Basic Rules

These are the rules you need to begin playing the game. After reading this, and the safety rules, you're ready to make a character or crew.

Hit Points and Basic Combat

Characters have one or more hit points. Weapons do SINGLE damage by default - that is, being hit by a weapon causes you to lose one hit point. You don’t need to call this when you strike with a weapon, but you may if you wish to make it clear that you intend to cause a point of damage.

Player characters begin with 3 hit points.

You can only make one call or successful attack per second.

All player characters are proficient with various weapons and equipment. You may wear armour but it has no effect unless magically enhanced.

Interactives have a peace spell cast over them (blame Idun) so that dealing damage to other characters just doesn't work. You can spar freely if you like, it just won't hurt. It may be broken or lifted, and if so the Norns will let you know.

Attacking other player characters outside of the peace spell is allowed, but there are some extra rules for PvP you should read first.

Non-Contact Characters

Some players may be unable to take part in physical combat or not wish to for personal reasons. These people will have a high-visibility armband. Instead of attacking a non-contact character, you should call damage against them once per second once you are in range to make an attack. Do not mime swinging your weapon.

Wounds and Dying

If you are reduced to zero hit points, your character is now incapacitated. You can’t fight or use abilities and can only stagger around. You should make it clear that you’re wounded, incapacitated and (mostly) helpless. If you regain hit points, you cease to be incapacitated.

If you have been injured in combat to the point where you were incapacitated during an encounter, ask a ref for a wound card at your earliest convenience, usually after the encounter has ended.

If you have been incapacitated for at least two minutes and are not under pressure, you may recover one hit point on your own. If you do this, notify a ref and they will give you an additional wound card.

Wound Cards

From being heavily injured, and through many other sources, your character may receive wounds. These are represented by a wound card that will be handed to you by a ref. It will specify the roleplaying effects of the wound, along with any mechanical effects that it has.

A character has a Dire Wound limit of two. If they gain a third Dire Wound, that character is dead or beyond saving, and must retire by the end of the current event. Not all wounds you receive will be dire wounds, but the chance is quite high (around 2/3 of wounds are dire). Dire wounds have a skull on them, non-dire wounds have a drop of blood.

At the start of each interactive, your character naturally recovers from one wound of your choice. Some more severe wounds may have additional requirements to recover from them.

Range

• Touch range is close enough that you could reach out and touch the other character. This does not require you to actually touch them, and you should not touch another player unless you already know they’re comfortable with you doing so. You can deliver abilities by touch only to a target who is willing or incapacitated or inanimate.
• Close range is five metres.

An ability can be used on yourself unless its description says you can't.

Under Pressure

Some abilities can only be used when not under pressure. If a combat encounter is occurring, you are always under pressure. Some other situations may count - in this case, a ref will inform you.

Appropriate Roleplaying

Some abilities require appropriate roleplaying. This can be chanting, calling on the gods or the power of runes, hammering a weapon back in to shape, or anything else you consider appropriate. An ability requiring appropriate roleplay fails if you attack or use another ability other than one that calls RESIST.

Encounters

Many abilities have uses that refresh each "encounter". These refresh after 5 minutes. On a linear also after a clear change of location.

You can spend 30 seconds of appropriate roleplay at touch range to call HEAL and refresh all per-encounter abilities for the target.

Looting and Carrying

You can simply take game items that you can see from an incapacitated character.

You can search a willing or incapacitated character when not under pressure. To do so, approach to touch range and inform them you’re searching them. They will give you any resources that they have on them. You should not touch another player when searching them.

You can call SHATTER on weapons of defeated opponents when not under pressure (regardless of size) to deprive them of their weaponry rather than taking it.

You can assist a willing or incapacitated character to move. To do this tell them you're picking them up and let them move themselves (don't forcibly yank on their arm). You must use at least one arm, and that arm can't be used to strike, block or parry blows.

Calls

This is a list of the calls that you might hear and what they mean. A call is a word or phrase with a specific OC meaning. If you hear it directed at you, your character takes a specified effect.

Calls might be:

• Used alongside a melee attack, to indicate that the call is associated with that strike.
• Used with a description of a character. E.g. “You in the blue hat! FREEZE!”
• Used as an area of effect - see the MASS modifier.

Some calls may be preceded by a descriptor. This is mostly to let you know how to react to it - e.g. THUNDER REPEL! might be a blast of thunder and lightning knocking you away, or LIGHT BASH! a damaging beam of light. Unless you've been briefed to take these differently, you just take the rest of the call as normal. The most common descriptors are THUNDER, EARTH, FLAME, WATER, ICE, LIGHT and DARK.

You do not take the effect of a call that you block or parry, unless the call description says otherwise.

If you use a call on someone and they don't appear to react to it and they don't call RESIST (there are many legitimate reasons for this; they didn't hear the call, they parried it, they think you missed or that they weren't the target, etc.), any resources used to make the call are refunded.

Calls (except Would You Kindly when used in conversation) are spoken out-of-character, but you are aware in-character of any calls you witness around you, including RESISTs. For example, if someone strikes with a sword and calls "BASH!", you can see by looking that it was a much more damaging blow than usual.

If you take multiple conflicting calls (such as REPEL while affected by FREEZE), the most recent call takes precedence.

STOP THE GAME

This is an “emergency stop” call to indicate that there is an OC reason to halt gameplay and sort something out. This can be used for any hazard, not just injury. Lost glasses, a player panicking OC, or someone looking like they’re about to fall backwards over a log are all valid reasons to use the call.

TIME IN

Used at the start of the session to begin play and after a STOP THE GAME, TIME FREEZE or TIME FAFF to resume normal play.

TIME FREEZE

The refs need to change things around you, or describe something that can't be physically represented. If a ref starts to address you, listen. Otherwise, close your eyes and try not to listen too hard while they change things. Play resumes with TIME IN.

TIME FAFF

Usually used on linears. The refs need time to set something up up ahead, please roleplay amongst yourselves and don't go forward until you hear TIME IN.

SINGLE

Lose one hit point. This is the default for melee weapons, and can be omitted unless it’s needed for clarity.

DOUBLE

Lose two hit points. You should roleplay a reaction so the caller knows you've taken the extra damage.

BASH

Lose two hit points and you are knocked away from the source three paces.

IMPALE

Lose all of your hit points. IMPALE cannot be resisted except by abilities that specifically say they can.

SHATTER

If this hits a large shield or polearm, it is broken. If it hits a limb, it is ruined and cannot be used until healed. If it hits the torso or an already ruined limb it has no effect (though if delivered by weapon strike, still take the point of damage for being hit).

If delivered by a strike, it hits whatever the strike hit. If it's delivered by ranged call, it hits a shield first, otherwise an unruined limb of the target's choice. If the caller specifies, i.e. "SHATTER that polearm!", it affects that.

Ruined limbs are unusable and in pain. You must roleplay accordingly. You cannot use a weapon, buckler or shield with an arm that has been ruined. If one leg is ruined, you cannot run or walk, only limp. If both legs are ruined, you can’t use them to move, only stand in place.

A shattered weapon or shield cannot be used and should either be dropped or held out of the way. If you accidentally block or parry with one you should treat it as though the strike hit the limb holding the item. Shattered weapons and shields can be restored with 5 seconds of appropriate roleplay repairing them.

HEAL

This effect restores all hit points and ruined limbs.

Large monsters may not be fully healed.

REPEL

This effect knocks you away. You must move away from the source for 5 seconds as fast as you are reasonably able. If you block a weapon blow with this effect on your weapon, buckler or shield, you are not damaged but must take the rest of the effects of the call.

This has no effect if used on yourself.

FREEZE

You cannot move your feet or make calls other than SINGLE for 5 seconds. If you block a weapon blow with this effect on your weapon, buckler or shield, you are not damaged but must take the rest of the effects of the call.

Would You Kindly

This call, which can be inserted into normal conversation, indicates mind control. Your character does their best to obey the command, by default for 30 seconds or until you take damage. When the effect ends, you’re aware that something unusual happened.

MASS

This call affects every target within close range. If the user indicates a cone with their arms, it instead affects everyone in that cone within close range.

RESIST

This is called to indicate that a call was taken, but had a lessened or altered effect.

CURSE

See a ref at the earliest convenient time, usually after the encounter has ended, and tell them you took this call.

Visual Cues

• Anyone with one hand in the air and their index finger pointing upward is not present IC and should be ignored. If you are crewing a linear, you should use this when moving between encounters.
• If you are feeling uncomfortable OOC and don’t want to continue roleplaying, you can shade your eyes with one hand and leave the IC area when you feel able to do so. Other players should treat someone using this gesture as present IC, but should not start any interactions with them.
• A character with distinctive string in their possession is playing a Norn. Norns are the agents of fate, and are guaranteed neutral. They are always played by referees and can be approached in character on occasions you need a referee.
• Anyone in a high visiblity vest is not present IC. They are typically worn by referees to organise and oversee activity without being present as a character.
• Someone with a high visibility armband is a Non-contact character.