Persistent World Guide
Here you will find everything you need to know about running events that use our persistent world system.
What is the Persistent World system?
For players the PW system defines:
- What character options are allowed for use. This includes species, classes, subclasses spells and magic items. You can find a complete list here.
- When their characters level up.
- What rewards they receive at the end of each session.
- How they get magic items and at what level they can get what.
For GMs the PW defines:
- How to balance characters of different levels in a game.
- What rewards can be given to players.
- What level ranges events will typically be set at.
What events use the PW system?
Most of our D&D 5e games currently use the PW system. Specifically, anything listed under one of these banners requires adherence to PW rules:
- Roll For Adventure
- Roll For Dameage
- Roll With Pride
- Newbie Night
Any events listed under these headings will NOT make use of the PW:
- D&D With a Twist
- Anything But D&D
- RPG University
- Social Events
How to balance your table.
In many cases you will be running for parties that have PCs at different levels. In an L1 - L4 game you might have three L1 PCs and two L4 PCs, in an L8 - L10 session it might be one L8, three L9s and one L10. In all cases there is a simple system to help balance things out.
When PCs are of different levels simply let all players temporarily increase their max hp by the number of hit dice between them and the highest level PC in the party. They can roll or take the average. Take this L1 - L4 party for example:
| PC | Level | Start HP Max | Added Hit Dice | Adjusted HP Max |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grom the Barbarian | 1 | 12 | 3 | 33 (Avg 7hp * 3 hit die + 12 starting) |
| Evil Chas the Wizard | 1 | 6 | 3 | 18 (Avg 4hp * 3 hit die + 6 starting) |
| Zummogovitch the Fighter | 2 | 16 | 2 | 28 (Avg 6hp * 2 hit die + 16 starting) |
| Sir Sneaksalot the Rogue | 3 | 18 | 1 | 23 (Avg 5hp * 1 hit die + 18 starting) |
| Ducky the Paladin | 4 | 28 | 0 | 28 (No adjustment made) |
What rewards can I give my players at the end of a session?
In order to ensure some semblance of balance from one table to another we strictly limit the rewards from a session to what is listed on the table below:
| Level Range | Gold | Treasure Points |
|---|---|---|
| L1 - L4 | 75 | 4 |
| L5 - L7 | 150 | 4 |
| L8 - L10 | 200 | 4 |
| L11 - L13 | 550 | 4 |
| L14 - L17 | 650 | 4 |
| L18 - L20 | 5500 | 4 |
If you have magic items that you want your players to have during your session that is fine, but they will not be able to keep them after the session is over.
What setting does the PW use?
It doesn't! You can set your game anywhere you want as long as it fits into what most people would consider to be the fantasy genre. Want to run in the Forgotten Realms? No problem. Want your players to be in your own homebrew setting? Also cool. Want some steampunk alongside your elves and dwarves? Still cool.
Can I place restrictions on PC species, classes and spells etc?
Not in the PW. The restrictions detailed in the Allowable Character Options are what we use for all of our PW games. That being said, if you want to run something that has more specific requirements let us know and we can potentially add it to our D&D with a Twist category of events. In these events (with approval) you can run all sorts of crazy stuff.
Do I get any PW rewards for running these games?
You sure do! After each sessions is concluded you will receive a session credit exactly as if you had played in the game. You can apply it to any character in the range of the game you ran.