House Rules

Mentorship

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A Mentor in Action

Introduction: What follows is a house rule in broad stokes designed to enable advanced player characters to donate experience points (or any comparable measure of character development) to other characters in an RPG campaign. The more experienced character does this by sharing their own wisdom with a less advanced character, discussing the events of a given game session in order to help the novice learn from their shared experiences. Doing so means the elder character has to a degree shifted their own focus from learning and developing new skills to thinking about the needs of their younger and less experienced companions. As a result, the less developed character accumulates experience faster while the more advanced character grows more slowly.

This is game rule intended to accomplish two things; it can enable low level characters to catch up with more advanced companions faster than they might otherwise do, and it can facilitate greater cooperation between player characters (giving some players a real sense of investment in the development of the characters belonging to other platers at the table).

The basic idea can be tweaked in a number of different ways, but I have tried to follow a few practical guidelines here. First, the effect should be a small bump, enough to make a significant difference over time, but not enough to substantially transform the nature of the average game session. Second, the effect assumes a degree of role playing significance. The characters must talk to each other to make this happen; it is not simply a spell effect, it is something that is going to shape the relationship between the characters in question. The ability further assumes that the characters have gained experience together, and the bonus is applied to that experience. It may not be used to donate experience already accused to a given character.

How does it work? First, a character declares her intent to mentor another character. Doing so enables the mentor to donate 10% of the experience she has gained in shared encounters with her mentee over the course of that game session. If the mentee accepts, and both characters spend time discussing the events of the game with one another, then the experience points for each character are modified accordingly. Characters may mentor more than one 1 character and characters can also accept mentorship from more than 1 character, but no character may ever donate more than half their experience points for a given game session, nor may any character more than double the experience she has gained from a given encounter or game session.

Obviously, this model assumes a conventional experience point model. Alternative systems of advancement may require modification of this approach and GMs may wish to alter the approach to taste.

Individualized Options: Special abilities and feat systems can be used to enhance mentorship in a few ways. Such options can be used to provide a net gain in experience whenever mentorship is used. This making some characters exceptionally good at guiding and teaching their companions. A feat or special ability can be used to double the experience gained by a mentee without adding to the cost to the mentor. Whether or not this can be repeated so as to give some mentors even more effectiveness is an open question. In the case of a point-buy system for special abilities, a mentor can be given the option to provide a 10% bonus without cost, but only when the mentee is purchasing abilities already known to the mentor (e.g. a specific feat, language, or skill well-known to the mentor). Of course, it is also possible for a character to gain special abilities enhancing the benefits they get from mentorship, but that benefit would have to be weighed against the cost of the ability itself. Whether or not the result is worth it for the player or even for a GM to provide the option is another question.

Variations

Dungeons and Dragons: To use mentorship, the mentor must be at least 2 levels higher than the mentee. The mentor donates 10% of her experience points for any encounters during that game session in which she and her mentee were both present. The Mentee thus gains 10% over and above her normal haul for the session. Possible feats include “Mentor” which boosts the experience points gained to 20% for the same 10% donation, or “Advanced Mentor” which increases the experience points gained to 30% for the same 10% donation and “Trainer,” which boosts the experience points gained for characters with the same class to 30% for the same 10% donation. *

Tunnels and Trolls: To use mentorship, the mentor must be at least 1 level higher than the mentee. The mentor donates 10% of her adventure points for any encounters during that game session in which she and her mentee were both present. The Mentee gains 10% over and above her normal haul for the session. *

Worlds of Hurt (my homebrew): To use mentorship, the mentor must be at least 2 levels higher than the mentee. The mentor donates 1 or 2 points from her experience gained for any encounters during that game session in which she and her mentee were both present. The Mentee gains 1 or 2 points (matching the amount donated). Possible feats include “Mentor” which boosts the experience points gained to 2 or 4 (i.e. twice that donated) for the same 1 or 2 point donation. Additional options are available. *

* All variations are subject to the following limitations. 1) No mentee can gain experience without talking extensively to her mentor about the events of the game session.  2) No character may donate more than half her total experience point haul for a game session. 3) No character may do more than double the original experience point haul through donated experience for any given game session.

 

Vek (Tunnels & Trolls)

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© Daniel S. Wall, May 21, 2026.

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These are rules for playing Vek in Tunnels and Trolls, the Delux Edition. The general description of Vek can be found here.

Vek: Str: 1.1, Con: 1.1, Dex: 1.1, Lk: .9, IQ: .9, Wiz: .75, SP: 1 Chr: .1.75

Height: 1, Weight: .1

Special Abilities: All Vek have natural weapons useful in melee (their claws and a spiky tail) and missile (tail spikes). The tail spikes have a range of 15 yards. Any given Vek will have a number of tail spikes equal to their strength or the Constitution (whichever is higher). They will grow back in between game sessions.

Tierzen (Tunnels & Trolls)

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© Daniel S. Wall, May 21, 2026.

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These are rules for playing Tierzen in Tunnels and Trolls, the Delux Edition. The general description of Tierzen can be found here.

Tierzen: Str: 1, Con: 1, Dex: 1, Lk: 1, IQ: 1.25, Wiz: .75, SP: 1 Chr: 1.75

Height: 1, Weight: .1

Special Abilities: Although physical combat works normally for Tierzen, they will typically use spiritual weapons when doing so. They can use regular weapons, but they normally manifest spiritual weapons for combat. When fighting with a spiritual weapon, any spite damage done to an opponent is matched by a point of damage to either IQ, WIZ, or Chr. It is up to the victim to decide which of these stats they will apply the damage to, but they will take damage to one of those attributes along with the usual damage to Con for a spite roll.

Waggamaephs (Tunnels & Trolls)

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© Daniel S. Wall, April 19, 2026.

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These are rules for playing Waggamaephs in Tunnels and Trolls, the Delux Edition. The general description of Waggamaephs can be found here.

Waggamaeph: There are two types of Waggamaeph. The stat blocks for each are as follows:

Hill Maeph: Str: 1, Con: 1.25, Dex: 2, Lk: 1, IQ: .9, Wiz: .75, SP: 2 Chr: .9

Height: .6, Weight: .7

Valley Maeph: Str: .75, Con: .75, Dex: 2, Lk: 1.1, IQ: .9, Wiz: .75, Sp: 2.5, Chr: 1.25

Height: .5, Weight: .5

(Note that Speed does not seem to be modified based on kindred stats, so this stat block seems to defy the conventional approach to attributes in T&T, but speed (including both reflexes and rate of movement across the ground) is central to the concept of a Waggamaeph, so we are applying it here anyway.)

Special Abilities: 1) Waggamaephs never use equipment or weapons. Theoretically, they can, but it never seems to occur to them to do so. If told to, they will stop unless continually reminded. 2) Waggamaephs can move at twice the distance of a human across land for Hill Maephs or 2.5 times the distance for Valley Maephs. 3) Waggamaephs are very forgetful. They cannot be expected to maintain a specific position in a combat formation, so their position relative to other characters is always random. They can be asked to stand a watch, but there is no guarantee they will stay put or focus on their guard duties.

Critical Hits

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A house rule for first edition, D&D.

Daniel S. Wall

Whenever a character scores a critical hit, roll a die 12 and consult the chart below. If more than one option is listed for a result, the first option applicable to the situation is the one that counts. If no listed options could apply, then the result defaults to Option O.

Note that some monsters may not be affected by options listed on this table. A goo cannot be subjected to a called shot and some monsters may be immune to stunning, etc. In such cases, the critical hit is meaningless.

Definitions

Ally: Any character, monster, or construct actively helping the principal attacker. This does not include bystanders unless they are actively attacking the same opponent.

Attack (the): The attack which scored a critical hit and landed you on this table to begin with.

Enemy: The target of the attack and/or anyone clearly allied with that target and/or fighting the principal attacker and her allies.

Attacker: The person launching the attack which scored a critical hit.

Target: The individual attacked on the critical hit.

 

 

 

Die

Roll

 Missile

Attacks

 Melee Attacks
Crowded One-on-One
Basic Attack Called Shot Basic Attack Called Shot Basic Attack Called Shot
1 A B A B A B
2 C C C C C C
3 D D D D D D
4 E E E E E E
5 F F F F F F
6 D D G G G G
7 H H H H H H
8 I I I I I I
9 F F J K G G
10 A B L L L L
11 M M M M M M
12 N N N N N N

 

Results

A: Shot counts as a kill shot (i.e. a called shot intended to kill an opponent outright in one shot.

B: Improved Odds of success on a called shot. (If the initial damage qualifies for a percent chance of automatic success, then the called shot is automatically successful. If it does not, then attack qualifies for a percent chance of automatic success anyway.)

C: The attack scores maximum damage.

D: Add 1d12 to the final damage after all relevant multiplications have already been calculated.

E: If possible, the target will bleed for 1 point per round until dead or magically healed. A viable form of non-magical healing has a slight chance of stopping the flow of blood. The chance is equal to the Intelligence of the healer +1% per level of the character (2%) if the healing character has any healing spells or relevant professional skills (such as doctor).

F: Add 1 point per level of the attacker to the damage of the attack for those rolling on the fighter attack chart, 1 per 2 levels for those rolling on the Cleric attack chart, and 1 per 3 levels for those rolling on the thieves and assassins attack chart, and 1 per 4 levels for those fighting on the magic users and illusionist’s attack chart, but every character gets a minimum bonus of  1.

G: The attacker may immediately take an extra attack on the target. If the character dies from the first attack, she may take any relevant actions she cares to take as if she did not attack on that segment after all.

H: The target is stunned for 1 round, as per the rules for a monk.

I: Knock opponent down if possible.

J: Give an ally an extra attack on the target (if that is possible)*. Otherwise, take an extra attack on a different enemy*.

K: Take an extra attack on a different enemy if that is possible*. Otherwise, give an ally an extra attack on the target.*

L: Chance to disarm the opponent attacked. This is calculated by making opposed attack rolls. If the character scoring the critical hit has a disarming weapon such as a trident, she may roll this at a +5.

M: Roll an extra die 6 in damage. Opponent will also move at half rate for an equal number of rounds.

N: Until the opponent activates for their next turn, any attack scored on them will count as a backstab.

0: attacker adds 1d6 to the overall damage.

*            Whenever shifting targets as a result of a critical hit, the new target must be within immediate reach for a melee attack.

Dragon Modifications for First Edition D&D

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Dragons in first edition D&D suck. The narrative blows them up big time, but they are easy as Hell to take down. I recall an episode of Dragon Magazine tried boosting their power by adding minor attacks such as wing beat and tail swipe, but the damage for these was miniscule. Even with these additions, Dragons in first edition never lived up to the hype. They were supposed to be bad-ass, but they always ended up being meh.

So, here is what we did…

Take the standard stat block for a Dragon from the Monster Manual as your starting point.

  • Start by doubling the hit dice of the dragon.
  • Double the dice rolled for damage on physical attacks (bite and claw).
  • Add a tail swipe against any opponent in the back of the dragon (anyone within a full 180 degree arc to its rear). The attack is rolled at any penalties normally applied for attacking enemies to the rear. Damage for the tail swipe is equal to that of a claw after the modification mentioned directly above.
  • Now treat the age of the dragon as a bonus to hit and damage on all physical attacks (bite, claw, and tail attack) as well as a bonus to armor class.
  • Double the penalties for called shots to a dragon for man-sized opponents and smaller. Dragons are simply too big to focus on specific body parts on a regular target.
  • Breath weapons work normally (but of course the damage is now set by the higher hit dice).
  • Now watch the PCs fall.
  • More importantly, watch the players treat dragons with the respect they deserve.

Called Shots for First Edition D&D

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Introduction: I have fond memories of first edition D&D, but those memories do include a host of house rules. One aspect of the game that generated a lot of interest in house rules was the pace of combat. Without feats and other such innovations common to later editions of D&D, physical combat in first edition could be particularly stale as there just weren’t many ways to generate extra damage, even at high levels. Spell casters had options, of course, and specialty classes such as Thief or Ranger could generate extra physical damage under the right circumstances, but for basic fighter types, a fight with a big monster meant whittling them down slowly.

This is what had a lot of us experimenting with called shots. My own friends and I tried a lot of things, mostly variations on a penalty to hit roll in exchange for the possibility of a one-shot kill (or some comparable effect likely to take the intended victim out of the fight). Balancing the cost of the penalty against the benefit of a successful called shot was of course difficult. If the options for a called shot were too generous, even the biggest enemies went down with ease, and if the GM decided to turn that possibility on the players, then a TPK was just a few die rolls away. If the called shot option was too stingy, then you had to slog your way through even mediocre opponents, the game slowed down, and everything got tedious.

Really tedious!

In any event, what follows is the system I ended up with after a couple decades running first edition D&D. I really think this hit the sweet spot for my gaming group, but a lot depends on other factors in the game. We had a system for extra proficiencies, and we used special abilities and problems, both of which also contributed to slightly more dangerous player characters. In combination with those systems, our rules for called shots helped us to speed up the game and boost the power of physical attacks without completely obliterating the core system.

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Called Shots and the To-Hit Roll: At its core, the system calls for a simple penalty of -4 on the attack roll for any called shot. (If the call was hyper-specific, then GM could boost the penalty to -6 or even -8, but that was her call.) Along with that, a natural 2 becomes an automatic miss, although it does not become a critical fumble. If a called shot is successful in striking the target, the damage is treated as applying directly to a focused body-part. This can be called out (E.g. a head, a leg, a tail, or a player can just declare that they are taking a “Kill shot”). Either way the damage is now measured against 20% of the target’s total hit points (rounded high). If the damage equals that percentage or exceeds it, there is a chance, the called shot succeeds in destroying the body-part in question.

Chance of Success: The chance for success at this point is equal to twice the damage done on the attack or 5% per stage on the to-hit charts from the DM’s Guide, whichever gave the attacker a better chance of success. (Note that the highest stage of the to-hit chart for fighters would be 55%, and at least in our old games, the best fighters could generate damage in about the 20-30 point range on a single attack, thus making it a toss-up as to which chance worked best for a given attack.)

It is best for players using the option to write the percent chance of success based on the to-hit chart on the character sheet. This should enable a player to compare the chance using double damage versus the chance based on the to-hit chart quickly.

Successful Called Shots: Success generally meant death in the event of a “kill shot” or in the event of a specific called shot with lethal implications (e.g. a head, in most cases). Results such as decapitation which might be necessary to kill certain monsters could also be achieved in this manner (assuming the appropriate weapons). If a leg, an arm, a tail, or a wing had been the focus, it was generally considered severed or otherwise destroyed and the GM would apply whatever penalties seemed best to the maimed character as a result of the injury.

Failure: In the event that a called shot was not successful, the damage was scored normally against the target’s hit points.

Target-Based Limitations: Called shots were useless against any target that lacked meaningful anatomical vulnerabilities (e.g. an ooze, a zombie, or a ghost). Such creatures were simply not venerable to called shots.

Tactics-Based Limitations: Certain damage effects were not applied to called shots, or they were applied in unusual ways. Thieves and Assassins could either add their backstab multiplier to the damage of a called shot or apply it as a multiplier for a normal shot under the normal rules, but the player had to choose. (Most chose the latter.) Rangers add their giant-classed bonus to the damage, but leave it out for purposes of calculating the odds of success on the percentage die roll.

Special Weapon Proficiencies for First Edition D&D

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The first edition of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons doesn’t offer characters a lot of opportunities to improve damage done on physical attacks. This would be addressed through a variety of means in later editions, but players were addressing the issue through house rules from the beginning. What follows is one system for enabling a character to boost their combat skills through application of weapon proficiencies already present in first edition D&D.

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Core concept: Characters earn weapon proficiencies at the normal rate listed in the Player’s Handbook, and they follow the normal class limitations listed there as well, but they can use a new weapon proficiency to boost their skills with an existing weapon proficiency instead of taking up a new weapon.

Weapon specialization begins with a Basic Bonus. Once a player has gained a basic bonus, she can consider taking one of the other options for special proficiencies, but she must always have at least 1 basic bonus for every special proficiency she has taken.

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Basic Bonus: A Character simply takes applies standard +1 to hit and damage when attacking with a designated type of weapon.

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Damage Die Boost (special proficiency): A Character may boost the damage dice for a designated type of weapon. Doing so will usually raise the top end of the possible results, usually without raising the bottom end. A die 2 becomes a die 3, a die 3 becomes a die 4, a die 4 becomes a die 6, a die 6 becomes a die 8, a die 8 becomes a die 10, a die 10 becomes a die 12, and a die 12 (or 2d6 or 3d4) becomes 2d8, 2d8 becomes 3d6, and 3d6 becomes 2d10, 2d10 becomes 2d12.

Note that in most cases a straight +1 to hit and damage will be better than a damage die boost, but critical hits and backstabbing skills may boost the value of a higher top end damage a bit in favor of the damage die boost. Special Abilities may also change this calculation. It is up to the player to decide if and when the options favor the damage die boost.

Extra Melee Attacks (special proficiency): A Character may take half an extra melee attack with a designated type of melee weapon (i.e. one that applies every other round). This can be repeated twice, thus giving a character up to 1 extra attack per round with the designated type of weapon.

Extra Missile Attacks (special proficiency): A Character may boost the number of attacks for a designated type of missile weapon. This can be repeated to a maximum of 5 total missile attacks per round with the designated type of weapon. (Note missile weapons such as crossbows which require a complex reloading process cannot be boosted in this manner.)

Note: In the event that when a character boosts her attack rate with a weapon useful in both melee and missile attacks, she must choose between the rate of fire for missiles and the number of attacks taken in melee.