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Social-Contract.md

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Social Contract

To see the table of contents for this document, click the list icon at the top of the document. For more details, see here.

Core Principles

D&D should be fun

Roleplaying is a game. Games should be fun. If it's not fun, it's okay to give feedback, ask for change, or quit.

D&D should be cooperative

One person's fun shouldn't be at the expense of another's. Any conflict between in-game characters should be opt-in for all players involved. If your character refuses to vibe with the rest of the party, the DM may ask you to roll another character whose goals align better.

If you're not okay with something another player character did, discuss it with them out of character instead of reacting in character.

D&D is based on trust

Trust is based on honesty, which is undermined by cheating or lying as a player (not necessarily as a character).

Campaign

What kind of D&D campaign are we playing?

Player sourced:

  • Variety: balanced RP & combat
  • Heroic archetypes, dystopian capitalism & its consequences. Will our heroes overcome the system or succumb to it?
  • Player backstories matter and will be incorporated into the main plot. Character development is expected, unless you don't want to.
  • Know your classes & come prepared so we can keep it moving, since this campaign is biweekly!
  • Not too serious, jokes incorporated into the campaign are fine.

Characters

Characters should be created with the party in mind. They should have a reason to cooperate with each other.

Your character's development is in your hands. The DM won't force a player's character into developing unless the DM & the player have had a talk and agreed upon the direction, if any, of the character's arc(s).

No evil characters in this campaign!

Attendance

We're busy adults and there will inevitably be a scheduling conflict. If you're going to miss or be late to a session, please let the DM & party know via group chat or at least by declining the Google calendar event. 1 day+ in advance is ideal, but it's understandable if the notice is shorter -- things happen.

In your absence, please determine who will be playing the character (DM or another player). The character will receive half XP from encounters.

Rulings

The DM may need to make a judgement call during the game on rules. If you don't agree with the ruling, please bring it up after the session, not during.

After a session, we can look up rule disputes and set a precendent for next time.

The DM may go with "rule of cool" at times even when it may contradict "rules as written/intended".

Focus & Crosstalk

There will be time to socialize at the beginning of the session. During the session itself, please try to keep your focus on the game.

During the session itself, please try not to get too sidetracked by coaching, such as telling someone what they can do on their turn. Allow a player to make their own decisions, even if the decisions may be suboptimal. Since we're all playing biweekly, let's keep things running and show up prepared. If a player has explicitly asked someone for help, allow that person to answer. If it's not clear who was asked, allow the DM a chance to answer.

In the first few sessions, everyone may need time to familiarize themselves with the interface and the rules, so we'll go a bit looser on this ask until everyone gets more familiar with everything.

Inviting Others

D&D is an exciting group game, and you may end up talking about it with your friends that don't play. You may end up inviting these friends, or these friends may ask to play.

Please run the idea of your friend joining or guesting by the DM & party before inviting a friend. This is because new additions will change the party dynamic, due to D&D games succeeding or failing based on player comfort & cooperation. Additionally, this results in more work for the DM. Finally, friend dynamics outside of D&D may differ greatly from dynamics within the game.

Feedback

We'll leave a bit of time at the end of each session to debrief & give feedback. It's especially important for players to touch base with one another and the DM if there have been intense scenes or conflicts. For this purpose, we'll be using Stars & Wishes.

If you don't like the way the game is going, talk to the DM. Tell the DM what you want to happen, what you wish had happened, and what you didn't like happening. This includes plot, character development, or player behavior at the table.

If you don't feel comfortable criticizing the game, ask someone else to relay your thoughts anonymously.

If someone complains to you about the game, relay it to the DM anonymously.

Safety Tools

We want to make sure everyone feels welcome and comfortable at the table when playing. This is where safety tools come in.

The lines & veils this party will abide by are listed below, and populated together during session 0.

You may realize a line or veil in the moment, when the campaign has begun. If you aren't comfortable with a topic, please use the X-Card feature of the Anonymous Player in Foundry. This will result in the party pausing, and discussing out-of-character what should be changed about the current scenario.

Lines

A line is a hard limit, somewhere we won't be going while roleplaying. The following lines are in effect:

  • Sexual violence
  • LGBTQIA+ discrimination
  • Self-harm

Veils

A veil is a soft limit or "fade to black" moment. A veil is part of the story, but not described. The following veils are in effect:

  • Torture
  • Killing children
  • Sexual content
  • Violence (keep it limited in terms of description -- a little is fine but not too much)
  • Racism (it can exist, but not gratuitously so)