Ability Scores

Your six Ability Scores are Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma. Gather up two sets of six sided dice, three in the first set (3d6) and three in the second set (3d6). The second 3d6 pool is called the Booster Pool, and you can spend these Booster Dice to improve your Ability Scores.

Generate your Ability Scores in any order you desire. For each Ability Score, follow this procedure:

• Roll 3d6 to determine the initial Ability Score value.
• Optionally spend one of your Booster Dice to try and improve the Ability Score. Once you roll a Booster Die, remove it from your Booster Pool.
• Add the Booster Die value to the Ability Score value. If the result is 18 or less, record it as the new Ability Score value.
• If the result is greater than 18, you pushed your luck too much, that Booster Die doesn't count and is lost.
• If you have more Booster Dice remaining in your Booster Pool you can continue to try and improve the Ability Score.

My Weapon Rules

Here are my campaign weapon cards. I introduced a little twist to each weapon to provide more interesting choices for the PCs as they decide how to arm themselves. Thanks to Goblin Punch for the inspiration! The Weight factors apply to my super-simple Encumbrance rules. You can carry Weight equal to your Strength score, and every point over is -5' movement. I also established a minimum price of 1gp for each weapon. I use Monopoly money in-game to represent gold, and typically hand wave anything that costs less than 1gp.

Download the weapon cards here:

http://www.dmmuse.com/content/pdf/WeaponCards.pdf

Delvers Rules

Here are my 5e house rules for a grittier, more OSR feeling. I've been playing D&D since the original White Box, and still recall those vivid forays into deeper and deeper dungeon levels. The farther down you went, the greater the horror and risk, but also the more fantastic the potential reward. These house rules are my attempt to recapture that style of play.

Character Generation

• First randomly roll your Failed Fantasy Career.
• Next, generate your Ability Scores.
• Optionally swap two of the scores.
• Select race & class by the book, but:
• no background, this was replaced with the career above.
• no trinket, you already got something from your career above.
• no starting gear, instead roll 3d6 x 10 gold and do some shopping.

Weapon "Dings"

• Adapted from Goblin Punch, when you roll a 1 to-hit with a weapon, it suffers a ding.
• After your weapon gets a ding, roll its damage die. If you roll less than the total number of dings, the weapon suffers a break (-1 to-hit and damage).
• Your armor suffers chinks and breaks in a similar manner when you get hit with a crit.
• A ding/chink can be repaired for 1sp and a break for 1gp.

Gear

• Simple Encumbrance - you can carry up to your Strength score in Weight. Most items are 1 Weight. -5' movement for every point over. (I use item cards so PCs can easily track their Weight).
• Ammo - Quivers have 4 "ammo", when you roll a 1 or 2 to hit, mark off one ammo.
• Some modified and new gear:
• 10' Pole (awkward) - will trigger any traps before you as you walk.
• Hammer - treat as simple 1d8 melee weapon against structures/objects, no dings.
• Sledgehammer - treat as simple 2d8 melee weapon against structures/objects, no dings.
• Healer's Kit - mark off one use to get advantage on a HD healing roll (one use per die).
• Waterskin - (3 uses) consume after a battle to heal 1 HP lost that battle, once per battle.
• Wineskin/Wine - (3 uses) consume after a battle to heal 1d3 HP lost that battle, once per battle.

awkward - if you're using the item when combat starts, lose your first action.

Slow Natural Healing

• DMG page 267.

Debilities

• Debilities, or lingering injuries, affect your ability score modifiers, incurring a -1 penalty, or your Speed, reducing it by 5'. They stack. Roll 1d8:
• 1: STR, 2: DEX, 3: CON, 4: INT, 5: WIS, 6: CHA, 7: Speed (-5'), 8: to-hit rolls
• You take a Debility when you fail a Death Saving Throw.
• You can remove a Debility in the following ways:
• The Recuperating Downtime Activity
• Consume a Potion of Healing
• Receive a Lesser Restoration, Heal, or other powerful healing spell.

Exhaustion

• Exhaustion is like a special Debility, each level of Exhaustion incurs -1 on your ability score modifiers and -5' to your Speed.
• Once your Speed is reduced to zero from Exhaustion (or a Debility in general) you're dead.

Darkvision

• Treat dim light as bright light, but does not let you see in complete darkness.

Cantrips

• Use zero-level Spell Slots, number equal to first-level Spell Slots.

Rituals

• Requires a Component Pouch, and each Ritual consumes a gem, value equal to 10 x Spell Level. You can store and track your gems on your Component Pouch card.

XP

• DM awards XP at the end of each session based on the following criteria. For each reward, you gain XP equal to the dungeon level on which it occurred. You score a reward once for each dungeon level it occurred on.
• Step foot in a new dungeon level for the first time
• Map a significant portion of a dungeon level 
• Locate an access point to a different dungeon level
• Overcome a noteworthy monster/enemy
• Recover a valuable treasure
• The rewards above suit a dungeon-delving campaign. A DM should come up with their own rewards based on the style of campaign they're running. XP awards could also arise organically as the PCs develop their own goals.

Level Up

• Spend XP equal to 10 x current Level to Level Up.
• It's a one week Downtime Activity.
• Roll all of your Hit Dice for the new Level and add your CON modifier once. If the total is greater than your current Max Hit Points you can replace them.
• For Ability Score Increase - replace book method with the following:
• Roll a d20 for each of your ability scores, if you roll over the current value increase the score by 1.
• If you go through all of the scores without raising any, make another pass, keep going until you increase at least 1 score.