As an alternative to being too depressed about the news and what's going on in the world, I have been trying to dig more into more into some of the D&D blogs, looking specifically more into adventure design and house rules.
As I was reading Duncan from Hipsters & Dragons talk about changes in the exhaustion rules from 2014 and 2015, and how he would house-rule it, I started to think my menu of house rules I've come up with and how I might use them differently according to the type of D&D game I'm running.
For instance, there are the house rules that I will use in every campaign and every type of game -- such as, Dynamic Initiative and Player XP. But there are also house rules that I might employ differently according to the type of game I'm running. You know, differently for Low vs. High Fantasy. Home Game vs. Store Game vs. Library Game vs. Convention Game, etc.
So while I might want to include rules about exhaustion, adventurer's rest, leveling up as a downtime activity, etc. in my house game, I might balk at doing it in my store- or library- game. In general, the decision point on includ- ing a house rule or not in those cases is ease of play vs. encouraging verisimilitude in-game. Just my initial thought on the subject. --LM
