I was going back over yesterday's session and think we need to have a chat about the social contract of DnD. This is something that gets talked about on some of the podcasts and blogs I've been haunting recently. It is basically the golden rule of DnD: every person playing the game is responsible for the fun of the game.

With that in mind, two things stuck out to me yesterday. First, dynamic light is super cool but it requires a lot of self-restraint from the players. I can understand wanting to jump forward and explore, but please consider what that means for the DM. Everything is already on the map. Secret rooms, passages, hints about where monsters will be and more. It is possible to add a fog of war that I have to manually remove, but I am already adding where all of the blocking walls are for dynamic lighting. Please respect that work and move forward slowly so I have time to react, don't move into walls because it will immediately reveal where other rooms are, do not pass through doors because they may well be locked, etc etc. A single move too far can ruin something that took a while for me to set up, and when that happens it is not fun for the DM. These aren't rules per se because rules suck, but I can think of a few ways to have fun with people running well ahead of the party...

Second, while all players need to be respectful of each other, characters do not. That does not mean there are no consequences, though. The most obvious source of character tension has been how enemies are treated outside of combat. Part of this may relate to different interpretations of the alignment system, so I want to be explicit on that rather than make assumptions. Some of this will have be metagame knowledge, so if you really don't want to spoil yourself avoid those tags and just keep this in mind: "Good and evil represent fundamentally different viewpoints, cosmically opposed and unable to coexist in peace." (PHB1-19)



The question then is what determines alignment: nature or nurture? This is a difficult enough question in the real world, let alone a fictional one where the rules may differ, so again lets be explicit: Nature takes a strong precedence over nurture. I say this to simplify assumptions, so if you see a kobold or a goblin and they are holding the holy symbol of Selune, chances are they took it from someone they just killed. It may still be better to ask questions first before charging them, but that is a matter of character personality. This extends to social situations as well. Fizzwig has a history of helping himself to people's belongings, but it is well within other characters' expected responses to get pissed at this and take action. Try to respect the players on both sides of these sort of interactions, but play the characters as you feel is right. If you think this is going to cause any sort of player tension, well we are all adults and can talk about it.

Hopefully this didn't come off too much like a sermon, I just want to make sure that each player is having as much fun as possible. It has been a blast so far and I want to see where it goes. Cheers!

Well received here. I need to find a voice for Galstaff so it's clearer that he's usually in character. I personally enjoy Fizzwig's persistent and unsophisticated kleptomania. Keeps me on my toes, and Galstaff has been plotting ways to use magic to keep a reign on Fizzwig and his own possessions. (Eg: bell, bat, paying him off, distracting him with shinies)

I've enjoyed the alignment play for Galstaff. He's actually developing as a character while trying to figure things out, which I didn't entirely expect. There is a lot of natural tension between our characters, which I find fun. However, I'm not sure how that will play out for the players.

I'm am trying to feel out Baelfius and maybe not doing that great of a job as i have never RP'd. Also my new job has me a tad exhausted so i'm not at my best during our sessions. Still, its a work in progress, i will try to actively RP more in sessions and not just on the forums.

Tension in groups is fun, i mean, a group of people in real life would have lots of things they disagreed on, SHIT, that is why we are stuck with so much reality TV. Don't take anything i do personally, it is just me trying to RP, and maybe not pulling it off to well. If anyone really wants to find out about Baelfius, to maybe try to understand where he is coming from, they only have to ask

I got up out of bed for this, but I would like to take a moment to address the spoiler content.

I think the tension is fine, our characters are not meant to get along all the time. But that doesn't mean we should just disagree and move on, why not ask Daelius what would compel him to do such a thing? Why not talk to Fizzwig about stealing from party members.

I have never played DnD before, or RPed for that matter (probably obvious). But I do know it sometimes gets hard to respond to things that are going on when we are so quickly moving on to the next shenanigan (and please, no one take this the wrong way, I am completely amused and I enjoy the back and forth it can create).

I think we need to make room for everyone to try and throw out some RP in response to any IC tension that might arise. Like Uno was saying above, we need to respect the players on both sides of a disagreement. Daelius is not meant to be super secretive, he is open to chat if anyone asks him about Torm or his morals.



Sorry, it is late and this was the best explanation of my thoughts I could do. Feel free to ask me further.

To Penguin:

I know I've been kind of tight-lipped about Vaunea, which I'd like to attribute to being an intentional way of RPing her story through the game, but in all honesty I've just gotten caught up with work and distracted with various other things.

I must admit, I've never RPed a character so different to myself. She's got crap all Charisma, which I why I keep trying to speak in small sentences, and keep my dialogue short and direct. But I've noticed that naturally I tend to slip into a formalised 'BanditRP' dialogue when I speak in character verbally. It's something I need to work on, but I'm sure I'll get better as the campaign progresses.

With regard to Vaunea's interaction with the rest of the party members, she tends to be a quiet, distant watcher. I've ended up seeing her as a little like Groot, lol. It's partly due to the low Charisma, and also the fact that she was a scout for her tribe, used to being alone for long periods and watching, waiting and hunting solo. She finds the louder, outspoken members of the party to be something of a fascination. It's like you're all moving at a faster pace than she's used to, and she's kind of bemusedly watching the little people play their games whilst she doesn't want to concern herself with much other than the task at hand.

Having journeyed to settle the spiritual unrest in the area, and stop a doom she doesn't yet fully understand, her membership to this party has been somewhat reluctant from the beginning. Always previously used to hunting alone, she's never needed a party before (and then a certain necklace came along, and she understands why she's probably better staying solo....). But she does respect the members of the party in different ways. Goliath's are competitive by nature, and the killing potential of the wizard she respects, although has slight mistrust for his 'burning friend and foe alike' aim.