Expeditions

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As an associate of the Round Table and resident of Onadbyr, you'll be embarking on Expeditions with others to solve problems, vanquish evil, and explore the land. An Expedition can last a single session or multiple sessions with rewards being distributed at the end of each session in the form of Experience Points, money, items, and more. When an Expedition concludes your party returns to Onadbyr.

Expeditions are generally conducted through voice-only Discord calls in conjunction with the FoundryVTT. They last an average of 3-5 hours, with some running shorter or longer on occasion. If the session is expected to last longer, the GM will inform the party as soon as possible. Occasionally, sessions are run as text-based Play-by-Posts over the course of 1-4 weeks.

How Expeditions Work

Signing up for an Expedition

Events tab 1.png

If you're here to play some TTRPGs you're going to want to be signing up for Expeditions. When a storyteller wants to run a new Expedition they'll make an Event posting in the Discord server. This Event posting will list all the necessary information needed to decide if the Expedition is a good fit for you, including the date and time, difficulty, and player character limit. The Event will also list what kind of Expedition is being run. Each different type of Expedition has unique rules and limitations. If you're interested in joining the Expedition and it is within your Tier of Play, click the Interested button for the Event. The storyteller may message you before the expedition begins to confirm if you're still interested or give any additional necessary information. If you’re unable to attend an Expedition after expressing interest make sure to let the storyteller know in advance.

During an Expedition

Once everyone has gathered at the appropriate time the storyteller will begin session. If the storyteller has any special homebrew rules or restrictions they play with at their table, this is where they'll make you aware of them. The party also picks one player to write an Expedition Log to recap the session. A session cannot run without someone volunteering to write the Expedition Log.

Ending an Expedition

Once the session ends the storyteller will distribute Expedition Rewards. This includes any rewards listed in the rewards section of the Event and anything found during play. Monetary rewards are split evenly among all characters unless the party agrees to distribute it otherwise. Any other rewards that cannot be evenly split are decided by the party. If a consensus cannot be reached the players may agree on a roll-off (Highest roll of a 1d100), otherwise the storyteller decides who gets what items.

All characters will earn the same amount of Experience Points. This EXP goes to the character that attended session unless special circumstances determine otherwise. If you earn enough EXP to level up consult the Leveling Up section for more information.

If your character has any lasting effects from the Expedition such as a curse, disease, wound, or boon, it must be treated during Downtime.

Types of Expeditions

Single Session Expedition

This is the most common type of Expedition. This Expedition begins and ends in Onadbyr without requiring and special restrictions on your character. The rewards for this Expedition are distributed at the end of the session.

Multiple Session Expedition

A multi-session Expedition will see your character locked in until its conclusion. These Expeditions last between 2-4 sessions. When an Event posting for a multiple session expedition is posted, the following will happen:

  1. The Storyteller will inform everyone of the date and time for the first session, as well as their availability for follow-up sessions within the month. Everyone will also agree on a course of action in case a player is unable to make a session. This may include handwaving the characters absence, allowing another player to take control of the character, or having the Storyteller control the character for the duration of the session.
  2. Before the beginning of the first session, the storyteller will announce which players are chosen to play out the Expedition. This is done either in a text channel or through a "session 0.5" in voice. During this organization period, the dates and times for all follow-up sessions will be agreed upon.
  3. Once everything is agreed, the Storyteller will make copies of everyone's character sheets and place them in their own FoundryVTT folder. These will be the character sheets you use for the Expeditions, and are considered separate from your original character sheet. You may still go to other Expeditions while your character is still completing a multi-session expedition.
  4. The Expedition begins with the players chosen. Each session has its own EXP reward which the Storyteller may elect to reward as a lump sum at the end of the Expedition. The Storyteller may allow new characters to join in-between sessions, these characters are only rewarded for the sessions they participated in and have lower priority for any loot or rewards for the Expedition.
  5. The expedition ends once it naturally concludes or at the start of a new month. If an expedition doesn't reach a natural conclusion due to scheduling issues, it is assumed the characters are able to safely return to the town of Onadbyr to rest and recuperate. The Storyteller may elect to continue the expedition as a Single Session Expedition or another Multiple Session Expedition at this time.

Play-By-Post Expedition

A play-by-post Expedition is one conducted entirely over text chat. This may be ideal for those that are unable to dedicate a chunk of their day to sitting down and playing, but have plenty of time to write responses. A Play-By-Post Expedition is conducted as follows:

  1. The Storyteller creates an Event and play-by-post chat in the #pbp-games discord channel. The Event will specify that the Expedition is a play-by-post expedition, as well as the individual Storyteller's guidelines on response times and participation.
  2. Once the Event begins the Storyteller announces with a ping who is participating in the Expedition. The Storyteller may elect to allow other characters to assist or interact in the play-by-post game, however those characters are ineligible for any rewards. Players are expected to reply frequently to the prompts presented by the Storyteller and other players. A Storyteller may warn you if the frequency of your responses are slowing down the game based on their expected response times detailed in the original Event. For repeated offenses a Storyteller may elect to remove your character from the play-by-post. This is treated as if you were unable to attend the session and are ineligible for rewards.
  3. Rolls may be required by the Storyteller. They may choose to require screenshots of rolls from within the FoundryVTT or for you to announce a result. If the Storyteller predicts the party may expend resources, they may choose to make a copy of everyone's character sheets to store in their FoundryVTT folder which will be used for the duration of the Expedition.
  4. Once a play-by-post Expedition concludes, rewards are distributed as per a Single Session Expedition. The Storyteller will then archive the #pbp-games chat and mark it as completed.

Creating an Expedition

This section is an introduction for Storytellers on how to best prepare and organize an Expedition.

Preparing your Concept

When creating an outline for your Expedition, it's important to follow a few guidelines.

Remember that Expeditions should start and end in Onadbyr. If you're unsure how to plan out your session length you can follow the guidelines below developed by Storyteller Foster.

  • Begin Expedition
  • ~30 Minutes: Character introductions (if needed), mission briefing, last minute shopping
  • ~30 Minutes: Travel to the location, any in-character RP, foreshadowing and describing the first scene
  • ~1 Hour: First encounter. Either a combat at approximately medium/hard difficulty, exploration with something new to be discovered, or social encounter that leads to decision making and player interaction.
  • ~1 Hour: Second encounter. The main objective of the mission should be accomplished here through another combat, exploration, or social encounter.
  • ~1 Hour: Journey back, wrap up the Expedition results, conclude any final roleplay or actions, and distribute rewards for the Expedition.
  • End Expedition

Following this outline will give you an approximately 4 hour Expedition to fit nicely into the Single Session Expedition format.

Importing into FoundryVTT

Follow the Storyteller section of the FoundryVTT Deep Dive for any questions you have have about importing assets and constructing your Expedition in the virtual tabletop.

Creating an Event Listing

Once everything is prepared, create an event in the Discord with your Expedition listing:

  1. Click the "Events" tab at the top of the channels list
  2. Click "Create Event"
  3. If your game takes place in a voice chat, select one of the Game Rooms as the room the Event will take place in. If your game is a Play-by-Post, select the #pbp-games text channel.
  4. Include the following information in your event posting:
  • Date and Time. When is the expedition going to be run, and for how long is it estimated to last?[1]
  • Location. Where in the world is the Event taking place? Does it take place in a previously explored town, dungeon, or location that characters can research ahead of time?
  • Commissioner. Is the Expedition commissioned by the town or perhaps an interested third-party or faction?
  • Difficulty. What Tier of Play and Difficulty is the Expedition designed for? Higher difficulty may mean better rewards but also more risk.
  • Player Cap. How many characters are allowed to join the mission? Are there any reserved spots for other characters?
  • Downtime Days. How many total days of time will the expedition take? Each IRL month is 90 days in-game. Try to keep travel time realistic but reasonable. If any part of the travel is particularly easy, you don't need to count it towards the downtime used, but it is at the GM's discretion.
  • Objectives. List out what the commissioner wants accomplished for the Expedition to be considered a success.
  1. (Optionally) upload a cover image to represent your Expedition.
  2. Once you've reviewed your Event posting and determined everything is correct, click "Create Event". You may also copy the Event link and post it in the #notice-board Discord channel. You are only allowed to ping the Resident role if there is at least 24 hours until your Expedition begins.

Keep an eye on who expresses interest in your event and send them any relevant information they'll need before your expedition. Coordinate with players on who is in the Expedition and who is on the wait-list.

Event Description Template

Copy/paste this template into the Event Description.

**Location:**
**Commissioner:**
**Difficulty:**
**Player Cap:**
**Downtime Days:**
**Objectives:**

Cleaning Up

  • After your Expedition is over make sure to navigate to the event and "End the Event".
  • Remind all your players about their rewards and make sure an Expedition Log is posted.
  • Document your Expedition for other Storytellers. If a new location, concept, or potentially reoccurring NPC was introduced make sure to make a wiki article about it and inform other Storytellers of it.
  • Clean up your FoundryVTT folders as detailed in the FoundryVTT Deep Dive.

Expedition Logs

Expedition Logs are proof that Expeditions happened. If an Expedition Log is not posted for a given session, the XP is invalid. Someone will be assigned the Expedition Log at the beginning of the Expedition.

Expedition Logs can be written in or out-of-character. The only requirement is that all relevant information is included in the Log. This means that a Log written in-character must also include things that happened that they weren't a part of (within reason).

To create an Expedition Log in the wiki, search for the exact title of the session. For example, if I were looking to create the log for the session "Component Collection 3", I would search for "Component Collection 3". Then click the link within "Create the page [link] on this wiki!"

In the text box, paste the following Infobox template:


{{Infobox expedition log
| title =
| date =
| storyteller =
| tier_of_play =
| player_characters =
| rewards =
| result =
| author =
| downtime_days =
}}
(single sentence describing what the expedition was for)
== Log ==
(full log)


Note: The 'Author' can be either the character or the player, though it's recommended to have the player name in parentheses if the character name is listed.

Once the Expedition Log is complete, click the 'Save Page' button.

Add the link to the Expedition Logs page under the proper month using the following template:


* [[Name of Session]], date, one sentence summary. Days of downtime: X


Paste the link to the new Expedition Log in the #psychic-link channel of the Discord and ping (@) the GM who ran the session to let them know it's been completed and to receive 1 Karma.

  1. ↑ The Events tab localizes to the time on each computer, meaning the displayed time is always accurate to your clock.
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