Core Guidelines

Roles

• There are two roles in a DnD table: the GM/DM/Referee and the Players/Heroes/PCs.
  • Players ask questions about the world and tell the GM what their actions are.
  • The GM describes the world and its elements, and tells the players what the consequences of their actions are.

Rulings, not Rules

• The game is flexible. There are standard procedures, but if you have a cool idea during play, it might later be integrated as a house rule.
• The rules can always be bent, as long as the proposed alternative is convincing and fun.
• You can always try to do anything. Succeeding is another story.

Motivation and Ethos

• Emergent storytelling.
  • PCs are looking for treasure and adventure. Going out to the wilderness is its own reward. 1 gold = 1 xp.
  • There might be a narrative arch underlying the story, but in general in this game we explore a world, not character narratives. The latter will come naturally the more we play.
• Polar opposites.
  • The game is built around the idea of opposites:
    • Order vs. chaos.
    • Civilisation vs. nature.
    • Human vs. monster.
    • Known vs. unknown.
    • Opposing factions.
  • There's no absolute good or bad. You will find instead many factions fighting for what they want.

Survival and Exploration

• The game is not balanced, and it's potentially lethal.
  • It's tacitly assumed that the characters are being careful as they move around, and are always analysing their surroundings.
  • The GM will make the best effort to telegraph danger. If a trap is triggered out of nowhere and a PC dies without having had a sense of danger, that's a GM flaw (sorry).
  • During encounters, try to figure out what intelligent beings want before you fight them. Combat is almost never the optimal way out of things.
• Keep track of time and resources.
  • Your main resources are time, light (daylight, torches) and food (rations).
• Exploration is three-layered. Features in the world can be either:
  • Overt: obvious features that you notice as soon as you reach a place.
  • Hidden: features/places that you find if you explore a region. No specific action is necessary to unfold them, other than simply poking around.
  • Secret: features that require a specific set of actions to be triggered.