What is D&D?

D&D is a “tabletop role-playing game”, where the players take up the role of in-world
characters, and act and improvise in accordance to the game rules to tell a story.
I like to describe D&D as just playing pretend with a consistent set of rules. The only
requirement is the shared imagination of the people playing the game. The game is played with
a group of players and a single Dungeon Master (“DM”). The DM will “set the stage” for the
players; it is the DM’s job to come up with the world, portray all the other random characters
that pop up in the story, and guide the players along the overarching narrative while allowing
them to make their own choices and determining the consequences, big and small, of their
actions. Each game session will boil down to a conversation between players and DM, where the
players dictate their actions and the DM will respond, progressing the story in the direction that
the player wishes for it to go in.
Games are typically played in sessions, each one picking up from where the last one
ended off. There are no rules for session length or frequency, but I find that allocating at least
two hours per session is the best way to make sure there’s time for each session to be
significant.
There are many ways to play the game; some players forego the story aspect and only
play the game for fun combat scenarios, while others might do the opposite and focus on telling
a rich, character-driven narrative with little to no actual combat. Some tables use physical
miniatures or props to visually represent the narrative before the players in a tangible space,
while other games are played online, purely told through word-of-mouth and theater of the
mind. Some stories have little to no overarching story between game sessions, and others might
have each session act as but a chapter in a long, overarching narrative.

What will my game look like?

House Rules
I wish to find a good balance between a fun gaming experience and a good, immersive
story. To do this, there are some rules I’ve decided to follow.
1. Player Commitment
a. D&D isn’t a video game. Attempting to tell a story necessitates continuity, so
players are expected to keep their commitments to playing the game. Of
course, this is all based on reasonable expectations. Nothing can be done
about sudden or unexpected events that pop up, and I understand that even
the most careful of planners can have stuff just sneak up on them.
Communication is important, and all I ask is that you let the group know as
soon as your attendance for a session might be at risk, so we have time to
figure out how we will handle a player’s absence. Some options may include:
 i. The missing player’s character suddenly disappears from the group’s
focus, and the character goes on a ‘side-quest’ until the player
returns.
ii. The missing player’s character stays with the group
1. PC is played by another player or the DM.
2. PC is silent and doesn’t weigh in on decisions but is still
canonically present.
iii. The missing player’s character’s absence is never addressed.
iv. Any other option the player may bring to the DM for approval.
2. Player Character Death
a. To follow game mechanics properly and create stakes for the game and story
to be exciting, once the game renders a player character dead, they must stay
dead until that character is no longer dead in-game. This will never mean that
the player themselves must leave the game.
b. There are a variety of ways in which a player can return to the table:
i. Wait for a resurrection.
ii. Go through the character creation process and play the new
character.
iii. Portray a previous NPC
iv. If you really want your character to stay alive narratively but don’t
care about playing them, upon request we can retcon a character
death once the player’s new character is created.
v. If you really really really really want to, we can retcon the character
death
3. Homebrew
a. Homebrew is bringing original, unofficial elements into a D&D game. I run
“Homebrew Campaigns”, which basically means the world and story thereof
aren’t taken from a source, and instead is a creation of mine. So, when you’re
creating your characters or think something might be cool to add, feel free to
come to me to give me some ideas to add.
b. If you want to play a homebrew subclass, let me know what you’re looking
for and I will try to find something for you.
c. Give whole flavor shpeal here
4. The Rule of Fun