Guild Ventures
Code of Conduct
A focus on Team Play and bringing enjoyment to the entire table is paramount for the success of Gryphon Guild Ventures.
If you encounter a player who you believe violates the following Code of Conduct, please use the Player Reporting response form to alert us, and we will discuss their behavior with them.
Gryphon Guild Ventures is first and foremost a social gathering. It is a chance to get together with like-minded people who want to have an adventure and a good laugh. Disruptive, antagonistic, and anti-social behavior is not tolerated and will ultimately result in expulsion from the Guild if it is not corrected. Here are a few simple rules to follow:
Play as a team. If your "character" is frustrating your fellow players, change your character. Role-playing is no excuse for causing frustration among the players. In character conflict is not an issue, and often some of the best games involve character conflict. Everyone has to be "in" on it however.
Do not control the game or other's characters. Do not tell others what they "should" do. Also, do not continuously make decisions that the entire party must then react to. If the party is discussing a stealthy approach that bores you, so you kick in the door, then you have eliminated choice from the other players at the table. They are here to play the game they want to play too. Partake in group discussions before taking actions that affect everyone.
Do not criticize or antagonize other players.
Stay focused on the game. Give the phone a rest. Even if it's not your "turn", you are missing critical information that the DM is going to end up repeating to satiate your newfound curiosity in what's going on.
Do not argue rules at the table.
Stay in character, but not that the cost of the game for everyone else. Do not bring an evil character. Do not start fights within the group.
These rules are to protect the play environment. Gryphon Guild Ventures is a pick-up style game. You don't know the other players before you sit down, so it's critical that everyone agrees to some basic concepts. You're going on an adventure together, and you're going to work together to see it done. There isn't time to explore the nuance of every character, or develop subplots that intrigue you as a player. There really isn't time for players who sabotage or delay the game with any "weirdness", so just report it if you see it.
A note on eccentric character builds:
Gryphon Guild Ventures has been treated as a sort of design playground by some players. It was never intended to be a place for players to test character builds. The goal of GGV is to allow you to make contacts within this community, and ultimately find your "tribe". People whose play style most closely matches your own. While looking for that, keep in mind that not everyone is trying to build the most powerful, most "broken", or most bizarre character imaginable. Avoid builds that stress the intention of the game. The more extreme your build, the more challenging the DM will find it to equally engage the players, and the more challenging other players will find it to interact with you.
Tips for Role-Playing
Be part of an ensemble cast, not a maverick.
The Ensemble Cast
Stay in character, know your background, and try to take the actions that serve your character's personality more than "the game".
Engage with the other player characters. The entire story should not revolve around the NPCs. Imagine if Luke, Han, and Leia never talked to each other, and the only characterization we ever saw was with the secondary characters in Star Wars. Different movies, right? Riff off what the other players are saying and doing.
Discuss things as a group.
Engage, engage, engage. Every moment of every game is a chance for to help set the tone, the pace, and the enjoyment of the game for everyone present.
The Maverick
Don't ditch the party to go off on your own. Scouting as part of the party's plan is one thing, wandering down a hallway because the rest of the party is moving too slow is another.
Don't attack because you feel like fighting. Everyone at the table has an equal right to play the game. There will be fighting. If the other players are engaging an NPC in conversation, or devising a plan of stealth and cunning, your brash action to bypass those options are denying the other players the chance to play the game.
Your "character" does not absolve you of responsibility for your actions. If the other players are annoyed at your play style, that's on you. You can build a different character.