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House RulesCore Rule SetThe Marhaven campaign will use the Dungeons & Dragons v3.5 core rule set. Players are free to select equipment, spells, and feats from the core D&D rulebooks and the following supplements:
Players may also choose material from the following supplements after receiving approval from the DM:
Monsters will be drawn from the Monster Manual series except in rare occasions. Nonplayer characters may occasionally have resources from other supplements or that are invented for them specifically. Prestige classes must be discussed with the DM and approved in advance regardless of the source for the class.
Character CreationCharacters will begin the campaign at first level, the assumption being that the various PCs have come to Marhaven for reasons of their own and seek to become professional adventurers. Determine initial ability scores by rolling 4d6 and discarding the low die. Generate seven ability scores in this manner, discard the lowest, and add the remaining scores together. If the sum is below 70 or above 82, discard the set and start over. If any score is below 9, discard the set and start over. These tests are designed to weed out score sets that are too godlike, or too handicapped, to be fun to play. Once you have a compliant set of ability scores, arrange them in whatever order you desire. Select a race based on the information about Marhaven (see Races) and apply racial adjustments. No racial adjustment can raise a score above 18 or lower it below 9. Select a class based on the information in this document about Marhaven. Every class is available except the standard paladin and ranger (see Martial Classes), but players are encouraged to select variant classes from the Complete supplements to make things different and fresh. Characters can be of any non-evil alignment. Characters with a neutral alignment moral (LN, N, CN) may choose an evil-aligned deity if they wish. Worshipping a deity is optional unless the chosen class requires it. Each character can take the maximum starting gold from the tables in the Player’s Handbook and use it to purchase starting equipment. Because Marhaven shopkeepers have to import nearly all of the goods they sell, standard items cost 50 percent more than the book prices. (It’s 200 miles to the nearest coastline, so characters will have to live with that until they have the means to travel freely.)
Experience and AdvancementEach character begins the campaign with zero experience points. The DM will award experience based on the encounters and challenges in each game session. Every character who participates in an adventure receives an equal share of the experience. Ad hoc awards may also be given individually to players at the discretion of the DM. Characters who reach the XP threshold for the next level can begin using the new abilities at the next game session. Level-up calculations and selections need to be made before the beginning of the session or the character will have to continue at the lower level for that session.
Character and Party FinancesMoney earned by the party through adventuring will be placed in a group fund. At the end of each game month the PCs will each receive an equal payout from the group fund, with a share held in reserve against group expenses. Players are expected to track their own funds once they are paid out; if a player loses track of the character’s savings, it will be assumed that the character lost his/her savings in some way and has zero funds until the next payout. Each game month at payout time, each player will be charged a maintenance fee of 200gp per character level. This fee is assumed to cover incidental expenses including food, bar tabs, clothing, armor/weapon maintenance, lodging, replacing consumable supplies, training, etc. Players need only deduct from the character’s funds for expenditures of 25gp or higher.
Character Death and RevivalI’ve never liked the idea that a couple of bad die rolls can cost a PC an experience level, but dying still needs to be a serious event with consequences. For this campaign, then, we’ll try out a new house rule on character death and revival. A character raised from the dead will be penalized 500xp per current level. If this penalty lowers the character’s XP below the minimum for the current level, the character does not lose the abilities of their level but will be that much further from attaining the next one. For example: a 4th level character with 7000xp who dies and is raised loses 2000xp, leaving the character with 5000xp. Even though that is below the minimum for 4th level, the character continues to operate as a 4th level character until reaching 10,000xp, which is the minimum for 5th level. A true resurrection, wish, miracle, or a special circumstance ruling by the DM can reduce or eliminate the XP penalty. A character who dies during an adventure still receives a full share of experience for that adventure. If a character dies and is not raised, the player designates what happens to the dead character’s belongings. The player can create a replacement character that will start at the same XP total that the dead character had less the 500xp/level penalty. This might mean that the new character starts out a level lower than the dead one.
Critical Hits and MissesAny hit with a natural roll that falls within the weapon's critical threat range is a potential critical hit. If the critical hit is confirmed the damage multiplies as defined in the standard rules. If a character in combat rolls a natural 20 and then confirms the critical hit with another natural 20, the opponent is automatically dropped to -1 hit points. This applies to NPC combatants and monsters as well as player characters. Any combat roll of 1 is a critical miss. The player rolls percentile dice and the DM assigns an appropriate mishap based on the results of that roll.
Prestige Classes
Feats
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