The Dark Order is a West-Marches-style game run with a pool of players/DMs without a regular schedule. Whenever a DM has an idea for a session, they can post it as a contract to the guild notice board (date/time, players needed, brief description) and form a party to set out on an adventure. Suppose a weekly table has to be canceled due to players being unable to make it. In that case, a short-notice Dark Order contract will usually be announced (inviting other guild members to join the party). Hopefully, a game can happen in their standard table time anyway.

If you’d like to join the guild (as a player, a DM, or both), visit the Discord server’s Sign-Up channel in the Dark Order section. If you’ve always fancied having a go at DMing a game, the guild is a great place to experiment, letting you try running a game in a low-risk and friendly environment with low-level characters and many experienced players who will be delighted to help you get started.

The Guild is based in a tavern in the frontier city of Arcania, and from here, bands of adventurers make their way out to deal with local threats, rescue lost citizens, or explore and investigate rumors.

The guild is a low-level organization (started at player level 3, now 14), and progression will be slow to keep both frequent and occasional players at around the same level – character experience earned is capped per contract to the level of the guild. Once enough contracts have been completed by the whole guild. Every member will earn enough XP to bump everyone to the next player level.

Character Creation

• General Rules apply to games at this table.
• Players start at Level 14 (XP System)
• Players will use the Standard Array ability score system (No Point Buy or Rolling Stats).
• Players cannot apply multiple racial ability bonuses to a single score.
• HP is Fixed Formula (no rolling for HP).
• All published Races, Feats, Classes, Sub-Classes, or Archetypes by Wizards of the Coast are usable for character creations. If you would like a list to view for all that is viable for creation, refer to the links below. Critical Role content is also available for character creation, but only what has been published on DnD Beyond for Races and Classes.
  • Approved Races
  • Approved Classes
• Players cannot use UA or Homebrew content for character creation.
• Races or Variants now marked as a legacy after the publication of Monsters of the Multiverse are not usable in creation for characters.
• Tasha’s Cauldron Customize your Origin features are approved for usage for Races and Classes.
• Players will receive a free Feat when creating their character, except for Variant Human or Custom Lineage races. Instead, they get an extra +2 racial ability bonus to a chosen score.
• Players will need to create a custom background called The Dark Order and will receive the following benefits for the background. Choose any other background feature/characteristics for cosmetic flavor (or leave blank, no mechanical benefits can be gained).
  • Choose two skills
  • Choose one tool
  • Choose one language
• One Re-spec token per character – allows a single change to a racial variant, sub-class, ability score improvement, or feat (needs admin approval).

Starting Equipment & Inventory

• Starting Class equipment only, plus flat 100 gold (NO rolling for gold instead of equipment).
• Free equipment (cannot be sold):
  • One complimentary standard potion of healing (+10 hp)
  • One complimentary pair of Goggles of Night (+60ft darkvision)
  • One complimentary Bag of Holding (1 action to retrieve item)
  • One complimentary Uncommon Magic item of your choice from the guild recipe list.
  • One +1 upgrade for a weapon, focus or shield you receive as class starting equipment
• Contracts are the only way for a player to earn gold; no downtime activity can be used to earn any income.
• Food, Water, and non-magical ammo are tracked.
• Spell components are tracked; if a component has a GP price, you must subtract from your gold in advance to use the spell (for each use if the component is consumed)
• Watch out for your Carry Weight. You’ll slow down if you are carrying too much (Standard Encumbrance rules in DDB)

Guild Shop & Crafting

• Each completed contract earns you XP, gold (fixed for current guild level), and one workweek (5 days) of downtime afterward for crafting or other character preparations.
• Buying and Crafting Magic Items is allowed (during downtime between contracts)
• The guild maintains an Item Recipe book with all items that can be purchased or crafted.
• Use the Pricing Bot in the discord server (?price keyword) to find the base price for an item
• The guild leaves a tax on top of the item cost to purchase (halved for consumable items):
  • Common (+100 GP)
  • Uncommon (+500 GP)
  • Rare (+10k GP)
  • Very Rare (+25k GP)
  • Legendary (+50k GP)
• The maximum item rarity allowed currently is Uncommon (this will change as the guild levels up)
• Firearms or Future Tech (from Renaissance/Gunslinger sets) are allowed but check with your DM for a specific contract. They are considered magic items, not mundane.
• Each character’s inventory can have a limit of 3 consumable items of the same name (e.g., spell scrolls or tattoos). Healing potions have no limit.
• If you want to sell an item to the guild, you will be refunded 1/4 of the purchase price (ignoring tax), or you can advertise for a guild auction. If the auction finishes without a sale above the guild buy-back price, the guild will buy the item for this price. Items cannot be exchanged for free or for less than this amount.
• Crafting requires the right tools and proficiency with them.
• The material cost to craft is 1/2 the purchase price (ignoring tax) if the item recipe is known to the guild.
• You must have saved up enough downtime to craft (using Xanathar’s time guide per rarity)
• If characters do not have the necessary downtime or tool proficiency, they can ask another character to craft for them. Still, they must pay them at least the material cost (and the seller may charge an agreed extra price for the downtime labor used if they wish).
• If you own a magic item, the guild does not yet have a recipe for it and has the necessary tools and proficiency, and you can spend downtime equal to the item’s standard crafting time to work out the recipe. This recipe can be added then to the guild recipe book.
• Coating natural weapons with metal (e.g., claws, teeth) is possible but will cost four times the standard cost to coat a weapon (like barding). The guild leveled this price and cannot be reduced by crafting.

Multiple Characters per Player

• You can have up to 3 active characters.
• Any contract rewards are only applied to the character that took part (gold, XP, downtime)
• If your character dies or retires, their items and gold are lost. Get a guild council member to approve your new character.

House Rules

• Healing Potions heal for maximum (no need to roll):
  • Common is 10hp
  • Uncommon (Greater Healing) is 20hp
  • Rare (Superior Healing) is 40hp
  • Very Rare (Supreme Healing) is 60hp
• Drinking or administering a healing potion can be an Action or a Bonus Action.
• Any items attuned by creatures under your control count against your character’s attunement slots (usually three total)
• Each player’s turn should be completed in two minutes; use the time between turns to plan your next move.
• If you have multiple creatures under your control, work with admins to build macros to speed up attacks or actions.
• Player Critical Hits do maximum damage.
• An attack roll matching the target’s AC is a glancing blow that does half the damage.
• The player rolling skill or ability check:
  • a natural 20 is a +5 bonus
  • a natural 1 is a -5 penalty
• Player rolling Initiative:
  • a natural 20 gives an advantage on the first attack
  • a natural 1 is a disadvantage on the first attack
• Priority for game places will be given to players who have not played recently – so only reserve a place if you haven’t played in the last week, otherwise, use the backup option to indicate you are available to play if there are spaces left when the contract starts.