Player Guidance

Type of game

While the open sandbox of Lani is definitely available if you choose, there will be an overall story arc underneath the setting which will give you something to grasp onto. Different “adventure hooks” and quests will show up along the way, allowing you to choose whether you want to go from one thing to the next or to do some adventuring/exploring/downtime. At the very beginning, we will start more rigidly and then open up options over time.

Game rating

This will be a PG-13/Teen rated game with warnings for violence, since there will be combat and creatures will die. Outside of that, this is going to be more like an ‘E for Everyone’ situation. Adult themes will not be included in game play.

Starting level, gaining experience, and gaining levels

At the start of a campaign, players will start at Level 1. Players will level up at each milestone, immediately. Note that milestones are based on finishing adventure arcs, not on the number of encounters.

In the unfortunate event of a character death or character change, new characters will be created starting at the current level of the character that was being replaced.

Starting equipment

For ease of character creation balance, we will be using the standard starting equipment option during character creation, and not the ‘gold’ option where you purchase your equipment.

Player resources and components

For the sessions where you are in civilization you can assume your character knows how to get food and spell components, so long as they have the gold value on their character sheet. When you need to ‘top up’ simply spend the money from your character, you do not need to roleplay going shopping (unless you want to). If the story takes us to a point where you do not have access to cities, towns, villages, shops, etc. then your character will need to be stocked in their backpack with what they need.

Min-maxing

As a DM I will not be focused on min-maxing the encounters or NPCs you meet. However, if min-maxing is fun for you, go for it! You can also purposefully play an unoptimized character that is weaker than normal if that is your preference.

Game and encounter balance

My approach will be to try to make encounters level appropriate, but there may be situations where you are not expected to be able to ‘beat’ an encounter through combat. For example, there may be an ancient dragon that you encounter guarding a special book that you need, but who can be convinced to help you through skill checks or completing a quest. But if you try to kill it (and not run away) we may have a possible TPK situation.

Otherwise, we’ll use standard character intelligence checks using the Arcana/History/Nature/Religion categories.

“Lone wolf” characters

This is a discussion that recurs occasionally in the online TTRPG social community discourse. The purpose of our adventures in Lani will be the rising of heroes who band together to help others. That’s the overall goal. Your character may have previously been a ‘loner’, outcast from their group, and perhaps that is why they are now looking for adventure. However, it is on the player to find the backstory reason as to why they are joining into the group and wanting to play the game. I’m not concerned about this with the group, but making sure we cover it!

Evil player characters and “Murder Hobos”

I tend to prefer heroic player character story arcs, but I understand each player will have their own ideal of what their character’s morals are and how they will act. That said, some actions by players may lead to consequences. I will always make sure to make it clear if a particular action might have consequences so that the party can make an informed choice.

Unannounced dice rolls

Players can roll at any time, but will need to use a Foundry comment in your roll to say what the roll is for. Otherwise, please wait for a prompt.

Classism/Racism in Lani

Inevitably there will be scenarios where some have, and some have not. I will be doing my best to not cast any particular world races into one class or another, but I welcome being called out on this if I am making a mistake in this area. In this world, a goblin or a kobold is just as much a person as an elf or a dwarf. Their cultures and actions might differ, but in Lani they are not automatically “evil monsters”.

Player discomfort and the “Gong”

We’ll do our best to learn about where each other’s limits are, but sometimes things are said or done that can be hurtful or cross personal boundaries. If something happens during the game that causes you to be uncomfortable in any way you can bang on the “gong”. In Foundry chat, type in /roll 20d20 to make sure the whole screen fills with dice. This will indicate to everybody that we need to pause and talk about what’s happening. We hopefully will not need to use the Gong much, if ever, but this is a sort of “fail safe” to make sure we stop going down a path that is making folks uncomfortable.

“House” rules

Flanking

There is a variant rule whereby two allies on opposite sides of an enemy can use ‘flanking’ to gain advantage. For now, we will not be using this variant rule but I will consider introducing it at a later date if I feel the combat is not flowing with the core rules.

Skill Checks and when to roll

In order to speed up some gameplay, when there is no pressure for time or consequence of failure, players may choose to take the time it takes to get something right. Here is how we will be deciding for these checks:

1. Roll as normal: If there is a time pressure, or a round-based event like combat, or players want to go quickly without taking the time, or if there is a consequence to failing a check, a player will roll as normal. This will apply to most situations.
2. Passive ability, no roll: Extending the concept of Passive Perception, this is essentially a “Take 10” rule. When there is no time pressure on the player, no consequence of failure, and no immediate distractions such as an attacking enemy, the GM can use the players passive number for a skill to avoid the need for a roll. This is an immediate action with no extended time. If the passive beats the DC, essentially meaning that the player would have auto-succeeded on average, it will be considered a success.
   
   Example: A character has a +7 pick locks. The difficulty to pick an untrapped box while they are resting overnight is set as a DC 12. There are no pressures on the player forcing them to act quickly and no consequence of failure. The GM will use a passive check (17 in this case) and determine a success to skip the roll.
3. Max ability, no roll: Essentially similar to “taking 20” in older editions, this is a situation where there is no pressure on time and no consequence of failures but the player wants to take whatever time it takes to ensure the absolute best job is done for the skill check. This does not allow a player to succeed at a check they could not possibly beat on a roll. The total is 20 plus the relevant skill check modifier. The balance will be that the action takes 10 times the amount of time it would normally take.
4. Failure with extended time: For very specific scenarios where the player would like to go fast and rolls, but there is no time pressure or consequence of failure, the DM will make a call based on the amount of failure vs the DC to allow it to succeed but extend the time it takes appropriately to avoid repeated rolling.