Decide on some facts about the world§

The very first thing to do is to decide, together, how your town views the revival of English magic, and who the revivalist was. This doesn’t have to take a lot of time or be a big question, but it will contextualize the rest of the choices you make.

Was the revivalist a gentleman of obscure birth? A lady of good family? A strange foreign man? A wild and mysterious old woman? Someone else?

How do people feel about the attempt to revive English magic? Perhaps it is a tragedy the Revival failed; England needs magic now more than ever. Or perhaps it is a relief the Revival failed; magic is a distraction and unbecoming. Maybe even the revival was a sham; the government wasted money on it and the military wasted time. Or the revival was a sham, because magic was always a sham; the stories of Myrddin and the Ladies of the Lake are unsubstantiated old legends. I ask only that you recall that English magic is not called witchcraft, and there is no Inquisition.

Make the town§

At the outset of the game, the characters all live in the same place, in a small town or village in England. While this may change over the course of play, it grounds the characters and situates them in a community. “Three or four families in a country village is the very thing to work on,” as Jane Austen said.

You can either use a premade town, or make your own. There are rules for making a town in Appendix: Towns, but for now, let’s assume you have a completed town.

A town provides three crucial things: families, connections, and geography. Your characters can come from any of the listed families, or one unlisted. Your character will have some connections, based on answering questions on the town sheet. Your character will live and travel in the geography described. The families and geography are intended to be suggestive, and allow for elaboration or alteration. The connections should be taken more or less as-written, though if you and the table agree that some question should be adjusted or slanted or altered, who am I to stop you?

Make the main characters§

Once you have a context, make your characters. The first step is to choose a role. If you are ready to be surprised by the character you may play, draw two at random, and choose one. If you know who you want to play, you may simply play a role of your choice. I encourage you to consider the first option.

Once you have your role, choose your given name and family name (perhaps using a family name from the town sheet), briefly describe your look, and choose your age, best accomplishment, and manner. Save your hope for later.

Take a look at your reputations. These will describe how society expects you to behave. Should you fail in this, you may earn a bad reputation, in brackets.

In coordination with the other players, now fill out your connections. If there are two main characters, answer all four questions for your role. If there are three or four main characters, answer any three you like. If there are five main characters, answer any two you like. You can answer with a mix of other main characters, and supporting characters you or the host make up on the spot. Many answers will suggest other supporting characters, too, which the Host will note down for their own record-keeping. One of your answers should touch on the magical: either the person or the nature of your connection should include a magical element.

Now that you know some of who you are and how you fit into the community, choose a hope. This is your heart’s desire. The thing you would give your very world for. The thing that makes it worth it for you to pursue the dangerous practice of magic. Choose:

• I hope to marry for love.
• I hope to be revenged upon (here name another character).
• I hope to have land or money enough to live on.
• I hope to know and be known by my family.
• I hope to have my love for (here name another character) returned.
• I hope to be showered with glory.
• I hope to see justice for (here name another character).
• … or something else.

It would not be wrong to say that your hope is necessarily in conflict with society’s expectations for you. Otherwise, you might simply achieve it, or be on the way to doing so. It should still be something you can maybe, just maybe, see your way to accomplishing, though.

Next, turn to the inside of your role book. Here you will find the personal and magical. First, your character has two boons: a star, personal to them and the moment of their birth, and a root, shared with their family. If you have chosen to be part of one of the great local families, mark the root that comes with them. If you have not, you and any other main characters who you share a family with should choose and mark one root together. Then, individually, choose and mark a star.

Finally, choose two spells. The spells are organized into arts, within which there are tiers. The first tier is the apprentice, then the journeyman, then the master. Choose an apprentice spell from each of two arts. Why are you a magician? What do you want, what are you that society cannot accept and that drives you to understand magic? How did you learn your spells?

Now, you should be ready to play.

An example§

Angelo, Bridget, Carl, and Dianne are playing, with Harper as the Host. They have decided that the attempt to revive English magic came from an academic at Oxford, a scholar there named Wycliff. He began as an historian of English magic, but succumbed to the temptation many before him have, and tried his hand at practical magic. Unlike all his predecessors attempts, it worked. He helped the government for less than a year before vanishing. All his papers were in a cipher, and half of them were missing, and so the government (and the country) have doubled down on practicality and the stiff upper lip, and given up entirely on magic. Most people think magic is a distraction, and that England has become better and stronger for its absence. Of course, perhaps people only think that because it has failed.

They have decided to play in the town of Little Norlea, in the Southeast, not far from London, but out of the way. Angelo, Bridget, Carl and Dianne now choose their roles. They all choose the random route, drawing two roles and choosing one. Angelo draws the Ward and the Officer, Bridget draws the Gentleman and Clergyman, Carl draws the Invalid and Lower Servant, Dianne draws the Dandy and Companion. After some discussion and figuring out which roles most appeal to each of them, and which dynamics between them are most interesting, they settle on these roles: Angelo as the Ward, Bridget as the Clergyman, Carl as the Lower Servant, and Dianne as the Dandy.

The Ward is Sophia Bellamy, daughter to the late Captain Lucas Bellamy and granddaughter and ward to Squire Jonas Bellamy. She is pretty but not fashionable, has just turned nineteen, lighthearted and good at dancing. All of this paints a shallow picture of her so far, but Angelo has ideas: she has grown up with stories of her father’s daring in the wars, and wishes to follow in his footsteps, if only she could.

The Clergyman is the Reverend Mr. Coape Nightingale, freshly down from Oxford and given the living of St. Albans by the Squire. He will surely have stories of the late Mr. Wycliff, though whether he will choose to tell them is another matter. He is young, with sharp features that could become handsome as he grows into them. He is twenty four, dreamy and lost in his books, and a scholar of languages. What relationship, if any, he might have with Mr. Wycliff’s work remains to be seen.

The Lower Servant is Benjamin Cull, groom to Squire Bellamy. He is fit from his work, and cannot keep an ironical smile off his face. He is eighteen, caring (though often more for the horses than for people), and good at listening. He spends a lot of time with the horses, and should someone ask him, would have to admit that he first learned magic from them.

Dianne’s Dandy is Mr. Oliver Hawkes, cousin to the Norlea Hawkses, who has come to stay with his poor relations for reasons that certainly have nothing to do with fleeing creditors in London. He is the very pink of fashion, but his face is marred with a couple scars from some sword-duels he has fought. He is twenty-two, passionate, and a masterful fencer. Dianne hopes that he will draw the eye of Miss Bellamy, though Mr. Hawkes could not see her as a marriage prospect.

Now, while everyone’s very excited about these characters, it does lead to a problem: there are three men and one woman. Harper will have to be sure to make some more female supporting characters to ensure that there are ladies in Miss Bellamy’s life, and to ensure balance at dinners and dances.

After much conversation and back-and-forth, the four players of the main characters fill out their connections. They only need each pick three from their respective lists, since there are four players.

Angelo chooses to answer these three: Who is your guardian? Squire Bellamy. Who is courting you? Mr. Nightingale (with Bridget’s consent; they agree that an engagement would be unlikely, but think the tension will be fun). Who do you trust? Jane, my ersatz lady’s maid. Now, one should be magic-touched, and Angelo thinks that if Jane hears things from the fairies and goblins, that would be interesting.

Bridget chooses to answer: Who comes to you seeking religious guidance? Mrs. Lavinia Bellamy, the Squire’s wife. Who thinks you’d make them a good match? To avoid making things too convenient with Miss Bellamy, Bridget answers Miss Elizabeth Hawkes, the Dandy’s cousin. Who gives you respite from your duties? Here, Bridget wants to bring in the Ellicots, who have been untouched on the town sheet so far, and says Miss Kitty Ellicott is always willing to listen, offer insight, and share a good Latin pun. Of these, Miss Hawkes has been learning all she can about the work of the late Mr. Wycliff, to impress Mr. Nightingale with her knowledge of practical magic.

Carl’s Lower Servant has the following connections: Who is your master? Well, Squire Bellamy. Who is your sibling? My sister, Jane, is in service here, too, and imagines herself a lady’s maid to the young Miss Bellamy now. Who is your confidant? Rhadamanthys, the Squire’s prize gelding and best courser. Obviously, that we talk is both magical and secret.

Finally, Dianne’s Dandy answers these: Who is eligible here? Miss Kitty Ellicott, of course. The Ellicotts do not have the money they once had, but her aunt is a wealthy childless widow, and she may be set to inherit. Who gives you the best gossip? Jane Cull, though we must meet in secret. She seems to know things even the most astute servant wouldn’t hear, and have smelled the smell of goblins about her more than once. Who is your valet? Carver, and he is my trusted factotum, too.

All that remains: hopes, stars, roots, and spells.

Angelo chooses “I hope to get the chance to prove my valour on the battlefield” for Miss Bellamy. Because she is a Bellamy, her root will be Holly, per the town sheet. Her star is Mars, which fits with the themes of the character so far, but may be unlikely to come up until she approaches her hope. She will start with the apprentice spells of Clarity and Glamour, and hope to learn Affray some later day. She learned her spells through her father’s ghost visiting her in dreams.

Bridget chooses “I hope for glory and recognition for recovering Mr. Wycliff’s work, and restoring English magic again.” Though he never knew Wycliff, he has absconded from Oxford with some of the man’s ciphered journals, and hopes to use his skill with languages to unlock them. His root is Rowan, his star is Jupiter. He has learned magic from the few pages of Wycliff he has translated so far, and understands the apprentice spells of Supremacy and Weaving.

Carl chooses “I hope to be revenged on Squire Bellamy”. This comes as a surprise to the rest of the table at first, until Carl explains how Benjamin feels that the squire mistreats all below him: Benjamin himself, his sister Jane, his horses, even his wife. He sees him as a cruel man who uses his power to the inch. His root is Willow, like the Ellicotts (but as none of them are main characters, this is acceptable), and his star is Luna. Benjamin learned his spells from Rhadamanthys, who taught him first the apprentice form of Therianthropy (to speak with beasts), then the apprentice form of Navigation.

Finally, Dianne. She chooses “I hope to be rich as Croesus.” Mr. Hawkes is ultimately that simple: he enjoys the material pleasures of life, and resents the time he has been dependent on others. His root is Hazel, as he is a Hawkes, and his star is Saturn. He learned magic from the lifeblood of a man he killed in a duel, as it ran out onto the grass and spelled words only he could see. He learned the apprentice forms of Necromancy and Cursing this way.

The whole time, Harper has taken notes on all the supporting characters created, the dynamics, histories, and relationships. They take a brief break, and Harper considers where this story might start. As they reconvene, their Host begins: “On a charming summer day in 1814, in the village of Little Norlea…”

Agenda§

First, while the other players are playing to faithfully and compellingly portray and inhabit their characters, you have a slightly different agenda:

Principles concerning the world§

As you pursue this agenda, you are constrained by certain principles. There are principles about the world at large, and about magic in particular.

• Show how the world is unjust.
• Show how everyone is obligated and bound.
• Remember that disaster lurks around the corner.
• Make consequences real: relationships break, people die, fortunes are lost.
• Be a fan, not just a threat.
• Never worry about historical detail; as long as you all agree to it, it’s so.
• Show what will happen if the main characters do not act.

Principles concerning magic§

The principles concerning magic are fewer, but vital. Magic should veer towards the sublime, something slow and deep, not quick and flashy. Achieving this is an art, and every Host will find their own preferred style, but describing magic in matter-of-fact terms is a very helpful approach.

• Let magic show up in the corner of your eye.
• Let magic seem as though it’s always been there.
• Make magic have a will of its own.
• Make magic be old, feral, and of the land.

Supporting characters§

Your single most effective tool for enacting your agenda are the supporting characters. They let you embody and enact all of the things you must try to do.

However, it can be hard to play many supporting characters and keep them all straight! What follows are some tools to make that easier.

Fairies and goblins§

Fairies and goblins are much like other supporting characters, except they exist outside the bounds of society. The sorts of things they want are therefore very different.

Goblins usually want simple, single, horrific things. To see a love broken, to see someone murdered, to hear the cries of a lost and lonely child, to see good wheat rotting in the field.

Fairies, though, all at root share an esoteric desire: to possess and steal away mortal magicians. There are stories of magicians with fairy assistants back in the golden age of magic, but these magicians, even when they understood quite well what they were doing, walked a razor’s edge. The reasons a fairy might want to possess magicians might vary: as noble champions, as trusted confidants, as passionate lovers, as scorned jesters. But whatever the reasons, fairies will try to ensnare magicians and take them to their realm.

Save fairies for late in the game, or when a magician invokes one. Once a fairy is introduced, it becomes the fairy, and you should take a moment to envision it. You can find many suggestions in Appendix: Fairies & goblins, and feel free to use them verbatim, or to create your own.

Certain outcomes will say that the fairy gains a “strand” on a magician. This is how they steal magicians, and represents a bit of obligation and control that the fairy has over the magician. Once a fairy has five strands on a magician, they may steal them away to their fairy realm at their pleasure. No one has escaped from fairyland under their own power, but there are stories of magicians rescuing their loved ones from fairy, so perhaps this is possible.

The first session§

The first session will usually lay the groundwork: you’ll start to explore the relationships between the main and supporting characters, see who wants what from whom, how characters feel about each other, and what stands in the way of the main characters’ hopes and aspirations.

As the Host, you will create supporting characters as they are needed, and make them push on the main characters in various ways. If a character wants something, embody the reasons they can’t get or do it. Even if it’s something like a servant wanting to study at Oxford, that is, something all of society militates against, make a character who laughs at them for their erudition, or who dangles the promise of going up to Oxford accompanying their master in front of them, or similar.

Also make some characters to be the object of a desire: a character who hopes to marry for love should find some characters loveable, but unattainable. Perhaps the object of their potential love is below them, or above them, or married, or of the same sex, or shrouded in suspicion.

You also want, in this first session, to highlight the various main characters, and the core mechanics: use a good mixture of outcomes in moments of uncertainty, and have at least one main character cast a spell. This is a game with magic in it, after all! Don’t let them forget that.

The first scene§

Lofty goals for the first session are fine and all, but what do you actually start with?

First, take a breath. This is a transition, but it’s not like everything’s riding on this moment. Everyone will play and collaborate and it will be good. But you, as the Host, do have a particular responsibility here.

There’s a strange phenomenon, I find, where unless and until there are obstacles in their way, the players may not pursue their characters’ goals. Once they know what forces are arrayed against them, or what other pressing matters vie for their attention, they are more likely to begin the pursuit. And so, as the Host, you may wish to start the game with an urgent situation, an inciting incident, a “bang” as it were, that drives the characters to react, and interferes with their ability to start pursuing their goals.

You don’t have to start with one perfect incident that will make or break the game. You can throw out many possible hooks, as you explore the characters and their daily lives, and see which the players latch on to. Perhaps, though, this is a useful way to look at the problem: the players have spent a bunch of time setting up a status quo, albeit with tensions and uncertainties, but with a certain amount of established norms. It is up to you as the host to start to upset that status quo in ways that the players can understand as putting their characters at risk.

Has a character been hiding in rural solitude from his creditors in London? Perhaps a strange man with a staff and a blue jacket has been seen poking around the village. Has a character been hoping to receive a proposal from a well-to-do gentleman? Perhaps another house in the village is let to a family with three wealthy and beautiful daughters. Has a character been treating his vicarage as a sinecure, and neglecting the parishioners? Perhaps a group of Methodists or Quakers show up, providing an alternative and populist religious outlet. Has a character been struggling to make ends meet, and keep a roof over their aged parents? Perhaps the local landholder begins a process of enclosure, denying people access to the common land.

Some more concrete examples of beginnings:

An option: “Mr. Reynolds, it is a fine spring day. Who are you walking out to visit?” “Oh, uh, I think I might see how Miss Fanshaw is today.” (She is another main character.) “Ah, good. As you’re walking to the Fanshaw house, the vicar, your rival for her affections, Mr. Fyffe, encounters you on the road. He seems to be going to the same place.”

Suddenly, you have a scene: how does Mr. Reynolds manage a potential rival, and the likely social awkwardness?

Another option: “Miss Netherwood, your parents are hosting a ball tonight, in the hopes that you will return the affections of the odious Mr. Grosvenor. Your lady’s maid, Miss Jennings,” (another main character) “is helping you get ready.”

And here, suddenly, is a chance to hatch a plan, and make clear how the two characters feel about each other and Mr. Grosvenor.

You see the pattern? It’s two characters with a relationship to a third, in a situation that will force a reaction.

Risks & rewards§

There are a particular set of risks and rewards to bring to bear in this game. For the full set, see Appendix: Outcomes.

Procedure§

Once there are outcomes on the table, shuffle the deck (keeping any cards that have already been used for magic separate, as always), and draw two cards. If you have acted in accord with a star or root, deal one more card for each of those you have enacted. You may also spend role tokens one-for-one to get more cards. Once you have checked your stars and roots, and spent any role tokens you wish to spend, you may look at the cards you have drawn.

If you have marked any passions or wounds, and that passion or wound would impede or influence any of the outcomes on the table, you must now discard the highest-value card you have of each suit matching your passions and wounds.

Now, allocate one card per outcome, setting aside any extras. If you have too few cards, treat any outcome with no card on it as though it had an ace on it.

Interpret the outcomes based on the cards you’ve put on them, then shuffle all the cards you drew back into the deck.

An example§

Mr. Nightingale, the vicar, has come to visit Longford in the hopes of some time alone with Miss Bellamy, but Mrs. Bellamy, her grandmother, has cornered him with some concerns about the scriptures. As the three of them sit in the drawing room, Miss Bellamy gazing longingly at the beautiful spring day outside, Mr. Nightingale attempts to speak secretly to Miss Bellamy, to tell her he has feelings for her. “Well, you see, you must consider this passage in light of the Song of Solomon, one of the most romantic parts of the Bible…” The Host considers the situation, and decides that he’s risking making a misstep. The worst he could do would be say something awkwardly overt, so it’s no going to be embarrassing himself.

He considers his stars and roots: Rowan, the realist, would give him a card if he could explain that there’s no other option than the one he sets out. Jupiter, the Ruler, would give him a card if he invoked his rightful authority over someone else. While he can see how to involve either of these easily with his scriptural interpretation, they both feel a bit inappropriate for a veiled confession of love.

He has one more way to get extra cards here, and that is to spend role tokens: he’ll willingly spend one, so he has two outcomes and three cards to assign to them.

He draws: the seven of clubs, ace of hearts, and four of spades. This is not good. The ace and the four are both bad outcomes, and the seven is a middling outcome. He counts his blessings that he has not had to mark “morose” and thus discard the seven. He tosses the ace, and puts the seven on speak secretly and the four on make a misstep. He communicates his feelings for Miss Bellamy, very clearly to both her and her grandmother. As slipping such amorous hints into his scriptural interpretation is hardly a good example of Christian morality, he marks a reputation towards “hypocritical”.

Spells, arts and tiers§

Every spell is part of an art, and every spell is either the apprentice, journeyman, or master expression of that art. Before you can learn the master tier, you must learn the journeyman. Before you can learn the journeyman, you must learn the apprentice. At the start of the game, you know two arts at the apprentice level.

For details on the arts and spells, see Appendix: Spells.

Magical tools§

To cast a spell requires the use of magical tools. There are fifty-two magical tools available to English magicians, each with their own risks and each with their own effects on the spell cast.

You may use any number of magical tools to cast a spell, but only a few of them will have a material effect; the rest are florilegia, ornaments to disguise the essence of the spell-casting. An apprentice spell will require two tools, a journeyman three, and a master four.

Magical effects§

Magical tools strengthen the spell in various ways. Each tool offers a few effects, but when you cast a spell, you must choose which effect you’re aiming for.

The effects are:

• Carefully: side-effects, costs, and unintended consequences will be minimized.
• Cleverly: anyone who tries to understand, unwork, or extend the spell will have a more difficult time of it.
• Impressively: anyone who sees the spell or its effects will be struck by the magician’s power.
• Powerfully: the spell will overcome barriers and obstacles easily.
• Precisely: the spell will affect only what the magician intends.
• Safely: the spell’s costs will be minimized.
• Subtly: anyone who works to detect or trace the spell will have a hard time of it.
• Swiftly: the spell will go from notion to reality rapidly, and when done will vanish just as quickly.
• Thoroughly: the spell will affect everything the magician intends it to.

Procedure§

Having selected a spell to cast from those you know, you should select the two, three, or four magical tools you will use to cast the spell. The Host will put down cards for those tools, and some related outcomes. Always at least “magical corruption”, and possibly one or two others, like “uncover magical secrets” or “suffer an injury”. If you are casting a master-level spell, the Host will also choose an outcome from among the masterwork spell outcomes: death magic, transgressive magic, treacherous magic, ancient magic, harsh magic, feral magic.

Draw one card per tool and outcome in front of you, plus one because you are a magician. If there is a fairy present, you can bargain away anything you like for an additional one to three cards. Once you have drawn all the cards you will, you may look at them, and assign them to tools and outcomes.

For a tool, a face card means you get all the effect, and none of the risk. A 6 to 10 means you get both the effect, and the risk. An ace to 5 means you get the risk, but not the effect (though you still have cast the spell, and get the effect of the spell).

The Host will interpret the risks that have come to pass, and describe the side-effects of casting the spell, and you and the Host will describe together how the spell works.

Take all the cards you’ve assigned and remove them from the deck for the remainder of the session. Shuffle the unassigned cards back in to the deck.

An example§

Miss Bellamy intends to cast a spell. She hopes to sneak out at night to the militia encampment, and get a sense of the soldiers’ life, and maybe find a way that she could become a soldier herself; she dreams of military valour, after all. This is dangerous on so many fronts: she might be found by her guardians, the sentries at the camp, or footpads on the road at night. So she prepares by casting the apprentice spell of Clarity, a spell to alert one of present danger.

As it is an apprentice spell, it requires two tools. She wishes to cast it precisely, because there are so many dangers that a constant buzz in her head warning her of danger is hardly useful, and thoroughly, as she does not want anything to pass below its notice. She considers the tools available to her, and settles on braids or knots, and rowan.

She begins the ritual at sundown, as it will last until sunup. She retreats to her bedroom, having gathered some rowan twigs that afternoon. She sings an ancient song her father taught her, and traps the words in the braids she makes in her hair, winding them around the rowan twigs. The result is less than fashionable, but as the intent is to help her pass unnoticed, that shouldn’t matter.

Now, there are two tools and one outcome to assign cards to: braids, rowan, and magical corruption. The Host considers whether any other outcomes are appropriate, and decides not. Miss Bellamy draws one card per outcome and tool, plus one as she is a magician: Queen of hearts, four of hearts, eight of diamonds, ten of spades.

She hesitates: any cards she uses will be removed from the deck for the remainder of the session. So perhaps it’s worth taking some blows for the good of all? No. This is too important. She opts to put the Queen of hearts on rowan, getting the effect thoroughly as she intended, the ten of spades on braids, getting both a precise effect, and a risk that the Host will interpret, and finally the eight of diamonds on magical corruption: she will take a mark for the remainder of the session.

The Host considers: when braids or knots go wrong, it can lead to any of discord, entrapment, lies. “Entrapment” could be interesting: just because she can tell when danger is coming and prepare, does not mean that there will be a way out past that danger. That’s it: “You feel the tingling on your scalp that tells you when danger is near, and you veer from it, but every step towards the encampment makes you feel that, while you are not in danger, the labyrinthine path to avoid it gets more tangled. By the time you can see the sentries, you know that there may be no turning back safely.”

Meanwhile, Miss Bellamy has also chosen a mark: “You develop a constant sensation of being watched.” Even once the spell has ended, the feeling of impending doom will linger.

How to spot a scene end§

As the Host, you should in particular keep an eye out for the end of a scene, and remind people to call for Gossip.

Knowing where to cut a scene is a lifelong practice, but there are a few things to watch for:

• A revelation.
• A changed relationship.
• A decisive assertion of power.
• A decisive upset.

An example§

A scene with the main characters Miss Bellamy and Ben Cull, and the supporting character Jane Cull has just come to a close. Miss Bellamy was talking furtively with Jane near the kitchens at Longford, when Ben came up to confront his sister Jane. Miss Bellamy leapt to her maidservant’s defense, and Ben told her he knew just as well what she was up to, speaking with fairies an’ all. She reminded him of his place, and told him he had better keep quiet, and leave his sister alone, as who would believe a groom over the Squire’s granddaughter?

The two players involved in the scene each go over their reputations, asking the table whether they lived up to them. First, Miss Bellamy: “Did I assist the family proper?” Everyone else at the table discusses:

“Well, you were sorting out a disagreement between the servants, and that’s helpful.”

“But would the family have even noticed if two of their servants, a groom and a chamber maid with airs, were having trouble? Would they care?”

“If Miss Bellamy hadn’t stepped in and put her foot down, there’d be talk in town, if someone saw Jane red-eyed or worried later.”

That last decides it: Miss Bellamy gets a token for helping the family.

Next, “Did I do as I was told?” Well, the table agree quickly that she did not, not least of all because there was no one socially her superior to tell her what to do. Same with being “seen and not heard”: she very much asserted herself.

Now, it is Ben’s turn: “Did I do as I was told?” There’s a laugh of agreement at the table, “Absolutely you did, you backed down when she reminded you of your social status. Take a token.”

“Did I keep a confidence?” The table murmurs. “No, it didn’t really come up, but if it had, threatening to tell what your sister and the Squire’s ward are up to would hardly count, even if you don’t carry through on that threat.”

“Did I put my own needs last?” This is a hard one, and after much discussion of what Ben’s needs actually are at this moment, the table decides that he did, by conceding to Miss Bellamy, though it was clearly under duress. Still, he gets another token. Getting two tokens to Miss Bellamy’s one isn’t a bad trade-off for failing to get what he hoped for in the scene.

Passions and wounds§

Recovering passions is relatively straightforward: either be comforted, or do a particular kind of thing, depending on the passion.

For each passion you have, if you did the following, at the end of the scene, clear the associated passion:

• Irate: If you vented your spleen on someone or something.
• Insecure: If you acted decisively with no forethought.
• Morose: If you wallowed in an indulgence.
• Indecisive: If you missed a vital opportunity.

Recovering wounds is harder. Period medical care is shaky at best, and magical medical care has its own difficulties. But at the end of a scene, check:

• Slight: If you received medical care, magical or mundane, clear this wound.
• Grave: If you received mundane medical care to stabilize your wounds, you may clear this wound at the start of the next session. If you received magical medical care, you can clear this wound. Otherwise, mark “Mortal” at the start of the next scene.
• Mortal: If you received magical medical care, you can remain suspended on the brink of death until a fairy or a similarly powerful being can pull you back. Otherwise, speak your last words, you are on death’s door.

Magical marks§

As you cast spells, you will eventually be marked by the magic you’ve used. Marks come in two varieties: temporary, and permanent. Temporary marks go away at the end of a session. Permanent marks don’t go away. It’s that simple.

Damaged reputations§

As you damage a reputation, you will check boxes next to it. There is no way to uncheck those boxes, and once you have checked all four next to a reputation, that reputation turns into a bad reputation. A bad reputation cannot earn you role tokens.

However, if you begin a session with a bad reputation, and by the end of the session the table agrees that you have both suffered for it, and made amends and restitution as necessary, you can add a new reputation. You will not have fully lived down your previous bad reputation, but you have also earned a new one, and a new way to earn role tokens.

How does this relate to Jane Austen?§

One cannot talk about the Regency, and Regency fiction, without talking about Jane Austen. She has defined our image of what the Regency was, or at least, we think she has. To be honest, even for those of us who have immersed ourselves in her writing, the film and TV adaptations of her work still exert a tremendous influence on our understanding of the time, place, and genre.

The first thing to say, then, on this subject, is that Jane Austen is a terrible model for how to play characters in Arcadia.

In addition to the fact that her work is edited, and therefore can have a kind of tightness and attention to detail that an improvisational medium like a game can never achieve, she is also perhaps one of the best writers in all of English literature. She can make characters who seem [1] to have no problems still be engaging, which is a feat that I would not suggest any player attempt. A character with problems and insecurities is one with immediate needs and drives, and keeps you as a player urgently engaged with the events of the game.

If you must take a Jane Austen character as a model, think of Lydia Bennet, Catherine Morland, Marianne Dashwood. Think of Frank Churchill, Colonel Brandon, John Willoughby. The romantic figures, the cads, the people who do what they are not supposed to.

The second thing to say is that Jane Austen did not write romantic comedies, and this game is not a game of romantic comedy.

She wrote love stories, yes. Jane Austen’s heroines end up with a suitable romantic match. But the screen adaptations of her work always bend the story to fit the demands of the similar-but-different genre of romantic comedy. In her books, romance is not merely fated: it is sought and it is chosen over alternatives of security, stability, suitability. Her characters find themselves making difficult choices that sometimes pit them against the expectations of society, and they don’t simply fall for a romantic hero, but rather someone who can be an equal, a complement, and a collaborator.

This game, though, is perhaps more tragic. While the characters are by no means doomed to a bad ending, the road they travel is a hard one, and an alienating one. No magician settles down to a happily-ever-after. Even a romance between magicians is a relationship defined around the work, and the risks and hazards that come with it.

Playing with Romance§

Romance. It’s the natural next word after “Regency”. Whether you’re talking about the Romantic movement or Georgette Heyer’s novels, “Regency” and “Romance” go together.

It’s a time when passions and feelings and untamed nature are all increasingly valued, or at least given lip service. But it comes on the heels of a couple centuries of rationality and duty and family obligation. And so a tension is coming to the fore, the tension between marriage as a contract between two families, and marriage as an expression of the love of two individuals. Marriage is changing from a business matter to a personal matter.

The notion of love between individuals as the basis of marriage frees marriage to be, mean, and do different things than it had heretofore. Suddenly, people could seriously contemplate marrying well above (or below) their station. They could imagine marrying without parental consent. They could dream of marriage as a private and personal choice. Not that all this was impossible before, or perfectly acceptable now, but there was a social change underway.

So if love and marriage involves the feelings of individuals, how do you incorporate that into your game?

First, with the explicit consent of all involved. You can’t force a player to have their character fall in love with another. But if you talk about it, suggesting “Hey, I’d be really interested in exploring a romance between these characters,” you might get the buy-in you seek. Keep checking in and communicating as you go.

Then, to explore these characters’ feelings about each other, be sure to have some chances for the characters to interact in relatively normal situations, not fraught with family expectation, deadly smugglers, or conniving fairies. And then, also, explore how these characters get along in moments of extreme stress: with rivals, with misunderstandings, with fairies.

In many romantic stories, the couple in question are destined for each other. In an improvisational game like this, you have to be open to the possibility that this could equally be a story of love found, love lost, or love from beginning to end. Don’t decide on an outcome and play to it, play and see how it turns out.

Finally, consider the themes, tropes, and constraints of the genre: heterosocial contact is limited, and homosexual love is prohibited. Characters frequently deal with romance in the face of misunderstandings, mistaken identities, secret engagements, “understandings”, cads, rakes, and conniving “friends”.

To this I would like to add a caveat, for this or any other game: if you have feelings for another player, do not explore those feelings through your characters without their full, explicit, and informed consent. Otherwise your interactions could lead to very different things. I would repeat this warning if you have, say, a desire for murderous revenge on another player, too, but I think romantic feelings are much more likely.

The Comedy or Tragedy of Manners§

The stories we tell with Arcadia are mannered stories: the characters exist in a world constrained by social expectation, each character expected to act in certain ways and potentially being punished for stepping outside that role. And yet, that in no way constrains what these characters might want; passions never exist merely within society’s expectations.

The genre that might leap to mind, then, for some people is the comedy of manners, a genre in which the audience can observe and criticize the morals and manners of the day. This game is not that, at least not directly. We may look at our modern manners and morals through the lens of historical ones, but we don’t know when we begin a game of Arcadia whether it will have a happy or a sad ending. It may as well be a tragedy of manners as a comedy. When a character is driven by passions but bound by manners, there’s a very real possibility of tragedy no matter which course they take.

Your characters’ reputations and social roles should give you some guidelines for what society expects of you, and help you to see how and when to step outside those bounds safely, and how and when to do so unsafely. But we’re modern players, playing a modern game, so if you need to express something in modern terms, don’t be afraid to do so. Like all stories about history, we tell them to make sense of our own times.

Sex, class, and privilege§

In portraying characters (whether as a main character, or as the Host portraying supporting characters), you must navigate a Scylla and Charybdis: remember that those with privilege still have problems, and those without privilege still have agency. Here, let us talk about the latter case.

The social roles in Arcadia come in three flavours: powerful and privileged men, women of some standing, and those of lower classes. Both the female and the lower-class roles still have agency and goals and desires, despite a society that seeks to push them into convenient and pliant caricatures.

When you play an upper class man, there is very little distance between what you must do to pursue your desires, and what society rewards you for. The other roles do not have this luxury, and must find ways to get what they want while appearing always to be what society expects of them. When we consume media that portrays women and servants as only perfect exemplars of Regency mores, it can be easy to fall into the trap of playing such characters that way ourselves.

How society’s expectations restrict behavior manifests differently for upper class women and lower class people, and of course for lower class women, the intersection puts them in a particularly difficult spot. Generally, the female roles will be expected to react, and the lower class roles will be expected to obey.

But you must remember, at every turn, that these are people whose wants and needs are every bit as real as those with power and privilege, even if the ways they can pursue those wants and needs are constrained. Every time you find yourself stepping into the shoes of a character lacking privilege, take a moment to imagine them fully, and find the ways in which, even if they act on the surface like a perfect example of period propriety, they do not, in fact, fit perfectly into that mold.

Geography§

Image courtesy of The Republic of Pemberley.

England at this time is just starting to be made small: transportation on the stage coach is getting both faster, and more affordable for more people. But there’s still a lot of regional variation.

For our purposes, we’ll divide England into a few macro-regions, and talk about each. Then, there are three cities that deserve special attention as noteworthy cities of the age: London, Bath, and Brighton.

Religion§

Religion in the Regency deserves some particular mention. As many dissertations can and have been written on this subject, and on each religion mentioned here, this is necessarily an overview only.

Terms of Address§

A major point of etiquette in this time and place concerns how two people might address each other. Titles, family names, and personal names all play a part, as do relative social standing and intimacy.

First, if you are addressing someone with an actual title (such as the duke, marquess, earl, viscount, or baron of, say, Newland), “my lady” or “my lord”, or “Lady Newland” or “Lord Newland” will suffice. A baronet or knight may be “Sir John”, and a baronetess or dame would be “Dame Mary”.

Most people, however, neither have titles themselves, nor regularly interact with those who do. For addressing a superior, or an equal with whom you are not especially intimate, “Mr.” or “Miss” or “Mrs”, and then their surname, would be appropriate. This includes clergy; while you might address a letter to “the Reverend Smith”, you would address him in conversation as “Mr. Smith”.

When talking about siblings, it is normal to use the first name to make clear who you mean, such as “Miss Elizabeth Smith”, or perhaps even just “Miss Elizabeth” if you are intimate and the context is casual, but the eldest unmarried daughter would usually simply be “Miss Smith”.

When you are close with a man, and the context is intimate, it is normal to use simply his surname: “Smith”. For a woman, one might use simply her personal name, “Mary”, but this demands a much greater degree of intimacy, especially if used by a man.

Social inferiors may be referred to simply by their personal name, and if they are a servant with an unusual or noteworthy personal name, it is not unusual to instead call them by one more mundane, so an “Ichabod” may end up being called “Jacob”, or similar.

Currency§

The currency of England at this time can be notoriously confusing, but a little guide should help. What’s crucial is to remember that this is a pre-decimalized currency, but that there is an essential unit and subdivisions, just like you’re used to.

The basic unit is the pound, which is divided into twenty shillings, each of which are in turn divided into twelve pence. An amount of two pounds, four shillings, and sixpence might be written £2 4s 6d, or £2/ 4/6, and said as “two pounds, four shillings and sixpence”, or “two pounds, four and six”.

The penny, the smallest unit, was sometimes further divided into halves and quarters, the ha’penny or the farthing. That even a quarter of a penny had some purchasing power should indicate first the inflation that has happened since (one pound in the period is roughly the equivalent of fifty pounds today) and the extreme wealth disparity present in England at the time. The working poor would expect never to handle a bank note, as seeing that much money together at one time would be rare, while the wealthiest landlords would expect tens of thousands of pounds a year simply from rents and investments. This situation was exacerbated by landholders engaging in the practice of enclosure, that is, removing access to what was formerly common land, and reserving it for their own private use.

Where many stumble with English currency is that many peculiar coins had nicknames, from the groat (a four-pence coin), to the crown (five shillings), to the guinea (a pound and a shilling, traditionally used to include a tip for any artisan whose services were expensive enough to merit a price in pounds).

The Magic of England§

There has always been another England. It lurks on the edge of perception, it appears when you don’t look right at it. Alfred Watkins sensed something of it when he wrote The Old Straight Track. William Blake referred to it when he wrote of “our clouded hills”. This is an older, stranger, other England. It may as well be called Annwn, Avalon, or orbis alius.

But as the Enlightenment opens many doors, so too does it close some. No one has accidentally or purposely walked into that other world for a long time now. The old fairy roads that led out of England have been long closed. Until—that is, until now.

Perhaps it is the king’s madness that has changed things, or perhaps it is the renewal of worship of old king Ludd in the North. Perhaps it is simply that the stars are right. But the Old Roads are opening, mirrors and rivers and clouds and rain once again bring visitors. Magic is returning to England.

The Realms of Fairy§

There are a number of fairy realms that the magicians of old wrote about, some of which are still remembered, and some of which may be accessible to the new magicians of the age. As no mortal has been to Fairy in three hundred years, and time moves very differently in Fairy, these places may be very different by now.

Making towns§

To make an English town for this game, you must first understand that you are setting the stage for your game both geographically and socially. So between these two factors, you are really describing the themes of the game you will play.

A town requires a region (is it in the South East, the West Midlands, the North, somewhere else?), near any of the notable cities (London, Bath, Brighton especially), and a name. The question of English toponymy is much larger than this text can contain, so if you are interested in naming your town something apt, I would suggest A Dictionary of British Place-Names by A.D. Mills.

Premade towns§

Gentleman (♂)§

You start with 3 role tokens.

Your title is Mister.

You must…

• act warm and welcoming [or be a libertine]
• uphold the honour of your family and those in it [or be a bully]
• display good judgment [or be a fool]

Your manner is…

• Pragmatic
• Caring
• Acerbic

Your best accomplishment is…

• Riding
• Dancing
• Shooting

Your age is 20 to 49.

Officer (♂)§

You start with 2 role tokens.

Your title is Lieutenant, Captain, or Major, depending on your rank.

You must…

• are gallant towards ladies [or be a rake]
• display valour in the face of danger [or be reckless]
• enforce and uphold the law [or be a blowhard]

Your manner is…

• Lighthearted
• Guarded
• Haughty

Your best accomplishment is…

• Riding
• Shooting
• Fencing

Your age is 18 to 27.

Clergyman (♂)§

You start with 2 role tokens.

Your title is Reverend if Anglican, Father if Catholic.

You must…

• enact charity and concern for the least [or be haughty]
• offer sober counsel [or be pompous]
• set a good example of Christian morality [or be hypocritical]

Your manner is…

• Dreamy
• Rambling
• Serious

Your best accomplishment is…

• Languages
• Natural Philosophy
• Comportment

Your age is 23 to 40.

Dandy (♂)§

You start with 2 role tokens.

Your title is Mister.

You must…

• crush someone with the perfect bon mot [or be cruel]
• reveal some gossip before anyone else [or be desperate]
• win, or lose, a great sum gambling [or be a cheat]

Your manner is…

• Quiet
• Passionate
• Familiar

Your best accomplishment is…

• Dancing
• Comportment
• Fencing

Your age is 18 to 27.

Lady (♀)§

You start with 3 role tokens.

Your title is Miss.

You must…

• choose an honorable path over an easy one [or be prudish]
• demonstrate your accomplishments [or be proud]
• make those around you feel at ease [or be insipid]

Your manner is…

• Pragmatic
• Haughty
• Familiar

Your best accomplishment is…

• Dancing
• Music
• Languages

Your age is 18 to 24.

Companion (♀)§

You start with 2 role tokens.

Your title is Miss.

You must…

• show your accomplishments [or be presumptuous]
• make the lady you attend shine [or be duplicitous]
• place yourself second [or be haughty]

Your manner is…

• Guarded
• Passionate
• Caring

Your best accomplishment is…

• Conversation
• Thrift
• Comportment

Your age is 20 to 26.

Ward (♀)§

You start with 2 role tokens.

Your title is Miss.

You must…

• assist the family proper [or be ungrateful]
• do as you’re told [or be willful]
• be seen and not heard [or be putting on airs]

Your manner is…

• Dreamy
• Lighthearted
• Serious

Your best accomplishment is…

• Dancing
• Comportment
• Listening

Your age is 16 to 21.

Spinster (♀)§

You start with 2 role tokens.

Your title is Miss.

You must…

• be thankful for the gifts of others [or be a blatherskite]
• you provide a compassionate ear for others [or be two-faced]
• keep a confidence [or be a liar]

Your manner is…

• Quiet
• Rambling
• Acerbic

Your best accomplishment is…

• Music
• Thrift
• Writing

Your age is 25 to 39.

Invalid (⚥)§

You start with 2 role tokens.

Your title is Mister or Miss.

You must…

• avoid strenuous activity [or be paranoid]
• get others to stay in with you [or be a mooch]
• show gratitude for favors and assistance [or be entitled]

Your manner is…

• Quiet
• Passionate
• Rambling

Your best accomplishment is…

• Conversation
• Natural Philosophy
• Writing

Your age is 18 to 49.

Upper servant (⚥)§

You start with 2 role tokens.

Your title is Mister / Missus (whether you are married or not).

You must…

• do what’s needed before you’re asked [or be controlling]
• maintain precedence and order downstairs [or be self-important]
• advise those upstairs when asked [or be foolish]

Your manner is…

• Pragmatic
• Serious
• Haughty

Your best accomplishment is…

• Comportment
• Listening
• Thrift

Your age is 20 to 49.

Lower servant (⚥)§

You start with 1 role token.

You are addressed by your Christian name (or a more common name your employer gives you, if your Christian name is too unusual).

You must…

• do as you’re told [or be willful]
• keep a confidence [or be a gossip]
• put your own needs last [or be obsequious]

Your manner is…

• Dreamy
• Caring
• Acerbic

Your best accomplishment is…

• Skulduggery
• Inconspicuousness
• Listening

Your age is 16 to 25.

Vagabond (⚥)§

You start with 1 role token.

You are addressed by your Christian name, or perhaps merely as “you there”.

You must…

• flake on a promise [or be willfully indigent]
• offer odd jobs [or be inept]
• show gratitude for charity [or be toadying]

Your manner is…

• Guarded
• Lighthearted
• Familiar

Your best accomplishment is…

• Skulduggery
• Inconspicuousness
• Bargaining

Your age is 16 to 59.

Affray§

This art aids one in battle.

Clarity§

This art enables one to see hidden truths.

Cursing§

This art enables one to harm an enemy.

Glamour§

This art forms illusions out of things in near the magician.

Mentalism§

This art enables manipulation of dreams and memory.

Meteorology§

This art gives control over the weather.

Navigation§

This art allows one to pass between the worlds.

Necromancy§

This art enables dealing with the spirits of the dead.

Subtlety§

This art allows one to hide in plain sight.

Supremacy§

This art enables one to control someone else’s movements.

Therianthropy§

This art enables dealing with the spirits of beasts.

Transmutation§

This art allows one to transform substances.

Vitality§

This art allows one to heal and energize.

Weaving§

This art enables one to deflect or alter magic.

Marks§

When you cast spells, it marks your soul.

• A creature of some sort (a fox, a raven, a black hare, or perhaps a goat) comes to you, and accompanies you everywhere, no matter how you might try to shoo it.
• Animals panic in your presence. (In a time full of horses, dogs, oxen and more, this must be taken seriously!)
• Every room you enter becomes cold, damp, and dark, as long as you are present.
• Dry, dead leaves gather wherever you linger.
• Milk, beer, and other drinks sour in your presence.
• When you try to explain something important, all that comes out are ancient and irrelevant stories.
• You cannot bear to set foot in a church.
• You develop a constant craving for something grotesque (like desiccated mice, grave dirt, or human blood).
• You develop a constant sensation of being watched.
• You develop stigmata-like wounds that will not heal.
• You feel like space stretches and shrinks unpredictably, and you often feel like you are falling.
• You no longer bleed when pricked or cut. You may, of course, still die.
• Your reflection is wrong: it is faded, angled incorrectly, or simply missing.
• Your shadow leaves an ashy residue, more the longer you stay put.
• Your tears leave black and inky stains.
• Your voice becomes hoarse and raspy from the power of the magical words you have uttered.

Finally, when you take your last (fifth) mark, even if the ones before it are only temporary marks, if you have not already take this mark, you must take it:

• You become a fetch.

Goblins§

When you make a goblin, you must choose its hunger, powers, weaknesses, and tells.

Choose one or two hungers:

• Secrets, lies, and sorrows.
• Chaos, bickering, and hatred.
• Wealth, jewels, and luxuries.
• Praise, adoration, and obeisance.
• Blood, flesh, and bone.
• … or something else.

Choose two or three powers:

• To shrink to the size of a mouse or grow to the size of an oak.
• To fly.
• To talk with stones, plants, and rivers.
• To step into one shadow and out of another.
• To make worthless things look like gold.
• To lull people to sleep with their song.
• To shrug off the fiercest blow.
• To squeeze through the smallest opening.
• To make anyone who looks at them feel love.
• … or something else.

Choose at least one weakness:

• The sound of church bells.
• The sound of bees.
• The touch of rowan.
• Holy words.
• Iron nails.
• Spilled milk.
• Horse shoes.
• Their true name.
• Salt.
• Red ribbon.
• … or something else.

Choose at least one tell:

• Golden eyes and a wicked smile.
• A cow’s tail.
• A scabrous hide and bulging muscles.
• Long ears and a long nose.
• No shadow.
• The sound of wind in the trees.
• The smell of rain on tilled earth.
• A form no more substantial than mist.
• … or something else.

Fairies§

These are the rulers of Arcadia, the nobles and dominions of that other land.

When you as the Host are playing the fairy, you must resist the temptation to be coy. Fairies are not ashamed of who they are, nor are they frightened of a mere mortal magician. In a world bound by social norms, the fairy is your chance to say what no one else will say, to take decisive and inhuman action, and to ensure that, despite the best efforts of these little people living their little lives, change and chaos will prevail.

Fetches, Wraiths, & Glatisant§

When a magician irreparably damages their soul with magic, they may become a fetch or a wraith. These things bridge the border between Arcadians and mortals: they were mortal, but now are creatures of magic, and so have lost all the moral foundation available to mortals.

A fetch is a mind and a body, but it has lost its soul: this has been replaced with fairy-fire, which will eventually consume both the mind and the soul, but until then provides a powerful source of magic.

When you become a fetch, you should consult with the Host about whether you will continue to play the character. While the fetch has all the memories of the person it once was, it has none of the moral character, and this may be a hard switch to make. The Host, who has practice playing amoral characters, may prefer to take over.

A newly-formed fetch starts with five fuel, and consumes one fuel at the change of each season, or whenever it casts a spell. Any spell it casts will be perfect, as though it had drawn only face cards, without having to draw any. If it would consume a fuel and has none to consume, it destroys itself instead, in a flare of fairy-fire.

A fetch can gain fuel by serving a fairy, which can dole out fuel, or by consuming another mortal being in fairy-fire.

A wraith, contrariwise, is a soul and a mind, but no body. Its curse is, in some ways, the opposite of the curse of a fetch: rather than consuming itself, it will linger, impossibly, and in suffering. A wraith can only be seen by those who are magically sensitive (magicians, cats, the very young, the very old, the very ill, and so on), and cannot work its will on the world except through casting spells it knew in life. Further, because a wraith is, in many ways, dead, it can only cast spells if it is given a source of magic: either by serving a fairy, or by magician knowingly giving their own blood (and taking a wound).

Finally, Glatisant is the Questing Beast, the object of the Wild Hunt. All the lords and ladies of Fairy, but most particularly the Horned God, participate in the Hunt from time to time. A Glatisant may take whatever form their magics allow them, but they are cursed in two ways: first, they may never rest as the Wild Hunt pursues them, and second they can only speak in barks and yelps; the tongues of mortals, fairies, and Hell are all beyond their ability. They must serve in this role until they are caught, killed, and butchered by the Hunt, or some other poor magician stumbles into the role. Glatisant, of course, never ages and can die in no way but at the hands of the Hunt.

Cast aspersions§

Use this when you wish to make someone look bad in the eyes of society.

• Face: They mark a reputation and lose a token if a main character, they suffer a blow to their reputation if a supporting character.
• 6-10: They mark a reputation if a main character, they are put off balance if a supporting character.
• A-5: No effect.

Gain insight§

Use this when you observe someone closely.

• Face: Ask two questions from the list.
• 6-10: Ask one question from the list.
• A-5: No effect.

Strike someone down§

Use this when you may do bodily harm to someone.

• Face: You wound them grievously.
• 6-10: You wound them.
• A-5: You do not wound them.

Comfort someone§

Use this when you have a meaningful heart-to-heart with someone.

• Face: If they accept your comfort, they may clear a condition. You may also clear a condition.
• 6-10: If they accept your comfort, you may clear a condition.
• A-5: No effect.

If you are comforting a supporting character, the Host will interpret their response appropriately.

Gamble well§

Use this when you hope to make money on a game of chance.

• Face: You win a lot.
• 6-10: You break even.
• A-5: You lose more than you intended.

Tempt someone§

Use this when you wish to convince another main character to do something.

• Face: If they do what you want, they gain a token. If they don’t, they mark a reputation.
• 6-10: Choose one: If they do what you want, they gain a token. If they don’t, they mark a reputation.
• A-5: No leverage

Use this version when you wish yo convince a supporting character to do something.

• Face: They’ll do as you suggest, until and unless something betrays the reasons you gave or the situation really changes.
• 6-10: They’ll do as you suggest if you offer concrete reassurances or sureties.
• A-5: They won’t do as you ask.

Defend someone§

Use this when you try to stop someone harming or maligning another.

• Face: You turn the attack on the attacker.
• 6-10: You deflect the attack.
• A-5: No effect.

Speak secretly§

Use this when you wish to hide the details or fact of your communication.

• Face: You communicate what you intend to who you intend.
• 6-10: You communicate what you intend, but someone else picks up on it.
• A-5: No effect.

Uncover magical secrets§

Use this when you may discover something meaningful about magic.

• Face: Mark a Secret.
• 6-10: Mark a Secret, and the fairy marks you.
• A-5: The fairy marks a strand on you.

Make a splash§

Use this when you want to make an entrance or an impression.

• Face: Almost everyone is impressed.
• 6-10: One particular person notes what you do. Who?
• A-5: You draw no particular attention.

A grievous wound§

Use this when you could be mortally wounded.

• Face: No effect
• 6-10: Mark one wound
• A-5: Mark two wounds

Capture by a fairy§

Use this when you could fall deeper into a fairy’s power.

• Face: No effect
• 6-10: The fairy gains a strand on you
• A-5: You are in the fairy’s thrall

Starting a rumour§

Use this when you could have your actions misinterpreted.

• Face: No effect
• 6-10: A muddled rumour
• A-5: A terrible rumour

Being upset§

Use this when you could be upset.

• Face: No effect
• 6-10: Mark a passion for the scene
• A-5: Mark a passion

Embarrassing yourself§

Use this when you could step truly outside the bounds of propriety.

• Face: No reputations
• 6-10: Mark a reputation
• A-5: Mark two reputations

Suffering injury§

Use this when you could be hurt.

• Face: No effect
• 6-10: Take a flesh wound
• A-5: Mark a wound

Being rocked§

Use this when you could be deeply distressed.

• Face: No effect
• 6-10: Mark a passion
• A-5: Mark two passions

Making a misstep§

Use this when you could behave better.

• Face: No effect
• 6-10: Lose a token.
• A-5: Mark a reputation

Magical corruption§

Use this when you could harm your soul with magic.

• Face: No effect
• 6-10: Take a mark for the session
• A-5: Take a permanent mark

Letting slip a secret§

Use this when you could reveal something you shouldn’t.

• Face: You keep it in
• 6-10: You drop a heavy hint
• A-5: You make it clear

Dishonouring your family§

Use this when you could put your whole family at risk.

• Face: You uphold your family honour
• 6-10: Your behavior is considered questionable
• A-5: Your behavior is considered reprehensible

Death magic§

If your spell deals with death, spirits, grief, use this.

• Face: You are beloved by Death, and he will not touch you for a year and a day.
• 6-10: No effect.
• A-5: Change your last mark to “Become a wraith”. If it already is, take a permanent mark.

Transgressive magic§

If your spell deals with sexuality, blurring class boundaries, sacrifice, use this.

• Face: You attain the blessing of the peccadillo: take one reputation on your sheet and cross out the boxes, cross out the bad reputation. Nothing you can do will damage this reputation again. You may not always enact it, but you cannot lose it.
• 6-10: No effect.
• A-5: The Three Sisters claim your dreams. Their refined tortures and pleasures are reserved for you, whenever you sleep.

Treacherous magic§

If your spell deals with lies, betrayal, deceit, use this.

• Face: The Hanged God silvers your tongue, and until you tell a truth, all will believe your lies.
• 6-10: No effect.
• A-5: The Hanged God splits your tongue, and no one will believe you until the seasons turn.

Ancient magic§

If your spell deals with fairy-things, eternal truths, royal rights, use this.

• Face: You are (mistakenly?) crowned by the hills and the rivers: this land, to its natural borders, is yours until the land realizes its mistake.
• 6-10: No effect.
• A-5: You owe the land a tribute: either find a suitable sacrifice, or sacrifice yourself.

Harsh magic§

If your spell deals with violence, ruthlessness, privation, use this.

• Face: You are blood-marked, and the Horned God knows you for his own. You have the right to demand a duel of Arcadian beings.
• 6-10: No effect.
• A-5: Change your last mark to “become Glatisant”. If it already is, take a permanent mark.

Feral magic§

If your spell deals with beasts, ferocity, wildness, use this.

• Face: The beasts of the wild recognize in you their sovereign: they will treat you with respect and deference, though not always loyalty.
• 6-10: No effect.
• A-5: The wilderness claims what was yours: your house, your lands, your name are covered in thorns and briars, and there is no safe passage through.