General Table Rules

1. Treat everyone with respect or you will meet an untimely death. This is a safe space; if you have issues with people of specific races, gender identities, sexualities, with disabilities, etc. then my table is not the one for you. 

2. If there is anything that comes up in a game that is uncomfortable for you or that you are not okay with please raise your hand. We will pause and you can step away from the table for a few moments or we can work around something so you are comfortable. 

3. I do have a lot of dark themes in my games usually. My favorite genre is dark fantasy so be prepared for that while sitting at my table. 

4. Like romancing NPCs? Great, me too. You can certainly try with all of my babies. … Just be ready to roll a performance check if it goes really well. 

5. Everyone is starting at Level 5. Each player can have two uncommon and one rare item(s) and 50g to their name to begin. 

6. Roleplay is highly encouraged, and we all start somewhere! 

7. Spells don’t use components unless they are pricey (50g+). Yes, you do need that diamond to cast Revivify ... unless you want to make a deal.

8. Potions can be used as a bonus action if they are on your person. If they are in your bag, they require your full action. 

9. I run my table with milestone leveling. 

10. Critical failures and successes are a thing. Ability checks can fail or succeed. Nat 20s on hits is what you roll + max damage die + modifiers. 

11. I’m a very in-depth DM. I leave you breadcrumbs everywhere so make sure you pay attention because this campaign will be no different!

12. If you miss 3 sessions in a level, your character will not level with the rest of your party. If you miss 5 sessions in a level, we will talk about you continuing in the campaign. I’m pretty flexible with scheduling, but I also have had way too many tables fall apart and behind because of scheduling conflicts.

Behavior & Expectations

If you opt to have any alcohol while we play you are welcome to, however your level of intoxication will determine your character’s level of intoxication. Tipsy and drunk rolls will result in disadvantage. 

Players can receive whispered information sometimes. It is at their own discretion if they share this information with others. Some information will result in consequences if shared or not shared, or if acted or not acted upon. Keep this in mind! 

Let’s try to keep out of game topics to a minimum. We’re all here for fun, but too much of a good thing can disrupt game flow.

Your DM is also old and has minor hearing problems, so I may have to ask you to repeat something sometimes – I’m already sorry. 

Dice rolls outside of generalized roleplay situations should be prompted by your DM or asked for permission before they are rolled. Meaning all perception checks, investigations, etc. If you want to play rollies to settle in-game arguments, or enhance game play (i.e. gambling games, question games, etc) you’re most welcome to. However if it causes genuine discord amongst players the DM will have the final say in the argument or continuation of said games. 

You’re welcome to have dice rolls against each other, be it to deceive, battle, reason, or steal. Just please announce your rolls before rolling to make sure it’s DM approved in the current situation. 

Like secrets? You are welcome to keep secrets from other players, with other players or the DM. 

Players keep agency, and have reign over their actions; however all actions can have personal, party, and world consequences. 

We have a Sandbox game. Open world, multiple (sometimes intermingling) plots, and many can have effects on the world at large. 

Sometimes I may look up rules, others I may make a call and then address rules later.

If it’s reasonable for a character to know it (i.e. world scale rumors, common knowledge etc) then they will know it. If it’s info that must be discovered the player must learn it to action it. If you’re not sure please ask, and we can place the fate in a History check. 

We are a social game. Your character is welcome to be aloof, but roleplay is highly encouraged for morale, story building, and in general to enhance the game experience.

Murder hobos? Expect world consequences. Your actions in the game affect you and possibly your whole party and any known NPCs you are associated with. 

Treat everyone with respect. Respect pronouns. No bullying, harassing, etc.

Player Expectations

Please share expectations you have for me as a DM and how I can help you enjoy the game.

Ask any questions, express anything you are uncomfortable with, etc.

If something comes up that is upsetting, or triggering, we will work on a time-out system. We will break, and table discuss the topic OR the player may leave voice and come back when the scene is over. 

I want you all to have spotlight moments. Please respect everyone’s spotlight moments.

If one player is going to miss a session you leave the fate of your character in my hands. Then we can talk about the shenanigans you got up to for you to tell next session. If it is two or more, we skip sessions for the week. All misses will count towards your 3 and 5 ruling unless the whole table reschedules. I may rule depending on current story progression to reschedule the table for a single party mate being out!

You have narrative authority over your characters, however sometimes my NPCs/the BBEG’s plot and narrative will obviously intermingle. If there is ever something that comes up that you are uncomfortable with as far as your character: let’s talk it out and we can work it out.

Character Creation Notes

Please ask any questions about stats, connections to others/limited backstories, race, class etc.

8 INT or less and you can’t read or write. RIP.

Alignments are not required but are welcome and can CHANGE.

Please make sure you have all character sheets to me in your separate private channels in your campaign server, and all public sheets in the campaign folder on D&D Beyond or linked to me in your private channel if it can’t be built there.

Please make sure to set your HP in D&D beyond to 'Manual' and modify your HP total to max possible for your character. I allow max HP to my players.

Stats are rolled within D&D beyond, and I trust my players to be honest about them. Should you roll an 8 or lower twice when rolling for them, toss the array and restart.

Game Style

I run open world and sandbox games. If you've played at my table before: unless we have discussed you knowing specifics about certain hidden lore you do not know it, and will be penalized for meta gaming. Everyone deserves the chance to experience the world fresh and learn at their own pace.

Dark Fantasy, Dystopian Horror are the most accurate genre descriptors. I draw a lot of inspiration for tone from popular titles like LOTR, Elden Ring, The Witcher, and Hunger Games.

This setting in particular is high dark fantasy, however the world is advanced enough to have mechanical aspects in regard to transportation (airships, boats, and train). Automatons are not a thing in this world so you will not find friendly robots around. Guns are extremely rare and require that the user be able to craft their own ammunition and fix any issues that arise with them; advancement wise here would be similar to what would find being used by Percy Derollo.

Hopefully we can run to level 20 for your campaign – regardless we will run till you all are either TPKed and have to reroll adventurers or you resolve the conflict you’re facing in the world. That being said, please have a backup character ready as of Session 1 because you never know what can happen. 

While I will not be going out of my way to make you die – I will not be going out of my way to not kill you either. My BBEGs have dreams too, okay?

Certain actions have to be readied before using them in combat:

• Loading guns

• Changing weapons

• Certain channeled spells

• Potions policy is covered in my general rules

• During active combat if you attempt to make any skill check that will count as your bonus action.

• Speaking (and crying) is a free action, however I deserve the right to claim your bonus action if the conversation ends up being lengthy.

If there is a specific goal you all would like to accomplish that requires skill checks, i.e. opening a door, or checking a room for traps. I will allow up to two party attempts – if they both fail then they both fail.

You can have inspiration, and advantages cannot be stacked. 

Critical failures and successes are important. Depending on what they are rolled on they can narratively impact certain aspects of the game.

Important Game Mechanics

Sneaking

Stealth is determined by your environment. If you are in combat you must have a way to disengage and successfully roll to hide for you to do so.  If you are in an open area, unless your character has a specific addition to allow hiding in plain sight, or you can give me a really creative way it's done - it's not happening.

Unseen attackers can be discovered by successful perception checks, or when they attack. They do get surprise rounds if they are not discovered.

Hidden creatures are not valid targets.

You must roll to stealth again after you reveal yourself – speaking, taking an action, or anything else that would give away your location counts as revealing yourself.

Traps are a part of the game.

Flanking is a thing, however with our sneaky friends you have to actively hide to get sneak attack – you do not get it with a party member being nearby.

Spells

If the components are under 50g then you can do it so long as you have the slot for it. If it’s over it, you better have the components … or be willing to make a deal.

Obviously, fire spells will not work under water.

Creating and destroying water cannot kill someone.

Deaths and Resting

If you are at 0 HP you are knocked the heck out.

If you take damage equal to HALF of your total HP when you are KOed then you are dead.

Three failures on death saves and you’re dead. Nat 1s count as two failures. Three successes on death saves and you’re stable but still knocked out unless you roll a Nat 20. Nat 20 you come back to consciousness with 1 HP.

Long rests are minimum 6 hours. 

Short rests are minimum 1 hour.

Sometimes you will run into abilities, weapons, creatures that negate your ability to heal – I will let you know this when you attempt to heal or take a long rest.

Critical Hits

Nat 20s on hits is what you roll + max damage die + modifiers.

Example:

You roll an 8 on your damage die, however it is a weapon or spell effect with a d10 damage die (the one you rolled), and you have a +4 from stats/abilities that add on to your damage dealt.

Your total damage done to the creature would be:

8 + 10 + 4 = 22

Pricing

Pricing is relative to table size and play duration. Minimum table size is 4 Players and maximum table size is 8 Players. Rates will be shown by the hour with the lowest being minimum player count and highest maximum player count.

1 Hour ($25 - $45)
2 Hours ($35 - $55)
3 Hours  ($40 - $60)
4 Hours ($45 - $65)

As of right now my schedule is a little wonky with my part-time job so the best way to contact me about running a game for you is via my contact form in an email! I can work with you to get a time together that works for you and your friends, and send you an invoice for payment.

I usually ask for a week notice for play outside of a Session 0 just so that I can create maps for Foundry, plan accordingly and help you make sure your characters are ready to go. Session 0 will cover all this information again, as well as give you time to ask questions, and we all can make sure our characters are ready to dive into my world before our first session.