Heroes of Tidefall [Learn to Play Fabula Ultima]

Creating your character

We will be using the Character Creation rules on pages 154-175 of Fabula Ultima Core, and we will also be doing all the Session Zero steps in pages 145-153, including the Players contributing to the Worldbuilding of Saphira's history and current circumstances. I am really looking forward to further defining the game world with you. It is my intention to maintain a generally High Fantasy feel for Saphira, with touches of Natural Fantasy. The advanced technology of Techno-Fantasy may have had a place in this world's history, and maybe in its future as well . . . I recommend you read over the Character Creation rules and the Character Archetypes on Pages 176-219. I have access to the other sourcebooks in the series if one of those classes appeals to you, but I would prefer to stick to the core classes if possible. Characters will be the standard starting level (5).

Preparing for the session

This is a game played over the Internet, and as such some means of reliable voice communication is necessary, so a mic and speakers so we can hear you and you can hear us are essential. A webcam is nice but not necessary, though I do prefer seeing my players' smiling faces whenever possible (It gets lonely being the only one on Camera!) You should also have made a player account at Foundry and communicated that to me, and sent me your Discord Handle as well. I use Zoom for the voice and visual communications, so you should download the Zoom Client as well. All of these setup steps should only take a few minutes. (Note: you do NOT need to pay for accounts at either Zoom or Foundry. My paid accounts cover all of us.) I would recommend you acquire and begin reading the Fabula Ultima Corebook, which is available from many sources including DriveThruRPG. It is a fairly breezy read as far as TTRPG Books go - I finished it in a weekend - and I think it's a neat little system, which is why I am running it. Other than that, go watch an Isekai or go play your favorite JRPG. This is where we'll be sourcing our collective inspiration for this run, after all.

What Overlord Jim brings to the table

As a GM, I bring my theatrical background (which sometimes manifests in unique character voices, and always shows up in their unique motivations), my decades of experience in front of and behind the GM Screen, and my love of all things Roleplaying. I have played with the Rule of Cool long before it got its name, but as this is a Learn to Play, I will try to stick to the Rules As Written for the most part, but I can and do bend and break systems to do things they were never meant to do in the name of letting the players pull of that one cool thing they thought up that the system was never meant to simulate. I am your character's biggest fan from the moment I meet them. I want your characters to be Big Damn Heroes, and everything I do behind this screen is to help you do that. My Villains will be terrible, so that your confronting them can be glorious. My worlds will be full of evils both grand and banal, so you always have something going wrong you can make right. I want you to become Heroes with a Capital "H", and I will cheer on your characters every step of the way. I have a confession to make: I love combat. I am a relentless action junkie who loves nothing more than throwing your precious characters to the wolves - figuratively and literally! My monsters howl for your blood and will gnaw on your bones if you don't fight smart and watch each other's backs. I will use every system the game has to simulate deadly combat, but it must be said that I am more of a Theater of the Mind GM than a Tactical Grid GM. This is a story about exploration, so I hope you're ready to venture into the unknown. It is one of my very favorite things to see in a game, taking you somewhere no one has ever seen so you can have that “Moment of Discovery”. There is always Terra Incognita in every Fantasy World, and you will be visiting a lot of it in this story. My favorite part of all, though, is the roleplaying. I live for that moment when I watch you become the character, speaking their words, affecting their mannerisms, and making choices that ring true for the Character above all. I invite you to a deep immersion with your character, and can't wait to see you become them. I look forward to meeting you and your Heroes!

How Overlord Jim creates a safe table

I run all my games and my server as a safe space for everyone, and both are explicitly and aggressively inclusive. You are welcome at my table if you can follow the game's rules and play nice with others. Pronouns and identities are to be respected, BUT we also do not take offense when people make honest mistakes trying to honor them. (I guarantee I will flub your pronouns at least once, but will always try to self-correct when I do) I WILL NOT tolerate people deliberately and intentionally making my clients - who often become my friends - feel unsafe and uncomfortable. This is the expected baseline for everyone in my games and on my server. You WILL be asked to leave the game and the server for deliberate offenses against the other players. I use a Pre-Game Survey to implement Lines & Veils. Once compiled, the Lines & Veils document will be posted on the Discord Server and reviewed as necessary, such as when new players join and their Lines & Veils are added. We will discuss them in Session 0. We use the X, N, and O Cards, and you can use them visually or submit X N & O Cards by PM, but the visual usually gets my attention faster. It is my usual practice to do a mid-game break, and we can do breaks as needed after intense scenes. I encourage high quality roleplaying and thus am prepared to deal with Bleed as it occurs. I often forget to do my Stars & Wishes, so please remind me so I get better about that. I am always open to constructive criticism, it's how I improve as a GM, and I'm always trying to run a better game than the last one. I do not expect nor plan for this to be a particularly dark game - rather the opposite - but you should know that all the evils in my games are there for a purpose: to make your Light Shine all the Brighter. Any and All Evil that exists in my game worlds is there to be confronted by Heroes like you. Find the Evil Cultists and stop their terrible plans. Confront the Demons some careless sorcerer unleashed and banish them. Defeat the Enemy Army and save your city from total destruction. Evil exists to be defeated by Heroes. Be the Heroes.