Introduction

Welcome to the Introduction page for Horizon: out of the ashes! Chances are, you're here because you're new to the game, but whether you're trying out roleplaying for the first time or you've been doing it for years, there are some unique elements in Horizon you should know about, in addition to a classic story-driven experience. Here in the introduction, we try to shed some light on our vision for the game: the universe, the story we want to tell and how we want it to feel when you play. If you're curious about Horizon, you're in the right place.

Page Index:

• What is Horizon: out of the ashes?

• What is Roleplaying?

• How do I play?

Horizon: out of the ashes is a science fiction-themed roleplaying game, which features compelling events in a rich setting of conflict, politics and a daily struggle for survival. Despite a futuristic perspective, the lore draws primarily on themes of grit, mystery and intrigue, without glamorizing technology or humanity. In that light, Horizon: out of the ashes is colored as a more subtly advanced future, which remains relatable to the present day, rather than a distantly futuristic universe. The main setting is a planet called Horizon; which is the only world humanity has ever colonized. Its story is mostly told through the stories and adventures of its people, including conflict, betrayal and other, stranger events, but if you're new and would like to get a good feel for the lore, we thoroughly recommended reading The Horizon Story in the Lore section.

From a gameplay standpoint, Horizon is designed from the ground up to offer as much creative freedom as possible, in a unique and immersive setting. We plan to achieve this in several ways. One is by growing Horizon's rich setting organically over time; releasing thematic, story-based lore as well as interactive roleplaying adventures to engage with. From another angle, we're building our gameplay system to offer flexibility and substance, without it becoming over-complicated. We didn't want to lose the depth or variety that make customizable gameplay so much fun though, so to meet the challenge of accessibility, we're developing intuitive browser-based apps that do the heavy lifting when it comes to maths and information management. This way, Players have a wealth of choice, with less time searching the rule book and more time making an epic journey. Our one caveat in this area is that Horizon: out of the ashes will always be playable with good-ol'-fashioned pencil, paper and dice, because sometimes there just isn't a substitute for sitting around a table to banter with friends.

Altogether, our goal for Horizon is to give every Player a journey all their own. We want to offer something fun, something that is consistently compelling and can show you something new every time you play. We hope it captures your imagination the way it's captured ours. Even if this page is the furthest you ever go with Horizon, thanks for coming this far! ~Calder Niven, Creator.

Roleplaying is putting yourself in the place of another person or fictional character and acting as though you are them. In the context of Horizon: out of the ashes, this means imagining the events of a story and interacting with it by taking the place of a Character in that story. Unlike a book however, Characters are not only created by the storyteller; instead, Players create a custom character of their own design and use that Character to play out the adventure. This Character can be anyone and do anything, limited only by the rules of the game. While in the role of your Character, you can explore the world of Horizon, taking part in mysterious adventures or desperate struggles. As the story unfolds, your choices and actions shape the events that follow, making the story highly interactive. You can also make any number of Characters, so while you're only able to play one at a time, the experience can be fresh and new each time you play. In our game, we recommend a group of 4 Players, though more or fewer is always possible.

The last element of roleplaying is the storyteller, referred to in Horizon: out of the ashes as, “The Director”. This person creates the story and oversees events as they play out. Players have total control over their Characters, but the world they explore is imagined and created by the Director. In the event that something happens with an uncertain outcome, the Director decides what happens. In this way, stories can be very flexible, so no matter what Characters and events happen to collide in an adventure, everyon can still have a good experience. Have a cool story idea? Get some friends together, make some Characters and have fun!

This page is still in progress: more soon! -Schrodinger, 29/12/2016