This page lists everything you need to know to start playing in Terranea. This includes the special rules for character creation, house rules, and homebrew. These are subject to change going forward depending on player and DM sentiment, but will be agreed upon as a group.

Getting Started

This site is meant to act as a reference for you to help keep track of names and setting details. To create a character and familiarize yourself with the lore of Terranea, I recommend going in the following order:

  1. It is recommended you start here on this page to get a feel for the character creation guidelines and the miscellaneous house/homebrew rules we will be using.
  2. I recommend reading through the History to provide some context for the rest of the information provided.
  3. Read through the Race information for the character you want to play to learn a little background about what the world might have been like for your character prior to the start of the adventure.
  4. (Optional) I also recommend familiarizing yourself with the deities of the Circle as they are the most prevalent and will likely be regularly referenced by NPCs.
  5. (Optional) Read as much or as little of the world information as you like! If you have questions or anything is unclear, please reach out!
  6. Make your character and provide the requested information from the character creation section.

Character Creation

Please use the following guidelines when creating a character:

  • Campaign starts at level 1
  • Ability Scores may be assigned via “Point Buy” or “Standard Array” rules
  • All WotC or Darrington Press published classes and subclasses on DNDBeyond are allowed excluding:
    • Rick and Morty
    • Aquisitions Incorporated
    • Minecraft
    • Strixhaven (spells from this book are allowed, just no subclasses or feats)
  • Some material will be limited (i.e. Spelljammer) because it will not make sense thematically, please ask if you want to use a background or feat that you are unsure about
  • All characters must be familiar with Hilda Skyhelm

In addition, after reading through some of the information in the world guide, please provide the following information or answer the following questions about your character (please send all information directly to the DM):

  1. Please provide a brief backstory to who your character is and any relevant history that made them who they are.
  2. What does your character want in life?
  3. What has your character been doing until recently?
  4. Are there any notable people that are important to them? If so, why are they important?
  5. How does your character know Hilda?

Please provide as much information as desired - do not feel obligated to write a novel! These are to make my life a little easier for long term preparation, so we can always discuss more later as needed.

DM Notes: If you ever feel like you would like to make a change to your character’s build, please let me know! Do not feel like you have to stick with a character you aren’t having fun playing. I can’t guarantee that you’ll be able to make huge changes (for example making a full class change, or rolling back and rebuilding 10 levels worth of progress), but we can work together to find a solution that works for you! This also goes for the Homebrew rules below.

Homebrew

Any desired homebrew classes or subclasses must be approved prior to use. The player is responsible for implementing the homebrew class options into DNDBeyond. If a homebrew class results in a character being overly powerful or underwhelming, adjustments can be discussed.

House Rules

The house rules that will be followed for the remainder of the campaign will be documented here. This is mainly to alleviate confusion and to help your DM remember the rules they agreed to. These are the rules we will be using:

  • Healing potions can heal for their maximum amount if a full action is used to drink it. They heal for the regular rolled amount if used as a bonus action or if feeding to another player.
  • Critical hit damage is rolled using RAW, but the target is staggered, and the person who lands the hit can decide to either:
    • Impose disadvantage on the target
    • Give advantage on the next attack against the target
  • Flanking provides +2 on melee attack rolls against the target (player responsibility to track)
  • New Condition: Dazed1. A dazed creature can only do one of the following things on their turn: move, use an action, or use a bonus action. If a creature becomes dazed during their turn, their turn ends. The cure ailment power, lesser restoration spell, and greater restoration spell remove the dazed condition. At the GM’s discretion, other powers, spells, or effects might also remove the dazed condition. When a dazed creature is affected by a spell or effect that gives them an extra action on their turn (like the haste spell or the fighter’s Action Surge feature), they can still take this extra action, in addition to the movement, action, or bonus action allowed by the dazed condition.
  • Death saves are made by DM in secret
  • Inspiration can be awarded by players to other players once per level. Inspiration can be awarded only to other players, and must be awarded prior to a given roll. Feel free to award to another player for any reason! If the inspiration is not awarded prior to leveling up, it is lost (they cannot stack).
  • When combat is clearly developing, and you have an ability you would naturally be preparing, you may use a bonus action prior to combat to perform that ability. This does not apply in the event of a surprise.
  • Mercer Death Saves: When a creature is resurrected, a roll is made against a DC, which begins at 10. For each time the creature dies, their death DC is increased by 1.
    • When a creature is targeted by the spell Revivify, the caster makes a spellcasting ability check against the target’s death DC. On a success, the spell takes hold and the creature is resurrected. On a failure, the creature’s death DC is increased by 1, and they can’t be resurrected until they are resurrected by a spell with a casting time longer than one action.
    • When a creature is targeted by a resurrection spell with a casting time longer than one action, such as Raise Dead or Resurrection, a ritual is initiated in which up to 3 creatures can contribute in order to call the creature’s soul back to their body. The creature makes an ability check with a skill the DM deems appropriate for the action, against a DC that the DM also determines.
    • For each successful check, the creature’s death DC is lowered by 3 for this ritual. For each failure, it increases by 1 for this ritual. The DM will bring the player into a private chat, where the player makes the final roll against this DC.
    • The DC is not revealed to the player until AFTER the roll has been made.
    • On a success, the creature is returned to life if its soul is willing. On a failure, the creature’s soul is lost, and further resurrection rituals fail automatically.
    • Only the strongest of magic can bypass this ritual, in the form the True Resurrection or Wish spells. These spells can also return to life a creature whose soul was lost from a failed ritual.

Potential candidate rules that may be considered later, but will not be enforced for the time being:

  • Returning from the dying condition has more significant penalties (exhaustion, wounds, etc.; lesser restoration cures lingering death saves)

  1. “Flee Mortals! The MCDM Monster Book” Link ↩