Greetings fellow adventurers!

If you’re a Dungeon Master like me, you probably have a good number of rules floating around your head at any given time, either you remember reading it once and are filling in the blanks, it’s something you use in every session, or one you’re making up on the spot. There are many oddly specific rules in the system, let’s take a look at five overlooked rules hidden in the pages of the Player’s Handbook and the Dungeon Master’s Guide:

1| Falling (PHB. 183)

A fall from a great height is one of the most common hazards facing an adventurer. At the end of a fall, a creature takes 1d6 bludgeoning damage for every 10 feet it fell, to a maximum of 20d6. The creature lands prone, unless it avoids taking damage from the fall.

Starting off simply, this is a good rule to keep nearby, as players are quite fond of flinging themselves off of cliffs after claiming godhood. The rule is fairly simple and deals well with the repercussions of a long trip off a short platform.

Homebrew Addition/Alternative: This homebrew version is about as simple as simple gets, just remove the cap of 20d6 and keep rolling dice for every 10 feet the creature falls. This ensures a 10^th level barbarian can’t survive a mile-high fall without even raging. If they fall 1000 feet, roll 100d6.

2| Long & High Jumping (PHB. 182)

Long Jump. When you make a long jump, you cover a number of feet up to your Strength score if you move at least 10 feet on foot immediately before the jump. When you make a standing long jump, you can leap only half that distance. Either way, each foot you clear on the jump costs a foot of movement.

This rule assumes that the height of your jump doesn’t matter, such as a jump across a stream or chasm. At your DM’s option, you must succeed on a DC 10 Strength (Athletics_ check to clear a low obstacle (no taller than a quarter of the jump’s distance), such as a hedge or low wall. Otherwise, you hit it.

When you land in difficult terrain, you must succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check to land on your feet. Otherwise, you land prone.

High Jump. When you make a high jump, you leap into the air a number of feet equal to 3+ your strength modifier (minimum of 0 feet) if you move at least 10 feet on food immediately before the jump. When you make a standing high jump, you can jump only half that distance. Either way, each foot you clear on the jump costs a foot of movement. In some circumstances, your DM might allow you to make a Strength (athletics) check to jump higher than you normally can.

You can extend your arms half your height above yourself during the jump. Thus, you can reach above you a distance equal to the height of the jump plus 1 ½ times your height.

This is a relatively unknown rule, and most DM’s tend to just set a DC for an Athletics or Acrobatics check for any form of vertical or horizontal jumping traversal.

Homebrew Addition/Alternative: If you don’t feel like memorizing the entire rule and all the math involved, consider that an “average” strength score for player characters is roughly 12-14, barbarians and fighters being outliers. This means that with a 10-foot running start, most characters can jump about 12 feet, or 6 without the running start. Use this average to set your DC’s for the Athletics/Acrobatics check or opt not to have them make a check if the jump is well within that limit.

This works similarly for high jumps, the modifiers for those scores are +1 and +2 respectively, resulting in a 5 foot high jump from a 10 foot running start, and their arms can reach upwards of 12 feet (5 feet jump + 5’6” average character height for medium humanoids + 2’9” for ½ average height in arms’ length)

3| Lava Damage (DMG. 249)

While there is no specified rule for lava damage, it’s listed under the “Improvising Damage” table within the Dungeon Master’s Guide. Lava is meant to be a deadly and dangerous obstacle, and this rule definitely treats it as such.

Homebrew Addition/Alternative: Consider that the damage occurs per-round, and the damage should be dealt again for every round spent within lava. Lava is also much more viscous than people think, and it would be considered difficult terrain, meaning creatures that don’t otherwise have an ability to move through it unhindered are at half their movement speed. Along with that, it’s remarkably hotter than normal fire, and as such, consider having it ignore fire resistance/immunity if you want to be all the more punishing.

4| Mob Combat (DMG. 250)

Keeping combat moving along at a brisk pace can be difficult when there are dozens of monsters involved in a battle. When handling a crowded battlefield, you can speed up play by forgoing attack rolls in favor of approximating the average number of hits a large group of monsters can inflict on a target. Instead of rolling an attack roll, determine the minimum d20 roll a creature needs in order to hit a target by subtracting its attack bonus from the target’s AC. You’ll need to refer to the result throughout the battle, so it’s best to write it down.

Look up the minimum d20 roll needed on the Mob Attacks table. The table shows you how many creatures that need that die roll or higher must attack a target in order for one of them to hit. If that many creatures attack the target, their combined efforts result in one of them hitting the target.

For example, eight orcs surround a fighter. The orcs’ attack bonus is +5, and the fighter’s AC is 19. The orcs need a 14 or higher to hit the fighter. According to the table, for every three orcs that attack the fighter, one of them hits. There are enough orcs for two groups of three. The remaining two orcs fail to hit the fighter.

If the attacking creatures deal different amounts of damage, assume that the creature that deals the most damage is the one that hits. If the creature that hits has multiple attacks with the same attack bonus, assume that it hits once with each of those attacks. If a creature’s attacks have different attack bonuses, resolve each attack separately.

This attack resolution system ignores critical hits in favor of reducing the number of die rolls. As the number of combatants dwindles, switch back to using individual die rolls to avoid situations where one side can’t possibly hit the other.

This rule is very complex, but when you understand it, it can really speed up large combat encounters with many combatants. Allow me to attempt to further deconstruct the table and rule to make it a bit easier to understand. If a character’s AC is 10, the monster’s attack bonus is +9, then every monster in that group hits the character, as the column on the right is grouping the first numbered row by 1.

Conversely, if the character’s AC is 20, and the monster’s attack bonus is +0, then in a group of 20 monsters trying to hit that one character, only one of them would hit. This rule, as it states, ignores critical hits and critical misses to speed up combat.

Homebrew Addition/Alternative: Consider using a “minionized” version of each monster, as well. A “minionized” monster has 1 hit point and always deals average damage. This rule further speeds up combat versus many monsters. Avoid “minionizing” more typically difficult monsters, like hobgoblins or orcs, unless the main antagonist of an encounter is vastly more powerful. Use “minionized” monsters in tandem with this mob combat rule to keep massive and complicated combat encounters flowing.

5| Madness (DMG. 258-260)

Madness

In a typical campaign, characters aren’t driven mad by the horrors they face and the carnage they inflict day after day, but sometimes the stress of being an adventurer can be too much to bear. If your campaign has a strong horror theme, you might want to use madness as a way to reinforce that theme, emphasizing the extraordinarily horrific nature of the threats the adventurers face.

Going Mad

Various magical effects can inflict madness on an otherwise stable mind. Certain spells, such as contact other plane and symbol, can cause insanity, and you can use the madness rules here instead of the spell effects in the Player’s Handbook. Diseases, poisons, and planar effects such as psychic wind or the howling winds of Pandemonium can all inflict madness. Some artifacts can also break the psyche of a character who uses or becomes attuned to them.

Resisting a madness-inducing effect usually requires a Wisdom or Charisma saving throw. If your game includes the Sanity score (see chapter 9, “Dungeon Master’s Workshop”), a creature makes a Sanity saving throw instead.

Madness Effects

Madness can be short-term, long-term, or indefinite. Most relatively mundane effects impose short-term madness, which lasts for just a few minutes. More horrific effects or cumulative effects can result in long-term or indefinite madness.

A character afflicted with short-term madness is subjected to an effect from the Short-Term Madness table for 1d10 minutes.

A character afflicted with long-term madness is subjected to an effect from the Long-Term Madness table for 1d10 x 10 hours.

A character afflicted with indefinite madness gains a new character flaw from the Indefinite Madness table that lasts until cured.

Curing Madness

A calm emotions spell can suppress the effects of madness, while a lesser restoration spell can rid a character of a short-term or long-term madness. Depending on the source of the madness, remove curse or dispel evil might also prove effective. A greater restoration spell or more powerful magic is required to rid a character of indefinite madness.

Madness is a deeply complex system that relies on DM’s and players alike to abide by it, and when used poorly can ruin campaigns. Tread carefully when using madness, and I recommend talking about it with your players ahead of time, as it might take control away from them of their beloved characters and ruin their fun. Little is less fun than being told how to play your character.

I’ve also opted not to include the ensuing tables, as there are numerous within the book and plenty of other tables on the internet that include equally and sometimes more interesting effects.

Homebrew Addition/Alternative: While obviously recommended above to go searching on the internet for other tables you could use, consider talking with your players ahead of time about different forms of madness they may already have coming into the adventure, or ones they would be interested in exploring in roleplaying.

This is also a very useful rule to use when creating NPC’s! Consider rolling on the indefinite madness to create an eccentric or otherwise mad character, be it a wizard whose arcane experiments had a surprising effect, or a prisoner trapped in solitary for centuries after the prison they were held in was destroyed, leaving only their cell walls and door, even though they were only supposed to have been incarcerated for a decade. This can really add some believability and intrigue into different characters your players can interact with.

Whew! That was a lot, thanks for sticking that out with me. I hope you either learned something or I inspired you to try out some new variations on some lesser known and utilized rules. If any of these came in handy or you have any related experiences in your own games, please let me know in the comments below!

Thank you for reading, good luck on your adventures, and may your 20’s always be natural.