Untimately's 20 Questions - and my answers

I've had a glass or two of wine tonight so I thought I'd have a go at the twenty questions to be found here. These answers all relate to my current Team Adventure campaign, where rough edges have been hammered into shape so that the kids don't catch themselves.

Ability scores generation method?
3d6 in order. Three times. Pick the best character. There is no other way. Alternative methods are heresy :)

How are death and dying handled?
Characters can die but there is always a chance to get them raised. If they want. I usually rule that only damage that takes a character down to lower than -10 in one round results in deader than dead. Anything between 0 and -9 renders them unconscious and they stabilise at 0, unable to do anything until healed.

What about raising the dead?
5000gp per raise and there’s usually a favour to be done for the clerics

How are replacement PCs handled?
If a PC is deader than dead, the player is offered the option of raising or rolling a new character, who is often started at perhaps two levels behind the average for the party

Initiative: individual, group, or something else?
Individual and that goes for the monsters too

Are there critical hits and fumbles? How do they work?
Crits are “Roll a 20? Then roll again and if you exceed your ‘to hit’ then you do double damage. If you roll another 20, you decapitate the monster”. Fumbles, roll 1, roll again, if you get another 1, you lop either your own limb off or do some baaaad damage to a comrade

Do I get any benefits for wearing a helmet?
No. Kids have enough trouble remembering their XP without faffing around with helmet bonuses

Can I hurt my friends if I fire into melee or do something similarly silly?
Of course you can.

Will we need to run from some encounters, or will we be able to kill everything?
Engage, ignore or retreat. The choice is yours. Just be prepared to live with the consequences.

Level-draining monsters: yes or no?
Yes. So remember the ‘retreat’ option.

Are there going to be cases where a failed save results in PC death?
Already happened

How strictly are encumbrance & resources tracked?
The former on a very casual basis, the latter less often unless the party is in the wilderness for over a week. My reference to kids and their shaky attention to detail refers.

What's required when my PC gains a level? Training? Do I get new spells automatically? Can it happen in the middle of an adventure, or do I have to wait for down time?

No training, but the PC won’t gain any new HP or spell capability until they “get back to town”

What do I get experience for?
Monster kills, gold pieces, good ideas.

How are traps located? Description, dice rolling, or some combination?
Mostly description but only if the party say they are looking

Are retainers encouraged and how does morale work?
It’s not come up yet.

How do I identify magic items?
Cast Identify

Can I buy magic items? Oh, come on: how about just potions?
Of course you can’t buy magic items. If people have them, they cherish them for the rare and wondrous things they are. Then they swap them with their friends and forget that they have them. (sigh)

Can I create magic items? When and how?
When you are a very powerful wizard. So not yet.

What about splitting the party?
I tell them not to, but they ignore me. And they pay.