House Rules

In every great D&D campaign, the table’s unique style and flavor help shape the adventure. To enhance the storytelling and gameplay experience for our campaign, Beyond the Skyreach Mountains, we’ve adopted some house rules. These tweaks to the core 5e rules are designed to encourage creativity, balance mechanics, and reflect the distinct tone of our world.

Whether you’re a veteran player or new to the group, these rules are here to ensure everyone has a clear understanding of how things work at the table. From character creation options to exploration mechanics and combat tweaks, these guidelines aim to make our sessions engaging and immersive.

Take a look below and feel free to ask any questions—collaborative storytelling is the heart of the game!

Advanced Spell Point System

In place of the standard “spell slot” casting system, we are using the “advanced spell point system.”

Determine spell points

You can calculate your spell points with the following formula:

• Multiply every Spell Slot by its level.
• Sum the results.
• Divide by 2 (rounding up).

Spell points per level for the standard classes are precalculated and available in the supplement.

Using spell points

• Cantrips: spells cost 0 spell points.
• Spell level 1 to 5: spells cost an amount of spell points equal to the spell level.
• Spell level 6 and 7: cost is twice spell level.
• Spell level 8 and 9: cost is three times spell level.

Running out of spell points

If you run out of spell points or just don’t have enough to cover the cost of the spell you want to cast, you can pay the price by expending hit points. Hit points can be traded for spell points at a 1:1 ratio. Hit points spent this way are recovered as normal.

When using hit points to power a spell, the caster must also make a Constitution save against DC 10 + the number of hit points consumed by the spell. Failure on this save results in the caster taking one level of exhaustion. All of the normal exhaustion rules apply.

Wizard, Bard, Cleric, Druid, Sorcerer

Ranger, Paladin

Ancestries and Cultures

These rules are addressed in the supplement Ancestry and Culture and in the corresponding page of this website, Ancestries and Cultures.

Boons

Boons are minor benefits characters can earn through downtime training, study, or significant story moments. They’re smaller in scope than feats—typically a single narrow benefit rather than a bundle of abilities. Boons don’t cost a feat slot or ability score increase; they’re rewards for investing time and effort into learning something specific.

Gear Smasher. You’ve studied gearforged anatomy and learned where their mechanisms are most vulnerable—exposed joints, delicate gear trains, and critical connection points. You deal +2 damage against gearforged with weapon attacks.

Trade Savvy. Advantage on checks related to trade, bribery, or detecting financial manipulation at the fort.

Character Advancement

This document outlines the criteria for earning advancement points in the three pillars of play: Exploration & Discovery, Combat, and Social Interaction. The criteria are organized by tiers of play, focusing on Tier 1 (Levels 1-4) and Tier 2 (Levels 5-10). Criteria for Tier 3 (Levels 11-16) and Tier 4 (Levels 17-20) will be added in the future, as needed. Points are awarded to the group based on accomplishments during each session.

See the “Character Advancement” article for more information.

Downtime Activities

This is not a house rule; it’s just listed here for emphasis. Downtime Activities rules allow the characters to make use of their time between adventures to accomplish larger tasks. Complete rules for “Downtime Activities” are found in “Chapter 8: Adventuring” of The Player’s Handbook. Additional downtime activities can be found in The Dungeon Master’s Guide and Xanathar’s Guide to Everything.

Gearforged Repair Proficiencies

These proficiencies require tinker’s tools to use. Ability checks typically use Intelligence (diagnosis, precision work) or Dexterity (delicate physical manipulation), at the DM’s discretion.

Minor Gearforged Repairs. You can perform routine maintenance and fix small mechanical issues: stiff joints, limited range of motion, minor locomotion problems, worn gears, and similar malfunctions. This covers anything that impairs function without rendering a component fully inoperative. This is typically the foundation for more advanced gearforged work.

Major Gearforged Repairs. You can restore function to completely inoperative components, reattach severed limbs, and repair significant structural damage. This proficiency assumes access to replacement parts or salvageable materials—fabricating new components requires the Gearforged Fabrication proficiency. Most who learn this have already mastered minor repairs.

Gearforged Cognitive Repair. You can diagnose and correct problems with a gearforged’s memory circuits and behavioral systems: repetitive loops, memory gaps, personality drift, and similar glitches. This delicate work requires understanding how thought-patterns are encoded in mechanical form—a distinct discipline from physical repairs, though familiarity with gearforged mechanics helps.

Gearforged Fabrication. You can craft gearforged components from raw materials, including complete limbs and full chassis. This represents deep mastery of gearforged construction. It does not extend to soulstones, which require separate knowledge and materials beyond mechanical expertise.

Gritty Healing

Short rests take 8 hours. Long rests take 5 days and must be spent in a “haven” of civilization such as a town or settlement. At the start of the game, Fort Dagaric is the only haven. Others may be found or built over the course of play. See the article on “Havens” for more information.

This rule has several goals. First, it emphasizes the danger and deadliness of wilderness exploration. Second, it slows down the in-world pace of the game, allowing players to experience the changing of the seasons and the development of Baruun Khil over extended periods of time. In other words, it’s intended to make the game world feel more alive and interactive rather than just being a backdrop. Finally, it will hopefully encourage players to make use of the “Downtime Activities” rules.

Havens

Havens are places of safety and civilization in the wilderness, and they provide the party with an opportunity to take a long rest. The party can gain access to existing settlements, allowing them to be used as havens. The party may also build new havens. See the article on “Havens” for more information.

Hexcrawl Navigation

Please see the separate handout for the hexcrawl navigation rules.

Inspiration

By default, you either have “Inspiration” or you don’t. If you have it, you can spend it to give yourself advantage (or to remove disadvantage) on any roll.

This simple variant rule allows you to accumulate multiple points of inspiration, which can then be spent in the usual way.