Here’s a list of the homebrew rules we use for our Enelis Expeditions campaign.
Playing a World, not a Story
There is no adventure path, no pre-determined story path for this campaign. Story will be an emergent property of player choices and how the world reacts to them. Characters are free to come and go within the story as the player decides, based on the character’s motives and goals. New characters can be brought in at any time to fit the storyline, albeit at Level 1. The players will ultimately decide the course of the campaign and which plots and story threads are important.
High Encounter Variance: Though the focus of the story is upon the characters, the world does not revolve around them. The relative difficulty and challenge of encounters may be randomly determined. Some things may seem trivial, while other threats will be beyond the characters’ collective ability. Discretion will be required (along with judicious use of Recall Knowledge).
Treasure & Rewards: Logic and randomness will determine the prevalence of any treasure and magical items found within the story. Players cannot count on a specific hand-out of monetary rewards over their character’s career. By using Automatic Bonus Progression, characters are not dependent on specific item rewards for mathematical balance.
Quests, Encounters, and XP: Characters will earn most of their XP by following story threads and completing them. Story threads themselves will come up organically, but it is up to the players to choose to follow them and see them to completion. XP will also be given from defeating encounters, but at a lower than standard rate. Total encounter XP for the average party level will be divided by the number of participants. Characters of higher or lower level will receive less or more XP respectively.
Experience and Levels: Characters will require 1000 XP to reach Level 2, but require an additional 100 XP for each higher level. So, 1100 XP for Level 3, 1200 XP to reach Level 4, etc. This change makes higher levels harder to reach and slows character progression.
Downtime and Strongholds: Players are encouraged to take Downtime for retraining and income earning activities. Additionally, they can spend coin on building strongholds and player-owned businesses, to cement their characters into the world of the setting.
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Proficiency Without Level
We are using the Proficiency Without Level variant of the PF2e rules. This variant removes the inclusion of character level in all statistical calculations. We are also using the variant where Untrained proficiency is -2. These rule changes flatten the math of the game and take away the linear separation of character levels. This is to allow characters of all levels to better mesh together and allow for more options for encounters.
Changes to Simple DCs
| Simple DC’s | DC | PWL DC | Treat Wounds DC |
| Untrained | 10 | 10 | – |
| Trained | 15 | 15 | 12 |
| Expert | 20 | 18 | 16 |
| Master | 30 | 22 | 18 |
| Legendary | 40 | 25 | 22 |
Aid action has a typical DC of 16.
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DC By Level Chart
| Level | DC | PWL DC | Level | DC | PWL DC |
| -1 | 13 | 13 | |||
| 0 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 31 | 18 |
| 1 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 32 | 18 |
| 2 | 16 | 14 | 15 | 34 | 19 |
| 3 | 18 | 15 | 16 | 35 | 19 |
| 4 | 19 | 15 | 17 | 36 | 19 |
| 5 | 20 | 15 | 18 | 38 | 20 |
| 6 | 22 | 16 | 19 | 39 | 20 |
| 7 | 23 | 16 | 20 | 40 | 20 |
| 8 | 24 | 16 | 21 | 42 | 21 |
| 9 | 26 | 17 | 22 | 44 | 22 |
| 10 | 27 | 17 | 23 | 46 | 23 |
| 11 | 28 | 17 | 24 | 48 | 24 |
| 12 | 30 | 18 | 25 | 50 | 25 |
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Automatic Bonus Progression
We are using the Automatic Bonus Progression variant of the PF2e rules. This variant takes away the requirement for specific magical item bonuses to maintain the power curve of the game. This allows players to pursue any choices they want concerning item acquirement and allows the GM to provide more interesting, lore-centered items. It also helps to balance the lower expectation of magic in the Enelis Campaign Setting compared to the default high-fantasy Lost Omens Pathfinder setting.
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Recall Knowledge
A successful Recall Knowledge grants a character the name of a creature, its level, and any traits (e.g. Undead, Aberration, Incorporeal, Water, etc.). Additionally, the character may ask for one piece of information: such as its lowest or highest saving throws; any immunities, resistances, or weaknesses; or details of one of its special abilities. A critical success grants two of these pieces of information. Subsequent Recall Knowledge attempts increase the DC by 1, but allow additional questions to be asked if successful.
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Hero Points
Hero points work mostly as normal, with a few changes.
- Apply Grit: You may spend a Hero Point BEFORE any roll to take the better of both rolls. (e.g. Fortune effect, Advantage).
- You do not gain a Hero Point at the beginning of each session, however, at the end of each session, each player may choose to grant a Hero Point to another player. They should say what the player or character did that inspired the heroics. Players who are absent that session do not have a Hero Point to give, it is forfeited.
- Hero Points likewise carry over into the next session, but characters can have no more than 2 at the start of a session.
- Hero Points will largely be rewarded during the session for story-centric roleplaying. Such as in-character exposition or sub-optimal choices or self-imposed negative conditions for the sake of the narrative.
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Wounds and Injury
Whenever a character receives the Dying condition they must make a DC 10 Fortitude save. I encourage the use of Hero Points here.
Critical Failure: Immediate death.
Failure: Chronic Injury. Roll 2d6 to get the Recovery Days for the injury. After this time elapses, the injury becomes temporary and can be removed normally (see below).
Success: Temporary Injury. You can make a DC 15 Fortitude save after each rest, a success removes the Injury. If the character rested for a full day, they gain a +2 bonus on this roll.
Critical Success: No injury.
Injury Table (2d6)
2 = Unmentionables: -1 to all checks and DCs (like Sickened).
3 – 4 = Arm: One arm injured, cannot use that arm for any actions.
5 – 9 = Body: Roll 1d6
. . . . 1 – 2 = Broken Bone: -1 to all Dex based checks and DCs (like Clumsy).
. . . . 3 – 4 = Battered Body: -1 to all Con based checks and DCs, -level max HP (like Drained).
. . . . 5 – 6 = Bruised Body: -1 to all Str based checks and DCs (like Enfeebled).
10 – 11 = Leg: One leg injured, -10 land-based Speed.
12 = Head: Roll 1d6
. . . . 1 – 2 = Hideous Scar: -1 to all Cha based checks and DCs (like Stupefied).
. . . . 3 – 4 = Blinded Eye: -2 to all Perception checks and Initiative.
. . . . 5 – 6 = Brain Damage: -1 to all Int and Wis-based checks and DCs (like Stupified).
TREATING INJURIES: Another character can attend to an injured character for one Period (6 hours). The tending character makes a DC 18 Medicine check to treat the injury.
Critical Success: A character with a temporary injury receives a +4 circumstance bonus on their next Fortitude save. A character with a chronic injury reduces their Recover Days by 2.
Success: A character with a temporary injury receives a +2 circumstance bonus on their next Fortitude save. A character with a chronic injury reduces their Recover Days by 1.
Failure: No changes in condition.
Critical Failure: A character with a temporary injury receives a -1 circumstance penalty on their next Fortitude save. A character with a chronic injury increases their Recover Days by 1.