Rules – EpicSavingThrow.com: A Grognard's Notebook

B/X Spell Rules & Summaries

July 7, 2025 mstanton Rules

A little homebrew reworking of magic spell rules.

B/X House Rules

July 3, 2025 mstanton Rules

Some ideas for using the 1981 rules.

Modern B/X Magic System Ideas

June 20, 2025 mstanton Rules

Some rough notes on a Knave-like system for OSR Modern RPG homebrew.

Fast RPG v1.1

June 11, 2025 mstanton Rules

Another revision of homebrew role-playing rules.

Damage Ideas Besides Losing Hit Points

May 28, 2025 mstanton Rules

Tips and tricks to layer onto hits or missed saving throws.

STA2e Complication Ideas

April 29, 2025 mstanton Rules

Idea for creating negative traits from botched task dice rolls.

Realis RPG 101

March 13, 2025 mstanton Rules

A diceless narrative space fantasy game by Austin Walker.

The Shortest TTRPG Rules Ever

February 19, 2025 mstanton Rules

Roll 2d6, get 9 or more or spend a story token to succeed.

STA2e Rules Notes, Glossary, Momentum and More

February 6, 2025 mstanton Rules

Some clarifications on terms used in Star Trek Adventures Second Edition.

Homebrew Rule: No Dice Failures

January 8, 2025 mstanton Homebrews, Rules

Instead of success or failure, attempt always work but player must choose at what cost.

Chaosium’s Basic Roleplaying Rules

January 6, 2025 mstanton Homebrews, Rules

Notes on mashing up BRP with some patchwork houserules.

Another Homebrew RPG Idea

January 2, 2025 mstanton Homebrews, Rules

Another homebrew idea, Frankenstein of ideas from D&D5e and BRP (Chaosium’s Basic Role Playing/Call of Cthulhu system), with a few bits borrowed from Marvel Multiverse RPG and GURPS.

Sci-Fi Equipment Lists

January 2, 2025 mstanton Lists & Benchmarks, Rules

Sample personal “starting gear” lists from science-fiction role-playing games.

Fast Starship Combat Rules

July 8, 2024 mstanton Rules

Some ideas for a quick-and-dirty starship RPG rules set.

Fast RPG v0.8

June 1, 2024 mstanton Rules

Yet another homebrew set of tabletop role-playing rules to playtest.

D&D 5e House Rules, Take Two

April 20, 2024 mstanton Rules

A list of common Dungeons & Dragons 5e house rules, and some new ideas to consider.

Fast Traveller 0.8

April 2, 2024 mstanton Rules

Version 0.8 of my re-edit of classic Traveller rules.

Stanton’s DM Screen

January 4, 2024 mstanton Rules

A peak at my cribnotes for running 5e-based games, including credit on some great reference sources.

Marvel Multiverse RPG Cheatsheet

November 27, 2023 mstanton Rules

Some quick reference notes on Matt Forbeck’s rules.

Hey ChatGPT, Make Me Some Wargame Rules

October 11, 2023 mstanton Rules

An experiment in AI game design using some prompts into ChatGPT-3.5, circa October 2023.

Trait System RPG Idea

October 6, 2023 mstanton Homebrews, Rules

Updating my 30-year-old RPG design project notes, started way back in the early 1990s. Uses d20s only, no ability scores, and players roll for all task outcomes.

Another RPG Ruleset In Progress

September 27, 2023 mstanton Homebrews, Rules

Brainstorming a sort of D&D-Cypher hybrid rules idea…

LARP Character Magical Powers

September 25, 2023 mstanton Homebrews, Rules

I found the following character abilities in some mid-1990s LARP rules I made for con events in Wisconsin.

AD&D1e to 5e Conversions

June 25, 2023 mstanton Rules

When running old AD&D1e modules for D&D 5e adventures, follow these guidelines

Questions to Make Character Bonds

March 13, 2023 mstanton Rules

This exercise is designed to help players create character bonds through debts, rivalries, and shared past experiences. Position players in a circle (around a table

Coup: Rules & Notes

July 13, 2022 mstanton Rules

Notes on how to play the card game “Coup.”

Marvel Superheroes FASERIP Redux

May 10, 2022 mstanton Rules

The Marvel Superheroes Role-Playing Game rates abilities by descriptive ranks, each used to roll percentile dice (d100) to measure results on the Universal Results Table.

Imperial / Metric Conversions For D&D

March 24, 2022 mstanton Lists & Benchmarks, Rules

Loose estimates rounded for narrative/gaming purposes.

D&D 5e House Rules

March 24, 2022 mstanton Rules

A list of house rules I tend to use in Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition games.

5e Custom Character Traits

July 17, 2021 mstanton Characters, Homebrews, Rules

Some ideas on character customization.

5e Robots

July 17, 2021 mstanton Characters, Homebrews, Rules

My take on making a playable race for sci-fi robots.

D&D5e Action Economy

June 22, 2021 mstanton Rules

A breakdown look at RAW, plus a couple of house rules.

Magical Healing 101

April 29, 2021 mstanton Rules

A comparison of what magic fixes what injuries.

Micro Fast Traveller 2.1

February 24, 2021 mstanton Homebrews, Rules

Even shorter version of ttprg rules for Traveller.

D&D5e: Expanded Conditions & Abilities Glossary

February 21, 2021 mstanton Rules

Notes on conditions, common abilities, and a few house rules.

Sci-Fi 5e Medicines And Equipment

January 11, 2021 mstanton Rules, Settings

Some homebrew items for a science-fiction flavor to D&D5e.

D&D5e: Prices For Spellcasting Services

November 30, 2020 mstanton Lists & Benchmarks, Rules

A houserule on the price and availability of hiring spellcasters.

D&D5e: Magic Item Prices

November 28, 2020 mstanton Lists & Benchmarks, Rules

A shopping list for magical items and spellcasting services.

Subtle Spellcasting House Rule

September 18, 2020 mstanton Rules

A clarification on spellcasting.

Faster Combat Tips

August 8, 2020 mstanton Rules

Cribbed from several YouTube videos and blog sites…

Gamma World for D&D 5e

July 12, 2020 mstanton Rules, Settings

Notes for playing Gamma World using the D&D 5e ruleset.

Dirty Tricks Of The Evil Spellcaster

June 29, 2020 mstanton Rules

Uses D&D5e PHB spells for espionage – surveillance, sabotage, psyops and assassination.

The Xro Dinn Chronicles RPG

June 29, 2020 mstanton Rules

A quick outline about a sci-fi role-playing game from 2001.

Shorthand Stats For D&D Monsters

January 19, 2020 mstanton Rules

Text crib notes for D&D monster stats.

House Rules For Modern 5e

August 11, 2018 mstanton Rules

Some rough ideas on using the Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition ruleset for other genre games.

Top Secret: New World Order Notes

April 14, 2018 mstanton Rules

Some initial notes on the 2018 reboot version of Merle M. Rasmussen’s original espionage role-playing game.

Star Trek Fast Traveller

February 22, 2017 mstanton Rules

Notes for running a Traveller game in the Star Trek universe.

T.I.M.E Stories Rules

February 12, 2017 mstanton Rules

A summary of basic rules to Space Cowboys’ “decksploration” board game.

Adventures In Middle-Earth 5e

December 19, 2016 mstanton Rules

Some early notes on the D&D sourcebook / conversion of THE ONE RING role-playing game.

D&D5e: Inspiration Hack

November 30, 2016 mstanton Rules

An alternative method for determining when and how a character gains Inspiration during play.

D&D5e: Downtime Activities

November 25, 2016 mstanton Rules

Notes about what characters may do between adventures. More roll-play than role-play but nice to have some guidelines for DMs and players to set expectations.

D&D5e: Magic

November 25, 2016 mstanton Rules

Notes about spellcasting, magic items and guidelines for effects and limitations in play.

D&D5e: Skill & Tool Use

November 25, 2016 mstanton Rules

Notes about ability checks and various proficiencies, plus clarification on the “Hide” action.

D&D5e: Combat & Health

November 25, 2016 mstanton Rules

All kinds of notes about running combat, “to-hit” rolls and damage, hit point loss and recovery and class abilities.

D&D5e: Time & Travel

November 24, 2016 mstanton Rules

Recap of rules and house rules for travel by land, air or sea.

Hack: Defusing Bombs/Traps

November 24, 2016 mstanton Rules

An RPG mechanic for solving short codes such as defusing sequences for bombs or traps.

Cypher System

August 25, 2016 mstanton Rules

A hack to the “buying down Difficulty” rule in Monte Cook’s Cypher System Rulebook.

D&D5e Range Chart

November 20, 2015 mstanton Rules

Comparison of some range distance limits in Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition.

Call Of Cthulhu 7th Edition

October 31, 2015 mstanton Rules

An expanded version of Matt Puccio’s Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition cribsheet.

Fantasy Forensics

March 15, 2015 mstanton Rules

BlogOfHolding’s fantastic post on how magic changes criminal investigations in a fantasy world.

D&D4e: War Challenges

May 1, 2014 mstanton Rules

Repost of “Skill Challenges of War” by Michael Brewer, Jonathan Jacobs, and Quinn Murphy.

AD&D1e Fast Treasures

March 23, 2014 mstanton Rules

A collection of treasure items a party might have in its possession during an adventure.

Alternatives To Death

July 22, 2013 mstanton Rules

So, a character has died. Now what? here’s ideas to avoid a player having to “start over” with a wholly new character.

Hit point loss could be meat, OR condition of armor OR self-confidence, focus and resisting shock in combat OR ability to ignore nuisance effect like dirt in eyes or awkward stumbles OR lots of things…

Pre-Rolled Dice

June 11, 2012 mstanton Rules

Lists of dice rolls in a random order repeating multiple times for each die type.

Pre-Rolled d20s

June 11, 2012 mstanton Rules

Lists of modified d20 rolls to make attack and saving throw rolls easier for DMs managing multiple opponents.

AD&D 1e Skills

December 14, 2011 mstanton Rules

A summary of the original “non-weapon proficiencies” allowed to player characters, sometimes called “secondary skills” in rules by Gary Gygax.

AD&D1e Equipment Lists

December 14, 2011 mstanton Lists & Benchmarks, Rules

A list of items, services, prices and weights.

AD&D1e Age Ranges

May 22, 2011 mstanton Rules

AD&D1e followed short lifespans for rapid-population-growth humanoids and ridiculous Tolkien-based ages for elves.

Microlite20

December 2, 2010 mstanton Rules

Microlite20 is a super-simple RPG rules set created by Robin Stacey back in 2006 and widely modified by fans ever since. It is meant to

Area Threat Levels

October 22, 2009 mstanton Rules

Suggested degrees of “local danger” found in various types of locations.

Prices In A Fantasy Setting

April 22, 2009 mstanton Lists & Benchmarks, Rules

A collection of benchmark standards for use as a house rule for most traditional fantasy marketplaces.

nWoD Vampire Powers

December 1, 2007 mstanton Rules

Lists of supernatural powers for “new World of Darkness” Kindred characters per Vampire: The Requiem.

World Of Darkness Rules

December 1, 2007 mstanton Rules

Notes, summaries and a few house rules from The World Of Darkness Storytelling System Rulebook (2004 edition, aka “nWoD”).

Magick Vs. Paradox Guidelines

October 8, 2006 mstanton Rules

Instead of “vulgar” and “coincidental” labels, instead look at the effect and and consider what a mundane would say if he directly witnessed the event.

Foreshadowing Mage Magick

October 8, 2006 mstanton Rules, Settings

The big limitation on magical powers in Mage comes from paradox driven by the counter-belief of non-mage observers. A little creative description can get around that issue…

Magick Effects

October 8, 2006 mstanton Rules

Guidelines for creating specific effects via the magick spheres using the Mage: The Ascension game.

Fast Traveller Rules 0.6

October 1, 2006 mstanton Homebrews, Rules

Another edit of “quick and dirty” home rules for running introductory Traveller games.

Traveller Psionics

September 29, 2006 mstanton Rules

Notes on using psionic abilities in the Third Imperium of Traveller, per the 1977 Basic Set.

Character Alignment

August 22, 2003 mstanton Rules

Summary of how the original nine basic alignments are meant to be used and role-played in D&D.

Fast High Guard

March 4, 2003 mstanton Rules

Some notes on running space combats with the CT 1979 rules, plus 1980 revisions and house rules.

Cop Gear, Spy Tools, Modern Equipment Lists

January 5, 2003 mstanton Lists & Benchmarks, Rules

GURPS 3.0 stats for equipment typically found in the trunk of a police cruiser / squad car.

Ozymandia Rules

May 24, 1999 mstanton Rules

Rules for “Simultaneous Risk With Bombardments” from New Rules for Classic Games by R. Wayne Schmittberger

RPG Mini-Handbook

June 4, 1996 mstanton Homebrews, Rules

A rough “conversion document” for several RPGs popular in the mid-1990s.