The Fringe

The Setting

Many have only known life in The Empire, an institution that brings peace and security to all those who dwell within its borders. To those who accept its legal, social, and cultural frameworks and know their places, The Empire provides stability and certainty. To the downtrodden, the scorned, the forgotten, the curious, the insatiable, the adventurous: sprawling beyond the walls of civilization, to these pioneers beckons the Fringe.

You are adventurers who, for whatever reasons, tire of what The Empire offers you and would rather seek your fortunes in the Fringe.

The Rules

The Empire has nothing to offer.

The settlement at the edge of The Empire will have places to recuperate, mundane gear to sell, and rumors to share, but there will never be adventures to be had within its walls. If adventurers want something, they'll have to seek it in the Fringe. Adventurers may later use what treasures and knowledge they gain to invest in a settlement, effectively leveling the settlement up with them.

The only plot is what you bring.

The GM will do most of the world building upfront so that the players always have something to explore; however, it is up to the players to decide what to do and where to go.

Play begins and ends in safety.

Every session will begin at a settlement and every session will end at a settlement. This will ensure only one party of players is adventuring at any given time and make it easier to maintain a consistent world state across sessions.

The Fringe is a dangerous, but lucrative place.

Encounter levels are roughly proportional to their accessiblity from the settlement. If adventurers find an encounter that's over their heads, they can always retreat and do other things. They can try coming back better prepared and in stronger numbers...if different adventurers don't beat them to it.

Downtime is realtime.

Gametime will vary as usual, with mere hours or many weeks happening between session start and session end, but downtime is realtime. If 5 weeks pass between sessions, then PCs in a settlement have 5 weeks of downtime to retrain, earn outcome, etc.

This blog is for you!

Players who played in a session are encouraged to discuss it for players who didn't, so as to inspire them to their next adventure and make them feel part of the world. Players are especially encouraged to share in-character summaries for the GM to post to this blog.