Introduction: New Players, Read This First!

Hello, and welcome to the website for Aftermath, the Michaelmas 2017/Hilary 2018 freeform game for the Oxford University Roleplaying Games Society. If you've never played any sort of roleplaying game before, never fear! Here's a quick introduction. If you're a seasoned roleplayer, feel free to check out the quick guide to sections of the site at the bottom of this page.

One important thing to be aware of first: You don't need to read this entire website!

We've tried to make the game fairly easy to pick up, and a lot of the setting will be uncovered as you play the game. That being said, there's a reasonable amount of material here, and you certainly don't need to know all of it to start playing (although if you do want to that's great!). Read only what interests you and what's relevant to a character you might like to play!

You will find a guide to sections of the website and what they tell you below.

Any questions, concerns and character concepts should be e-mailed to the The GM Team.

There are a few acronyms used throughout the website which might be a little confusing if you've never played before. Don't worry—help is at hand! And if you're confused by anything, feel free to email us to ask questions!

• OOC or OC: Out of Character. Events and circumstances in the real world. For example, Aftermath sessions take place OOC every Tuesday in term.
• IC: In Character. Events and people in the world of Aftermath. For example, the sessions of Aftermath occur IC every week in the Oscar Wilde Room, Magdalen College.
• GM: Game Master or Game Moderator. Us! The team of people who write, run and maintain the game for your playing pleasure. The first place to turn if you have a question.
• PC: Player Character. You! The characters that Aftermath players create and represent in the fictional world. You will usually play the same PC every week through the course of the game, though you may switch or retire a character if you get bored or your character dies. Retired characters cannot be brought back if you change your mind.
• NPC: Non-Player Character. Us again! Other characters in the Aftermath setting, who may appear at session (played by a GM), or just in turnsheets. NPCs present in the session may vary slightly week-to-week, and GMs will often play several NPCs during a game session. If there is a specific NPC you want to talk to in a game session, then ask a GM (it helps if you know which GM is playing that NPC).
• PvE and PvP: Terms to describe the nature of challenges your characters might face, 'Player vs Environment' (i.e. the world¹⁾ is out to kill you) or 'Player vs Player' (i.e. everyone else is out to kill you). Aftermath will largely be a PvE game, but there may be some PvP content that comes up during the game.
• Phys-rep: “Physical representation”, an object, makeup, or costume used to represent something in the game—a plastic blade representing a real blade, makeup representing a scar or recent wound. Note that there is no requirement in this game to phys-rep anything, but the option is open for those that enjoy doing so.

A roleplaying game is somewhere between amateur dramatics and collaborative storytelling. You turn up, create a character to play, and play them! There are no scripts or lines, no set outcomes to what will happen—just a setting, a bunch of other characters to interact with, and some GMs to make sure it all runs smoothly.

Aftermath is specifically a freeform²⁾ live roleplaying game, which means that instead of narrating your character's actions during game sessions, you actually perform them; you turn up each week, walk around and talk to other characters, make deals, trade news, gossip, diplome, eavesdrop and orate. This doesn't mean you need to be a great public speaker, or even a particularly good actor—just be able to speak as your character would!

Aftermath sessions take place in the Oscar Wilde Room, Magdalen College. This represents the mysterious room detailed in the The Signs, with protections in place to prevent violence. In general, the sessions will be for discussions between players and NPCs and any other activity will take place in turnsheets.

Most importantly: roleplaying is about having fun and creating stories with other players. Absolutely no experience is required to play the Society Game (indeed, it's designed to offer an easy route in for new roleplayers!), and there will be plenty of supportive people on-hand to help you out if you're confused about any aspect of the game. Turn up and enjoy yourself!

Every Tuesday, during termtime, players meet in a room.

During these meetings, players exchange news, meet with other survivors, organise groups to do things, and make plans of their own. The GMs will be on hand to offer help, advice, information and to keep the game running smoothly, as well as playing various NPCs every week.

Each week between games represents three months of IC time. That's the period during which your character has the most freedom to act; you can explore new locations, create new tools, take action against other PCs, fight, trade and scheme! Each week, we ask that players send in a summary of what they want their character to be doing in that three month period, known as a 'Turnsheet'; the GMs will then judge the results of your actions and report back to you on how everything went.

There is a system for these turnsheet actions, detailed here, but don't feel you need to memorise it all; we're more than happy to help you out if you're having trouble working out what you want to do in the early weeks!

We'd suggest starting in the following places:

• The Setting pages: Your character can be aware of everything in this section—you'll especially want to be aware of the content of this page covering the current situation your character finds themselves in.
• Intro to the Wiki System: If you are new to Society games, and want to be brought up to speed on how the wiki works.
• Character Creation: When you want to start putting together your character for the game.
• Style and Tone: To get some initial idea about the feel of the game, without reading through every page on the wiki.
• Turnsheeting: This will get you up to speed on how turnsheets work, if you don't yet know.
• Conduct and Themes: All games run by OURPGSoc are run under our conduct and themes policy. It is expected that everyone is familiar with the policy before taking part in OURPGSoc activities. The page on the wiki contains some specific details about the Conduct and Themes that may vary between games.