Optional Rules:  Rolling for Ability Scores   

Back in the day, there was no system for "buying" ability scores in Dungeons & Dragons.  You had three six-sided dice and you rolled them and added the numbers together.  That was your Strength score.  Then you continued down the list, in order (which back then was Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity, Constitution, Charisma), with no substitutions and no re-rolls.  And then you figured out what character classes you "qualified" for, based on those numbers.  It was kind of a risk!  And, at the same time, it wasn't, because invariably when I showed up to run a game, everyone would mysteriously have rolled a lot of 18s...  It was an adolescent system for an adolescent game, and that was fine at the time.

The "new school" games, as I am calling them, really wanted characters to be legitimately more powerful, not just "randomly" more powerful (meaning that you rolled characters up over and over again until you got the one you wanted).  Moreover, they wanted to spread out the bell curve of a 3d6 roll so that the middle ground was more interesting. Instead of bonuses starting at 15, they started at 12, for example.  The point-buy system had an enormous impact on the game.  From a gamemaster standpoint, it meant that I didn't have to worry as much about players complaining that their character was useless, or that someone else's character was over-powered.  It also meant that low scores were valuable, because they were used to directly offset high scores.  Granted, under the holdover 3-18 scale, odd numbers were significantly less valuable, but could at least be seen as potential for growth when you were able to (gasp!) increase your ability scores as you leveled up.  It put power over character creation into the hands of the player.

But, admittedly, point-buy is kind of boring for some folks.  There's only a few ways to optimize it, and it becomes very clear for experienced players how to do that, depending on what they want to build.  In the meantime, new players who haven't memorized feat requirements and spell charts often feel like they are making less-optimal characters, and that can feel a bit like a trap for the unwary.  As much as I love complex games, I like them more when there are many different ways to play and succeed.

One way I have addressed this in my house rules is by getting rid of some of the more onerous and unnecessary feat requirements.  But I've also come up with an (optional) system for folks who would like to roll their ability scores.

Rolling as a Group

Everyone in the party starts out as just about average, with exactly a 10 in every ability score.  Gather together 7d6 of one color, and 2d6 of another color, and roll them as a group.  You may choose someone to roll, or distribute the dice however you'd like.  Don't give any to me, I have terrible dice luck.  Everyone shares all of the resulting dice rolls.  (It is easier if each player takes their own d6 and sets them to the same numbers as those rolled by the group).  This means that everyone should have seven positive dice (the first color) and two negative dice (the second color) with the same numbers on them.  Each player may now place those dice on any ability score of 10, to raise or lower it.

• Positive dice raise an ability score.
• Negative dice lower an ability score.
• Dice cannot be divided between two or more scores (e.g., a six cannot be divided into two threes).
• Multiple dice can be added to the same score.
• You don't have to put a die on a score at all, you can leave it as 10.
• Positive and negative numbers cancel each other out.
• And finally, at the end, any ability score lower than 3 becomes a 3, and any ability score higher than 18 becomes an 18.

To give an example:  the party rolls the following numbers:

• Positive dice:  6, 5, 3, 3, 2, 2, 1
• Negative dice:  -5, -3

I decide that I want a high Constitution, so I add the 6 to my base of 10, giving me a 16.  I'm okay with a low Charisma, but not too low.  I add the -5 to my base of 10, but I also add a 3, for a total Charisma of 8.  I don't want another low score, so I put both the -3 and the 5 on Strength, giving me a 12.  I place both a 3 and a 2 on Dexterity, so that becomes a 15.  Finally, I have a 2 and a 1 left over, which I place on Wisdom and Intelligence.  My final ability scores are Str 12, Con 16, Dex 15, Wis 12, Int 11, Cha 8.

The other players use the same numbers, but they make their own decisions about where to place the dice.  One player may not want to have any scores below 10.  Their ability scores may end up as: 16, 13, 12, 12, 11, 10, 10.  Another player may want to maximize a few scores.  They may end up with something like: 18, 18, 10, 10, 10, 8.

How the System Encourages Good Story

First, rolling dice together and sharing in good luck (or bad) is a bonding experience for the players.  Add to that the fact that they know they are all starting out with the same potential advantages and disadvantages, and it further brings the party together.  This method is especially useful when the players have a shared origin, such as all being from the same small town.  You could even further gamify the character creation process if you wanted, having each individual die roll represent a formative year in their lives (feast or famine), and having each player describe how that changed their character for better or for worse.

Second, moving numbers around is more satisfactory when it is tangible.  When you actually have physical dice to move and play with, it feels less like calculating and more like building.  The six-sided dice are literally the building blocks of your character.  Being attached to your character early on is good for producing interesting stories.  Character creation is when players are thinking about motivations, backstory, and other foundations for the beginning of character growth.

Finally, the absence of a curve gives more options for character creation, resulting in different sorts of characters.  In the point buy system used by Pathfinder, for example, the first set of ability scores described above would be worth 20 points.  The second would be worth 18 points, while the third would be worth 32 points!  The point buy system is a curve, because it is modeling the bell curve of the results of a 3d6 roll.  But the ability scores themselves are not valued along a curve any more (as they were in earlier editions of D&D).  Instead, an ability score of 12 is worth +1, 14 is worth +2, 16 is worth +3, and 18 is worth +4: a linear progression.  Having two scores of 18 simply isn't anywhere near 150% more useful than the other sets of ability scores, and it shouldn't cost that much.  What the point buy system does is encourage characters to be somewhat better than average, but not exceptional, at everything (and to not be worse than average at anything).  This method, in contrast, allows more options and strategies for building your character, resulting in characters that are really great at some things, and terrible at others.  It is exactly these sorts of characters that have the most interesting stories.


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Inspiration:  Rogue One    

I have a lot of house rules to talk about, but I wanted to start with something practical that any of you out there running Pathfinder could use.  When I played a lot of Villains & Vigilantes in college, one of the most useful things in the book was a gang of tough, but not super-powered, street hoods called the Nicotines.  Every time we needed a bunch of normal types to fight, or thugs that worked for the super villain, we'd bring out the Nicotines, just with different names and outfits.  Having stats for NPCs that can be used in all sorts of situations is helpful, so here are some that are inspired by the movie Rogue One.

One of the great things about Pathfinder is that it allows for an incredible amount of character customization.  You can have, for example, six characters, most of which have the same character class, race, and level, and still tweak them to have different skills and personalities in play.  The major tool that Pathfinder uses for this is the archetype, which I'll be talking (a lot) about in future posts.  However, there are an overwhelming number of archetypes to choose from, and utilizing them with making NPCs can be time consuming.  I've done some of that work for you, so that the next time you need some first level rogues, you have an assortment to choose from.

[Minor spoilers for Rogue One follow!]

Jyn Erso

Jyn is the inspiration for the group, and its leader into dangerous territory.  Her primary skill is her agility, especially her exceptional climbing ability.

Human Rogue 1 (Acrobat)
Neutral Good, Medium, Humanoid
Init +3, Perception +3

Str 14, Dex 16, Con 10, Int 12, Wis 8, Cha 14

AC 16, touch 14, flat-footed 12 (+2 armor, +3 Dex, +1 dodge)
HP 4 (1d8)
Fort +0, Ref +6, Will -1

Speed 30 ft.
Base Atk +0; CMB +2; CMD 15

Melee: club +2 (1d6+2 damage, x2 critical)
Ranged: lt. crossbow +3 (1d8 damage, 19-20 x2 critical)

Feats and Abilities:  Sneak Attack +1d6, Expert Acrobat, Catch Off-Guard, Dodge

Skills: Acrobatics +7, Bluff +6, Climb +6, Diplomacy +6, Disguise +6, Knowledge (local) +5, Knowledge (religion) +5, Perception +3, Stealth +7, Use Magic Device +6

Combat Gear:  club, lt. crossbow, leather armor, disguise kit, holy symbol

Cassian Andor

Cassian is a spy for the rebellion and is willing to perform dark deeds for the cause he believes in.  He is skilled in deceit and in the use of heavy ranged weapons.

Human Rogue 1 (Spy)
Neutral, Medium, Humanoid
Init +3, Perception +4

Str 14, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 8, Wis 10, Cha 12

AC 15, touch 13, flat-footed 12 (+2 armor, +3 Dex)
HP 6 (1d8+2)
Fort +2, Ref +6, Will +0

Speed 30 ft.
Base Atk +0; CMB +2; CMD 15

Melee: dagger +2 (1d4+2 damage, 19-20 x2 critical)
Ranged: hvy. crossbow +3 (1d10 damage, 19-20 x2 critical)

Feats and Abilities:  Sneak Attack +1d6, Skilled Liar, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot

Skills:  Bluff +6, Climb +6, Disguise +5, Escape Artist +7, Handle Animal +5, Knowledge (local) +3, Perception +4, Stealth +7

Combat Gear:  dagger, hvy. crossbow, leather armor, disguise kit

K-2SO

K-2SO is a droid, and Pathfinder has rules for androids if they fit into your game world.  K is very intelligent, but lacks the ability to do some things which come easily to humans, such as lying.  Note:  Folks who have seen the movie might guess why I chose Juggler as K-2SO’s archetype.

Android Rogue 1 (Juggler)
Neutral, Medium, Humanoid
Init +2, Perception +7, Darkvision, Low-Light Vision

Str 14, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 16, Wis 12, Cha 6

AC 16, touch 14, flat-footed 12 (+4 armor, +2 Dex)
HP 5 (1d8+1)
Fort +1, Ref +6, Will +1

Speed 30 ft.
Base Atk +0; CMB +2; CMD 14

Melee: dagger +2 (1d4+2, 19-20 x2 critical)
Ranged: dagger, thrown +2 (1d4+2, 19-20 x2 critical)

Feats and Abilities:  Constructed, Emotionless, Nanite Surge, Sneak Attack +1d6, Trapfinding +1, Deflect Arrows

Skills:  Appraise +7, Disable Device +6, Handle Animal +2, Intimidate +2, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +7, Knowledge (engineering) +4, Knowledge (geography) +4, Knowledge (planes) +4, Linguistics +7, Perception +7, Sense Motive +1

Combat Gear:  chain shirt, thieves’ tools

Chirrut Imwe

A former temple guard, Chirrut is not a Jedi, but believes strongly in the Force.  I have given him arcane magic to represent the skills he seems to use in the movie.  Additionally tricky is the fact that Pathfinder has little support for blind spellbook users, but that is a post for another day.

Human Rogue 1 (Eldritch Scoundrel)
Lawful Good, Medium, Humanoid
Init +7, Perception +7

Str 14, Dex 16, Con 8, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 10

AC 13, touch 13, flat-footed 10 (+3 Dex)
HP 3 (1d8-1)
Fort -1, Ref +6, Will +3

Speed 30 ft.
Base Atk +0; CMB +2; CMD 15

Melee:  quarterstaff +2 (1d6+2, x2 critical)
Ranged: hvy. crossbow +3 (1d10, x2 critical)

Feats and Abilities:  Sneak Attack +1d6, trapfinding +1, Blind-Fight, Improved Initiative

Skills:  Acrobatics +7, Heal +7, Knowledge (arcana) +5, Perception +7, Sense Motive +7

Spells:  detect magic, true strike

Combat Gear:  quarterstaff, hvy. crossbow

Baze Malbus

We don’t know much about Baze, as compared to the other characters, other than the fact that he is a mercenary and a devoted partner of Chirrut.  I decided to focus on his toughness as his primary attribute.

Human Rogue 1
Lawful Neutral, Medium, Humanoid
Init +2, Perception +5

Str 14, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 8

AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14 (+4 armor, +2 Dex)
HP 7 (1d8+3)
Fort +3, Ref +5, Will +1

Speed 30 ft.
Base Atk +0; CMB +2; CMD 14
Melee: dagger +2 (1d4+2, 19-20 x2 critical)
Ranged: longbow (composite +2) +2 (1d8+2, x3 critical)

Feats and Abilities:  Sneak Attack +1d6, trapfinding +1, Endurance, Diehard

Skills:  Climb +4, Disable Device +4, Heal +5, Intimidate +3, Knowledge (local) +4, Perception +5, Sense Motive +5, Stealth +6, Survival +2

Combat Gear:  dagger, longbow, chain shirt, thieves’ tools

Bodhi Rook

Bodhi is a pilot, which is hard to translate into a fantasy world, but his main strengths seem to come from his knowledge of Imperial protocol and technology.

Human Rogue 1
Chaotic Good, Medium, Humanoid
Init +3, Perception +5

Str 10, Dex 16, Con 8, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 14

AC 15, touch 13, flat-footed 12 (+2 armor, +3 Dex)
HP 3 (1d8-1)
Fort -1, Ref +6, Will +1

Speed 30 ft.
Base Atk +0; CMB +0; CMD 13

Melee:  dagger +0 (1d4 damage, 19-20 x2 critical)
Missile:  lt. crossbow +3 (1d8 damage, 19-20 x2 critical)

Feats and Abilities:  Sneak Attack +1d6, trapfinding +1, Deft Hands, Fleet

Skills:  Bluff +6, Disable Device +9, Disguise +6, Handle Animal +6, Knowledge (engineering) +6, Knowledge (local) +6, Knowledge (planes) +6, Perception +5, Sense Motive +5, Sleight of Hand +9, Stealth +7

Combat Gear:  dagger, lt. crossbow, leather armor, thieves’ tools


This blog is funded by my Patreon! All proceeds are donated toward making gaming a more fun and more diverse place! Thank you so much to all my Patrons! https://www.patreon.com/openhouserules

So, What is a Roleplaying Game?   

Many RPG books start with this question.  They may compare roleplaying to when we played "make-believe" as children, or to improvisational theater, or to the collaboration between the director and actors in a movie.  We all know how to roleplay and we all know how to tell stories.  Some roleplaying games are as simple as those two things:  Tell a story.  Roleplay one of the characters in the story while you are telling it.  And then there is Dungeons & Dragons...

Dungeons & Dragons, as many people now know, started out as a tabletop war game, to which roleplaying was added.  Over time, through generations of D&D and spin-off games such as the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, roleplaying was defined as something you do on top of playing another game.  Later innovations in roleplaying flipped that on its head:  Let's roleplay first, they suggested, and then maybe add some game elements on top of it to make it more interesting.

As a game designer, I like to keep both things in mind.  The storytelling that is "make-believe" and the game that is rolling dice and making moves.  Here's how I think about that.

You have a character, an imaginary person that you have made up.  And you are interacting with the imaginary characters that the other players have made up, as well as the imaginary world that one or more of the players has made up.  You have some goals, set by the players together, based on the kind of story you want to tell.  Let's say in this game, your goal is to cross a dangerous mountain pass to see what is on the other side.

Anything that you want your character to do:  "I put on my boots and start walking," "I find a map of the pass so that we don't get lost," up to "I cast a teleportation spell so that I instantly appear on the other side of the mountains" or "I decide that crossing through the dangerous pass is too hard, so instead I open a bed and breakfast on this side of the mountain" is limited by two things:

Story limitations:  The goal is to tell a good story.  Is your character's action making the story better?

Game limitations:  The goal is to play a game.  Does your character's action follow the rules of the game?

A well-designed roleplaying game makes those two things mesh together seamlessly.  When you follow the rules of the game, you are more likely to tell a good story.  When you tell a good story, you are helped, not hindered, by the rules of the game.

What you want, and what I want, in a story and in a game, may be different.  This is why we have so many excellent roleplaying games to choose from.  By deciding that we are all going to play a particular game, we can all have the same expectations about what is going to be fun for all of us.

Third Edition Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder

I've played a lot of roleplaying games, but for me, Dungeons & Dragons Third Edition, and subsequently Pathfinder, hit the sweet spot for what I want in a story and what I want in a game.  I like fantasy stories.  I like heroism.  I like players working together toward a common goal, one that often involves a lot of sword-fighting.  Those are the kinds of stories that I like to tell.  I also like complicated games, with dice and math.  I like building a character in a way that expresses a three-dimensional personality while, at the same time, being incredibly deadly with sword or a spell.  I like putting together a strategy and then seeing if it works.  I like starting out as the lowly underdog, and then growing in power until I become a legend.  And I'm certainly not the only one, given the popularity of these games.

However, Dungeons & Dragons has moved away from some of the things that I really loved about Third Edition.  Character building options have become more limited.  The game doesn't seem to change as much between the beginning and the end of a long campaign.  Fifth Edition is certainly simpler to play, but it doesn't speak to me like Third did.  It's not what I love.

Pathfinder was designed for folks who still loved Third Edition, while realizing that the publishers of D&D had moved on to other ideas.  Pathfinder has two amazing things going for it, in addition to being built on the rule structure of D&D: 

First, it is built with the Open Game License, which means that anyone can design for it.  Second, Paizo, Pathfinder's publisher, creates a treasure-trove of content in the form of Adventure Paths.  Pathfinder is certainly the game that I have played the most of for the past five years, and I suspect will continue to be for the next.

Open House Rules

This blog will contain my house rules for Pathfinder, which have evolved into their own game entirely.  Everything here will be designed to be compatible with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.  And everything will be modular, meaning that you can take what you like, and leave behind what you don't.

Here are some things I'd like to include:

• Replacement systems for discrete parts of the game, such as the alignment system or the hit point and recovery system.
• Tools to manage the enormous bulk of rules that are now contained in the Pathfinder System Reference Document.
• Individual feats, monsters, spells, and items that are easy to add into your Pathfinder campaign.
• Packages of material for running a particular adventure or genre of adventure.
• Adventure ideas, seeds, non-player characters, and other helpful items for a gamemaster.
• Thoughts on game design and why things work the way that they do, and how they might work better a different way.
• Ways to mitigate and eliminate some of the unfortunate detritus of a game system that has not aged well with respect to how it handles issues of gender and race, among other things.
• Advice for particular problems that players and gamemasters may encounter.

Everything here is free for you to use in your own personal game.  I retain the copyright to anything on this blog that exists outside of the Open Game License.

This blog is funded by Patreon.  100% of the proceeds from this blog will be donated toward the goal of increasing diversity and fun in the roleplaying community.  Thank you so much for your kind support.

And to everyone, welcome to my blog!  Thank you so much for reading!

Some Disclaimers

Paizo Publishing, LLC does not guarantee compatibility with any content appearing in, and does not endorse, this blog.  Pathfinder is a registered trademark of Paizo Publishing, LLC.  All materials published through this blog are my own copyright, with the exception of any materials that may be considered to be covered under the Open Game License, which are declared Open Game Content as described in Section 1(d) of the Open Game License Version 1.0a.  A copy of the Open Game License and collected copyright information is available here.