DM Oddish Personal Rules

This entire page is subject to change soon for the 2024 Player’s Handbook update, and again for the subsequent DMG & MM updates.

Please read ALL FOUR sections below. These rules only apply to my games and not any other DM’s games.

1. My Basic Guidelines

No annoying rules lawyering but it’s okay if it’s chill. I respect the min/max hustle if you understand RAW, but don’t be coming in here with your formulaic/generic power builds lacking imagination.

Rule of Cool: The rules are more like guidelines…I will discuss actions, attacks, RP, checks, or anything else. I am not strictly by the book. I am not against the players. If you have made flavorful decisions in building your character sheet with sub-optimal mechanical attributes, please let me know and I am happy to reward this much beyond rules-as-written.

That said, Do Not DM The DM. I run the game, please do not tell me what I did/didn’t do right. No Meta-Gaming. Do not argue. If you have a real problem with something I do, please discuss it after the game. You don’t have to be polite if you are patient.

Be on time for scheduled games.

Mess around and find out (Might be cool)

PVP & Perma-death is ALWAYS OFF unless the player(s) consent(s). AOE spells or critical fails, etc, may still damage other players “unintentionally.”

Rule of Lethargy:
If you forget something minor on your previous turn, you may rectify it on your next turn.

2. Combat House Rules

A nat 1 on any ATTACK ROLL ends that character/NPC’s turn.

Proper 180-degree flanking gives advantage to all attack rolls against that enemy, and this also applies against the players.

If you have “advantage on the next attack roll,” it applies to all attack rolls made as a part of that action.

All potions are a bonus action.

All bonus actions can be taken using a full-action.

Silvery Barbs, Jim’s Magic Missile, and other spells trigger a Wild Magic Surge upon being cast. Casting “WISH” in any way may have surprising results.

If you have the cantrip “Guidance,” we may assume you are spamming it on yourself, or you may designate a party member you are spamming it on.

You can cast any level scroll as any class as if it were on your spell list.
(I may alter your casting stat as needed.)

My inspiration can be stacked & collected.

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DEATH SAVE VARIANT:
When you are reduced to 0hp, you are still standing on your feet & conscious but you drop concentration on any spells, etc.
You may continue to take reactions, and on your turn, you may take actions, bonus actions, and use movement while at 0hp. You may not concentrate on anything.
For every 1 of those things that you do, make a death save (in addition to the one at the beginning of each of your turns, or whenever you take damage or otherwise have to make a death save) while you are at 0hp.
A 1 on the d20 on a death save is 2 fails.
A 20+ on a death save is 1hp.
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HERO ROLLS:
Hero Rolls are used when the player wants to do something that will definitely break all the rules, mainly a rule of cool.
Each character gets 1 hero roll per game.
Hero rolls are used to determine epic actions in combat.
Example: I would like to stab the dragon in the throat to disable their breath weapon.
You roll 2d20s, and take the result furthest away from 10. Ties are rerolled.
If you roll a 18 and a 9, the 18 wins. If you roll a 1 and 2, it is a loss.
You gamble great results vs great failure with these rolls.
Things can go really great…or really bad.
RESULTS ARE PERMANENT (Example: You lost your arm after failing to stab the dragon to disable the breath weapon.)
It goes in the persistent effects log.
You can always try to regain a fallen hero or limb with a perma-death-on-game hosted by me.

3. Class Specific

Patron & Deity RP is always encouraged & can be greatly rewarded.

Wild Magic sorcerers‘ surge uses a range that increases by 1 each time it fails to trigger, resetting to 1 on a success.

Artificers can choose their infusions from this list if they want to.

Warlocks gain 1 (one) extra Pact Slot.

Fighters all learn 1 Battle Maneuver of their choice and gain 2 Superiority Dice (d10) for my games. You may pick a new one at the start of each game in Alealudus. Battle Masters know every Battle Maneuver on the list & still gain the 2d10s.

Monks gain an extra 3 (three) Ki points.

Druids may wear Breastplates & Ring Armor made from bones & ceramics.

4. Other, etc, misc

I will run homebrew variant creatures and characters to my heart’s content.
—You may use Content in the 2024 Players Handbook for character creation.
— Use 35 Point Buy unless otherwise stated.

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You may also use any homebrew I approve, which will be added to this page (Homebrew I approve is only approved for my games):
—Any special loot, magic buffs, feats, boons, etc, that happen here stay here & can only be used in future game sessions you play with me as the DM. This applies to currencies such as volte-pyramids and aurixolari coins. Everything the gnomes give you is a rental/borrow/consumable.

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Exploration & social interaction is always encouraged. Every NPC you encounter in my games has the potential to be a fully fledged character you may interact with for as long as you wish in any way that makes sense and that the dice allow. I have roll tables for everything imaginable and can flesh out stories instantly with generative artificial intelligence.

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If you are interested in playing an Artificer with a homebrew subclass based on becoming a LICH or similar, and/or if you wish to have a story-arc for your character in which they are turned into a Ravenloft race, please let me know.

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Sessions may be vaguely NSFW but “gratuitous” (as decided by me or another player) gore, sexuality, threats, anger, tragedy, etc will be “scene changed,” moving on with the game as needed.

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Alealudus (my homebrew world)

With its roots in the Feywild and its branches stretching through the edge of the Astral Seas, the Tree of Alealudus has no definite shape or size; iterations of its gargantuan trunk grow throughout all of time & space within the multiverse.

CLICK HERE to venture to Alealudus!

Helpful Links

The Starry Shores discord server is a 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons West March.
Lionheart Hobby is my local game shop where I play games sometimes.
The Thick Tree is my Owlbear Rodeo server.
Token Stamp 2 is the standard for making digital character tokens.
I use Starry AI sometimes.
I use Gemini AI a lot.
I use Bing AI a lot.

My Player Characters in the Starry Shore

“Nine Trees” is an AutoGnome, built by the cleverest Water Genasi in all the realms, who dreams of becoming a real gnome. Click here to read more…

“Karakas Delmevv” is a lawful-good red Dragonborn wild magic sorcerer from the Boros Legion who dreams of burning his enemies alive, becoming king of all the realms, and performing a hit musical theatrical show about the entire affair. Click here to read more…

“Zaw” was born a BugBear but is now a Thri-Kreen member of The Colony. He spent time as a Quasmari student at Strixhaven, studying how to hit things with a stick, and dreams of becoming the greatest battle arena champion in all the realms to bring honor to his new tribe. Click here to read more…

About Me

I was raised in the suburbs of Chicago & am the fastest Final Fantasy 9 speedrunner on the Nintendo Switch in the entire world.

I have been playing DnD since I was a small child in the 90s, first on the PC (Baldur’s Gate & Icewind Dale on windows 95), then as a 3.5 DM as a teenager in the 2000s, then as an adult I was a 4th edition player, which was awful, then I helped DM a pretty cool online 5th edition west march for a while during the pandemic, learned the new state of the game, etc. That about brings us to now.

I studied philosophy in college, did a study abroad to China, as well as an extra 5 months backpacking there alone, became the youngest ever elected official in my hometown at age 25, going on to resign in disgrace midway through my term, and am now a stay at home dad for a beautiful baby cyborg.