More on DM & game style

On storytelling

This is one of my favourite things about DnD—the idea that what we're really doing is creating a story together. The dice and rules are there to provide a framework and a form of consistency in the physics and mechanics. No one will be penalized for not caring about the wacky histories or deep backstories... but there are definitely rewards (loot, XP, etc.) for players that help contribute to the story. Example: providing the local newspaper with quotes from adventures is worth a little XP. Drawings, articles, tales, theories... probably a bit more.

On backstory limitations

In short, there really are none. If you want to have come from the moon, the Marvel Universe or from a time travel mission... we can work with it. There is an overarching world with its own internal consistencies and "rules" but they are all quite flexible and I consider it an enjoyable challenge versus an annoying inconvenience if you want to have a strange/goofy/weird/unlikely backstory.

On combat

For those that like tactics, stabbing, and magic slinging, there's plenty of fighting to be found on the uncharted islands of The Delta of a Thousand Teeth. I've found using a battle map (big vinyl mat that has a grid: each grid represents 5 feet) helps a lot, so we use one of those whenever possible. So if you have minis, feel free to bring 'em!

DM combat rolls are generally out in the open: no screen. This keeps me from being able to fudge stuff—something that most DMs do to either help scale the battle, go easier on people, or be evil and make it tougher. Taking this element out of the game makes everything more clear cut and gives the fate of the dice more weight. Similarly, most monster stats, DCs, etc. will be freely available given that someone in the party has slain one before, for similar reasons as rolling out in the open.

On roleplaying

There is zero pressure to role play. It definitely adds some flavour to the game but only works if you're comfy doing it.

On party balancing

Eventually we'll be in a situation where some of the party will be high level veterans, and some will be newbies. To me, this is fine and we shouldn't fret over the unbalance. It's a good opportunity to create some story around why these greenhorns are trekking out with the pros—and up to the group to figure out what the optimal place would be for such a thing.

On character deaths

Of course, things don't always go as planned. While it is no fun to say goodbye to a PC, especially if you've put some heart and soul into their story, the islands in this place are what they are, and the dice will land where they may. Everyone's encouraged to keep a second or third character on deck—that way if you get iced near the start of a session we can figure out some way to get you back in quick.

• Generally speaking, the further from Deadpoint one travels, the tougher the encounters.
• But: most major islands will have some unusually tough spots, and (hopefully) some safer havens. These areas probably won't move around a lot, so it'll pay to know the geography.
• Retreat is not always dishonourable. Not every encounter is "meant" to be won.

On rules, resolutions & mistakes

DnD has a crapton of rules, including many niche ones. I personally have not memorized them all and have no desire to, so there will be occasional rulebook referencing during gameplay. I generally like to keep things moving, so 10 minute breaks for deep rules lawyering will be avoided for all but the most critical of occurrences. If you are seriously slighted by a DM ruling (or straight up error) let's figure out what to do about it after the session—goofs can often be turned into interesting bits of story!

There are some aspects to the rules that I'll blatantly ignore or bend, usually in the name of speeding shit up. E.g. while it is neat to calculate out precise travel distances, nutritional needs, carrying capacities, etc... the sheer amount of time doing that kind of accounting across multiple people doesn't seem worth it to me.

On inventory, stats & sheet management

Some DMs will collect and keep close track of character sheets between sessions. With West Marches style and potentially dozens of PCs, I ain't have time for that! Each player will be ultimately responsible for knowing what stuff their character has (including special abilities), what their stats are, what their spells do (although we will probably do a lot of spell look up and checking, because those things can get complex). Inevitably, we'll discover that someone was either over or underpowered for some time and we'll just have to roll with the chaos of it :)

On homebrew

"Homebrew" is anything created outside of the official series of DnD content published by Wizards of the Coast (e.g. races, classes, spells, monsters, etc.). Naturally, over the decades that DnD has been a thing, there's probably more homebrew stuff out there than OG content.

I've put the restriction of "no homebrew" for character creation in place so that new players and seasoned ones have an accessible starting place. It's overwhelming enough coming into DnD fresh, and I don't want someone's first experience to be further complicated by folks mixing in wild homebrew or expansion material in off the get-go.

That said, creative quirks and ideas (ask Skamos Ea about his... tic) will never be shot down so long as we have a chat about it. Homebrew restrictions are about making newcomers feel more welcome, not to protect anything to do with the story or limit how you want to play your game.