Missile weapons are not meant for use in melee combat. Doing so causes attacks to occur at the same time as melee attacks, and also invites a free attack by flanking enemies.
I use Jeff's rules for carousing. In brief, characters can spend a lot of gold on debauchery and convert it into experience. This runs the risk of drunken mishaps, however, so drink responsibly. Git has the current rules for carousing in Alar.
A natural 20 on the 'to-hit' roll indicates a critical strike. Roll damage. If the damage die shows the maximum value, roll again and add it. Repeat until the die's result isn't the maximum. If the first die shows less than the die's maximum, use the die's maximum value. A natural 1 indicates a fumble, and something bad happens.
When an adventurer dies and the party is unable (or unwilling!) to have them raised from the dead, a promoted sidekick (see above) may opt to give the corpse a Heroic Sendoff. This requires at least 24 hours and something cool like a bigass funeral pyre, the raising of a burial mound, or a funeral ship floated down the river. The corpse must be armed and armored for combat, as appropriate to the class of the character. Each party member may donate up to 100 sp times the level of the stiff as additional grave goods, the amount being spent is converted to bonus XP for the donor. Each party member may also donate one magic item to the grave. Scrolls, potions, and other one-shot items net a bonus of 100xp, while more permanent items get you 500xp. Magic items that would have been unusable by the deceased do not count.
This rule comes from Trollsmyth. With this houserule, you get the usual +1 to your EDC with a shield. However, any time you take damage, you can opt instead to say your shield absorbed the force of the blow. The shield is shattered and must be discarded, but you don't take any damage from that hit.
If you want to do something totally awesome, you can shift down the threshold for a critical hit by shifting up the threshold for a critical failures. In other words, you can say that you'll crit on a 18-20, but then you'll fumble on a 1-3.
Characters progress faster when they do what they're best at. Be an exemplar of your class and get a 10% - 20% bonus to your experience for the session.
Priests must have a declared allegiance to one of the setting's deities.