@@ -9,12 +9,16 @@ Character backstories can be skipped at the start, and thrown in during play, wh
Character creation is random by default, so players have no expectation to understand the entire world before starting play (though you have the option to build a character).
Combat is focussed on giving players real choices, and typically ends quickly as enemies have few hitpoints.
Combat is focussed on giving players real choices, and typically ends quickly as enemies have few \glsentrylong{hp}.
For a starting pack of ideas, the \glsentrylong{gm} has \textit{Adventures in Fenestra} -- a guide to the world, some side quests, and a small bestiary.
If you're looking for a premade campaign world, print yourself a copy of \textit{Adventures in Fenestra}.
\end{multicols}
\section*{Special Thanks ...}
\begin{multicols}{2}
\subsection*{to the Artists}
Neil McDonnell for the basic photograph which became the Polymorph image,
...
...
@@ -22,10 +26,9 @@ Neil McDonnell for the basic photograph which became the Polymorph image,
\paragraph{Boris Pecikozi\'c} for Thenton's Story images, (pages
\pageref{boris:jump},
\pageref{boris:brawl},
\pageref{boris:meet}
),
\pageref{boris:meet}),
\paragraph{Brian Garabrant} for the cover images
%\paragraph{Brian Garabrant} for the cover images
\paragraph{Roch Hercka} for the myriad wonderful pencil sketches (pages
\pageref{roch:races},
...
...
@@ -46,26 +49,20 @@ Find him at artstation.com/hertz.
\subsection*{and the Youtubers} for keeping me company during lengthy typography sessions -- in particular Lindybeige for his suggestions on RPGs, especially his insistence on running away from things.
Also a big thanks to Skallagrim, Xidnaf and Artifexian for keeping me entertained and informed.
\section*{What's an RPG?}
It's a little like a soap-opera meets board games.
One person tells a strange kind of story, without any main characters.
Everyone at the table then makes a main character, decides what kind of person they are, and how they might react.
When the person telling the story and the main characters can't say what happens next, they turn to the dice.
Roll high and you win.
Roll low and you lose.
Each characters gets some bonus or penalties to the dice rolls for jumping, thinking, or casting spells, depending on what the character has trained in.
The stories told each night are \emph{emergent}.
Nobody knows exactly what will happen ahead of time.
A lot of the fun for the storyteller is seeing how people change the plot, while the players get to see a world unfold without in front of them, often while struggling to survive.
\end{multicols}
\section*{The Right to Improve}
\begin{multicols}{2}
This book has some serious problems, and that's fine. I've put this under a share-alike licence,\footnote{\tt GNU General Public License 3 or (at your option) any later version.} so anyone can grab a copy of the basic \LaTeX~ document it's written in and change things. This isn't the Open Gaming Licence of D20 where they magnanimously allow you to use their word for a mechanic and let you publish things for their products -- this is a publicly owned book.
No longer do imaginative \acrshortpl{gm} have to scribble their inspired house rules onto the back of an old banking statement and cellotape it to the last page of the core book. Instead, you have the complete source code, and can modify it as you please, creating a cohesive book. If you spot an error, you can correct it. If you want to add a couple of spells, it's no problem. Just download the source code from gitlab.com/bindrpg/, download a Latex editor, and make the changes you want. Once you're happy with your changes, you might even send it off to a printing shop for a cheaply bound book all of your own.
No longer do imaginative \acrshortpl{gm} have to scribble their inspired house rules onto the back of an old banking statement and cellotape it to the last page of the core book.
Instead, you have the complete source documents, and can modify it as you please, creating a cohesive book.
If you spot an error, you can correct it.
If you want to add a couple of spells, it's no problem.
Just download the source from gitlab.com/bindrpg/, download a Latex editor, and make the changes you want.
Once you're happy with your changes, you might even send it off to a printing shop for a copy of your own version.
And if you happen to make some useful additions, or even deletions, be sure to add them to another git project, where others can benefit from your genius.
