As a large chunk of the game takes place in turnsheet actions, as GMs we work to make everyone's game very personal. Playstyle options are your opportunity to tell us how you would like your game to play out. This game is very narrative-driven, which means we aren't necessarily focused on making things “balanced” between players - if you're wanting a game where the odds seem constantly stacked against you, and you're barely making it by, then it'll seem like the player who's chosen a game where they're largely successful with their plans will look like they've got it easy (because they have!)

Think of it like difficulty sliders and other options in video games - at the end of the day everyone is playing the same game, but we want you to be able to choose to play the game in the way that's most enjoyable for you.

These are not set in stone - you're welcome to update us as the game goes on if you're finding things aren't quite as enjoyable as you hoped. Similarly, they are not strict rules; GMs will factor playstyles into how things pan out when writing turnsheets, but it's just one factor that'll go into the mix. Also different players will pick different playstyle options, so while we will factor in everyone's choices when planning outcomes, we do have to pick an outcome to happen that accounts for them all!

Playstyle options are picked on a system of 1 to 5, with the meaning of each scale changing a lot based on the particular option. Remember these are only visible to you and the GMs, so won't impact how you interact with other players (and in particular, other players won't know what options you've picked).

Some people like feeling like a big damn hero. Other people like that feeling of precariousness, where things seem to always go wrong, and the odds are stacked against you. Different people are looking for different things in their narratives. This won't necessarily affect how successful you are when you succeed - people who face bigger struggles aren't necessarily going to get bigger rewards for their troubles, for instance. This will just affect the tone of your game.

This is a playstyle option that is most likely to run into conflicts when interacting with other players, especially when doing group actions together. We'll try to accommodate it where possible (e.g. if one player has a low chance of success and the other has a high chance, the action might succeed, but the player with the low chance may receive some personal negative outcomes for it), but the more players involved, the harder this will be to do on any given action. For actions where players are directly opposing each other, this will not be taken into account, and the result will depend on each player's plans and relevant qualities.

Note that this playstyle will only affect the narrative over which GMs have control. It won't affect things like other player choices, or votes in session in the Union.

The style and tone of the game and themes are outlined elsewhere in the wiki, this option specifies what the overall tone of the game you'd like to experience. This will mostly affect how dark the themes we introduce for any personal plot we introduce (usually through your Villain assigning tasks). You should separately let us know of any themes you particularly do or don't want to come up, regardless of your choices here.

Picking higher options here won't prevent lighter and more cheery things happening, it's just about how dark the dark end of things get for you. This isn't a choice between a “comedy” and “drama” - it's entirely possible for dark themes to come up during relatively silly parts of the narrative, or for dramatic tension not to draw on the darker sides of the game.

We'll build off things you put in the rest of your character, so you can include indications of how you want things to go in your backstory and in your relationship to your Villain.

Ballgowning is the LARP term for close personal relationships between characters (usually of a romantic nature). The ballgowning option will mean GMs are more likely to present you options for relationships with NPCs, if the situation should arise in game.

If pursuing relationships within the game please be respectful of other players and crew members - it is always a good idea to do occasional check-ins OOC to make sure everyone is comfortable with how an interpersonal relationship is playing out. Please note that this option will not guarantee you a relationship with an NPC, it simply lets us know you are open to the option if it comes up in game. Do also check out our info on keeping appropriate IC/OC boundaries on the tips for roleplayers page.