Today we're looking at Living in the World, the 6th chapter of Mortal Reins. This chapter details the themes of a Mortal World, and gives players something to bite on to if they want to delve deeper into playing the role of their character. Mortal Reins was designed to be adaptable to any world the players may want to explore, or story the game master may want to tell. For this reason, possible themes for a story are one of the most important aspects of this chapter. Mortal Rein’s system is built for bronze-dark age settings, or settings with a similar level of technology (Gunpowder is nowhere to be found and machinery is scarce). The system thrives in volatile settings, environmentally, politically, socially, and economically. To take advantage of this, we recommend stories that focus on surviving the world’s perils, taking hold of the limited time a character has, navigating corruption, the rising and falling of societies, and exploring the influence of magic on the world. Of course, any of these themes may be emphasized or ignored according to the needs of the game master. They are provided simply as a source of inspiration for storylines and world building.
Even though the rules can be applicable to any classical or dark age fantasy setting with minimal adaptation, the book also comes with a pre-built setting called Nuterra, loosely based on 300-600AD Europe. The map is intentionally zoomed out to display only the names and borders of large regions to allow groups to adapt the smaller details of the world, such as towns, leaders and invading forces, to the needs of their campaign. Making up your character's backstory shouldn't involve hours of research into existing factions, sub-factions and politics. Nuterra’s description contains an account of the world’s historical eras and current major societies, but the players define the canon for their game. At this time in its history Nuterra is host to rising and crumbling empires alike, kingdoms, cults, refugees of political and religious persecution, migrating peoples, pirates, elder races fighting or isolating to preserve their bloodlines and cultures, mountain keeps, and wandering mercenaries, to name just a few.
From these descriptions, players may find ideas for backstories, motivations for the actions of characters and NPCs (Non-Player Characters), potential world factions, the pressures placed on those factions internally and externally, and even how factions interact with one another. Having common knowledge about these allows the use of shorthand when sharing details about your character to other players, and create a common knowledge base for those that are interested in diving a little deeper.
In addition to geography, history, cosmology and philosophy, this chapter also features seven major languages and some basic descriptions of how each may look and sound, as well as what sorts of people may be speaking them. These aren't just footnotes but constructed languages with a vocabulary, sounds and grammar structure - all these things inform culture. Our language defines us, the things that we can discuss and the things that are important to us. Some languages, such as Xoto the language of the lizardfolk, are endemic to certain races. Others, such as Aeldari or Pattenuo may indicate social standing or lack thereof, respectively. Astute readers might also pick up on cognates and similar structure between langauges that belong to the same group, belonging to the same root language.
It is our hope that, regardless of the setting or world a group plays in, the information shared in this chapter may help spark players creativity and provide the tools necessary to build solid, immersive worlds of their own.
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