House Rules

( ⇪ Game Feel )

In-general, Hyperion Voyages uses all of the house-rules written in the “Maginomicon’s D&D 3.5 House Rules” document, and I’ve excerpted all of the most important excerpts of that document below. After that are some setting-specific recommended errata, bans, and tweaks.

House Rules Document Excerpts

GM-Affecting

Character Creation

In-Game

In-Combat

Recommended Errata

The Hyperion Voyages setting in particular also recommends specific changes to certain rules or character options to bring them in-line with the universe of this setting.

Standard Errata

Remember to check the errata for all books that you use in your campaign (if any exist for that source). Luckily, much of the Expanded Psionics Handbook was included in the SRD, so you can refer to the SRD if that’s more convenient for you. Although it’s hard to find, the Complete Psionic book has its own errata.

It’s strongly recommended that you read the official “D&D 3.5 FAQ”. It contains useful clarifications on a number of topics (such as how exactly tower shields operate in-battle). Furthermore, please read as many “Sage Advice” columns from issues of D&D 3.5-era Dragon Magazines as you can.

Minor Tweaks and Clarifications

These are just some minor adjustments to bring certain effects in-line with this specific setting.

Positive levels also grant power points in the same way that they as-written grant an extra spell slot (i.e. spell points). Positive levels bestowed on undead act like negative levels and as-such aren’t limited by the undead creature’s nonexistent constitution bonus.

Weapons: Polearms can be constructed to retract. While partially or completely retracted, a polearm is too unwieldy to be used except as an improvised weapon. There are three options: A: You can add 5 gp to any polearm’s price for the haft be constructed of aluminum-steel alloy (same hardness and weight as wood, but made of metal) and give it the ability to telescope retract down to 1 foot (the head of the weapon folds down over the retracted pole to bring it down to a 1-foot length total) or extend to full length as a move action, provided you have a hand free to manipulate the haft. or B: Same as A, but you can pay another 5 gp to the polearm’s price to make the haft aluminum-steel alloy and allow it to auto-unfold-and-extend or auto-retract-and-fold one-handed. It takes 1 complete round for it to complete the auto-retraction and fold once triggered, but only a swift action to unfold and auto-extend. or C: Buy it as a masterwork item, as both abilities automatically come with all masterwork polearms at no additional cost. Regardless of which option you pick, if you want the polearm to have these features you must as an extra cost add 5 gp to the final price for every 5ft of reach on the polearm.

Bloodlines racial variant: Bloodline levels don’t count as class levels and grant no benefits to maximum skill ranks or when calculating any character ability based on his class levels, but count as a level adjustment, and thus are halved and can be reduced. You still have to take a bloodline level before you can reduce it, and you still have to take any remaining bloodline levels (which you can then reduce) to retain your bloodline benefits.

Divine Mind class: The healing provided by the “creation” and “natural world” mantles are treated as fast healing 1 for the purposes of Injury saving throws, except that it stacks with any other fast healing you have in-effect at the time. Keep in mind that you would only include this effect when its timer coincides with an Injury save. The benefit of the “repose” mantle for a spellcaster suppresses the numeric penalties of fatigue and exhaustion, but does not otherwise have any effect on a spellcaster.

Calling, Creation, and Summoning effects: All effects with the Calling or Creation or Summoning subschools/subdisciplines and a duration of “1 round/level” instead have a duration of “2 rounds + 1 round/level”.

Death Ward effect: This spell doesn’t grant immunity, but grants a +10 bonus on the saving throw.

Detect Evil and similar effects: This spell has been rewritten.

Detect Psionics effect: This power has been rewritten.

Dispel Psionics effect: Change the text of the Dispel Psionics power to remove the line “Dispel psionics can end spell-like effects just as it does powers.” Otherwise this violates Magic-Psionics Opacity.

Protection from Evil and similar effects: This spell and all variants of it don’t grant immunity to mind-affecting effects, but grant a +10 bonus on the saving throw.

Wind Wall effect: Instead of arrows and bolt’s automatically missing, when casting wind wall you must make a caster level check that sets an AC for arrows and bolts that hit the wind wall. If the arrow or bolt’s attack roll beats this AC, they continue to their targets (and have to beat the target’s AC as normal). Non-mundane arrows and bolts ignore this AC and instead make a Will save (success means they continue to their targets).

Extra Slot feat: Instead grants an associated amount of spell points to one class. If the relevant spell level is zero, it instead grants 2 ZP.

Jack of All Trades feat: Only allows you to use a skill untrained, and doesn’t give you ranks for the purposes of earning the +3 class skill bonus.

Precocious Apprentice feat: You must pick a class for which this feat qualifies when you take the feat, and choose a 2nd-level arcane spell on that class’s arcane spell list. Your maximum SP increases by 3, and you can use that SP on other spells (including 1st-level and 0-level spells, unlike what the text of the feat implies), but this spell is an “exception” to normal access to 2nd-level arcane spells. That means you don’t have the bonus SP given for having access to 2nd-level arcane spells in that class, nor do you have access to 2nd-level arcane spells for the purposes of prerequisites. Once the chosen class is capable of casting 2nd-level arcane spells, these restrictions are removed, but you keep the 3 SP.

Spell Reflection ACF & Spell Sense feature: _ These alternative class features and similar abilities affect both spells and powers. To reflect spells you must have 1 rank in Knowledge (Arcana), and to reflect powers you must have 1 rank in Knowledge (Psionics), but you must have at least one of those to take the ACF.

Recommended Bans

In addition to the more broad Banned Stuff article, the Hyperion Voyages setting in particular also needs to ban some specific options that would otherwise be okay. The following character options are recommended to be banned from player access in all campaigns using this setting on the grounds of them either not fitting the setting or otherwise being silly, overpowered, broken, or useless in the campaign.

Banned Effects

Regardless of whether it’s a spell, power, magical location, friendly NPCs, or another resource, players should not gain access to these kinds of effects or it will break the setting.

Any effect that allows a PC to recall or re-cast a spell is banned (See the Spell Points variant description for why and alternatives).

Many forms of transportation between planes are banned as a result of The Great Planar Seal.

Even before The Great Planar Seal, it was known that traveling from the material plane through a transitive plane and back to the material plane has special limits when the distance traveled relative to the material plane crosses the vacuum of outer space. If you attempt to enter the material plane from a transitive plane and the distance traveled relative to your last location on the material plane would cross more than 2000 miles of outer space, you fail to re-enter the material plane. If the effect used for travel had an instantaneous duration and you originated on the material plane, the effect fails to move you out of the material plane in the first place.

Banned Races

Kender (because #@$% kender !)

Banned Prestige Classes (PrC)

Disciple of Dispater (if you don’t use the House Rules Maginomicon suggests)
Illithid Savant (Are you kidding me?! Even Tippy calls this the most broken class in the game!)
Mind Mage (Dragon Magazine #313 page 50; ignores magic-psionics opacity)

Banned Spells

NPCs can use them at GM’s strict discretion, but players should not gain access to them through those NPCs. There are now incantations for many unmentioned powerful spells, which makes their access often limited if not forbidden.

  • clone (and stasis clone, the details of the rituals are a state secret)
  • dweomer of transference (it ignores magic-psionic opacity, so not even NPCs should be able to access this)
  • fabricate (the details of its ritual are a state secret)
  • teleportation circle (the details of its ritual are a state secret)
  • true creation (the details of its ritual are a state secret)

Note: Gate and similar effects aren’t strictly banned, but don’t quite work the same way because of The Great Planar Seal.

Banned Powers

NPCs can use them at GM’s strict discretion, but players should not gain access to them through those NPCs. There are now communals for many unmentioned powerful powers, which makes their access often limited if not forbidden.

  • The Magic Mantle (it ignores magic-psionic opacity, so not even NPCs should be able to access this)
  • Any power based off of a banned spell
  • psionic fabricate (the details of its ritual are a state secret)
  • hypercognition
  • metafaculty
  • psionic teleportation circle (the details of its ritual are a state secret)
  • psionic true creation (the details of its ritual are a state secret)

Banned Alternative Class Features (ACF)

  • Erudite’s Spell to Power (it ignores magic-psionic opacity, so not even NPCs should be able to access this)
  • Planar Banishment cleric variant

Banned Feats

  • Able Learner (pointless in Hyperion, everyone has it for prerequisites)
  • Action Surge (all creatures have it as a bonus feat)
  • Antipsionic Magic (ignores magic-psionic opacity)
  • Cannibalize Spell (violates magic-psionic opacity)
  • Cerebremetamagic (ignores magic-psionic opacity)
  • Chameleon Crafting (ignores magic-psionic opacity)
  • Diehard (replaced with Dieharder)
  • Echoing Spell (Secrets Of Xen’drik; worthless in Hyperion)
  • Energy Affinity (banned on principle)
  • Fell Drain (banned on principle)
  • Mystic Focus (ignores magic-psionic opacity)
  • Mystic Stability (ignores magic-psionic opacity)
  • Psiotheurgist (ignores magic-psionic opacity)
  • Psithief (ignores magic-psionic opacity, supplants the new Psithief class)
  • Pursue (all creatures have it as a bonus feat)
  • Sacred Spell (banned on principle)
  • Spontaneous Casting (ECS; all creatures have it as a bonus feat)
  • Subdual Substitution (banned on principle)
  • Sudden Energy Affinity (Miniatures Handbook; worthless in Hyperion)
  • Versatile Spellcaster (Broken; results in 2 SP = 2nd-level spell = 3 SP)
  • Violate Spell (banned on principle)

Banned Items

House Rules

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