A Guide to Joining the Roleplay in the Game of Tomes

Welcome to the Game of Tomes! Feedback tells us that people are wanting to join in the madness of our co-created universe, but aren't sure where to start. We get that. Effectively, this is a live play MMORPG and it can be complex. This guide is intended to help!    

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History

Here are the essentials of the plotline that you need to know so far. Links to dive deeper on past events can be found from there:       You enter this world as a Literomancer who has just discovered their powers, and you have come to join the ranks of the Tome Knights. You must choose a House (listed on our front page) to give your allegiance to. You cannot change this during a Tourney, but unless you are a key figure in the House, you may change this as often as you wish in November, during the Game of Tomes.   Want something to help you get an immersive feel as you jump into this? It's not required, but if you want to, you can try this word crawl! Since the information in it needs to be updated, we'll assume you've been training since you did your "basic training orientation" experience, and you're just now leaving it to join the Tome Knights:     You probably know who the leaders of the Houses are, who the major players are, and maybe a handful of juicy gossip bits about them, whether you follow it or not; just like I can't help but know who the Kardashians are, although I actively try to avoid news about them. You probably don't really understand how Literomancy works, however, since you have just come into your powers, so if you don't know, that's okay. Some people have tried to get around this by being from other worlds. I dislike this because it runs the risk of inconsistent Lore, so if you're going to do that, keep in mind the list of rules below.  

Lore

Most of the members of the literomantic Houses are Werebeasts who have a totemic relationship with the animal that is featured on their banner. This does not mean that all Tome Knights are werecreatures, but most of the House Scions (the important figures in the royal families) are. Nor do you have to be a werecreature to serve a House, nor do you have to be a werecreature of the same type as the royal family (House Lapin, for example, has a couple of key loyal figures among their Tome Knights who are Weretigers, at least one Dragon, and a wolf-totem barbarian, and a Werebadger who was once of House Meles is the royal consort.)   A variety of magic is available to Literomancers. Many draw inspiration from roleplaying games and high fantasy, but these are not the only abilities available.   Since about 500 writers have played the Game of Tomes, it is assumed that about 500 people in the GoTverse are true literomancers, who can alter reality with their words. They are all significant in a world with billions of people in it. In other words, by definition, any Tome Knight (yes, you!) can be one of the main characters in this story, if you want to be.   But keep in mind that this is a living, breathing universe, with its own established Lore and history. If you want to include something in the story, you will be far more likely to accomplish that by interweaving it into the existing story. And you need permission to do that, because somebody has to organize this project. Right now, that's me, Sable Aradia. But I'm not the master of all the plotlines, so you may have to check with someone else if you want to get involved in the things they're doing. Get a hold of me or your House Leader on our Discord server and we can point you in the right direction.  

Genre

The Universe of the Game of Tomes "The GoTverse" can probably be best described as "urban fantasy," meaning it's our reality and our time period, with exceptions. It can also be described as "dark fantasy" because magic does not solve all problems and there are decidedly nasty things that are integral to the world. It can possibly also be described as "comedy-horror," because it is not afraid to be ridiculous in places, and we try not to take ourselves too seriously. The vibe has been described as being similar to Buffy the Vampire Slayer; it can be completely off-the-wall funny in places, only to hit you with heartbreaking drama or mind-numbing horror the next minute.   We like it this way.  

Rules

  Participation in the RP channels is marked according to content levels, as if they were movie ratings. Participation in the official Lore videos of Game of Tomes is limited to 16+ without written parental consent, and this is our "target audience." There may be some elements of GoT's story that are suited to kids, but war and death are central themes — and hopefully, so is the ability to find hope and joy and strength in difficult times — so much of this subject matter may not be suited to all viewers or all players.   Trigger Warnings — Some of the subjects in the GoTverse can get quite dark. In a world where the main conflict is a war against zombies every year, and a limited number of people effectively have superpowers, we think this should be expected. Subjects discussed in Lore have included fascism, eugenics, abuse, violence, war, trauma, and various horror story subjects. If you have specific issues that concern you, please ask the Game Masters and inform anyone you intend to play with, so that you can decide whether or not what they are doing is right for you.   The magic system in the GoTverse is intentionally a soft magic system. This means there are no hard and fast mechanics for how things work. That might not be true of RPGs that are adapted from this universe, which people are now starting to create, but in the main universe plotline, magic is really only limited by your imagination and your ability to tell a convincing story. HOWEVER:

Try not to ruin anybody else's fun. This is the most hard and fast rule we have. Don't create undefeatable characters. Don't rain all over someone else's parade. It is possible to be immune to someone's powers because of the way your powers work, but establish that ahead of time, preferably in consultation with others. Don't create a villainous character without clearing that role with me, because there are already villains in the plotline. Besides, not everybody is comfortable with potentially hostile PCs.

Just like in any other RPG, there is a Game Master, and in this case, that's me. I have assistants who help me, and those are Erin Righ (my husband and a co-founder of GoT) and the House Leaders. You have to clear things with us before they become canon, and even if your House Leader said yes, Erin and I have the power to overrule that if we see a problem.

The only "canon" material is anything that appears in one of the Lore videos or official stories and novels. You can find the complete playlist here. Anything else that happens is subject to change according to the needs of the story. Canon can be changed, but only through the power of the Iron Tome.   There are a few hard NOs, but only a few.

Because of the way the game works, you cannot be Undead without being drafted into The Undead Horde, although you can play living characters with some undead-like traits, such as dhampires, or "tainted" characters who might have Lovecraftian superpowers, for example.

There are no elves, gnomes, dwarves, etc. who are natural to this planet, though there may once have been and maybe they are just now returning. We have recently introduced a connection to the realm of Faerie, and we are intentionally drawing from real-world mythologies, rather than existing RPGs.

There is no time travel without the Iron Tome (too easy to mess up what other people have built), although that does not necessarily exclude other time-related powers.

There are no extraterrestrials that we have discovered (yet.)

The tech is roughly limited to what would make sense in the modern world of the actual date and time you are reading this in, which is assumed to be the world date. However, if you can figure out a way to incorporate magic to solve a current technological limitation, there are near-future sci-fi type elements that exist.

You cannot play copyrighted characters from other works, and if your character is too similar to such a character, we will insist on changes.

There are a few things that make my teeth grind. They are not "hard nos," but I will watch them closely and restrict them:

This is not a video game or a comic book, although you're welcome to have powers that are inspired by those things.

This is not Star Trek and we don't have that kind of tech yet. If you really want something cool and sci-fi, clear it with me and I'll try to make it work.

We're not interested in recreating your Dungeons and Dragons game here, or your Vampire game, or any other existing RPG universe. If your character comes from another universe, there's no guarantee that the powers they had there will work here.

Some powers are protected. For example, magical healing is uncommon, and Resurrection is almost non-existent without the Iron Tome.

People can summon characters from their own writing who have such powers, but this is entirely at the discretion of the Game Masters, and there is no guarantee that a power that worked one way in a character's world of origin will work the same way in the GoTverse. Nor is there any guarantee that the summoned character will do what you want just because you summoned them! You have to convince them to help you, just like anyone else.

Designation of a power as a "signature power" to a particular character is granted entirely at the discretion of the Game Masters.

Be careful about bringing religion into the game. Faith is kept deliberately vague in Game of Tomes. While characters, like people, do have religious beliefs, there is no tangible proof that any of their beliefs have any real validity — just as there is no tangible proof that they don't! But as a result, I actively discourage "clerics," "paladins," and similar in the manner of DnD characters. Miracles do happen in the GoTverse, but they are as mysterious in the GoTverse as they are in our own.

All social advantages in the GoTverse are earned, and if you want to play a relative or friend of an established character, you have to clear that with them and with the Game Masters first.

You can play morally questionable characters, but be aware they're not likely to go over well. Most of the other players will choose not to associate with them because they don't tend to enjoy games in which they can't trust their friends, regardless of what the character displays publicly. There are plenty of friendly rivalries, though!

Last, respect the Game Masters and your fellow players:

This universe is co-created. Every Tome Knight actively helps to create the storyline, because the story must adapt to the results of the game, and make sense in light of those events. Be kind. Work things out with the other players if you can. Respect their limits and requests, and they'll respect yours.

Nobody is required to engage with what you're creating — or to stay out of it. It's generally polite to ask before jumping in to a group roleplay, but in some cases, things become public in the universe, and if they do, the other characters can interact with it. For instance, if Queen Sable and The Bard with Many Names get into an argument at Queen Tara's tea party, anyone who was at the tea party might have overheard, and they have the right to react. Likewise, if your character appears at the front door of the Warren while everyone is busy preparing for the war and you want to talk about your opinion of Dickens, people might not choose to have that conversation with you right at that moment. If you want to get involved in something, ask! Most people are pretty good at finding ways to include you. If they say it's a private conversation, though, respect that.

Many people base their characters roughly on themselves, or who they would be in this universe. This is a great way to build some flaws into your character! But it also means that sometimes, issues that come up will hit a bit too close to home. Try to give each other space for that.

Respect character agency. The only character reaction that can be forced is service to the Horde, and only by the Night Monarch. And how an undead character chooses to serve the Undead Horde is entirely up to them!

As a matter of courtesy, we usually give a person who introduced a concept into this universe some right to exercise influence over it. For instance, it's polite to consult The Bard with Many Names about fae, and AttorraRu about dragons. If there's something you want to get involved with, ask!

It is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with the Lore and history of the fictional universe of the Game of Tomes. That is why we write these articles, maintain this website, and archive the videos. It is impossible to personally inform everyone of everything they might possibly want to know in connection with their characters, whose involvement in the GoTverse tends to be interconnected and complex. We will try to help if things go off the rails though, I promise! It's okay to jump in and be mistaken, because you can just do it over if need be. There's no harm in giving it a try and no one's going to get angry at you for making a mistake in RP.

When the Game Master says no, we meant "no."

   

How Literomancy Works

Literomancy is magic through creative writing. Want to make something happen? Tell us a convincing story! Co-create it with us!   However, this also means that magic is limited by the limitations of literature. Most of the more powerful abilities are only useful when it is dramatically appropriate to the story, and will not work when they would break the story. Literary Tropes are powerful magical laws that are difficult to break. Most abilities come with built-in, inherent drawbacks.   Let me give you some examples:

Sable Aradia can heal and resurrect people from time to time, including herself. However, her magic is powered by love. Isolating her weakens her and prevents her from using those powers.

Having an enemy among one's offspring is particularly dangerous, because those literary tropes don't tend to end well for the parental units (see The Mother of Badgers plotline for an example of this.)

An alliance is strongest when all the members of it come together in friendship, and can be more easily defeated when they do not, so putting aside differences and forgiving each other was a central plot in November 2021.

Most powers are stronger and weaker when it is appropriate to the drama of the story.

Comparatively, in literature:

Bugs Bunny can walk off cliffs while Wile E. Coyote cannot, because it's funny.

Luke could only call upon his full powers when fighting Darth Vader. They were not as effective against the Emperor, because it was not dramatically appropriate.

A common critique of Lord of the Rings is that if the giant eagles could fly Frodo and Sam away from Mordor, why couldn't they just fly them in? The answer in the GoTverse is because there would have been no story if they had done so, but once the One Ring was taken care of, leaving Mordor would just have been anti-climactic anyway, so the eagles were free to act.

These are inherent magical laws to the universe.  

How to Get Involved

If you've read this far, that means this is probably the million-dollar question for you. So I'll tell you:   First, create a character with a World Anvil character template, or a Google Doc — something you can share a link to. Post the link in the #community-lore channel on the Discord server. If there are any problems, we'll let you know. Once we've added your character to the website, we'll mark it with a green check. Priority is according to immediate plot relevance, so if you're a brand-new Tome Knight, it might be a while, but you can still play your character without the character being on the website.   Second, get involved in the RP channels on the Discord server. Try things out! If they won't work, someone will tell you, and they'll likely tell you why, too. I promise I won't NOPE anything without a good reason. I want everyone to have a good time.   Third, if you're going to do anything morally questionable, get permission from other people who are involved. If you're going to try to kill someone, make sure they're good running with that plotline (having someone try to assassinate you can be tense!) If you want to play a villain, run it by me first so I can figure out how to incorporate you.   Fourth, try to work within the existing universe. There's already a Void, so you can't make another one. Work with what exists, when you can. If you can't, talk to me or to your House Leader about it.   Last, if you want to be a main character, work with me or your House Leader to write yourself into the plotline, and be prepared to be on video, either in person or as an avatar, which will be your responsibility to create!   And finally, a word of caution — getting involved in the main plot can be a LOT of pressure. Turnaround time on videos, from scripting to final edit, is extremely short. You may not have any idea how exhausting and stressful this can be, and you have to make sure that other people who are involved in the production of the videos have time to get things done, including video editing, special effects, sound design, captioning, and a variety of other production elements. It has to work within existing scripts, and if you start something, you'd better be prepared to finish it. If that sounds like too much work and stress, you might want to keep your RP to the Discord server and the stream chats alone — and that's perfectly okay. You're not required to be part of the official plot line, but if you want to, we'll try to make room for you.   That's it! If you have any problems or questions, don't hesitate to contact me. Discord channels or DMs are the best way to do that.   HAVE FUN!