First of all, allow me to properly welcome you to the Ruins of Empire II PbeM. If you end up enjoying this game half as much as I do, they you’re in for a good time. If you end up not liking the game, I’d be saddened, but not offended. My way of DMing and my views on Birthright might not be compatible with yours. Only time will tell.

I'm not even sure you have even played Birthright before! If you haven't I envy you - for you can look forward to getting to know a  truly wonderful game world. You could start by checking out some of the published materials. Getting hold of physical copies can be a bit challenging, but electronic versions are cheap and easily available on the net.  Alternatively you can head over to the BIRTHRIGHT.net fansite. Or you can just skip all that and just read through what you find on this website, the forum and in the downloads section.  In a way it might be easier for player without too much exposure to the original Birthright game, since this game has a system that deviates quite a bit from the original rules. Even the world has changed a bit, not only characters and holdings, but even the map has been revised in some places.

At any rate you need to do two things if you want to play:

1. Sign up at the forum. Without an account there you cannot play. You should also announce yourself in the OOC section for the form. Otherwise your candidacy won't be taken very seriosuly.

2. Get in touch with the DM. You could either PM me on the forum or e-mail me or both. Feel free to tell me about your gaming experience and motivation for playing.

If you haven’t done so already (you could have sent it along with your application), it is time to put in an application for a domain. A list of available domains can be found in the Joining/Available domains section of the forum. If there are no available domains or none that you'd like to play (let us be honest - playing a domain you don't think is exiting is pointless) you could send the DM a list of domains you would like to play should they ever become available.

Each domain that is playable (and some major NPC domains) are detailed in RoE-specific Domain Description documents. They can be found here. Some additional NPC domains are given just brief descriptions that can be found here. Note that the Domain Descriptions are written as per the start of RoE II, that being turn 61. Developments after that time may have made some of the information within the documents outdated - if so the DM will provide you with an update as needed. You might also want to check out the game maps.

Once you have been assigned a domain you will receive a Domain Secrets file for your domain – this is the same document as the Domain Description, but including information that is not generally known (your military assets for examples). Make sure you read both the Description and Secrets documents for you domain, so that you understand what other players know about you, and what is secret. To bring you up to speed the DM will also forward any turns handed in by previous players and will give you and update of your assets - such as your military units and your treasury.

You must also announce yourself on the forum at this time as a new player, even if you've introduced yourself before. You should specifically ask if anyone has any particular relations with your domain that you should be aware of (beyond that which is written in the Description/Secrets documents). Some players even save old e-mails which they will happily forward to you. Reading them can help you get into character more quickly (but is NOT required).

Agendas
One of the most important parts of the Secrets document is the Agenda section. Agendas are unique to RoE. Simply put they tell you what your regent/domain should be trying to accomplish. Completing agendas will give significant in-game benefits, as well as earn you Victory Points. You don’t HAVE to work with the agendas, but doing so will give you a more interesting gaming experience (there are rules for changing agendas as well, so they aren’t set in stone).

Now that you have a domain you are ready to immerse yourself in the game world. Is absolutely vital that you do this - many players have joined and failed to come to grips with the setting and the current situation., leading to frustration and eventual abandonment of the game.

There are no hard and fast rules of what you must do, but the collective wisdom of a decade of PbeMing indicates that you should do the following:

1. Be an active member of the community. The other players love active players. If you ask questions on the forum - or elsewhere - you WILL get answers. You can also get in touch with other players by e-mail or any other form of communication you can imagine - it seems that MSN is quite popular among the RoE crowd. There is also a chat function in the forum.

2. To learn about the setting I'd recommend you start with the basic BIRTHRIGHT boxed set or alternatively the fanmade BRCS (for DnD 3E). Then start by reading the background information on the website to gain an idea of how RoE is different from plain BR. Then read up on the campaign history to learn of events that have taken place in the campaign so far. For additional detail you can read the Status Reports detailing all previous turns (at the very least you need to read this turn's Status Report). Then read as many Domain Descriptions as you can stomach (concentrate on those domains that are relevant for you).

3. Acknowledge that even if you, the player, is fresh your domain has a past history and relations to other domains. Make an effort to get in touch with the players of those domains that are important to you. Ask if there is anything you should know. Have them forward you any e-mails sent to past players.

4. Make sure you reply in a timely fashion to forum posts or e-mails directed at you. Once you let the first few slip by chances are you will never recover. If answering proves difficult, ask the other players or the DM for help. If you don't do that immediately chances are your first turn will be your last.

5. Don't just wait to be contacted. Make contact. Chances are that if your try to send a few dispatches (e-mails) to another player you'll keep in touch and expand upon that relationship. Through that you can learn a lo about the world AND get integrated into the community.

6. DM time is precious. I'd love to help you. Honestly. But I might not have the time. So always ask the player group first or post your questions on the forum (if they are not secret).

Next is learning the rules. Remember I said that this was a difficult game? I didn't mean the rules, I meant the difficulty level of the challenges faced in the game. The actual rules are actually very simple. You must deliver your Domain Order (turn sheet) on time, or at least ask the DM for an extension. If you don't you're gone after one turn (established players have more leeway - but you don't). That's the only rule that matters.

Filling out the Domain Order can be fairly involved though. The domain rules (meaning the rules that deal with turns and domains) for Ruins of Empire are pretty streamlined and every effort has been made to keep the consistent, but they are also pretty detailed. The trick is not to panic. Keep in mind that you need to try an calculate your income and expenses, keep an inventory of armies and assets, and pick 3-5 domain actions each turn and enter them into the DO. Anything beyond that you can learn later.

The domain rules are found in a separate document called the Regent Guide. The five first chapters of the Regent Guide makes up the core rules of the game and reading those are necessary to play the game – you don’t have to learn the rules by heart, but you need to get an impression as to the how things work. The remaining chapters only become relevant when or if you get into wars, ships, magic, or other advanced stuff - you can browse through it or leave if for later.

The game format is based on three month turns (time in the game that is). The frequency will generally be about one turn every 6 weeks of real time – depending on real-life time availability for the DMs. Each turn a player sends in his Domain Order (DO) for that turn, describing what actions etc he/she will undertake. When all players have submitted their orders the DM processes the results. There may also be a number of so-called interactive actions - such as when playing out advantures or wars.

When turn processing is over the player receives his DO in return - with an explanation of what happened with the various actions the player selected,  a section that contains hidden information only that character knows of, and finally it lists out regency points (a measure of your ability to rule) and of gold bars (your treasury) you have available at the start of the new turn the turn.

The game as a whole will also receive two files; the Status Report (a text document narrating recent events) telling of what happened in the world in general terms and the Provinces & Holdings (a spradsheet listing out every province, holding or other relevant values for the entire game world). It is in the P&H that you will find out how much gold and regency you've collected (which is then added to the number from the Secrets document to find how much you have available for the next turn).

The a new turn begins and the process repeats ad infinitum (or until the game ends).

Since it is a proven fact that Ruins of Empire can be a difficult game to get involved in I recommend that you try to get hold of a mentor. Older players are usually very helpful, and I've yet to see anyone take advantage of their proteges.

If you're looking for a mentor I suggest that you sign up on the forum and introduce yourself properly in the Great Beyond - that being where all the stuff that's not in character belongs - and ask if anyone would be willing to help you. Getting a mentor could also help you get a spot in the game - we know from experience that mentored players have a better success rate, so having a mentor effectively counts as being sponsored.

One final note; you must remember that the mentor-protege relationship is an OOC one, and that we expect you to keep it quite separate from what your regent/domain does in the game.

If you can't convince anyone to be your mentor, do not despair. Its not required, just reccomended. The trick here is to be active on the forum and using e-mail. Existing player s love it when we get fresh palayers who actually take and interrest and are active. You're almost guaranteed goodwill and help that way. And if all else fails - the DM has been known to be quite forthcoming when it comes to helping out new players...