Some Homebrew Rules I use for my games
Was told by friend I should i probably post my homebrew rules I use it might be helpful for other DM's who are running campaigns in the setting
1. New Resting Rules
I pulled these from the transformed book but extended them and I use grievous wounds system every time someone goes down instead of death saves but if they go down three times in a combat they are incapacitated the fourth time and susceptible to instant death of they go down again.
Rests are crucial for characters to regain their resources, especially for those with spells slots and abilities that require long rests to recover. For players seeking a more challenging experience in Etharis, you can change the rules for resting into the following suggested format:
Quick rest (1 hour) — Quick Rest
Benefits of a Quick Rest
When you finish the Quick Rest, you gain the following benefits:
Spend Hit Point Dice. You can spend one or more of your Hit Point Dice to regain Hit Points. For each Hit Point Die spent in this way, roll the Hit Point Die and add your Constitution modifier to it. You regain Hit Points equal to the total (minimum of 1 Hit Point). You can decide to spend an additional Hit Point Die after each roll.
Interrupting a Quick Rest
A Quick Rest is stopped by the following interruptions:
Rolling Initiative
Casting a spell other than a cantrip
Taking any damage
An interrupted Quick Rest confers no benefits and must be restarted to gain any benefits.
Short rest (8 hours) — A Short Rest is an extended period of rest—at least 8 hours—available to any creature. During a Short Rest, you sleep for at least 6 hours and perform no more than 2 hours of light activity, such as reading, talking, eating, or standing watch.
A Short Rest can occur in any location where you can sleep without interruption. This might take place in a dangerous location that has been temporarily secured and guarded. During sleep, you have the Unconscious condition. After you finish a Short Rest, you must wait at least 8 hours before starting another one or starting a Long Rest.
Regain Half Hit Point Dice. You regain a number of spent Hit Point Dice equal to half of your total number of Hit Point Dice (minimum of 1). For example, if you have eight Hit Point Dice, you regain up to four spent Hit Point Dice.
Spend Hit Point Dice.
Exhaustion Reduced. If you have the Exhaustion condition, its level decreases by 1.
Special Feature. Some features are recharged by a Short Rest.
Long rest (1 week) — A Long Rest is a period of extended downtime—at least 1 week—available to any creature. During a Long Rest, you sleep for at least seven 6-hour periods separated by 16 hours of light activity, such as reading, talking, eating, crafting, trading, or performing downtime activities.
A Long Rest can only occur in safe locations that provide shelter, warmth, comfort, and resources like food and water. This could be a settlement, homestead, stronghold, inn, castle, or large city. A Long Rest cannot be completed in areas of discomfort or danger, such as a wilderness, dungeon, alley, or sewer. If the location is dangerous enough that characters feel the need to post watch, it cannot accommodate a Long Rest.
During sleep, you have the Unconscious condition. After you finish a Long Rest, you must wait at least 16 hours before starting another one or a Short Rest.
2. Secondary Magic Effects
Magic in Etharis is not a tool—it is a force of nature, as feared as it is revered. In a land where sorcery is scarce, those who wield it do so with deadly precision, shaping the battlefield with every spell cast. Yet, the world does not bend easily to magic’s will.
With the new Long Rest and Short Rest rules, the rhythm of combat has changed. Healing is scarce, resources must be managed carefully, and spellcasting is no longer a limitless wellspring of power. This necessitates a shift—magic must be felt.
To reinforce this, spells are now more dangerous, more impactful, and more unpredictable. Every leveled spell cast carries weight, shaping not only the damage dealt but the very state of battle itself. Fire does more than burn—it lingers. Ice slows. Lightning disrupts. Acid corrodes armor, while Necrotic energy siphons life from its victims.
This is a balance patch for spellcasters, ensuring that when they do cast, it is an event—a moment that changes everything. Casters are no longer artillery batteries, slinging spells without cost. Instead, they are feared warlords, devastating the battlefield in rare but decisive moments.
Magic in Etharis is not just power—it is a weapon of desperation, destruction, and dread.
This section would be too long but I'll post three of the secondary magic effects I made you can message me separately if you want the rest. Disclaimer this only activates on leveled spells.
- Fire (Burning Damage)
You’re on fire only if you take the fire damage:
Ongoing Damage. At the end of each of your turns, you take damage. The damage amount are indicated by the level of spell condition, 1st or 2nd (1d6 Fire), 3rd or 4th (2d6 Fire), 5th or 6th (3d6 Fire), 7th - 9th (4d6 Fire). This does not stack
Ending the Condition. The condition ends if you or another creature within 5 feet of you can spend an action to extinguish the flames or scrape off the acid, or if some other effect douses the flames (such as being submerged in water).
Flammable objects ignite if not being worn or carried.
- Lightning (Reaction Disruption)
Targets hit by Lightning damage cannot take reactions until the end of their next turn.
If wearing metal armor, they have disadvantage on the saving throw against the effect and Lightning attacks have Advantage against them. Shields cannot be used to block this damage with reactions.
- Healing (Bolstered Heal)
When healing from a leveled spell is dealt the target gains Valor condition for one turn.
Valor
Add a die to your attack rolls and saving throws. The die rolled is specified by the the level of the spell, such as Valor 1st - 3rd (1d4), 4th - 6th (1d6), 7th - 9th (1d8).
3. Revised Fighter
This helps bring fighters to a good baseline this is very optional but all my martials love it
https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-MWXiWBPCvEPDxO1I9ai
4. Alchemy and Herbalism Kits rules extension
This gives martials a lot of missing versatility that casters benefit from which is key since casters are fewer in number since this is dark fantasy.
Kits do not have infinite resources they each cost 50 gold for base resources and you can craft a number of things equal to your proficiency bonus before the kit is exhausted using the Alchemy rules book
https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-MNG6P6I8-1tJM3aroaV
5. Shield Mechanics
Shield Block
This optional rule allows shield bearers to sacrifice their shield in order to reduce damage from an incoming attack. In this rule system, non-magical shields have their own set of hit points, which you can use in place of yours when the moment calls for it. When a creature wielding a shield is hit by an attack, it can use its reaction to direct damage from the incoming attack to the shield’s pool of hit points, instead of taking the damage itself. If the shield is reduced to 0 hit points, it is broken, and any excess damage is dealt to the creature wielding the shield as normal. A broken shield gives no bonus to the shield bearer’s AC.
A shield’s durability is based on the material it’s made of. Below is a list of example shields.
Shield Durability Table
Wooden Buckler Shield 5 HP 20gp
Normal Metal Shield 10 HP 40gp
Retractable Metal Shield 20 HP 300gp
Metal Tower Shield 30 HP 200gp
Shield Repair
If a shield takes damage or is broken, it can be repaired at any armorsmith at a cost of 1 imperial crown for each hit point recovered.
When a shield is damaged in this way, it is unable to be repaired by the tools available to an adventurer on the road such as their travelers artisan’s tools, or the Mending spell. Instead, to return the shield to its original condition it must be taken to a shop and repaired by a craftsman.
6. Weapon and Armor Durability
- Every time you roll a 1 (critical fumble) on an attack roll, your non-magical weapon takes damage. It loses -1 to attacks. This stacks with further crit fumbles, up to a maximum of -3, after which the non-magical weapon breaks and can’t be used. Poor quality weapons break after your first natural 1 because they are low quality and poor upkeep.
- Medium and Heavy Armor is treated a little differently: when an NPC or monster scores a 20 (critical hit), you as a player can decide whether you want to take the double damage or whether your non-magical armor is damaged with a -1 penalty to AC. This penalty stacks with successive crit hits up to a maximum of -3, after which the non-magical armor breaks and is unusable. (This option might potentially save the PC from being knocked unconscious or killed by a critical hit.)
- Damaged weapons and armor can be repaired by an armorer, weaponsmith or bowyer (depending on the weapon/armor) for half the original price of the weapon or armor.
- A PC can repair their own weapons and armor during down time if they have have the relevant background and tools (e.g. Guild Artisan or Clan Crafter Backgrounds with relevant area of expertise: armorer, bowyer, weaponsmith). They’ll need a forge if the weapon or armor is made of metal. The price for repairing their own weapons and armor is a quarter of the original cost of the item. Only armor can be repaired by the mending spell during a short rest (eg. 1 day) without going to a forge for repairs.
No matter who repairs the item, it takes 1 day per -1 to fix (i.e. 3 days to fix -3 damaged weapon).
7. Split Magic System
Based on the way that magic is explained in Grim Hollows there are 3 different magic systems Arcane, Primal, and Divine. I separate them and don't allow them to cross over so for multiclass requirements primal casters like rangers can't multiclass into divine. This is key for how magic is seen in the world. Primal and Arcane are feared and you need formative training to cast effectively without losing control while divine magic is more seen as performing miracles.
Arcane Casters:
Wizard
Sorcerers
Warlock
Primal Casters:
Druid
Ranger
Divine Casters:
Cleric
Paladin
8. Magic Miscast
The preface was key for this section to make sense. Magic is inherently dangerous in grim hollow, I built a magic miscast system that will activate every time an arcane or primal caster loses concentration on a spell they must roll on a table that has a chance of a negative effects happening even daemon possession. If interested I can send the table separately. This makes war casters feat make a player or npc seem more like a person who is more in control of their magic and trained for close combat casting.
9. Wild Magic Surges
This is the last one I will do since this is already a bit long lol. I have a modified dark fantasy wild magic surge table happen when players encounter rogue casters to lean into that fear of untrained magic and make the mechanics line up with the lore. I can send the table I made separately or DM's can make their own.
Lol bit of a long post but hope this helps someone