Sessions

Sessions are in-person 3-hour-long roleplay sessions on Wednesday evenings. For more info, see When and Where.

Players will roleplay their characters attending a town festival planning meeting in The Toasty Mink, the main Little Avoning pub. The Avoning Rose Festival is fast approaching, and there is much to discuss and organise, so the pub is hosting meetings every night during the week leading up to the event. The start and end of session coincide with the start and end of the meeting IC.

Between the GMs calling TIME IN and TIME OUT, the room is continuously an in-character roleplay area. Players will be talking and acting as their characters.

Costuming is entirely optional and we have no costume requirements, but some people enjoy making a costume for their character. In-character, the dress style is broadly that of Regency era England, though we are by no means strict about historical accuracy. Anything from around that time period, such as Victorian era or Steampunk aesthetic (clothing only - the technology level is still that of real-world early-industrial Britain, so no fancy steampunk gadgets), would be considered appropriate IC. The main thing to consider is that the townsfolk are working people, not aristocracy, and their dress would reflect that.

You're welcome to take costuming as far as you'd like. However, if you'd like to dress up but have limited time or a limited budget, we have some suggestions:

• Collared shirts tend to make a outfit look more old fashioned. But if you're like the CAMPO and refuse to wear them, any plain coloured shirt works well.
• For masculine clothes: Long pants, such as suit pants. If you want to be really accurate, go for shorts and knee high socks (but that maybe is not the most comfortable).
• For feminine clothes: long skirts or dresses, especially those with a narrow silhouette. Fold in half a piece of fabric over some string to make an apron.
• Headwear: Wear a hat or a kerchief! Kerchiefs can also be worn around the shoulders.
• Scarves make excellent shawls when draped around the shoulders
• Pull the sleeves into a hoodie and tie them behind your back, and you get a (slightly lumpy) cape. Use a safety pin to close it in front.
• Don't be afraid to wear colour!
• Historical accuracy is way less important than having fun – if you want to wear a short sequin dress or a RenFair outfit because it suits your character or just because you've been waiting for an excuse to wear it, go for it!

At the beginning of session, we'll give a short OC briefing. For the first session this will include an introduction segment where you'll have a chance to introduce both yourself and your character to everyone (including your and your character's name, pronouns, and character's appearance)¹⁾.

GMs will alternate between playing different NPCs and being out of character. There will be a GM desk where you can come and ask us questions - if everyone is busy you can come and find a GM and ask them a question OC. We will be playing a variety of NPCs in session, but if you want to speak to a particular NPC feel free to ask and we'll accommodate it where we can (though this may not happen for various OC or IC reasons).

• Hand held up with two fingers in the air represents that somebody is not currently playing their character. They are speaking OOC and this may represent that nobody is there IC e.g. a GM answering a question. Anybody may use this at any time.
• STOP THE GAME or arms crossed over chest, hands on shoulders: Use this to immediately stop all roleplay. This is to be used for OOC reasons e.g. a medical issue or if a player becomes too uncomfortable to continue. This is likely temporary and IC time will be resumed by the call of TIME IN by a GM.
• TIME IN: The roleplay session has started. Players are by default assumed to be IC unless they hold two fingers in the air.
• TIME FREEZE: Roleplay should stop. This is something happening that is likely to affect everyone, and we are unable to phys-rep it (e.g. the lights have all suddenly gone out). Roleplay will recommence when TIME IN is called. Due to the disruptive nature of this, we will keep this call to a minimum.
• TIME OUT: It's the end of session. Cease roleplay for the evening.

There is no combat in these roleplay sessions. This is a hard OOC rule as we have no system for formally adjudicating combat. The IC reason is that physical violence is not permitted in the pub, and even the rowdiest of the town’s residents know that this a line you do not cross without being ostracised by your entire community.

Because of the OC limitations of the format, we expect an amount of buy-in for the conceit from you as players. For instance, leaving session an hour early won't get you a headstart on what you're doing in your next turnsheet.

We intend to take photographs in the first couple of sessions for the character biographies. Please see our Privacy Policy. These portraits will be displayed on your bio page, but will only be visible to logged in users (i.e. players and GMs), and the administrator of the wiki servers. You can opt-out of having your portrait displayed, or provide us with an alternative photo, at any time. On request, we will take down any photographs.

After a session, some of us will adjourn to a nearby ice-cream parlour. The option to roleplay via emails will be available until 19:00 on the Monday after session, with the turnsheet submission deadline at 23:59 that same evening. This is to give players a reasonable time in the evening to finalise their turnsheet after IC interactions have been concluded.