Glossary

Ability

Abilities are things that a single character can do. They will state how long they take and if you need to spend stamina to use them. They all require appropriate roleplaying.

Armour

Armour refers to protective equipment made from padded cloth, leather or metal. Any character can gain 2 hits by wearing any armour that covers their torso (we call this an Armoured Vest). Characters that have bought the Armour skill can benefit from heavier types of armour. Read more..

Attunement

A character may attune to a piece of Magical Equipment by keeping it with them overnight. They may only be attuned to one piece of Magical Equipment at once. They may not use Magical Equipment they are not attuned to.

Appropriate Roleplaying

Some skills require this. It means you should act out some sort of procedure that is appropriate to what you are trying to do and how your character would accomplish it. For example Healing can be performed by bandages, magical alignment of crystals or stirring motivational speeches. This requires at least one free hand, and unless the Ritual or Ability specifically grants a ranged call, you must be close enough to touch the target.

Bleed Time/Bleed Count

Bleed time and bleed count both refer to the time a character must spend dying before becoming terminal. Some rituals and wounds can change this for the better or worse.

Call

A call is a sequence of words that has a special meaning in the game rules. Please see the calls section of the website, where the calls are defined; it is important that a player knows how to react to at least the damage calls and simple effect calls.

Character (PC)

When you LARP you invent a character according to a series of rules and then you pretend to be them. You can have several characters at once (though you can only play one at a time!) but most people prefer to have a main character who they focus on. Your character does not have to be anything like you, even down to gender and species, although many of the most successful characters have been very similar to their players.

Curative Herbs

Used to fuel the healing 3 ability "The Doctor is In", they can be bought in downtime or from the Guild of Surgeons for 4D each. Any place that is appropriate to use that ability will be stocked with some quantity of these.

Downtime

Downtime is the time that elapses in the gameworld between interactives. As well as any roleplaying that occurs during this time, it is possible to perform certain actions. For more info see Downtime.

Drug

A drug Effect is a specific mental effect usually created with the Psychomancy skill.

Ducatto

The money of NFNC. Comes in denominations of 1,4,16 and 64 Silver Ducatto and 1 and 4 Gold Ducatto. One Gold Ducatto is worth 64 Silver Ducatto.

Dying

A character is dying if they have lost all of their hits. They can take no IC action other than talking/yelling, they also cannot resist any action done to them. A character ceases dying if they regain hits. After 120 seconds dying a character becomes terminal. Read more...

Effect

A magical presence on a character, object or area. Effects may be detected with the Knowledge L1 Ability "Explorer's Gaze". Unless otherwise stated, lasts until midnight.

Emotion

A Emotion Effect is a specific mental effect usually created with the Psychomancy skill.

Encounter

The time between calls of REFRESH.

Enhancement

An Effect which may be expended with 5 seconds of appropriate roleplaying to cause something to happen.

Execute

To kill an unresisting character with 10 seconds of appropriate roleplaying. Your character must be armed to do this.

Focus

A focus is an item relating to the user's Paradigm and used to channel Spells. A holy symbol for a priest, a candle for a pyromancer, a crystal for an arcane meddler.

Popular foci include embroidered badges that also serve as belt tags, alchemical bottles, and large chunky pieces of jewellery. Most foci are about the size of the user's fist.

God

See the churches and the gods pages.

Group

A number of people who have all been the target of a Will 2 Ritual. They may choose to ignore each other's MASS and WIDE calls provided that they can see the person making the call.

Hit

Hits, or hit points, represent the amount of physical punishment someone or something can take before becoming dying. Characters may gain more hits by purchasing the Health skill or the Armour skill.

IC

In Character. Anything which would be perceptible to anyone in the world of No Flag No Country under any circumstances. Whenever you are pretending to be your character, you are IC.

Instantaneous

This effect may be cast using a short phrase, such as BY MY POWER or FOR THE ASPIRANT, followed by the target and the call for the effect.

Interactive

A session of the game held in the Portal Camp. The Portal Camp is represented by whatever room the Society has booked that week. Interactives are held on Friday evenings, usually at 7.30pm. In Interactives, your PCs stay in a building in the Camp and the events come to them.

Leader

The person in charge of the ritual.

Linear

A type of adventure where the encounters are laid out along a set route which the characters follow. Usually an NPC "character ref" accompanies them as a member of the character party to ensure they don't stray off course by accident or design.

Magical Item

An object with a blue ribbon on it is a Magical Item.This may be a focus, a one-use Talisman or a piece of Magical Equipment. You can see what a Talisman does by inspecting it (reading the card or ribbon on it). You can work out what Equipment does by attuning to it overnight or using the Knowledge 2 Skill. Read more...

Magical Equipment

An item that is supernaturally enhanced to give a character temporary access to a Combat or Profession skill they do not already have. A character must attune to a piece of magical equipment to use it and may not use more than one at a time. Magical equipment must be recharged once a week using Talismancy, at a cost in Ducatto.

Magical equipment must be carried on your person in order to grant the skill

OOC (OC)

Out Of Character. Anything which is not perceptible to anyone in the world of NFNC. Going OOC is denoted by raising one index finger in the air (visibly and obviously, please), and is in general discouraged in the middle of play except in emergencies.

Paradigm

A belief or ideal that the Character uses to project their Soul onto the world, spending Stamina to cause supernatural effects. For example "My faith in the Aspirant lets me Smite the Unbeliever" "Using the power of Alchemy I can transform these base elements" "I am a wizard and I am going to throw fireballs LIKE A WIZARD".

Participant

Any character who is spending 2 Stamina in order to enhance the output of a ritual. They must participate in appropriate roleplaying that fits the style of Ritual that the Leader is performing.

Personal Magical Device

A special piece of magical equipment that is permanently attuned to a given PC, can have the skill it grants changed and is free to recharge. It does not use up the character's single attunement.

Physrep

A physical representation of an object (these are called "props" in the theatre). Debate exists over whether all props and costume are technically phys-reps, or only "pretend" items. Eg: a latex sword is clearly intended as a physical representation of a metal sword, but is a proper suit of reenactment-quality metal chainmail a "representation" or an actual suit of chain? Regardless of the outcome of this debate, they are all referred to as phys-reps. Communally-owned phys-reps are often stored in an armoury, even if they aren't weapons.

Portal

An area in the world where the barrier between reality and the Beyond is thinner. Rituals are easier here, and some may only be feasible at a Portal. Strangers find it much easy to manifest in a Portal region.

Racial Physrep

A thing that marks you out as a given species IC. These are pointed ears or a bandana and clan markings for Alfar, or scales in a stony or metallic colour on the face for Ozgur.

Reanimate

Reanimation: Brief the target “You are now a revenant for this encounter. You have X hits. Mindlessly attack the first target I command.”. Where X is determined by the skill you used to reanimate the target.

Ref

The Ref Team run the NFNC system; they try to provide all the relevant bits of the world not provided by characters. They can usually be identified by the high-viz jackets they wear while OOC.

Revenant

Revenants are mobile bodies that are created by either the Necromancy profession tree or the Corpus mystic tree. For more information see Revenant.

Ritual

An complex effort to exert your will on the world via spending Stamina. Every participant spends 2 Stamina to take part. The leader of the ritual controls the effect and other participants should join in with their form of roleplay to reinforce the Paradigm.

Ritual Anchor

A special talisman that must be a bulky item the approximate size of a backpack. It stores they effect of a ritual and can be activated by a single PC with 30 seconds of appropriate roleplaying

Rule 7

Do Not Take The Piss. Rule 7 is the foundation of all interpretations of edge cases of the rules.

Skill

Skills let your PC do new things. You buy new skills with XP. Skills come as Combat Skills that give you access to new weapons or more Hits or Stamina, Mystic Skills that let you make new calls in a fight, or Profession Skills that give access to more general-use Abilities and Rituals.

Stamina

Your character's stored energy that lets them perform supernatural abilities.

Strike

A supernaturally powerful blow, must be roleplayed and costs some stamina. Read more...

Spell

An ability channeled through a Focus that allows you to affect a target. Most Spells have a 10m range, some require you be close enough to touch the target at the end of the roleplay. By default, Spells take at least 5 seconds of appropriate roleplay including speaking, chanting or shouting. Some may be cast with the words BY MY POWER followed by the spell effect. These spells are noted as "instantaneous". Read more...

Stressful situation

You are in a stressful situation if there is combat happening or your PCs are otherwise under threat. As a rule of thumb, if now would be a good time for a teabreak, it is not a stressful situation. If in doubt, ask a Ref.

Talisman

A single-use device that your character may expend to perform a single spell or strike. May be used even if you have taken a CRUSH to the Torso. Up to 3 Talismans may be bound within the same object. For example a large potion bottle could contain 3 CURE 3 talismans. Read more...

Terminal

When a character becomes terminal nothing more can save them. The player can choose when the character dies, though no longer than the end of the next interactive. Read more...

Totem

An item that causes a drug or emotion when you read or consume it. Should be physrepped by a sealed note or container.

Touch

A spell that has touch range can only be successfully cast on a target if you are touching them at the completion of your appropriate roleplay. Read more...

Unresisting

A character that is either Dying or chooses not to roleplay resistance to an action taken against them that would otherwise succeed, for example an execution attempt.

Valuable

Some items are valuable, and worth looting. To save players filling their bags with every physrep they see, Valuable items will be marked with a yellow ribbon. Characters with the Trade 3 Skill can determine the value of these items.

Wound

Physical, mental or supernatural injuries that your character has suffered. When your character becomes dying, they gain a Wound. Wounds may also be suffered as a consequence of IC actions. All Wounds may be suppressed or treated with the Healing Skill. Read more...

Wound Card

A card which records the different problems from the levels of Wounds. You suffer all roleplaying affects, and the most severe mechanical penalties, at or below the level of Wound you have received. By default, when you take a wound the ref will tell you to go one higher on this card.

XP

Experience points are earned by adventuring and then spent on new skills for your character to reflect how their abilities improve over time. See character creation for information on how fast a character gains XP, and how to spend it.