House Rules

Welcome to the Xeres campaign! To ensure a smooth and enjoyable experience for all players, we've established the following house rules:

The most important rule of all is not to be a punk to your fellow players. Don't intentionally do things that will negatively impact your fellow players and their characters then try to justify it with lame rhetoric like "It's what my character would do!" Remember that this game is a cooperative storytelling adventure that you are all on together. If they have a bad time, you probably will too.

• A natural 1 on the dice is a failure, regardless of how many bonuses you have to the roll. If it was an attack, the defender can take an attack of opportunity against you if they have the means. If it was a skill check then no additional bad needs to happen, you just flubbed. Failure might have consequences, but the '1' will not compound that.
• A natural 20 on the dice is a success, regardless of the target number. If it was a skill check then you succeeded gracefully. If it was an attack then you crit. We don't confirm crits at this table, so enjoy your extra damage.

Flying spells have been removed from the game. Even if you pick a winged creature as your race, you can only glide at best. This is done to prevent your party from watching you attack from the sky, leaving them to deal with the enemies and, eventually, the escalation that comes with it. Safer to wait until the end game for this ability. As a trade-off, you will not be attacked by airborne creatures from the GM that utilize air superiority as a tactic until you are able to counter it somehow.

There are no gods. There are only beings as strong as a god that roam the planes. Their power is NOT based on how many followers or believers there are, it is earned naturally. Conversely, priests can worship whoever they want as a deity or deific power and believe their power comes from them if they wish. Or they can believe that the Heavens have simply given them magic. It doesn't matter. After the last cycle, enough has changed that little thought is given to gods.

Given the nature of the previous games, characters will be given additional class skills. Everyone receives "Knowledge (planes)" as a class skill, but then you will receive 2 additional class skills. Each of those is unique to you because of your previous roles, but the GM will give you those.

All playable races are physically compatible with each other. This means that Gnolls can mate with Humans or Kobolds can mate with Elves. When an interracial couple mate, the result will be 40% likely to share the race of the father, 40% likely to share the race of the mother or 20% to be a hybrid of the two. It is possible for new races to be born this way.

All player characters start at the age of 18. Races now all live a maximum of years equal to their grade:

• F: All characters start at this grade. Lifespan is 100 years maximum on average.
• E: Lifespan is 500 years maximum on average.
• D: Lifespan is 5,000 years maximum on average.
• C: Lifespan is 50,000 years maximum on average.
• B: Lifespan is 500,000 years maximum on average.
• A: Lifespan is 5,000,000 years maximum on average.
• S: Lifespan is unlimited.

For more information on this, visit our Bolo section.

In Xeres, most people are born with special abilities that they've inherited from an ancestor called "Bloodlines." These Bloodline powers are completely random (determined at CharGen) and vary in power, purpose and utility but exist on the same grading scale as everything else in Xeres. Unlike other systems, though, Bloodlines can only be improved by completing a specific milestone, which triggers the evolution up to the next grade. These triggers are unknown to the owner, so nearly every boost is a surprise. Every Bloodline starts at F-grade.

Magic items, as they exist in the cannon books, are removed from the game. Instead, “Enchanted Gems”, a complex system of highly customizable abilities and effects I created, take its place. Potions and scrolls still remain.

All spells that bring life back to a dead body (Raise Dead, Resurrection and even Revanance, etc) have been removed from class spell lists. Rules for Resurrection have changed and can now be found Here.

There will be no rolling against a party member. There will be no inter-party attacking or trying to lie, cheat or steal from your group. The only exception to this rule is if someone is under mind control, they are no longer considered to be "part of your party."

This table still uses the "Advantage" and "Disadvantage" mechanics from 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons when appropriate.

This table still uses the "Inspiration" token system from 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons, awarded in moments of great bravery, roleplaying or levity!

Inspiration has new uses:

• 1. "The Classic". Trade your Inspiration token in to reroll any die you just rolled, though you must take the new roll.
• 2. "Go Faster". Trade your Inspiration token in for an immediate +10 to Initiative.
• 3. "Yes, But...". Turn one failure into a partial success, but with some added complication or hook.
• 4. "Heavens' Insight". Whenever the GM rolls on a chart, this option makes him roll twice and allows the player who spent the token to decide which of the two rolls is used.
• 5. "Take Mine!". This allows you to immediately give your Inspiration to another player for use right away.

Each player/character can only use each of these once per day.

Xeres no longer has normal magic items as they exist in Pathfinder and Dungeons & Dragons. Here, there are newer items aimed at improving customization and individualizing characters... Enchanted Gems and gear slots.

• Click HERE to go the section where those magical gems are listed
• If you want to learn how those gems work and/or are improved, click HERE.

Xeres does not use the standard Pathfinder spell slot (Vancian) system. Instead, all characters use a Mana pool. Your starting mana equals your primary casting stat. For traditionally non-casting classes, Constitution is used for this calculation. Spells cost mana equal to their spell level × 2, while cantrips cost 0 and the rare Level 10 spells cost a flat 50 mana.

Mana recovers passively at a rate of 1 per hour. Meditating adds +1 to that hourly rate. Using a Cosmic Crystal adds another +1 per hour. Item bonuses to your casting stat do not increase your mana pool unless the item explicitly says so, hopefully preventing abuse of borrowed power.

There are three types of magical energy. Cosmic energy is what most living beings use. Miasma functions identically but is only available to undead and aberrations. Errant energy is the equivalent used by elementals and constructs.

Severe injuries can leave lasting marks beyond what a simple healing spell can fix. You gain a Trauma Point when any of the following occur: you take 50 or more damage from a single hit, your hit points drop below 0, or you suffer an attack with lingering effects such as bleeding or broken bones. A character can have no more than 3 Trauma Points at once.

• 1st Trauma Point: –2 penalty to all rolls (attack rolls, saving throws, skill checks).
• 2nd Trauma Point: Your maximum hit points are reduced by 10%.
• 3rd Trauma Point: Your maximum hit points are reduced by an additional 10% (20% total), and your movement speed is reduced by 5 feet.

Each Trauma Point requires 1 week of in-game time to heal naturally, provided no strenuous activity occurs. Complete bed rest shaves 1 day per 3 days of rest; daily care from a skilled healer (successful Heal check) shaves 1 day per 2 days of care. High-level healing spells such as Heal or Restoration can remove 1 Trauma Point instantly. When eligible to remove a point, you choose which effect to eliminate.

Nearly everything in Xeres exists on a power scale running from F (common) up through E, D, C, B, A and finally S (effectively limitless). This applies to objects, creatures, materials, weapons, armor, tools, gems, and people. If no grade is listed for an item, assume it is F-Grade.

To give a sense of scale: F-Grade wood has a hardness of 5; D-Grade wood has a hardness of 11. The gap between each step is substantial, and gaps compound dramatically at higher grades. For weapons and armor specifically:

• Weapons: Each grade above F adds +1 to attack and damage, and ignores 2 points of Damage Reduction (so a D-Grade weapon is +2/+2 and ignores 4 DR).
• Armor: Each grade above F adds +1 AC, reduces Armor Check Penalty by 1 (every other grade), increases Max Dex (every other grade), and provides DR equal to twice the grade step (so D-Grade armor gives DR 6/–).
• Tools: To work or process an object of a given grade, you need tools of that same grade. A D-Grade fish requires D-Grade knives to properly filet.

Characters themselves have a race grade, starting at F. Advancing requires consuming a rare grade-appropriate treasure (such as the golden Potomi Fruit for F→E). Each advancement grants significant stat boosts. The soul, which governs your mana pool, is upgraded separately using the same grade track.

• Fighter's can select any feat they qualify for as their "bonus feat" selection instead of the small list it used to be.
• Point Blank Shot: Now conveys a simple +1 to attack and damage for ranged weapons.

Remember, these house rules are designed to enhance our gaming experience and create a fair, enjoyable environment for all players. If you have any questions or concerns about these rules, please don't hesitate to discuss them with the GM.