Aug 13, 2018 4:06 pm
House rules:
- Critical hit : Roll extra damage dies as you'd normally would. If the total damage is less than what you'd get from maximum damage from normal hit, you do maximum damage from normal hit instead. . On second thought, I think I'll go with the usual rule. I was thinking about experimenting with this but, it may make things too lethal (on both players and monsters), esp at low levels.
- Natural 20 or 1 on Skill check : Natural 20 or 1 do not normal have any effect on skill checks. This still applies (i.e., no auto success or failure). However, if a natural 20 gives a successful check, an additional beneficial effect may incur depending on the context. Conversely, if a natural 1 gives a failure, an additional adverse effect may incur depending on the context.
- I encourage creative action/solutions within reason. These will be adjudicated depending on the context and action. I'll will try to be as consistent as possible if similar situation occurs again.
---
Initiative:
- I will roll everyone's initiative (to get things flowing faster).
- Once rolled, the actual order of action will be on a group basis. As in, those players that go before a group of enemies may post their actions immediately before that group of enemies. Going in order of who posts first. Afterwards, the group of enemies will go. Then the group players that go after the enemies will post their action, and repeat as necessary if more than one group of enemies. I think this is a good compromise. If this method still bogs down combat, I reserve the right to change it to just pure group initiatives (one for players, one for enemies).
Battlemaps:
- For open air outdoors battle, we'll typically go with "theater of the mind" without battlemaps.
- There will be times when battlemaps will be necessary (dungeons/interiors). In these cases, I'll post an image of the battlemap with initial positions of enemies and players (the players' initial position will depend on the marching order, whether someone is ahead scouting, and other contextual circumstances).
- Each round you will indicate movement(s) and action(s).
- Indicate the movement by sequence of deliminated by a comma:
- Left (L)
- Right (R)
- Up (U)
- Down (D)
- Left-upper diagonal (LU)
- Right-upper diagonal (RU)
- Left-down diagonal (LD)
- Right-down diagaonal (RD)
So for example (L,L,U,U).
- Once actions and movements have all been determined for the round I will post the updated image of the battle map.
Leveling
- We will be using XP-based leveling as opposed to milestone. However, any milestone in the story will be accompanied by appropriate XP for achieving that mileston.
- When enough XP has been accumulated for the next level, the actual leveling will occur in the next "downtime". This typically means after the next long rest.
Misc. comments/things to keep in mind
----
Resting in active dungeon
- Attempting a long rest in a dungeon is typically a bad idea. Under some rare circumstances, it could be possible though.
- Short rest is more plausible but you might want to do some preps (barricading etc.) and this still won't guarantee uninterrupted rest.
- Unsurprisingly rest is safer in safer spaces :)
This campaign is designed in a way where you have pretty wide freedom as to the order you may discover areas/dungeons. There's no built-in railroading per se. And in the spirit of freedom, I'm gonna keep "railroading" to an absolute minimum as possible. The downside here is that your party could end up in an area that they are seriously underleveled for. Keep this in mind - it's perfectly fine to retreat and come back at a later time to fully explore certain places.
- Critical hit : Roll extra damage dies as you'd normally would. If the total damage is less than what you'd get from maximum damage from normal hit, you do maximum damage from normal hit instead. . On second thought, I think I'll go with the usual rule. I was thinking about experimenting with this but, it may make things too lethal (on both players and monsters), esp at low levels.
- Natural 20 or 1 on Skill check : Natural 20 or 1 do not normal have any effect on skill checks. This still applies (i.e., no auto success or failure). However, if a natural 20 gives a successful check, an additional beneficial effect may incur depending on the context. Conversely, if a natural 1 gives a failure, an additional adverse effect may incur depending on the context.
- I encourage creative action/solutions within reason. These will be adjudicated depending on the context and action. I'll will try to be as consistent as possible if similar situation occurs again.
---
Initiative:
- I will roll everyone's initiative (to get things flowing faster).
- Once rolled, the actual order of action will be on a group basis. As in, those players that go before a group of enemies may post their actions immediately before that group of enemies. Going in order of who posts first. Afterwards, the group of enemies will go. Then the group players that go after the enemies will post their action, and repeat as necessary if more than one group of enemies. I think this is a good compromise. If this method still bogs down combat, I reserve the right to change it to just pure group initiatives (one for players, one for enemies).
Battlemaps:
- For open air outdoors battle, we'll typically go with "theater of the mind" without battlemaps.
- There will be times when battlemaps will be necessary (dungeons/interiors). In these cases, I'll post an image of the battlemap with initial positions of enemies and players (the players' initial position will depend on the marching order, whether someone is ahead scouting, and other contextual circumstances).
- Each round you will indicate movement(s) and action(s).
- Indicate the movement by sequence of deliminated by a comma:
- Left (L)
- Right (R)
- Up (U)
- Down (D)
- Left-upper diagonal (LU)
- Right-upper diagonal (RU)
- Left-down diagonal (LD)
- Right-down diagaonal (RD)
So for example (L,L,U,U).
- Once actions and movements have all been determined for the round I will post the updated image of the battle map.
Leveling
- We will be using XP-based leveling as opposed to milestone. However, any milestone in the story will be accompanied by appropriate XP for achieving that mileston.
- When enough XP has been accumulated for the next level, the actual leveling will occur in the next "downtime". This typically means after the next long rest.
Misc. comments/things to keep in mind
----
Resting in active dungeon
- Attempting a long rest in a dungeon is typically a bad idea. Under some rare circumstances, it could be possible though.
- Short rest is more plausible but you might want to do some preps (barricading etc.) and this still won't guarantee uninterrupted rest.
- Unsurprisingly rest is safer in safer spaces :)
This campaign is designed in a way where you have pretty wide freedom as to the order you may discover areas/dungeons. There's no built-in railroading per se. And in the spirit of freedom, I'm gonna keep "railroading" to an absolute minimum as possible. The downside here is that your party could end up in an area that they are seriously underleveled for. Keep this in mind - it's perfectly fine to retreat and come back at a later time to fully explore certain places.
