My DCCRPG Setting/Houserules

House rules

Shields shall be splintered.

If someone is healing you (lay-on hands or first aid check), you may spend your own luck to increase their roll. You may also spend a luck point to re-roll a hit die when healing.

To level up, one needs to engage in some sort of activity that speaks to their character as an adventurer or specialist. This can be as simple as having a crazy tavern party, or as specialized as Training, Sacrifice, or Research. I want to make rules for creating buildings too...

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Fluff to keep your character sane

The world according to learnéd wizards: The world was once one of super-science. Man traveled freely among the stars, and had dominion over demons, who whispered the words of power to man who in turn perfected it into formulæ. However, there was one who tested the limits of hubris and brought ruin to the world. In the last days, he or she will return to finish the job.

 The world according to common man: The world is the plaything of the gods, who are terrible personages that one can only hope to but placate. Much more amiable, though fickle, are the spirits of the world, genis loci, faeries, and magic beasts. The world is in its last days, and the giant ruddy sun will eat us soon in an apocalyptic event. Then everything will start again.

 The world according to clerics of law: Perfection was achieved in the past; particularly in the last two empires of man. Miracles are the provenance of the gods and magic is folly. Creatures that do not bow to the might of the gods are to be shunned and driven back to the darkness from whence they spawn. The gods will perfect the world's flaws soon, bringing about the fabled latter days.

 The world according to clerics of neutrality: The gods set the worlds in motion and peopled them with their tools, and so it is hubris to try to conquer them, but also a failing to not protect them. The role of man is to maintain a balance between the stagnation of law and the entropy of chaos, between civilization and survival. In the last ages, which draw ever closer, the gods will return to guarantee their inscrutable goals.

 The world according to clerics of chaos: The world is a failed experiment. Only by breaking it down and denying its strictures can one hope to build a better world. True power comes from the dark gods and demons, who reward their servants' boldness.

 The world according to psions: This world is an illusion populated by mental constructs, sensations, and allusions to true reality. By exercising one's will on reality, we make it our own. The world will be ripped apart by nightmares if we don't manage to achieve enlightenment.
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Further Campaign Quirks

Creatures: Boring monsters such as bugs and beasts that are only remarkable in that they are bigger than normal don't appear in my campaign. In their place are horrors. Many creatures are fey in my setting. Kobolds, for instance, are not dog-men nor little dragon men, but cave and mine fey. They share the fey tongue from which dialects are made. Many favorite monsters from D&D make an appearance, but don't take their looks, history, or stats for granted. Think of dungeons as connections to the underworld of ancient mythologies. They provide many of their own monsters.

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OLD RULES THAT HAVE BEEN ABANDONED FOR A REFINED SYSTEM

Gold spent on the above activities translates to XP. The level to XP settings that my campaign currently uses is thus:

Gold spent/XP needed to level:

1st lvl @ 100 gill	2nd lvl @ 900 gill	3rd lvl @ 4,000 gill
4th lvl @ 6000 gill	5th lvl @ 10,000 gill	6th lvl @ 15,000 gill
7th lvl @ 21,000 gill	8th lvl @ 28,000 gill	9th lvl @ 36,000 gill
10th lvl @ 45,000 gill plus a quest to placate or overthrow the ever jealous gods

*gill is just a joke word for gold I picked up at http://youtu.be/AVZczLuoJoU

Carousing: Sacrifice to Gods or Spirits

Ancestors only accept the best beer.

You can see my original take on carousing rules for leveling up here. This time we tackle something a little more pious: Sacrifice check leveling.

Sacrifice is giving wealth or offerings to gods, ancestors, clan hoards etc. If you are not a cleric or member of some other appropriate group (a dwarf donating to his clan hoard, for instance), your action die for this roll is only a d16. As with carousing, sacrifice nets you experience equivalent to the gold you spent. You may spend 300 gold per level per week towards sacrifices, but relevant entities will give you +1 to your check for every 10% you increase your sacrifice, where 10% is calculated on your need to reach the next level. This extra gold only nets half experience though.

If you need to repent (as DCCRPG clerics may have to), you  should use the rules in the book for that. You can't gain XP that way.

Sacrifices need to be made at a temple, shrine, demi-human clan hoard, or somewhere else appropriate. You can establish such a holy place as an initial sacrifice.

You choose how much gold to donate. Evil gods demand lucre for themselves (they supernaturally take it), but good gods may require that alms be payed out to the poor via donation boxes etc. If you happen to worship them, the ghosts of your ancestors demand extravagant tombs and gifts. Dwarves, elves, and halflings that have ties to their clan can donate to the clan hoard and its defenses, and the gods/spirits of such demi-humans judge them.

When you engage in Sacrifice, roll a d20+Luck Mod, aim for DC15 to get extra bonuses beyond XP,  and hope you don't roll a 1!

Sacrificing a chosen foe of your deities or enshrining a religious artifact or relic will net you your Personality bonus to your Sacrifice roll.

1. Thou dost displease me! Your face shows a mark of shame. Holy men will abhor you until you remove this mark with a successful Sacrifice check. 2. Thou art too proud! Your stature is lessened until you level up twice. People take pity on you now. 3. I am wagering with the adversary, and so... You lose something precious to you, such as land, your cows, or a loved one. 4.  Thou dost amuse me so. People don't take you seriously until you complete an adventure, but you gain 1d5 luck points. 5. Only thou canst handle the following mission. You are charged with a difficult quest. 6. Who art thou again? You gain a complex, driving you to prove your worth to your gods. Role-play it well or risk losing luck. 7. Thou must suffer the sins of my peoples! You are covered in painful boils for a while. -1 to agility baring a successful Fortitude save after morning prayers. 8. Thou must feed my sheeple. 3 Idiots join you. They fight as henchmen, but they are bumbling fools and will constantly give away your position. Killing or turning them away is bad luck. 9. Thou must give alms. You are compelled to give away all of your rations. Except for a meal you are currently eating, you can't stop giving away your food until an adventure or quest ends. Eating food you once gave away will net you 1 Luck loss. 10. Suffer the children. 1d16 orphans show up during your next adventure. Get them to safety and see to their needs lest you get bad luck. 11. Thou deservest to know that my chosen people are... You realize that a race chosen by the game judge is the chosen race and all others are to be derided and ignored. This may cause you great cognitive dissonance if you are not of the chosen race. 12. What hast thou done?! If you are a cleric, roll on the clerical mishaps table. If not, you are kicked out of the holy grounds and can no longer make donations at this site. -2 luck. 13. Thou must slay the mightiest beast in the land! You cannot gain any experience until you slay an infamous monster named by the judge. 14. Thou art marked with my curse.  You get a bad result from this list.  15. Thou art a prat.  An applicable result from this list.

If you rolled a natural 20 when making your Sacrifice roll, you get 1d5 luck points and then check for other results. 1. Divine luck is granted to you. +1d4 luck. 2. You know the general location of a relic of your faith (holy classes can use them, others can sell them). 3. Choose a spell you know (or learn one at next level if you have no spells). Luck burned when casting it comes back as if you were a thief. 4. You may call on the favor of a divine agent, such as an angel, one time if your goals are aligned with your gods. 5. You may burn a luck point any time something from a divine source would harm you, or when enemies of your god would seek to harm you for your beliefs. This protection lasts one scene per use and goes away if you are currently not in good standing. 6. Your faith is strong enough to perform most any bog-standard miracle during the next adventure. Look to real life holy books for examples. 7.  You gain a vision of the future. The next time you would be knocked to 0 HP, you can make a DC 10 intelligence check to avoid that damage. 8. You have gained a bit of divine favor. You gain an extra 1d4 hit die. 9. You get an extra 1d4 added to your turn unholy checks if the natural roll for such checks is an 18 or higher. 10. Until the next level, you are watched over. Once per fight you can use an action to regain one hit die of health. 11. Whenever you seem to be out of food, roll your luck and if you succeed you miraculously have food. 12. You may remove one mutation, spell corruption, or deformation from yourself or one companion. 13. The next time you would have to roll on the deity disapproval table, you may forgo that roll. 14. A supernatural being makes your association, and puts you on the fast track to sainthood, demigod-status, etc. You still have to earn your way into the position though. 15. A good result from this list.

DCC Psion Power Draft: Pyrokinesis

With this draft, I am keen to know if anything seems off about material melting points. By the way, the going-nuclear ability is inspired by Firestarter.

Pyrokinesis

Pyrokinesis is the ability to speed up the vibrations of matter on a molecular level, giving rise to heat. Psions minus their ML from any fire damage they would take while manifesting this power.

Check Success: You can start to heat material, which is affected based on the number of rounds you concentrate. If you want to concentrate for a number of beyond your ML, you need to make another power check.

You may use Mind Burn to speed up the process; ability points spent reduce the number of rounds needed to achieve an effect on a 1 for 1 ratio.

Rounds	Effect on non-living targets	Effect on targeted creatures
1	Paper, dry grass,wool, and similar materials ignite.	Creatures feel mild pain. Fire-based entities disrupted (Will save to move).
2	Wood darkened, kindling ignited	1d4 damage. Mild blistering.
3	Logs ignited, metals are dropped unless their holder endures 1d4 damage.	1d6 damage.
4	Metals scorch for 1d7 damage. Water boils (1 cubic foot per ML). Leather ignites.	1d8 damage.
5	Logs reduced to embers and scorch for 1d8 damage, as does metal. Concrete grows brittle.	1d10 damage. Roll luck or be scarred.
6	Steel grows soft and scorches for 1d16 damage. Gold melts.	1d12 damage. Creature’s touch now does your ML in damage.
7	Materials scorch for 2d16. Adjacent creatures take 1d12 damage. Glass melts.	1d16 damage. Roll luck or be scarred. Creatures of HD lower than you can’t save.
8	Materials scorch for 3d12 damage. Steel melts.	1d20 damage.
9	Anyone within 20 feet will take 2d12 fire damage.	1d30 damage. Still receive half damage  if they save.
10	Molecules so excited that there is a chance of localized nuclear explosion (roll luck).	Atomized. Still receive 1d16 damage on a save.

Roll 1: Reduce the number of rounds needed to achieve an effect by up to 1d5. Creatures of HD less than your ML can’t save.

Roll 20: Roll 1d6. (1)You are feverish for the next 2 turns (1d4 stamina damage); (2) Success, but you ignite in supernatural flame (no damage to you or possessions) and scortch things for 1d5 damage per round; (3) Your clothes ignite (1d4 damage per round, full round action to put out the flames) ; (4) One of your possessions must make a save or explode (1d8 damage to adjacent creatures); (5) You accidentally summon a fire elemental that is angry at you; (6) Your insides boil for 1d14 damage, but a FORT save will reduce it by half.