Common Dungeons & Dragons House Rules That Can Ruin Campaigns

House rules are an ever-present part of TTRPG tables, especially Dungeons & Dragons, as they help players and Dungeon Masters find "common ground" to make the playing experience much more fun for both sides of the table. In an ideal world, homebrew mechanics make campaigns unique as they introduce new rules and perhaps even lore openings - adding a "refresh" to their sessions. Unfortunately, not all house rules are made equal - and some become very detrimental to the overall experience.

In fact, there are just some Dungeons & Dragons homebrew options that can become quite the head-scratcher for players - especially when they don't feel as "fitting" in their games. Some mechanics are also considered rather disruptive to the experience by some, even though they don't seem as obvious at first glance.

Alignment Roleplaying Can Be A Bummer

Alignments Can Confine Characters To A Specific Style

Alignment remains one of the most contested mechanics in D&D, especially in older editions when this trait played a larger role in campaigns that featured deities that controlled precise portfolios and the facets of goodness, evilness, chaos, and orderliness in the world. In some games, Alignment is a significant part of a character’s storyline - and alignment roleplaying is where a player must make sure their character stays true to their declared alignment unless the story decides otherwise. Some tables may even penalize unfaithful alignment roleplaying, as some DMs might say this causes characters to stay untrue to their premise and background.

However, there’s a reason why the 2024 Revised Rules no longer include Alignments - because they’re not meant to be played down to the letter. Characters in a story are meant to go through journeys of discovery, regardless of whether this means achieving some form of lesson or not. “Punishing” characters for not being roleplayed towards their designated alignment (whether players could or not) can be a quick turn-off for gamers who just want to be in it to see how their characters evolve or have a hard time roleplaying at large.

Respecting The Critical

It's Difficult To Immerse If There's A "Guaranteed" Win Or Lose

What to do with a critical roll or a critical fail remains one of the most contested discussions in TTRPGs, and especially more so in D&D, where criticals play a large role in combat and skill checks. Normally, a critical hit makes for a guaranteed strike or an impressive display of talent, whereas a critical fail often results in a bad - often hilarious - fumble. However, there exists a homebrew rule where rolling Advantage or Disadvantage prioritizes any critical result, regardless of what the other dice are.

At first glance, this seems great - a Critical Hit can result in an even better roll at Advantage, or even save characters in a pinch at a Disadvantage. However, this can be especially frustrating when rolling a Natural 1, as this supersedes any higher roll. The homebrew rule of following a critical can make rolls less encouraging, especially when some character traits could’ve given them Advantage or Disadvantage over some checks.

Leveling Only By Milestone

Attending A Session Knowing There's No Way To Level Up Is Frustrating

Considered as an alternative to the rather more tedious XP-based leveling system, Milestone-based leveling simply meant characters can level up only after achieving something big or meeting a specific story threshold. This eliminated any demand for tedious grinding against monsters, plus it emphasized the story. For campaigns that had limited sessions or wanted to speed up progression.

However, DMs often forget to adjust the Milestones they want per level, which can turn off players completely when they realize they can’t meet as frequently but only achieve the next level in what might seem like months away. If the campaign hadn’t sizzled out by then, the party wouldn’t see any reason to push the story through because they could just try to fast-track everything. This runs the risk of Milestone-based leveling creating players that aren’t as invested in the story, as they’ll be after settling major plotlines for the sake of being in their desired level.

Natural 20s Always Being A Success

There Has To Be A Limit To Being Extremely Lucky

The occasional epic moment that comes with a Natural 20 can always make a roll - be it combat or a check - very exciting, especially when fighting a boss or attempting a Hail Mary. It’s often in these moments that luck becomes a crutch, and things become unforgettable as they’re not easily achievable, knowing how tricky it is to score a Natural 20 on a “regular” time. However, a Natural 20 always resulting in a success can ruin campaigns quickly, especially when they’re enforced in rather implausible moments - such as gags that interrupt serious scenes, or an improbable scenario forcing good storylines to end prematurely.

Such a rule change to a popular homebrew mechanic may upset players, as a lot of tables may already have been using this house rule to facilitate naturally epic non-combat moments. However, players also need to consider that forcing successes on a Natural 20 (and by extension, large fumbles on a Natural 1) can turn improbable moments and skill checks into reality and may ruin some level of suspense or stakes in the long-term.

Critical Fumble Tables Make Rolls Punishing

Failing "So Hard" Can Make It Discouraging To Do Skill Checks

Despite potentially being useful, Natural 1s having an exclusive list of how horrific failures can get has a high chance of killing the fun on tables very quickly. After all, this means players who get to roll frequently have more chances of suffering fumbles - such as Fighters who get more Attacks, Rogues who can position Sneak Attacks along various parts of the round, and Monks who can use Bonus Actions for more hits.

Players may opt not to make checks or try to get the easy way out of fights, as the prospect of a Critical Fumble Table determining how “bad” a situation is can just rub salt into the wound. After all, lucking out on a roll - something that players can't control - shouldn't be punished with extreme prejudice.

Once-Per Rogue Turn Sneak Attacks

This Ace In The Hole Is Exactly What Makes The Rogue Special

Sneak Attacks remain the ace in the hole for Rogues, specifically for their traits. At base, Rogues deal 1d6 Damage on a target if they have Advantage on the roll while using a Ranged or Finesse Weapon - something that scales as they level up. Not only that, the Advantage requirement is void if there's an ally adjacent to the target. The main caveat here is that Sneak Attacks are only doable once per turn - as in, anywhere a Rogue gets a turn, including Opportunity Attacks and Readied Actions.

However, such a house rule exists that the Sneak Attack must be done in the Rogue's own turn - meaning, it can't be inserted into Opportunity Attacks or as a Readied Action. The Rogue’s Sneak Attack already requires a lot of variables to pull off, so adding yet another limiter in that it can only be triggered during the Rogue’s turn can make it severely underpowered. After all, the point of the Rogue is to abuse opportunities even outside their turn, so restricting their most crucial ace in the hole to just their turn ruins the Rogue’s theme.

Every-Other-Turn Crossbow Shots

The Crossbow Can Already Be Absurdly Hard To Use

Crossbows are often introduced as fairly new inventions in most D&D campaigns, so it’s no surprise that there’s a bit of a caveat when using them. The Loading property in both the 2014 and 2024 rules indicates that a Loading weapon can fire one ammunition from either an Action, a Bonus Action, or a Reaction - regardless of the number of attacks the wielder can make. The only way to circumvent this is through the Crossbow Expert feat.

However, there exists a homebrew that essentially integrates reloading into its own turn, usually due to the strain of trying to do so in real life. Doing this to the Crossbow can severely limit its potential as a ranged weapon, as players are encouraged to just stick to Bows. After all, why bother with a weapon that forces one to skip an entire turn that deals a similar level of damage to a simpler counterpart? This eliminates the point of having the new technology, as players just made it more complicated to use.