Death Maze House Rules: Optional Rule Variants

Free choice of heroes

Heroes are picked from a list (with their stats visible), instead of being drawn from face-down tiles. Applies to new games and to recruiting between adventures.

Rulebook: heroes are drawn at random (4.1 A).

Legacy and the Hall of the Fallen

After leaving the maze, survivors may take the magic items of the fallen, the rest is sold (2K6 on the "Valuables" table), and the fallen's gold and valuables are split equally. The fallen go to the Hall of the Fallen, freeing up a party slot.

Rulebook: survivors may split a fallen character's treasure (14.0); this always applies, via "Spells and items".

Automatic sale of valuables

After leaving the maze, every character's valuables are immediately converted to gold back in town.

Rulebook: valuables can be spent on development instead of gold (12.2). When this is off, a "Sell valuables" option appears during the break instead.

Shared coffer

Outside the maze, every character's gold (and valuables) go into the party's shared pool. Development for every character is paid from it, and it's also where travel gold comes from. Turning it off splits the coffer's contents equally among the living characters.

Rulebook: each character has their own gold and pays for their own development (12.2, 17.1).

Full set of tile types

Extra corridor segments missing from the official tile set are added to the pool: dead ends (including ones with doors in their side walls), T-junctions, and crossroads: 3 of each of the 11 layouts (33 tiles). Rule 6.4 still applies: a dead end may not seal off the maze before the Black Gate has been found.

Rulebook: only the 180 official segments; every corridor has exactly two corridor exits, rooms have only doorways.

Infinite levels

The maze doesn't stop at the third level: a stairs tile leads only one level down (and back up), instead of connecting all three levels at once, so a further, deeper level is added whenever it's needed. The Black Gate can still only be found on levels 1-3 (the "Mirror" table), and monsters and treasure below the third level use the third level's modifiers (table 6.7 doesn't define anything deeper).

Rulebook: the maze may be up to three levels deep, and every set of stairs connects all three levels (6.5, 6.6).

Short rest

A "Short rest" option appears in the maze, healing the whole living party the same way a magic bed does (1K3 for each character). Only available a few steps after the previous rest (not during combat).

Rulebook: there's no resting in the maze beyond specific finds, healing spells, or returning to town.

Casters in the back ranks

The third rank and every rank behind it can no longer use weapons, but its characters may cast spells in combat, as the second rank does. They stay out of reach of the enemy's front rank.

Rulebook: in combat only the second rank casts spells (10.4); ranks behind it take no part.