Play it your way

New characters get one more step before their first scene: three sliders for how you want the story to go. A scene you're in the middle of now stays yours, with nothing pushed into it. And a town's main public rooms keep NSFW play out.

How do you want to play?

After you make a character, and before you pick where they begin, you set three things. Each one starts where the game has always been, so you can just press Continue.

• Pacing. A slow burn gives moments room to breathe: the world steps in late, and a scene can end quietly. Fast passes routine and travel in a line, and the world steps in as soon as things go flat.
• Reply length. Short, balanced or long replies from the storyteller. Or leave Match how I write ticked, and replies run as long or as short as yours.
• Story pushes. Often: the world brings stories to you, with people who have problems, news, and trouble that finds you. When I look: story comes only when you go looking for it, by asking around, reading a notice or looking for work. Never: nothing is pushed at you. The world still answers what you do, and what you do still has consequences.
• Change it any time. Characters you already have can set it too, from the sliders button next to the bell on your character page. Or tell the Game Master in table talk ("stop pushing plot at me", "shorter replies"), and it will offer to change it for you.

A scene you're in stays yours

When you're in the middle of something, like a heartfelt talk, a game of cards or a romance, the storyteller no longer cuts in with something new. No stranger turns up with a job, no news arrives, and nobody brings up their own plans. Whatever was waiting comes after the moment ends. The time of day doesn't race ahead while it plays out, and the suggested replies stay inside the scene.

When you're pressing on with something, like questioning someone or chasing a lead, your story keeps moving at your pace, but nothing unrelated barges in, and the storyteller won't stop the scene to plant a new hook.

Public places stay public

A town's main rooms, like its tavern, square, market or temple, are where everyone in a world meets, new players included, and everything played there shows up for everyone in the room. So those rooms now keep NSFW play out.

• Turned away before anyone sees it. If a line acts that out in a public room, it never reaches the room or the storyteller. You get a short note saying why, and nothing is spent.
• Take it somewhere private. In a rented room, a back street, a room inside a building, or a place that came up in your story, violence, NSFW and darker themes can play out as before, under the world's own rules.
• Only NSFW. Violence and darker themes still play out in public rooms too.