Maelstrom Rules - Downtime: Known World Guide

Introduction
It is possible for player characters to write letters to non-player characters based in the Known World. These letters must be written using the downtime system. Previously it was possible to send letters on an ad-hoc basis via email, or by putting letters in your hand-in baggy, but this option is being phased out. In future all letters to the Know World must be created and sent through the downtime system.

Sending letters
In the downtime system there is an action called “Write a letter” which allows you to write a letter to another character. The letter will appear as an item in your inventory which can then be given to another character using the normal downtime options for transferring items. A player whose character receives a letter will be able to read the letter by examining the item in their inventory at any time.

Any character who travels to the Known World during downtime will be able to deliver the letter while they are in port using the “Present item” action. The most suitable port to deliver a letter will usually be the main port of the country of residence of the correspondent. For example, the best port to send a letter to the Hierophant would be Yugorsk in Fidelia. It is possible to send letters via other ports that are further away; for example, a ship captain who only travels to the Merisusi port of Lanheim but who has a letter for delivery to Norden in Malathia will hand over the letter for onwards transmission to Malathia at Lanheim. However, this may delay any response to the letter.

While rare, it is possible in some circumstances for letters to be intercepted by known world authorities or personages.

Receiving letters
When a character leaves a Known World port for the new world he may be given letters to deliver. If so, the letters will be included in their player pack. Letters are normally sealed by the sender but whether or not a letter has been tampered prior to reaching your hands with is not something that Profound Decisions will be able to comment on. It should be noted that there is no specific forgery skill in Maelstrom and so the results of any such actions will be decided entirely in character.

Letters may also be passed into the hands of bodies who perform a postal service or other methods may be used.

Letter writing
Although this may seem obvious, it is important to remember that you are writing an in-character document to another character who lives in the Known World; you are not writing a letter to Profound Decisions. If the character you are writing to chooses to write back to you, they will respond in-character to your letter, taking into account their own personal motivations and characterisation. They will also take account of any details about your character that they may know based on the background you submitted to Profound Decisions and letters they have received from other characters.

If your character has status with the allegiance that the NPC is part of, then this is likely to significantly influence any response, as well as your chances of obtaining a reply. Direct requests for aid and assistance are usually refused, even for characters with high status. Such characters have other ways to obtain aid from the Known World.

You must type your letters directly into the downtime system in the free text box which is made available as part of your letter writing action. It is advisable to include full in-character details of your own name and address in order to maximise your chances of a reply being addressed in such a way the carrier of the response can find you. You will be given the benefit of the doubt with regards to the address of your non-player correspondent on your letter, although there is a risk that particularly poorly addressed letters may end up in the wrong hands. For example, sending a letter to Yugorsk simply addressed to “The Hierophant” is certain to find its way into the right hands. Sending a letter to Midden Point simply addressed to “Uncle Habeus” when he in fact lives in Lyzanium is much less likely to be successfully delivered to the right person.

Please remember that the time it takes for a letter to travel across the maelstrom and for a reply to be sent back again may mean that you do not receive an immediate response. Usually only the most important correspondence will receive a reply by return.

And so it began......

Dawn breaks, war looms, the evil Lord is gathering his armies to wage a campaign of destruction upon the free peoples of the world. It is up to I, Sir Maximilan Pegasus to stop him, with my trusted band of adventurers we must gather the enchanted sword of Tek, the Shield of Way-Lem and the amulet of Subsidence and together we shall slay this abomination! “TIME FREEZE” And bam, the fantasy world fades away, the enchanted sword of Tek in my hand is a rubber sword smothered in coloured ribbons with a laminated card cable tied to the hilt, I look down and I’m wearing plastic armour and unflattering heropants, and the magical world of my imagination washes away to reveal a field in Wigan, but you know what? It’s larp and I’m a larper, it’s what I do.
I started larping when I was 17, I’d never role-played before, I’d never played D&D or Warhammer, never played WoW or any form of online game, I’d never even read Lord of the Rings, I feel somewhat privileged that I hadn’t done any of those things, I think it gave me an untainted attitude towards what larp could be, I had no preconceptions about saving the maiden fair, slaying the dragon or smiting the liche, to me it was just a new thing to try.
It was cold, really cold, 10am on a September morning, the rain was battering down and I’d been given a faux fur tunic, a mouldy old sword and been pointed towards a man and told, “You’re monstering, there’s the ref he’ll tell you what to do.” I obeyed, I played wave after wave of zombies, orcs and various line monsters and to be honest, was cold, bored and hungry. That is, until lunchtime, the teams switched sides, I got into the kit I’d scrounged up, as with most first timers, a black trenchcoat. I took the mouldy old sword, stood with my fellow adventurers and it hit me, I’m a god damn hero!
Pow, there it was, a new larper was born.