Basic Concepts

[Tom]

Legends is a game of storytelling. Nowhere in the game does anything happen because of a button click or a mouse movement. Everything in the game happens through narrative.

Basic Game Elements

Stories are the myths and legends of the game world. They are divided up into chapters. Every chapter is one action or set of related actions, and is told by one player. The next chapter will be told by a different player. This is the cooperative aspect of the game.
After a chaper is written, it is subject to discussion and voting. Here, players can use the power they accumulated during the game (see below) to influence the course of history, and gain the priviledge to write the next chapter of a story. This is the competitive aspect of the game.

The parts of the story that have lasting effects on the game world are called effects. A chapter can have several effects, but every effect, every change caused to the world, consumes some of the primal creation energy that players accumulate. This energy is called Prime. Larger effects consume more prime than smaller effects. Prime can also be channeled through mortal beings, the heroes of legends, for superhuman or magical effects.

A small amount of Prime automatically accumulates over time for each player. Larger amounts can be found in Prime Sources that are scattered throughout the world. Control of Prime Sources will grant a steady supply of Prime.

Through effects, Creations can be put into the game world, manipulated and eliminated or killed. Typical creations are geographical features (continents, mountain ranges, rivers, forests, etc.), heroes (mortals touched by Prime), artifacts (objects touched by Prime), but also cities, kingdoms, religions, cultures.


Characters and Councils

Every player takes on the role of one Immortal in the game world. Some immortals self-define as gods, others as powerful mages, many simply as immortals.

Like-minded Immortals come together to form Councils or Pantheons. Only these groups can exert Influence over and gain Control of Prime Sources and Creations. Influence can be gained through effects. Once enough Influence is in the hands of an individual Council, control can be established. Once a council controls a Prime Source, it gets a steady supply of prime for all its members. Once a council controls a Creation, only its members can freely use this creation in stories.

Immortals also have a Personal Legend. The personal legend describes the character and is a special type of story that can only be written by the player controlling that character. The personal legend also establishes the goals and visions of the character - what he or she (or it) wants to achieve with the world. Immortals are driven by Purpose, a central value or set of values that determines their personality but also the kind of changes they intend to bring upon the world. Some immortals are driven by conflict and war, sometimes for the pure lust of destruction sometimes as a means to forge stronger and more capable mortals. Some immortals are driven by a desire to heal or invent, or by beauty. Some fall in love with individual cultures or realms, at least for a time. Some see themselves as forces of nature, embodiments of storm, water, nature or of lust, anger, calm. The purpose of an immortal can change over time, through the continuation of his personal legend.


Time

One real-life hour is equivalent to one day in the game world. However, story-time can differ. Within a story, time is more flexible and even though the writing of a story might take many days or weeks to complete, the story can describe only days or hours in the game world. The timeframe of the story is defined entirely within the story. The only rule is that it may not jump "ahead" in time to a point that has not yet happened. Thus, there is a Universal Time in the game, which determines the flow of Prime and other external effects, as well as the default starting time of new stories.

The game world has a moon cycle of 24 days, making one month 24 days long, and thus equivalent to one real-world day.
14 months in the game make up one year (a total of 336 days). The real-life equivalent is 2 weeks.