7 Exciting Hardcore Homebrew Rules for DnD 5e
Playing DnD 5e it for a long time, I started to want something a little bit more out of it. And to be honest, I'm a sucker for more tactical, grounded, and darker tones in my games. This leads me to feel that DnD 5e is very forgiving in some of its aspects. DnD 5e is great for newcomers, but it sometimes prevents mistakes, flaws, and tragedy, which creates memorable moments. It's almost taboo to run games associated with "Ultra-Mega-Hard-Core" mechanics that can bring some negative feelings to the table. No one likes their character to die, fail, but I believe that players should learn how to thrive on their mistakes, not only being a hero, all the time. Let's find a way to give our games a little bit of spice while balancing it all with your player satisfaction.
To preface, all of these Homebrew rules shouldn't be all added to your D&D campaign if they don't make sense for you or your players. Failing to balance these homebrew rules detriments with the positives will result in tedious gameplay. So I only advise you to use these rules if you and your players believe that they are a good fit for your table and there is something to gain from these rules. Also, maybe try a one-shot with all the rules you want to implement before committing to them and see what works for you.
I'm not particularly eager to die rule
On this rule, all of the rules I will present here will stand upon. This rule is a "Mega-Hardcore idea" that many players and dungeon masters don't like to think about much, which is that - nobody wants to die. Fear and morale are sometimes even more significant asset than a sharp sword or a powerful spell. Make your enemies feel the fear of death. Seeing that more than half of your battle friends are gonzo, their leader is twitching from barbarian induced head trauma, that should demoralize you. So much, that the enemies would lay their arms, yield, or flat out run the heck away not to end up like others.
This rule also helps the players notice the difference between monsters, beasts, and mortals. Maybe Orcs or Dwarfs are not that afraid that much of death in combat? This rule helps expand the roleplaying and provides a healthy balance with the upcoming spicy rules.
Why this rule makes sense for my game:
This rule provides a bit more satisfying ending if I sense that the combat is futile from my end or I see it becoming a tedious slog. This homebrew rule allows my retreating enemies to join, alert, or prepare an ambush on the next encounter, making their retreat a win. Not only that, those that lay arms can provide information or roleplaying moments.
Critical Hits Inflict a Wound
Why this rule makes sense for my game:
I don't enjoy long and tedious combat. I would rather have high-risk, high-reward tactical combat where my players are on their feet, where their decisions matter greatly, but the same goes for the enemies.
This rule applies to monsters and players. It's a mechanic where if the critical hit has been made, a nasty wound appears. An injury lets you target the injury with a disadvantage for double damage if you decide. You can treat the wound with a medicine check to stabilize it using an action(Eliminating the possibility of double damage) or using a healing kit for 2 hours to eliminate the wound or spells like cure wounds to close a wound up.
Optional Additional Rule:
Damage types provide some small disadvantages. For instance, bludgeoning/force critical staggers the target for -5ft of movement or takes away -2 AC for the damaged armor. Slashing/Poison takes away -3 to attack, or piercing/acid opens a bleeding wound that gives -1 to -5 HP per turn(I don't think this should continue while rolling for death saves, but up to you). It's more for flavor while in combat, increasing the need for healing, but it should only enhance combat flavor rather than be a tool to kill your players, so be cautious with these optional rule numbers.
Health takes a week to recover
This is one of my biggest complaints with D&D 5e. Heroes were almost demolished by a dragon, roughly evading death, but players go to sleep and regain all of their Health Points back. Good as new, continue your adventure. I don't fancy it one bit since players feel like they can rest in the dungeon or make their way out of it just for that sweet all healing Full Rest. It breaks emersion. It crushes my will to DM when I see that the players are scared to move forward, trying to eliminate all risk. However, I do not apply this rule to spell slots recovery, only health.
Why this rule makes sense for my game
I run a game where the players are less heroic and more human. Not only that, the game is more sandbox, and villains have an action per week to do something to advance their plans(That is why I want my players to have downtime/rest). Players having this in mind have a greater sense of urgency that the world will not wait for them to go into a dungeon cave to resolve the matter forever, patiently waiting for them. The enemies might advance or weaken in the next week or session, so it's for them to decide what to do, push through, or prepare more for the encounters.
Therefore, I think that the Full Rest should take about a week. Now look, this rule can become tedious in seconds if you don't balance it. How I like to do it is to use Hit Dice as the point of reference for resting. Every single day you recover some of your Hit Dices. For example, Level 1-3 might recover one Hit Dice per night, while 4-6 might recover 2 Hit Dices. You can make up your Hit Dice recovery numbers, but I think increasing the Hit Dice rest recovery by 1 Hit Dice per 3-4 levels seems balanced, at least for me.
One way to balance the thing out for players is to stay at the inn or spend a night in a better lifestyle bracket, for which they would get more of the Hit Dices back. For example, how would it look like in means of lifestyle?
Wretched - Chance of getting a -2 Hit Dice. (Horrible, critical fail to set up for a camp).
Squalid(1 sp) - Chance of getting a -1 Hit Dice. (Bad set up for a camp or something).
Poor(2 sp) +0 Hit Dice (Normal camp)
Modest(1 gp) +1 Hit Dice (Critical success camp)
Comfortable(2 gp) +2 Hit Dice
Wealthy(4 gp) +3 Hit Dice
Aristocratic(10+ gp) +4 Hit Dice
It means that the better places make a better recovery, but it also gives new ideas about presenting the places in your world. Perhaps the inn has an in house healer, baths, spa, whatever helps the party in their rest.
Another reason why this makes sense for my game:
If I want to have a little more impact combat in my game, it allows the players to feel like every Health Point loss is essential. Therefore the simple band of bandits may take a couple of hit dices from that they will need while fighting a more significant threat. Maybe I should parley/intimidate/persuade for once instead of fighting?
An optional addition to this rule:
This lifestyle/Hit Dice recovery could also go along with Items/Food/Potions and Some spells. For instance, every HP potion could potentially give a Hit Dice or healing spells like Cure Wounds. But it's up to you what works best.
Death Saves Last a week
This rule is more of a thing where the players who felt on the battlefield after getting a Death Save would be extra cautious after getting back up. I mean, if you almost die, I don't expect that a person's body would be okay with seven stabs in the chest and go on like it's nothing. You collect three death saves. Well, that's too much for your character body. However, I think we can have an optional rule where medicine proficiency, healing spells, and other things can negate this rule. For example, spending 2 hours on one death save can eliminate it. Maybe the hospices and doctors now can have some value in your world.
+2 to attack per enemy when flanking
I like to make regular Joes into formidable Joes when they are fighting together. This rule works both for players and enemies because flanking takes away your attention to defend from an attack. This rule works great where simple zombies with +3 to attack can gain up to +16 to attack if surrounded. That's scary numbers for not so dangerous creatures. While it's unlikely that that kind of amount of zombies will surround somebody, this encourages the party to think more strategically and be mindful of their choices. It also helps finish enemies faster if the party works together.
+2/+4 AC for half and full cover
The same goes with cover in the game. Whether its players or enemies, this is great for squishy mages, rogues, or ranged enemies. And I think this rule encourages the movement during combat for more advantageous positions, making it a more dynamic combat encounter in the process. This rule also works great with flanking.
Skill/Tool Proficiency Matters
There are moments in D&D where the player makes checks just for the hell of it. And other people join in if the main skill player fails the check. And I feel that Tools in the game are underutilized and don't carry much meaning. This rule might be obvious, but this is how I tend to look at skill checks and tools.
Proficiency bonus lets you make complex tasks regarding the skill, while everyone can try to make simple tasks. If the player wants to jump over a simple obstacle, that's a check, while a proficient one could make a complex task. Suppose the player doesn't have proficiency and tries a complex task - that's a check with disadvantage. The same goes for kits. Changing the bandage might be simple, while surgery, on the other hand - complex. Having this attitude towards checks helps distinguish the characters between them and utilize their kits and skills to the best of their roleplaying abilities.
Optional Additional Rule: Repeated Checks cause disadvantage
There are moments in the games where players feel like the check they made could be repeated, or the crucial moments call for it(For example, a medicine check to stabilize death save rolling person). I give a disadvantage if the player already tried the check once, maybe with some risk attached to it.
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