Format

Rattle Boyale

  • There is no specific game night, you'll have 2 weeks from when you're informed of your opponent to work out a time that suits you, your opponent and the DM.

  • Ladder/pyramid style tournament with a twist. You will be assigned an opponent at your level (or as close to)

  • Loser levels up

  • Winner can choose between having a: healing pot, or other item on request.

  • If you are level 20 and you lose, you're out.

  • Season ends with the calendar year - lowest level wins.

  • If you cannot make your scheudled match, and cannot reschedule within the initial 2 week period, you will forfeit and level up.

  • Special Events will be held once per month. These are not mandatory, prizes will be awarded.

  • Map will change every 2 levels for the first 14, then every map from 15-20 (map based on lowest players level).

  • We assume your character will 'rest' and fully heal between matches

  • Games to be run in Foundry + Discord, and streamed to twitch unless you contact me to opt-out in advance.

  • Win Condition - Reduce your opponent to zero hit points, and leave them unable to continue combat. (If they are making death saves, they have lost).

Reincarnation Rumble

  • We play all together at 7pm AEST on every second Wednesday.

  • The game runs until either there is only one remaining player - or time runs out (usually around 10pm).

  • Players will be awarded one point for each opponent they outlasted.

  • A running score across all levels will be kept.

  • Every player in a match is the same level, race and class. Anything else, such as subclasses, feats, items or spells is player choice.

  • Each group will run the same draw for race and class and play on the same map.

Character Creation

  • The general rule here is that you have trained and prepared for this day - you are the best of the best. You have been sponsored to participate and will have access to all that you need.

  • Any official D&D race/class on D&D Beyond is allowed. Campaign link has content sharing enabled.

    • Not allowed - legacy races, archived content (like UA), homebrew, rick and morty

    • Optional class features are allowed, prerequires are enabled.

  • No strixhaven backgrounds - The magic school is not current permitting students to participate in gladiatorial combat for work-health-and-safety reasons.

    • Spells and feats taken later on are currently allowed

  • At level 1: your ability score modifiers when added together cannot exceed 11 (after racial bonuses). No negatives. (ie - choose, don't roll)

  • Max HP

  • Spellcasters - you have access to ANY spell from your class (wizards included - assume your sponsor will supply any spell you ask for). You will be limited by your prepared spell caps and spell-slots.

  • Starting equipment: non-magical weapons and armour

  • Multiclassing is allowed

  • There'll be no currency, nor need to worry about food/water.

  • One Magic item every 5 levels -starting at level 5
    5 Uncommon
    10 Rare
    15 Very Rare
    20 Rare

DM's Rulings

DM = Homebrew DM's call (usually because pvp combat is different to campaign encounters)
RD = Rules as discussed on discord (see the 'what-ifs-and-rules' chat).
RAW (Rules as Written): PHB = Players Hand Book. DMG = Dungeon Masters Guide. XGTE = Xanathar's Guide to Everything
SD = Spell Description

It is the players responsibility to know what their character can and cannot do. If unsure, please check in the what-ifs-and-rules chat thread on discord before the match.

General Rules

  • Potions and consumables are a bonus action. (DM)

  • Crits will be a maximum on the initial damage dice + modifiers as normal + additional roll on the damage dice. (RD)

  • Nat 20s automatically hit/pass/save. Nat 1s cause the current attempt to miss/fail/not happen. (DM)

  • You cannot have combat assist items (other than weapons and armour), except for those you win. (DM)

  • You cannot enter combat with any other creatures unless they are an explicit part of your class. (DM)

  • You cannot willingly leave the arena. (DM)

  • 'Meets the DC beats it' or 'On a tie - the roller wins'. (DM) In the case where two PCs are contesting (ie - grapple) then "if the contest results in a tie, the situation remains the same as it was before the contest". (PHB p.174)

  • Smoke Grenades last for 1d4+1 rounds. (RD)

Class/Feature Specific

  • You cannot use multiple luck points on the same roll (RD)

  • You can feed an unconscious person a Goodberry - but this will count as an action (not a bonus action). (RD)

  • Features that happen at the 'end of a long rest' or 'the start of a day' are fine to have before the match. Features that require an 'action' need to be done after initiative. (DM)

Hide Action (and Invisibility)

  • "Hide Action Guide by Black Citadel RPG. " and "Hidden, Surprise and More" have been used for reference.

  • Hidden = unseen and unheard.

    • "If you are hidden - both unseen and unheard - [..]" (PHB p.195)

    • 'unseen' on it's own - gives you advantage to hit, and disadvantage to your attackers. (PHB p.195)

    • 'unheard' - adding in 'unheard' to 'unseen' means you are 'hidden' and they can't locate you (will need to guess your location).

  • Hide Action: Firstly, state you want to hide. Provided you can (DM doesn't object), then roll stealth. All other combatants who can't see you will roll an active (not passive) perception check to see if they still find you (a tie means you are not hidden). If successful, you are hidden. If you are hidden from a target then you get advantage to attack that target. After attacking, you are not hidden from anyone. (RAW)

    • "DM decides when circumstances are appropriate for hiding." (PHB p.177)

    • "You can't hide from a creature that can see you clearly". (PHB p.177)

    • "Until you are discovered or you stop hiding, that check's [Stealth] total is contested by the Wisdom (Perception) check of any creature that actively searches for signs of your presence." (PHB p.177)

    • "You give away your position if you make noise." (PHB p.177)

    • "When a creature can't see you, you have advantage on attack rolls against it" (PHB p.195)

    • "If you are hidden - both unseen and unheard - when you make an attack, you give away your location when the attack hits or misses." (PHB p.195)

  • You can target creatures you cannot see at disadvantage - either by guessing or hearing their location. (RAW)

    • "When you attack a target that you can't see, you have disadvantage on the attack roll. This is true whether you're guessing the target's location or you're targeting a creature you can hear but not see" (PHB p.194)

    • If you use a projectile, you can ping or rule along the projected path to see if it hits. (RD)

    • "If the target isn't in the location you targeted, you automatically miss, but the DM typically just says that the attack missed, not whether you guessed the target's location correctly." (PHB p.194)

    • "You give away your position if you make noise." (PHB p.177)

  • If a creature goes invisible (giving it heavily obscured), or enters an area of heavy obscurement, its location will be known until it takes the Hide action. It may still be granted other effects such 'unseen' (which grants advantage on attack rolls, and disadvantage to attackers). (RAW)

    • "An invisible creature can always try to hide. Signs of it's passage might still be noticed, and it does have to stay quiet. (PHB p.177)

    • "An invisible creature is impossible to see without the aid of magic or a special sense. For the purpose of hiding, the creature is heavily obscured. The creature’s location can be detected by any noise it makes or any tracks it leaves." (PHB p.291)

    • "Attack rolls against the creature [who is invisible] have disadvantage, and the creature’s attack rolls have advantage." (PHB p.291)

    • "You give away your position if you make noise." (PHB p.177)

    • "When a creature can't see you, you have advantage on attack rolls against it" (PHB p.195) 'Unseen' condition.

    • "A heavily obscured area - such as darkness, opaque fog, or dense foliage - blocks vision entirely. A create effectively suffers from the blinded condition when trying to see something in that area" (PHB p.183)

    • "A blinded creature can't see ad automatically fails any ability check that requires sight. Attack rolls against the create have advantage, and the creatures attack rolls have disadvantage" (PHB p.290).

    • If using invisibility, you are 'not invisible' nor 'unseen' to a creature who can see invisibility (using a spell or senses such as tremor sense). (RD)

Flying Creatures

  • "If a flying creature is knocked prone, has its speed reduced to 0, or is otherwise deprived of the ability to move, the creature falls, unless is has the ability to hove or it is being held aloft by magic, such as the fly spell" (PHB p.191).

  • "A flying creature in a strong wind must land at the end of its turn or fall." (DMG p.110)

  • If a flying create falls - subtract the creature's current flying speed from the distance it fell before calculating falling damage.

    • "subtract the creature’s current flying speed from the distance it fell before calculating falling damage." (XGTE p.77)

  • "A strong wind imposes disadvantage on ranged weapon attack rolls and Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing. A strong wind also extinguishes open flames, disperses fog, and makes flying by nonmagical means nearly impossible. " (DMG p.110)

  • A single creature cannot create a strong wind by non-magical means. (DM). A creature with the ability to create wind (with wings for example) can create:

Spell Casting, Familiars and Magic:

Casting

  • You can cast while restrained / grappled unless your hands are specifically targeted (link)

  • You can't cast two spells unless the Action spell is a cantrip (PHB p.202)

    • Under Bonus Action: "You can't cast another spell during the same turn, except for a cantrip with a casting time of 1 action" (PHB p.202)

  • "You must be proficient with the armour you are wearing to cast a spell" (PHB p.201)

  • Your arcane focus will substitute all material components (including those with a gold value). (HB)

Illusions

  • If using illusion magic to create artificial 'cover', then you get the AC bonus but not the dex sav bonus. (DM)

  • If a ranged attack misses because of the advantage an illusion gives to cover, the creature gets advantage on their next attempt to work out if the illusion exists. (DM)

  • Physical Interaction or targeting the illusion with a melee attack using a physical weapon reveals the illusion. (RD)

  • If the creature is aware you have used illusions previously, they get advantage to work out future illusions. (RD)

  • Players will not be actively informed of illusions and should check on objects they wish to inspect/suspect. (RD)

Specific Spells

  • Wish is limited to its spell description (RD)

  • Wall of Force, Forcecage: There is enough air inside to survive the length of the spell (DM)

  • Invisibility - see hide action above

  • Conjure Animals: DM will roll 1d4 for which option, player picks creatures. (RD)

Familiars and Summons

  • Summon Creature: DM will roll 1d4 for which option, player picks creatures. (RD)

  • Summoning a familiar doesn't break invisibility (RD)

  • Familiars can use consumeables. You can give your familiar a single item to carry and apply if that is their sole job. (RD)

  • You can use a Familar's vision as an action. You then get the blind and deaf conditions (SD)

  • Familiars that can use the 'attack' action can use any 'action' listed under their actions section. They do not start out invisible unless explicitly specified otherwise. (RAW)

  • You can start with your familiar spell 'cast' - but it takes the action to summon them. This action doesn't require verbal or semantic components. (DM)

  • All creatures that aren't 'the initial Player Character Combatants' get opportunity attacks unless explicitly stated otherwise.

    • Find Familiar + Pact of the Chain + Investment of the Chain Master grants OA. Otherwise, a generic find familiar can't. (RD)

  • A creature can follow a general command like 'attack the warlock' provided they have the intelligence to do so. Provided the spell doesn't specify otherwise, a creature can remember a command with a word limit equal to half their intelligence. Longer instructions require repeating every round. (RD - vote result)

    • If a spell has a creature follow your instructions, then unless the spell specifies otherwise, that creature will continue to obey the last instruction it remembers, until it can't, at which point it will revert to the spell descriptions default. (RD)

Clerics

  • Divine Intervention: Interpreted as 'tell me which cleric spell you want, or which alternative effect you desire'. The alternative effects would be limited to the ones described in the Wish spell. (RD)

  • Spiritual weapon doesn't get opportunity attacks (link)

Druids

  • Wildshape carries racial features that don't explicitly mention anatomy. (link 1, link 2)

    • "You retain the benefit of any features from your class, race, or other source and can use them if the new form is physically capable of doing so. However you can't use any of your special sense, such as darkvision, unless your new form also has that sense." (PHB p.67)

    • The exception will be the yuan-ti legacy race, who can keep their legacy immunity while in their original form, but only resistance while wild shaped. (RD - vote result). This will be a ruling only for this season, as legacy races won't be a part of any further seasons anyways. (DM)

    • Further wild shape rules (PHB p.66-67). Sage Advice on Wildmagic

    • If your wildshape has a language - you can speak in the languages you know. (PHB p.67). If your wildshape does not have a language, you cannot issue new commands (such as to a familiar or summoned creature), or take verbal-based actions. (RD) Regardless, you can not cast new spells (PHB p.67)

  • You can feed an unconscious person a Goodberry - but this will count as an action (not a bonus action). (RD)

Pre-Approved items you can choose if you Win:

(request for more options)

  • Healing Potion

  • Smoke Grenade

  • Basic Poison

  • Acid Vial

Banned Actions/Items

(Always up for discussion in the Banned Actions Thread)

  • Invulnerability

  • Feeblemind

  • Power Word Kill

  • Flesh to Stone

  • Contagion

  • Modify Memory

  • True Polymorph cannot be permanent.

  • Any spell that is one hit/save/roll and 'out', is not permitted in combat. (The crowd is not entertained).