Player Guidelines

Disclaimer We treat each other with respect in these halls. We do not tolerate sexism, racism, homophobia or anything related. No situations of Rape, Sexual Assault, Abuse or Erotic Content in RP or game play allowed. If you feel that somebody is not keeping to these values message a member of staff. Staff are bound to these rules just like everyone else.

This is an 18+ server. As indicated by the rulings above this aims to ensure a certain level of maturity among players. Therefore, we prohibit Erotic Role Play (ERP) in the channels of this server.

If at any point you have a question or suggestion, please tag @Staff in a channel. If you want to submit anonymous feedback, use our Anonymous Feedback form.

Player Code of Conduct
Now that we're on our way to play Dungeons and Dragons, it is important to agree upon some ground rules that will help us to ensure a nice environment between us humans.

As a player respect other players and the DM. Treat others like you want yourself to be treated.

We all come here to celebrate D&D as a mutual hobby of ours and everyone likes to have fun. Please be aware of the people around you and address them nicely. To help you with that here is a small list of Dos and Don’ts: When an issue arises during the game, try to address it after said game has concluded. Big discussions about rules break the game flow and disrupt the immersion.
 * Don’t interrupt or talk over other players.
 * Don’t antagonize players. Neither sabotage their RP nor game play.
 * Don’t backseat game neither backseat DM.
 * Don’t rules lawyer.
 * Don’t shame or bully people. Neither on the Discord nor on any social platform.
 * Do celebrate the cool actions of other players.
 * Do help them when they ask for it.
 * Do work as a team.

Characters
Please see Character Creation on full details on how to make a character for this server and what sources are allowed.

No Evil Alignments
This ruling is enforced to prevent abusive and disruptive behaviour between Players. While we do not disallow usually evil subclasses (Oathbreaker Paladins, Death Domain Clerics and Necromancy Wizards etc.) it is expected as part of the Guild that such characters want to do/be good. This isn't a mercenary group, and while characters each have their own morals and code, the aim of this server is for the guild and it's members to be hero's.

This also goes for monstrous and traditionally  'evil ' aligned races. While allowed, many have reputations in Faerûn and the wider planes. While the Guild and Red Larch itself are open to all who wish to join it's ranks and do good, some PC's or NPC's may not always be so welcoming.

No Underage Characters
We are aware that adulthood comes to some races sooner than to others. This often can be found in official resources, but not always. If you feel unsure about what an appropriate age for your character would be feel free to consult a DM, Staff or a fellow Adventurer. #character-discussion is the common channel for this.

Reworking a Character
If you feel like your character is not what you imagined, or you simply don’t enjoy their gameplay fret not. You are allowed to rework your character entirely or just partially until before their sixth game or before you hit level 6, whichever comes second.

Any further reworks have to be requested and will be approved or declined by the Staff. In this case you should be able to back up your request with a justifying cause (i.e. change in character development, external circumstances).

Inventory Restrictions
A players characters may not trade/buy/sell between one another. A character can however do so with any other players characters. Your Characters may not posses items sourced from another one of your characters or from games you ran unless the bellow caveat is followed

Exception: After one month (four weeks) of real time has passed: If an item previously possessed by one of your characters, or given out by you as a DM returns to the market organically (having changed hands at least once). It can be traded/bought by one of your characters even if it had previously belonged to another. Please do not hesitate to clarify this in #rules-discussion as it is a little confusing.undefined

Gifting/Trading/Buying Magic Items
Since high level character and low level characters will be interacting and mingling in the guild. We've set the following rules on magic item Gifting/Trading/Buying to maintain balance.

Housing
See Housing Guide for detailed rules

Each Character is provided a room within the Swinging Sword Guild Hall. However there are rules in place for characters to construct their own housing should they wish it.

Google Drive Folder
Each player is provided with a google drive folder that the sever keeps. This is a place to keep character sheets, and records not kept on discord (And anything else you'd like a safe copy of, such as tokens, backstory ect.). A prime example being a document keeping track of Downtime Points which is mandatory.

How to keep track of DTP is up to the players preference, so long as it's logged and kept up to date in the folder provided.

A Dtp and Xp spreadsheet is however provided to automatically keep track of what is both gained and used.

MPMB Character Sheet
The more detailed and customisable of the character sheet options. The MPMB character sheet requires the use of Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader. For help with the character sheet ask in #general, we also recommend watching this brief tutorial explaining its use for an Adventure League character.

Dnd Beyond
Thanks to a very generous Staff member, players can have access to both dnd Byeond and a Beyond sheet should they prefer it to MPMB. If you have your own Beyond access you are more than welcome to use it provided you link or sheet and keep it up to date. S

See #announcements for the available Dnd Beyond Campaign links.

Roll 20
While not used for character record purposes. Many DM's use Roll20 for games and we advise players to familiarise themselves with the system, sign up for an account, and create character sheets for the characters they have.

Roll20 has a number of tutorials on YouTube that help players create and use the built in character sheet. However if you need any help do not hesitate to ask in #general

Character Log
When you've created your character you'll be required to post a link to your new character's sheet in #character-log. Please upload the Character sheet PDF to the google drive folder provided. Alternatively you can provide the dndbyeond character sheet URL if you prefer that to the PDF. (In either case both must be kept up to date)

Creator: @AccountyMcAccountface [Your Nickname]

Character Name: Carrie McCharacterface [Your character’s name]

Character Level: Level 4 Hexblade Edgelock Warlock / Level 2 Rogue

[Link to Google Drive PDF or DnDBeyond]

Text Roleplay
We highly encourage you to engage in roleplay within the In Character text channels. This is a great way to flesh out your characters and their relationships outside the context of individual sessions.

Each In Character channel has a Pinned Message (And Soon Wiki page) describing relevant information about it, we highly recommend you give it a look before role-playing within a channel so you have the context of the environment.

We use a set of conventions for text RP in Discord shown here: "Greetings there stranger." * "Maybe I should write a book about the fine wines of the sword coast."* (just got a phone call, have to bounce, sorry) * You hear a voice speaking calmly in your mind while the intriguing lady watches you from over the table. * If you have any questions about the various in character channels, please do not hesitate to ask about them.
 * Please use " " to mark speech.
 * Please use * or _ to italicise and denote actions, behaviours and interactions. *I take my glass of wine and settle down at the fireplace.*
 * If you want to show inner thoughts, combine the two.
 * We would like you to use to speak OOC in the RP area when absolutely necessary, otherwise use the Out of Character channels.
 * Telepathic communication between characters is italicised between <>.

Finding a Game
Adverts for games will be posted in. They will provide you with the basic information about the session like level range, game time, story hook, focus, difficulty and maximum number of players. All you need to do is tag the responsible DM in their lobby of choice with the information they inquire in their announcement.

Keep in mind that there is no ‘first come first serve’ rule. DMs can choose their players at their own discretion. They will however confirm the players in advance so that the chosen players can prepare themselves accordingly.

If you have a request for a specific quest to be run or want to ask for a game time to be scheduled in consultation with other players, please use the #find-a-game channel.

House Rules: While most rules are sever wide, DM's are permitted to use house rules for any games they run provided they are listed in the game announcement.

Before a Session
Be on time. DMs and players alike have planned the game time to play. Maybe they have been anticipating the game all week and the DM certainly has prepared a lot for their players. We want you to honour this effort by being on time for the games you’ve signed up for.

Have your character sheet in order. This includes making sure your #character-log entry is up to date and that your Roll20 sheet is also up to date along with any companions, summons, familiars that you may use in the game.

If something comes up, please let the players and/or DM know that you can’t attend the game. Giving a reason for why you had to drop out also helps to calm the emotions. In case that you ignore this basic etiquette by not being present and ready for a game on time the DM will have every right to exclude you from the game.

During a Session
Pay attention. Just as you wouldn’t sit with your phone out at an in person table game, we hope your attention is primarily focused on the game that you are currently playing in. In combat, be ready with your action when your turn comes up.

Be respectful. We are all here to enjoy the games we play in, if something comes up that you feel steps over a boundary of respect bring it up with a Keeper or Founder or submit an anonymous feedback.

The DM is the arbiter of rules during a session. Avoid rules lawyering with your DM and other players. If there is a disagreement, save it till after the game session.

After a Session
The players will divide up any treasure or rewards from the session amongst themselves. Be respectful of players in this process, as not everyone will get the same amount or rarity of reward in every game.

The DM will post a log in the channel which will include a summary of the session, treasure given out, character XP, and downtime points (DTP).

Try to update your character sheets to reflect any changes based on rewards or XP within a day or two of the game log being posted.

We also ask that you track your DTP within your Google Drive folder. DTP is player based not character based. A Dtp and Xp spreadsheet is however provided to automatically keep track of what is both gained and used.

Death
The life of an adventurer is dangerous to the point where it can become deadly and death awaits (almost) all of our characters at some point. Watch out for your teammates as death is not something to be trifled with.

Even though Faerûn is full of magic there are some borders that are difficult to cross. The untimely demise of a Character is a tragedy for the player and also to other characters who knew that person.

There are no instances of permadeath unless the player wishes for their PC to stay dead. However, the severity of the death varies as higher-level spells and monsters might disintegrate the body or require special actions to be undertaken to return one from the dead.

Character deaths will be logged by the DM whose session it occurred in the #death-log.

Recovering from Resurrection & Raise Dead
In place of a single long rest to reduce the -4 penalty by 1, a character must spend a week of DTP in Relaxation to reduce the -4 penalty by 1, taking a total of 20 DTP to fully recover. Unrested weeks will apply to any games following that until the relaxation is complete. In game rest do not apply.

Multiple Deaths
After three deaths a Character will suffer permanent penalties that the Staff and Player will agree upon once it occurs. Penalties like this can be fixed but in order to fix it the character may have to complete a quest. Since death should be impactful there will be a quest in accordance to the death or the PCs backstory that others can embark on to bring them back. This counts for any time spent dead beyond the boundaries of the revivify spell.

Hirelings/Sidekicks/Companions
See Hirelings, Sidekicks, and Companions page for detailed rules.

Sometimes, though great roleplaying or varying in game circumstances, a PC may gain access to a Sidekick or Companion. Hirelings themselves are a services detailed in the Players Handbook (pg.159)

Given their nature and ability to unbalance games and encounters. DMs reserve the right to not include a players hirelings, companions, or sidekicks.