DM Guide¶
How to become a Dungeon Master (DM)¶
To become a DM, contact a staff member after you have reached level 4 on a player character, and you will receive the apprentice DM role. As an apprentice DM, you will need to host 5 open vc sessions, then you may receive the DM role.
We recommend posting about yourself in #dm-directory while you are an active DM. At any time, if you wish to take a break from DMing, you may request the staff team to remove the DM role.
DM Rewards¶
DMs earn rewards to be applied to their own characters when they run live sessions. For a given session, a DM chooses a single character to give these rewards to. Log the session in the second tab of your Character Tracking Sheet, labeled DM Rewards. The session rewards will be automatically added to the character’s hour, gold, and DTP totals.
DMs earn hours for running live sessions at a rate of: Session Length (in hours rounded to the nearest 30 minutes) x 1.5
DMs earn DTP rewards for running live sessions at a rate of: Session Length (in hours rounded to the nearest 30 minutes) x 4
DMs earn gold rewards as specified in the DM Rewards tab of your tracking sheet when you log the session.
- This value is determined by the current level of the character that the DM is applying the session to and the length of the session.
- Gold rewards are halved for sessions running less than two hours.
- Gold rewards are multiplied by 1.5 for sessions that run for four or more hours.
- Party members may choose to split loot amongst party members however DM and members see fit.
DM Expectations¶
Do:¶
- Uphold the rules of the server.
- Give equal and generous treatment to all players.
- Make sure characters are approved and their character sheets are up to date before they play in your sessions.
- Maintain your logs in the following channels: LTH, session log, magic items log, boons log, death log
Do Not:¶
- Abuse player characters or kill them arbitrarily.
- Treat combat as You vs. Player.
- Delete the messages of other players in public channels outside of your own world category.
- Take staff duties upon yourself, such as messaging white names, approving characters, or deleting logs.
Running Live Sessions¶
To run a live session, a DM should post in # looking-to-host using the pinned template. Players may post in # looking-for-game with requests for a game to be run. We recommend including a Discord Timestamp on your LTH post to overcome time zone misunderstandings.
Please use the session difficulty labels outlined here 💬 #looking-to-host
DMs can run sessions however they see fit. The session focus may vary. All games are run in Session Lobbies and Session Lobby Text under the Live Sessions category. DMs may use any supplemental materials to run their sessions, such as streaming a tabletop simulator or inserting ambiance via music bots, provided those materials are available to all players.
Players in live sessions are expected to be in-character. You cannot proxy as your in-real-life self, nor host a session for such play. Please use the ooc Misc (Out of Character) voice channels for ooc hanging out, watching movies, or any ooc activity that does not impact PC development.
Session Loot¶
DMs can offer rewards for their session as they see fit, up to the allowable loot value shown in the DM Rewards tab of their tracking sheet when they log the session. * Homebrew items given as session rewards can only be used in that DM’s world, except at other DMs’ discretion. * DMs can give less than the allowable loot value. This is a maximum value. Note that DMs cannot give items that are above the character’s tier.
Solo Sessions¶
DMs may run 1-on-1 sessions with the following restrictions (these are automatically calculated when you check the “solo” box in the DM tracking sheet): * Player gold-equivalent loot maximum reduced to ½ of normal maximum allowance. * DM gold-reward reduced to ½ and be calculated as a player (no "DM multiplier" on gold reward).
This conversion is completed automatically in the DM Rewards.
Session Hours & Tracking¶
The number of hours played is calculated by rounding to the nearest half hour and the average party level (APL) is rounded to the nearest whole number.
A DM may choose to charge DTP for activities a character participates in during one of their sessions.
Following every session, a DM must post in #session-log using the provided template. It is important to do this ASAP following a session.
Please note: in order to be counted in a session and gain loot and hours, you must play for at least one full hour.
Astral Oasis Sessions¶
Sessions taking place within The Starry Shore are referred to as “social sessions.” Normally role-play-centric, they may be set within the fight club, main street, Astral Oasis, VIP buildings, or other parts of The Starry Shore. These kinds of sessions don't reward players with any gold, and DMs have to log it in their sheets with the box in the middle that says solo/lounge.
Creating and Running a Text Roleplay World¶
DMs can create a Text Roleplay (TRP) World to interact with player characters. TRP worlds that have been inactive for 60+ days will be archived (and eventually deleted).
To apply for a TRP world, please fill out the following template and post it in #trp-world-directory .
**Name of DM:**
**World Name and Requested Room Number:**
**PvP Allowed (Yes, No, With Consent):**
**NSFW (Yes, No):**
**Firearms (Yes, No):**
**Expected Response Rate (30min, 3hr, Daily, Weekly):**
**Player Limit (if any):**
**Number of Channels (up to five to start, not including announcements):**
**Names and Order of Channels Requested:**
**Era/Style (high fantasy, primordial, modern, post-modern, etc):**
**Types of Play (combat, intrigue, social, etc):**
**2-4 Sentence Description:**