House Rules and Clarifications

Divination
Divination magic functions in a manner that can be thought of as accessing a great, communal memory that is composed of worshippers (for divine magic) or natural living creatures (for mortal magic). This means that a Power can provide divination for anything that can be perceived by or through a worshipper. A Power’s perception is not limited by the capabilities of the worshipper; the mere presence of the worshipper is enough for the Power to use their own senses. However, unless a Power is expending Primal energy of some type, their senses are still blocked as is magic (see Shielding from Magic, below). Wizard-type magic is limited by the natural senses of non-magical and un-shielded creatures in the world.

For translating languages, the source of the divination spell (Power or magic) must be able to access a source that knows the language. Sufficiently ancient, or alien, languages have no literate individuals that can be used by the spell to translate. In some cases, the divination is able to provide an incomplete or vague translation through “accessing” notes, journals or tomes of relevant topics.

Shielding from Magic
Magic can be blocked by sufficient thicknesses of material:


 * Earth – 5’
 * Wood – 2’
 * Stone – 1’
 * Iron – 1"
 * Lead, Gold, Platinum – any

Divination will not work on areas or creatures that are blocked, as defined above. Similarly, teleport/transportation-type magic cannot pass through or end in a blocked region. Even disintegration-type magic cannot target something that is blocked (although, of course, the blocking material is still subject to being disintegrated itself, assuming it is otherwise ordinary matter).

Illusions
Generally speaking, the limitations of illusion type magic is driven by the level of the spell. All visual illusions appear the same to normal vision and darkvision, and are not “usually visible” with blindsight (see spell notes for exceptions to the latter).

Illusions are obvious to Detect Magic, except for Invisible things. This is why it makes more sense to use invisibility over a concealing illusion.

Invisibility
Being invisible does not give a creature advantage on Stealth checks, but it does impose disadvantage on creatures trying to use a Perception check to locate invisible creatures.

Contrary to the rules as written, being invisible does not allow a creature to leave the threatened range of another creature without provoking an opportunity attack. Instead, a contested Stealth check from the invisible creature against a Perception check (with disadvantage) from the other creature determines whether the invisible creature is stealthy enough to get away without provoking an opportunity attack. If the invisible creature is flying without wings, they get a +5 bonus to their Stealth check.

Light and Darkness
Only magical darkness blocks light, contrary to the PHB which states that “[d]arkness creates a heavily obscured area,” and “a heavily obscured area … blocks vision entirely.” If only non-magical darkness intervenes between you and a light source, you can see it at 10 times the range that you could see an unlit object. Assuming no physical barriers are between you and a light, the range (given in feet) at which you can see the example light sources is given below.

Up to the range that you can see a light source, you can see creatures or objects within bright light as if they were in dim light, but you cannot see creatures or objects in dim light.

Counterspell
Xanathar’s clarifies: “If the need for a spell’s components has been removed by a special ability, such as the sorcerer’s Subtle Spell feature or the Innate Spellcasting trait possessed by many creatures, the casting of the spell is imperceptible.” This actually favours Innate Spellcasting a bit, since the latter usually also dispenses with the need for material components, which Subtle Spell does not.

Warlock/Sorcerer Multiclassing
The "coffeelock" problem, summarized, is that warlock/sorcerer multiclass characters would seem to be able sidestep the spell casting economy by converting warlock pact slots to sorcerer points, and then into sorcerer spell slots. However, this ignores that warlock pact slots can only be used for spell-casting, not the Flexible Casting aspect of a sorcerer's Font of Magic feature. The Pact Magic section of PHB Chapter 6 sums up how Pact Magic works for multiclass characters:

"If you have both the Spellcasting class feature and the Pact Magic class feature from the warlock class, you can use the spell slots you gain from the Pact Magic feature to cast spells you know or have prepared from classes with the Spellcasting class feature, and you can use the spell slots you gain from the Spellcasting class feature to cast warlock spells you know."

Eyes of the Rune Keeper
This power is divination magic, akin to the reading ability of Comprehend Languages spell. This means that there are limitations: if there are no translation capabilities available to the “divination sphere,” the text remains unintelligible. Any source of un-shielded information, including scholarly translation texts, creatures that read the language, etc. are sufficient to be able to read the text.

Repelling Blast
This invocation allows the Warlock to move a target after hitting it with a Eldritch Blast. The following clarifications apply:


 * Works on creatures of any size. Yes, you can shove an ancient dragon or a titan back 10 feet.
 * If there is a barrier (including another creature) blocking the target from moving the full 10 feet, the target will stop. There is no bonus damage or chance of tangling up the other creature.
 * If being knocked back forces a creature to move through difficult terrain, they suffer any ill-effects of that terrain (e.g., falling prone, taking damage from spikes, etc.). If the ill-effect normally allows a saving throw, the creature is still entitled to one.
 * If being knocked back pushes the target off an edge, they have to make a Dexterity saving throw (at the caster’s DC) to avoid going over. Creatures standing on only two limbs must drop prone to succeed on the saving throw.
 * Insubstantial creatures are still pushed back if they are affected by the Eldritch Blast.
 * Follows all of the usual rules for involuntary movement (e.g., doesn’t provoke an opportunity attack or trigger Booming Blade, etc.).
 * Creatures with Immunity to Force damage are not moved by Repelling Blast. However, those with Resistance to Force damage are affected normally.

Henchpeople and Hirelings
The distinction between henchpeople and hirelings is mostly about the perceived role. Henchpeople will fill roles similar to those conventionally filled by player characters (guards, soldiers, investigators, etc.). On the other hand, hirelings tend to fill more mundane roles, such as administrators, tradespeople or servants.

Henchpeople can be hired for relatively benign assignments (such as household guards) for contracts with terms usually given in months or years. Shorter term contracts will have a cost multiplier, typically x1.1 to x1.5. More dangerous or mission-based contracts will have higher still multipliers. Generally speaking, henchpeople can be hired for a role, not by class or sub-class; it's up to the NPC themselves as to which job they're interested in, and up to you to decide if they're suitable. Usually, adequate room and board must be provided in addition to the daily costs.

Unskilled hirelings (who will have a +0 modifier to any checks required) can be hired for 2 sp per day (per the PHB). Skilled hirelings will command higher prices, based on their skill check in relevant skills. Henchpeople are paid based on their character level. Live-in hirelings and henchpeople require room and board on top of their daily rate, but there is rarely any discount or premium to the rate based on the nature of the work, assuming it falls within the definition of conventional duties for their skill.