Your Principles

These principles help you get the most out of the game. When you're unsure how to play, come back to these.

Begin and End with the Fiction

Say how you do what you do — what it looks like. Don't just say "I Seek Insight," say how: "I tilt my head, listening to the forest for anything out of place." Don't just say "I attack" — describe it.

When a move resolves, make sure you're clear about what happened. If you can't picture it, ask for more detail.

Show What's Important to You

Ask yourself: who and what will your character fight for? What do they prize? What do they aspire to? Care about mundane things — your home, your garden, the people around you. Make it clear through word and deed.

Be Bold, Take Risks

You're the one people look to when danger looms. Don't spend hours on elaborate contingency plans. Plan a little. Be clever. But when you find yourself deliberating too long, stop. Make a choice. Act.

Embrace Setback and Failure

The GM's job is to present adversity and threaten the things you care about. Those challenges mean nothing unless the stakes are real. Heroes fall down. The measure of one is that they get back up.

Participate in Worldbuilding

The GM runs the world, but your playbook will prompt you to define things about it. The GM will ask questions — answer with enthusiasm, with color and life. The best answer is often the first thing that comes to mind.

Build on Each Other's Ideas

Take elements the GM introduces and use them. If strange lights were mentioned in the swamp, maybe that's where your curiosity turns. Don't make up something new when you can reuse and reincorporate.

Participate in the Conversation

You play this game by talking to each other. The game is the conversation. Pay attention. Ask questions. Offer suggestions. Get excited. Do what you can to focus and enjoy the story you're telling together.