What is The Isles? admin, October 6, 2024October 6, 2024 The Isles is a hand-moderated Play By Mail (PBM) game set in a fantasy world where trade and commerce are more important than lords and kings. The game is run by a Games Moderator (GM), who processes players’ actions and determines the outcome of their choices. What is Play By Mail? Play By Mail is a style of game played through the post. Players would detail their desired actions on a Turnsheet and send it to the GM, who would then return a Results Sheet describing the outcome of those actions. Gameplay In The Isles, players take on the role of an Outcast, a newly released prisoner with little memory of their past or why they were imprisoned. The goal of the game is to build a new life for your character. You can choose to become a traveler, a force for good or evil, or even remain a beggar. Each turn, you decide what your character will do by filling out a Turnsheet. This includes: Thoughts: Where you can describe your character’s thoughts and feelings. Actions: Where you detail the actions your character will attempt. Player Notes: For communicating with the GM, such as providing feedback or explaining an absence. Standing Orders: These are instructions for your character if they encounter a threat, opportunity, or something of interest, allowing for smoother gameplay. The GM then processes your turn and sends back a Results Sheet written in prose, like a story. This sheet will detail the outcomes of your actions and include any changes to your character’s skills, possessions, or money. Character Creation To start playing The Isles, you must first create a character. Download the Character Creation Sheet. If playing by mail, this will be included in the Game Guide. Fill out the sheet with a detailed description of your character, including their physical appearance, age, height, build, and skin colour. These characteristics determine how your character is perceived in the game world. For example, a one-eyed giant is more memorable than an average-looking person. Player Abilities You must also distribute 14 points across six Player Abilities on the Character Creation Sheet. These abilities, ranked from POOR to EXCELLENT, represent your character’s mental and physical attributes and influence their chances of success in various tasks. The six abilities are: Strength: Impacts physical tasks like lifting, carrying, and fighting. Stamina: Affects endurance, resistance to fatigue and injury, breath-holding, and healing speed. Dexterity: Relates to hand-eye coordination, tasks requiring dexterity like lockpicking or knot tying, and the integration of senses with physical movement. Charisma: Influences how attractive and charming your character is to others. Intelligence: Governs knowledge acquisition, understanding, and application of information. Will: Represents willpower, focus, luck, mental fortitude, and the ability to persevere. Skills Unlike Player Abilities, which are determined at character creation, skills are learned and improved throughout the game. Skills can be learned through training from a proficient individual or independently through practice. Having a skill increases your chance of success in tasks that require it. For example, a character proficient in Archery is more likely to hit a target with a bow and arrow. Your Character Sheet will be updated to reflect your character’s proficiency in acquired skills. The World The game is set on a series of islands in a quasi-medieval world reminiscent of 13th-15th Century Europe. The sources provide detailed information about one of these islands, the Star Island, and more specifically, the town of Ilanthor. Of The Isles..