List of Rules to Ask About at the Start of Every Campaign

[goto124]

I've read that certain rules in 5e Core can be somewhat vague (e.g. Does ducking behind a tree make me hidden? (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?413657-Ranged-Rogue-Too-powerful) Does my Mage Slayer work against Subtle Spell? (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?413578-Subtle-Spell-vs-Counterspell-and-or-Mage-Slayer-%28Edited-Title%29)

I also saw a list of rules that one should ask the DM about for every 5e game, as these rules are up to DM interpretation, but I can't seem to find it again. Could someone help me please? Thanks!

[Toadkiller]

1) is this campaign about arguing about rules or about having a good time?

[lonewulf]

1) is this campaign about arguing about rules or about having a good time?

Its obviously about the rules. Nobody plays D&D for fun...its a tabletop version of the Debate Team.

[Naanomi]

Generally none but if I am planning on playing a character heavily utilizing an interpretable rule I'd ask... Say poison duration, beastmaster/mount rules interaction; things of that nature

[hymer]

Well, druid questions off the top of my head:

Wild Shape
How does it interact with any number of things; feats that give bonuses to an ability score, class features like Unarmored Defense, racial abilities like Relentless Endurance and Dwarven Toughness? How do you avoid brown bears at level 2? Can you shift from one wild shape directly to another without going back to caster form in between? How do you handle which forms you've seen or not? If you have darkvision and shift to a form with darkvision of a different range, which of the two darkvisions do you get?

Spells
What Elemental Evil spells are available? How do you handle Animal Friendship (and the 'charmed' condition in general)? Conjure Woodland Beings? Contagion? Transmute Rock?

Equipment
What is 'metal armor' exactly? How is that whole restriction going to play out?

[HugeC]

Here is a thread about "ambiguous" rules: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?371961-The-DMs-guide-to-Pre-Game-ambiguous-RAW

[SouthpawSoldier]

Clarity on houserules and DMG options.

I've played in a group where the DM arbitrarily ruled that all [Illusion]=mind-affecting, and [Undead] were immune. Goodbye Gnome Shadowdancer. Undead themed campaign, and he didn't lay that out ahead of time.

As far as 5e; healing rules. Potion-brewing. Options on Homebrewed Classes (using a blend of EK and Ranger to make a Arcane Archer). If Feats aren't used, what Feat effects are going to be rolled into the rules.

[Occasional Sage]

Obviously, "are feats available" is a fundamental.

If you're playing a sword-and-board cleric or paladin (or perhaps druid? I haven't looked), "are you going to enforce the no-somatics-without-using-the-shield-as-focus weirdness" can have a major impact.

If multiclassing is allowed, "when my hit dice pool replenishes, do I get to chose the order of the dice I recover?"

[jkat718]

Here's a list of most (if not all) "Variant" or technically-optional rules in the three core rulebooks:


Customizing a Background (PHB, p. 125)
Equipment Sizes (PHB, p. 144)
Encumberance (PHB, p. 136 176)
Background: Gladiator (PHB, p. 131)
Background: Spy (PHB, p. 130)
Background: Guild Merchant (PHB, p. 133)
Background: Knight (PHB, p. 136)
Background Feature: Retainers (PHB, p. 136)
Background: Pirate and Bad Reputation (PHB, p. 139)
Equipment Size (PHB, p. 144)
Skills with Different Abilities (PHB, p. 175)
Playing on a Grid (PHB, p. 192; not always considered a variant, but you never know)
Quasit Familiar (MM, p. 63)
Imp Familiar (MM, p. 69)
Player Characters as Lycanthropes (MM, p. 207)
Pseudodragon Familiar (MM, p. 254)
Player Characters as Vampires (MM, p. 295)
Diseased Giant Rats (MM, p. 376; isn't important unless someone plays a Ranger)
Familiars (MM, p. 347, isn't important unless casts Find Familiar)
It's Your World (DMG, p. 9, or "Are you following the default assumptions?")
Gods of Your World (DMG, p. 10, or "What's your pantheon?")
Currency (DMG, p. 19, or "Are you using the normal currency?")
Languages and Dialects (DMG, p. 20, or "Do you have any other languages we should know about?")
Factions and Organizations (DMG, p. 21-23)
Magic in Your World (DMG, p. 23-24, or "Does your setting have specials rules about magic?")
The Planes (DMG, p. 43-44, or "Do you have a special cosmology?")

If not, then Outer Planes>Optional Rules (DMG, p. 59, 46-68)
Any of the Downtime Options (DMG, p. 127-131, including:

Selling Magic Items (DMG, p. 29, this one's really important)

Training to Gain Levels (DMG, p. 131)
)
More Difficult Identification (DMG, p. 136, probably not)
Magic Item Formulas (DMG, p. 141, not technically a variant, but often regarded as such)
Automatic Success (DMG, p. 239, or "You don't really have to roll for that...")
Tactical Maps (DMG, p. 250, this includes playing on grids or hexes)
Flanking (DMG, p. 251)
Diagonals (DMG, p. 252)
Anything from the Dungeon Master's Workshop (DMG, p. 263-289, including:

Background Proficiency (DMG, p. 264)

Personality Trait Proficiency (DMG, p. 265)

Action Options (DMG, p. 271-272)

Massive Damage (DMG, p. 273)

Morale (DMG, p. 273)

Custom Monsters (DMG, p. 283)

Monsters with Classes (DMG, p. 283)

Custom Spells (DMG, p. 283-284)

Custom Magic Items (DMG, p. 284-285)

Custom Races (DMG, p. 285-287)

Custom Classes/Subclasses (DMG, p. 287-288)
)



Also, make sure to ask about Unearthed Arcana material. Some DMs allow it, some don't. Same thing with stat generation (rolling vs. point buy vs. standard array), HP generation (rolling, average, average+1, roll half, take max...), starting gold/equipment (starting package vs. a la carte), and the like.

[Easy_Lee]

I think it depends more on your individual character than anything. I'd ask a DM a boatload of questions if I wanted to play a halfling beast master. If I wanted to play a rogue, all I'd bother asking is how the DM feels about hiding in combat and if he minds if I treat quarterstaves as finesse so I can play a traditional thief acrobat. And if I'm playing a champion fighter, I don't have any questions I really need to ask, since all I'm going to be doing is hitting stuff, making skill checks, and looking for them magic items.

[Chronos]

One benefit of how non-modular 5e is is that these issues are sort of naturally quarantined. For instance, there are a bunch of questions about how the conjurer wizard's Minor Creation works, but if you're not playing a conjurer, they're completely irrelevant.

[Yagyujubei]

Its obviously about the rules. Nobody plays D&D for fun...its a tabletop version of the Debate Team.

lol except no one actually knows anything about debating.

that said.

DEFINITELY check to see about frequency of long/short rests or how they're going to be handled in general since it impacts so many classes profoundly.

also check to see about passive perception, and how your DM is gonna deal with it, because it makes or breaks one of the best/worst feats you can take as the party's scout.

check to see how your DM want's to view crafting/alchemy/etc. - in the framework of most peoples games, the current rules make crafting totally worthless, because most games don't use alot of "downtime" (in my experience).

[ekestrel]

"What bonuses do I get to Favored Weapon for praying to the Gnomish God of Heavy Artillery?"

[Chronos]

Frequency of short rests isn't really something that the DM can really make a ruling on. The party can choose to attempt a short rest at any time, and whether they'll get away with it will depend on what situations the party has gotten themselves into. Party has snuck into a locked room in the castle without any of the guards sounding the alarm? Yeah, they probably can take a short rest. Party has noisily battered down the front gate and now wants to rest in the murderzone just inside? Lots of luck.

[Malifice]

Frequency of short rests isn't really something that the DM can really make a ruling on.

It kind of is. Some DM's are real sticklers who don't let you short rest. Some DM's are permissive and allow you to Short rest over and over. Some stick to the 2-3 short rests per day paradigm.

Resting is very DM dependent. If my players try and 'game' the rest mechanic, I simply say no (or throw random encounters at them). They know they'll get 2-3 per LR and around 1 every 2-3 encounters on average.

[Longcat]

1. Are we playing RAW?
2. Are optional rules being used? Specifically, Multiclassing, Feats and Variant Human.
3. Is refluffing allowed?
4. Are uncommon races and DMG archetypes allowed?
5. Does the game include guns?

[Malifice]

1. Are we playing RAW?
2. Are optional rules being used? Specifically, Multiclassing, Feats and Variant Human.
3. Is refluffing allowed?
4. Are uncommon races and DMG archetypes allowed?
5. Does the game include guns?


My answers as a DM to the above:

1. RAW doesn't exist. Or to be more correct, RAW is the DM's interpretation of it.
2. Yes. Plus a few house rules and options from the DMG. I can provide a copy if you want.
3. Yes.
4. Yes.
5. Yes. Even have a homebrewed gunslinger and a pistolero feat if you're interested.

[goto124]

Maybe 1 should be reworded as 'Are we playing Core-only?' And there's also 'What splatbooks are (dis)allowed?'

[Malifice]

Maybe 1 should be reworded as 'Are we playing Core-only?' And there's also 'What splatbooks are (dis)allowed?'

1. Yep, with attached house rules and options from the DMG.
2. Generally all official books are allowed.

I ask:

1) What's the level of optimization in this group?
2) Whats your take on players with Evil alignments?
3) Railroading. What does it mean to you?
4) What books are 'in'?
5) Any house rules I should be aware of?

Those questions generally let me know if it's the kind of group I want to participate in.