Abridged New Player Guide

Welcome to the Bright Dawn guild, a D&D5e West Marches server! Here's the down and dirty of what you need to know to start playing games as quickly as possible. For a more comprehensive new player guide (including information like how leveling up works, how loot works, world lore, etc.), look here.

If at any point you're confused about the process, ping a @viceroy in the #starting-questions channel, and someone will show up to help you!

Overview and Basic Rules
The server operates on a West Marches system, where several DMs run different game sessions in the same multiverse, which you can join with your characters. Once you create your first character and get it approved, you'll be able to sign up for these games according to your own availability.

Here are some of the common-sense rules that apply on this server:


 * 1) Be mature, kind, and respectful.
 * 2) No Inappropriate language. No NSFW & No spam.
 * 3) Respect the GMs and moderators. If you are told to stop, do so.
 * 4) Don't ping people or use @mention without good reason.
 * 5) Do not post copyright material unless the official publishers have made them public themselves (do it through Private Messaging).
 * 6) Do not private message GM's and ask them to run games for you.
 * 7) No talks of politics, religion, or real world hot topics that people fight over. Any talk will get you banned.
 * 8) The GM's word is law. If something is wrong, roll with how the GM runs it and we will figure it out after the session, correct what we can, and make sure we have it right for the future.
 * 9) If your character intends to take an action that is aggressive towards another PC (e.g. another player being caught in your AOE damage) you must get their permission before you can take that action.

Step 1: Character Creation
We use Roll20 as our online gameplay platform. You can watch this quick video or this more in-depth guide on creating a character on Roll20 if you're not familiar with the mechanics of it. Note that you may not be able to create a character on mobile, as Roll20 does not currently have good mobile options.

First off, you'll have to get yourself a new character sheet to edit:


 * 1) Navigate to the Tier 1 barracks. Click on the "Launch Game" button.
 * 2) In the top right corner of your window, you should see a gear icon. Click on it, then check out your "Display Name." If you want to change it to something else, go ahead. This will be referred to as your Roll20 Name going forward.
 * 3) Change your server nickname to match the following format:  . For example, if your Roll20 name is Argus and your character's name is Zook, you would change it to.
 * 4) Send this message in the #starting-questions channel verbatim to receive your character sheet:  . Soon, you'll see a blank character sheet pop up in your Roll20 Journal tab, which you can then edit freely.

We allow character creation using anything from a sourcebook released by the Wizards of the Coast except for:


 * Anything Unearthed Arcana (UA)
 * Anything published after Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen
 * The dark gifts from Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft
 * The draconic gifts from Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

Some additional server rules regarding character creation include the following: Here's one more checklist to complete before your character is ready to apply for approval:
 * Character alignment: Evil characters are not allowed!
 * Starting level: Your character starts at level 3.
 * Ability scores: We use the point buy method to determine ability scores as described here. However, instead of offering only 27 points to spend, you get 30. You can use this tool to help calculate your ability scores.
 * Hit points: Hit points are calculated with maximum at first character level, and average hit points for each additional level above 1st.
 * Starting equipment: You receive your default starting equipment from your class and background + one free healing potion. No rolling for gold.
 * Any gold that you start off with as your default starting equipment (e.g. 10gp if you chose the sage background) can be used to buy tools at book price during character creation.
 * Background feats: If your background does not grant a feat, you may take one among the Tough, Skilled, or Magic Initiate feats as part of your background.


 * Fill out your bio tab at the top of your sheet! Fill out your character's size, height, weight, etc.
 * Add at least 2 personality traits, 1 ideal, and 1 flaw to the appropriate sections in the character sheet.
 * Upload a token image for your character by clicking the edit button at the top right of the sheet.
 * Make sure you've listed all your racial, class, and background features in your Features and Traits section.

Once you're done making your sheet, send this message verbatim to the #starting-questions channel:. A viceroy will then check out your sheet and give you feedback on it, telling you whether it's approved or whether it needs any changes. Don't worry if you're not approved immediately! Most people need to edit their sheet a few times before it's fully approved.

Once you're approved by two viceroys, you'll get access to all the channels in the server. Like a lot of things in D&D, it may be a bit overwhelming at first, but we promise that it'll soon become as simple as pie.

Step 2: Joining a Game
Our server uses a bot called "RosterBot" to manage signing up for games. Here's how to use it to sign up for a game:


 * 1) Navigate to the #rosterbot-players channel.
 * 2) Setting your timezone: The bot needs to know what timezone you're in so it can display game times in your timezone.
 * 3) Message   to have the bot send you a list of all the timezone choices.
 * 4) Message   to set your timezone to that timezone. For example, if you want to use New York time, you can type in
 * 5) Searching for games: Type in the following command:  . The bot will then display a list all the upcoming games in the server in the format:
 * 6) Learning more about a game: You can learn more about a game you're interested by messaging  . For example, you could type in   to learn more about the "Moonlighters: Bandit Cleanup" game. The most important information in the card that appears will be the Text, Voice, and Link fields at the bottom of the card, above the image if there is one. These are respectively links to the text channel which the DM may use to contact you before, during, and after the game, the voice channel that will be used to talk during the game, and a link to the Roll20 game where the session will be hosted.
 * 7) Signing up for a game: To sign up for a game, message  . If there are more people who try to sign up than there are spots available, the Rosterbot will move some of the players into the "sideline" roster, prioritizing people who have played fewer games during the week to stay on the playing roster.

The bot will send you a message about 2 hours before the start of the game to remind you to join. At least 30 minutes before the start of the game, make sure you do the following:


 * 1) Join the game on Roll20.
 * 2) As mentioned before, when you use the   command on RosterBot, one of pieces of information that appears is the link to the game near the bottom right. Click on that link.
 * 3) Note the name of the game here; it should be the biggest text on the screen. You'll need it for later.
 * 4) Finally, click the big pink "Launch Game" button.
 * 5) Change your display name in the game to your Roll20 name.
 * 6) Export your character from the Tier 1 barracks to the game.
 * 7) Go to your character vault and click on "Import Existing Character." Then, select "NEW - Barracks Tier 1" in the dropdown select, and then the name of your character in the dropdown that appears below that. Finally, click "Import Character."
 * 8) Click on the "Choose a game..." dropdown select menu on the right of the character you just imported. Then, from the dropdown, choose the name of the Roll20 game you joined that I mentioned you'd need later. Finally, click the biue "Export to Game" button.
 * 9) Make sure to keep an eye on the text channel referred to earlier.

When the time comes to finally join the game, launch the game on Roll20 and join the voice channel. We recommend that you tell the DM that you're a new player; they may help you figure out how loot and rewards work after the game. If they don't, feel free to read through the more comprehensive new player guide or ping a @viceroy in the #starting-questions channel.

Glossary/Abbreviations

 * GM: Game Master
 * PC: Player Character
 * Viceroy: Helpers on the server