How to get started and FAQ

## Getting Started

•Head to `#3-roles` to get the roles you'll need to see the rest of the server (please read what you need)

•Do be advised***: We start at level five.***

•Create a character on the Character server

•Ask a @Character Creation Admin or @Dungeon Masters person for a character sheet once you've joined the server. You can use other forms of sheet keeping as long as its posted in `#character-sheets`.

•All official content (PHB, XGE, Ravinica, etc.) is permitted, as are certain playtest classes including the UA Artificer and other approved homebrew (see the Orlanthea Collections document in `#playtest-request-and-approval` for more information, including the banned listing).

•If you have any questions, ask in `#new-player-help`. You will be keeping your character sheet, and updating it on the Character Server *if* you are able to use roll20. You will have to import it onto the Main server, or the Alternate Server when you play a game. If you’re having trouble doing so, ask a DM for help. Delete your Character Sheet after a bounty.

•Make sure to introduce your character in `#character-introductions`, preferably with their name, where they are from and a picture. You are now ready to start playing and join in RP!

### Where to Find Bounties When They Are Posted For Your Rank

`#one-shot-listings`

When a game is posted it will be in this channel. Typically, sessions are first come first serve, with the chance of jumping in when a player has to drop for whatever reason. Keep this in mind as if you don't pay attention to pings (as annoying as they can get sometimes) you could miss out on games that you could've joined if you don't check back frequently.

### Shoppes For PCs

`#the-shoppes #the-shop-talk`

All shopping/item purchasing on the server is done and discussed here, Because of the massive amount of downtime for characters between bounties as long as you have the coin and it's in the item shoppes list (along with any item with a gold price) you can note that you buy it here.

### Lore

`#questions-about-lore`

As a player here on the server, your character is employed as a mercenary- whether as a freelance in Orlanthea's Veradon or as a member of the special elite force for the Jibra'ilian empire in Aleph. If you have a questions, ask a @Dungeon Masters or @Lore Team person

### Some Places to Start RPing

`#the_journeys_rest` is a tavern found in the city of Veradon, where adventurers can settle down for the night or look for their latest adventure. Starting in `#the-streets-of-veradon` or `#outside-of-veradon` works too. For those in Jibra'il, `#the-drunken-dragon` or `#the-streets-of-aleph` are starting places as well.

## Game Servers You Need to Join (if able to use Roll20)

•Character Sheet Storage Server Link

•Orlanthea Main Server Link

•Orlanthea Alternate Server Link

•Jibra'il Main Server Link

## Getting Stats and Starting Off

•Head to `#character-creation-dice` to roll your stats for your character. We use **/rr 6 5d6kh3** for the command. If your total roll number is below 81 AND/OR you have an 8 in *any* stat, you may reroll if so you choose- but if you do, you must keep your new roll (as long as it stills fit the criteria).

You also need to announce what character you are rolling for, for clarity sake, since we have *two* continents characters can originate from: Orlanthea or Jibra'il. Information about both can be found pinned or already asked in `#questions-about-lore`

•All characters start at 5th level (unless taking the Benis Challenge ). You start with 100 gold + your background gold and items, a sending stone, and may then choose to take class items OR class gold of which you also roll for in `#character-creation-dice`.

•Need info on a class, spell or feat but don't have money or want to by the books again digitally? Head here for everything 5e!

## Homebrew Stuff

•Read over our collection of homebrewed classes, subclasses, spells, feats, and rulings if playing vanilla doesn't catch your eye. If there is something you wish to try out that isn't in our collection, feel free to request it in `#playtest-request-and-approval`

### Leveling and Ranking Up

•Now you might ask how do you level up and achieve the different ranks? Well it's pretty simple because we have a neat little system that divides our bounties into different rankings. Any item rewards must be available in the item shop to receive as a reward or otherwise it will have to be cleared by the Item Shop Admin.

* Copper/Ensign rank level (5-7; 1 credit per level) - 800 Gold per person
	+ Up to 1 item per player not to exceed uncommon rarity or 1k in cost per item
* Silver/Hoplite rank (8-10; 2 credits per level) - 1.5K Gold per person
	+ Up to 1 item per player not to exceed rare rarity or 2k in cost per item
* Gold/Warden rank 11-13; (3 credits per level)- 2.5K Gold  per person
	+ Up to 1 item per player not to exceed rare rarity or 4.5k cost per item
* Platinum/Legionnaire rank (14-16; 4 credits per level) - 4K Gold per person
	+ Up to 1 item per player not to exceed very rare rarity or 8k cost per item
* Adamantine/Centurion rank (17-18; 5 credits per level) - 8K Gold per person
	+ Up to 1 item per player not to exceed very rare rarity or 12k cost per item
* Mithril/Champion rank (19-20; 6 credits per level) - 12K gold per person
	+ Up to 1 item per player, 1 may be legendary value no more than 40k, others are not to exceed very rare rarity or 20k in value per item
* Diamond/General rank (21-24; 3 credits per level) - shares rewards with Orichalcum/Warlord
* Orichalcum/Warlord rank (25-30; 3 credits per level) - 16k gold per person
	+ Up to 1 item per player, 1 may be of legendary value (no gold cap), others may not exceed 40k, regardless of rarity

•Most games elsewhere stop at level 20, but here we go further beyond to level 30 aka our Epic Level Bounties. These one shots tend to be both high power and lengthy in time but a challenge for those willing to become the strongest version of themselves nonetheless.

## Frequently Asked Questions

* **Q: What races and classes are allowed?**
	+ All official content(PHB, Xanathar's etc.) is allowed as well as some homebrew as shown here! Anything banned from play on the server is listed in the Banned column.

* **Q: What Pantheon does this server use?**
	+ We have our own server pantheon! If you have any questions about a god, contact one of the Lore Team.

* **Q: I’m interested in playing an Evil character, is that okay?**
	+ Message ActuallyGod#2778 or Lore#8696 about your character and they'll give you the thumbs up or the thumbs down.

* **Q: How many characters can I play?**
	+ You start with 3 character slots. 2 main slots, one for each continent and 1 playtest slot that must use playtest content but can be from either continent. At Gold rank (level 11+), you gain an additional character slot. At level 20, that character no longer counts against your total number of slots, allowing you to create more if you wish. DMs gain an additional slot once they have been relieved of their Trainee tag and as long as they run at least one game a month. Benis challengers also gain an additional slot specifically for their Benis character.

* **Q: What happens if my character dies? What then?**
	+ You may be resurrected through the standard spells.  If a character dies and is revived through any means other than revivify they suffer resurrection sickness as per usual.

* **Q: I’m kind of bored of my character. What now?**
	+ You may retire them to free up the character slot or simply “settle down” allowing people to invite the character to certain bounties however you receive no rewards whatsoever.  If your character is permanently killed or retired you may bring in a new character at the beginning of the previous rank. For level 20+ characters regardless of how high past level 20 they're brought in at the start of Adamantine rank. When a character is brought in this way, they start with the rank gold per credit it would take to level up and you gain 1 item per credit used each worth your rank.

* **Q: Can I steal from, fight or pull a prank on another player? Is it okay for there to be hostile tensions between characters?**
	+ Yes, but do keep in mind the other person's boundaries. Try not to create out of character animosity and always make sure the other person is okay with it first out of character before you act. Always remember, consent is key!

* **Q: Do we roll for health? Or take average?**
	+ If you'd like to roll you may do so in `#hp-rolls-gamble` if not- you may take average. ~~(Take average its better in the long run)~~

* **Q: I’m interested in being a DM, how do I get that status?**
	+ Type "I wanna be a DM" and an admin will give you the @Trainee role. From there, you can talk to a @Mentor about scheduling 1-3 trainee sessions. For more information head here.

* **Q: How do I sign up on Bounties?**
	+ Don't be shy! Message the DM running it! And make sure you have the correct role from `#3-roles` for your corresponding rank/level.

* **Q: Is there anything else I should know as a player?**
	+ Players can get up to level 30 using these rules. On top of those rules Monk, Ranger, Blood Hunter, and Barbarian all get an extra attack at 23rd level. At levels 23, 27, and 30, your character may select a 1st-rank Epic Boon, Mythic Maneuver, or Mythic Spell assuming they meet the requirements. ~~Only 1st rank is allowed for choices under Boons and Maneuvers~~.

## **Other Information**

•Being a US based server, time-wise we go by EST for scheduling, chatting, and overall interaction. So if you notice long periods of time where the server in inactive, just means most members are sleep or at work, at school, etc.

•We have a debates channel and a NSFW channel. If you wish to opt in for either, contact a member of the admin team. You **MUST** be over 18 for the NSFW channel.

•In case you missed it before: **Roll20 is not mandatory, just let the @Character Creation Admin know if you need to use another form of sheet keeping.** This meaning, you are allowed to use other character sheet sources like DNDBeyond or Dicecloud as long as you link them in `#character-sheets`.

•All Homebrew Rulings for the entire server get put into `#unwritten-server-rules` one way or another if we're lazy. ~~Yes we know it's a double entendre.~~ Though be sure to ask an admin team member if you aren't sure if a ruling is still in play since most entries are years old.

•We have both the Tupperbox bot for RP and the Pluralkit bot for people and systems that would rather communicate or rp that way.

•Once your character reaches the Diamond rank, they are allowed to create an artifact- a custom made item just for them. Details on how to do this are in this document.

## Tips on Role-Playing (RP)

We find that sometimes players often have trouble with initiating and continuing rp, in the service of helping out anyone looking to rp in text better, here's something our good friend, Bardly, wrote a good long while ago.

1. **The Aim**- When you're looking to write roleplay, it's important that you first understand what the goal of the format is and why some people gravitate toward it. The idea of what roleplay is can be found in its name: Role-Play. You are playing a role. In that regard, literary roleplay is like the bastard child of literature and something like acting or theater. The idea is to portray a character. In this specific endeavor, there's a lot of skills involved in making a character come to life and feel like a real thing. It's not quite the same as acting, because of the written medium, but a lot of the same skills go into it. Because the inherent idea is to play a role (or a persona), most of the focus is on the character.

1. **Partners** There's more than just the solo element to roleplay of making a compelling, believable character. You aren't the only character on stage in literary roleplay, and you're going to find that another big element of roleplay is how the characters interact and the chemistry between their unique personalities. There are two parts to this. The first is on the character level, and is fairly intuitive: how do the characters interact and utilize their personality traits and backgrounds in a meaningful way during those interactions? The second is a little more abstract: out of character, how do you pass the writing on to your partner so they can catch it and write it in an effective way that offers them as much creative freedom as possible? Both the characters and the writers need to interact and have chemistry for roleplay to be effective. Even the best made characters won't make for great roleplay if the interactions aren't up to quality.

1. **The Written Element (Not as relevant here, but yeah)-** Literary roleplay happens through a written medium, which means that the reader is dependent on the writer to engage them in a way that makes it effortless for their imagination to bring the roleplay to life. A well-written roleplay is one that the reader does not have to actively work to picture in their mind as they read. This is achieved often through roleplay's unique use of frequent descriptors. Certain adjectives or adverbs have connotative tones to them that help the reader to imagine the scene without forcing them into specifics. The reader knows their own preferences better than you, so this is a handy way to lead them in your direction but to let them custom-tailor their interpretation of the scene to their preferences. The most important thing is priming their imagination and keeping it engaged throughout so that this process can take place.