Overview

Hello, and thank you for being a DM for An Evening of Adventure for TorontoDnD! This document will go over some of the guidelines we have for our group and what to expect at the event.

The Persistent World

This event uses our persistent world system which allows for character continuity in a malleable shared world. Although we have world-building features available to you, they are entirely optional. The only thing we require is that you follow our guidelines as detailed in the DM Guide. We recommend that you also review the Player Guide in advance of running your next session.

General Guidelines

The overall goal of these events is to allow people to sit down at a table with a bunch of random folks and play a fun adventure. All of the below guidelines are in service of this goal.

Be Newbie Friendly

As a group we strive to be welcoming to new players. D&D can be an intimidating game to jump into, especially when you are surrounded by people you don’t know. If you have new players at your table make sure that you give them assistance as required with the rules and basic mechanics of the game. Always be encouraging and try and foster a welcoming attitude amongst all your players.

Avoid Sensitive Content

Please avoid typically highly sensitive content including rape, racism, lynching, any sexual situations involving the PCs, sexual abuse, and explicit sexual content of any kind. Even if all your players say they want some of this content, it is simply not something we offer at our events under any circumstances and it is not permissible to include it. If you have other content in mind that you think might be edgy please discuss it with your players at the start of the session to make sure your players are okay with it.

The intent of this guideline is to make sure that everybody feels comfortable at our tables, even if they are too nervous to admit some content makes them uncomfortable.

Be Flexible

We do our best to make sure you will be running exactly what you signed up for but sometimes circumstance gets in the way:

• You may be asked to add or move players after you have started if some players are late.
• Whatever you prep, be ready to make adjustments on the fly in order to finish on time. You may find that your party are all experienced vets and are cruising through your adventure quickly, or you may find your party following every red herring and searching literally everything along the way. You may need to add or remove content in order to make a proper night of it.

DM Gear

We will have the following at every event we run:

• DM Screens
• Battlemats
• Dry Erase Markers
• Creature and Terrain Clings (for use with a battlemat)
• Pencils
• Extra Dice
• A Copy of the PHB

The Night Of: Step by Step

Before You Start Playing

1. When you arrive at the venue look for the host. If you don’t know who that is and can’t identify them just ask somebody working at the venue. When you talk to the host confirm the level table you are running, the number of players you are expecting and what table you will be sitting at. Gather any supplies you need and start your setup.
2. Please make sure that you are wearing a name tag. If you are comfortable including your pronouns on your name tag ew encourage you to do so.
3. Introduce yourself to your players if you haven’t already and show them the X-Card. Briefly explain its purpose and usage.
4. Ask your players if any of them have a hard time limit. Assuming it’s a reasonable time to finish the adventure aim to have that be the end of the night. If they have to leave very early, you can write them out mid-adventure however you like.
5. If any players at your table have characters that exceed the max level for your table ask them to downgrade to the level max. This will apply to hit points and dice, spell slots, features, magic item limits and anything else that makes sense at the time.
6. If your table has players at multiple levels, all players below the highest level player will temporarily increase their max HP and hit dice to the appropriate level. So if you have L4 to L6 table with three L4, one L5 and one L6 players, the L4s will roll (or take the average) 2 of their class dice to determine their temp hp max and add two temp hit die to their pool. The L5 player will do the same with one die. This will make sure that they are not significantly more likely to die than the other players while not granting them increased damage output or abilities. For example:
• The table has two L1 fighters, an L2 wizard, an L2 rogue and an L3 Paladin.
• Fighter 1 rolls 2d10 and gets a 7 and 8. They add their CON bonus to each for a temporary buff of 19 hit point. This is added to their existing 12 giving them 31 HP. They add two hit die to their pool for a total of three.
• Fighter 2 decides to take the average and adds 14 hp to their 11 for a temp hp total of 25. They also add two hit die to their pool.
• The L2 wizard rolls a 2, which becomes a 3 with her CON mod. Added to her existing 13 she has 16 hp. She adds one die to her pool.
• You get the picture...

While You Play

1. Keeping our general guidelines in mind, run the kind of game you want and have fun! If you’re not enjoying yourself it is unlikely your players are either.
2. If you are having any issues that you need addressed talk to the host. Alternatively you can let admin know after the event if that is more appropriate.

When the Game is Over

1. If anybody in your party gained temp hp/hit die remind them that they are gone now.
2. If any of your players are using paper log sheets fill out the rewards as dictated in the DM Guide for the persistent world system. This will usually be 4 treasure points and a set amount of gold. Sign off on the row by initialling in the appropriate column and row. If your player is ready to make an HP roll you can initial it as well.
3. Before your players leave please remind them to:
   1. Complete the surveys that they will be receiving via email. We do a monthly prize draw and every survey they submit gives them another chance to win!
   2. Pay their bill if they have a tab!
4. After your game finishes let the host know you are done for the evening. If you had any issues during your session including problematic players, concerns with the venue/staff or anything else please pull the host aside and discretely inform them of your concerns. If you have any issues with the host please contact admin@torontodnd.com.

That's it! Thanks for reading, and thanks for running games for the members of TorontoDnD!

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