FAQ 1.5 (Updated 3/24/20)
We have returned from Winter Fantasy! Good times were had and lessons were learned. Updates to this page will be coming before the release of Season 2 mods on Friday 2/14!
1. What adventures can I play/run?
All Season modules from any of the Living Tal’Dorei seasons are legal to be played in any order (Tier Appropriate). You may play an adventure more than once but it must be with a different character. This also applies to all Trial Of Heroes.
2. Do my characters remain legal after a season ends?
Yes. You can play any character in any season module that is tier appropriate in any order if you so choose.
3. What Counts as a Living Tal’Dorei Module?
Any module released as part of a Season or it’s corresponding Trial of Heroes. The Trials may not be run without sanctioning by the admins of Living Tal’Dorei. Running without sanctioning invalidates all characters and instantly retires them.
4. How many players can I have at my table?
Living Tal’Dorei modules are designed to accommodate a table of 3-7 players. Any more or less cannot be run.
5. What rules do I use?
Optional rules from the Dungeon Master’s Guide (such as flanking) and optional rules from Xanathar’s Guide are not legal for Living Tal’Dorei play. House rules are not allowed. For guidance follow the Player’s Handbook. As an aside the Variant Human is allowed. When making a new character you must use either Point Buy or Standard Array. Rolling for stats is NEVER allowed as it opens the door for abuse.
6. Are Matthew Mercer’s classes legal to play?
Blood Hunter is legal as of Season 2.
7. Legal Races.
All official 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons hardcover, printed source books are legal for play. The only restricted races at this time are:
- Aaracockra
- Winged Tiefling
- Warforged
- Centaur
- Loxodon
8. Can I use older editions (i.e. 2nd Edition or 3.5)?
No, 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons rules are the only rules allowable for Living Tal’Dorei play.
9. What about Sage Advice or other sources of outside guidance?
The only legal clarifications come from the Living Tal’Dorei admins.
10. How about Unearthed Arcana?
It is by definition play test material and as a whole unbalanced and unpolished. None of it is legal for Living Tal’Dorei play. The same goes for player created classes and races from DM’s guild and the D&D WIKI they are not allowed in any form or shape.
11. Do I need to maintain a log sheet?
Absolutely. Tracking your gold, items, Faction Honor and Rank, and Off Hours will all be relevant. As we have had personal experience going back and trying to piece them together we assure you it is a pain and you would be far better off keeping track each game. The less than a minute it takes will save you a headache later.
12. Am I required to have a Faction?
No but you will miss out on the benefits if you make that choice. Factions matter in Tal’Dorei and choosing to ignore them will have an impact on your progression. Tier one of Season Two introduces
- The Claret Orders
- The Alsfarin Union
- The Clasp is returning from Season 1
13. Faction Ranks
- Rank 1- 4 Honor
- Rank 2- 5 Honor 1 Special Mission
- Rank 3- 10 Honor 3 Special Mission
- Rank 4- 25 Honor 5 Special Mission
- Rank 5- 50 Honor 8 Special Mission
14. What about the PHB+1 Rule used in other organized play systems?
There isn’t one. Go nuts.
15. Can I be related to or a member of Vox Machina?
No. Only the cast of Critical Role or Matthew Mercer hold that right. Should anyone try the character is invalid. Furthermore no NPC can hand you treasure, story awards, or group affiliation aside from what is listed in the printed material. This does not include trinkets. GM’s are not empowered to add anyone to Vox Machina nor hand out/make available NPC items.
16. Do spells and effects carry over between Modules?
No. All spell effects, saved spell slots, used potions and scrolls expire at the end of every module and cannot be carried between modules. All abilities with a cool down are active at the start of every module (i.e. Divine Intervention)
17. Speaking of Divine Intervention….
It is not Wish. A player using Divine Intervention cannot use it in any way that provides a permanent character benefit. You may not grant stat boosts, magic items of any sort, damage resistance or immunities outside what is listed as an existing 8th level spell or LOWER. If used for a Resurrection it still applies as if casting normally. Gold and Off Hours costs must be paid and the recipient must log the use of the resurrection magic on their log sheet.
18. Speaking of Wish…
This is not permanent yet but Season 2 will include Tier 4 play so its a build affecting issue. For now Wish cannot be used to gain any type of Permanent Benefit (included but not limited to resistances, items and stat bumps). This is intended to reduce the scaling of parties with access to Wish so we can tailor challenging modules for everyone.
We welcome feedback to help make a fair and equitable decision.
19. Magic Item Trading.
You may trade items of equal tier between your own characters or someone else’s at a cost of 10 Off Hours. If you are grouped with someone in a module you may trade same tier items without this cost. If you are trading items to Gilmore’s Glorious Goods at a convention or sanctioned epic there is no OH cost. All trades must be logged in your sheet.
20. A Friend In Need (James Arkesh).
This is the story award for the Introduction module of Season 2. James is both the in between module spell casting services and epic merchant available for Season Two. You may make a purchase EITHER (not both) before the module begins or after the module has concluded. There is a provided list of goods you may purchase that will vary depending on the story and the specific module.
21. Purchasing items from your Faction.
This is a feature we intend to open up based on player feedback from mods.
22. Crafting Potions and Scrolls.
Currently not allowed but we intend to change over time.
23. Percy uses guns. How about players?
It’s stated in the campaign guide that guns are not widely available and this includes proficiency in their use. That being said we DO have plans to incorporate them and the Gunslinger class and their use in play will be a feature of an upcoming Season.
So, no they are not available for use today but they will be in the future. How fast and to what degree will depend on the players of Living Tal’Dorei.
24. The Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount
Living Tal’Dorei takes place in the time between Campaign 1 of Critical Role and Campaign 2. That puts LT (as of today at least) about 22 years behind the events of the Explorer’s Guide. We may open parts of it up over time but there are things that aren’t available on Tal’Dorei (Here’s looking at you Dunamancy) and would destroy the timeline’s canon if allowed free reign.
25. Tal’Dorei Specific Class Archetypes and Feats
All class archetypes and backgrounds within the Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting are legal.
The following feats are not legal for play
- Dual-Focused
- Mystic Conflux
- Spelldriver
Errata for the feat Mending Affinity is as follows.
- Mending Affinity: When a player uses a healer’s kit to stabilize a dying target ,it also adds in the benefit of healer’s feat if they have it. In that case the heal would be 4+ 1d6+ Player’s level+ player’s proficiency bonus.
26. The Vestiges of Divergence.
Having them at any time makes your character illegal and ineligible for Living Tal’Dorei play.
27. I died. Now what?
Death is more severe in the world of Exandria. There is no limit to the number of times Revivify can be used on a player. More permanent death is a different issue. Each Character may only receive the benefit of a Raise Dead, Resurrection, or True Resurrection once ever.
The only Caveat to this is each player under level 5 (So 4 and below) who dies and is part of a faction gets a free raise dead one time. This does not count towards your total but only works once and before level 5.
Even if said player only needs a lesser version of the spell. Each spell has a Off Hours and gold cost. The gold may be split among the party or paid solely by the dead player. No player is required to kick in gold for someone else’s resurrection.
The Off Hours and gold costs are as follows:
- Raise Dead 50 Off Hours and 1250 gold
- Resurrection 100 Off Hours and 10,000 gold
- True Resurrection 150 Off Hours and 45,000 gold.
GM rewards can be applied to dead characters to aid in the purchase of unused Resurrection magic. When cast it is up to the GM to ensure the costs are paid and it is properly logged.
28. Vampirism and Lycanthropy.
Both conditions retire your character until they are removed. No exceptions.
29. Can I make a custom background?
No. With abolishing the PHB+1 rule and actively attempting to incorporate backgrounds into the story allowing custom backgrounds for Season 1 had to be put on hold. We are willing to revisit it after we see what builds emerge from there being no PHB +1 Rule.
So far we have seen no abuses and are considering how to bring custom backgrounds into play.
30. Which Spells can I learn and how?
Spells are a class option; any new spells learned by advancing in a class or by feats are subject to Off Hours and component cost. Characters that can prepare spells from a spellbook may copy spells by spending the required gold and Off Hours. Spells with a component that is consumed in the casting must be prepared for ahead of time.
Example: Heroes Feast: you must already have the 1200gp bowl before attempting to cast the spell and it’s use removes the bowl from your inventory.
With that being said you may learn any spell your class is capable of knowing regardless of the book it is from. It must be a Wizards of The Coast book (IE Elemental Evil for Booming Blade/Green Flame Blade) and cannot come from any homebrew source. So long as you meet the requirements for having it. Getting the components to cast it however is on you and any/all costs must be paid and logged.
If you are a wizard you may use Off Hours to learn spells from spellbooks or scrolls. Each single Off Hour represents an adventuring day (so 8 hours for the purposes of copying spells). Each spell level is 2 hours of that spent Off Hour. So banishment would be a 4th level spell and cost 8 hours thus taking up one adventuring day. You would spend 1 Off Hour to learn banishment. In addition, for each level of each spell you must spend 50gp. This cost represents the material components you expend while experimenting with the spell as well as the fine inks to scribe it. Once you have spent the money and Off Hours you may prepare the spell like any other you already own.
If you are spending Off Hours we highly recommend you wait until you can learn spell levels equal to the Off Hours you are spending as to not waste them. Unspent time from your adventuring days are lost so make sure you’re learning enough to match what you’re spending!
31. Destroying Magic Items.
Simply put, you cannot. Throwing something into a chasm, or lava, or any other way that would normally destroy an item does not remove it from your count. As items with non permanent charges become available this guidance will change.
32. Consumable Magic Items.
Scrolls and Potions cannot be traded among characters but you may hand them to someone to use. When you do so remove it from your sheet. Anything unused by the end of the Module reverts back to it’s original owner.
33. Pets/Familiars/Animated Creatures and Magic Items.
Some people like making skeletons or having pets. That’s fine. If you do so they may wear magic items that do not require attunement. If you choose to they may wear an attunable item but it will count against the 3 per player maximum as if the player themselves were wearing it (i.e. you cannot wear 3 attuned items and give one to your pet).
34. Can I forgo my share of the loot?
You can but due to shenanigans previously attempted we must count all treasure as equally shared between all party members regardless of who actually takes a share. Whether you take or leave that treasure is up to you but no one can claim more than their share. Unclaimed portions go away.
35. Can I Perform Off Hours Activities while dead?
Getting Raised or Resurrected? Absolutely.
Trading items off your character or doing anything Faction related? No.
36. GM Quests.
GM’s receive experience, gold, Off Hours, and Honor from running each module. In addition, they can receive specific rewards from hitting milestones called GM Quests (listed here). The time and effort required to run the game should not negatively impact the person willing to sit in the chair. The exact nature of these Quests varies from season to season and modules by tier. Please make sure to log your GM sessions to keep track of your rewards.
37. How long can I keep Unclaimed Rewards?
All rewards must be spent before the start of each new season.
38. How do I apply the Rewards?
All components must be applied to the same character at the same time. So gold, Off Hours, Experience, and Faction Honor all count even if you would want to split them up. These can be applied to dead characters but they still fall under the restrictions of being dead until the full gold and Off Hours cost is paid. If a character is beyond needing True Resurrection GM rewards cannot be applied. The same goes for retired characters.
39. Mixed Tier Parties.
All players must be within the tier of the module or event being run. The first Trial of Heroes will feature mixed tier tables but it is specific to that event.
40. Can I award Milestone Experience?
No. Only the listed module rewards can be given out. That being said trinkets can be handed out so long as they provide no mechanical benefit, are limited to one per module max and is worth no more than 3gp.
41. What if someone does not play the entire session?
They gain none of the benefits of the module but are not locked from it. If they were already locked they are not allowed to play any part of the module.
42. Random table rolls.
There are none. As of this writing there is no intent for there to ever be any. Existing hardcover adventures for 5th Edition are not legal for Living Tal’Dorei play.
43. Becoming an Event Organizer.
Download the free modules and run them for your group or for strangers. It’s as simple as that. Don’t forget logs.
44. Organizing a Trial of Heroes
If you are a convention organizer you may request to host the Mid Season Trial, End Season Trial or both. All requests will be handled via the website.
45. Recent Errata
When we decided to make the Ravnica and Ebberon books legal it creates some issues we intend to solve here.
- Double Scimitar is not legal for LT play.
- Ravnica specific guild backgrounds are not legal as the guilds do not exist in Exandria.
46. Using Off Hours to level up to a new Tier. You may only use Off Hours to gain these specific levels.
Going from level 4 to level 5 costs 25 Off Hours
Going from level 10 to level 11 costs 90 Off Hours
Going from level 16 to level 17 costs 150 Off Hours
More will be added to this section as we are made aware of it.
Living Tal'dorei 