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.