Hi all

This is the first of our blog posts about the rules changes that are coming your way soon! So, first, some principles about what are going to be in these posts. 

We are only going to cover the headlines in these posts – partly because we’re still finishing drafting and review by staff but also because there’s not enough space in a blog to go into too much detail. This means, we know, that some of the detail won’t be there. Feel free to ask questions in the comments but we’ll be aiming to answer only as clearly as we can until the rules are finalised.

Secondly, the aim with all the rules changes are to improve the game but this means something specific for us, so it’s worth laying that out too.

• We want new players to feel like they have complete characters and can get stuck into the game straight away.
• We want the game to encourage collaboration and for people to work across skill sets and boundaries. We are moving away from characters who can master many elements of the game towards a world in which it pays to specialise.
• We want research, exploration and pressing the red button to be at the heart of characters’ journeys.
• We love battles 
• We want our progression to be relatively flat – end game characters should feel epic but not at the expense of locking newer characters out of the game
• Lastly, but far from least, we are working to the idea of characters progressing for between 7-8 years of four events a year (more on this below). Not attending consistently will not be penalised – this is about the ceiling, not the journey to get there.

Will existing characters fit into the new rules?

For the most part they should transfer across fine. You’ll find that some basic skills you may have paid for in the past are now free, or that skills which could only be obtained by ‘dark arts’ (Ed. Not dark arts) will now be available for all who are interested. 

How will existing characters fit into the new rules?

To answer this question we need to talk about character generation and progression. First of all we are getting rid of vet picks. The new system will be based upon receiving experience points. You will be able to earn a maximum amount a year and these can be spent or carried over as you wish (some skills may need more than a year’s worth of XP to acquire). 

So back to the question above – all existing characters will be converted into XP based on the number of vet picks they have (up to our xp cap which equates to about 8ish years of playing under existing rules). Players will then be permitted to recreate their characters under the new rules by spending their newly calculated xp OR they can generate entirely NEW characters using that accrued XP. We are excited about the possibilities in these new rules and we think you will be too, so want to open up these pathways to you now.

There are some nuances to the above and this brings us to the idea of archetypes

Archetypes are the idea that there are broad overarching types of character. In our case we have gone for Warrior, Rogue, Wiz(z)ard and Creator. These archetypes don’t dictate what type of character you can play but they act to do two things. 

First, they provide a set of skills and skill trees that lead to some pretty powerful options. Unlike in the current system, skills won’t be taken multiple times but once only, and each pick will lead to new options. 

Secondly, they are the jumping off points for research in each area

You can absolutely be a diplomatic warrior or a trader wizard. But your skills will likely make you strong in some areas rather than others. You will also be able to learn skills from different archetypes but to learn outside your core area will be more expensive, and the more powerful options will be closed off to you. This isn’t a significant move away from the current system but it allows us to explicitly design in the need for collaboration across the community.

Warriors’s core skills range from lithe duellists through to tanks who can’t be moved, you might learn how to carry someone alone, or how to wear armour so effectively it stops arrows. You might learn how to completely shrug off a specific poison then build your resilience to survive being hit multiple times.

Rogues might be diplomats, scouts or puzzle solvers. You might learn how to strike a fatal blow or knock someone to the floor, how to tell what someone’s intentions are, spot a trap or how to hide and move at the same time. 

Wizards may muck about with undead, manipulate the elements or be all excited about learning the deep lore of the cosmos – whether its the powers of other planes, working with rituals or laylines. You might learn how to create an active shrine, summon an Oathbound, coerce a Ghoul or wield lightning so it blasts someone in their tracks and you might research all of the above to take them further.

And last but not least come the creators; the alchemists, the blacksmiths, jewellers, surgeons and artisans. They’re so important they get their own posts, so watch out for that because their game is being significantly expanded and we’re excited to tell you about it.