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Rules of Realism
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Basic RP Rules | |
Age of Intrigue is a mature game that obeys to certain rules of realism. We are a fiction, not a fairy tale game. We employ realistic reactions for PC's actions, and think of all characters as flesh and blood.
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Historical Fantasy, not Fairy Tale
This rule tells us that the content of [[|Age of Intrigue|AoI]] is dictated by realism and logic rather than keep every player character in a warm fuzzy state of happiness. Heroes do exist, they just do not always succeed and face difficult trials. You may have a wonderful pretty girl, but she may face more than just admirers. AoI is by nature a realistic, gritty game that shares many characteristics with the real world.
IC consequences for IC actions
See also IC and OOC
Translated this merely remarks that In Character, your actions must have In Character consequences. Therefore, a Moderator merely follows the logic of any given scene and will never allow OOC or Out Of Character issues to invade your story, and nor should you allow such things in your own story as player. However you behave OOC, it should never affect your play IC, and vice versa.
Similarly, in-game you must abide by the rule that your actions will have consequences and not complain when things don't necessarily turn out the way you hoped. Rest assured, your Moderator has already checked with other moderators the logic of their decisions to verify that they are being fair and just - that the consequences they dictate are a direct result of your actions as player. In the same way, a Moderator may never simply look at a scene and think to themselves "what might be fun here?" or "what evil can I create?" - but rather, apply in-game logic to decide the outcome of the actions.
Does this mean that all IC consequences are negative? No, in fact this rule should ensure that players have the freedom to pursue what ever they want (as long as they accept the consequences) and thus can also have huge success. Big Risks. Big Rewards. Risks of course defined not just as physical risk. It could be to reputation, or wealth, or just one's own personal boundaries. Moderators should not feel tempted to push players a certain way or limit their success just to keep things challenging. This fear of the consequences of success to the game is also an OOC consideration after all.
Fun before Realism
Our focus on realism does not mean players can never achieve anything because it would be unrealistic. It is not the moderators job to make things impossible. This is still a game of heroes and player fun should be central to the storytelling. While adversity is good player fun, so is gaining accomplishments from time to time. Success is very addictive.
Because playing out all moments in your life where you gain info or items or give an aspect of your life colour, we have the tool of Summary RP available to ensure ambitions remain fun, while also being played out realistically.
Romance and the Rules of Realism
See also Romance
What does this mean for romance in our game? We will be holding to our setting and the motivation of our NPC's rather strongly as this adds the thrill of danger and overcoming them. This is not a romance novel. If a lady encounters a man, he may in fact be a cad, a rogue who takes her virginity and then leaves her with the consequences of pregnancy. This may be a NPC or even a PC. Likewise gentlemen who sleep around may find themselves with the clap eventually, or a lady marrying them simply for the money. While true love does exist, so do many other variations.
Do not be bumped out when you find yourself to have loved and lost. There are many other opportunities for your character and even the loss of reputation may only be temporary. Strive to face the trial and overcome it. You will find your character to be the stronger for it. If you have any questions or concerns feel free to discuss them with your moderators in your Player Compendium!
We Like Fudge
See Also Our Fudge List
History is a conversation, a debate between like minded people. There are very few hard facts that cannot be interpreted in several ways. On top of that new facts still emerge every day about the 17th century. Very few historians therefore will claim absolute knowledge about what is period correct in Restoration England.
Age of Intrigue is a creative writing game. As writers we enjoy the chance to show colour and atmosphere, overlooking smaller mistakes both by moderators and by players, as well as sometimes stealing a plot device from a slight advance in years. As a rule though we try and stick to the Stuart period after the Civil War (1660-1714) to guide us. Fun is what we want, not headaches.
In general we allow creative use of future material in the categories food, drink and non essential items as long as long as it contributes to the Baroque colour and flavour of the game and doesn't give undue advantage. We are more hesitant with political & economic ideas, as well as technical inventions that threaten to have a larger impact on historic (and therefore realistic) logic.
Examples:
- The popularity of champagne and jenever (about a 100 and 50 years early respectively)
- The existence of piano fortes (about 50 years early)
- The presentation of Windsor's Baroque reconstruction as it was finished around 1685
Alternate History
In addition to our fudge rule, it may happen in our game reality that it will turn out different from our world, having significant impact. This is because history is far from predetermined. So many times in England's Restoration life could have taken a right or a left instead of straight on to where we are now in the 21st century.
We ask your suspension of disbelief for the changes that have occurred in our version of the Restoration. Most are on the basis of actions taken by PC's. Some have been moderator choices as a storytelling tool.
Examples
- The surfacing of the Popish Plot in late 1675 (instead of 1678)
- The life and death of William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset (he lived longer, and we messed up his family a little bit, especially the order of his heirs and the parentage of Elisabeth Seymour)
- The death of Queen Catherine
The Use of Dice
To add the element of chance, and thus enhance realism, but also freeing moderators from always having to defend their deeper motivation behind every move, we use dice on occasion. Such is the case with pregnancy, races and other sports, cards and other chance games etc. To prevent rules lawyering and a fixation on numbers this will happen completely behind the screens and you will only be informed of the results.
