House Rules

There are several variant rules we'll be using. Some of them are official variants from published books, others are useful tweaks and changes to streamline the game and make it more fun for everybody.

A dwarf from the Mror Holds can select this as their Heritage. These dwarves are touched from birth with the corruption of the Daelkyr, giving them some sort of cosmetic mutation, and a personal symbiont.

Choose one cantrip from the Arcane or Occult spell lists to learn. You may cast this spell as an arcane or occult (respectively) cantrip as an innate spell at will. A cantrip is heightened to a spell level equal to half your level rounded up. Additionally, You may only cast this cantrip while your symbiont is revealed and active, and there is some sort of sign that the symbiont is casting the cantrip itself, rather than you simply doing it. You have access to the Living Vessel archetype (but only for aberrations), and may select Living Vessel Dedication as your 1st-level Ancestry feat.

Ruinbound Crafting (Ancestry feat 1): You can spend downtime growing the symbiont, crafting it into a more powerful symbiont that grants more abilities (but sometimes might have drawbacks). You may use the Occult skill to craft your symbiont, and are considered to have the Specialty Crafting and Magical Crafting feats, but only for symbionts.

Like D&D 4e, there is an expectation of PCs having magical items as they level up, and the math reflects this requirement. While I will be doling out magic items, Automatic Bonus Progression makes it a bit easier on me by automatically giving you some of the basic bonuses the items normally grant: bonuses to attacks, AC, saves, skills, bonus damage dice, etc. Instead of it being item-specific, you just get these bonuses as you level up, so it's easier to move between items and use different kinds of weapons. This does help martial characters a little more than spellcasters, but don't worry; I won't forget caster-specific items like wands, staves, and scrolls. ABP just smooths out a lot of the numbers everyone gets.

I AM STILL CONSIDERING WHETHER OR NOT TO USE THIS RULE; IT MIGHT BE MORE INTERESTING TO HAVE NORMAL ITEMS, AS IT IS EASIER TO DO IT IN PF2E THAN 4E. I'M STILL WEIGHING THE PROS AND CONS ON THIS ONE.

Here is the information about Automatic Bonus Progression.

At every even level, characters get can select an additional class feat that can only be spent on dedications and archetype feats. You must qualify for these feats, but there is no requirement to take 3 feats before beginning another archetype (you can mix&match archetypes). Initially, you must select from a limited list, including several magical and profession but any subsequent feats don't have this restriction; you can pick from any of them. If there's something not on this list that you want, I would be more likely to allow it as an initial archetype if it wasn't a direct combat archetype, and had some utility outside of battle. Uncommon and Rare archetypes are still very much subject to DM approval.

At game start, these Free Archetypes will represent your out-of-combat utility to the party; what they were hired to do *besides* kill aberrations. Thus, the list is focused on things like crafting, healing, knowledge, exploration, and defense. You may still spend your own class feats on these or any other Archetype as normal.

Initial Archetype list:

• Archaeologist: learns skills, cantrips, and abilities involved with searching through ancient ruins and avoiding any hazards contained therein.
• Bastion: Improved shield use to protect one's self and their allies. (Can learn the Second Shield feat from the Viking archetype as a feat from this archetype).
• Blessed One: Gains Lay on Hands like a Champion, with lots of abilities that improve it.
• Eldritch Researcher: gains benefits to researching forbidden lore and hidden knowledge.
• Flexible Spellcaster: prepared spellcaster that loses some spell slots but gains the ability to spontaneously cast them.
• Herbalist: expert in crafting alchemical healing items. Gets infused alchemical items like an alchemist, but focused on healing elixers.
• Horizon Walker: Excellent at navigating their party through a particular type of terrain, both in and out of combat. Special benefits for exploration actions.
• Loremaster: Adept at recalling all sorts of knowledge from a vast variety of Lore specializations.
• Marshal: Inspiring leader that can support allies and demoralize enemies in combat.
• Medic: Uses the Medicine skill in battle to keep their allies alive and fighting; can use nonmagical medical techniques to treat conditions, and even resuscitate the recently deceased.
• Scout: Useful for roaming ahead of the party, unseen and unnoticed. Can help the party move through hazardous terrain, and warn them of coming dangers.
• Scroll Trickster: Even if they aren't a spellcaster, a scroll trickster is adept at using scrolls of all kinds. They can even write their own temporary scrolls, similar to an alchemist's infused items.
• Scrounger: An expert at jury-rigging items and building temporary tools. They can craft without the appropriate facilities.
• Sentinel: Improves proficiency and effectiveness with armor, and can use your heavier armor to better protect yourself and others. Can rest better while armored. This is one of the easiest ways that light or unarmored classes can gain access and proficiency with heavier armor.
• Snarecrafter: Excels at building and setting traps. Can craft traps like an alchemist crafts their items, and their traps are more effective and harder to avoid.
• Talisman Dabbler: Can craft and affix talismans (single-use buff items) more easily. Gains talismans with their daily preparations, like alchemists.
• Dragonmarked Scion (Warding): Becomes much better at using their dragonmark. More and better dragonmark focus spells. This archetype is found in the Pathfinder's Guide to Eberron
• Potion Seller: An alchemist-like archetype that lets you craft potions (rather than only elixers). This archetype is found here. The level 8 feat (Only for the Strongest) is available to any alchemist or anyone who have the alchemist or herbalist archetypes. When using the My Potions are Too Strong feat, you may only craft a higher-level version of a potion or elixer if that item's level is equal or lower to your level.

Hero Points are described here. In addition to the normal circumstances, I will also give out hero points when a character does something in RP that is very in keeping with their background or personality (similar to BitD background XP). You'll get Hero Points when you something creative, cool, or clever.

If you roll below a 10 on a Hero point roll, you instead roll a 10 on the die.

Also, characters can spend a single hero point to do either of the following things, in addition to their normal uses.

• Improvise: If a player has an idea for something that their character should logically be able to do, but it is locked behind a feat (that they qualify for), they can spend a Hero Point to use that ability once. Then, as an action during combat or immediately after, they can replace a feat they have with the new one. The feat to be replaced must be the same level or higher as the new one, and of the same type (ancestry, general, skill, class, or free archetype). This is essentially an instant Retraining.
• Flashback: A character can spend a Hero Point to have a BitD-style flashback. They can purchase equipment, equip items, talk to people, find out information (though Recall Knowledge already does that without spending anything), that sort of thing. Anything with a risk involved might require a skill check; for example, knowing what equipment to buy would call for a Recall Knowledge check.

Here are some other house-rules, in no particular order.

• Dwarven Phalanx: If three characters are adjacent to the same enemy, that enemy is flanked by those characters. If this gets too powerful, I might nerf it; there are some higher-level feats that grant similar benefits (but usually with only two characters).
• Disarm: The Disarm action is pretty underpowered. I'm making the Disarming Flair (swashbuckler feat) baseline, which improves the effect of a Success to last until the end of your next turn, instead of the end of your turn. An affected creature can use the Interact action on their turn to adjust their grip and remove the effect.
• Lore Advancement: If you have a Lore skill from an Ancestry feat or your Background, its proficiency is improved to expert at 3rd level, master at 7th level, and legendary at 15th level. This is similar to the Additional Lore skill feat.
• Rune of Sturdiness: Instead of Sturdy Shields being their own magic item, you can purchase, craft, or find Runes of Sturdiness that add the same benefit to shields. These runes cost the same as the shield item does normally, and will add the difference in hardness, BT, and health between a standard steel shield and the sturdy shield to the enruned shield's statistics. This way, you can wield a special magical shield without it being extremely fragile.
• Dragging a Grappled creature: If you have a creature grabbed, you may Shove them any direction you choose, and Stride after them like normal. If the target is still within reach after the movement, they are still grabbed.
• Alignment Damage: Attacks and spells that deal Alignment damage deal half damage to enemies of a neutral alignment relative to the damage. So a Neutral Evil target takes half of any Lawful or Chaotic damage they are dealt, but is immune to Evil damage. GM may exempt certain alignment damage where appropriate, such as passive ambient alignment damage meant specifically to prevent the opposite alignment from lingering in a particular area but not intended to ward off neutral creatures.
• Recall Knowledge: Recall Knowledge grants creature type, general info, and one of either Attacks, Defenses, or Special Abilities. Critical Success gets two of those options.

Dwarves have developed unique weapons suited for fighting larger folk than themselves. Since all of these weapons have the Dwarf trait, they are affected by the Dwarven Weapon Familiarity ancestry feat, making the Hooked Axe and Clan Smallblade considered simple, and the Dwarf Tower Shield and Spikard weapons considered martial.

Dwarven Hooked Axe: uncommon martial weapon. 1d6 S, 1 bulk, 1 hand, Axe group. Agile, Dwarf, Trip, Versatile P. If you critically succeed on a trip with this weapon, the extra damage you deal may be slashing instead of bludgeoning.

Dwarven Tower Shield: uncommon advanced weapon. 1d6 B, 1 hand, Shield group. Attached to shield, Dwarf, Shove, Versatile P. Must be affixed to a tower shield.

Dwarven Clan Smallblade: uncommon martial weapon. 1d4 P. L bulk. 1 hand. Knife group. Agile, Finesse, Dwarf, Parry, Twin, Versatile B. This weapon is considered a Clan Dagger for the purposes of feats or other abilities, as long as you are proficient with it.

Spear Spikard: uncommon advanced weapon. 1d6 P. 1 bulk. 1 hand. Spear group. Dwarf, Reload 1, Spikard. Thrown (20ft). Throwing this weapon does not discharge the spikard bolt.

War Spikard: uncommon advanced weapon. 1d8 B. 2 bulk. 2 hands. Hammer group. Dwarf, Reload 1, Shove, Spikard.

Spikard trait: This weapon is fitted with a crossbow mechanism fitted to an impact trigger. If this weapon is loaded with a crossbow bolt, deal one additional die of Piercing damage on a successful melee hit. This weapon gains Reload 1, but can be used without the extra damage if unloaded. Striking runes (but not property runes) on the weapon will also increase the crossbow damage dice. If you make a Critical Hit with a loaded Spikard, you may use either the weapon's critical specialization or the Bow critical specialization. If you roll a Critical Failure with a loaded Spikard, the crossbow bolt jams in the weapon, making the crossbow portion unusable until you take an Interaction to clear and reload the jam.

These feats are very much untested, so they are subject to change. Like I said in the Inventor description, if you want a crafting-focused character, we'll change the crafting rules so they work in this campaign.

Artificer: (Inventor 2): You can craft magical items, and can use scrolls or wands to meet spell requirements. Another spellcaster can also cast spells to qualify for requirements for items you craft. You can craft items you don't have the spells for, but take a -2 penalty to the Crafting check for each spell you don't have when crafting the item.

Disenchant (Inventor 4): You can spend 10 minutes disenchanting a magic item of a max level equal to your level +2. The item is completely destroyed, and you get Reagents of a value equal to half the item's price. These reagents can be used to craft any magical item, though you still need the physical item you're crafting in order to make it; these reagents cannot create a physical object, only enchant one. You cannot disenchant a cursed, intelligent, relic, or artifact item.

Three-Point Landing (Reaction): Requirements: Catfall If you fall and would have your fall damage reduced by Catfall, you can attempt to land on your feet. Roll an Acrobatics check (usually with a Hard DC based on your level)

Critical success: You land on your feet, gain Panache, and can immediately Step.

Success: You land on your feet and gain Panache.

Failure: You fall prone; your fall damage is still reduced by Catfall.

Critical Failure: You fall prone, and your fall damage is not reduced by Catfall.