Pathfinder Homebrew Rules
The GM has the final word at all times. The rules are subject to change, and will be arbitrated by the GM in whatever manner is necessary to preserve balance and fun for everyone at the table, including all players and the GM. Any rule changes made will apply consistently from the time of ruling forward. Ultimate goal is to have a balanced and fun game for everyone. Please behave and play in a way to foster a fun environment.
Character Generation Rules
- Material that is allowed with amendments noted in this document (if any):
- Core Rulebook
- Advanced Player's Guide
- Advanced Race Guide (without Race Builder)
- Ultimate Magic (without Words of Power)
- Ultimate Combat
- Ultimate Equipment
- Advanced Class Guide
- Pathfinder Unchained (Classes only, other systems may be implemented by myself)
- Animal Archives
- Occult Adventures
Materials from other sources requires approval. Most Paizo material is likely to be allowed, but I would like to review other options as you are interested in them to ensure they are not disruptive to play. Thanks for your cooperation.
- If you wish to play a non-core race you must roll a d20. 1-10 you must play a core race. 11-17 you may play a featured race or a core race. 18-20 you may play an uncommon race, featured race, or core race. This die roll must be made in front of me. This is to keep players in line with predominant distribution of races in Golarion.
- You may not use age rules to increase your stats, but your character can be any age without penalty or bonus.
- Players characters may not be STUPID EVIL and any type of party subversion is discouraged. This includes intraparty violence and theft. Characters which cause problems will be retired from the group. If a player consistently causes problems with their characters, they will be asked to leave.
- Firearms do not target touch AC, but also do not have misfire chance either. If an archetype or ability would normally modify these things please discuss with me how we can modify it for usability. Only emerging firearm technology is available, but firearms and ammunition cost 10% list price as though this were a “guns everywhere setting”.
- You may only play the Unchained Summoner, the APG Summoner is not available.
- Having a spell like ability does not provide you with a caster level for any purpose other than using that spell like ability. FAQ has set this precedent.
- Everyone gets a stat array of 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11 as base to be modified by race as normal. If this is unsuitable you may use 25 points and the point buy system in the CRB, but no stat may be higher than 18 after racial adjustments. You may not sell a score below 8.
- Use the background skills rules from Pathfinder Unchained.
- Paladins, Clerics, and Inquisitors must have deities and may not be dedicated to an ideal.
- A cleric’s radiated aura is based only on parts of alignment that both cleric and deity share.
- When Paladins gain detect evil instead gain detect alignment as the Inquisitor class feature.
- All divine classes with a deific connection gain at first level a Divine Connection. This Divine Connection does not allow talking directly to their god, but the character is aware of any action or item that could adversely affect his alignment and his standing with his deity, including magical effects. He acquires this information prior to performing such an action or becoming associated with such an item, provided the character takes a moment to contemplate the situation.
- Assume average rolls for health above 1st level, you still receive max hp at 1st level (e.g. a d10HD class would receive a 6 at 2nd level and a 5 at 3rd level).
- You may use skill unlock from Pathfinder Unchained with the following changes
- You may not choose the Skill Unlocks for Bluff or Diplomacy
- Signature Skill ability now requires only a +5 (permanent not including magical) modifier in the skill as a prerequisite and can be taken multiple times by a Rogue.
- All skill Unlocks benefits are obtained at 5 ranks earlier, if you possess the Signature Skill feat or other ability to unlock them. So, unlocks benefits normally available at level 5 are now available at level 1.
- Unchained Rogue also gains the Rogue’s Edge ability at 1st level, instead of at 5th, but still receives the additional bonuses at 5th, 10th, 15th, and 20th levels. The rogue need not have a 5 modifier in a skill to select to unlock it, but does not gain the benefit until they meet the required ranks.
- Fighter’s automatically get the Combat Stamina feat from Pathfinder Unchained and full access to Combat Stamina Tricks.
- Bonuses against fear and fear effects are added to the DC to intimidate.
Equipment Rules
- Magical items are limited to items available in the rulebooks. If there is a specific combination you may ask for my approval to commission such an item to be built, or to craft it yourself. You may not have such items without approval.
- Automatic Bonus Progression Rules (Unchained) will be used. You are effectively allocated half WBL in magical encumbrance per level. Modified crafting is available, but keep gear in line with the Magical Item Encumbrances Rules as outlined here and modified as below:
- Non consumable magical items take 1 minute of concentration to attune to you before you can use them. An item can be unbonded from you after a 1 hour ritual followed by 8 hours of rest.
- Cursed items count against your encumbrance if they provide benefits and you ignore the penalties. Trying to find a cursed item that is useful to you but doesn’t inhibit you significantly is trying to find a way to game the system.
- Artifacts and Intelligent Items do count against your Magical Item Encumbrance.
- Crafting feats do not in increase your Magical Encumbrance.
- Guns in Golarion are limited to emerging firearms only, no advanced firearms are available. Burrowing bullet is modified to function like Staggering Critical, except it does not require a critical hit. A greater burrowing bullet has the duration increased to 1d4+2.
- Metamagic Rods are limited up to normal variants only and Pearls of Power are limited up to 6th level spells maximum. Using a metamagic rod does not increase the casting time for spontaneous casters. Primers of Metamagic exist that allow you to prepare spells with metamagic without possessing the relevant feat or cast spells spontaneously with the metamagic for 24 hours, however they do require the use of the spell level slot as if modified by the normal metamagic feat. The price is ⅓ that of the equivalent rod of metamagic and use is tiered like normal metamagic rods. To cast a 4th level spell with metamagic would require either a normal or Greater Primer of Metamagic.You can only benefit from one metamagic primer per day.
- You may place a special request order with a shopkeeper who can contact Absolam or another major city to commission an item’s creation on your behalf. This requires upfront payment equal to the material cost of the item.
- Please keep a list of all items you purchase with their price on a to allow for auditing of magical encumbrance.
Feat Rules
- Two Weapon Fighting, Improved Two Weapon Fighting, and Greater Two Weapon Fighting feats are now just one feat.When you meet the prerequisites for the better versions you obtain them for free. If you do not wish to utilize TWF then this can be applied to Vital Strike, Improved Vital Strike, and Greater Vital Strike. You take Vital Strike feat and receive the others for free when you meet the conditions. Alternatively,if you do not want those options you can take Power Attack as a feat and receive Furious Focus at BAB 6 and Dreadful Carnage at BAB 11. You must meet the conditions for the feats normally, but you receive them for free. You can only use one of these options, you cannot take Two Weapon Fighting and Vital strike and get all four other feats for free, you only get one set. You must meet the requirements of the feat to use it.
- Dazing Spell Metamagic, Persistent Spell, Rime Spell, and Spell Perfection feats are banned.
- For feats that have a BAB requirement, a monk may substitute their level in place of their BAB for prerequisites. For multiclass monks calculate as though Monk levels gave you full BAB, such that a Monk 5/Fighter 5 would have BAB 10 for prerequisites. You should probably just play an Unchained Monk.
- Core monk (not Unchained) may add all style feats to the bonus feat list that are available. The first feat in the tree is available at level 1, the second in the tree is available at level 6, and the third at level 10. You must have the previous style feat in the tree to take the feat, but other prerequisites may be ignored.
- Combat Expertise is removed from the prerequisites of all Combat Maneuvers feats, Gang Up, Second Chance, Swift Aid, Team Up feats and probably any other feat you may see. If you want a feat that requires Combat Expertise, ask me if I’m keeping that restriction.
- The feat Divine Grace from the Advanced Class Guide is not available
No longer relevant as of errata - Pummeling Style functions as Clustered Shots for unarmed strikes.
No longer relevant as of errata - Magic Item Crafting feats - Once the requirements are met, you may act as though you possessed the appropriate feat but the feats do not reduce the cost of items when crafting instead of purchasing. Instead the ability to craft provides you an avenue to obtain items that may not otherwise be available.
General Rules
- No autosuccess or failure. A 20 is a roll of 30, a 1 is a roll of -10.
- Divination magic Teleportation magic is blocked by 5 ft of earth, 1 ft of stone, 1 inch of metal, or a thin layer of lead. Do not try scry and fry, it will not be allowed.
- Perception, sense motive, bluff, diplomacy, disguise, and knowledge checks will all be rolled by the DM when secrecy is necessary. Please write down these bonuses for your character for me. You may take 20 on a perception check per the rules for normal take 20, but each 5 ft square takes one person 2 minutes to search (20 rounds * 6 seconds each = 2 minutes).
As a group please decide how you want to deal with social skills (choose 1):
- Bluff, diplomacy, and intimidate attempts will have DCs modified as I feel is appropriate and will not necessarily follow the tables as outlined in the CRB, some things may be impossible.
- Bluff is used to convince NPCs you believe something, not that something is true. Diplomacy is used to make deals, it does not change someone's attitude about you.
- *Diplomacy, Bluff, and Intimidate are roleplay based only. The bluff skill is replaced with Feint /Secret Message, and Intimidate is replaced with Demoralize.
- Major social interactions will be primarily adjudicated through the Social Combat Deck, minor social interaction may be performed as singular dice rolls of the appropriate skill.
- Leveling up will be awarded on a “plot basis” rather than accumulating experience.
- Sneak Attack (when valid) with spells deals damage once per target per spell., contrary to FAQ.
- Size effects do not stack (things that say “as though he were a creature one size larger”).
- Any buff or debuff will last a number of battles as follow as a general rule:
- rounds/level - at most 1 battle
- min/level - no more than 2
- 10 min/level - no more than 4 battles
- hour/level - practically all of the adventuring day, but will still depend
- I am going to attempt to use this rule set as guidelines, but may fall back to above if I find it unsatisfactory.
- The following spells have been changed:
- Simulacrum - Cannot cast spells, any other special abilities are reduced at the same rate hit dice are.
- Create Undead and Animate Dead - You are allowed one creature in combat
- Contingency -last only 24 hours
- Explosive Runes - First rune is free, each additional rune continues to use the spell slot until the rune is triggered. If runes are in proximity of one another, an explosion of one destroys and does not set off other runes.
- Blood Money - Caps at generating 1000 gp value of material components
- Breath of Life and Heal can be cast spontaneously by a cleric who can spontaneously cast cure spells. Oracles who choose to add the cure spells to their spell list add these also. Clerics who can spontaneously cast Inflict Spells can include Harm, Oracles who automatically learn Inflict spells learn Harm also.
- Unarmed strikes count as natural attacks only, and all monks receive Feral Combat training feat at level 1. Only monks may use unarmed strikes as attacks other than punches. Bipedal creatures cannot use natural attacks on their legs, except Monks.
- Spell enhanced by metamagic count as its initial spell level, or its adjusted level, whatever is worse for the caster. So things like saving throws would be based off of the initial level, but things like Pearls of Power, concentration checks, and Metamagic Rods use the adjusted level. This was my rule, prior to this FAQ.
- The bonuses to spell damage that are available from Sorcerers bloodlines applies only to spells cast using sorcerer spell slots.
- Clerics, Fighters, Paladins, and Sorcerers Any class that is not based primarily on intelligence receives at least 4+Int modifier skill points per level.
- The spell Atonement does not exist. You cannot magically alter your alignment to recover from your bad actions.
- The Gentlemen’s Agreement - I will not use Save or Die or Save or Suck effects against you as players, unless you use them against NPCs. Expect to see any tactics you use that are very effective to be used against you.
- The Gentlemen’s Agreement Part Two- Play nicely with others. If I think your character is single handedly dominating the game/table time, or causing significant disruption to other players, or to me as a GM I will ask you nicely to modify your character so that isn’t a problem. That can range from removing certain specific parts, all the way to completely new character if the offending portion is the overall build of the character. Exactly how much you rebuild is left to you, but please understand that if it becomes necessary for me to ask you to change continuing down the same path will not be accepted and will likely result in your being asked to leave the group.
- The Gentlemen’s Agreement Part Three - Having dealt with the Misfortune hex recently both as a GM and as a fellow player and seeing the effect it has on the table...well it’s not fun. They’re incredibly effective abilities that completely shut down enemies and when combined with other abilities, can be made to work on anything that isn’t outright immune (most of the time). So please don’t choose these hexes.
I am predisposed to the more restrictive interpretation of rules. If you think some combination or power is unclear on how it functions or interacts with something else ask me, but you should expect that I will most likely use the most restrictive interpretation possible unless good evidence for the opposite position can be provided.