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ALTERNATE RULES
(Updated 8/9/01)

As the writers of the rules for D&D way back since the AD&D books came out eons ago have stated, including the Great Gary Gygax himself, the rules are just a guideline. DM's and playing groups are encouraged to change things as befits their needs.
Personally, I like the new d20 system D&D 3rd Ed. is based on. There's a lot of changes that I was using as House Rules already. Some things I still don't like. In my opinion spell casting is better, but still not quite what I prefer. (Darn them for not catering to MY needs in particular!!) Mainly when my wife, who prefers playing a spell caster, complains then I make new rules. (*grins*)

Below are a couple of categories of official rule changes I use. If you submit a character to join the group, then you're agreeing to play with these changes.
If there's a unanimous vote to change these or anything else, then I'm 90% likely to go with it. But ALL the players will need to agree to any rules change in order to make it official and permanent. (Note as stated in About the DM that I'll sometimes bend the rules for the benefit of logical realism or to benefit great role-playing.)

SPELL CASTING
Spell casters follow the 3rd Edition rules regarding the number of spells they can cast per day. All spell casting classes save for Wizards may cast any of the spells in any of the levels and spheres/domains they're allowed without pre-memorizing, praying, or preparing. Clerics continue to use the extra Domain spell slots only for chosen Domain spells. Wizards must continue to prepare their selection of spell they wish to cast prior to the resting for the day. See below for more information regarding Wizards.

ADDED SPELL CAPABILITY:
In addition to the 3rd Edition allotted spell slots, a caster may also cast additional spells equal to their CON with the cost being 2 times the spell level (0-levels spells costing 1.) So an extra 2nd level spell will cost 4 CON points to cast, and a 5th level spell will cost 10 CON points.
This cost is actually taken off the character's CON temporarily. They will recover all the lost points after 8 hours of rest. (HitPoints are not affected by the lost CON, but saves, checks and modifiers are.)

Wizards do not need to prepare in advance what spells they will cast with their "extra" points. However, they can only cast spells they have previously had memorized for that "day," (as the scribing of the spell has remained imprinted upon their mind and psyche,) and any cantrip (0-level spell). 

A Wizard may also cast a spell she or he did not have previously memorized that day, but at a cost in CON of five times the spell level, and an immediate 0-CON check on the table below (even if the Wizard's CON did not drop to 0. They also do not fall unconscious.)

EXAMPLE: 
Mixlplixl had a couple of Magic Missiles, a couple Charm Persons,  and a Levitate memorized for the day. Throughout the day he used his slots, but finds himself in a position to need to cast another spell. He can use his CON points as described above, but may only cast any cantrip, Magic Missile, Charm, or Levitate.

EXAMPLE: 
Mixlplixete had her spell slots filled with Magic Missiles. Even though she still has unspent spell slots, she finds she needs to cast a Charm Person and realizes she forgot to prepare it previously. She curses herself and decides she'll try to cast it anyway using CON points. Her CON is 14, and Charm Person, being a 1st-level spell times five, will temporarily take 5 points off her CON lowering it to 9. In addition, she has to roll a d100% and check it against the 0-CON table below. She rolled a 29%, so the spell succeeds (and she does not drop unconscious.)

THE PENALTY:
Each time a spell is cast that takes any temporary points off of CON, there is a chance of dropping unconscious from the effort.
100% when CON falls to 0 or is at 1 to begin with, with no save.
90% if CON is at 2 prior to casting the spell. 
80% if con was at 3. 
70% if CON was at 4. 
Etc up to 10% chance of dropping unconscious if CON was at 10 before casting the spell that would take points off of CON.

Unlike any other situation in D&D where if CON drops to 0 the character dies, if a caster's CON reaches 0 due to spell casting, they immediately fall unconscious regardless of where their CON was before casting the spell. They will remain unconscious for one hour plus an hour for each point below 0. Upon awaking, they will have only 1 CON, but will still recover all CON lost to spell casting upon resting 8 hours. (Note: Even if extra spell casting drops a character's CON even down to 1, anything other than extra spell casting that drops it down to 0 will kill the character as 3rd Edition rules dictate.)

0-CON TABLE
Also, any spell that's responsible for dropping the CON to 0 or less will have the following possible effects:
30% (01-30) normal success before dropping unconscious
55% (31-85) simple failure (no saves)
10% (86-95) Mana Burn and spell failure (no save)
5% (96-00) Instant Death and spell failure (no save)
--If Mana Burn occurs, the character loses three times the spell level in HitPoints and the permanent loss of one CON point.
--If death occurs, there's an additional 25% chance of "Catastrophic Death." If "Simple Death" occurs, the character's HitPoints instantly drop to -10 but the character may be resurrected by any "normal" game means. If "Catastrophic Death" happens, the character is blown into small pieces and anyone within 20 feet of the character receives 1d10-1 (0 being possible) points of damage from the resulting explosion.

(NOTE: It is possible for a character to force Catastrophic Death upon themselves. [For gods know what reason.] The conditions above must be the same [ie: the spell will take them below 1 CON] and the player must state that they chose to allow themselves to lose total control of the spell. In which case the Instant Death is automatic. Then the chance of Catastrophic Death raises from 25% to 75%. This may be a tactic useable if surrounded by enemy, death certain anyway, and you want to go out with a "bang".)

EXAMPLE:
Sirrus is a 2nd level priest of Pelor. His WIS is 18 and his CON is 16. He can cast 4 0-level spells and 4 1st-level spells (2 for level 2, 1 Domain spell, and 1 bonus for 18 WIS.)
As the day goes on, he's cast 4 1st level spells already but find he needs to cast a Sanctuary. Since he's already cast his allotted 4 1st-level spells, to cast the additional 1st level spell he'll have to temporarily lower his CON by 2 giving him a CON of 14 for the rest of the day.
Later on after casting 6 more 1st-level spells and a 0-level spell, his CON is down to 1 point. Yet he needs to cast one more Doom spell. He does and that lowers his CON to -1 and he falls unconscious.
Before he does, he has to roll a d100%. He's very unlucky and rolls a 97 causing Instant Death. Now he has to roll another d100%. Fortunately he rolls a 20 which being less than 75% counts as Simple Death. His HitPoints fall to -10, but he can be resurrected later.

NOTES ON RULE CHANGES:
As you can see, this benefits mainly lower level casters as it permits them to cast many more 1st level spells than their usual 2 or 4 per day. A Wizard for example may not generally have a high CON, so being able to cast an extra say 6th level spell can be cumbersome. But then, a Wizard high enough to be able to cast a 6th level spell shouldn't need a lot of extra help.

Also, it's important to note that the 3rd Edition rules is pretty lenient on the ability to create scrolled spells. I recommend using this opportunity!

TWO-HANDED WEAPON HANDLING

I have yet to import my House Rule for this category to the site yet. Stand by. It basically makes the ability to wield double-handed a little easier to reach, and with less penalties.
Heck, if a couple people in every Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) shire I've seen is able to wield double-handed, surely a career-warrior who lives by the blade will be able to! Or very dexterous rogue. Besides, even though I bend rules in favor of logical realism, I also believe D&D to be a FANTASY game where the excitement and bravado of double-handed wielding is worth the change. It's a tough balance being both pragmatic and fanciful, it really is....