“The D&D game has neither losers nor winners, it has only gamers who relish exercising their imagination. The players and the DM share in creating adventures in fantastic lands where heroes abound and magic really works. In a sense, the D&D game has no rules, only rule suggestions. No rule is inviolate, particularly if a new or altered rule will encourage creativity and imagination. The important thing is to enjoy the adventure.”

Tom Moldvay
3 December 1980

GAME SYSTEM & FANTASY WORLD
This is a Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition game set in the Nentir Vale. A description of the “points of light” setting and its assumptions can be found in the Game Info. I prefer to play up the fantasy elements and the weird rather than worry about emulating medieval times.

The game is meant to be lighthearted and escapist fun. Take it seriously enough to show up and put in the effort required of a PBP game, but don’t take it so seriously it becomes a chore.

We will be playing a character-driven sandbox that will hopefully be roughly balanced between interaction, character development, exploration, and combat. The game will also feature investigative play and some mysteries.

This is classic D&D fun: saving villages, delving dungeons, surviving the wilds, and exploring the ancient ruins of lost civilizations.

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GENERAL RULES
All of the rules and decisions made by the DM are in the interest of having fun. We’re all here to have fun.

This is a heroic fantasy action-adventure game with a fair dose of combat and weirdness. Bad things will happen to your character. Sometimes funny things will happen to your character. If you can’t accept that, don’t play.

BEHAVIOR
Don’t Be A Dick. Wheaton’s Law is always in effect. Things I consider violations of this rule include, but are not limited to: power gaming, min-maxing, metagaming, rules lawyering, and anything that prevents others from enjoying the game.

Fantasy First, Rules Second. We’re all here to have fun telling interesting and engaging stories. That’s infinitely more important than the rules. The rules are important, but they are guidelines to facilitate us having fun. Don’t worry about optimizing the mechanics or making the perfect tactical choice, focus instead on playing your character, having fun, and telling an interesting story. Just remember: “the object of the game is to have fun by playing roles, stupid or weak characters can be as much fun as smart, powerful ones—if the roles are played well.”

Respect. Always be respectful to your fellow players. IC, play your character’s personality, but be respectful. Characters can be disrespectful if the scene calls for it, but be sure you separate character actions from player actions. If you need to justify some behavior of your character with “that’s what my character would do” you’re almost certainly violating this rule and Wheaton’s Law (above).

Problems. If you have problems with another player, remember we’re all adults and bring it up with that player privately. If you can’t resolve the issue, bring it to me privately.

Rating. This game is general, not mature or adult. Keep gore to a minimum and any sex will fade to black.

Instant Kick. Nothing will get you booted from this game quicker than: racism, sexism, homophobia, and disco. No, I’m not kidding.

POSTING GUIDELINES
Real Life First, Always. Real life will get in the way. All I ask is that if you can, drop me a message to let me know something’s up. You don’t need to tell me the details.

Frequency. In-character posting frequency of at least once every few days (48 hours). If you haven’t posted by the 48 hours mark, I will skip you. Two skips in a row and I will remove you from the in-character group. If I don’t hear from you and you haven’t logged in for a week or more, I will write your character out and remove you from the game.

Weekends & Holidays. Most games slow down on the weekends and around holidays so those are a gimme. You are free to post on weekends and holidays but they are not counted against you for being skipped or kicked.

Description. Always use standard prose formatting for in-character posts. Keep your posts interesting and entertaining. Please use present tense (ie “shoot” “run” “kick”) rather than past tense (i.e. “shot” “ran” “kicked”). It feels more immediate.

Push for evocative descriptions as they add to the tone, drama, and everyone’s enjoyment of the game. Boring one-line posts are the bane of PBP games. Don’t do that.

Dialogue Color. Pick a color for your character’s dialogue. It helps avoid confusion when writing out conversations.

IC vs OOC Text. Unless you have to invoke game mechanics your post should be free of OOC text. Any OOC conversation should be in the OOC thread, not the IC threads. If you have a rules question about something happening in game, ask it in the OOC thread.

If you have a question about something your character should know, that’s an OOC question. If you have a question about something your character doesn’t know, that’s an IC question. If you’re not sure, ask in the OOC thread.

Please write all out-of-character text at the bottom of your post in orange.

Rolls. When posting an action or reaction, please list what you are rolling as OOC text in orange at the bottom of your posts. For example:

OOC: To-hit with a sword: +2. The DM rolled 8 using 1d20+2 ((6)).

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REQUEST TO JOIN
What I’m looking for. I want players who treat the world as if it’s a real place. Problem solving goes beyond what’s on your character sheet. You will meet people and learn things during your adventures. Use those resources. I want players who will at least attempt to get into character and think about what their character would do, rather than just what the player wants to do.

Please pitch two or three characters concepts you’re interested in playing. Be prepared to play any character you pitch. I will pick which characters come into play based on what would make for an interesting group and to avoid repetition. Ranking your picks in order of preference is a good idea. If you’re not prepared to play a character, don’t pitch them. Anything that’s official D&D 5th Edition is fair game.

A character concept can be as simple as a name, background, race, class, general demeanor, and answering the following two questions. First, why is your character adventuring? In 25 words or less tell my why your character is out adventuring instead of living a quiet life somewhere warm and safe. Second, what is a goal your character has and why do they want to do it? The goal should be different than the reason why they are adventuring.

I also want you to provide the list of things that will get you instantly kicked.

Don’t send character sheets or backstory write-ups. We’re using only brand new characters and you can develop your character’s backstory as you play.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:14, Mon 19 July 2021.