House Rules
Rules changed10
Free archetypeOn
Crafting cost75%
Everything else is as written
House
rules
These are the places we diverge from the book, and most of them exist because the printed version was getting in the way of something the table wanted to do. Everything not listed here works exactly as written.
Read Lore firstRead before you spendLore and Crafting change what a build is worth
The two that change a build
Read these first#
Both cost you money or a skill increase if you get them wrong, which is why they are called out ahead of the list rather than buried in it.
Crafting is 75%, conditionally
The discount is real but it needs the formula and a background that gives you a genuine reason to be making that thing. The full rule is below.
Lore is worth more here than elsewhere
Dedicated Study lets you raise a Lore in downtime instead of with a skill increase, and Additional Lore works on a Lore you already have. A well-chosen Lore is a real investment, not flavour.
Asking a question, not rolling to win
Recall knowledge#
The printed version hands you a list. This one answers the thing you actually wanted to know.
You do not roll to "identify the monster" and get a list. You ask a specific question — does it have a weakness, is it undead, what does it want — and roll a d20.
- The GM applies whichever of your skills actually fit the question. You do not have to pick the right one.
- The DC is set for the question you asked: a simple DC for a simple question, a level-based DC for the full picture.
- You can repeat a failed check in combat. Outside combat you cannot — take the answer you got.
- Feats like Monster Hunter use the creature's level-based DC.
- If you were Investigating as your exploration activity, you get one free Recall Knowledge at the start of combat.
What it costs, and what it costs you
Building and buying#
The official variant we run, and the one crafting change that goes with it.
Free Archetype
On, at every table. The official variant, enabled through the module — you get archetype feats at even levels without spending your class feats on them. Build accordingly; a dedication is not the sacrifice it normally is.
Crafting
Crafting costs 75% of the item's Price in total, rather than the usual full price, if you have the formula and your background gives you a genuine reason to be making that thing. 50% is still due up front — the discount comes off the balance, not the deposit.
Rarity
Anything uncommon or rare needs approval first. Approval is much more likely if there is a side quest or a real roleplay reason attached to how you got it — bring me the story, not just the entry.
Spend them, they come back
Hero points#
Rerolls are worth taking here, because a bad one no longer wastes the point.
- A hero point reroll of 10 or less gets +10 added to it. A bad reroll is no longer a wasted point.
- Recovering from dying costs 1 point, not all of them — that is the balance for the above.
- Maximum of 3, and they do not expire between sessions.
- You will not get one every session. They are for the roleplay and the moments that earn them.
Four small ones
At the table#
Changes to individual actions and conditions. None of them need a paragraph.
Ready
You may spend all 3 actions on your turn to Ready a 2-action activity. The printed rule only lets you ready a single action.
Delay
If you Delay to make a combo land — waiting for the champion to trip something so you can open a hole under it — that will usually be allowed, and clever setups often get a bonus on top. Say what you are waiting for.
Fascinated
While you are fascinated, everything except the thing fascinating you is concealed to you. The printed condition is a status penalty; this makes it feel like what it is.
Grab and Shove
A grabbed enemy can be Shoved in any direction, not just away from you. Reposition also works if you would rather use it.
Read this before you spend a skill increase
Lore#
Lore works as written in Player Core, with one addition — and one whole extra way to raise it.
You may take Additional Lore for a Lore you already have — from your background, or one you picked up in play. It keeps the automatic scaling: expert at 3rd, master at 7th, legendary at 15th. Everything else about the feat is unchanged.
Normal skill increases still raise Lore at any time, exactly as written. Nothing below replaces that option.
Dedicated Study#
You can also raise a Lore during downtime, without spending a feat or a skill increase.
| Target rank | Downtime | Minimum level |
|---|---|---|
| Expert | 2 weeks | 3rd |
| Master | 4 weeks | 7th |
| Legendary | 8 weeks | 15th |
You need a teacher or a library — someone or something in the world that actually knows the subject at the rank you are reaching for, established in play. Finding one is an adventure, not a shopping trip. That is the real cost of Dedicated Study; the weeks are the easy part.
You cannot Earn Income during those weeks. The gold you do not make is the tuition.
The fine print#
- Level requirements are absolute. No exceptions, no matter how good the library is.
- One Lore at a time. Only a single Lore can hold a Dedicated Study rank. Moving it costs a week and a new teacher, and the old Lore drops back to trained.
- No Earn Income benefit. Use your other skills for that. Dedicated Study is for Recall Knowledge and use at the table.
Defining your topic#
Write down what your Lore actually covers when you take it, in one sentence, and put it in your character notes. Broad enough to be useful, narrow enough that it is not Society wearing a hat. If it starts eating another skill's job we will tighten the wording together — not mid-check.
Ask before you commit downtime to this. I would rather build the teacher into the story than retrofit one.