Post by gamedave on Aug 7, 2017 12:17:12 GMT -5
Below are the special rules for this campaign.
Inspiration
We will be using what has become the standard Inspiration house rule for our group.
Every character begins each session with one point of Inspiration (usually represented by a poker chip or other token). Throughout the session, the DM may award additional Inspiration for minor story milestones, good roleplaying, heroic actions, or just because. There's no limit to how many points of Inspiration a character can have, but they all reset at the end of the session.
A player may spend a point of Inspiration to re-roll an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw they just made, after seeing the roll but before knowing the results. The player may choose to keep either result. A player may also spend a point of Inspiration before making such a roll to give their character Advantage on the roll (this is usually Just Plain Worse than re-rolling, but it can be useful in certain situations, such as a rogue making a Sneak Attack).
If you use Inspiration to re-roll a roll originally made with Advantage, re-roll the lowest die result, and then use the highest result of the three. If you use Inspiration to re-roll a roll originally made with Disadvantage, it's a little more complicated. Re-roll the lowest die, and keep whichever of those two is higher. Then compare that result to the die you didn't re-roll, and use the lower of the two.
XP and Leveling
We will be using milestone leveling. The DM will decide when certain storyline milestones are reached, everyone levels up. This isn't Old School, but I'm not that much of a grognard, and besides, this is easier for me, and I'm a lazy DM.
Lethality
This is Old School gaming. Learn by dying. There will be no "take-backs", no "Oh, I didn't know that", or "I wouldn't have done that", or "My character should have known that." Once you declare an action, that's what your character does. If you make a "mistake" or sub-optimal choice, then that happens. If your character dies, they die. But see the "Life After Death" and "Last Will & Testament" campaign rules below.
I, as the DM, will not be going out of my way to kill your characters. But, by the same token, I won't go out of my way to keep them alive, either. Think, plan, execute, and pray to the dice gods.
Life After Death
If your character dies, it's not the end of the world. It happens to the best of us. Well, not me, but the best of you, anyway.When If your character dies, you can create a new one at the same level as the rest of the party. In true Old School, you'd restart at 1st level, but I'm getting soft in my old age. You begin with the normal starting gear of a 1st level adventurer of your class and background, but see the "Last Will & Testament" campaign rule, below. If you just want to switch out your character, same rules. I was tempted to say you don't get to use the Last Will & Testament rule if you voluntarily retire a character, but I don't want anyone Saucing the campaign because they're tired of their character. Again, old age and softness.
Last Will & Testament
It's a core conceit of the campaign that all adventurers (or at least all of the PCs) strictly adhere to a departed adventurer's Last Will & Testament. What that means is that a new character that replaces a dead or retired character of the same player inherits all of the former character's worldly possessions. Of course, if your deceased character was a shining knight in full plate, and a your new character is a monk who eschews heavy armor and weapons, those possessions may not be of much use to you. That's what Downtime is for (see below).
Downtime
We will be using the Downtime rules in the linked Unearthed Arcana article. After every dungeon crawl, the PCs will have a certain amount of downtime before their next dungeon crawl. This may vary between dungeons, but will probably be in the range of one week per level.
NOTE: Xanathar's Guide to Everything is a new D&D 5E sourcebook scheduled for a November release, which will have revised Downtime rules. We may switch to those rules when that time comes.
Inspiration
We will be using what has become the standard Inspiration house rule for our group.
Every character begins each session with one point of Inspiration (usually represented by a poker chip or other token). Throughout the session, the DM may award additional Inspiration for minor story milestones, good roleplaying, heroic actions, or just because. There's no limit to how many points of Inspiration a character can have, but they all reset at the end of the session.
A player may spend a point of Inspiration to re-roll an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw they just made, after seeing the roll but before knowing the results. The player may choose to keep either result. A player may also spend a point of Inspiration before making such a roll to give their character Advantage on the roll (this is usually Just Plain Worse than re-rolling, but it can be useful in certain situations, such as a rogue making a Sneak Attack).
If you use Inspiration to re-roll a roll originally made with Advantage, re-roll the lowest die result, and then use the highest result of the three. If you use Inspiration to re-roll a roll originally made with Disadvantage, it's a little more complicated. Re-roll the lowest die, and keep whichever of those two is higher. Then compare that result to the die you didn't re-roll, and use the lower of the two.
XP and Leveling
We will be using milestone leveling. The DM will decide when certain storyline milestones are reached, everyone levels up. This isn't Old School, but I'm not that much of a grognard, and besides, this is easier for me, and I'm a lazy DM.
Lethality
This is Old School gaming. Learn by dying. There will be no "take-backs", no "Oh, I didn't know that", or "I wouldn't have done that", or "My character should have known that." Once you declare an action, that's what your character does. If you make a "mistake" or sub-optimal choice, then that happens. If your character dies, they die. But see the "Life After Death" and "Last Will & Testament" campaign rules below.
I, as the DM, will not be going out of my way to kill your characters. But, by the same token, I won't go out of my way to keep them alive, either. Think, plan, execute, and pray to the dice gods.
Life After Death
If your character dies, it's not the end of the world. It happens to the best of us. Well, not me, but the best of you, anyway.
Last Will & Testament
It's a core conceit of the campaign that all adventurers (or at least all of the PCs) strictly adhere to a departed adventurer's Last Will & Testament. What that means is that a new character that replaces a dead or retired character of the same player inherits all of the former character's worldly possessions. Of course, if your deceased character was a shining knight in full plate, and a your new character is a monk who eschews heavy armor and weapons, those possessions may not be of much use to you. That's what Downtime is for (see below).
Downtime
We will be using the Downtime rules in the linked Unearthed Arcana article. After every dungeon crawl, the PCs will have a certain amount of downtime before their next dungeon crawl. This may vary between dungeons, but will probably be in the range of one week per level.
NOTE: Xanathar's Guide to Everything is a new D&D 5E sourcebook scheduled for a November release, which will have revised Downtime rules. We may switch to those rules when that time comes.