Black Marches House Rules

Archived House Rules

+ Archived House Rules

• Implement the following Skill Changes:
  • Hide and Move Silently become Stealth (Dex).
  • Search, Spot, and Listen become Perception (Wis).
  • Jump, Balance, and Tumble become Acrobatics (Dex).
  • Extra Languages, Truespeech, Decipher Script, and Forgery become Linguistics (Int).
  • Open Lock and Disable Device become Disable Device (Dex).
  • Gather information and Diplomacy become Diplomacy (Cha).
  • Do not gain x4 skills at 1st level
  • There are no cross-class rank penalties; maximum ranks = Level
  • Every Class Skill with a rank grants a +3 bonus to that Skill
  • All Skill Requirements are reduced by 3 ranks, minimum 1 rank
  • Skill Tricks as detailed in Complete Scoundrel are usable once per encounter instead of once per day.
• Implement the following Feat Changes:
  • Feats gained are at levels 1,3,5,7,9, etc. rather than 1,3,6,9,12, etc. You may elect to delay taking a feat one level to account for feats otherwise normally taken at 6th, 12th, etc. levels
  • The Able learner feat has changed.
  • The Dreadful Wrath feat also triggers when manifesting psionic powers.
  • The Extra Evolution feat has changed.
  • The Monkey Grip feat has changed.
  • The Stone Power feat has changed.
  • The Combat Expertise feat has changed.
  • The Jotunbrud feat also grants proficiency in the Giant language, aswell as the regular bonus.
  • Weapon Finesse no longer requires 1 BAB
  • Arcane Strike may be used to enhance ranged weapons.
• Implement the following item changes:
  • Only one item that grants actions like Belt of Battle may be used per day.
  • Custom items must be approved by the council.
  • Magic items usable a number of times per day can have their caster level increased by paying the difference in the cost between the item with the increased caster level and the former item. See this thread for clarification.
  • Adding Common Item Effects to Existing Items, MiC rules pgs 233-235, can be used an do not require council approval.
• Implement the following Race Changes:
  • All non-pathfinder Races, and Pathfinder kobolds, Gain a additional +2 bonus to an ability score that does not already have a bonus or penalty
  • Several monsters have an LA listed that is unjustifiably high; Hobgoblins, Catfolk, Planetouched (Aasimar, Tieflings, Genasi, etc) for example, do not have +1 LA, ask about others.
  • Psi-less Thri-Kreen has no Racial HD, but still has LA +1.
  • If your ancestry gives you dragonblooded or is related to dragons, you can select draconic feats as if your were a sorcerer of your character level.
  • Pathfinder Svirfneblin have LA of +1. For playable +0 Svirfneblin, see here.
• Implement the following Base Class Changes:
  • The Artificer class has been altered
  • Dragon Shamans receive Full BAB, Simple and Martial Weapons proficiency, and proficiency with all Armors and Shields except Tower Shields.
  • Factotums gain Able Learner as a bonus feat at 1st level which may not be retrained or traded out for any reason. They also gain Evasion at level 6 and Improved Evasion at level 18
  • Halo Knights now have a manifester level equal to their class level. Idealized Weapon now costs gold rather than experience, 5g per xp.
  • Monks and Paladins may freely multiclass
  • Monk,Soulknife, Incarnate, and Totemist have Full BAB
  • No alignment restrictions for Bard, Barbarian, Monk, and Paladin. The Paladin must adopt an alignment ethos and stick to it or risk losing their paladin benefits
  • All classes are literate (such as Barbarian and Totemist)
  • Clerics must choose either turn undead or channel energy, and these class features are not interchangeable.
  • Truenamers and anyone using a truenaming spell or feat can ignore the Law of Resistance. The Law of Sequence no longer applies, but multiple uses of an utterance imposes a +5 penalty on the check. The DC of a truenaming check is now (20 + CR). Truenamers may ignore the must know target's true name requirement for spells.
  • Unarmed Swordsage progresses enhanced movement as well as Unarmed Strike.
  • A Summoner's Eidolon can be healed as a normal character at half rate.
  • A battle sorcerer may choose to take the Improved Unarmed Strike feat instead of the one martial weapon proficiency they would usually get.
  • The addendum for shadowcasters suggested by Ari Marmell is implemented to shadowcasters.
• Implement the following Prestige Class Changes:
  • Power attack, Cleave, and Improved Sundering are not required to enter into the Black Guard Prestige class
  • Weapon focus and specific deity worship are not required to enter into the ordained champion Prestige class.
  • One can meet the prereq's for the Archmage prc by either by taking spell focus for two different schools (as per RAW) or by taking spell focus and greater spell focus in the same school.
  • The mystic wanderer PRC (appearing in a 3.0 supplement - Magic of Faerun) was revised into 3.5.
  • Jade Phoenix Mages may choose to trade access to the devoted spirit discipline in exchange for access to a martial discipline of his choice - as long as the discipline was available to one of the martial classes to which he belonged before gaining levels in JPM.
• Implement the following Template Changes:
  • Necropolitan Template does not cost XP nor does a character lose a level to attain it.
  • Advanced template costs +3 LA instead of +1 LA
  • Flame-spawned template costs +1 LA
  • The monster of legend template has +4 LA. The 'casting as 5th lvl cleric' as well as spell turning options are not available.
  • The Vampire Lord clause for creating Vampire characters can be applied to an Vampire variant templates.
• Implement the following Miscellaneous Changes:
  • Natural weapons and iterative attacks read here
  • Spells with a range of touch cannot be persisted.
  • No Multiclassing XP Penalties
  • Characters may have 2 flaws from Unearthed Arcana.(request dragon magazine flaws) 4/3/2012 Characters start with 2 bonus feats beyond what they normally would receive. Characters may select flaws, but gain no bonus feats from them.
  • Characters gain 2 traits from Pathfinder. The spell-specific traits can also be used for psionics (for example this trait could increase ML of a psionic class of one's choice).
  • Any character may learn their true name for 2000gp. They may share this name with anyone and it does not change.
  • (Optional) Weapon Group Feats replaces normal Weapon proficiency
  • (Optional) Fractional Bonuses
  • A creature dies once its hitpoints reach either -10 or its negative Constitution score, whichever would place the threshold farther from 0.
  • You may use Pathfinder downtime for for businesses only.
• The Following Systems are in Place:
  • Action Points - Refresh Each Session.
• Magic Item Creation:
  • Magic items do not require experience to craft.
  • A character may craft Eternal Wands of Divine spells. A character must be able to cast divine spells to use a divine Eternal Wand. You may add 2 extra charges to eternal wands by doubling the price of the wand. You may add 4 extra charges to eternal wands by tripling the price of the wand. You may only have up to a maximum of 6 charges per eternal wand.
  • Alternate Magic Item Creation Prerequisites:
    • Nerveskitter may replace Cat's Grace for the Prerequisites for Warning and Eager weapons
• Gunslingers and Firearms Rules
  • Firearms use the Emerging rules, but are half price. Standard ammunition costs 1 gold piece (Metal Cartridge, Shot+blackpowder, Blackpowder+Pellets)
  • Gunslingers have a Grit pool of 1/2 Gunslinger Levels + Wisdom bonus instead of simply Wisdom Bonus.
  • The above rules only apply if you are using Pathfinder firearm rules. They do not affect Heroes of Alvena's firearm rules, which are here.
• Use these guidelines for pricing poisons that don't have a given craft DC.
• There is no Dreamheart. (Thread)
• Players are limited to a maximum Time Trait on personal planes of 1/2 or x2. Nobody may craft in the dream plane (including hyperconscious)