Player's Guide to Liberterra

This page provides you with the rules for creating and advancing characters within the Salt Lake County Library's Liberterra setting. Characters are bounty and treasure hunters working for a mysterious organization called The Arcane Institute, which exists on a demi-plane called Liberterra. Characters are sent out by the Book Keepers to prevent disasters across the multiverse, both by changing outcomes of events, and by capturing powerful artifacts that could be dangerous in the wrong hands.

What Books Should I Use to Create my Character?

You can use the non-optional rules found in the Player's Handbook, the Basic Rules, and all of the player character options from the books listed below. If a rule has been reprinted in a newer source book, use the latest printing's version of the rule.

You may also use the rules found in the following digital publications:

We do allow for visual customization of options found in the books. This means changing the look of an option, without changing the mechanics of how the option works. For example, if I wanted my character to have a gun, I could choose a ranged weapon that my character can use, and make it look like a gun. It would function like the ranged weapon I chose in combat, but look like a gun. Another example, if I want my human to be a catgirl, they can look like a human with cat ears and a tail, but have the features and traits of a regular human character. If you make visual customizations like this to your character, please let your DM know at the beginning of your game session.

Creating a Level 1 Character

Step 1: Choose a Race or Lineage

Choose a race for your character from the races found in the approved book list. You can also choose to use one of the variant or optional rules found in these books, including the "Customizing Your Origin" rules found in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything.

Step 2: Choose a Class

Choose a class for your character from the classes found in the approved book list. You can also use the following optional rules to customize your class:

Step 3: Determine Ability Scores

Your ability scores are generated using one of the following methods:

Step 4: Describe your character

Give life to your character. Describe how they look, what their personality is like, and give them a background. Feel free to flesh out their backstory as much or as little as you want.

Background. Choose a background from the list of approved books, or customize your background using the rules from the Player's Handbook.

Alignment. Choose a non-evil alignment.

Deities. Your character can choose to worship any deity listed in the approved books. Clerics must worship a single, specific deity, but aren't limited to the domains recommended for their deity/pantheon. Other characters are not required to have a deity.

Step 5: Equipment

Your starting equipment and gold are determined by your class and background. You don't roll for gold. You may also start with a trinket of your choice. You can sell your starting equipment using the rules in the Player's Handbook (Chapter 5, Selling Treasure) and can buy and sell equipment and spell components found in the approved books.

Starting at Fifth Level

You may choose to create a fifth level character instead of creating a first level character. If you choose to start at fifth level, you may choose one of the following magic items to possess in addition to your standard gear from your class and background:

Playing Adventures

You can play in any adventure on the Liberterra server that is the tier level of your character. Each tier contains multiple levels, so the characters participating may not all be the same level. Your character may not play the same adventure more than once, but you as a player may use a different character to play the same adventure again. We also ask that you limit your participation to one game per week to allow everyone to have a chance to play in an adventure.

Tier by Character Level
Level Tier
1-4 1
5-10 2
11-16 3
17-20 4

Logsheets

You can use a logsheet to track rewards and not any other important information from your adventures. Create your own, or use our Liberterra logsheet

Leveling Up

You gain a level at the end of each adventure you play in. If you'd like to continue playing your character at their current level, you can decline to gain a level. You still keep any other rewards your character earned from the adventure.

When you level up, you gain a number of hit points equal to the fixed value hp increase for your class plus any modifiers (like your constitution modifier). You also gain any abilities, features, skills, etc that your class gives you with your new level. In addition, whenever you would gain a level (even if you decline the level gain), you may rebuild any aspect of your character (such as changing your subclass, choosing different skills from your class or background, using a level gain to multiclass, etc).

Once you gain fifth level, you may choose a magical item from the list of magical items available for "Starting at Fifth Level" above.

Rewards

At the end of an adventure, you'll earn rewards. These may include magic items, coins and other treasures.

Magic Items

Whenever your party finds a magic item during an adventure, the party determines which character will use the item for the remainder of the adventure. At the end of the adventure, any number of characters may keep the magic item, if it wasn't consumed or destroyed during the adventure. You may keep as many magic items as you are awarded, but must limit the number of magic items you bring on an adventure based on your tier of play, as shown in the table below.

Magic Items per Adventure by Tier
Tier Uncommon+ Common Consumable
1 1 5 5
2 3 5 10
3 6 5 10
4 10 5 15

Uncommon, rare, very rare, legendary, and unique permanent magic items are included in the "Uncommon+" column. Common permanent magic items are included in the "Common" column. "Consumable" includes any magic item that is consumed if used: potions, scrolls, ammunition, etc. If an item is destroyed, consumed, or lost during play it is removed from your character and cannot be reacquired unless rewarded again through play.

Legendary magic items may only be used in Tier 4 adventures. Characters of lower tiers that encounter a legendary magic item as a reward may possess it, but cannot use it until they reach Tier 4 (level 17).

In addition, your use of magic items is limited by attunement and slots. You cannot use more items than you have slots for (2 rings, one neck item, one set of armor, etc) and you can only be attuned to 3 items at a time.

Coins and Other Treasure

Whenever your party finds treasure of a monetary value, they can keep it with them to use during the adventure. Any remaining treasure at the end of the adventure is converted to gold pieces and divided evenly between all of the characters who played in the adventure. The Dungeon Master can assist in this process.

Mundane items, such as found equipment, are divided however the party chooses at the end of the adventure.

Death, Disease, and Curses

During the course of an adventure, if you die or are subject to a lingering effect such as a curse or disease, you deal with the consequences for the duration of the adventure. When the adventure ends you may choose to either return your character to life/remove the negative effect or you may retire your character, succumbing to your fate.

If you were removed from the adventure, you gain the rewards the party earned before you were removed and may also gain a level. If you were able to return to the adventure before its conclusion, you may earn all the rewards offered to the party including rewards earned during your absence.

Between Adventures

Buying and Trading Items

You can buy and sell equipment and spell components using the rules in the Player's Handbook (See chapter 5). Spell scrolls and potions can be purchased for the prices listed under "Appendix A: Shared Campaigns" in Xanathar's Guide to Everything.

Equipment and consumable items can be loaned to other characters during the adventure, but must return to the original owning character at the end of the session (unless it's been consumed or lost).

Permanent magic items can be traded. Unique magic items may not be traded. Trading permanent magic items with other characters in Liberterra is on a one-for-one basis of equivalent rarity.

Downtime

Your character earns 10 downtime days between each adventure they participate in. Your character may participate in the downtime activities listed in the Player's Handbook (Chapter 8, "Downtime Activities"), or in the downtime activities listed below. All other downtime activities are unavailable, unless offered in an adventure.

Catching Up. Spend 10 downtime days training to gain a level.

Copying Spells. If you can copy spells, you may use the following rules to copy spells you find in adventures into your spell book. Spells of level 4 and below take 1 downtime day to decipher and learn. Spells of level 5 and above take 2 downtime days to decipher and learn. In addition to the time spent learning the spell, you must also pay 50 gp per spell level to cover the material costs of your experimentation to learn the spell and the fine inks you need to copy the spell into your spellbook. Once you have spent this time and money, you can prepare the spell just like any of your other spells. If you are copying spells from another character's spellbook, you may do so immediately after an adventure in which both characters were present. You are always successful at copying spells from scrolls.

Brewing Potions. You may brew potions of healing as presented in the Guide to Crafting in Liberterra. A "workweek" is defined as 5 downtime days for the world of Liberterra. Potions you brew count towards your consumable item limit.

Scribing Scrolls. You may scribe spell scrolls as presented in the Guide to Crafting in Liberterra. A "Workweek is defined as 5 downtime days for the world of Liberterra. Scrolls you scribe count towards your consumable item limit.

Trading Magic Items. Whenever you trade a magic item, you spend 5 days of downtime finalizing the trade.

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