5e Rules
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Variant Rules
Downtime Activities
- Animal Training
- Artwork
- Automaton Crafting
- Birthday
- Chaos Mutation/Gifts of the Dark Gods
- Chemistry
- Combat Styles
- Cooking
- Crafting an Item Competently
- Creating A Permanent Spell Effect
- Disenchanting a Magic Item
- Downtime Activity Proficiencies
- Drinking
- Drinking, Variant
- Learning a Feat
- Level Advancement
- Making Contacts
- Minor Alchemy
- Personal Truename Research
- Philanthropy
- Raising a Family
- Rushed Magical Item Crafting
- Simple Exhaustion
- Skill Advancement
- Spell Research
- Trading Cards
- Traveling
- Weapons & Armor Revised
Supplemental Combat Actions
- Action Points
- Action Weapon
- All Cast
- All Out Attack
- All Out Attacks
- Called Shots
- Chaos Mutation/Gifts of the Dark Gods
- Combat Stamina
- Combat Styles
- Delay
- Drop Prone
- Empowered Cantrips and Simplified Spells
- End Rightly
- Entangle
- Flanking
- Improvised Spellcasting
- Jump Action
- Kiss of Death
- Moving on Another Creature's Turn
- Object Interactions Repealed
- Precision Attacks
- Reckless Strike
- Resonance
- Revised Two-Weapon Fighting
- Roll With a Punch
- Shield Bashing
- Slightly Better Disarming
- Swallow Whole Variant
- Weapons & Armor Revised
Weapon Properties
- Alt-Fire
- Armor Piercing
- Brace
- Charging
- Convertible
- Destructive
- Dire
- Disarming
- Dismounting
- Double Weapon
- Expensive
- Firearms
- Focus
- Glove
- Hidden
- Hindrance
- Knockout
- Massive
- Noisy
- Overheating
- Oversized
- Powered
- Returning
- Speed Weapon
- Splash
- Spooled
- Stabilizing
- Trick Weapons
- Unassuming
- Undersized
- Unwieldy
Skills
- Beastly Knowledge
- Combined Skill Checks
- Engineering
- Intelligence (Communications)
- Intelligence (Culture)
- Intelligence (Science)
- Intelligence (Warcraft)
- Inventor
- Lore
- Material
- Sanity (Bravery)
- Sanity (Humanity)
- Wilderness
- Wisdom (Dreaming)
Conditions
- Additional Conditions
- Additional Status Conditions
- Additional Status Conditions, Variant
- Bleeding, Variant
- Chilled and Shocked Conditions
- Exposed
- Flanked
- Grabbed
- Ignited
- Indefinite Madness Table Expanded
- Mounted
- Off-Guard and Helpless Conditions
- Poisoned Condition, Variant
- Size Conditions
- Slowed
- Soaked
- Stinky
- Stuffed
- Tethered
- Weakened Condition
- Wounded Condition
Supplemental Variant Rules
A supplemental variant rule can be implemented into a campaign with little or no change in the core dynamics. These rules cover an area that the core rules do not cover or do not cover well.
- Ability DC
- Aced Critical
- Additional Creature Properties
- Additional Ritual Spells
- Additional Spell Properties
- All Spells Upcast
- Areas
- Armor Modifications
- Balanced Rolling for Hit Points
- Balanced Stats
- Becoming a Lich
- Beholder Dreams
- Bleed
- Blood Damage
- Body Type
- Butchery
- Cannon Fodder
- Catch
- Combination Weapons
- Combined Skill Checks
- Competitive Games
- Concise Weapons
- Constructing Siege Engines
- CR for Simple Traps
- Creatures CR 50+
- Critical Hit Tables
- Critical Hit Variant
- Cross-Class Subclasses
- Currency Exchange
- Custom Weapon Design
- Cyborg traits
- D8 Random Dungeon
- Damage Type Groups
- Dire Diseases
- Domain Skill
- Dragon Lycanthropy
- Drugs and Medicines
- Dungeon Location Investigation
- Elder Blessings
- Eldritch Knight, Variant Spell List
- Environmental Spell Component
- Epic Levels, Ascension, Godhood, and Divine Rank
- Epic Magic (10th+ Level Magic)
- Epic Strength
- Ethnic Weapons
- Everyday spell caster
- Expanded 5e Wild Magic Table
- Expanded Interactions
- Expanded Rules for Objects and Constructs
- Extreme Damage Resistance
- Falling Damage for Non-Medium Creatures
- Fantasy Firearms
- Feats with Stricter Requirements
- Flexible Ability Score Increase
- Flying Vehicles
- Food and Rest Rules
- Forbidden Spells
- User:Frenzy099
- Fundamental Spellcasting
- Further Beyond
- Glancing Blow
- Glide Speed
- Gloves For Non-Hands Appendages
- Gravity Variations
- Hag Curses
- High Strength with Thrown Weapons
- High-Speed Vehicle Collissions
- Huge Player Characters
- Improvised Weapons
- In Motion
- Inspirational Background
- Invisibility Detection
- Item Handoff
- Jumping Speed
- Language Throws
- Large Player Characters
- Level 40 Expansion
- Level Zero
- Levels of Insanity
- Luck
- Magic Density
- Magical Cookery
- Major Threat Weapons
- Major Threat Weapons Legacy
- Mana
- Mana, 2nd Variant
- Maneuvers for Everyone!
- Master-Worked Items
- Mercy
- Microtransactions
- Modular Spell Upcasting
- Morale and Stress
- More Actions
- More Rewarding Spells
- More Unusual Dice
- More Useful Intelligence
- Movement of Fish-like Creatures while on Land
- Movement Under Sail
- Multi-Player Characters
- Multi-Weapon Fighting
- Multiple Characters
- Multisubclass
- Mythic Monsters
- Nonlethal Damage
- Overexertion
- Oversized Weapons List
- Pact Magic Variants
- Partial Armor
- Past Level 20
- Past Level 20 Sidekicks Variant
- Permanent Potions
- Player Characters as Half-Dragons
- Polymorph Fatigue
- Power Behind the Throne
- Prayers
- Pregnancy
- Prestige Class Caps
- Prestige Leveling System
- Primitive Weapons
- Quadruped Races
- Quirks, Strengths, and Weaknesses
- Racial Templates For Player Characters
- Radiation
- Random Magic Item Generation
- Rare Monsters for Random Encounters
- Rare Weapon
- Redundant Features
- Regeneration
- Revised Psychic Blades
- Rolling-for-Abilities-in-Order But Balanced
- Rubber Forehead Alien
- Ruination of Planes
- Runic Enhancement
- Scaling Attunement Slots
- Shield Bonus
- Ship Combat
- Siege Equipment Costs
- Siege Magic
- Silver Standard
- Size Categories Higher Than Gargantuan
- Sizes Other Than Medium
- Skill Weakness
- Soulbound
- Special Martial Moves
- Spell Balancing, Variant
- Spell Subtypes
- Start With Weapon Proficiency
- Sub-Critical
- Superior Resistance
- System Shock
- System Shock: A Hard Limit to Lives
- Tables (Forgotten Lands Supplement)
- Tattoos
- Thermal Vision
- Thin Armor
- Three-Quarters Spellcaster
- Tiny Player Characters
- Unarmed Strike
- Underwater Combat
- Unfluent Thu'um : Wild Magic Surge Table Variant
- Unique Item Rarity
- Variant Rules (Forgotten Lands Supplement)
- Warzone Mechanics
- Water Damage
- Weapon Modifications
- Wild Magic Surge Table, Variant
- Wind Damage
- ½ Level Spells
Transformational Variant Rules
A transformational variant rule, when implemented into a campaign, will change the core dynamics. These rules change the core rules to make them more playable or more realistic while staying within the d20 framework.
- Ability Score Rolling Redux
- AC Overhaul
- Adaptive Experience
- Advanced Injury System
- Afterlife
- Alternative Armor Table
- Ark-Like Mounts
- Armor and Damage Redux
- Armor Class as Dodge and Toughness Class
- Armor Revisited
- Bearable Sunlight Sensitivity
- Bleeding
- Character Advancement XP Revisited
- Combat Realism - Being Outnumbered
- Combat Realism - Combat Tactics Options
- Combat Realism - Defense and Armor Options
- Combat Realism - General Combat Considerations
- Combat Realism - Hit Point recovery
- Combat Realism - Hit Points scaling
- Combat Realism - Weapons and Armor
- Compact Classes
- Complex Death
- Condensed Ability Scores
- Cover and Flanking
- Cross-Class Subclasses, Remake Edition
- Damage Reduction
- Deadly Falls
- Devil Fruits
- Dexterity Modifier Replacement Options
- Dire Survival Rules
- Downtime Counting
- Economic Overhaul
- Elaborate Weapon Design
- Enhanced Existence Take Initiative Overhaul
- Enhanced Existence Truly Mortal Overhaul
- Enhanced Point Buy
- Equalized Death Saving Throws
- Experience Tokens
- Extra Action
- Fair Critical Hits
- Fear-Based Magic
- Five Elements
- Fragile Weapons
- Fully Customizable Backgrounds
- Fusion
- Gestalt
- Gestalt Characters
- Heroic Leveling
- Hindered
- Hitpoint Rework
- Hours
- Improved Class Features
- Individual Speed
- Individual Speed, 2nd Variant
- Intelligence Improved
- Intuitive Spellcasting
- Karma
- Knockback
- Level 20 Reborn!
- Level Adjustment
- Limb System
- Long Rests are Downtime
- Low Magic Spellcasting Progressions
- Low Magic System
- Luck as an Ability Score
- Lycanthrope Overhaul
- Manpower
- Martial Maneuvers
- Modular Subclasses
- More Realistic Ability Score Use
- Multi-spell Concentration
- Multi-type Damage Weapons Variant
- Negative Hit Points
- Nuanced Spell Point Costs
- Pikmin Farming
- Player Customizable Variant Races
- Player Race Rebalance
- Point Buy, But Better!
- Pointed Exhaustion
- Proficiency Training
- Prolonged Death Saving Throws
- Realistic Healing
- Rebalanced Magic
- Recovery Hearts
- Resting
- Revised Chance to Hit/Armor Class
- Revised Resting and Recovery
- Scaling AC
- Scaling Spells
- Scar
- Scent
- Sharpness
- Simple Inventory
- Simplified Weapon Design
- Simplifying D&D 5e for Beginners
- Skill Ranks
- Skill Wheelhouse
- Sleep
- Soft AC
- Spell Slots, 2nd Variant
- Spell Slots, Variant
- Stacking Advantage
- Stacking Proficiency
- Stat Boosts and Flaws
- Stress, Darkest Dungeon
- Subclasses at Level 1
- Super SMASH BROTHERS!!!!!!
- Switch-Style Characters
- Temperamental Magic
- Tiered Weapon Weight
- Unity spell casting
- Unusual Dice
- Useful Materials
- Variant Individual Speed
- Versatile Unarmed Strike
- Weaker Smaller Creatures
- Wisdom Based Shooting
- XP from Gold
- XP On Demand
Radical Variant Rules
These are variants which completely overhaul the mechanics of the game both large and small, and often bear only a resemblance to the d20 system.
- 3 Stage Mass Combat
- Base & Prestige Classes
- Better Mounts, Vehicles, and Ships
- Character Advancement Reorganization/5.5e
- Hardcore Mode, Variant
- Legendary Hatred
- Mana Check Spellcasting
- Modular Levels
- Multi-Subclassing
- New Ability Scores
- No Saving Throws
- Player Equivalent CR
- Preparation & Spontaneous Spellcasting & Spell Types
- Shedding Your Mortality
- Static Saving Throw DCs
- Subclass
- Transcendent Mode
Not-Categorized
These have yet to be categorized for how they implement into typical D&D rules. Please help and categorize these.
- "Running Clock" Death-Saving Throws
- 69
- Automatic
- Hellfire Damage
- Multi-round burst
- Prestige System V1
- Sanity Stat /Cataclysm/ Weak Mind
- Team checks
Incomplete
Variant rules and skills with one or many improving, reviewing, or removing templates present. Please help work on the problem presented on the template.
- Advanced height and weight
- Antimagic
- Arcane Firearm Modifications
- Balancing Huge Player Characters
- Baldur's Gate 3
- Chainsword
- Characters Beyond 20th level
- Crafting Magic Items
- Creature Features
- Credit Rating
- Dire Damage
- Dire Death
- Epic Character Abilities
- Expanded Magical Properties
- Fusions
- Horizon
- Hybrid Subclasses
- Labours
- Lifestyle Choices
- Lingering Injuries and Massive Damage
- Monster Design Variability
- Negative Energy
- One Piece Skill Tree
- Overhauled Prestige Classes
- Pets
- Prestige System V1
- Sanity (Knowledge)
- Simple Psychic
- Skill Tree
- Spirits
- OGC:Warfare
- Wild Growth Condition
External Links
- Variant Rules at WotC
- When Armies Clash rules for mass combat at WotC