The Basics

The Basics
'''Please read everything on this page. Failure to obey these rules on a consistent basis WILL lead to you getting kicked out/banned from participating in future sessions.'''

This page has everything a new player needs to know about playing in a West Marches style game, specifically this one.

Goal
Work together to create a world that a large group can explore and experience. Players will decide on what they want to explore and pull together a temporary group.

Enjoyment will not only come from play but from the communication between players (and characters) between sessions.

This is not intended to be a direct exploration of character emotions but there will indeed be chances for well thought out characters to flourish, albeit during goal focused exploration and spelunking.

Before you start, make sure you've read through, at minimum, https://fate-srd.com/fate-core/basics so you can have a decent grasp on the gameplay.

Details

 * Schedule: Fluctuating (more info below)
 * Medium: IRL or Discord
 * System: Fate Core
 * Build: High Concept/Trouble/Free Aspect/1 Good, 2 Fair, 3 Average/1 Free Stunt/3 Refresh

Schedule
Players will select something they want to explore (location, NPC, background hook, etc). Once they have found that, create a group of 3-5 players interested in this idea then schedule a date/time to play with the group and DM. Ensure you’re ready for a reasonable amount of time for content to be written depending on how off track the encounter idea is.

Some story threads may take multiple sessions and I will try to let you know before playing how long it will likely take. This is to ensure all members of the party will be able to play multiple sessions in a timely manner.

Keep in mind; player choice and player’s being unprepared can drastically change the course of action.

Focus Breakdown
While the main goal of the game will be exploring and dungeon-diving, there will be situations where social interaction is necessary. However, if the goal of the story thread is to explore a hidden dungeon, expect a lot less social challenges than, say, sneaking into a high class dinner party.

Find goals that interest you and your character. If you don’t like dungeon delving, then don’t join a group searching for a dungeon.

Table Rules
This is where you’ll find the “rules of engagement” for playing, whether it’s virtual or not. These are not all inclusive and subject to change due to the eventuality of someone doing something I didn’t think of.

Please read and heed as too many infractions that impede people’s enjoyment can lead to being asked to leave.

Table Courtesy
The nature of playing games, in my experience, especially with military members (which many of us are), means that there will be jokes and jibes thrown about. If at any time these get out of hand or begin to feel like a dog pile, I will step in and kindly ask people to cool it.

If at any time you feel uncomfortable, please let that person know (preferably in private) or if that is not possible, let me know and I will diffuse the situation.

Learning the Game
In a normal campaign, I would have four to five players, so I’d be able to reasonably learn most of the abilities of every character to help you guys along.

However, given the sheer number of characters in a West Marches game, that luxury is no longer afforded to me. So, while there is no hard and fast rule for this, if you play multiple sessions and are still commonly having issues with basic game mechanisms (brand new abilities will be given leeway) you will be given a warning.

If this means bringing along a cheat sheet with all your basic actions, then by all means do so. Nobody will think less of you for doing so!

If these problems persist over a few more sessions, you will likely be asked to take a break until you adequately understand the basic mechanisms of the game and your character.

Questionable Content
There will be gory descriptions. However, if it gets too much for your taste, let me know and I’ll do what I can to dial it back a bit. Other subjects like sex, torture, etc. should not happen, and if they do, will not be prevalent. I have no plans for these subjects, but the nature of this game is players have a lot of agency to do as they wish.

I ask all of you to be considerate to your fellow players in this regard and if you must deal in darker themes, make them brief. I reserve the right to “fade to black” on anything I deem too rough for play.

PC v PC
I do not like player characters attempting to take action against or take agency away from other player characters and in my experience, it rarely is fun for everyone. The way I deal with it is simple: if you want to do something, like throw a punch at another player character, I simply ask the other player if that indeed happens to their character. No roll, no argument.

If it makes sense to them for the narrative, they will allow it, otherwise, let it go. We are here to have a good time together. Group Game.

Rules and Rulings
If I get something wrong, speak up or better yet whisper me. However, I will not allow the conversation of a rule exceed 30 seconds. At that point, we’re probably arguing and that’s not fun. If that happens, make a note and bring it up to me after session. We can research it together and I will either amend the rule and do my best to do it differently in the future, or explain why I’m doing it my way.

Punctuality
Be on time. Please. One of the fastest ways to upset me is being late and no one wants an upset DM. I must insist that everyone show up/logs on for session 30 minutes before session time. If session with is 1700, you’re showing up/logging on at 1630.

This is to answer questions, you can chat with everyone before session and most importantly to ensure all equipment is functional. Few things are worse than a player showing up at start time, then taking 20 minutes to troubleshoot their mic/clarify certain issues.

If you are unable to make it due to a sudden emergency please contact your GM and tell them as soon as possible.

Where to Start
If you’d like to play, you can start by posting in the group.

Example: “I’d like to check out the rumors of the glowing tree. Anybody interested in checking that out Apr 17 at 1400?”

This post takes information that has been gathered by heroes and suggests it as a goal, as well as posting a date and time. If enough people join and the GM gives the time/goal the go ahead, then the session will be slotted.