House Rules

The Cantara Player's Compendium    5e Player's Handbook      House Rules

Variant Rules

Listed here are the optional rules provided in official sourcebooks that are being used in play.

Feats^PHB

A feat represents a Talent or an area of Expertise that gives a character spe⁠cial capabilities. It embodies Training, experience, and abilities beyond what a class provides.

At certain levels, your class gives you the Ability Score Improvement feature. Using the optional feats rule, you can forgo taking that feature to take a feat of your choice instead. You can take each feat only once, unless the feat’s description says otherwise.

You must meet any prerequisite specified in a feat to take that feat. If you ever lose a feat’s prerequisite, you can’t use that feat until you regain the prerequisite. For example, the Grappler feat requires you to have a Strength of 13 or higher. If your Strength is reduced below 13 somehow—perhaps by a withering curse—you can’t benefit from the Grappler feat until your Strength is restored.

The DM may also apply further restrictions to your choice of Feat based on your character. Feats should line up with and highlight a character's training, abilities, and talents. If you wish to take a Feat that is outside of your character's ability, the DM may allow you earn it by dedicating prerequisite amount of downtime to study and training. This training could happen leading up to the level where you take the feat, or you could take the Feat and be unable to use ituntil your training is complete.

Tool Proficiencies^XGtE

Per the Tool Proficiencies optional rules from Xanathar's Guide to Everything, a player character can use their tool proficiencies to gain additional benefits when making skill checks. For instance a player can use a set of tools they are proficient in to give themselves advantage on a skill check. That player may also gain additional benefits from rolling a success with the check than they would have if they weren't proficient in those tools.

Additional uses and benefits players can get from taking advantage of tool proficiencies are detailed in the Tools section of this compendium.

Tying Knots^XGtE

The rules are purposely open-ended concerning mundane tasks like tying knots, but sometimes knowing how well a knot was fashioned is important in a dramatic scene when someone is trying to untie a knot or slip out of one. Here’s an optional rule for determining the effectiveness of a knot.

The creature who ties the knot makes an Intelligence(Sleight of Hand) check when doing so. The total of the check becomes the DC for an attempt to untie the knot with an Intelligence (Sleight of Hand) check or to slip out of it with a Dexterity (Acrobatics) check.

Sleeping in Armor^XGtE

Sleeping in light armor has no adverse effect on the wearer, but sleeping in medium or heavy armor makes it difficult to recover fully during a long rest. When you finish a long rest during which you slept in medium or heavy armor, you regain only one quarter of your spent Hit Dice (minimum of one die). If you have any levels of exhaustion, the rest doesn’t reduce your exhaustion level.

House Rules

Listed below are new rules or altered rules that are in play.

Critical Hits

Instead of a player or NPC rolling double dice + modifier for critical hits, they instead roll damage regularly and add the maximum die roll to that as well.

Examples

• 2d12 +4 for a crit becomes 1d12 + 12 + 4
• 4d8 + 6 for a crit becomes 2d8 + 16 + 6

Opportunity Attacks

In addition to the base opportunity attack rules, the following actions also provoke an attack of opportunity to foes within a creature's reach:

• Standing from prone
• Picking up an item

Flanking

When a creature and at least one of its allies are adjacent to an enemy and on opposite sides or corners of the enemy’s space, they flank that enemy, and each of them adds +2 to melee attack rolls against that enemy.

Some creatures can be immune to flanking due to special abilities and characteristics. Creatures with tremorsense or blindsight are immune to flanking, as are creatures that have the ability to see in multiple directions at once.

High Ground

When a creature makes a ranged attack against another creature while standing on terrain that is higher than their target is tall, the higher creature has a high ground advantage and adds a +2 to the attack roll.

Unearthed Arcana Exhaustion Rules

This system replaces the 5th Edition exhaustion rules with the rules introduced in the OneDND playtest. Under these rules, while a character suffers from the Exhausted condition, they have -1 modifier to all attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws, as well as their spell save DC. Each consecutive level of exhaustion gained adds an additional -1 to this effect, up to 10 levels of exhaustion. If a character accumulates 10 levels of exhaustion, they die.

Exhaustion Level	Modifier
1	-1
2	-2
3	-3
4	-4
5	-5
6	-6
7	-7
8	-8
9	-9
10	Death

Going Without Food/Water/Sleep

If a character goes 24 hours without food, water, or sleep, then they risk becoming exhausted. Any exhaustion gained this way can't be removed until the character consumes a days worth of the missing food or water.

Food

If a character goes 24 hours without eating a ration of food, then they must succeed a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or gain one level of exhaustion. The DC increases by 5 for every consecutive day gone without eating a full ration. If a character only consumes a half-ration in a day, the DC of the saving throw is reduced by 5.

Water

If a character goes 24 hours without drinking a ration of water, they gain a level of exhaustion. Every consecutive day that the character goes without a ration of water, they instead gain 2 levels of exhaustion.^RAW

A character can choose to drink a half-ration of water and instead make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw, reducing the levels of exhaustion received by 1 on a success.

Sleep^XGtE

Whenever you end a 24-hour period without finishing a long rest, you must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or suffer one level of exhaustion.

It becomes harder to fight off exhaustion if you stay awake for multiple days. After the first 24 hours, the DC increases by 5 for each consecutive 24-hour period without a long rest. The DC resets to 10 when you finish a long rest.

Long Rest Adjustments

• When taking a long rest, a player character must consume one ration worth of food and one waterskin worth of water to benefit from the full effects of the rest. This represents the food and water consumed throughout the day by that character. If a player character takes a long rest without being able to fulfil the food and water requirement, they don't restore any missing hit-dice.
  This food requirement can be fulfilled by any source of food that is roughly equivalent and consumed during that day. If a player character has a meal at a tavern for example, that can fulfill that day's requirement. While traveling in the wilderness, a character proficient in the Survival skill could make a WIS (Survival) check (DC determined by the DM based on the environment) to hunt or forage for enough food and water to fulfill this requirement.
• A long rest restores all hit-dice, not just half.
• If you've rested for at least an hour but don't complete the long rest, you still get the benefits of a short rest.
• If a long rest is interrupted, you must rest for an additional hour over the required time in order to benefit from the rest, instead of having to start the rest period over.

Restricted Spells

In the Cantara Isles, some forms of magic are much rarer and more dangerous than in other settings. Chiefly among them are inter-planer travel and resurrection.

The following spells are either banned from being learned or have restrictions placed on their use. Any spells that are banned may not be learned from your class, but it may still be possible to gain access to the spell within the world.

Any spells that are restricted will be marked with the ^R symbol in the lists of spells.

• Astral Projection: Banned
• Dream of the Blue Veil: Banned
• Etherealness: Banned
• Gate: Banned
• Plane Shift: Banned
• Raise Dead: Subject to the Resurrection house rules
• Reincarnate: Subject to the Resurrection house rules
• Resurrection: Banned, subject to the Resurrection house rules
• True Resurrection: Banned, subject to the Resurrection house rules
• Wish: After being cast, wish is forgotten by the caster, who must then gain access to another wish spell to cast it again.

Resurrection

In Cantara, bringing people back from the dead is generally frowned upon, and can be dangerous. The more time passes after someone dies, the more the spirit's bond with the body wanes, making the task more difficult and crude.

When a raise dead or higher level resurrection spell is cast, the DM will roll to see if the subsequent rending of the natural weave between the Spirit Realm and Material Plane has any consequences. The more time that has passed since death, the greater the potential side effects. The gentle repose spell does pause time for this roll.

Elapsed Time	Severity of Side-Effects
Less Than One Day	Trivial
One to Ten Days	Potentially dangerous
Ten Days to One Year	Dangerous to the local area, potentially life threatening
One to Ten Years	Serious lasting consequences
More than Ten Years	Potentially disasterous

Spell Scroll Requirements

Any character with the Spellcasting or Pact Magic feature can attempt to cast a spell scroll, regardless of the spell's class requirements. All other requirements to cast the spell scroll are unchanged.

To cast a spell that is not on your class's spell list, you must make an ability check using your spellcasting ability to determine whether you cast it successfully. The DC equals 10 + the spell's level. On a failed check, the spell disappears from the scroll with no other effect.

Passing Objects

During play, a character may want to pass an item in their possession to another character, either by handing it off or by tossing it. The object must be something the characters can wield in one or two hands.

On their turn, a character can use their object interaction to pass an object that they are holding to a character within 5 feet of them, allowing the reciever to use their reaction to take the object. If the item is on their person but they aren't holding it, then the passer must use their action to pass the object. Alternatively, a character can use their interaction to take an object from a willing creature.

A character can make a ranged improvised weapon attack to toss an object to a character up to 60 feet away, allowing the receiving character to use their reaction to catch it. If there is nothing to hinder a creature from making the toss (obstacles in the path, hostile creatures within 5 feet of the thrower), then no roll is necessary to successfully pass the object. If the reciever chooses not to catch the object, it instead lands within the space they occupy.

• If there are obstacles in the path of the throw, such as a creature, a bookcase, webbing, or a swinging pendulum, the DC of the attack roll is 10. On a failure, the object is stopped by the obstacle and lands in its space. If there are multiple obstacles in the path, or obstacles that make the throw particularly challenging, the DM may choose to increase the DC for a success.
• Any creature in the path of the tossed object can attempt to intercept it. To do so they must use their reaction to make a contested Dexterity check against the thrower's attack roll, catching the object on a success.

Traps

When a suitable trap is activated by a player the DM will say “Click” (or another obvious onomatopoeia), after which the next thing the player (or any players that may be affected) says determines how they react to the trap. Depending on how the player reacts determines the saving throw they try to make. If they don’t react well, the DC might go up or they might make the determined roll with disadvantage. But if they react well, then the DC might go down or they might get advantage on the roll. This also gives the players the chance to try to rely on abilities they are better at to make the save, such as using a Strength save to deflect a trap instead of using a Dex save to try to dodge it.
Example 1:

Player: I cautiously walk through the corridor, ready for whatever comes.

DM: When you make it halfway down the corridor, you feel a tile beneath your feet sink and hear a Click.

Player: I raise my shield above my head!!

DM: A large stone falls from the ceiling above you, make a Strength saving throw with advantage!

Example 2:

Player: I make my way through the woods, battleaxe at the ready.

DM: The night is quiet and a low fog lingers about you, you step carefully until you nearly trip over something. To your right, there’s a Click.

Player: Really? There’s a trap here?

DM: As you ponder, a crossbow bolt flies at you. Make a Dex save with disadvantage.

Example 3:

Player: I kneel before the chest and carefully open the lid.

DM: The lid cracks open, and as you start to glimpse the treasure inside. You feel a Click as a mechanism is triggered in the lid.

Player: I hold my breath!

DM: Good thinking! But instead of noxious gas, flames burst from the chest. Roll a Dex save!

Swimming in Armor

Rulings

Listed below are rulings on how certain rules as written are interpreted in play.

Equipping Weapons and Items

These rules assume that a character's primary weapons are easily accessible on their person, such as a sword sheathed on a belt, or a bow slung over their back.

• A character may utilize their object interaction to either draw or put away a weapon.
• Equipping or doffing a shield still requires a full action per the Player's Handbook.
• Any item, including a weapon or shield, can be dropped on the ground for free.
• A character may draw a melee weapon as part of the Attack action to attack with it, much like how drawing an arrow is included in making an attack with a bow.
• Taking an item out of a character's pack is a part of the Use an Object action (pulling out a potion to drink, unlooping a grappling hook to throw).

Charisma Checks in Initiative

A creature must use their action to attempt to influence another creature.

This includes using a CHA (Intimidation) check to attempt to get an enemy to flee, a CHA (Performance) check to draw a foe's attention away from a vulnerable ally, a WIS (Animal Handling) check to sooth an angry beast, or anything that similarily attempts to alter a creature's behavior.

Exploring Dungeons

Dungeon-like environments are typically dark, claustrophobic, and hostile places that requir caution, wits, diligence, cunning, and care to navigate. Listed below are the clear expectations on how this works in game.

• The players are responsible for driving the game forward during exploration, narrating their movements, actions, and intentions. It is up to them to narrate what they are doing/want to do, including changing their marching order or pace, searching a specific area for something (traps, loot, secrets, hidden foes), investigating something, hiding, or any other action.
• The players set the marching order, determining who is in the lead and the positions of each member after. The leader sets the pace, moving through the dungeon in intervals of 30 feet before letting the others follow suit (in fiction everyone is moving together simultaneously). The players can alter the marching order at any time.
  Unlike in initiative, these intervals DO NOT represent 6 seconds of in-game time. Instead, it is by default assumed that the characters are taking their time, being alert, cautious of their surroundings, and ready for danger. Your Passive Perception reflects this alert exploration.
• The leader's passive perception is the only one used to detect anything ahead, unless someone else is moving beside them.
• At this standard pace, it takes roughly 10 minutes to explore a room, unless it is particularly big or the party decides to linger for longer. If the party decides to rush, then each room takes roughly 1 minute but the party suffers a -5 penalty to Passive Perception.

Elemental Spell Effects

This is a set of guidelines for adjudicating the effects of certain spells that would intuitively have a natural reaction with the environment or other triggers, such as fire interacting with flammable objects or electricity hitting water. These are up to the DMs discretion. If there's any doubt, a spell does exactly what it says in the description and nothing more.

• Cantrips should generally behave exactly as written. Leveled spells are more potent and expend resources, therefor they can more reasonably have cascading effects in the environment.
• The grease created by the grease spell is flammable.
• Fire: Damaging fire effects should behave per the descriptions in spells like firebolt and fireball, "A flammable object hit by this spell ignites if it isn’t being worn or carried." These spells can reasonably increase the temperature of an object, in correlation with the power of the spell. For instance: a firebolt could leave a doorknob warm to the touch, while scorching ray could make it hot enough to harm someone who grabs it.
• Cold: Spells that deal cold damage such as ray of frost or cone of cold should reasonably reduce the temperature of their target. The drop in temperature should correlate with the power of the spell, for instance: frostbite should not cool down a red-hot bar of steel as much as Snilloc's snowball swarm.
• Lightning: Lightning effects are ripe for abuse, and as such should err towards being restricted to the explicit wording of the spell. They also can benefit from exciting utility in certain circumstances to set them apart and reward creativity. For example shocking grasp could be cast on someone through a metal object, so long as the spell doesn't travel more than 5 feet through that object (through a metal door, for instance). A lightning bolt cast at a pool of water could diffuse along the surface in a 20 foot radius circle, affecting all creatures in contact with the surface of the water. In general, lightning effects should not affect someone in contact with an affected creature, unless it is specified in the spell (a horse would not be affected by a witch bolt that was cast on its rider, for instance).
• Acid: Acid spells should generally work as described in the spell description, but could be used to have small helpful effects at the DM's discretion. For instance, an acid spell could be used to remove rust from an old lock, or strip a coating from an item.
• Thunder: Small and fragile items that are in range of a damaging thunder effect and not being worn or carried should be pushed away, knocked over, or break as appropriate.
• Underwater spellcasting should generally behave rules-as-written, otherwise things quickly get out of control. It's reasonable to explain that spells behave this way because "it's magic".
  1. While underwater, a creature has disadvantage when making attack rolls with spells that deal acid, cold, and fire damage, and a creature has advantage on saving throws against these spells.
  2. While underwater, a creature has advantage when making attack rolls with spells that deal thunder and lightning damage, and a creature has disadvantage on saving throws against these spells.