Please remember that your Game Master has put in time and effort (probably more than you realize) into the campaign you asked to participate in. Be respectful and pay attention. If you are playing other games, browsing social media, chatting, etc. it's more obvious than you probably think and it detracts from everyone's experience. A player being absent is less distracting than a player who can be heard typing in the background for long periods or consistently has no idea what is going on in the game. We understand that people have responsibilities such as kids, partners, work calls, etc. that may need your attention suddenly and that's not an issue unless it happens frequently and you are in a [STRICT] campaign (see rule 2).
We have different campaign styles and are pretty relaxed in most of them. However, sometimes we want to take a campaign more seriously, particularly if it's an official adventure module. Look in your campaign discord channel pins to see if your campaign is marked as [STRICT]. If so then that campaign expects extra effort and stricter adherence to rules from its players. To join a strict campaign you need to pay extra attention and put forth more effort than usual. This means no clowning around for the sake of being funny. It also means that your character should be motivated to achieve the same goals as the group. Everyone will be depending on you to be a reliable team member and to take your role on that team seriously. Game masters running a serious campaign will adhere to a stricter schedule to maximize game time. They will try to start on time and stick to the agreed time for breaks. If being late for game start times or coming back from breaks is going to be a frequent issue for you then please reconsider joining a game marked as [STRICT].
Note: Absences are okay. Just communicate with your GM about them. It should be noted that an absence is preferred over trying to play in a strict campaign while being unable to adhere to the higher campaign expectations. If you're going to be distracted or super late then please consider just sitting that session out to make it easier on yourself and the other players.
For instance, instead of asking "How much rope do we have?" as a player, ask in character "I have 30 ft. of rope in my pack here, do any of you have any more?" It makes the game more fun when we try to embody our characters as much as possible, even if you aren't doing a special voice for them. The more stuff you do in character the more immersive the game will feel for everyone.
When making decisions in game you are encouraged to have your character do what you think your character would do. Maybe they aren't the sharpest tool in the shed and it makes more sense for them to do something not so smart because it fits their personality. Don't always just try to make the best possible decision from the perspective of a player playing a game. If you think your character would bumble into an ambush haphazardly even though you as a player clearly know they are going to get ambushed, then have them bumble in! That said, if your campaign is marked as [STRICT] then your character is expected to be part of a team and share the overall goals of the group in order to keep the story flowing. So while you should still do what your character would do, what your character would do should be aligned with the group goals. If that's not the case then your GM may ask you to rework your character's backstory or personality to adhere to the [STRICT] rule.
If you are facing some monsters in game, please refrain from googling them and finding their stat blocks. First, it ruins immersion to know the number stats associated with an enemy and it starts you metagaming about numbers. Remember we are trying to embody our characters in game. Second, you will often be wrong because we often customize many of the monster and NPC stats. You'll be metagaming about numbers that aren't even correct much of the time so you'll be ruining your immersion in the game for no reason.
Roleplay is not mandatory, but it is highly encouraged. Roleplay gets the other players engaged and makes them more likely to roleplay as well. Not to mention that it makes for an infinitely better podcast when we embody and roleplay our characters. If you roleplay your character's actions you will often get to forgo a skill check. Instead your GM will react as they feel the NPC should to your roleplay. This will help incentivize roleplay but it also fixes a "bug" in my opinion. Say someone gives an amazing speech intended to intimidate someone and then afterward the GM asks for an intimidation check and the player has a lousy roll. It seems silly to tell them they failed after roleplaying such a good speech. In our games if you put forth extra effort into your roleplay then most NPCs will respond naturally to you without the added randomness of a roll. We feel this is an even more powerful roleplay incentive than awarding players with inspiration (though we will still award inspiration as well).
Note: This does not mean you will always win an indimidation, persuasion, deception, etc. attempt. Some NPCs will be harder to convince than others, maybe even impossible. Some will give up information easily. Your GM may still ask for a roll if they are unsure how the NPC would respond, just so they can use the roll to help in that decision.
This game is about us all having fun. We may make exceptions to game rules in the interest of fun. We are not going to stop and read chapters of text because we're unsure about a rule. Your GM will usually just make a ruling and take a note to check it out after the game and possibly make a correction for the future. We care far more about everyone having fun than anything else. That includes our podcast. The show is an extension of us having a good time and sharing it with the world.
You'll want to be in our Discord for updates and announcements. https://discord.gg/5p6QngP
Create a DnDBeyond.com account and look at the pinned posts within the discord channel for the campaign you're joining. You'll find a DnDBeyond Campaign Link pinned there.
Note: Be sure to use that link to begin creating your character. It will start your new character as already being part of the campaign, which means you will have access during character creation to all the content I have purchased (which is literally all of it XD). If you create a character and then add it to the campaign then you will have limited choices during creation.
- PC or Mac with decent Headset. Most of us play this way.
- Discord mobile with mobile headset. While mobile Discord is not nearly as quality, if it's your only option then please try to have a mobile headset to use with it.
- Discord mobile on speaker. Please do everything in your power not to subject us to this XD, but if there is literally no other option for you then we'll allow it.
Just @ me (@Chev#3718) in Discord if you need any help with character creation, Fantasy Grounds installation, or even testing headset audio quality. I'm happy to hop in voice or respond in text if anyone needs anything.