About Your DM & Her Rules

Hi, I am your DM, faithful acolyte of CAH; the great deity of random chance, choas, and silliness (the d20). I had initially introduced myself on the homepage but my general rules and explanations got a bit long and didn't format the way I wanted. SO! I've taken it upon myself to make this general article so scroll fatigue doesn't weigh down the homepage. As stated in the homepage is that I am what is known as a "pants writer" DM. This means I build the setting and a general plot idea (or as Guy from the YouTube Channel "How to be a Great DM" calls it "your sentence"...) and THAT'S IT! It is COMPLETELY up to the players, and their characters, to interact with that setting and how to follow the general plot sentence. I really embrace that as a DM because it's just more fun to build the story with a lot of friends. I am JUST as much along for the ride as the lot of you! If I was set in my narrative ways, I would just write a novel (which I do as a hobby … I have quite a lot of stories in the making actually). I am bond, just as the players are, to the whims of CAH. As his faithful acolyte, I try my best to translate his will and explain how that effects the unfolding story of the ever flexible reality we play. I also hold the law of the d20 as holy and unquestionable!

The Doctrine of CAH

Rule #1 … Fun > Rules!

I run a D&D 5e homebrew, and I take inspiration from a lot of different systems. This means some rules clash, some dynamics interact funny with others, and this makes it difficult to make sense of things. It's not fun to argue about rules and math mid-game so often I will make a ruling to ignore some rules to ensure the game can continue and be enjoyable for everyone.
If you are a rules-lawyer player, I fully encourage you bringing some rules and processes for me to learn about but ultimately if it's more hassle then it's worth you probably want to game with a different DM because I'm not the DM for you.

If a player, or even I, wants to do something it HAS to within reason … make sense!

I watch ALOT of analysis of medieval/fantasy things that primarily applies real history and practical reasoning to make the situations more realistic and believable. When I give a ruling, I have my reasons and a good bit of logic behind it and I will often explain this if a player has a quarrel with my judgements. If a player apposes a ruling, and presents a well-reasoned argument I will change my decisions. I must emphasize to do this a player MUST make a well-reasoned argument, preferably backed up with evidence. You need to convince me how it makes sense! This feat is hard (as many of my friends/family encouraged me to pursue a career as a lawyer based on my debate skills; I do have a Master's Degree in Applied Communications) but it's not impossible! Again, I refer back to my #1 rule; Fun > Rules.

Be Kind!

Ok- this SHOULD be 1b because we are all here to have fun and being kind to one another goes hand-in-hand with that. However, by this I don't just mean being kind generally but understanding. I'm very very dyslexic, lag is a thing, and in a text heavy/centric medium of hosting a live-thread with inputs from many different contributors … this can be a big issue.

• If your question is lost in the thread, I set up my browser to have private chat windows for a player to ask me something directly.
• If you say something and I don't respond, it's not that I'm ignoring you. Your comment might just have been lost in the influx of data I'm trying to process.
• I try to be as clear as I can be, but sometimes I miss words because I'm thinking faster then my fingers can type. In these situations, I try to go back and edit where I can, if I don't I'm sorry.
• Sometimes I miss-read or don't catch additional comments (such as those with corrections to prior comments) in these I'm sorry and beg your forgiveness.

Whatever the case, at the end of EVERY session I go back and copy the WHOLE thread into a word document so I can re-read the session through the week. I do this so I can address important things I may have missed in NEXT SESSIONS recap paragraph, or in private chats before the game. I also periodically try to convert the thread into an actual story book so that, ideally, by the end each player has a book (print or digital) as physical evidence of the journey they embarked on together. I know no one asked this of me, much like the character art I'm working on, but screw it I wanted to do it and its how I make sense of things so … I'm doing my best!

Dice of Inspiration (DoI) are a thing!

As a mechanic to encourage roleplaying in game, they allow a player to re-roll a d20 as a re-due, and I love dishing them out as much as I can. It helps me get to know the characters a player makes, even if they don't give me any backstory (please give me backstories though if you have them so I can make the world seem more real for your character). I also hand DoIs out for extraordinary story-telling. It is my belief that I, as a DM, am not the only story-teller in the group. I tell the story of the world (how difficult tasks are), the enemies, and the NPCs while the players tell the stories of their characters! I use DoIs as a reward/thank you to my players to help me tell the story.

• A player can ONLY have 1 DoI at a time. Which is why when rewarding them I will often say "Have a Dice of Inspiration, if you don't already have one." Please keep track of these, as best you can, along with your other character stats and equipment.
• Please tell me when you use a DoI; especially in combat. I do keep a interactive PDF for encounters so I can track conditions and health and DoIs. This is so I can remind players, "Hey you have this thing which means this ... choose your actions accordingly."
  

  Example: Player rolls and decides to re-roll the comment in thread should look like this "Tried doing thing rolled 5 … reroll 12 using DoI" or "12 (original roll 5)" basically any comment that indicates that you re-rolled

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Difficult Class (DC) can and are subjective!

What do I mean by this, well, I set DCs based on two main factors: Lesson and Story. However, players can take the initiative to make detailed descriptions of what feat they are trying to do that can change my initial DC.

Example: from a different game I actually played in ...
A fellow player was being surrounded by an angry mob and I, having escaped, was on the roof watching.
Me: "I take wolf form, and stand on my hind legs, letting out a blood curdling howl silhouetted by the full moon and of course still drenched in the blood from before."
DM: Ok … Roll for Intimidation and have a +2 in addition to your proficiency.

Now if I was DMing (instead of the player doing additional math) I would simply elect to lower the initial DC, in my head, or have them roll with advantage. The inverse can also happen.

Total Party Kills (TPKs) are a thing that can happen!

As a DM I simply love my players and their characters, I want to see them succeed. Given that, I won't baby you! I'll try my best to explain a situation and hint at the level of difficulty through its description; I'll even flat out say "please don't tempt fate you are not prepared" if the situation is really that dire. If you, as a player or party, actively choose to take actions despite this … accept your fate. Having a character, or multiple, die is just as much another opportunity to roleplay in my book and possibly open side-adventures to reincarnate/revive said character.

I won't ask the players to random roll for every little thing- but I do.

I do this because the world is naturally unfolding as we play and, in my opinion, should feel like it. If a character asks something that I have genuine no idea about (which has happened) I quickly make a list of options and roll, whatever the dice says ... goes!

If a player can't play one week, that's fine!

I will often try to group message every party member well before the game and ask how they are feeling; life happens I get it. I can roll for your character if the player wants. If so:

• I will NEVER intentionally have your character do something that they wouldn't reasonably do themselves.
• If I ever question what they would do, it is up to the dice not me!

If more than one player can't make it I'll post a poll so everyone can vote on whether we wait or press on. As the DM, with the vague knowledge of what is to come (and if more players are needed), will then choose based on the players decision if we continue the main mission or engage in a mini-side quest thing that week. In any case, I ALWAYS try to recap the previous session in the intro-post so a player doesn't need to trudge through the thread in post.

More rules may be added as need be.

If so I will add them here for your convenience.