## Concept In this campaign you all are going to be playing the role of fantasy heroes, although you may not start that way. DnD is dangerous at lower levels, and that is going to be reflected. Once you hit Tier 2 of play (around level 5) you'll be considered proper regional heroes that people know and respect, or envy. The game is going to be a mix of New World exploration and fantastical weird DnD fantasy. ## Tone and Focus Tone and Focus I think should strike a balance of comedic moments within a "serious" campaign. Comedic moments are more impactful when surrounded by grounded storytelling. DnD is meant to be a bit "weird." Tolkien Fantasy doesn't have to be, and arguably shouldn't be, the default. I want places, creatures, etc. to be memorable and not just another mountain or another long-eared sexy elf. I'm hoping for more "non-combat" options for solving problems. The previous campaign shined the most when we found interesting blends between combat and roleplay. Tone and Focus Theme: "Weird, Lightly-serious, Blended Combat and Roleplay with expanded exploration in a New World setting." ## The Story I'd like to tell What does it mean to be special? Is it your bloodline, your curse, something that haunts you, powers thrust upon you? Or no matter those things, is it your actions? Does Destiny find those who are special, or is everything chance. Is Destiny already written, or is it what we call the stories of victory in unlikely circumstances afterwards? Are you everything people said you were, did you prove them wrong? Was everything people told you a lie, or was there more truth than you could have possible expected? What does it mean to resist against an impossible foe? One that can decimate anything in its path. When the cards are stacked against you and you can only make excruciatingly small progress, or none at all, and wait for the enemy to overstep, how do you find the morale and motivation to push on? How do you find the courage to face certain death? What is it like to discover a "new world." How do you balance your reputation with various competing factions? How do you conquer the land or work with it? I'd like to go from level 1 to level 20, but if we feel the stories are finished being told somewhere around T3-T4 we'll discuss where the campaign should end. We can always return to these characters when things feel fresh again. If you want to take a break with a character and bring a new one in to freshen things up, that's also a possibility. # Rules ## The most important rules I'll remind people of these at the start of nearly every session before the Recap. - Flow Comes First. Let's play a game where things get done. - We'll keep rule arguments to a minimum, stick to rulings where possible. - If you have a hard time with focus, try keeping notes. - Have your dice out, your character sheet available. - Know the basic mechanics and features of your character. - Immersion is King. Let's play a game where people are immersed. - Respect the scene. Keep meta talk to a minimum. - Respect the characters. If there's a serious scene, don't joke when people are roleplaying. - Respect the ignorance. Artless exposition might be worse than focused ignorance. - Respect the player. Players can ask for what they need, don't volunteer it unprompted. ## Player, Behavior, Game Behavior, & DM Expectations - Attention - I'm going to try my best to make the game as engaging as possible. Please try to avoid distractions even though we're playing digitally. Remember, cameras are on, if you're engaged and excited, others will be too. The inverse is also true. - Player vs Player - If PVP is to arise, it will be after an out of character conversation about the stakes so real feelings don't get hurt and everyone is on the same page. - Scheduling - Instead of trying to schedule 1 week out, we will schedule a month out. I'm hoping this increases the likelihood of full games. Of course emergencies will come up. When I post the next month's spreadsheet, I'd like to get responses within 48 hours. I reserve the right to spam @ you in the DnD chat if you don't get to in that time. - Player Narrative Authority - Make stuff cannon, come up with ideas on the spot, *improv*. Trust each other as players and DM to be able to riff off each other's ideas. Take agency in creating this world, it's your story too. ## Topics & Concerns - Gender - I'll be doing my best to use correct character pronouns to the best of my ability, please correct me and then provide me some grace when I slip up. If it becomes a consistent thing please message me or pull me afterwards and I'll be sure to address it. Some cultures are more patriarchal or matriarchal. They are somewhat balanced in this regard to stay away from the same boring King stories that are overdone. - Attraction & Sexual Orientation - What are people's thoughts and comfort level on romance in this campaign? - SA - Full stop I won't be including this in the campaign. - Children - Vivid description of child injury or death will not be included in this campaign. - Racism, Prejudice - Characters will not be judged by our modern definitions of racism. What are peoples' comfort level of prejudice based on species choice? I can adjust this on a per player basis. For someone like Sarah C. who is playing a Kobold we can think about how other species might think about kobolds and try to adjust the roleplay to that in a subtle fashion or just ignore that entirely. For people like Sarah B and Kyle, the aspect of them looking different is kind of baked into the character and seems like a thing that you both are interesting in exploring. - The Orcs and Goblins take war prisoners and use them in forced labor and fighting pits like in the Crag Duroshk one shot, does that encroach upon anyone's comfort level? - I'm discussing these things now so that we all have an understanding of where our lines are for these kinds of topics. These are not set in stone, however. If something encroaches on any boundaries we did or did not discuss during the campaign we can make changes. ## Character Creation - Advancement Type - Milestone. Gained levels will most commonly happen at the end of adventures when you are safely back at a HUB or after an extended rest in a HUB area. - Use Prerequisites are all turned on. - Yes we are using Encumbrance. We are not ignoring coin weight. - Standard Array or Point Buy. - Rolled HP or Fixed. - Normal starting equipment/starting gold rules at minimum. Further equipment conversations will be had on a 1-on-1 basis. - Reminder - 5e24 gives you a free feat at level 1, make sure it is something well justified by your character's backstory ## Rulings - No Flanking. Advantage is much more accessible in 5e24. - Bonus Action to drink a potion/elixir, action to throw it or give it to someone else. - Reminder to not skip over General actions like Dash, Dodge, Ready, Help, etc. - Downtime will be used more often and for longer periods in this campaign. - To simplify spending of gold on frivolous/common goods and services during downtime, we will use the lifestyle expenses rules. At the start of a week (ten days) choose which Lifestyle you will maintain then spend an amount in gold equal to that price/day x 10. ## Lifestyle ![[Downtime Expenses]] ## Inspiration - There are a few mechanics that grant Inspiration as a part of a player's tool kit now. But I also want to explore either of the following systems. - Everyone has an inspiration coin/token. It starts the session face down. If you roll a nat 1 or I roll a nat 20 against you, you flip the coin up and gain inspiration. You can then use that inspiration to gain advantage on any of your d20 rolls, or reroll one of your d20 rolls but you must use the new roll. Then flip the coin back down. - Normal Inspiration rules - rewarding people for good roleplay, but also players can reward inspiration to their fellow players. DM has final say. ## Ability Checks - To Help an ally on a skill check you must follow the Help rules for 5e24: Choose one of your skill or tool proficiencies and one ally who is near enough for you to assist verbally or physically when they make an ability check. That ally has [Advantage](https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/free-rules/rules-glossary#Advantage) on the next ability check they make with the chosen skill or tool. This benefit expires if the ally doesn’t use it before the start of your next turn. The DM has final say on whether your assistance is possible. As a note, help in combat means you have to be within 5 feet of the **enemy** the ally is trying to attack to grant advantage. - Some abilities can be used multiple times by the same individual for example a thieves tools check to pick a lock, but for each failure the DC will either increase until the task is impossible, or something happens that prevents you from continuing. - Sometimes I will have the whole party roll for a general check, sometimes you all will have a marching order and those in certain filings will roll the check. For example, in a dim dungeon, those with the torches in the front will roll perception and not the others, plan around that as you will. ## Crits - Attack rolls can crit - Skill checks and Saving Throws cannot ## Resting ![[Short Rest]] ![[Long Rest]] ## [[Lingering Injury]] ![[Lingering Injury]] ## Equipment Rules Reminders - Donning and Doffing equipment applies. If you're ambushed in camp, you're not normally in your armor, you're in comfortable camp clothes. Light armor takes a minute to don, medium is 5 minutes, heavy is 10 minutes, and shields are 1 action. That means your AC only includes your dex/features in those situations. - Keep track of what you have in your hands. If you're casting a spell that requires a material component/arcane focus then you need a free hand that's holding the arcane focus/material component. If it's also a somatic spell, you need a free hand to perform the hand gestures. - If you're a martial class, stowing or wielding a weapon is a free action and you can pull a new weapon out as a part of your attack action, but you can't be juggling everything end your turn with two weapons in hand and expect to get your +2 AC bonus from a shield you don't have equipped. You're meant to make calculated decisions with the two hands you have. ## [Bastions](https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/dmg-2024/bastions#Chapter8Bastions) ## Environments - Most Environments for exploration and combat will have interactable flora/fungi that have various effects. Some characters can utilize these more effectively than others because of their own features, but enemies can also use these so keep an eye out. ## Fate System - We will most likely use the [[Fate]] System again this campaign but it won't be implemented until your characters become Fated. This will probably be sometime in T2 of play. This allows you and I to understand your character better to actually construct their skill tree.