House rules are a ubiquitous part of TTRPG tables, in particular Dungeons & Dragonsbecause they help players and Dungeon Masters find “common ground” to make the gaming experience much more enjoyable for both sides of the table. In an ideal world, homebrew mechanics make campaigns unique as they introduce new rules and perhaps even lore openings – adding “refresh” to their sessions. Unfortunately, not all house rules are created equal – and some become very detrimental to the overall experience.
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In fact, there are only a few Dungeons & Dragons homebrew options that can become quite a head scratcher for players – especially when they don't feel like they “fit” into their games. Some mechanics are also considered by some to be somewhat disruptive to the experience, even if they don't seem that obvious at first glance.
Alignment Roleplaying can be a pain
Alignments can restrict characters to a certain style
Alignment remains one of the most controversial mechanics D&D, especially in older editions, when this trait played a greater role in campaigns that featured deities controlling precise portfolios and aspects of good, evil, chaos, and order in the world. In some games, Alignment is a significant part of a character's story – and when roleplaying, the player must ensure that their character stays true to their stated alignment unless the story dictates otherwise. Some tables may even penalize unfaithful roleplaying, as some DMs might say it causes characters to remain unfaithful to their premise and background.
However, there is a reason why the Revised Rules for 2024 no longer include alignments – because they are not meant to be played to the letter. The characters in the story are meant to go through journeys of learning, regardless of whether that means achieving some form of lesson or not. “Punishing” characters for not playing according to their intended alignment (whether the players could or not) can be a quick fix for players who just want to be around to see their characters develop, or find it hard to roleplay in general.
Respecting the critical
It's hard to dive in if there's a “guaranteed” win or loss
What to do with a critical roll or critical failure remains one of the most contentious debates in TTRPGs, especially in D&D, where crits play a large role in combat and skill checks. Normally, a critical hit means a guaranteed hit or an impressive display of talent, while a critical miss often results in a bad – often cracking – laugh. However, there is a homebrew rule where rolling advantage or disadvantage favors any critical result no matter what the other dice are.
On the face of it, it looks great – a critical hit can lead to an even better roll at advantage, or even save characters in distress at disadvantage. However, this can be especially frustrating on a Natural 1 roll, as it replaces any higher roll. The homebrew rule of following a critical can make rolls less encouraging, especially when some character traits may have given them an advantage or disadvantage against some checks.
Settlement by milestone only
Going into a session knowing there is no way to level up is frustrating
Considered an alternative to the somewhat more boring XP-based leveling system, milestone-based leveling simply meant that characters could only level up after they had achieved something big or reached a specific story milestone. This eliminated any need for a lengthy grind against monsters, plus it emphasized the story. For campaigns that had limited visits or wanted to speed up progress.
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However, DMs often forget to adjust the milestones they want for each level, which can turn players off completely when they realize they can't meet that often but only reach the next level in a few months. If the campaign hadn't dried up by then, the party would see no reason to push the story as it might try to rush things. This carries the risk that milestone-based leveling will create players who won't be as invested in the story as they will be after settling the main plots to be at the desired level.
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Find all 10 pairs
Natural 20s always successful
Extreme happiness must be limited
The occasional epic moment that comes with Natural 20 can always make a roll – whether it's combat or control – very exciting, especially when fighting a boss or attempting a Hail Mary. It is often in these moments that happiness becomes a crutch and things become memorable because they are not easily attainable because we know how difficult it is to get Natural 20 in a “normal” time. However, Natural 20 will always lead to success can quickly destroy campaigns, especially when they are enforced at rather unlikely moments – such as gags that interrupt serious scenes, or an improbable script that forces good stories to end prematurely.
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Such a rule change to a popular house mechanic may upset players, as many tables may have already used this house rule to facilitate naturally epic non-combat moments. However, players also need to consider that forcing successes on Natural 20 (and by extension big flops on Natural 1) can turn improbable moments and skill checks into reality and can destroy a certain level of tension or stakes in the long run.
Critical Fumble Tables Make Rolls Punishing
Failing “this hard” can discourage skill checks from being made
Although potentially useful, Natural 1 games have an exclusive list of how scary crashes can occur, they have a high chance of killing the fun on the tables very quickly. After all, this means that players who roll often have more chances to suffer errors – such as fighters who get more attacks, brigands who can place sneak attacks in different parts of the round, and monks who can use bonus actions for more hits.
Players can choose not to make checks or try to get an easy way out of fights, as the prospect of a critical fumble table determining how “bad” the situation is can only rub salt in the wound. After all, the luck of the roll – something players can't control – shouldn't be punished with extreme prejudice.
Sneak attacks once per Rogue Turn
This Ace In The Hole is exactly what makes Rogue special
Sneak Attacks remain the ace in the hole for Rogues, specifically their traits. At base, Rogues deal 1d6 damage per target if they have advantage on a roll using a ranged weapon or finesse – something that scales as they level up. Not only that, the advantage claim is void if an ally is adjacent to the target. The main caveat is that sneak attacks can only be done once per turn – as is everywhere Rogue gets her turn, including attacks of opportunity and prepared actions.
However, there is a house rule that a sneak attack must be made on the Rogue's own turn – meaning it cannot be inserted into attacks of opportunity or as a ready action. Rogue's Sneak Attack already requires a lot of variables to trigger, so adding another limiter that can only trigger during Rogue's turn can severely underpowered it. After all, the point of Rogue is to exploit opportunities outside of their turn, so limiting their most important ace in the hole to only their turn destroys Rogue's theme.
Crossbow shots every second
Already using the crossbow can be absurdly difficult
Crossbows are often presented as fairly new inventions in most D&D campaigns, so it's no surprise that there's a bit of a caveat when using them. The Loading property in both the 2014 and 2024 rules indicates that a loading weapon can fire one round of either an action, a bonus action, or a reaction—regardless of the number of attacks the wielder can make. The only way around this is with the Crossbow Expert feature.
However, there is a homebrew that basically integrates reloading into your own turn, usually because of the effort of trying to do it in real life. Doing this to a crossbow can severely limit its potential as a ranged weapon, as players are advised to stick to bows. After all, why bother with a weapon that makes you skip an entire round that deals a similar level of damage to a simpler counterpart? This eliminates the point of the new technology as it just made it more difficult for players to use it.
- Created by
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E. Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson
- Film
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Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
