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