Players play the game by making posts. These are short, one-or-two paragraph posts that describe what the player's character does and how the world responds. When it is the player's turn, that player makes a post, dealing with the situation at hand, or interacting with the other characters. You can say what your character does, and what characters no one owns does, and even what things in the world do, but you cannot say what another player's character does, unless players agree to it elsewhere. For example, if a player wants to post a conversation, it might be better for the two players to hold a conversation externally, and then one of them post the whole conversation, from their character's point of view. By making posts, players will affect the world and other characters, move the story along in their own direction, and craft details of the world in which the game is played. The first few posts by a player will be for establishing their character.

Establishment Posts

At the beginning of the game, players will make a series of posts establishing their character. These are posts where the player might make hints toward conflict, but where none of the game's conflict really shows up. The main point of these initial posts are to show what a character's normal life is like, before it gets thrown into an upheval. A good establishment post starts with the character getting up in the morning and going through their daily routine, revealing information about themselves as time goes on. Players will continue making these establishment posts until everyone agrees that the characters are well established, and that they are ready to introduce some conflict. These posts are important because, while they are there for players to describe their characters through action, they also serve to develop the world in which the characters live. Just as with any post, players can reveal information about the world, following the rules for introducing world details. Generally, the details introduced in establishment posts are about the normal state of the world, rather than about the conflict that will arise, though players can hint at conflicts they want to see in these posts. Also, because the world is so undefined at the start of the game, players can introduce more details than usual, but try to not hog all the details for yourself. For more information regarding adding details to the world, see What if I want to add to the world?

Beyond Establishment

Once characters have been well established, then it is time for posts to start introducing and dealing with conflict. It is here that the characters' doubts and fears start showing up, and strange things happen that upset their routine. This is also where, if characters did not know each other, they would irrevocably meet. The kind of opening that this game works with does tend to lead to isolated stories where characters might only meet at the end or at a big turning point (the anime that the premise is based on is certainly no exception). Much of the game will be spent posting towards or responding to conflict. Occasionally, players will need to act in conflict with the world or other characters. Whenever there's a chance that a character might fail, we use dice to determine if success or failure happens. To find out more, check out the conflict page.

Main Page

Pages On How to Play

What should I post?
What if I want to add to the world?
What are characters like?
What happens when there's conflict or uncertainty involved?
How do I know when it is my turn?

Extra Pages

Introduced World Details