Grunghack
A collection of cohesive houserules for a better 5e experience
v0.01
Character Creation
Use the following array for attributes: 16, 14, 12, 11, 10, 8
Instead of choosing a Race, choose an Origin.
Instead of choosing a Background, choose one of the following:
- two skill proficiencies
- one skill proficiency, one tool proficiency, and one tool set
- one skill proficiency, one tool proficiency, and 30sp
Origin
Taken from the Empire Dissolved homebrew campaign world featuring storm cult assassins, seafaring catfolk traders, and nomadic Heirax hawk-men learning to carve out a place after the chaotic implosion of the Bairax empire into warring successor states. This is the birth of a new order, with every half-serious warlord staking their wild claim and seizing it with arms. Boomtowns have been set up on the periphery, and ancient Imperial treasures have been looted or, in one case, turned into experimental weaponry! Opportunities abound for the creative and adventurous.
Anwen
Sturdy, durable, and very hairy. Long and powerful upper body strength makes up for their short legs. Can have extremely loud voices. Obligate vegetarians.
Iron Fortitude: You are resistant to poison damage. You have advantage on any saving throws against poison or disease.
Infravision: When it would otherwise be pitch dark, you can see the heat patterns of objects and others.
Deep Breath: You can hold your breath twice as long as standard, and have advantage on saves to avoid asphyxiating.
Bairax
Orc-faced humanoids, on average tall and broad. Facial tusks are common. They have especially thick skulls and broad necks. Thick hair around the head and chest, less so elsewhere.
Relentless: When you would be reduced below zero hit points and you currently have more than one hit points, instead set your hit points to one.
Willful: You have advantage on Charisma saves.
Dray
Humanoid rodents, usually around 3 feet tall.
Fleet-footed: Your movement speed increases by 5 feet.
Lucky: Whenever you roll a 1 on a d20 roll, you may reroll the result. You must take that reroll.
Heirax
Birdfolk. Hawkpeople are the most common. Their wings end in hands and they are covered in feathers. Their plumage can be nearly any color or pattern.
Glide: You can choose to glide instead of fall. When you do, you take no damage from the fall and can choose your landing.
Lightweight: You have advantage on Athletics checks related to jumping.
Lithe: You have advantage on Dexterity saves.
Hinthan
Cat-people. Northern Hinthan are like bipedal lions, southerners are more like cheetahs or panthers. Long sinuous tail and sturdy claws. Piercing eyes.
Climbing: You have a climbing speed equal to half of your movement speed.
Sharp Eyes: You have advantage on Perception checks involving sight.
Natural Weapons: Your claws are sharp and retractable, and count as Light weapons of your size.
Tikan
Wolf / dog people. Covered head to toe in short fur. Urban Tikan tend to be larger and more physically strong, rural (feral) Tikan tend to be wiry and even gaunt. Long snouts and prominent noses. Their dull claws are good for grip but useless in a fight.
Unflinching: You have advantage on saves to resist charm and fear effects.
Sensitive Nose: You have advantage on Investigation and Insight checks when you can use your sense of smell.
Sinewy: You count as a creature one size larger when considering carrying capacity and the amount of weight you can push, pull, and drag.
Origin V2
From the Edge of Creation homebrew campaign setting about the clash between old and new as the new Gods, having recently overthrown the Primordials, set about reshaping creation itself to their liking. Their tools are typically Champions, who are imbued with divine purpose and whose actions shape the land itself. This is a wild land of demigods and ancient hoards, overgrown ruins and forgotten knowledge.
Goliath
You're descended from the mythical Goliaths- or at least, you claim to be. In the end, they're all fairly similar- whether they're the boar-faced orcs, the one-eyed ogres, or the malignant gnoll.
Typical Goliaths: Half-giants, ronin ogres, orcs, loxodon
Large Build- You count as a creature one size larger when considering carrying capacity and the amount of weight you can push, pull, and drag.
Tenacious- When you would be reduced below zero hit points and you currently have at least 1 hit point, instead set your hit points to zero.
Toughness- You have +3 maximum hit points at first level.
Imp
One of the world's many flying diminuitive races. Inquisitive and often disruptive, they can be found in secluded colonies or in the middle of bustling cities.
Typical Imps: Sprites, fairy dragons, mephits, voidlings
Clumsy Flying- You can fly at your normal walking speed. While flying, your carrying capacity is reduced by half.
Miniscule- You are size Small. You decrease your Hit Die and damage dice by one size, and increase your Defense by 2.
Lucky- Whenever you roll a 1 on a d20, you may reroll that die. You must take the rerolled result.
Dwarf
You are a stocky creature from a subterranean home. Many of your kind have never seen the light of day, or would not care to. A not insignificant slice, however, have left and would not go back!
Darkvision: If you are a Dwarf with Darkvision, you have limited sight in the dark. You can see heat- a warm body against a cold background, or a cold pool of water among damp dungeon stones. You cannot see color.
Lantern-Light: If you are a Dwarf with Lantern Light, you constantly glow with a lantern's light as long as you are alive. By using special caps or cloths, you can hide your light from others temporarily.
Iron Fortitude: All Dwarves have Iron Constitution, and are are resistant to poison damage and have advantage on saving throws against disease.
Home
Where you're from makes all the difference in the endless labyrinthine depths.
Fortified City: You are a half-living, half-created sentinel made of stone and iron and infused with the soul of a stalwart warrior. Your true essence is carried inside a soul gem, which is guarded in your chest cavity by your combustion chamber. Your memories come back to you as you age- young sentinels awaken with almost no memories, whereas ancient sentinels have the memories of many generations at their almost total recall. Your eyes burn with a light that pierces the darkness and your lack of physical organs tends to minimze the effectiveness of venoms and even magical diseases. You have Darkvision and Iron Fortitude.
Slime Pit: You are a starved wretch, who clambered out of some of the most miserable living conditions in the known world. You can live off meager scraps of food and can tolerate the muddiest of waters. You have bulbous eyes that can see in the dark, and an overworked immune system has rendered you resistant to all but the most dire poisons. You have Darkvision and Iron Fortitude.
Hell Realm: A flaming beard and coal-black eyes mark a hell-smith as much as their eternal servitude into demonic armies. However, sometimes one of these golden-skinned folk will be sent to the surface to negotiate, to act as couriers, to curry favor, or to trade. Sometimes, one of these crafters will simply leave and find a way in a surface society. They lose a lot of their magical power, so far from the deep geothermal heat that they are used to, but lose none of their toughness. Their inner heat burns away most sickness, venom, and filth, and their burning bodies radiate enough dim light that the darkness never touches them. You have Lantern Light and Iron Fortitude
Elf
Slender and androgynous, elves are long-lived and agile. They tend to be a little more fore-sighted than humans, and thus tend to live alongside nature rather than attempting to be above it.
Typical Elves: Wood, High, Dark, Moon, Silver
Cantrip: Choose Wizard, Druid, or Bard. Gain one cantrip from that class' spell list, and use that class' casting attribute as that spell's casting attribute.
Deep Breath: You can hold your breath for twice as long as standard.
Fleet-Footed: Your movement speed increases by 5 feet.
Exiled
You come from a blasted and broken land, the sole survivor of a desolated tribe or a shattered kingdom.
Typical Exiles: Troll errant, gaunt wanderer, albino sorcerer
Hazards of Home: Choose one of the following damage types: Fire, Cold, Thunder, Acid. You are resistant to that type of damage.
Scars from Home: Choose one of the following damage types: Radiant, Necrotic, or Psychic. When you take damage of that type, you take one additional point of damage.
Trance: You do not sleep. Instead, you enter a meditative resting state. If you meditate in this way for four hours, you gain all the benefits of a full 8 hour sleep.
Game Rules
Skills
Each of your skills has a passive value equal to 5 + that skill's primary attribute + your proficiency bonus (if any).
Any time you would make a skill roll whose DC is lower than your passive value in that skill, you succeed automatically.
If the DC is higher, then you roll 1d10 and add your passive skill value. If your result is higher than the DC, you succeed.
Example: My 1st level character has a strength bonus of 1 and is proficient in Athletics. My passive Athletics score is 5 (base) + 2 (proficiency) + 1 (attribute) = 8.
If I had no proficiency bonus and no attribute bonus, my passive score would be 5.
Skill DC Chart
| DC | Difficulty | % @ +5 | % @ +10 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | easy | 80% | 100% |
| 10 | normal | 60% | 100% |
| 12 | tricky | 50% | 90% |
| 15 | difficult | 10% | 60% |
| 18 | very difficult | 0% | 30% |
| 20 | nearly impossible | 0% | 10% |
Weaponry
Ignore the 5e weapon listings, and instead use the following method:
A medium weapon is a weapon that can be wielded in one hand by a medium size creature. Medium weapons deal 1d6 damage.
Large weapons can be wielded in two hand by a medium sized creature, or in one hand by a large creature. Large weapons deal 1d8 damage.
A small weapon is considered Light in the hands of a medium creature, and can be used in the off-hand. Small weapons deal 1d4 damage.
If you wield a weapon in two hands, increase its die size by one.
Additionally, if you are a class trained in martial weapons (Fighter, Paladin, Barbarian, etc), you increase all these die sizes further by one, as an additional class feature.
A weapon is considered Light if it is at least one size smaller than your size.
A Finesse weapon uses Dexterity in place of Strength for both attack and damage.
For example, a peasant takes up arms against a goblin. Her medium-sized broadsword will deal 1d6 damage. Later, a trained Fighter takes up her blade. In their hands, it will deal 1d8 damage.
Still later, a goblin looter discovers the broadsword. Unlike the Fighter, this goblin will wield this medium weapon in two hands and will deal 1d10 damage in melee with it.
Convert weapons from other sources similarly.