THE OUTER MARGINS · AN INDEPENDENT EXPERIMENT

The Playing Room

Worlds worth entering. Choices that remain.

LOCAL PILOT · v0.2.4
CURRENT CAMPAIGN

The Ferryman’s Debt

0 entries

This pilot records actions; it does not yet narrate NPC reactions. A human GM supplies the response. AI GM is planned for a later release.

PLAYER AGENCY

Characters

Describe the person first. Generate provisional characteristics from the description, review them, and override any value. Setting-sensitive name suggestions are optional.

GM CONTROL

Campaign & rules profile

House rules supported

Rules profile

House rules are documented for the table. This prototype does not execute arbitrary GM-written rule text; the GM adjudicates modifications manually.

PERSISTENT CONSEQUENCES

Chronicle & backups

A chronological, player-controlled record of the campaign. Export/import JSON to move between devices; records are not uploaded or published.

START HERE

A game first. A story if it becomes one.

First session

  1. Open Campaign & rules and agree on a premise and GM overrides.
  2. Create player characters, including weaknesses and relationships.
  3. The GM introduces a scene at the Game table.
  4. Players declare their own actions and dialogue.
  5. For consequential uncertainty, announce the formula and target before the player rolls a d10.
  6. Record the result, follow its consequences, and export the chronicle when finished.

What this pilot does not do

There is no AI integration, account system, shared live multiplayer, AI interpretation of character descriptions, or automatic publication in v0.2. Description-to-stat proposals are local, rule-based suggestions. It is an honest browser-based playtest tool for human GMs, including remote play coordinated through other channels.

Rules that matter

Characteristic + Ability + equipment/circumstances + d10 versus a difficulty or opposition. A roll's margin determines the outcome. Competence, plausibility, fatigue, position and player choice matter. Natural 10 adds Edge; natural 1 adds Snag. Both retain the numerical result.

Wounds, formation combat, supernatural effects and vehicle systems remain campaign or setting modules rather than silently being flattened into generic rules.

Playing Room principles

Players control their characters. The GM controls the world and consequences. Established facts are not rewritten to protect a plot. Learning may emerge through experience, inspired conceptually by The Young Lady's Illustrated Primer, but is never a mandatory moral assessment. No campaign is published without separate informed consent.