Random Stuff

Here are random rules and strategy/style stuff that didn't fit on another page:

## Random Rules

* Feats and multi-classing are both allowed.
* The flanking rule is active. If two allied combatants "sandwich" an enemy in melee, they both get advantage on melee attack rolls. You can flank monsters and they can flank you.
* If you want to help someone on a skill check, your character needs to actually be helpful. If the wizard is trying to decipher some runes (Arcana check), the 9 intelligence barbarian is not going to be helpful; the 12 intelligence cleric with Arcana proficiency or 16 intelligence rogue without would be. Some tasks, such as lock picking, simply have no way to help, but the second character is free to try if the first character fails!
* In this campaign, the Survival skill represents the ability to survive for extended periods in the Otherlands, in addition to all the normal stuff (tracking, foraging). Proficiency can come from either hands-on experience or secondhand accounts, reading, and theorizing. Expertise requires both.

## Keep Track of Hands, not Food

Don't worry about rations; it is assumed between packed food, foraging, and magic, that your party can always feed itself while in the wilderness. Also don't keep track of carrying capacity, unless you get ridiculous (one person trying to carry 3 battleaxes and 4 sets of looted armor).

Do keep track of your hands. You have two of them (I presume), and each one can do one thing at a time (carry a weapon or torch, be strapped to a shield, hold a one-handed magic item). A two-weapon fighter will have put one of those away to carry a torch, and an archer's bow is useless if she is wearing a shield.

This is especially important for spellcasters. Some classes (Artificer, Cleric, and Paladin) can use a holy symbol (or for Artificer, infusion) on a shield as their spellcasting focus (and thus also carry a weapon), while other spellcasters (Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, and Wizard), must use a focus or component pouch, and thus cannot have both hands otherwise occupied. If this interferes with your build, a Ruby of the War Mage (common magic item) could help, or you could ask the DM to seek out techniques or items that will allow your desired blend of spellcasting and fighting.

## Random Style

* When a monster or NPC hits 0 HP:
	+ Enemy minions/grunts/bandits/animals/non-unique monsters, are removed from combat and assumed to be dead, jailed, renounced a life of evil, fled the country, or otherwise never be seen again
	+ Allied or neutral NPCs will always make death saves, allowing you to heal and save them
	+ Important enemies will also make death saves, allowing you to take them prisoner
* On the topic of death, not everything has to be a fight to the death. If a combat is not going your way, fleeing or surrendering can be an option. Similarly, you may ask for the enemy's surrender. Some creatures (animals, Eldritch monsters) may not be intelligent or human enough to understand a surrender, but all humanoids like living.
	+ As with hitting 0 HP, any minor enemy who surrenders is assumed to quietly adopt an honest job (or end up in jail) and will not bother the party again. A major antagonist, however, could continue working against the party if allowed to flee, and so should probably be captured or killed if possible.
	+ A negotiated surrender can also be possible: you may offer to spare the lives of bandits if they throw down their weapons and flee, or the defenders of a mountain pass may offer to cease hostilities if you turn around and make yourselves scarce.