Self-Directed Play

Welcome!

O ne of the unique things that sets the Dragonsmoke Archipelago Discord Server apart from other play-by-post servers is the ability to solo. Within solo sessions, you are able to play at your own time, your own pace, and your own way. You get to tell your story. There isn't anyone in a real-life group from holding your character back; they can level and progress at your heart's content. There are a few mechanics that we have set into place, however, to fairly mete out rewards. This article covers the following topics:

Life Insurance
Generating a quest prompt and random encounters while travelling
Quest Structure
Exploring the mercurial terrain of Dragonsmoke Archipelago using the Terrain and Travel aliases
Resting
Skill Challenges
Fulfilling Contracts and Bounties
Waypoints
Powerhouse Companions

Please keep in mind that this article is only relevant for soloing. Things that happen in DM-led adventures fall under the ruling of your DM (Dungeon Master).

Basic Solo Example

To get a good feel for the structure of a solo session, checkout this beginner example.

Insurance

You can take out insurance for solo adventures. Adventuring alone is incredibly dangerous; when your character reaches 0 hit points, they are dead. There are no death saves. The Iron Coin offers insurance to encourage the continued exploration of the archipelago. You can check the cost of life insurance with !insurance .

Questing

To structure your solo sessions, you can complete quests, which are composed of four encounters. The first three encounters must be of one difficulty followed by a fourth encounter at increased difficulty. Quest rewards vary by level and tier. You can also explore and interact with the world and develop your character’s story by utilizing the !terrain and !travel commands, engaging in Roleplay challenges, or fulfilling contracts and bounties.

Story Prompts

When beginning a solo session, you might wonder what your character is supposed to do! The answer is, truly, whatever you can imagine. However there are systems in place to help spark your creativity. The !table quest alias will generate a brief prompt for a quest. For more information, you can then generate a rumour with !table rumour. If you find that’s not enough to get started, you can generate random verbs with !verb. Ask yourself yes or no questions about the prompts using !heydm or by the Solo Toolbox’s method: roll a d20 (!r 1d20). A result of 6 or lower means “No”, a 7-12 means “Maybe”, and a 13 or higher means “Yes”. If you prefer unambiguous answers, use !heydm.

Travel and Terrain

If writing a story as you solo isn’t really your thing but you want to explore the world, you can use the !terrain alias to generate randomized terrain. The alias will output five sections of terrain based on the overarching type you input. Sometimes it will prompt you to generate a minor terrain area using the !minor alias or a notable feature using the !feature alias. These more specific features will sometimes tell you there is a combat encounter in that location.

Random Encounters

While travelling, you can check for random encounters. These kinds of encounters are not always combat. We don’t require you to check in any specific way: you can follow the guidelines of the Solo Toolbox or simply check for an encounter when you feel you need a prompt. For example, you could roll a d100 (!r 1d100) once for every section of terrain, and on a roll of 25 or less, you roll an encounter with !table wilderness. If you’re adventuring in an urban area, the !table urban alias is more appropriate.

Resting

Resting in a solo session is allowed but there are some guidelines. If you can fit one into the narrative you're telling, fewer questions will be asked. If you take long rests willy-nilly, you will likely receive an experience tax by the reviewing DM. Following these guidelines will contribute to swift approval from DMs and possibly increased rewards.

Skill Challenges

Skill Challenges are an additional system you may utilize to gain experience, further your solo story, and justify granting yourself perks within your session. It can be used to get a surprise round, overcome an obstacle, or whatever else you can think of. Skill challenges are particularly useful for builds that may not be as combat-ready as others.

Contracts and Bounties

Another way to get your solo session started is to begin with a Contract, Bounty, or both. These are special missions with extra rewards offered by NPCs - often powerful factions - of Dragonsmoke, enabling you to participate in the events of the world. Both types of missions come with a brief prompt explaining what is happening in the world and what you are being asked to do. You can find them in the #bounty-board channel on Discord. A Contract consists of a specific combination of skill challenges and combat encounters that, when completed, rewards you with extra gold. The reward scales with your level. A Bounty is a list of creatures or a creature type that NPCs will reward you for slaying. The reward scales with the number of creatures you kill and their Challenge Rating.

Waypoints

Though the world of Dragonsmoke Archipelago is ever-shifting and changing, some locations have stabilized and can be reliably travelled to via the Iron Coin’s network of portals known as Waygates. These places are called Waypoints.
At any point during a solo or duo session, you can travel to a Waypoint using the !waypoint alias. You can roleplay your adventures taking place at any waypoint; however, the special encounters and associated rewards are only available to you if your character level is within the same Tier as the waypoint. The Tiers are:

Tier 1: Level 1-4
Tier 2: Level 5-10
Tier 3: Level 11-16
Tier 4: Level 17-20

Waypoints

Powerhouse Companions

When two or more characters controlled by the same player adventure together, they are called “Powerhouse Companions”. They roll on the duo or quad encounter table (!2Encounter / !4Encounter) and share all rewards 50/50. For more, read Powerhouse Companions.

Useful Commands

Q&A
!heydm ?
!heydm help! (for more details)
!heydm do I get to long rest tonight? likely -- this is an example
 
!insurance help -- calculates the base cost of insurance for a character
 
!Quest help -- calculate the base rewards of an easy, medium, or hard quest for the active character's level
 
!loot <# of monsters (optional)> 
!loot 1/8 4 bandit -- this calculates the coins contained on four bandits!
!loot 1/8 -- this calculates the coins found on one CR 1/8 monster
 
!skill help -- easy/medium/hard/deadly skill challenge
 
!waypoint -- this command will list all of the currently unlocked waypoints and the commands that will provide further information
!wpThasru -- this command will provide information about Thas'ru, its region, and its harvestable materials