Houserules

[The_Wanderer]

Playing the Game

Special Combat Rules
-A fighting retreat is allowable as per the rule from Labyrinth Lord: A fighting retreat allows a character to move backwards at 1/2 normal encounter movement. However, there must be a clear path for this movement.
-By the book, firing (or throwing) a ranged weapon into melee isn't possible without a considerable chance of hitting an ally. You guys are heroes though and I don't want to deal with friendly fire. Firing into melee will give the defender a +2 cover bonus to AC.

Dying
-A character at 0 HP is unconscious as per the rules
-Once a character drops to negative HP, they remain alive (although bleeding to death at the rate of 1 hp/round if no assistance is rendered) until the character reaches negative hit points equal to the character’s level. In other words, a fifth-level character actually dies only upon reaching -5 hit points.
-They can be stabilized through magical healing, potions, or bandaging by another PC or NPC
-If a PC or NPC uses an action to bandage an unconscious character, they must succeed roll 4d6 at or below their wisdom stat to successfuly bring the unconscious character back to 0HP. This can be repeated once per round for the entire party until the unconscious character is dead.

-Clerics can use edged weapons
-Any character can use any weapon BUT takes a -1 to the attack roll if they are not normally proficient
-Any character can use any armor BUT if that armor is not allowed by their class, they lose all class abilities
-We use ascending armor class as per the rules. At times, I may mention a Base “To-Hit” Bonus or Base Attack Bonus. For more information you can see the information on page 44. This number is then generally added to either a strength bonus (for melee weapons) or a dexterity bonus (for ranged weapons) and potentially a weapon bonus in the case of magic weapons to get a total attack bonus for a weapon.
-If a Skill/Ability check comes up, you will need to roll at or below your usable stat using a number of d6's determined by me according to the difficulty of the check. 2d6=Easy, 3d6=Average, 4d6=Difficult, 5d6=Extreme, 6d6=Ask for divine intervention.
If you are able to somehow prepare for the check, have equipment that could help or have a secondary skill that you can argue helps you, then you can roll with advantage. In this case, roll two separate rolls and take the lower trying to roll at or below your usable stat.

[The_Wanderer]

Character Management

Amount of Carried Equipment and Encumbrance
-We use a slot based encumbrance system
-Each character has a number of equipment slots equal to their strength score with a minimum of 6 (i.e. if your strength is <6, you still get 6 slots)

-There are three different types of slots:
1. Weapon: You may have 2 weapon slots (Primary, Secondary) that can be switched between during combat at no action cost.
2. Quick Items: You may have up to 4 quick items. These may be accessed during combat at the cost of an action and are also unprotected from things like blasts.
3. Backpack: Holds the remainder of your slots and may be accessed during combat at the cost of a full round of actions.

-If you wear metal armor, you decrease your number of slots by 3 and your base speed by 20'
-If you wear leather armor, you decrease your number of slots by 1 and your speed by 10'
-A backpack does not use a slot
-Very small items do not use a slot (i.e. rings) but must have my approval
-There are 3 potions, vials of oil, or vials of holy water to 1 slot.
-There are 8 torches to 1 slot.
-A magic user must carry a spellbook that takes up 1 slot.
-A cleric must carry a holy symbol, depending on the nature of which does not necessarily require a slot.
-A thief must carry a set of thieves' tools if he expects to do anything particularly thiefy
-A backpack slot can carry up to 300 coins
-If you use a bow, you need to use a quickslot for a quiver. Likewise other ranged weapons with ammunition.
-All other items cost 1 slot.
-Henchmen get a free large sack slot that can carry up to 500 coins
-Exceeding encumbrance limits will lower your speed by 10' (see below) up to a point which I will rule that you physically can't carry any more.
-The base speed of all characters is 40' unless otherwise ruled

Leveling up and Rolling for HP
-XP is doubled to offset the slow speed of PbP
-You will re-roll for HP every level
-If you do not exceed your previous total, you simply add 1 HP

[The_Wanderer]

Henchmen and Hirelings

Henchmen
-As per the rules, your charisma determines the number of leveled henchmen that will follow you
-You can recruit henchmen in any settlement. Just state your interest in recruiting and a d6 worth of potential followers will show up.
-In larger towns, a mere 10gp will hire a crier to find another d6.
-They will always be level 1 with a class level
-This can be done once per month in any town.
-Henchmen earn 1/2 share of XP and expect a 1/2 share of all treasure
-You do not have to roll vs. charisma to hire them and as long as you don't abuse them, they will stick around
-I'll decide on race/class and you decide if you want them. You also will roll them up and create them as a character. They start with leather armor, a dagger or club, and no money

Hirelings
-As a rule, you can always find at least one hireling in a settlement
-Hirelings are non class level NPC's that you can hire for specific tasks (torchbearing, gold toting, alchemists, guards, mercenaries, etc.). They work for money and don't take excessive risks. They do not gain levels unless you want to change them into a henchman.

[The_Wanderer]

Other Stuff

-Securing Wealth: In the wild, most wealth will be in the form of coins. The weight of these coins must be managed among the party until they again arrive among civilization.
-Carrying Wealth: After characters have arrived in town, they can carry as much wealth as they want. This is presumed to be in the form of coins and gems that do not affect encumbrance.
-Storage: Duke Emmanuil offers complimentary storage of gear and wealth in Bitterpan and Abbotsby.
-Cost of Living: Every month on the first of the month, each character (PC's and Henchmen) will pay for cost of living for the month past to avoid any talk of inn costs, meals, etc. The cost of living for a character is 50gp x character level.
-On Languages: Don't feel like you need to guess all of your languages up front. Feel free to leave a language slot open until you need it in game and just claim it then. Add it to your sheet and move on. You can do this until you reach your max # of languages defined by your intelligence.