Persistent World - Player Guide

Introduction

The persistent world is a system that we use in most of our events. The core features of the system are:

1. It allows players to grow their characters over time like you would in a campaign. You keep your loot, get new skills and build great stories.
2. It allows DMs to run whatever sort of game they want. It also give DMs the optional ability to add their content to a shared world for others to interact with.
3. It allows both players and DMs to participate when they want with no commitment. If you want to run or play games weekly, cool. If you can only participate once every 4 months, also cool.

In order to play in our events you will need to start off with a level one character and either register them here or use a character logsheet. Our Tier 1 tables require absolutely zero experience. If you've never touched a d20 in your life, or don't even know what that means, no problem. We will teach you everything you need to know as we play. Frankly, it's a great way to learn! Higher tier tables require that you have played characters through the levels below that tier.

If none of this makes any sense to you, don't worry. When you arrive at the event let the host know you are new and they will take care of you. We love bringing new players into the fold and will make it super easy and comfortable!

The persistent world map is an interactive tool that players can explore and DMs can edit.

Character Progress

When playing in our persistent world system your character will level up based on number of sessions played and receive benefits at every event (gold, loot etc). To track these things you can register your character online or use our paper based log sheets. Either method will track your level, loot, gold, hp increases and more. They do not replace your character sheet, but augment it with a traceable history of your characters growth from event to event.

We strongly encourage players to register their characters online as it allows us to understand what level characters are at for scheduling purposes, but it is also super convenient to never have to worry about forgetting or losing your player log! That being said, if you prefer pen and paper, no problem!

In either case the basic way this works is as follows:

1. Register your character online or fill out your log sheet.
2. At the start of each session let your DM know who your character is and what magic items you are bringing on your adventure
3. At the end of each session you will log your game in one of two ways:
• Online: Go to your list of characters and click on the blue arrow beside the character you played with. From the drop down select "Log Session" and follow the prompts.
• Paper Log Sheet: Enter your gold, treasure points and if necessary an HP roll on your sheet and have your DM sign off on it.

If you are planning on registering your character in our online system just go to My Characters from the menu in the top right of the screen (you will need to be registered on our site for first), click the plus sign and select "Register New Character". Fill out the form and you are done!

If you are registering a character that you have previously used that already has a paper log sheet select "Register Existing Character" and fill out the form, admin will approve your character in a day or so.

If you are just using log sheets here is a quick how to:

1. Complete your basic character info. Include your actual name, your character's name, race and class.
2. Indicate the method you used to generate your character's base stats. Typically this will be "Standard Array", "Point Buy" or "Roll". If you are using a pre-generated character we created for you you can put "Pre-Gen".
3. Write down your initial stats here. A couple important things to note:
   • If you are going to actually roll for your stats you need to do it at the table in front of one of our DMs. If you would like to do it ahead of time reach out to us on our Discord server and we can work with you to get it done. Note that if you show up to the table with stats you rolled on your own you WILL be asked to re-roll in front of your DM.
   • The stats you record here are the initial rolls or values BEFORE being modified by race bonus's etc.
4. At the end of the night you will need to fill out the date, location and DM for your event.
5. If you are levelling up, you can either take the standard amount of HP (see your class description in the PHB) or you can roll for it. If you decide to roll for it you need to do so in front of your DM.
6. Record any gold, treasure points or magic items you received or bought. Common magic items and mundane equipment do not need to be tracked.
7. Have your DM quickly review your entry for the evening and sign off on your sheet.

If you are not using our online system it is important that you keep your log sheet safe and that you bring it to all the events you participate in. If you forget your log sheet you will need to create a new one for the night, merge it with your existing sheet and bring them all to the next event to get it signed off on.

Creating Your Character

First off, if you have no experience creating your own D&D characters and the process seems intimidating we have you covered. You can always use one of the pregenerated characters that we will have in hand at the event. You can just show up and play. If you would like to create your own you can always find people that are happy to help on our Discord server. If you do bring your own character we do have a couple of rules to follow:

• We do not currently support any 3rd party or UA races/class/subclasses etc. In general these sources are the only accepted source:
  • Player's Handbook
  • Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide
  • Volo's Guide to Monsters
  • Xanathar's Guide to Everything
  • Modenkainen's Tome of Foes
  • Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron
  • Eberron Rising from the Last War
  • Explorer's Guide to Wildemount
  • Tasha's Cauldron of Everything
  • Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft
  • Fizban's Treasure of Dragons
• There are some exceptions to the above rules. When creating your character please consult our list of supported species and spells to be sure that your character is valid.
• For your character stats you can use standard array, point buy, or you can roll for it. If you decide to roll for it you must either:
  1. Roll at an event in front of a DM and have them sign off on your paper log sheet. If you show up with a paper log sheet and pre-rolled stats you will be asked to re-roll them. Unless they suck, and then bravo for sub-optimal play.
  2. Register your character online and select "Roll For It". The system will roll for you and you can assign the results as you see fit.
• Your character can either start with the starting equipment as per the PHB, or 100 gold.

Choosing an Event

All of our events are listed on our Event Schedule. In here you will find various event types such as "An Evening of Adventure", "Roll For Dameage" etc. Most of the events we host will use the persistent world system, be sure to read the full event description to be sure.

As of right now we use meetup.com to handle ticketing and attendance for our events, you will need to have a meetup.com account to RSVP to one of our events.

Regardless of what event you sign up for please be sure to read the full event description so that there are no surprises on the night of the event. In some cases the description will even have information about the storyline or type of game being run by the DM.

Attending our Events

If you have played in one of our PW events before and wish to continue your progress you will need to bring both your registered character sheet or your unregistered character and their session log. Otherwise you don't have to bring anything other than a can-do attitude and a desire to have fun! We will have pre-generated characters, dice, pencils and the like on hand. If you want to bring your own, by all means do provided you meet our character requirements as previously detailed.

When you arrive at the venue our host will provide you with a name tag, give you the lay of the land and seat you at the table you signed up for. Your DM will take a quick peek at your character and log sheets prior to starting and will answer any questions you might have. When your table is full the game will get underway!

While you are playing please remember to abide by our policies and guidelines. These guidelines exist to make sure that everybody has a good time at the table. Keep in mind that they extend to the venue and staff as well!

At the end of the night (assuming your character survives!) your DM will issue standard amounts of gold and treasure points. This info will be stored in your character's session history or on their log sheet. The next time you come out to play bring your character sheet you are ready to go!

Spending Your Gold

In between sessions or whenever your DM allows it you can buy things with whatever gold your character has. Magic items can be purchased using treasure points from within your character pages. If you are using a log sheet instead of our online tool you can find a full list of magic items here. Aside from the items in the PHB you can buy anything from these two tables.

Note that when purchasing non-magic items or minor common magic items you do not have to note this in our online system.

Magic Item Requirements

In order to make sure that the world we create together is not completely insane we will be placing some restrictions in regards to loot and magic items. Most of this will be handled by your DM but there are a few things to keep in mind.

Attuned Items

As per the core rules, you can only be attuned to a maximum of three magic items at any given time. Any PC attempting to break this rule will spontaneously combust. All magic items (whether they require attunement or not) follow the rules below:

Major Magic Items

At the start of an adventure you can only have an amount of major magic items in your inventory equal to 1/3 of your level rounded down. So if you are a level 10 warlock you can have up to 3 major magic items in your inventory at the start of an adventure. Note that you can have a bazillion magic items stashed at your safe-house between sessions, but at the start of an event you need to decide what you are bringing.

Minor Magic Items

Exactly the same as above except you can bring up to 1/2 your level + 2 in minor items. So a level 10 warlock would be able to bring 7 minor items to the fray. Hail your evil overlord!

Items that Provide Spell Effects

If an item gives you access to a spell, your character level must be equal or higher to the level a wizard would need to cast that spell. As an example, although you can buy an Instrument of the Bards like Doss Lute as soon as reaching 2nd level, you will not be able to use 2nd Level spells until your 3rd level, and 3rd level spells like Fly will not be available until you reach 5th level.

There are two other important points to note in regards to magic items:

1. Any benefits you receive including gold, magic items & treasure points are bound to your character and your character only. You cannot trade magic items with other players and when you die your stuff goes with you. If you do die your "friends" in the party cannot pilfer your corpse. That being said, if you get resurrected your stuff comes back too!
2. You are only allowed to keep items that are on our magic item list and that you meet the level requirements for. If you get a wicked homebrew magic item that lets you summon a horde of zombies you do not keep it past the end of that session. This rule is essential in making sure that our world maintains some semblance of balance.

Treasure Points

At the end of a session you will receive 4 treasure points. You can spend the points immediately, or save them up for that special something you've had your eye on. Note that you can bank a maximum of 12 treasure points. If you have 12 points at the end of an adventure and opt to take more instead of your DM's loot you do not gain the additional 4 points.

There are currently three types of things to spend your points on:

• Magic Items: The table to the right lists the requirements and costs for purchasing magic items using your treasure points. For a list of all the available magic items by category click here
• Languages: You can learn any language of your choice using your treasure points. The cost per language is 10 TP and 250 gold.
• Tool Proficiency: You can gain proficiency with a tool such as thieves tools, brewer's supplies, a disguise kit etc. You cannnot gain skill proficiencies this way, only tool proficiencies. The cost to gain a tool proficiency is 10 treasure points and 250 gold which includes a set of the associated tools.

If you have major magic items you may also sell them using the table below, selling any item costs you 2 treasure points. Note that minor magic items currently cannot be sold. Major magic items cannot be sold to other players, just back to the world from which they came.

** Note that when buying magic armor you also need to pay the base gold cost as listed in the PHB.

Assigning Session Rewards

In most cases you will be taking whatever you get at the end of the session and applying it to the character you played with. Record your gold and treasure points online or on your sheet and have the DM sign off. If you are using our online system it will notify you when you are about to level up and ask for your hit point roll. You can take the average or roll for it using the honour system. If you are using a paper log sheet the left column will show you what level you played your session at. If after you complete a session you see that the next row in the sheet has a different number then you have levelled up! Congratulations, roll for your new HP in front of your DM please! If you need help levelling your character up you can talk to your DM or ask for help on our Discord server.

Instead of applying a session's rewards to your current character, you may choose to apply the benefits to a different character of yours of equal or lower level instead. Your alternate character will receive one session worth of XP, 4 treasure points and the gold allowed per session for the alternate character's level (see the PW DM Guide).

Character Death

Sometimes your character can be the victim of bad rolls, bad planning or reckless actions. If your character dies in a session your character has a couple options to help

1. Carry a diamond worth 300 gold with you, for a party cleric to use, in case they didn’t bring one to cast Revivify.
2. Pay 1500 gold immediately after the session to cast Raise Dead, you have penalties associated with that spell until your next level up.
3. Pay 1000 gold immediately after the session to cast Reincarnate, roll in front of your DM to find out what race your character becomes after the reincarnation.
4. Pay 25,000 gold to have True Resurrection cast at any time and bring a dead character back to life.
5. Roll up a new character and move on.

If you need to start over but you have already signed up for higher level tables that month and we can’t accommodate moving you to a level one table, then you can continue playing your existing character for those sessions. That character will be considered, “Gifted by a God” or something to extend their life and finish their business, but will die automatically after those gifted sessions. You will accrue levels and treasure points as if you were level one and can apply both to the new character you roll up.

In the event that your character does die, you can kill him and write an obit on the character's page to be published later!