I am going through the 5th Ed DMG for the first time and putting some thought into some things. My campaign will be separate and distinct from Jim's campaign and there will be no mingling. As such, I may decide to do some things a little different. Probably not much different though. I wanted to make sure I set out the expectations for this campaign for you folks up front so that you understand what is going on and what you can expect from me.
RUNNING THE GAME
TABLE RULES
The table 'rules', man!: I am of the mind that I want to move away from having one long table stretching across the room with the DM sitting side-on. I want to put the tables together with the DM sitting at the head on one side and the players around the table in front of me. I want all players to be able to hear each other and engage as easily as possible. You will be sitting beside and across from each other and I believe this will foster more attentive roleplaying (See Foster Respect in point 2 below).
Foster Respect: When the DM is speaking or a fellow player is engaged in an action, lean in and become interested in what is happening (Even if it doesn’t involve your character). Watch their rolls and feel free to groan when it sucks or cheer when it succeeds. Allow the spotlight to narrow or expand around the table as it needs to. It is okay to joke around sometimes and make your friends laugh, just try not to do it while something is going on at that moment – unless you do it in character and that can create a humorous anecdote that lasts decades. :)
Avoid Distractions: This can fall under the Respect category as well but, don’t play video games on your phone or laptop just because what is happening doesn’t involve you. Feel free to check you phones if a text comes in or something of course. I mean, you have to do that – Real life can be important. If you need to pop out for a smoke, just ask the DM if it’s a good time, or if you should wait a bit because he is about to do or say something you shouldn’t miss. Maybe you would like to have set break periods?
TABLE TALK
· Please try to make it clear who is speaking – the player or the character. (I am somewhat bad at this myself, so I can’t cast stones here.)
· Try not to share information that your character wouldn’t know. It’s hard, but if your character is incapacitated or unconscious, that kind of takes the player out of the decision making process as well, but hopefully you can still be entertained by what the other characters do.
· If you must have a conversation with another player that is not pertaining to what is happening or being done in roleplaying - whispering in ears is fine. As is momentarily stepping away from the table trying not to disturb others as best as possible.
DICE ROLLING
· Players will roll their dice in full view of the other players so that all players can be invested in the excitement at the table. No rolling and scooping.
· Cocked dice are re-rolled.
· As DM, I want to open the iron curtain a bit on what and how dice and game mechanics are working behind the shield. So I will try and usually tell you what I roll if there are no reasons I must keep it secret. Some rolls need to be secret.
· Sometimes I will roll your dice for you so that you are not certain of the results – usually I will only do this for important NPCs. Letting you know if you succeeded on an insight check on Strahd’s intentions might not be productive to the plot. But insight on a fellow character of some Bar NPC. No worries.
· Your passive perception and investigation are NOT the lowest you can roll. They do not interchange at all. These scores are purely for the DM to use if he chooses. Let me know if they change.
· Be ready for your turn when in combat and have an idea what you are doing, announce it and roll for it. The other players will appreciate the better flow of the game if all try to be prepared.
· I am open to using the automatic success rules on a case by case basis for ease of play and to avoid silly results. No need to petition for this, I’ll decide on my own.
· I am VERY open to the players thinking outside the box and trying heroic and sometimes crazy or risky things. Think outside the box! Your DM loves when players swing from chandeliers only to land with a flourish on the princesses’ balcony into a bow while holding out a rose and winking and smiling at her - Take advantage of that. Using the backs of angry crocodiles to get across a river - CRAZY! But it sure would be cool. There’s a DC for everything!
RULES DISCUSSIONS
I don’t know everything and have no problem with someone helping out with the rules, we’re all in this together, but I don’t like slowing the game down unnecessarily. More than likely I will take what information is given and make a quick decision at the moment. I’ll make a note of it and endeavor to understand it better out of game time.
MISSING PLAYERS
The easiest way to facilitate this is to have the character fade into the background. This solution requires everyone to step out of the game world a bit and suspend disbelief, but might be the easiest solution. You act as if the character's not there, but don't try to come up with any in-game explanation for this absence. Monsters don't attack the character, who returns the favor. On returning, the player resumes playing as if he or she was never gone. This can be rough when it’s the main healer or damage dealer.
PLAY STYLE AND EXPERIENCE
I would like to try using XP for advancement on this adventure, where it is not a long, involved story arc. The idea with the Reavers is that they are heroes going on adventures at this point in their careers having as much fun as they can cram in and exploring. Part of the enjoyment of this group is their openness to fun, laughter and mischief – not taking themselves too seriously. After 10th level then things might start to become more of an epic story arc, having a more regional impact on the campaign setting. Downtime and interacting with NPCs will be a big part of the playstyle.
EPISODIC AND CHARACTER DRIVEN
I still have as my goal running this campaign with the idea of taking deep dives on specific characters and their pasts to make it as personal as I can. Creating events with substance and meaning to not just the group, but deeply personal to specific characters and their development.
Because this campaign is episodic by virtue of single adventures/ dungeons interspersed with in-between times it makes it easy for the Reavers campaign to be inserted whenever the players want it to - whenever they decide to take a break from Jim’s ongoing campaign. No muss, no fuss.
MAGIC
Here are the expectations for the Crimson Reaver’s story:
· Magic items for this group will be slightly less than you might be used to. The fact that you have very powerful artifacts I think will more than make up for it.
· One shot magic items will be more available. Besides the usual scrolls and potions, I might be introducing other one off magic items for variety and fun. (Like a one-use magic missile spell item or something).
· Selling and buying magic items - Let’s get this out of the way. You will be accumulating wealth and looking for things to spend it on, I get it. I think that there could be, depending on the place, possibly, a market for some magic items. I personally don’t like the idea of someone being able to just go out and buy something really tough, so this will be very limited. If you are looking for some potions of healing, that will be much easier than something cool and powerful. Sorry. Best you know this up front.
· Creating magic items – I am amenable to looking into this if needed. But this will be costly and time consuming (Not as easily as outlined in the DMG). But once again – something for a character to do on downtime.
TREASURE
For the feeling of heroic adventuring I enjoy with the Crimson Reaver’s, I won’t be too stingy on the treasure. I hope that you guys will do things like build manor houses, wizard towers and strongholds for your group at some point. I will try and balance this as best I can without being too stingy. You'll have cash to throw around and impress the lasses (or lads) with.