This is a post with the intention of clarifying what this
campaign is meant to be and what it is not. A bit about my background
I started the “Living” campaign
with 4E during the Spring/Summer of 2014 and it went fairly well. I learned a
lot with my experience there and it has served me well as I transitioned into
5 th edition in the fall of 2014 and completed a campaign with characters up to level 14 in the spring of 2015. I continue to learn with every session, PM, and rules
clarification.
Scheduling
First off I want to talk about scheduling as that’s the
biggest factor. This campaign is meant to be played with the theme of “come as
you are”. I only have a few expectations on you as a player (detailed later)
and attendance is not one of them. Conversely, attendance is also not demanded
of me. As the DM I want to be able to run a session when I have time and that’s
why I came up with the Living style of campaign. The idea is that out of a large pool of players, if only a handful of people are available to play when I’m ready then
that’s fine; we can still have a session. But also I’m not forced to maintain a
schedule. If I’m not ready or just don’t feel like running a game then I don’t
have to. Basically I want you guys to maintain the mindset that my position is
voluntary. As soon as this becomes a job, I quit! (Unless I could make money
doing it, then I’d do it full time!)
Expectations on the You, the Player
#1 Be Cool. We’re all here to have fun and play some
D&D. In character drama is encouraged (and unavoidable), out of character
drama means you will be uninvited. I've ran campaigns where role-play is the most important thing. But what I've found is that if I end my weekend with a sour taste in my mouth (due to character drama) then I'm not as excited to keep running the campaign the following weekend. Therefore I've come up with "Ben's Axiom": The Players can only have as much fun as the DM is having. Therefore Rule #1 includes the idea that your fun only goes so far until it interferes with another player's fun. (ex. If you like PvP and nobody else does you will not stay in this campaign long). If you want to join this campaign I will need you to state in your application that you understand Rule #1.
Roleplay your character; it’s your alter-ego. I try hard on
my part to maintain a theme of immersion. I pick sound effects, work for hours
on maps, and try to describe the action as if I were watching a movie. The rest
is up to you, and your participation is where the Living part comes in. The game reacts to what you do and has lasting effects and consequences.
But always keep in the back of your mind that this is just a
game. Your character may die.
See that as an opportunity to roleplay something new and different. Just please
keep the drama in-character, and light. If you apply on the forums with the pertinent information then I will assign
you a template which contains the most basic bio information that all characters
have. I need these filled in so that I have them at a single click. I also include several basic macros in the Attributes & Actions tab. There is no requirement that you fill these in. This campaign uses the 5e (shaped) Character Sheet. You may use both, or either as you see fit, but I do need information built into one of these options to speed up gameplay. I prefer that rolls be made as whispers to the
GM for immersion reasons.
Rules
I remember being wrong, once. Well, actually I thought I was
wrong but it turns out I was only mistaken. Seriously, nobody is perfect. I
make wrong rules calls all the time and learn as I go. If you disagree with a
ruling, cite your source and send me a PM with why you were right. So
far I’ve been able to find a common ground we can all agree on. But the
important thing is that the show must go on. I am the type of DM that would
rather make a wrong call and keep the game moving than pore over rule books and
bring the game to a grinding halt. Even having said that, where death is a possibility I want to ensure that all rules are played correctly, so I tend to choose a middle-ground.
The Living Campaign
Here’s the real purpose for this post. Like I said, I’ve been
doing this Living Campaign over a full year now. It’s changed and molded over
time and that’s the idea. As a DM, my Rule #1 is this: “Would I enjoy playing
this?” As a player I would like a sandbox that I could mess around in. So that’s
the goal. Now, with the living style of campaign I’ve got several people who
want to do their thing every session so I make up open-ended adventures and do
my best to not have 'rails', but within reason. I will have an
adventure set up ahead of time. If the party wants to diverge from that
then I'll keep up. But if you are the only character who doesn't want to
be involved with the adventure then maybe the best option is to bow out
for a more applicable adventure in the future (and let someone else
join) or find some reason to get involved. How you approach the
adventure is where I want player creativity. I do my best to have
several adventures prepared, but with limited time I'm not always
successful. Meet Me Halfway To go along with ' expectations on you, the player ',
I'd like if you could make a character the fits in with the campaign. There are several factions that your character may join to involve your character in the storyline. I like characters who have goals and motivations and I
will do my best to accommodate them. Flaws, Bonds, and Villains are great additions to both
character and campaign and I will include all of them in some form in
time. But I do need you meet me halfway with this campaign style and
your character. Therefore Rule #3 is that you have Flaws, Bonds, and Personality built-in and sent to me as PM. (This is also how I track purchases and expenditures in an offline Excel sheet). I'm not the best DM in the world. If I were then everybody would be in my campaign and I'd have endless roll-offs. But that's simply not the case. I've had hundreds of people play one session and never return, and even a handful who have "rage-quit" my campaigns. But I do put a lot of work into the campaign and I hope that you're at least half as invested as I am in the campaign. Therefore I have a few baseline rules that I adhere to before allowing people to join as a sort of filter. I'm sure you've played in D&D campaigns where there are disruptive or distracted players. My goal is to filter those so that we can have a fun D&D session. So when you post a desire to join the campaign I will also need a PM that lists your character's Flaws, Bonds, and Personality (see the Character Creation post). Me, as a DM If you've read this far I'm sure you're wondering why I'm being so picky. So a bit about my DMing style. I run according to the ideal of, "Would I enjoy playing this?" So my primary objective is to say either, "Yes, but..." or "Yes, and..." to anything a player attempts and I rely heavily on the dice to tell the story alongside the sandbox theme. I'm also a fair DM, but a harsh DM. I make my rolls visible to the target of attacks (as a whisper to the target) so that means I never fudge rolls. Even when making saves for monsters I do not fudge rolls. I believe in the sandbox ideal and that means that sometimes characters may die, but it also means if you outsmart the conflict then you reap the benefits. All that said, if you post to join the campaign I will need you state "Rule #2: I realize my character may die," as this has been an issue in the past. Along the same lines, this is my free time. I do this voluntarily because I enjoy weaving a tale and seeing how independent thinkers solve issues and react to situations. But I do not do it as a public service. If you're abusive or disruptive to me or the other players I will uninvite you as I have developed a zero tolerance for "ass-hats". If you've played D&D at all then you know what I'm talking about. My ideal situation is a group of adventurers that don't necessarily have to get along in-character but share a common goal and can keep the adventure moving forward. Along with the sentiments described in #1 Be Cool there is a fourth rule that I hope never gets enforced. Evil alignment means enjoying causing pain and destruction. Overtly evil characters are villains. Villains are NPCs that I control. So please make a character that can get involved in the story and at least work alongside other people without requiring them to compromise their characters. For example, a Tiefling cleric of Bane or Asmodeus would cause problems for the Paladin of Torm in the party. As I said before, if you're looking for PvP you won't find it here. Still Want to Join? If you've read all this and you still want to join the campaign then post your desire to join along with the three requirements that I have posted above and I look forward to the adventure!
