Introduction - New Players, Read This First

Welcome to the wiki for Work In Progress, which is the Michaelmas Term 2019/Hilary Term 2020 society game of the Oxford University Role Playing Game Society. If you've never played any sort of roleplaying game before then please don't worry! Here's a quick introduction. If you're a seasoned roleplayer, feel free to check out the quick guide to sections of the site at the bottom of this page.

One important thing to be aware of first: you don't need to read the whole wiki!

There's a lot of material here, and you certainly don't need to know all of it to start playing (although if you do want to, that's great)! Read only what interests you and what's relevant to a character you might like to play. You will find a guide to sections of the website and what they tell you below.

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

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

• OC or OOC: Out of Character. Events and circumstances in the real world. For example, Work In Progress sessions take place OOC at the Daubeny Laboratory opposite Magdalen College every other Tuesday in term.

• IC: In Character. Events and people in the world of Work In Progress. When you're speaking and acting as your character, you do so IC, and sessions of Work In Progress take place in Spindle.

• GM: Game Moderator. Us! The team of people who write, run and maintain the game for your playing pleasure. The first place to turn if you have a question.

• PC: Player Character. You! The characters that Work In Progress players create and represent in the fictional world. You will usually play the same PC every session through the course of the game, though you may switch or retire a character if you get bored, and you'll need to create a new character if your character dies or becomes unplayable.

• NPC: Non-Player Character. Us again! Other Muses, figments and strange dream-beings who may be present at Spindle but will be played by a GM. NPCs will usually vary session-to-session, and GMs will often play multiple NPCs during a game session. We'll announce who is likely to turn up at the start of or during sessions.

• PvE and PvP: Terms to describe the nature of the fight your characters face. 'Player vs Environment' (or sometimes 'Player vs. Enemy') (i.e. the world is out to kill you) or 'Player vs Player' (i.e. another player is out to kill or defeat you). Work In Progress is designed to cater to players who are interested in both PvE and PvP, though we expect PvP to mostly be non-lethal. See our section on playstyles, and our PvE and PvP Policy for more on this.

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

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

Sessions in Work In Progress occur in Spindle, where the session rules must be obeyed. Combat and fights are not roleplayed, and attempting to attack other characters during session will result in severe consequences for your character.

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

Each session, players meet in the Daubeny Laboratory opposite Magdalen College. These meetings represent meetings in Spindle; players represent the attendees at these meetings, interacting with Impressions, planning their next Vignettes or actually writing Jo's pièce de résistance. The world of Work In Progress is a dreamscape setting in the mind of a writer, with all their memories, ideas and fears. (See the Style and Tone page for more information.) The GMs will be on hand to offer help, advice, information and to keep the game running smoothly, as well as playing various NPCs every session.

Each gap between sessions represents two weeks from Jo's perspective, though your character may perceive it very differently! That's the period during which your character has the most freedom to act; you can take part in Vignettes, explore the Dreamscape, take action against other PCs, fight, trade and politick! Each turn, we ask that players send in a summary of what they want their character to be doing in that period, known as a 'turnsheet'; the GMs will then judge the results of your actions and report back to you on how everything went.

Importantly, downtime is the only time during which you can interact with a Vignette - they won't be happening in sessions!

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

Yes! You don't have to be a member of Oxford University in order to take part in Work In Progress, though we do ask that you're able to turn up to at least some sessions and are aged 16 or over.

We'd suggest starting in the following places:

• The Muses, Dreamscape and Vignettes pages in the Setting section of the sidebar - while you don't need to have memorised everything, your character is likely to be aware of the information here. After that, the most important pages we recommend you read are Spindle, Jo, Tropes and the page for whichever faction your character is likely to be a member of (if any).

• The Style and Tone page will give a general idea about the feel of the game, without needing to read through every page on the wiki.

• The Character Creation page will help you start putting together your character for the game, and you will want to go over some of the pages specified there. The Sample Characters should give you an idea of what it should all look like when you're finished.

• The How Vignettes Work section will give you an idea of how to find out about Vignettes, how to take part in them and what you can expect to get out of participating in one.

• The Turnsheets section will get you up to speed on turnsheets and how you can submit them. The Sample Turnsheet should give you an idea of the kind of thing the GMs are looking for when you submit one.

• The Intro to the Wiki System page explains more about how this wiki works and how to edit pages such as your turnsheet submissions.