Variant Rules (Dominaria Supplement)

Variant Rules (3.5e Dominaria)

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Altered Feats

Toughness

Now adds 3 hp base plus 1 per level. Must have the back story or experiences to take it. Examples of backgrounds include being a military veteran (for characters who start past lvl 1), or being from the brutal Northlands when the rest of the party are from south of The Verge. As far as experiences something like surviving a few exceptionally horrific/rough fights (multiple PC deaths) or even a battle or two, or surviving crossing The Verge or the Arixan Wastes would be experience enough.

Altered Skills

Spellcraft

Spellcraft is a measurement of a spellcaster's ability to wield magic. Spellcraft is what gives the DM a direction on how much to tell for a divination, or how much to reveal about an examined artifact. Spellcraft also allows the caster to alter the results of spells, in some cases drastically, or to utilize magic in creative ways. A caster could for example, in extreme circumstances, absorb the power of a lightning bolt in order to cast the spell lightning bolt for free. Such uses are obviously fraught with danger, and the ashes or broken minds of more than one aspiring wizard litter the battlegrounds of Dominaria.

Jump

Jump is now part of movement phase. The number of squares jumped is subtracted from their movement and then they can keep moving as normal if they have movement left. Jump cannot take you past your normal movement cap.

Climb

Climb is now part of movement phase. The number of squares climbed is subtracted from their movement and then they can keep moving as normal if they have movement left - note that pulling oneself over the edge of whatever one is climbing takes a square. Climb cannot take you past your normal movement cap.

New Skills

Battlecraft

Battlecraft (Wis; Untrained): Similar to Spellcraft, Battlecraft allows fighting classes to modify and/or improve the results of their actions.

Variant Rules

Elder Sites

Druids of Dominaria settle every kind of wilderness, and tend to do so near 'Elder Sites'. Not unlike planar Touchstone Sites, Elder Sites contain a power within them. They are the locus of the natural world's power in an area and can be used for a variety of Druidic rituals. Some Druids have even uncovered the secret of creating or growing Elder Sites and have used them to reclaim old homes or even found new ones where none had been... The origin of these sites, like many places of ancient power beyond human history, is in dispute; but their origin is foreign even to the elves.

The Silver Standard

For a variety of reasons I've switched Dominaria over to a silver standard. I still use the 1:10:100 ratio of gold:silver:copper (for now), but all prices on mundane items should be swapped over to silver. This provides a much closer resemblance to history (Rome, Carolingian France, British Pound Sterling, etc.) and makes gold mean something. Roman currency and economy was based on the silver Denarius, and both Carolingian French money and the Britich Pound system (based on the prior) were 1:20:240 silver > shilling > denarii (penny). I don't want to get crazy with the ratios but I'd like to try to move in a direction that makes gold (and therefore high adventure) mean more.

Take the Average or Re-roll 1s on Hit Dice

Self-explanatory. But the decision to take the average must be taken before rolling.

Natural Healing

As opposed to the standard 1 hp p/hour. When at rest, characters gain their Constitution modifier per hour in hit points. When sleeping for a full rest period (per race) characters gain twice this rate, regain two points of temporary ability modifyer damage, and can make a save against one ongoing mind-affecting condition.

Non-standard Attack Moves

Attacks such as Disarm, Trip, and Grapple are now single attack actions. Note that they cannot be repeated by a player in a single turn and that each non-standard move after the first will provoke an attack of opportunity regardless of feats involved (supposing the opponent has attacks of opportunity left).

Alignment Requirements for Classes

Barbarians, Druids, and Bards do not have alignment requirements; although the reason for a non-standard alignment will be good and RP'd accordingly. Reasoning: Barbarian cultures had their own laws historically and they were rigidly adhered to, the notion that a Carl would not usually obey the word of his Thane is ridiculous. Lawful or Neutral alignments are easy to theorize, and a Barbarian is then defined by his traits, not his alignment. Druids really really don't need to be neutral: a Druid could protect a forest or glade to horde its power as easily as to preserve it; it needn't be mere tree-huggery. And then Bards, I've never understood the chaotic alignment thing so I'm throwing it out.

Multiclass Experience Penalties

Halved.

Character Death

In Dominaria, character death ocurrs at negative Constitution score. Half actions may be taken until negative half-Constitution score, thereafter the character is unconsious.

Back-to-back Nat 20s

Back to back natural 20s are an instant kill, DM discretion on stuff like uber-bad guys or Dragons and stuff.

Body dice for critical hits

On any critical hit that isn't also a called shot, use a body dice to declare which part of the body is affected. On a non-20 critical hit, Restoration is required to heal the wound, or 4 sucessful difficult healing checks. On a natural 20, Greater Restoration is required to heal the wound, or 7 sucessful difficult healing checks. Also, these wounds are treated as wounding and deal one quarter of their damage again each turn until the bleeding is stopped. This better represents the gravity of the wound and makes combat more dangerous.

Shields and Deflect Arrows

Any character with a shield may attempt to deflect incoming arrows as with the Deflect Arrows feat.

New Character Class Options for "Dead Levels"

Reference Wizards of the Coast's publication for new class features for every class out of the Player's Handbook.

Fatigue

A character can fight at full strength for a number of rounds equal to their constitution score. After this they are fatigued for a number of rounds equal to half their constitution score. After this they are exhausted for a further half of their constitution score. 'Fight at full strength' includes melee fighting and casting/channelling.

There will be feats and such to extend this and this is a bit rough atm but that's my idea in any case.

Counter-casting

When a magic user is targeted by another magic user by a damaging magical attack, the targeted magic user may attempt to Counter-Cast. Note a counter-cast may only be attempted if the spell used by the attacking magic user has verbal or somatic components. In order for this to succeed, the targeted magic user must pass a Spellcraft check equal to 10 + the spell level + the enemy magic user's applicable casting ability. Then they must have a spell available that is of the same damage subtype or of the opposite damage subtype. The targeted magic user may then counter cast. The two magic users roll damage as normal and then the lower value is subtracted from the upper. If the attacker wins then the remaining damage is dealt in a cone of each subtype (cast and counter-cast) involved starting at the midpoint of the two magic user and ending at the targeted magic user. If the defender wins the result is a bust of the remaining damage of each subtype (cast and counter-cast) involved at the midpoint of the two casters with a diameter of half that distance.

Collateral Damage

As a rule, I always apply collateral damage when one of my parties is slinging spells around. Magic is spectacular and supernatural, and using collateral damage really reinforces this and amps up the feel of magic. Fights too feel more important and dangerous when fireballs blow out walls and may collapse floors above the party. I don't do this in order to "reign in" or "police" the party but to enhance the feel of the game and add a touch of "realism" almost. A Lightning Bolt or Flame Strike for example is a powerful spell past the ken of many mages, and casting it should yield appropriate effects.

Below I've put in a simple table of the hardness and hit points of many common building materials in Dominaria, as well as some common objects for examples. It's pretty easy, hardness acts as straight damage reduction and any further damage is dealt straight to the substance's hit points.

Table: Substance/Object Hardness and Hit Points

Substance	Hardness	Hit Points
Paper or cloth	0	2/inch of thickness
Rope	0	2/inch of thickness
Glass	1	1/inch of thickness
Ice	0	3/inch of thickness
Leather or hide	2	5/inch of thickness
Softwood (Cedar/Pine/Spruce)	5	10/inch of thickness
Hardwood (Ash/Oak/Mahogany)	8	10/inch of thickness
Stone	8	15/inch of thickness
Bronze or brass	8	25/inch of thickness
Iron or steel	10	30/inch of thickness
Mithral	15	30/inch of thickness
Adamantine	20	40/inch of thickness
Object	Hardness	Hit Points	Break DC
Rope (1 inch diam.)	0	2	23
Simple wooden door	5	10	13
Small chest	5	1	17
Good wooden door	5	15	18
Treasure chest	5	15	23
Strong wooden door	5	20	23
Masonry wall (1 ft. thick)	8	90	35
Hewn stone (3 ft. thick)	8	540	50
Chain	10	5	26
Manacles	10	10	26
Masterwork manacles	10	10	28
Iron door (2 in. thick)	10	60	28

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