The Realm

The Realm is a zine containing a ruleset and procedure for domain play in romantic fantasy games, compatible with OSR products or almost any other adventure game. Players take on the role of rulers and courtiers in a lethal, personal, dramatic vision of nations evocative of Arthurian legend, the biblical Book of Kings, or a Norse saga.

The Realm is not a setting or adventure. It is a tool to facilitate adventure in your own setting, allowing player characters to experience the challenges of leadership through a procedure for rulership, either alongside or against other PCs, integrating easily into campaigns that include the standard dungeoncrawl or monster hunt.

Contents

• an intuitive way to describe domains by development and presence of law, trade, and temple holdings, as well as other assets.
• descriptions and procedures for actions a ruler can take to shape the realm and conspire with their courtiers, meant to transition seamlessly into personal-scale adventure play.
• a mass-combat battle procedure where characters can directly participate as champions, elevating the normal combat system of dungeon games rather than replacing them with a top-down wargame.
• a freeform system for generating events affecting a realm, with examples and ideas to spur a DM's imagination.
• advice on running a domain game and guidance on common pitfalls.