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Table of Contents
House Rules
The campaign uses a few house rules which are outlined here.
Drinking a Potion
A player character may drink a potion as a bonus action, but it takes an action to pour a potion down another character's throat.
Lords of Hack Initiative
Initiative is determined each and every round by the draw of an Uno card. The cards are numbered 0-12 (“skip” = 10, “reverse” = 11, “draw two” = 12) and are different colors. The higher the number goes first, and then for same numbers the turn goes in order of the visual spectrum, that is ROYGBIV. If a card with a number BELOW the initiative modifier of the player character or monster is dealt, another will be dealt until one that is high enough appears. Any followers go with the PC that is their patron, regardless of whether there is a disparity in their initiative bonus. Only the bonus of the PC matters. Two wild cards are in the deck as well. They always go first, and the player who draws it gains inspiration that must be taken that round or it is lost. After a round where the wild is dealt, the deck is reshuffled for the next round.
Treasure Cards
Possession is nine tenths of the law. If you don't have the card, you don't have the item in question.
Rulebooks
The default rules for characters, feats, and spells should be from the Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, and Xanathar's Guide. Any other rules or concepts may be considered, but it requires the unanimous approval of the DM council (i.e. Andrew and Justin).
Lifestyle Costs
Between each session, we'll have a downtime where player characters can do things “offstage.” These periods are called “downtime” and are abstracted to be somewhere between two weeks and two months long. During those periods, the PCs must pay some upkeep to maintain their lifestyle. Depending on the lifestyle they choose, certain downtime choices become easier or available. The costs needed to pay for that lifestyle over the course of the downtime are included with descriptions below.
Wretched - (0GP) You live in inhumane conditions. With no place to call home, you shelter wherever you can, sneaking into barns, huddling in old crates, and relying on the good graces of people better off than you. A wretched lifestyle presents abundant dangers. Violence, disease, and hunger follow you wherever you go. Other wretched people covet your armor, weapons, and adventuring gear, which represent a fortune by their standards. You are beneath the notice of most people.
Squalid - (1GP) You live in a leaky stable, a mud-floored hut just outside town, or a vermin-infested boarding house in the worst part of town. You have shelter from the elements, but you live in a desperate and often violent environment, in places rife with disease, hunger, and misfortune. You are beneath the notice of most people, and you have few legal protections. Most people at this lifestyle level have suffered some terrible setback. They might be disturbed, marked as exiles, or suffer from disease.
Poor - (5GP) A poor lifestyle means going without the comforts available in a stable community. Simple food and lodgings, threadbare clothing, and unpredictable conditions result in a sufficient, though probably unpleasant, experience. Your accommodations might be a room in a flophouse or in the common room above a tavern. You benefit from some legal protections, but you still have to contend with violence, crime, and disease. People at this lifestyle level tend to be unskilled laborers, costermongers, peddlers, thieves, mercenaries, and other disreputable types.
Modest - (25GP) A modest lifestyle keeps you out of the slums and ensures that you can maintain your equipment. You live in an older part of town, renting a room in a boarding house, inn, or temple. You don’t go hungry or thirsty, and your living conditions are clean, if simple. Ordinary people living modest lifestyles include soldiers with families, laborers, students, priests, hedge wizards, and the like.
Comfortable - (50GP) Choosing a comfortable lifestyle means that you can afford nicer clothing and can easily maintain your equipment. You live in a small cottage in a middle-class neighborhood or in a private room at a fine inn. You associate with merchants, skilled tradespeople, and military officers.
Wealthy - (100gp) Choosing a wealthy lifestyle means living a life of luxury, though you might not have achieved the social status associated with the old money of nobility or royalty. You live a lifestyle comparable to that of a highly successful merchant, a favored servant of the royalty, or the owner of a few small businesses. You have respectable lodgings, usually a spacious home in a good part of town or a comfortable suite at a fine inn. You likely have a small staff of servants.
Aristocratic - (1000gp+) You live a life of plenty and comfort. You move in circles populated by the most powerful people in the community. You have excellent lodgings, perhaps a townhouse in the nicest part of town or rooms in the finest inn. You dine at the best restaurants, retain the most skilled and fashionable tailor, and have servants attending to your every need. You receive invitations to the social gatherings of the rich and powerful, and spend evenings in the company of politicians, guild leaders, high priests, and nobility. You must also contend with the highest levels of deceit and treachery. The wealthier you are, the greater the chance you will be drawn into political intrigue as a pawn or participant.