Campaign Guidelines

AWCA Charter

Above all else the game should be fun, accessible by all, regardless of race, ethnicity,  background, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or social level.  What will not be tolerated is bigotry, hate speech, or exclusions of others based bases on the items listed above.  This should be a fun and safe place to play and be yourself.  Our group reserves the right to expand on this as new issues arise in our ever changing environment.

General Game Play

• Missing Sessions - Players that miss sessions, will not gain XP for that session.  Having someone run your character for you takes away from the game experience of the players that showed to the sessions.  There will be options if you can't make it in person, you can still join online, we will be using D20Pro for an VTT, and our Discord channel.  There will be a speaker phone at the table for remote players.
• Player Narrative Authority - If any player wants to work with the DM to come up with an idea for a side quest or any ideas for that matter can be incorporated into the campaign somewhere.  All idea's are welcome and will be considered.
• Pet Peeves - Kids using electronics at the table, they are a huge distraction for them, they will not be allowed at the table for them, but we will take a break every hour for a few minutes to allow the kids to check devices and for all to stretch.  Adults using devices at the table to enhance game play is acceptable but if they are taking away from the game we may need to revisit this for the adults too.
• The "My Guy" Syndrome - I know a lot of us don't want to think about this happening but eventually it will come up and I want to address it now.  This should not be a reason or excuse for detrimental character behavior at the cost of fun at the table.  If this happens we need to discuss it calmly as a group and hopefully come to a resolution all can agree with.  A good explanation of this is topic is discussed on RPG Stack Exchange, What is “my guy syndrome” and how do I handle it?, please take the time to review it.

New Game Flow for Players

To help with player engagment and to help keep the folow of the game going, a few new "jobs" have come into play. Below is a list of tasks to be performed by the players, these can be permanant roles, switched up each time, or in any combination.

1. A player team lead tells DM what the party is doing (a Caller)
2. A player takes notes in WA
3. A player to review notes and create a report out of them
4. A player tracks money and supplies
5. A player runs the maps with the mouse
6. A player tracks initiative

In addtion to these new jobs we have also reviewed and added the following to our game play as well:

• Start Time - Players will arrive around 7 and game play will start at 7:30 PM.
• Unsolicited Assistance - I have noticed that there are times some of us get frustrated with players and there choices on there turns or character creation and additions. To mitigate this unless asked by a player no character optimization demands or telling others what they should do during there turn, this rule should be enforced. Each player decides for themselves alone unless help is requested from the group.
• Player Distractions - So this still seems to be a lot of distractions around the table especially with electronics. We decided as a group that all kids will bring a printed version of thier character sheet with them and leave all phone, tablets, and laptops off.
• Default Attacks - Players should be ready on their turn when it comes up, otherwise they use their default action determined prior to the game starting.
• Turns taking too Long - If players are taking too long to take their turns trying to figure out what they want to do then a time limit for those repeat offenders will take effect. First warning at 60 seconds and we move on to the next player, next time it will be reduced to 30 seconds, third and final 20 seconds.
• Game Focus - We need to stay focused a little more and not get side tracked for more than a few minutes, sometimes we go off on tangents for way too long and it kind of takes away from the game of play. The point is to get everyone together to have a good time and that is a big part of why we play, but I think we all agreed we are also here to play the game. Side tracks that last more than 10 minutes seem to take away from game emersion, so if we can make a conscious effort to limit how long they go “off the rails” it may make for a better game for all.

Game Mechanics

• Initiative - All players will roll individual initiative and there will be one roll for all the monsters, with the exception of the Boss Monster or BBEG that will get there own.  The players with higher scores above the enemy's will go first in order of their rolls.  After the monsters get there turn, all players will get to go in an order of their choosing, then the monsters will have there turn, play will proceed in this manner for the rest of combat.
• Party Rolls - So when searching areas instead of individuals rolling and then other just performing the same check if they think the other has failed, we can switch to party rolls instead. For example, everyone rolls the same check and if more than 50% (or higher depending on the DC) succeed then that check is a success, if it fails no other checks are necessary.
• Resting - Two short and one long rest are allowed per day with there associated benefits.  Taking an additional short or long rest is allowed but will not gain you any of the benefits of that rest.
• Crits (natural 20) - Standard rules apply, but if the player happens to make a killing blow with their crit, the player can describe the kill in any elaborate manner as their imagination allows.
• Inspiration  - Can be used to provide advantage on a roll, giving to another team mate to gain advantage, or even used to give the BBEG or monster disadvantage on a roll.
• "I know a guy" - If there is something that the players need, maybe they “know a guy”, as long as they make a convincing argument as to why they know said person and why said person would be able to help. Maybe we can even extend it to another player to embellish the story so its a group reason that this thing should be true.
• DM Adjudication - We will have a quick discussion no more than a few minutes. If a resolution can not be made in that short time the DM will decide and move forward to keep game flow going. If its tabled and a DM call is made we all discuss at the end of the session and come to a resolution moving forward that all agree with.
• Rule of Cool - Means giving the players the chance to perform ridiculous stunts or bend the rules a little bit in the sake of an awesome scene, comic value, or what ever is deemed fun for the group.  This does not necessarily mean that this has to become cannon in the world but could be a one time exception or can be added to this charter if the group so desired.

Race, Class, and Backgrounds

• Race and Class - Anything that is Adventure League legal and in DND Beyond (excluding home-brew) can be used in the world.  For the time being sticking the the existing races and classes will simplify what we are trying to do, their is plenty of flexibility throughout the rest of the world that will allow for creativity.
• Backgrounds - Players are still working on there backstories and their place of origin.  In most cases each player will make up their place of origin and provide details on that location to be added to the world.  These locations can be developed over time but a brief description and a reason for leaving needs to be provided a week before the first official game session that character will appear in.

Magic Items

• Attunement/Identify - Characters that are attuned to the magic item they posses will know all of its features and abilities, unless otherwise noted in the items description, in some rare cases at the DM's discretion  In these special situations the player will get a feeling that something is unknown but not know what or if its good, bad, or indifferent.
• Magic Resize - Wearable items auto-magically resize to fit their wearer, regardless if they are attuned to the item or not.

Spells & Spell Effects

Anything that is Adventure League legal and in DND Beyond (excluding home-brew) can be used in the world.  For the time being sticking with these spells lists will simplify the game.  This can be revisited if there are specific spells that we all agree to as a group should be included.

• Material Components - Its assumed you have all standard spell components you require with the all the time as long as you have your components pouch equipped.  The only exceptions that will need to be tracked is expensive spell components, for example resurrection requires "a diamond worth at least 1,000 gp, which the spell consumes", that you will need have in order to cast.

Death and TPK's

• TPK (Total Party Kill) - In the case of a TPK, the game will not end, but at least a year would pass before new adventures would gather together.  As an example, villans that succeed in killing the party will have time to complete whatever their plan was and a new team will arise to stop them.
• Resurrection - This depends on the situation and discussed as a group, if the player is attached to there character, a quest may be in order to resurrect them if the group so desires.
• Death Rules - Character death is final, with the exception of a resurrection quest, new characters can be replaced with the average level of the group.  If this is abusesed, meaning players that kill characters just to catch up will start at the lowest level of the group or they have the level at the time of death, which ever is lower.

Related Content

Session 0⁣⁣⁣⁣

Session 0.5

DND Beyond

What is “my guy syndrome” and how do I handle it?