The Heartwood is a world rich in culture and history, emphasizing roleplaying and player interaction, as well as adventure in both the short and long term.
Players are expected to create their characters as real Heartwood people, and keep their actions in line with their character's views and beliefs. The Heartwood is not a quest style campaign, but rather a world where the actions of the players weave threads into a tapestry of an evolving world history. Scenarios will develop not only from the interaction of current events but will also evolve directly from player character interest. Thus, if the players wish to go explore the white areas of the map or choose to track down a legend, please free to do so. The Heartwood is a big world, with many opportunities hidden just beyond the treeline. Most of the adventuring will be centered on the mainland, a sprawling territory caught between tall mountains and the sea.
The Heartwood is what we might call a medieval world. Most people are farmers or are closely related to the land. Because of this, the population is fairly decentralized with few true towns or villages. The primary exceptions are the Little Kingdoms — seven keeps and holdfasts that are the centers of culture and power. The seven major keeps are held by seven Noble Families: the Kories of Talantal, the Larsens of Talesan's Village, Brockman of Brockman's Holdfast, Montague of Montague, the Kierkegaards of Highgaard, the Allaines of Dawnview, and Halahmbrah of Amber. All the Little Kingdoms owe Fealty to the Great Bankorpool Empire, who rule the mainland from their castles and grand manors in the far off Opal Archipelago.
The technology of The Heartwood, its economics, and main political structures are all early-medieval in nature, matching perhaps our 11th to 12th century. Tunics and surcoats are the predominant styles of dress, and there are no pockets, only purses tied to one's belt. Simple medieval style clothing and breeches are also common. The stirrup, horse collar, and horseshoe are familiar across the mainland. However, horses themselves are so expensive that only lords and their knights are normally able to afford them. Often a village will pool its resources in order to afford a workhorse to be held in common. Mills of all types are present on The Heartwood, as well as three field farming in the more agriculturally savvy locales. The deep plow with colter may also be seen in use in the Highgaard valleys. Steel is used for weapons and armor, with the Norman style great helm and mail being the most commonly found standard. Crossbows are the most common missile weapons, with several cultural biases limiting the use of more traditional bows and arrows.
The world is predominantly human. Elves, dwarves, and halflings are spoken of in legend and myth but have never been seen by the average person. These races normally exist only in legends and fireside tales. Partly, this is to ensure that these foreign races do not simply become just a human being with pointy ears. In The Heartwood, there is tremendous potential for personal and cultural variations among the keeps, churches, and scattered cultures without having to worry about portraying the truly alien.
Religion is a major focus for most of the common folk, giving the popular churches a strong influence on world events. However, of course, there are the many alternative forms of worship that are not considered politically correct, even to the point of being considered Pagan, and thus only suited for firewood. Player characters, however, by their nature are unique folks and do not have to fit the common norms.
If there is a bogey-beast in the collective Heartwood anxiety closet, it is known as the East. The East refers to an area beyond the haunted Dirkwood Forest and the Black Mountains. Nightmares are said to originate from the East, and its inhabitants are said to bathe in carnage, eat the flesh of men, and practice fell sorceries.
There are four major background sources. First, a Cultural overview, describing life in general across the mainland. Second, a short History of the mainland, narrated in the form of a fireside chat. Third, there is a Cults and Religion discussion. The Cults document discusses the various churches of The Heartwood from the point of view of the common inhabitant of the mainland. The Religion discourse is a more pragmatic view of these same religions, describing them in a more scholarly narrative. The last is a Glossary, which details common terms, events and inhabitants of the mainland. These files have one very important fact in common: they are all presented from the point of view of the common Heartwood farmer. Thus, any information in those files must be viewed in that light. Only direct experience or personal insight can verify the accuracy of the information presented. In fact, unless you are addressing a specific non-player character, any questions will be replied from this common point of view. Non-Player Characters, of course, will reply from their own personal point of view. Thus, the information given in the background files may contain apparent contradictions, inaccuracies, and they are definitely not a complete listing of everything on The Heartwood.
These files are extremely important for capturing the feel and nature of The Heartwood. When considering what sort of character you wish to play, let these files help set the tone and the atmosphere of your thoughts. These files also include subtle hints on different factions, religions, and other items which might not be considered common knowledge, but could provide hooks for developing one's character.
As your character develops, the Gamemaster will work with you in further defining your background, and provide any additional information that only your character would know. The Gamemaster will also point out specific parts of the background files that should be of particular interest for your character.
The development of a character for The Heartwood is an interactive process. It begins with developing the nature of the proposed character first, fleshing out and fitting the character into the world second, and only last are the game mechanic statistics then set down.
Thus, the first step is to determine what type of character you wish to run. This does not mean that you will define a specific job description, such as 'Member of the Korie Noble Guard'. Instead, you will determine the nature and personality of who you would like to play on The Heartwood. Are you interested in an adventurous and daring explorer? A bookish and studious traveler? A pretty lady with light fingers for other people's purses? A stalwart hero with a chivalric code of honor or a pragmatic and weatherworn mercenary? Is your character keep educated, or from good common farmer stock? Are they driven by a particular love or desire to reach a goal? Is the character a loner, or do they need the company of others? Did something in the background arouse your interest that you might wish to pursue?
Once you have a general idea of who this person is that you'd like to play, then contact the Gamemaster to begin a dialog on how and where such a person might fit within The Heartwood. Once the Gamemaster knows the direction a player wishes to take, he can then recommend what files to read, potential homeland sites, potential relationships, and positions. This will include additional background information that might be specific to each character. For example, what is it really like in a Montague Court, or what are the inner secrets of the Church of Lord Rames the Protector?
Once this process is completed, the very last step is the simple matter of crafting the character statistics and skills to the role they wish to play.
The only caveat in creating a character is that the character must — in one way or another — fit in with the existing group. If the character might not appear to fit, there must be a reasonable way to rationalize their presence as one of the team without falling into fratricide. Players are expected to accomplish this in a constructive rather than a reluctant manner.
It is imperative to remember that all of the inhabitants of The Heartwood are responsible for the consequences of their actions. The Heartwood is a gritty, realistic world. If you do something dumb, eventually it will catch up with you. Death occurs on The Heartwood, even to the strong and powerful. That's why there are Gods of death. Player characters are not immune to this. But, unlike the real world, this is not the end of the player. It's simply time for the next new character.
The Heartwood can be a complicated world, and as you read the background files it will become apparent that there are many factions and groups running around with their own agendas, often in conflicting and confusing directions. Indeed, the opening scenario has been designed to specifically immerse the players in this maelstrom, to acquaint them with the many facets of the world. This also means that The Heartwood has a tendency to develop even when the player characters are not present.
...uhhh... mom, I'm home... uh... when did they build a castle next door?
However, in all cases, the role of the player character is to set the tone and nature of these developments.
Under the category of Dangerous Assumptions: The Heartwood has in it many things that are similar to those in the real world, like wandering fortune tellers and witches. But do not assume, for example, that if they are called a Rhoni that they are like a similarly named culture in our world. In fact, even the root word for Rhoni comes from a very different source. Where the name of something may be the same, its face upon The Heartwood is very different.
Under the category of Things That Make The Gamemaster Happy: The Heartwood is a role-playing world. As such, what the Gamemaster enjoys the most is watching the development of the characters. The more you put into your characters, the more you will get out of The Heartwood.
On a final technical side note, the Gamemaster has a habit of abbreviating The Heartwood as HWD. It's his habit and he's allowed a couple of idiosyncrasies.
While playing on The Heartwood, there are several common sense behaviors that all characters are assumed to follow. If your character chooses to behave differently, the player must explicitly inform the Gamemaster. This should be done at the beginning of each session or at a shift of scene, and most certainly well before a conflict situation arises. Also, note that most Non-Player Characters will follow these standard procedures as well.
When traveling, or during normal day-to-day activities, helmets are not worn. Those who insist on wearing their helmets all day will find their perception related skills severely limited, and they will risk heat exhaustion. However, in ordinary circumstances a player will have the opportunity to put on a helm before going into a melee. Exceptions might be a well-planned ambush, a bar fight, or when one's armor and helmet is on the other side of town.
Folks may assume they are wearing any armor they might have while traveling and when they first enter any village or town. However, if one stays in the town for any length of time, it is assumed that one's armor isn't worn nor are shields carried. Those who do continue to wear their armor will attract the attention of local authorities, and in this situation that would not be considered a good thing. Exceptions might be a Knight of Rames, a Jvrillian mercenary Captain or the Town Guard. In most places, it is acceptable to carry one's sword or a dagger or two without attracting undue attention.
Fist fights do not kill... at least not under normal circumstances. If a brawl breaks out — the most common example being a bar fight — since most folks will not be wearing armor, fists, chairs and other impromptu non-lethal weapons will normally be used. If the Players draw steel, expect the Non-Player Characters to follow suit. In most cases, unless someone does something to truly annoy someone else, any escalation of the conflict will be set by the Players' actions. However, this does not hold true if, before the brawl begins, folks are given the opportunity or are goaded to the point of drawing steel first. In that case, it's your own lookout.
Now, though, it's time to throw that extra tunic in the sack, along with some fruit, and flour, and a small box of tinder. Take grandfather's old short sword, carefully polished and sharpened, and leave the little farm lost on the High Tarn and walk a bit on The Heartwood...