Welcome, new player! I’m sure you are looking forward to adventure, but you probably have a few questions. As it happens, we have a few answers.

What makes Exile special?

• Our Low Cost

Your first event is on us, absolutely free!

After that, Exile costs $20 per event whether you PC or NPC. We do not have to pay to rent out a campground, and we pass those savings onto you! Saturday breakfast and dinner are included in the price of the event, and critics agree that we have the best chefs of any non-culinary game based in South Jersey.

• We Welcome Creative Input

Got an idea for a mod? Let’s hear it. Want to get a unique magical item? Let’s talk about it. Want to build a new building in the town? Hey, if you’ve got the in-game money, and are willing to apply some real-world elbow grease, more power to you. Our staff is always open to ideas, and more than happy to work with you on working them into the game. I’m supposed to tell you it’s because we’re flexible and appreciate player input, but we’re actually just quite lazy. Please do our jobs?

What do I need to know to jump into the game?

In a few short answers, here’s all you need to know to jump into a game of Exile.

• How does melee fighting work?

Melee fighting in Exile works on a three-hit system. Instead of calling damage with every physical weapon strike, you have to get a three-hit combo on one target. On the third hit, you call damage. Hitting a different target in the middle of a combo will end the combo, and start a new one on the second target. Note that being blocked, taking damage, or being hit with magic will NOT break your combo. The combo only breaks when you hit a new target or use an offensive ability.

Hits to the head, the groin, a shield, a weapon or loose clothing do NOT count towards your combo.

Damage is called with the word “damage”, followed by the amount. So if you get a combo with a short sword, on the third hit you would simply say, “one damage”.

Some offensive abilities, like Hamstring or Intimidate, require a three-hit combo; when using these, you only call the ability, not the damage.

Other abilites, such as Quickstike or Backstab allow you to do damage in one hit.

• How does ranged fighting work?

Exile uses standard larp packets for arrows and foam for throwing weapons (see Weapons section for more details). The skill or damage is called after your weapon hits your target. If using a bow, you would say, “Arrow Two Damage”.

Hits to the head, the groin, a shield, a weapon or loose clothing do not count.

• How does magic work?

All magic spells require a ten-syllable casting line and one magic point. The casting line can be anything you like, but must be an obvious magical invocation. Your feet must remain planted while invoking a spell. Any effect (weapon strike, spell effect, etc.) will interrupt your casting line. You will not lose a magic point, but you will have to restart your casting line.

When your casting line is complete, you spend a magic point, immediately throw a spell packet at your target, and call the ability.

Hits to the head, the groin, or loose clothing do not count. Magic hitting a shield or weapon will still affect the target.

• How does damage work?

For melee weapons, one-handed weapons (knives, short swords, clubs)do one damage, and two-handed weapons (staves, longs words, war hammers) do two damage. Bastard swords do one damage if wielded with one hand and two damage if wielded with two.

Ranged weapons do one damage.

There are a variety of damage types in Exile; it is not uncommon to here players calling “one fire” or “two dark” or “one legit”. However, all damage types can be treated as standard damage unless you are told otherwise. If your character takes double damage from light, or half damage from ice, you will always be informed by GMs or item tags. Until then, treat “three poison” the same as “three damage”.

• What non-combat abilities should I know about?

There are basically two types of non-combat abilities: testing and crafting.

Crafting begins with components. In Exile, components come in levels 1-5. That’s it. Any level two component can be used to create any level two crafting item. Simple, no? Components are represented by small sheets of with forms you can fill out. Once filled out, they become an item tag defining the item you just crafted.

To craft a level one item, say a Basic Health Potion, you must first have three things: the appropriate Basic Path (Alchemy) at the matching level (one), the recipe for the item you want to make (Basic Health Potion), and a matching level component. Then you spend ten minutes of role-playing the crafting process. After this, you fill out the component, attach it to the item (if applicable) and you’re done. If you cannot attach it to the item, (i.e. the item is to small, like a ring, or contains multiple items, like a wineskin full of individual health potions) you must keep the item tag on your person until the item is used.

Testing involves a range of skills, including lock-picking, climbing a cliff face, searching for a hidden doorway, and researching ancient magicks. All tests are based off of Basic Paths. GMs will often let players know when there is an opportunity to use a test, but a player can ask to test at anytime, though it isn’t guaranteed that they can. All tests use a Test Deck, which can be built from any standard deck of playing cards. It consists of 14 cards: one full suit (Ace through King) and the Joker. The Ace and Face cards are always Passes and the Joker is always the Botch. For every level that you have in the test path, one card becomes a Pass (starting at two and ascending to 6). Every other card in the deck is a Fail. Depending on the test, the player may not immediately know where he has passed, failed or botched.

There’s a lot more to the rules, of course, but that’s all the basics. Now you’re ready to play Exile!