The Jade Throne is an actively developing game system which is driven by player interaction. This means that participating players have the opportunity to influence a growing game world, and to help create a setting that they want to tell stories in. Feedback is gathered after events to help understand players’ needs and concerns, and new constructive ideas are always welcome.

This game is intended to run as a limited campaign, running for 14 events with an overarching story. 

The in game location of events moves every two events. The even-numbered events pick up immediately after the end of the odd-numbered event with no break. In Character, there is a long downtime period after even-numbered events where players can submit Downtime requests, and specify what their character has been doing in the break. See the Downtime section for more information. For example, events 1 and 2 were in Tsuru lands, whilst events 3 and 4 were in Hinotori lands.

NPCs that players interact with should be identified by their kit, rather than by the crew member playing them, as this may change from event to event. 

Being In and Out of Character

The start (Time In) and end (Time Out) times of each event will be announced before play takes place. Between these times, players present in the game environment will be considered In Character (IC). 

If a player needs to remove themselves from the setting, they should raise one hand clearly in the air. Removing themselves from the game setting in this manner should only be done for medical or urgent Out of Character (OOC) reasons. They may be asked by a referee why they have left the game – if there is a medical reason for doing so, they should inform a member of the game as soon as possible so that any relevant support can be provided.

NPCs wearing a hat edged with yellow ribbons should be considered invisible to any characters who do not have a specific ability to see spirits, such as that granted by the Haunted flaw.

Game Team and Referees

During the event, our game team and referees will be there to support, answer questions, try to ensure player safety, ensure rules are being followed correctly, and facilitate player actions in the world. Referees wear white and purple robes, and will be acting as Imperial characters when in play. As such, we ask that players avoid wearing white and purple clothing.

Our referees will be IC the majority of the time so that players can ask them questions both in and out of character. Referees who are not present in character will wear a yellow sash. In this case, they may not be interacted with by characters, but players may still ask OOC rules-based questions or approach them for other referee-related issues.

There should always be at least one referee in the court area, and one member of the game team in the monster room. If a player’s query isn’t urgent and there are no referees available, they can write it up and submit it into the Imperial Clan Box in the court area. See more in the Court Box section below.

Game Areas

• • The Court - Within the marquee. This is an area for players to use to hold court, and will be used during mealtimes. There will be no combat here.

  • The Courtyard - The immediate area outside the court. This is an outdoor area for players to use for roleplay, such as duelling. There may be combat here, but it will mostly be player initiated.

  • The Woods - The area beyond the Tori Gate. This is the live site, for players to use when on an encounter. There is likely to be combat here, and players may be attacked if they enter this area.

The other important area is the Monster Room. This room is adjacent to the toilets and showers. This is where the crew will get ready for encounters and to rest in between. If players need to enter here, they should knock and wait for permission before entering, so that anything that may spoil upcoming encounters can be hidden.

Ability Refreshes and Respites

Characters will have several types of abilities – such as backgrounds, skills, spells, advantages, as well as school and clan abilities. Some of these will have limited uses, with a certain amount of uses per event, day, or respite. After the period of time specified, characters will regain all of the uses back, ready to spend again.

During the event, we will have a break in the action at 1pm for lunch and 7pm for the evening meal.

This period will count as a respite and will allow characters to regain their use of any ‘per respite’ ability.

‘Requires appropriate roleplay’ - Some abilities have this description and refers to the length of time it would take to use. We do not want to put a hard timer on roleplay, calling back to our message of roleplay first. Characters are free to perform these actions for as long as it takes to perform them.

For example, the Meditation skill requires a character to meditate for a period of time. This means they should find time to roleplay mediating, taking a moment of peace and quiet to themselves. There is no one way to roleplay this, and can continue this meditation for as long as it remains fun to roleplay, or as long as they feel they want to. If their peace is interrupted, it is up to the character to determine whether they feel they have rested long enough for the skill to have activated.

Players are trusted to manage these abilities themselves, with the exception of some abilities which will require a referee to perform. Like anything in this rulebook, this may be subject to change based on feedback.