Before You Begin

While The Realm of Lithria does its best to maintain a consistent experience among players, there's a number of things that must change to accommodate the setting, scale, and style of an MCRP community which a TTRPG could not be expected to account for. Our goal is to provide an experience as close to the Rules As-Written (RAW) and Rules As-Intended (RAI) as possible, that way any player – new or old – can use what they've learned and experienced on Lithria and usefully remember it for any future games they may play elsewhere (or bring over their existing knowledge and not have it rendered obsolete by rule changes). However, we have a series of limitations and changes we have made to help facilitate our play on server; thus, you can find below all of the houserules, homebrew, and session 0 information that stray from 5e's typical rules. 



Session 0

XP and Leveling Up
Our server operates on a system of hidden XP; to incentivize RP in our events, we do not tell players how much XP they receive or how much they need until their next level. Instead, we only tell players when they have leveled up. Don't fret! Events of all kinds can and do award XP, from world ending combats to talks with your local flighty fae.

However, we understand that not every player particularly likes or wants to engage in events, or players may be concerned with the danger that some events can involve. Thus, we have a system to ensure that players aren't left behind in level and class abilities while engaging in roleplay they enjoy—level averages. Each month, on the 1st, the average level of all currently active players is taken (a player is considered inactive if they have not been on the server in 2 weeks or more). After the average is taken, it's determined if it increases; if the ending decimal is .5 or higher, it does. So, if the average level was 4.5, the new server average would become 5. Each time the average level increases, all players below the average are immediately set to the average, and all new players who join the server get to join at that level. This way, players who join the server later in its life aren't "punished" by starting at a level where they cannot interact with the story, and players who enjoy casual RP over long-form events can continue to see greater abilities manifest for them to use in that RP.


Character Creation Essentials
When it comes to creating your character, these are the essential things to know.

• This is a D&D 5e server.
  
  
• The current level average is 9. Create your character at this level.
  
  
• Use point buy to allocate your stats. You can do so using this tool.
  
  
• Multiclassing is not allowed.
  
  
• Your starting gear is considered accessible/usable for your character if it's on your character sheet, even if you do not have an itemized version of an object immediately on your person. It is highly recommended you mark down what you receive from your class and background as a result. You can use the starting gold from your background to purchase other items, as you see fit.
  
  
• The extra content within Tasha's Cauldron of Everything is permitted, including the optional class features, expanded spells and spell lists, and feats. However, the choice to change your racial ability score allocations is not permitted.
  
  
• You may use content from any official book with some exceptions: you may not use any content from Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants, Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen, Spelljammer: Adventures in Space, Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos, Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, or any future published content. In addition, Unearthed Arcana (UA), Homebrew, or other unofficial and/or unpublished content is not allowed.
  
  
• The exception to the content that is allowed from the books is races, which operate under their own set of allowances. You may choose any race from the following list without needing to request it: Dragonborn, Dwarf, Elf, Genasi, Gnome, Goliath, Half-Elf, Halfling, Half-Orc, Human, Mousefolk, Owlin, Satyr, Tiefling, and Warforged. For any other 5e race not on this list you must first reach out to a member of the admin team, where we will work with you on your character concept. In effect, any race not on this list is allowable at request.
  
  
• Where applicable, use the original forms of any selected race. For example: Dragonborn have a version from the Player's Handbook and from Fizban's Treasury of Dragons. You must use the version from the Player's Handbook, as it came first. Ask staff if you do not know which version is the original. Furthermore, do not use the Tasha's Cauldron of Everything rules for racial ability scores.
  
  
• Our players create and expand upon our world lore. The limitations of this are, simply, that such does not harm the fun, established truths, or immersion of other players. You are otherwise free to invent (or join with) creations of tribes, pasts, civilizations, cultures, and religions to better enable the play of your character. If you're uncertain over whether something is allowed or otherwise acceptable, please reach out to staff! We will work with you on your particular concept, to fit it into the world as neatly as possible.
  
  
• Flavor is free! You do not need to ask for "ribbon features," as it were. If a desired visual change, stylistic flair, or otherwise strikes your fancy, you only need ask yourself a single question: "Does this change anything mechanically?" If the answer is no, you're free to do it! Some examples include: playing the Human race mechanically but giving yourself feathers or horns; casting the spell Darkness but emoting that the blindness is created through an opaque cloud of magic butterflies; or having a special object or artifact from your past, such as describing your mundane dagger as an old ritual implement. If you're curious about if something falls under this rule, reach out to a member of staff.
  
  
• You can find information on applying here. Reading all of the provided material is absolutely mandatory, and failure to do so will result in not being accepted.

Houserules & Homebrew

Houserules (rules which are modifications of or rewrites to the base rules of a game) and homebrew (new content created for a game rather than published officially) are common facets within any RPG table, group, or community, and Lithria is no exception. There is nearly no group that exists that doesn't change a rule or two for their needs. In the effort of ensuring we are as transparent as possible in the ways we differ from 5e, these are the houserules and homebrew we operate within in addition to the baseline rules of 5e. The rules listed below are all related to the mechanics of 5e, and will not cover more generalized homebrew such as the setting, the planes of existence, or other similar facets of the server.


Houserules

• Ammunition. In 5e, ammunition generally needs to be tracked and recovered for reuse. We allow mundane ammunition to go without being tracked, under the assumption that the character or the town provides them the materials and skills necessary to create more. This exception does not apply to firearms, which still require their ammunition to be tracked as per normal.
  
  
• Drinking a Potion. Normally, drinking a potion always requires an Action. Here, we allow you to use an Action or Bonus Action to drink a potion. Feeding a potion to another creature always takes an Action.
  
  
• Firearms. The rules for firearms follow the traditional weapon rules, but there are additions to those. If your character gains martial ranged weapon proficiency from any source, this includes the pistol and the musket in their proficiencies. As well, if you are allowed to start play with a martial ranged weapon from your starting class equipment, you may choose to begin with a pistol or musket with 20 shots. You may choose a pistol or musket in place of a longbow (with 20 shots, as normal). You may choose a pistol in place of a light crossbow or shortbow (with 20 shots, as normal). You may pick a firearm for your Improved Pact Weapon invocation.
  
  
• Flight. Flying races are, on a trial run, allowed. Any flying race may fly for 10 minutes, and may use this trait a number of times equal to their proficiency bonus. They regain all expended uses when they finish a long rest. When the racial feature ends, the creature falls if it is still in the air, unless it can stop the fall.
  
  
• Knocking a Creature Out. Typically, when you wish to dispatch a target nonlethally, your only choices are to hit them with a melee attack or use a non-damaging spell. Here are a few rules that expand on that simple one: All ranged weapon attacks (excluding firearms) can be made nonlethal; ranged spell attacks can be made nonlethal if they use bludgeoning, force, lightning, or psychic damage; area of effect spells cannot be made nonlethal.
  
  
• Opportunity Attacks. Typically, when making an Opportunity Attack, you cannot use alternate attack options such as Grappling or Shoving as they require the Attack action on your turn. Features which fall under this limitation – including Grappling, Shoving, and some Battle Master maneuvers, among others – may be used during an Opportunity Attack. This benefit does not include the Multiattack feature.
  
  
• Spell Components. Some spells require material components which cannot be covered by a focus or component pouch. In the case of a component which is consumed by a spell or has a cost in gold pieces, a player can contact a staff member to have their gold traded in directly for the component in question, at-cost. They cannot do this mid-event or mid-casting of a spell; it must be handled beforehand.
  
  
• Sunlight Sensitivity. If a race has Sunlight Sensitivity as a racial feature, you do not need to take it. You may still retain it, if you so wish.
  
  
• Tools. As with Spell Components, a player may contact a staff member to have their gold traded in directly for the tool(s) in question, at-cost. 
  
  
• Unarmed Strikes. In the base rules of 5e, Unarmed Strikes do not qualify as a weapon for abilities, features, and spells which require a weapon to activate. We allow Unarmed Strikes to count as weapons for features which specifically require a weapon to activate. Thus, you would be permitted to use a Paladin's Divine Smite feature with your fists, or you could cast the spell Magic Weapon to empower your kicks, as examples.

Homebrew

• We are not a Forgotten Realms server. You can find our current lore, both priming documents and the works created by our players, here.

• New Race: The Mousefolk. You can find the information regarding them here.