Waterdeep:House rules

This page lists house rules for the Invisible Fortress campaign, and rulings that have been made during play.

House rules

Flanking

Flanking will be available to players and monsters in this campaign. However, instead of advantage as per the optional flanking rule listed in the DMG, flanking will give +2 to attack rolls. This allows for tactical movement, without invalidating race or class features such as Pact Tactics and Reckless Attack.

You have flanking if you are within 5ft of your target, there is a creature who is an enemy of your target (not necessarily your ally) which is not Incapacitated , and the line between the center points of your occupied space and the other creature's occupied space crosses opposite sides of the target's occupied space, or opposite corners of the target's occupied space.

• 
  Two characters on opposite sides of a large enemy
• 
  The stunned character cannot provide flanking, because they are incapacitated
• 
  The line passing between the top edge and right edge does not result in flanking

Line of sight and cover

In order to have line of sight on a target, you must be able to trace a line from any corner of your occupied space to any corner of any square of the target's occupied space, without crossing into a square of blocking terrain. Creatures in your path do not block line of sight.

• 
  The red line has to pass through the wall to reach the goblin

To determine cover from a ranged attack or Dex save effect, select any one corner of a square that you occupy and trace four lines from it to the four corners of one square in the target's occupied space. If one or two of the lines cross into blocking terrain or a space occupied by an enemy creature, the target has half cover (+2 AC and Dex saves). If three of the lines cross into blocking terrain, the target has three quarters cover (+5 AC and Dex saves). Creatures cannot result in three quarters cover, only half cover.

Cover from melee attacks and area effects work similarly to ranged attacks, except that creatures cannot provide cover against them.

• 
  Only one line is blocked by a wall, so the creature has half cover
• 
  Three lines are blocked by a wall, so the creature has three quarters cover
• 
  One line to the goblin is blocked by a wall (half cover), and one line to the troll is blocked by the goblin (half cover), while the ally does not provide cover to the bugbear
• 
  Cover from area effects is measured from the origin point of the area, and no creature provides cover from it

Resting

Short rests take 10 minutes, instead of 1 hour. You may only take 1 + (proficiency bonus / 2) short rests per long rest. This means that at level 1-8, you can take 2 short rests per long rest. At level 9-16, you can take 3 short rests per long rest. At level 17-20, you can take 4 short rests per long rest. Spells and features which give the benefits of a short rest (eg, catnap or a Genie Warlock's bottled respite) do not count against the limited number of short rests per long rest.

Monks must spend 5 minutes meditating during a short rest in order to regain ki points, instead of 30 minutes.

During extended travel only, short rests require 1 day and long rests require 7 days.

Inspiration

At the start of each game session, you will gain inspiration. Inspiration functions as normal: spend your inspiration to gain advantage on an attack, saving throw, or ability check, or else to give inspiration to another player. Using inspiration to gain advantage on a roll must be done before you make the roll. Using inspiration to give another player inspiration must be done before they can spend it (and therefore before they make the roll they would spend it on), however spending inspiration is not an action so it doesn't have to be on your turn or use an action or reaction, and can be spent even if you're incapacitated. As per standard inspiration rules, a player can only have one inspiration at a time (so if you don't spend your inspiration by the end of the session, you won't get a second one next session).

Rulings

Distance and square Fireballs

We will use default distance measurement rules (that is, diagonals do not require additional movement). A consequence of this, which is often overlooked, is that effects which would be described as circles or spheres are measured out to be squares or cubes. This is a slight buff to many area effects, but while it means more enemies could potentially be caught by your fireball, it could also catch allies which would not have been hit using an actual sphere.

Similarly, a cone effect such as cone of cold or a cone-shaped breath weapon will be a square of appropriate size, with at least one corner of any square on the edge of the area touching a corner of any square on the edge of the source's occupied space.

• 
  The breath weapon touches the dragon's occupied space
• 
  Cones can touch the source creature's space at the corner
• 
  Any side works equally well

Rogue > Soulknife > Psi-Bolstered Knack

The Soulknife Rogue's Psi-Bolsterend Knack ability is unclear in certain cirumstances. The ability states that you only expend the psionic energy die if you turn a failure into a success, but that information alone can give meta knowledge, such as on a perception or insight check.

For the purpose of this ability, turning a failure into a success means changing the outcome. Consider: you make a perception check where you roll 16, and you notice nothing. You add 3 from your psi-bolstered knack, still notice nothing, and you would not expend the die. You add 4 from your psi-bolstered knack, you notice something, and you would expend the die. Alternatively, your 16 notices something. You add 6 from your psi-bolstered knack, and notice the same thing, so you don't expend the die.

Additionally: psi-bolstered knack can only be used on ability checks for which you have proficiency. Initiative is an ability check, and Harengon characters add their proficiency bonus to initiative checks. A Harengon Soulknife Rogue would be permitted to use psi-bolstered knack on initiative. In this case, "changing the outcome" means moving your position in the initiative order. If you rolled 18 on initiative and the next initiative above you was a 20, you would be able to add your psionic energy die on your initiative roll. Getting a 1 on that die would not change your initiative order and you would not expend the die. Getting a 3 on that die would put you above the character with a 20, changing the outcome of the initiative roll and the die would be expended.