House Rules: Simplification the Autistic Way
Design Philosophy
My goal isn't to complicate games, but to streamline them and improve their worst parts. I try to make every rule change do at least one of the following:
- Provide demonstrable benefit to players while making things move faster and smoother
- Create opportunities for big character moments
- Be written in a way that (hypothetically) if someone chose to opt out of a particular rule they could without affecting others' enjoyment
Philosophy: Authentic Choices Over Survival Anxiety
Your Character Won't Die From One Bad Decision. Period.
Failure Creates Story, Not Endings
Failed rolls create complications that enhance the narrative, not character death. When Dorian touched the cursed cart, he fell unconscious but was easily revived—consequences that enriched rather than ended the story.
Multiple Safety Nets for Terrible Ideas
Before something catastrophic happens, I'll ask for a roll to see if your character realizes the danger. Even if they fail, I'll ask if you're sure. You'll have multiple chances to reconsider.
Death Requires Multiple Conscious Decisions
Character death comes from deliberate choices: entering dangerous combat, refusing retreat opportunities, poor positioning, party decisions, and continued aggression while wounded. Our exhaustion-based system requires 6 Wounds—that's multiple conscious decisions to keep pushing forward.
Make the Choices Your Character Would Make
Don't second-guess yourself or play it safe out of fear. Tell the story that feels authentic. If I ever ask you to say goodbye to a character, it will be because you decided that ending was right for their story.
Resting
Short Rest
1 hour. Roll as many hit dice as you like, one at a time. Requires a relatively safe location where you can catch your breath and tend wounds.
Field Rest
8 hours in a non-safe location. Automatically get maximum value for any rolled hit dice at end of rest. Does not provide Long Rest benefits.
Long Rest
Option A: Sleep in Your Own Bed
Sleep 8 consecutive hours in your permanent home or established residence in Venturia. You gain Long Rest benefits immediately.
Option B: Establish a Safe Haven
Sleep 8 consecutive hours per night in the same location for 3 consecutive nights without actively adventuring (no combat encounters, dangerous exploration, or strenuous activity during this establishment period). After the third night, you gain Long Rest benefits. You continue to gain Long Rest benefits each consecutive night you sleep there, as long as you don't abandon the location for more than 48 hours.
Long Rest Benefits: Recover all HP, Mana, Hit Dice, etc.
Location Categories
Secure Locations
Always allow Long Rests after one 8-hour sleep
- Your permanent home or established residence in Venturia
- Registered inns and lodging houses in Venturia proper
- Protected institutional spaces (VAVA dormitories, Abbey guest quarters, etc.)
Viable Haven Locations
Can become safe havens through 3 consecutive quiet nights
- Friendly NPC homes in Venturia (with permission and while relationship remains intact)
- Rented properties, safehouses, or warehouses in Venturia or safe districts
- Established camps in wilderness areas of Maeve outside hostile territories
- Secured locations in settlements outside Vallombrosa
Forbidden Haven Locations
CANNOT become safe havens regardless of time or effort
- Any location within Vallombrosa's fog boundary
- Active enemy territory or hostile faction strongholds
- Dungeons, ruins, or locations with active supernatural threats
- Any location where malevolent supernatural forces operate
Abandoning or Losing a Safe Haven
A previously established safe haven is lost if:
- You abandon it for more than 48 consecutive hours
- The location is destroyed, structurally compromised, or becomes inaccessible
- Enemies or hostile forces take control of the location
- The location shifts categories (e.g., Vallombrosa's fog expands to consume it)
If a safe haven is lost, you must re-establish it through 3 consecutive quiet nights, or find a new location.
Why This System Exists
The Core Problem
D&D assumes 6-8 encounters per day, but I refuse to pad sessions with meaningless fights. With only 1-2 meaningful encounters per day, players enter each fight at full strength, forcing me to either:
- Make all encounters incredibly deadly (risking constant TPKs)
- Accept easy encounters
- Contrive reasons the party can't rest
How This Fixes It:
Unpredictable Difficulty — The same encounter might be trivial when well-rested or deadly after a week without Long Rest.
Natural Pacing — Story creates resource pressure organically. "You're in hostile territory" naturally explains why Long Rests aren't available.
Geography Drives Challenge — I design encounters based on what should be at a location, not what will challenge the party. You decide how to navigate them.
Meaningful Decisions — "We'll just sleep it off" isn't always an option, but Field Rests prevent operating on fumes.
Heroic Reactions: A Better Way
Choose any spell/ability with a reaction component, OR one of these:
⚔ INTERPOSE
When a creature within 10' would be struck, push them out of the way and become the target. You enter their space, moving them to an adjacent space of your choice.
⚔ OPPORTUNITY ATTACK
When an adjacent enemy willingly moves away, make a melee attack with disadvantage.
Only heroes can make opportunity attacks—monsters cannot.
⚔ HELP
Grant an ally advantage on a roll if you can explain how you help.
- Automatic advantage: Help is straightforward and within helper's skillset
- Requires check: Help is creative/risky OR outside helper's normal expertise
- Not allowed: No plausible way to help in the fiction
Limit: One Help reaction per roll.
⚔ ASSESS
Make DC 15 skill check to learn about enemy weakness, ability, plans, environment, story, etc.
DM answers honestly. Limited to reasonably discernible information, though combat may spark unexpected insights. Tie goes to the player.
Limit: One Assess per player per combat encounter.
Dying: Your Way
When You Drop to 0 HP
- Gain 1 Point of Exhaustion
- Gain Dying condition until you regain HP
- No unconsciousness. No death saves.
Dying Condition Effects
- You act normally on your turn (action, bonus action, movement)
- Concentration broken
- DC 10 Con Save or take 1 Point of Exhaustion when taking an action or bonus action that does not heal you.
- Taking damage causes 2 Points of Exhaustion (3 on crit)
The Exhaustion System
This Exhaustion system is in addition to, NOT in place of, the 2024 edition exhaustion mechanics. A player will also subtract 2x their Exhaustion points from all D20 tests and have their movement reduced by 5 feet per point of Exhaustion. A PC dies at 6 points of Exhaustion.
Recovery: 1 Exhaustion point recovered per Long Rest.
Additional House Rules
Player vs Player Combat
Direct PvP not permitted except as part of in-world contests.
PCs may attack/counter-attack each other to further the story. Combat concludes once it serves its narrative purpose—preferably decided by involved players, but DM has final discretion.
Post-game private chat required to ensure hostility stays with characters, not players.
Player vs Player Insight Checks
Permitted. One player rolls Insight, the other rolls Deception (if lying) or Persuasion (if telling truth). The roller decides which, and the table isn't told.
Spell Components
Only components with gold cost are physically required.
Group Checks
For group activities only. Majority pass/fail.
NAT 20/NAT 1 counts as 2 successes/failures.
Individual Checks
Generally limited to 1 party member unless reasonable assistance offered.
With assistance: Choose between one roll with Advantage OR each rolls independently.
If rolling with Advantage, DM determines who rolls based on who does the heavy lifting.
Untimed Skill Checks
If there's no time limit and the PC is capable, the check determines how long it takes and if complications arise.
- Rogue picking their liquor cabinet lock: Succeeds even on NAT 1, but may take 3 hours and discover they're out of cognac
- Rogue picking the Imperatrix's lock: NAT 1 may break picks and jam the lock, preventing future attempts
Miscellaneous Rules
- Trance resting: Must occur in same general area for duration
- No flanking
- Max HP at odd levels, average/rolled at even levels
- NAT 20 on skill check: Best possible outcome (not auto-succeed)
- NAT 1 on skill check: Auto-fail, even with high bonuses (Reliable Talent usually prevents this, but DM may impose consequences)
- Spell Scrolls: Anyone may attempt with DC 12 Arcana Check. Scroll consumed regardless of success.