Here are some of the basic game rules I will enforce as the Dungeon Master.

Rule 1: Don't be a dick.
We're all here using our free time to play a fantasy game online with strangers. Please be respectful toward your teammates, avoid out of character conflict and in general try to be a nice person toward everyone. If you're disruptive, insult or berate other players, I will kick you out of the game without further explanation. Don't be racist, sexist, ableist, or you know, a horrible human being in this game. You can play a bad apple, but let's not use the game to relive your fantasies about being human scum, please?

Rule 2: Respect RPoL mature content policies
I am all for exploring difficult topics through the game when the story or your character development require it. But while doing that, we should be mindful of the site policies. Please inform yourself about them and respect them.

Rule 3: Tell a compelling story.
I understand DnD to be an exercise in collaborative storytelling. My goal is to explore your characters, the fantasy setting we are playing in, and all kinds of interesting and wholesome real life topics through the game. Participate in that and be constructive. This is not a game where you will godmod, play a Mary Sue that's perfect in everything, or min-max your characters to fight in encounters left and right.

Rule 4: This is my Eberron
I read a lot of Eberron lore and find the setting really compelling. I have been playing and DMing in Eberron since it was launched. I love to discuss it, read expanded takes by the setting creator Keith Baker on his blog, etc. But at the end of the day, this is my Eberron. I'm happy to discuss my interpretations of the setting and take up your suggestions, but I will make final decisions about how the setting works and what fluff to take into account, especially if it contradicts something presented in the game.

Rule 5: Post frequently and please don't ghost the game
I've been on RPoL for years, and I know player turnover is a real thing. Life happens and that's okay. Don't feel bad about it, but please try to keep me informed about your posting ability. I've ghosted my fair share of games and I still feel like crap about that. Please don't do that if you can help it.
This message was last updated by the GM at 18:01, Tue 08 Dec 2020.

On themes I would like to explore in this game

Magic
Eberron is a so-called "wide magic" setting. The setting is suffused with magic, but on Khorvaire, you will rarely encounter high level magic. Everything up to level 5 spell effects is relatively common, but more powerful magics and spellcasters are very rare and usually connected to some older, more ancient tradition of magic (dragons, Giants, Dhakaani, lost dwarven civilizations, Aerenal elves, Quori, etc.). The idea of this game is to explore both the "industry magic" of the Galifaran Dragonmarked Houses and the more mysterious magical traditions from the past or the rest of the world. Magewrights and artificers represent the backbone of the industry magic approach, and it usually involves elaborate rituals and expensive material components like the the dragonshards. Magic is almost like some kind of occult science, and that's the way scholars in Khorvaire understand it. That's the main theme that will appear throughout the way that magic works for your PCs and at the Twelve. You will encounter and explore different magical traditions through the game, and maybe even learn from them on your own. Also keep in mind - PC classes of any level, and especially higher levels, are rare. Even at the Twelve, there's almost no NPC with a level higher than 9. Most spellcasters at the Twelve are experienced and learned magewrights. Members of the spellcasting classes, even at lower levels, are seen as especially talented magicians who can manipulate raw magics in unprecedented ways. The PC spellcasters are geniuses and mavericks of their sciences, or mysteriously accursed individuals.

Shades of Gray
People are complicated in Eberron. There are almost no intrinsically evil races, gods are distant, and Khorvaire was tortured by a prolonged and complicated war. If you want to play a simple game of heroes and villains, this might not be the right venue for you. One of our interests here is to explore the complicated world of magic, and the other is the world of morally ambiguous fantasy. Think China Miéville's Bas-Lag instead of Tolkien's Middle-Earth. This doesn't mean you can't play honorable, kind or good characters. It just means they also suffer from the vicissitudes of (demi)human nature, like all the rest of us.

Guided Sandbox
My style of DMing games is a lightly guided sandbox. There is a campaign story arc, but you are free to engage with it in any way you see fit, or even, try to subvert it with the actions of your characters. I only ask that you try to keep in-game conflict to a minimum and only use it when it serves the story. If one character is coming to heads with the other, we should discuss it at length OOC to see how this conflict will serve to advance the story and your character development.

On combat encounters
Combat encounters will be relatively uncommon. This is a game about storytelling and character development. Still, it's still DnD, so from time to time, you will be involved in combat encounters which might prove to be deadly. You don't have plot armor and I will not scale encounters to your power level, so be wise when you choose to engage in deadly combat. I will use some variant rules for HP, damage, and wounds to make it more interesting. You will be informed about this later on.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:47, Fri 04 Dec 2020.

Game mechanics and splatbooks

All 5e core books are welcome in the game. I will use a lot of the Eberron fluff and translate some older mechanics if need be into 5e. You're free to use third-party and DM's Guild materials, but please discuss them with me at first.

You will start at Level 3. I will not award XP in the game. You will receive level ups slowly as the game progresses. Eberron is a low-power setting so you will not breeze through levels (and besides, as you know, PbP games are very slow as is!).
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:45, Fri 04 Dec 2020.

Posting rules and style

Please write in third person, past tense.

Choose a dialogue color and use it consistently for when your character talks. Orange is off limits because we will use it for OOC text in in-game posts.

Try to avoid one-line posts and be descriptive. This is a collaborative game and it's about writing. So we write, all of us.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:44, Sat 05 Dec 2020.