Homebrew 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons rules for Fly’s campaigns.
- Characters have max hit points at first level
- Rolls for hit points when characters level up are at advantage.
- Hobbits have darkvision with 30 foot range.
- Luck rolls are a re-roll of a d20, can be declared after the missed initial roll
- Characters can choose Feats from the PHB instead of ability score improvement (at 4th level, etc.)
- To identify magic items, characters must make a DC 10 Arcana check after a short or long rest. The attempt can be repeated.
- A natural 20 on an attack roll is NOT automatically a critical hit if the defender has a high armor class. If the adjusted attack roll would not normally hit the defender, the attack still hits, but is not a critical hit. Example: attacker is +4 to hit, rolls a natural 20, for an adjusted attack roll of 24. If the defender’s armor class is 25 or higher, the attack hits, but is not a critical hit.
- Magic armor can adjust its size a bit to fit a specific character well IF it was made for a character of the same size class (small, medium, large, etc.).
- Wizards can copy spells into their spellbooks from scrolls, other wizard’s spellbooks, or a copy of their own spellbook.
- To copy from one’s own spellbook requires 1 hour (per spell level) and 10 gp (per spell level) of materials (ink and spell componenets). [PHB p. 114]
- To copy from a scroll requires 2 hours (per spell level) and 50 gp (per spell level). Wizard must make a DC 10 + spell level Arcana (Intelligence) check to succeed. Either way (success or failure), the scroll is destroyed. [DMG p. 200]
- To copy from another wizard’s spellbook requires 2 hours (per spell level) and 50 gp (per spell level), but no Arcana check.
- Characters can be attuned to as many magic items as they want. There is not a limit of three, as stated in standard 5e rules. Characters still cannot be attuned to more than one item of the same type (e.g. two rings of protection). All other rules related to attunement still apply. [DMG p. 136-138]
Cost of Living
Summary of cost of living expenses from PHB p. 157-8.
| Lifestyle | Total Daily Expenses | Inn Stay (1 night) | Meals (per day) |
| Aristocratic | 10 gp minimum | 4 gp | 2 gp |
| Wealthy | 4 gp | 2 gp | 8 sp |
| Comfortable | 2 gp | 8 sp | 5 sp |
| Modest | 1 gp | 5 sp | 3 sp |
| Poor | 2 sp | 1 sp | 6 cp |
| Squalid | 1 sp | 7 cp | 3 cp |
- Ale: 4 cp for a mug, 2 sp for a gallon
- Wine: pitcher of common wine is 2 sp; a bottle of fine wine is 10 gp
Special Items – Availability
Special items, including acid, alchemist’s fire, antitoxin and holy water are generally available for sale for coins. However, availability may be limited, especially in smaller settlements. This is also the case for the “common” variety of healing potions, silvered weapons and ammunition, and masterwork weapons, armor, ammunition and shields.
- Spend 2 hours searching (one try per day) and roll an Investigation check
- Acid, alchemist’s fire, antitoxin, healing potions and holy water
- DC 10 Investigation check to locate one or more vials; include the Settlement Size Modifier (see table)
- Number of vials found, per day, depends on Settlement Size (see table)
- Wizard’s Write Spell Ink
- DC 14 Investigation check; include the Settlement Size Modifier (see table)
- Number of bottles found, per day, depends on Settlement Size (see table, “ink”)
- Silvered Weapons and Masterwork Armor and Weapons (spend 2 hours searching, once per day)
- Silvered Ammunition: DC 12 Investigation check
- Silvered Weapon or Masterwork Ammunition: DC 14 Investigation check
- Masterwork Weapon or Shield: DC 16 Investigation check
- Masterwork Armor: DC 18 Investigation check
- All Investigation checks include the Settlement Size Modifier (see table)
- Ammunition Quantity: 2d6 pieces + Settlement Size Investigation Modifier of ammo, minimum 1 piece
| Settlement* | Population | Investigation Modifier | # of Vials [ink] | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metropolis | 25,001 + | +1 | 2d3 [2d3] | Baldur’s Gate, Waterdeep |
| Large City | 12,000 – 25,000 | +1 | 2d3 [1d4] | Luskan, Mirabar, Neverwinter |
| Small City | 5,001 – 12,000 | 0 | 1d4 [1d3] | Myth Drannor, Yartar |
| Large Town | 2,001 – 5,000 | -1 | 1d3 [1d2] | Mithral Hall, Skullport, Triboar |
| Small Town | 901 – 2,000 | -2 | 1d2 [1] | Blasingdell, Daggerford, Winterhaven |
| Village | 401 – 900 | -3 | 1 [1] | Phandelin, Port Llast |
| Hamlet | 81 – 400 | -4 | 1 [1] | |
| Thorp | 20 – 80 | -5 | 1 [1] |
* Settlement sizes based on 3e. In 5e (DMG p. 17), there are just three categories: Village (up to 1,000), Town (up to 6,000), and City (up to 25,000)
Equipment Pricing
Masterwork Equipment
- Masterwork weapons cost 150 gp + 10 times the standard price for the specific weapon. Masterwork weapons are +1 on attack rolls, but NOT on damage rolls. A masterwork missile weapon (bow, crossbow, blowgun, etc.) with masterwork ammunition (arrow, bolt, dart, etc.) can get a +2 attack bonus (but not damage).
- Masterwork ammunition costs 5 gp each.
- Masterwork armor and shields cost cost 100 gp + 2 times the standard price for the specific armor/shield.
- Masterwork armor & shield bonuses
- Choose between +1 AC vs. slashing OR bludgeoning OR piercing attacks
- OR, for armor types that cause disadvantage on stealth, that disadvantage is nullified instead of +1 AC vs. slashing/bludgeoning/piercing
- OR, for all types of armor that have a minimum strength requirement, reduce the required strength by one instead of +1 AC vs. slashing/bludgeoning/piercing
Silvered Weapons including Ammunition
- Silvered weapons cost 50 gp + 3 times the standard price for the specific weapon.
- Silvered ammunition costs 2 gp each.
Trading Magic Items on the “Open Market”
- General Rule for Trading Permanent Magic Items
- To get: a permanent magic item of a specific rarity (very rare, rare, uncommon, common)
- Must offer:
- a permanent magic item of the same rarity*
- PLUS, either:
- a permanent magic item of one lower rarity* than the desired permanent item, OR
- an expendable magic item (potion or scroll) of the same rarity* as the desired permanent item
- General Rule for Trading Expendable Magic Items
- To get: an expendable magic item (potion or scroll) of a specific rarity
- Must offer:
- an expendable magic item of the same rarity*
- PLUS an expendable magic item of one lower rarity* than the desired expendable item, OR
- a permanent magic item of two lower rarity* than the desired expendable item
- Must offer:
* or better
To be determined: how much time is required to find a trade, and what are the odds of finding a trade per ??? (day? week? etc.) – factors include size of city in which the trade is sought, rarity of item, etc. Maybe investigation and/or persuasion skill checks.
Time Required & Investigation Checks
- Spend 4 hours searching (one try per day) and roll an Investigation check (must be in a populated area)
- Each successive day incurs a -1 on the Investigation check
- Can only search for 10 days before a Reset
- Reset: no further searching in that locale for 1 month; after that, start fresh
- The Difficulty Class of the Investigation check depends on the rarity of the most rare item involved. The modifier for settlement size (see “Special items – Availability”, above) should be applied.
- Legendary DC 26
- Very Rare DC 24
- Rare DC 22
- Uncommon DC 20
- Common DC 18
- Players can work together to get advantage on the Investigation check roll; using the ability of the PC actually searching for the trade. Any PC qualified and knowledgable enough to search for that item can assist.
Example Trades
- Trade away a +2 hand axe (rare) and a wand of web (uncommon) to get a +2 short sword (rare)
- Trade away a +1 scimitar (uncommon) and a potion of fire breath (uncommon) to get a +1 battleaxe (uncommon)
Starting Equipment at 7th Level
Characters in the “Classic Adventures” campaign will start at 7th level. Here is the list of equipment options, including magic and masterwork and other special items. I scanned three major 5e storylines (Phandelver, Saltmarsh and Yawning Portal) for items that could be acquired by 7th level or so.
- 7,000 gp – Can be spent on anything in the PHB list of equipment.
- Limited quantities of healing potions (up to 7, 1 per level)
- Limited quantities (up to 3 of each) of acid, alchemist’s fire, antitoxin and holy water.
- The gold can also be spent on Masterwork and Silvered Items.
- Unspent gold can be converted to more portable platinum or gems, for a conversion fee of 10% (i.e. you can buy 100 gp-worth of gems or platinum pieces for 110 gp).
- 2 rare or lower (uncommon, common) permanent Magic Items from the table below
- 2 uncommon or lower (common) permanent Magic Items from the table below
- 2 (mix and match) potions (rare or lower) and/or spell scrolls (uncommon, 3rd level or lower)
- 2 (mix and match) potions (rare or lower) and/or spell scrolls (uncommon, 2nd level or lower)
- 2 (mix and match) potions (uncommon or lower) and/or spell scrolls (common, 1st level or lower)
- 2 (mix and match) potions (common) and/or spell scrolls (common, cantrip)
Available Equipment
| Rarity | Magic Items | Potions | Scrolls |
| Common | Magic Statue Pipe of Remembrance | Climbing Healing | Alarm, 1st Bless, 1st Charm Person, 1st Command, 1st Detect Magic, 1st Disguise Self, 1st Entangle, 1st Expeditious Retreat, 1st Faerie Fire, 1st Light, cantrip Mage Armor, 1st Shield, 1st Silent Image, 1st |
| Uncommon | Arrows +1 (20) Bag of Holding Balance of Harmony* Battleaxe +1* Boots of Striding and Springing Cloak of Protection Dagger +1 Dust of Disappearance (3 pinches) Gauntlets of Ogre Power Gloves of Missile Snaring Hat of Disguise Helm of Underwater Action* Longsword +1* Mace +1* Mariner’s Armor Mithral Armor (medium) Night Caller Whistle* Pearl of Power Periapt of Wound Closure Rapier +1 Rod of the Pact Keeper +1 Shield +1 Wand of Entangle Wand of Magic Missiles | Fire Breath Hill Giant Strength Resistance (fire) Water Breathing | Cure Wounds, 2nd* Darkness, 2nd Enlarge/Reduce, 2nd Fireball, 3rd Guiding Bolt, 2nd* Gust of Wind, 2nd Hold Person, 2nd Inflict Wounds, 2nd* Knock, 2nd Melf’s Acid Arrow, 2nd Misty Step, 2nd Lightning Bolt, 3rd Phantasmal Force, 2nd Protection from Poison, 2nd Revivify, 3rd Scorching Ray, 2nd Silence, 2nd Spider Climb, 2nd Web, 2nd |
| Rare | Amulet of Protection from Turning* Bracers of Defense Breastplate +1* Eagle Whistle* Greataxe +2 Mirror of the Past* Quaal’s Feather Tokens (set of all 6 types) Ring of Animal Influence Ring of Protection Ring of Resistance (fire) Ring of Spell Storing Spider Staff* Staff of Defense* Wand of Lightning Bolts | Clairvoyance Elixir of Health Heroism Superior Healing |
Some of the spell scrolls (Cure Wounds, Guiding Bolt, Inflict Wounds) contain 2nd level versions (cast with a 2nd level spell slot) of 1st level spells.
Several magic items in the table above are custom items from specific modules (Eagle Whistle, Pipe of Remembrance, Balance of Harmony, Night Caller Whistle, etc.); not standard items in the DMG. I will add descriptions of them as I get time to do so.
- Amulet of Protection from Turning
- Balance of Harmony
- Battleaxe +1: named “Hew” (dwarvish runes), deals maximum damage when the wielder hits a plant creature or an object made of wood. The axe’s creator was a dwarf smith who feuded with the dryads of a forest where he cut firewood. Whoever carries the axe feels uneasy whenever he or she travels through a forest.
- Breastplate +1: has a gold dragon motif worked into its design. Grants its wearer advantage on saving throws against the breath weapons of creatures that have the dragon type.
- Eagle Whistle
- Helm of Underwater Action: While wearing this brass helmet, you can breathe underwater, you gain dark vision with a range of 60 feet, and you gain a swimming speed of 30 feet.
- Longsword +1: does an extra 2d6 damage to plants
- Longsword +1 “Shatterspike”: if it hits an object, the hit is automatically critical, and deals bludgeoning or slashing damage (your choice) to the object. Damage from non-magical sources cannot harm the weapon.
- Mace +1: a hit on an object is automatically a critical hit
- Mace +1 Lightbringer: made for a cleric of Lathander, the god of dawn. The head of the mace is shaped like a sunburst and made of solid brass, and glows as bright as a torch when its wielder commands. While glowing, the mace deals an extra 1d6 radiant damage to undead creatures.
- Magic Statue: Small gold statuette of a sun elf imbued with divination magic. Any non-evil creature grasping the statue can ask it a question and receive a telepathic response, as though it had cast augury spell. Once a creature has asked its question and received a response, it can never activate the statuette again.
- Mirror of the Past
- Night Caller Whistle
- Pipe of Remembrance: This long, delicate wooden pipe features a bowl made from smooth river stone. When the pipe is lit. smoke exhaled from it does not dissipate, instead lingering around the bearer. After JO minutes, the smoke forms moving shapes that reenact the bearer’s most impressive and heroic achievements for 5 minutes. When this realistic performance is complete, the smoke dissipates. The pipe can’t be used this way again until the next dawn.
- Spider Staff: The top of this black, adamantine staff is shaped like a spider. The staff weighs 6 pounds. You must be attuned to the staff to gain its benefits and cast its spells. The staff can be wielded as a quarterstaff. It deals 1d6 extra poison damage on a hit when used to make a weapon attack. The staff has 10 charges, which are used to fuel the spells within it. With the staff in hand, you can use your action to cast one of the following spells from the staff if the spell is on your class’s spell list: spider climb (1 charge) or web (2 charges, spell save DC 15). No components are required.The staff regains 1d6 + 4 expended charges each day at dusk. If you expend the staff’s last charge, roll a d20. On a 1, the staff crumbles to dust and is destroyed
- Staff of Defense: when held, +1 AC. Staff has 10 charges, regains 1d6+4 per day. Cast mage armor (1 charge) or shield (2 charges).
- Wand of Entangle
Magic Items – Pricing
Just rounding up the rules for this.
- Dungeon Master’s Guide (p. 135), Magic Item Rarity vs. Value (rough guidelines)
- Common: 50-100 gp (found at 1st level or higher)
- Uncommon: 101-500 gp (1st level or higher)
- Rare: 501-5,000 gp (5th level or higher)
- Very rare: 5,001-50,000 gp (11th level or higher)
- Legendary: 50,001+ gp (17th level or higher)
- Consumable items like potions and scrolls are worth half the listed values
Pricing for Magic Items – Examples across D&D Editions
| Item | Tentative House Rules Prices (min/max, PCs sell/buy) | 5e Rarity, Price | 3e Price | AD&D Price | Notes |
| Dagger +1 | 100 / 2,302 gp | Uncommon, 100-500 gp | 2,302 gp | <750 gp | |
| Dagger +2 | 500 / 8,302 gp | Rare, 500-5,000 gp | 8,302 gp | <2,000 gp | |
| Dagger +3 | 5,000 / 50,000 gp | Very rare, 5,000-50,000 gp | 18,302 gp | ||
| Longsword +1 | 100 / 2,315 gp | Uncommon, 100-500 gp | 2,315 gp | 2,000 gp | |
| Longsword +2 | 500 / 8,315 gp | Rare, 500-5,000 gp | 8,315 gp | 4,000 gp | |
| Shield +1 | 100 / 2,500 gp | Uncommon, 100-500 gp | 1,153-1,180 gp | 2,500 gp | |
| Shield +2 | 500 / 5,000 gp | Rare, 500-5,000 gp | 4,153-4,180 gp | 5,000 gp | |
| Chainmail +1 | 500 / 5,000 gp | Rare, 500-5,000 gp | 1,300 gp | 3,500 gp | |
| Chainmail +2 | 4,300 / 50,000 gp | Very rare, 5,000-50,000 gp | 4,300 gp | 7,500 gp |