Table Rules

[ccs]

1) Don't be a jerk.
Being one & playing one are separate things. The latter might help make an interesting story. The former will get you the boot.

2) Participate.

3) Have a backstory.
Unless specified, you must have some sort of backstory. You don't need to write a novel or a 10k year family tree or such, just something. Say...6 sentences? Especially if you're looking to play one of the more uncommon races/classes in our game. You don't even need to be honest about it/share with the other players (though that's appreciated & helps), just the DM.

4) Don't cheat.

5) If you can't make it, let us/the DM know.

6) If the games being run at the shop 2 more caveats apply:
a) Keep it PG13. This rule comes from the shop owner & applies to all of us. It's a tiny price to pay for use of the space.
b) Be aware that while I can't boot you from the shop (I'm neither owner nor employee), I CAN boot you from the game I'm running & refuse you a seat in future games I run.

 

[S'mon]

1. I usually GM at a pub, so behavioural norms should be appropriate to a fairly nice pub in southern England. And please spend some cash.
2. Don't tell other players how to play their PCs. Explaining how character abilities work if they don't know is fine, as is offering suggestions on request, but no OOC "go there do that"

 

[delericho]

Hmm. Turns out I had more than I thought...

1) We're here to play. If you want to be here and want to play the game, you're welcome! If you don't want to be here, the door is over there.

2) This game is open to anyone who wants to play. Racist, sexist, or bullying behaviour won't be accepted. (Caveat: you can play a character who is racist, sexist, or whatever, but see rule 3.)

3) Your character is your responsibility. Whether you're playing a Chaotic Evil Assassin, a holier-than-thou Paladin, or anything in between, you can choose to play your character in a way that makes the game more fun for others, or less fun. If you choose the latter, you're out. (As stated in one of the top replies to this thread, "I was just playing my character" is not an excuse for being a jerk.)

4) Rape and child abuse will not feature "on screen". Even in an otherwise no-holds-barred evil campaign, those two topics are strictly off-limits - there's too much real-world trauma associated with them, and you don't know where everyone else around the table is coming from.

5) Each game will have an agreed age limit (which defaults to a nice steady PG-13, but may vary). Moderate your behaviour accordingly. That goes double if playing in a public place.

6) Get on with it! We don't have long to play, and I'd rather spend that time actually playing than waiting on you choosing the absolutely perfect action for your character.

A recent addition:

7) If another player describes an action, you can't immediately jump in with the statement "before he does that I'll..." and describe an action to negate or prevent what he was doing.

 

[smbakeresq]

A “rule” that my group uses is to use sportsmanship not gamesmanship. The spirit of the rules matter more important than anything else.

This mostly comes into play because the DM has more to do then any PC does so as a player you need to assist him. If the DM forgets that his creature should be attacking with advantage or forgets that his creatures are under a bless spell, tell them, stuff like that.

Most things along the sportsmanship line are players identifying things that are detrimental for the PC group that for some reason slip by. Don’t take advantage those as a player, it’s poor form.


Otherwise Iserith pretty much covered it.

 

[GlassJaw]

1. I usually GM at a pub, so behavioural norms should be appropriate to a fairly nice pub in southern England. And please spend some cash.

OMG I want to play. In London no less! One of my favorite cities.

 

[AkaKageWarrior]

Our first two -
No smokers ...
No alcohol
All games are PG-13, respect the boundaries.
Minimize swearing, even in character (See PG 13 above).

No to the above!
We are all some decent guy, but sometimes it's great to behave like a 17-year-old.
But it usually doesn't get out of bounds.

...
These pretty much are group consensus - and this group has been together for 20+ years. It works for us.

Same here, and it works!

Playing with another friend and his and my kids, yes, then we have about the same rules.

 

[BlackSeed_Vash]

[1] Evil characters are fine, but you are not allowed to intentionally harm your fellow players directly or indirectly. You are however, allow to do something that screws the entire party as long as you are caught in the blast radius too. Exception to this rule is the final session/epilogue. A few times a player has tried to cross the line on this rule, where I give them the ultimatum to either stop or hand over the character as NPC that I consult them on.

[2] Names must reflect to tone of the game. Blatant joke names for silly games, which are usually one shots; realistic or clever names for everything else.

[3a] You aren't allowed to drink alcohol unless your character is also drinking.
[3b] No alcoholic characters.

[4] No internet unless looking up something directly tied to the game. This helps to minimize the amount of derailing the game mid-session.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Aww man, I guess eleven-year-old me has to take his fighter named Beowulf home…

My table rules are:

• Racism, sexism, homophobia, and the like have no place at my table. Engage in any of this and you’ll be gone.
• No cheating. This gets you a warning, then dismissal.
• No PvP. No attacking another PC, nor dice rolls against them. I’ve never had anyone press that issue, so I don’t know how I’d respond if someone repeatedly tried to attack their fellow PCs.
• Finally, while I get that life gets in the way from time to time, I expect commitment from my players. I don’t put in all the effort I do to bring the game to life and make it fun for people to be a “if I have nothing else going on, I guess I’ll show up” thing. Ditch gaming too often and you’ll find yourself not invited back.

3). No iconic Names. Same recommendation. Don't name your barbarian Conan or your wizard Merlin or Gangalf because your character is unique. You'll get tired of explaining, 'no, not that Conan.'

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

In general we have few rules, mostly unsaid assumptions of basic decency. Don't invite new people to the group without checking, including your relatives. Don't pour yourself a shot and not check to see if the DM needs one too. Don't talk politics! Because yeah we know Joe thinks anyone to the right of Karl Marx is a nazi but we don't need to hear it for the 10000th time! If you are going to miss try to let everyone know. But we are all long time friends so its kind of like the pirate code.