Rules FAQs

This section contains a compilation of the rulings, rule clarifications/interpreations, and rule adaptations we have made for this server.

DM Reliant Rulings

 * Any spell or ability that requires DM decisions cannot be used outside of games, except for specifically listed examples in the spell/ability description.
 * This includes beyond-the-scope Wishes or abilities like Divine Intervention beyond replicating cleric spells or cleric domain spells.

Lineages

 * Lineages are not the same as races. If you choose the Custom Lineage from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything (TCE), even if patterned after one of the other races, or if you take one of the Lineages from Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft (VRGR) with an Ancestral Lineage from another race, you do not qualify mechanically for things that require that race such as feats or attunements.
 * If in place of your race you pick one of the lineages that have the Ancestral Lineage feature (e.g. Dhampir, Hexblood, or Reborn), you can choose a prior race to have been before you gained that lineage to take advantage of that feature.

Lycanthropy

 * The Monster Manual rules on “Player Characters as Lycanthropes” are not allowed. DMs may make exceptions and allow it to take effect in their games on their own discretion.

Classes

 * Q. Can Artificers rent/loan out their infusions to other players?
 * A. Yes, on a weekly basis (between server resets when new downtime can be claimed) and only among the same tier or higher as the artificer character.
 * Q. Can Artificer infusions be deconstructed to learn magic item recipes?
 * A. No, an infused item, even one that replicates a regular magic item, is not the same as the permanent magic item, so cannot be taken apart to learn how to make the permanent version.
 * Q. Can Armorer Artificers infuse magical armor?
 * A. At level 9 when they get their Armor Modification feature, they can infuse the other parts of their Arcane Armor—Boots, Helmet, and Special Weapon—as if they were non-magical equipment of that type. Since the armor is already magical, the chestpiece (which counts as the armor for purposes of infusing) is not eligible to receive an infusion.

Wizard

 * Q. Can Wizards scribe Dunamancy spells if they aren’t Chronomancers or Graviturgists?
 * A. No, only the Dunamancy subclasses have those spells on their class list. If you can learn a spell from a feature that doesn’t restrict based on class lists (like Bard’s Magical Secrets*) and it fits all other requirements, then you can learn those spells. Any feature that says you can pick a spell from any class list allows you to pick spells from a subclass as well.
 * Q. Can a Transmuter Wizard loan out their Transmuter Stone?
 * A. Yes, per the normal rules of same or higher tier. In the event the transmuter dies, a lended stone immediately crumbles and stops working.

Crafting

 * Q. The prices for big vehicles make them nearly impossible to reasonably spend downtime on, so how do we do them?
 * A. Big Vehicles follow similar rules to our rules for buildings. Gather together the gold and DTD from multiple players to make a joint construction effort; see the Mundane Crafting Lists spreadsheet for the costs. No tool proficiencies required.
 * Q. Are buildings only available for formation/use by Houses?
 * A. No, any player can build a house with enough gp and downtime, receiving help from other players for whatever compensation is agreed upon, although only one character will own a building not built for a House.
 * Q. Can I add the ship improvements listed in the Ghosts of Saltmarch book to my ship?
 * A. Yes. You can add them to both maritime and spelljamming ships, paying the appropriate costs.
 * Q. Can players deconstruct a magic item together?
 * A. No, only one character can deconstruct an item, and it must be in its entirety.
 * Q. Can I make a spellscroll or tattoo at a higher level to upcast the spell?
 * A. No, the general rule for casting spells without spell slots is that they default to the lowest spell level of that spell (see DMG page 141). While there are magic items that can upcast spells, there is no mechanic in place to make other items do that, those premade items are exceptions to the general rule.

Tomes/Manuals

 * Q. How long would it take to read one of the Tomes or Manuals to get the +2 permanent boost to the relevant stat?
 * A. We’ve decided you need to spend 3 DTD with minimum needs for rest (ignoring racial/class adjustments to such needs, everyone spends 3 DTD).
 * Q. Can I use multiple copies of the same Tome or Manual to boost my stats even further?
 * A. No, we’re imposing a limit of one use per book of the same name, effectively meaning you could get a permanent +2 for each of your stats if you acquire and use all 6 books.

Shield Guardians

 * Q. Can I get a Shield Guardian/Shield Guardian Amulet?
 * A. Yes. A Shield Guardian will be categorized as a Major Rare item, which means it can be crafted or purchased, including via the Buying a Magic Item downtime activity. Owning a Shield Guardian grants the ability/recipe to craft a Shield Guardian Amulet for that specific Guardian. A Shield Guardian Amulet requires 1000 gp and 5 DTD to make.

Renaissance Technology

 * Q. Can we use guns or bombs?
 * A. You can use the Renaissance level of technology from the DMG (page 268) which includes pistols, muskets, bullets, gunpowder (kegs and horns), and bombs.
 * Proficiency in both types of firearms is only available by starting as an Artificer, or by taking the Gunner feat. Individual firearm proficiencies can be gained from the Weapon Master feat, MMPM elven trance proficiencies, replacing a racial martial weapon proficiency, or by following the training rules from XGtE (only these weapons are available to be trained this way).
 * Gunpowder is required to be on hand to load a bullet into a firearm, but does not require any special action or additional hand free.
 * If you start with proficiency in a firearm (you can’t start with proficiencies gained from Trance, they can only be applied after character approval), you can purchase a single firearm at normal cost from your starting gold. It is not a valid choice for a generic martial weapon gained from other starting equipment.

Robe of Useful Items

 * Q. Regarding the Robe of Useful Items, aren’t some of those patches a little too useful?
 * A. Yes, so we’ve removed a few of them and rebalanced the remaining ones into this new roll table.

Spellwrought Tattoos

 * Q. How many Spellwrought Tattoos can I wear at one time?
 * A. To balance the power of these items, you can only wear one spellwrought tattoo per spell at a time (e.g. one “Shield” spell tattoo and one “Absorb Elements” tattoo)
 * Q. What does it take to apply a Tattoo?
 * A. Unless it requires attunement or the tattoo item description says something specific, tattoos only require an object interaction to apply if they are already in hand.

Cauldron of Rebirth

 * Q. Can the salt required for using a Cauldron of Rebirth be purchased from Anastasia?
 * A. Yes, it is considered a specialty spell component for spell replication.

Monsters

 * Q. Can I make a Pact of Suffering with a Daemogoth Titan?
 * A. If the Daemogoth Titan was created via True Polymorph out of game, yes, but only so long as the True Polymorph spell remains in effect. A character polymorphed into a Daemogoth Titan can only make one such bond at a time.

Respecs

 * Q: Why does it say weekly downtime claims instead of an actual downtime value?
 * A: In case there are changes to the amount of weekly downtime PCs can claim, this feature would remain at a proportional cost. Currently, a weekly downtime claim is 5 DTD.
 * Q: Can I use the spell change to pick a different spell I got from a feat?
 * A: Yes, you can switch it for another spell that meets the feat's requirements.
 * Q: Do I have to change Feats/ASIs/Boons/etc in the order I got them?
 * A: No, you can change any Feats/ASIs/Boons/etc regardless of when you originally took it. The cost is the same.
 * Q: If I respec enough levels to go down to one where I get to pick a feat, do I get to pick a different one for free?
 * A: Yes, you get to remake all the decisions you would have during all the levels you paid to respec.
 * Q: Is there ever a time when respecs are free?
 * A: Only once in Tier 1.
 * Q: I've done a respec but have not yet played a game or used any of its new features, can I still make changes for free?
 * A: Yes, though it would be optimal if you were to double check your choices and ask questions in ⁠build-chat before requesting reviews and approvals.
 * Q: Do I lose my equipment on the respec or gain any from newly chosen sources?
 * A: Equipment remains unaltered with the noteworthy exception of gaining a spellbook if you take a new 1st level in wizard.
 * Q: Can I have a tryout period to test changes before paying to make them permanent?
 * A: No test drives.
 * Q: If I change a level from one class with known spells to another, do I have free reign in choosing which spell(s) I lose?
 * A: After the change you cannot keep spells of a higher level than you can cast nor have more spells of a given level than would be possible. You are however free to choose which spells you lose within those boundaries.

Spell Components

 * If a spell component requires either dust or powder, they are functionally the same and can be used interchangeably so long as it’s the same base material (e.g. diamond dust vs diamond powder, gold dust vs powdered gold, etc).

Concentration

 * Concentration cannot be dropped during another action’s resolution (unless that action ends concentration, such as casting another spell that requires concentration). For example, if you’re concentrating on Conjure Elemental, you can’t choose to drop concentration as you take damage or are targeted by an effect, thereby avoiding broken concentration and a wild elemental.

Summoning Spells

 * Q. I’m casting a summoning spell that lasts indefinitely out of game, but normally the DM decides what creature answers the summons. What do I do?
 * A. As long as the spell doesn’t require randomly determined creatures, but rather gives guidelines (like X creatures of CR Y), then you can pick the creatures that answer your summons. In games the DM still decides how to handle such spells.

Animate Dead/Create Undead

 * Q. How do I get the corpses or skeletons needed for Animate Dead?
 * A. Neither corpses nor skeletons have a defined cost in any published materials, so they follow the rules for other spell components without cost: you can just have them. From an RP perspective, we have a large pit in which we dump corpses that are available for necromancers to use.
 * Q. Can I cast Animate Dead/Create Undead using Spellcasting Hours?
 * A. No. While the undead created are permanent, the control granted only lasts 24 hours, so casting it out of game would not allow you to have them in future games. You’d have to cast it at the start of a game (or during the game’s progress) to have undead with you in a game.

Creation

 * Q. When creating something with multiple materials, do you “use the shortest duration” in the table (1 minute), or shortest duration for the materials of the object?
 * A. Out of game, use the shortest duration for the materials of the object. In game, up to the DM to interpret.

Fabricate

 * Q. How do you get materials to cast Fabricate out of game?
 * A. You can Fabricate crafting packs equal to half the value of the item into the item.

Find Greater Steed

 * Q. Are there any alternate mounts available beyond those listed in the spell’s description?
 * A. The dragonnel from Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons (FTD) is also available.

Plane Shift

 * Q. How do you craft “a forked, metal rod worth at least 250 gp, attuned to a particular plane of existence?”
 * A. Just use the crafting mundane items rules.

Reincarnate

 * Q. Are we limited to the races in the PHB?
 * A. No, refer to this list of races available to reincarnate into. As usual, roll in the #bot-channel-no-rosterbot with a @viceroy to witness using the  command. If you get one of the new races with an Ancestral Lineage, roll on the table again to see what the new body’s previous race was (roll again if you get another lineage race).
 * Q. What if I’m a race that isn’t humanoid?
 * A. On our server, Reincarnate works on any dead PC regardless of their creature type.