Game Information

The Tower of Doom is the first part of a larger campaign set on the continent of Nentiran in the fictional world of Mystara. Since this is PbP, it's uncertain how long a group will hold together and how much we can get through, but the intent is for this part to take a party of 4-6 adventurers from Level 1 to Level 11 or 12. If the party makes it past The Tower of Doom, the plot of the campaign can take the party all the way through Level 20. The way I've designed it, the campaign is primarily combat-focused, and most progression is made, one way or another, through combat encounters. However, the world is fully fleshed out and roleplaying opportunities will certainly exist. There are NPCs, various kingdoms and factions, and various politics and motivations that can be explored if one wishes to.

I've designed the campaign taking inspiration from (and in many cases entirely copying) from various video games, fantasy settings, and a few of my own ideas. One thing to keep in mind is that you should forget everything you think you know. If you recognize a name or a plot thread, you might be able to identify where I drew inspiration from, but you might not know how I've changed it or adapted it to fit my setting that I've created. All this being said, The Tower of Doom and the campaign as a whole do have a defined plotline with a certain amount of urgency. Since there may not be an abundance of time for sidequests or downtime, it may feel a little railroad-y at times, though I will do my best to make it not seem that way. I only say this as a fair warning for what you're getting into, and what kind of game you can expect.

As for information about me, I've been playing DnD 5e on and off for a few years now. I started with 4th edition, but have some level of experience, however scant, with nearly every edition of Dungeons and Dragons. I frequently DM campaigns and adventures for my in-person, in-real-life friends, but I've never DM'd for a game on rPol, so I hope you'll bear with me if things don't always go entirely smoothly.

The adventure will start on the road in the Republic of Darrowkin, in a caravan departing the village of Trintan along the northern road to Darrowkin (the city for which the republic is named). Trintan is a small village in the south of the republic, near the wild Hinterlands. The caravan initially came up from the Rainlands in the far south of the continent. What is your character doing on the caravan? Have they been hired on as a guard, or are they a passenger? Are they running from something, or do they travel with purpose? What do they plan to do when the caravan reaches Darrowkin? These are questions you should keep in mind for your character at the start of the adventure.

General Rules and Expectations

1. The Obvious Stuff
   
   Don't be a dick. This means no racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and any other -ism or -phobia that means you are being not-nice to someone. This is common sense stuff. Arguments and disagreements with players or with myself should also never get personal or nasty. We're all playing D&D online together, and we're supposed to be having fun.
   
   I also expect you to not be a dick in terms of how you affect the game. Good examples of this are playing an evil character in a way that's destructive to the party, or the famous "chaotic neutral" murder-hobo/kleptomaniac (heavy emphasis on quotes, since most people who play CN characters this way have no idea what the alignment actually means). Basically, make sure you're always playing in the spirit of the game.
   
   If I ever find you to be in serious violation of this rule, I reserve the right to kick you out without warning. If it's borderline, you'll receive a single, cordial warning. If you think another player is in violation of this rule, PM me and I will assess the situation. I don't expect to ever have to seriously enforce this rule, but here it is written down just in case.
   
   
2. Rules as Written
   
   I am generally a RAW kind of DM, for better or worse. House rules and non-standard interpretations of existing rules make me nervous, and I'm generally hesitant to allow them. However, if it's in the books, it's in the game (with certain exceptions that I've detailed). If we ever decide to use some house rule or anything out of the ordinary, it will be written down somewhere for reference, likely in this thread.
   
   With this in mind, character death is a possibility. I'm not trying to kill your characters, but I'm not necessarily pulling my punches either. If you make bad decisions or get very unlucky, your character could die.
   
   Another thing is that I'm sure at some point I will get something wrong, or one of the players will. It's fine to call things like this out, so long as you are polite about it. In such cases we'll apply some "handwavium" and retroactively apply the correct rule and go about our business as usual.
   
   
3. On Mediation
   
   Questions about rulings are okay, like I said above. Arguments are really not. If I make a definitive ruling, I'm not going to continue to debate it with people, as it's nearly always a waste of time. It may make me sound like a jerk, but I don't want the game to be derailed by something small and likely irrelevant to the overall story we're telling together.
   
   In cases of player-player conflict, I will request that you guys be reasonable, open-minded, and take it to PM. I will mediate as necessary. Most of the time, player-player conflict results from some kind of misunderstanding or from reading tone where there wasn't any. It happens, and it's okay, but we've got to resolve this like adults. If there truly is no way to reconcile, someone will have to leave, and failing that, I will kick both offenders from the game (assuming this is not a case of clear right and wrong as per rule 1).
   
   
4. On Posting
   
   In general, and especially out of combat, I'd like for everyone to be able to post 2-3 times a week or every 2-3 days. You're certainly welcome to post more than that if you feel it's necessary, but use common sense and try not to flood the thread. For every out of combat post I make, there'll be an unofficial 48 hour clock to craft a response. I won't move on if there are players who aren't ready, we're not leaving anyone in the dust, but after 48 hours it's likely I will try to move the story along with or without player input. This period can obviously be adjusted depending on specific circumstances.
   
   For in-combat posts, we'll take a different approach. When combat is happening, I would ideally like everyone to post as quickly as they are able to (hopefully around once per day), when necessary, to keep combat moving along. When everyone has posted their turn for the round of combat, I'll make a post summing up the round, and then introduce the new round, and the process will repeat.
   
   As for tense and writing conventions, I'll ask you to keep your posts to third person, and use a unique color for when your character is speaking aloud. "Like this," said some random guy. Reserve the color orange for OOC stuff like dice rolls and declaring combat actions or skill checks. I'll also ask that any OOC stuff in the IC (in-character) threads is made private to me, the DM.
   
   On content, this game is rated Mature, so you can expect some amount of semi-realistic fantasy violence, alcohol consumption, and relatively mature themes. However, this game is not related Adult, so there can be no overly graphic and gratuitous descriptions or depictions of violence or sex. Any sex at all should be merely implied in the familiar "fade to black" style that is standard on these forums.
   
   Real life happens, and people need leaves of absence. Obviously, real life comes first, but I would prefer you let me know, either by PM or in the OOC chat, that you are leaving and for how long you'll be gone. For shorter periods like a couple of days, we'll likely wait for you. For longer periods like a week or more, I may make the call to NPC your character or otherwise continue the story without your input until you return. If a player disappears without notice and is gone for a week or more, it's likely I will kick the player and either look for a replacement or keep going with the remaining party depending on what makes the most sense in the situation.
   
   
5. Dice Rolling and Other Bookkeeping
   
   Make sure you label your memos in the dice roller so I can tell what you're rolling for, and as in the rule above, make sure your dice rolls are labeled as OOC and private to the DM in your IC posts.
   
   As for weight encumbrance, packs, and the like, I won't be too anal about it so long as it passes a basic sanity check. I do expect consumables like potions, ammunition, etc to be kept track of accurately. As for currency, I'll assume that either your characters or whoever you're dealing with will have perfect change.
   
   I'll be keeping track of XP and awarding it mostly by traditional means. This means you get certain amounts of XP for beating certain monsters as noted in their stat block. However, XP means "experience points," not "murder points," so ending a combat without outright killing all the monsters will still yield the same XP in most situations. I will also reward arbitrary amounts of XP for reaching certain parts of the story or having certain non-combat interactions. When a character has enough XP to level up, they do so immediately.

This message was last edited by the GM at 06:10, Sat 16 Apr 2022.

Combat Rules and Mechanics

Combat will be standard. Everyone will roll initiative, and act in initiative order. However, since this is PbP, it's not required for players to post in initiative order. Simply post whenever you are able, and if something has happened during the round to make your action not feasible, I will let you know and you will be able to revise it. Once everyone has posted, I will make a post summarizing the combat round as it all occurs "simultaneously."

The optional flanking rule is in effect. When a creature and at least one ally are within 5ft of the same enemy on opposite sides, that enemy is flanked. Each of the creatures flanking has advantage on melee attacks against it.

Critical hits work as written in the PHB. The attack is an automatic hit and the damage dice are doubled, but modifiers aren't.