The Rules of New Generica
The Rules of new Generica are a work in progress. Please bear with us while we set them up. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, feel free to post them in the comments or come visit us on the discord. Onwards!
Introduction
Greetings, and welcome to New Generica. In this document, we will be laying out the overarching rules that govern play in this setting, including scheduling, theme, how to build and run adventures, and more. Without furter ado, let's get started!Setting Overview
New Generica is a high fantasy sword-and-sorcery setting taking place in a period analagous to the late medieval to early rennaisance period in our own world. While much of the world was known to have been populated in recent history, a series of cataclysms reduced the population to the point that all major pockets of civilization have become isolated from one another and, moreover, lost to memory relative to one another. In ths sense, New Generica also embodies some post-apocalyptic theming. New Generica is a somewhat "noble-bright" setting, however, and should not be saddled with the level of darkness normally attributable to apocalyptic fantasy settings; think Legend of Zelda, not Dark Souls. Story arcs should avoid straying too deeply into R/TV-MA territory. This aspect of the New Generica setting will likely be explored more in the world meta at a later date.Building Adventure Arcs
New Generica takes inspiration from the West Marches style of play. Thus, play is generally more player-driven than with other roleplaying setups. There is no single Game Master or adventuring party, these roles being filled based on who is available to play when. Adventures may be come about under one of two considerations:Individual Adventures
Adventures in New Generica should be designed around being 'one-shots.' Individual adventures should either include hooks for subsequent adventures in nearby places, end with a definitive conclusion, or establish a replayable challenge area for subsequent adventuring groups. Structured adventuring sites should consist of only five or six rooms, though unstructured adventures (i.e. random encounters) may not even require a map.Between Adventures
Player characters are all members of the Explorer's Guild in High Hedgemont. The Explorer's Rest is an inn and guild hall where members of the organization can rest, relax, and share rumors about what they have encountered in the course of their travels. A large table at the center of the guild hall serves as a place where members can contribute to the ever-expanding world map, placing pins and markers to indicate sites of interest and ongoing unusual circumstances which others might wish to explore in further detail. Out-of-game, this is where players looking for Game Masters will make their desires known, though there may be exceptions to this rule. Beyond Explorer's Rest, the well in the town square is contained in a gazebo walled with bulletin boards where locals can post news, rumors, bounties, and offers for work. These bulletin boards are also important sources of information that members of the Guild might want to follow up on. Out-of-game, this is where Game Masters looking to advertise adventure arcs they've designed might place plot hooks for the players to find, though there may be exceptions to this rule. Importantly, the town of High Hedgemont is almost completely safe. This is largely a result of isolation, fortifications, and a high population of arcanists in-universe, but the true purpose of this is to prevent players and Game Masters from stagnating by not setting adventures in different locales than town. In general, adventuring is meant to be done in the countryside, not within the city walls.Rewards for Good Participation
Part of the goal of New Generica is to allow every member of the player group to have a chance at being a player or Game Master as they wish. It is not always feasible for all of us to get together at the same time; we are busy adults, with families, jobs, household responsibilities, and assorted life circumstances that might take precedence over weekend recreational pursuits. Thus, good participation in the New Generica campaign means being able to arrange play around busy schedules as well as demonstrating player role versatility. Demonstrating good participation should be rewarded, and here are some of the benefits players might expect to see in this regard:Running an Adventure to Completion
A Game Master that prepares and runs an adventure for two or more players gains an Upgrade Token which can be used for the following purposes:Completing a Sesson Report
A player who completes a session report or map marker entry recieves a Recharge. Once per session (not adventure per se), a Recharge can be spent to gain one of the following beneficial effects:Playing with All Group Members
Players should keep track of which other players they have played with. A player who has played with each group member at least once gains the choice of a Recharge (see above) or an Upgrade Token (see above) as though they had run an adventure for the last group they participated in. This rule is instituted to reduce the formation of cliques and to reduce the possibility of characters becoming far too powerful to be played with the rest of the group.Check your progress here!
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