Shared Campaign Variant Rules
Source: Xanathar’s Guide to Everything p. 173
A shared campaign might use some variant rules to handle certain aspects of the game. The Adventurers League, for instance, has variant systems for gaining levels and acquiring treasure. These “house rules,” presented below, serve as a sort of common language, ensuring that the rewards all characters receive are equivalent no matter what kind of adventure a character experienced.
Character Advancement
In a shared campaign, characters gain levels not by accumulating experience points but by reaching experience checkpoints. This system rewards every character (and player) for taking part in a play session.
A character reaches 1 checkpoint for each hour an adventure is designed to last. Note that the award is based on the adventure’s projected playing time, rather than the actual time spent at the table. The reward for completing an adventure designed for 2 hours of play is 2 checkpoints, even if a group spends more than 2 hours playing through it.
If a character completes an adventure designed for a tier higher than the character’s current tier, the character is awarded 1 additional checkpoint. For example, if a 2nd-level character completes a 6th-level adventure designed to take 2 hours, the character reaches 3 checkpoints.
Playing time might seem like an odd way to measure experience awards, but the concept is in keeping with how a shared campaign is meant to work. A character played for 10 hours reaches the same number of checkpoints, whether the character went up against a dragon or spent all that time lurking in a pub. This approach ensures that a player’s preferred style is neither penalized nor rewarded. Whether someone focuses on roleplaying and social interaction, defeating monsters in combat, or finding clever ways to avoid battles, this system gives credit where credit is due.
Using Checkpoints
The number of checkpoints needed to gain the next level depends on a character’s level:
- At levels 1–4, reaching 4 checkpoints is sufficient to advance to the next level.
- At level 5 or higher, reaching 8 checkpoints is needed to advance to the next level.
At the end of a play session, characters must level up if they have reached enough checkpoints to do so. The required number of checkpoints is expended, and any remaining checkpoints are applied toward the next opportunity for advancement.
Individual Treasure
In a shared campaign, each character receives a fixed number of gold pieces upon gaining a new level. (This gain represents the treasure a character might find in a standard adventure.)
As an additional benefit, characters are not required to put out gold to maintain a lifestyle. Instead, each character begins with a modest lifestyle, which improves as the character attains higher levels.
These benefits are summarized on the Individual Treasure table. Ways for characters to spend their treasure are covered in the “Buying and Selling” section below.
Individual Treasure
| Level Gained | Lifestyle | Reward |
|---|---|---|
| 2-4 | Modest | 75 gp |
| 5-10 | Comfortable | 150 gp |
| 11-16 | Wealthy | 550 gp |
| 17-20 | Aristocratic | 5,500 gp |
| ^individual-treasure |
Magic Items
Characters earn treasure points from adventures, then redeem those points in exchange for magic items. The list of available magic items is agreed to and compiled by the DMs running the campaign.
Gaining Treasure Points
Each character earns treasure points based on an adventure’s tier and its intended playing time:
- 1 treasure point is awarded for every 2 hours played in a tier 1 or tier 2 adventure.
- 1 treasure point is awarded for every 1 hour played in a tier 3 or tier 4 adventure.
As with the variant rules for gaining levels, this award is based on the adventure’s projected playing time, rather than the actual time a group spent at the table.
If a character completes an adventure of a tier higher than that character’s tier, the character receives 1 additional treasure point for that adventure.
Creating an Item List
The DMs of the shared campaign should work together to compile a list of magic items that players can purchase. The magic item tables in chapter 2 of this book and in chapter 7 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide are the obvious starting point. Choosing which items to allow or ban is a matter of personal preference, just as it is for the DM in a standard campaign. Involving all the DMs helps to ensure that the list meets everyone’s expectations. When in doubt, disallow an item; it’s easier to add it to the available items at a later time than it would be to remove it from the game once it has been handed out.
Naturally, the list of available items is longer for adventures in the higher tiers, and the point cost of those higher-tier items likewise increases. The Magic Items by Tier table provides the details.
For instance, treasure points from a tier 1 adventure can be spent on items from tables A, B, C, and F. Any item on the first three tables costs 4 points, and an item from table F costs 8 points.
Magic Items by Tier
| Magic Item Table | Available at Tiers | Point Cost |
|---|---|---|
| A | 1–4 | 4 |
| B | 1–4 | 4 |
| C | 1–4 | 4 |
| D | 2–4 | 8 |
| E | 3–4 | 8 |
| F | 1–4 | 8 |
| G | 2–4 | 10 |
| H | 3–4 | 10 |
| I | 3–4 | 12 |
| ^magic-items-by-tier |
Spending Treasure Points
Players must spend treasure points at the end of a play session, immediately after determining whether their characters have gained a level. The order of these steps is important, since a character might enter a new tier because of the level gain.
Players are entitled to choose any approved item from one of the magic item tables available in the current tier. Treasure points can be spread across multiple items.
Many items cost more treasure points than a character can earn in a 2- or 4-hour adventure. To buy such an item, a character can make a deposit, spending treasure points on the item until it’s paid off, at which time the character gains the item.
Buying and Selling
Characters can use their monetary treasure to purchase anything from the equipment lists in chapter 5 of the “Player’s Handbook”. In addition, the Adventurers League allows characters to purchase potions and spell scrolls, as detailed below. A spell scroll can be purchased only by a character who is capable of casting the spell in question.
Selling Items
In a shared campaign, characters are not entitled to sell items they find on adventures or equipment they purchase with their personal funds. Weapons, armor, and other gear used by enemies are considered too damaged to have any monetary value.