nobody but the DM can complain about someone’s character being OP lol.
True, I strongly agree that most players should avoid rolled stats like the plague. High power level campaigns are not for the feint of heart. They are extremely difficult to play, let alone DM. Designing an encounter to go head to head with the party’s builds is not an easy task, despite the DM having virtually unlimited power regarding the game rules. Both the players and the DM must have an extremely high understanding of the rules being abused. But at the end of the day; when everything becomes overpowered, nothing is.
