[Announcement] The Journey Begins: Let's Eat!

[briar]

Hey there, I'm your Game Master~
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I go by Briar or sometimes Kae!
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I use she/her/they/them pronouns!

Hey there, and welcome to Epicurean! 🌮 This is meant to be your guide to how I, the GM, plan to run the game, what you can expect from me, and suggestions on things to do when we get started!

So Who Are You, Anyway?

Hiya! You can call me Briar or Kae, and I'll be your GM for this adventure! I've been playing table-top role-playing games for years--decades even--starting with D&D 3.0. I've played quite a few different systems, including D&D 5e, BESM, Ryuutama, Pokémon Tabletop United, a few PbtA-based games, and a good amount more.

As a GM, I'm a storyteller and character enthusiast, and I really enjoy watching characters in the games I'm running grow and develop. I also really enjoy making characters/NPCs for others to interact with, so I hope you enjoy meeting all the ones I've conjured up for this world! I like to think I'm fair, forthright, and understanding, and that I do everything I can to promote a positive role-playing environment for my players. You can expect me to be pretty lenient if you want to do something creative too--I love it when players surprise me!

But above all else, I also really love good vibes, and in storytelling, that means picking the right themes and tones. Not every story can be rainbows and sunshine, and certainly not all the time, but I like to think its possible to fill the world with enough happy little moments to shine through. And that's what this game means to me!

What Made You Want to Run This Game?

Ah-hah! An astute question! Its very simple, really: I love the low-stakes fantasy genre and have since I originally stumbled upon one of my still-favorite anime, Princess Connect Re : Dive which, incidentally, served as the primary inspiration for this game! It, like this game, is about a group of people who share a passion for adventure and are united in the pursuit of finding the most delicious cuisine the world has to offer.

Princess Connect is a little more high-powered than I want Epicurean to be, as anime often are, but it has a lot of elements I do want to emulate, namely its fantastical atmosphere, its low-key slice of life moments, and its full of fun, quirky characters that you just can't help but want to learn more about! What's more, its the type of show were everything seems to work out well in the end, in a way that is often wholesome and satisfying and just plain great!

I also really really really enjoy food. Like, a lot. 🤤 I cook in real life (not professionally, and usually just for myself), and I love going out to eat or catching lunch or dinner with friends. I also really enjoy cooking and food-based anime, and I especially love it when the characters in those shows express the feelings they conjure when they get to try new and interesting dishes! That's the kind of vibe I want in a story!

So What's The Game About?

Our story begins in a fantastical realm known as the Seven Kingdoms, a loosely-affiliated alliance of nations of vastly different cultures, all sharing one big geological continent!

Once upon a time, roughly 75 years ago, the Seven Kingdoms all came together after countless generations of conflict with one another and signed a peace treaty, vowing never to raise arms against one another again. Thus an era of friendship and reconciliation came to pass, and the world has flourished in its wake!

During that time, a great many things changed within the kingdom. Until then, adventurers were few and far in between due to the widespread conflict between the realms, making international travel and information-sharing difficult. Those that did operate were usually small, out of the way, and sparsely populated, taking on every day, odd jobs.

Nowadays, however, the Adventurer's So named because they evaluate adventurers and give them job commissions based on their reputation and experience level.Critique is a large, bustling organization that have branches all over the Seven Kingdoms, and contract jobs of all variety to multitudes of adventurers. In fact, one could say that the adventuring market is actually oversaturated, which is hardly a surprise given how well many jobs nowadays pay. Whats more, the progress of both magic and technology, as well as blended practise of the two, has made adventuring something just about anyone can do! And while that means things are more peaceful than ever throughout the Kingdoms, it unfortunately also means that there aren't as many big jobs to go around!

But that doesn't mean adventuring is out of the question for aspiring young souls like yourselves, and as luck would have it, the Adventurer's Critique commissions smaller "guilds" of all sorts to handle the constantly-growing variety of tasks around the world. In exchange for their good work, the Critique offers steep discounts on gear and equipment, maps of local areas, and often other amenities that would be hard to obtain any other way. What's more, they assist in funding personal endeavors--which is to say, anything you like! Why, you could even start a guild about your favorite thing! Like, for instance...going on adventures to find the world's best-tasting food! (Psst! That's where you come in!)

What's the World Going to be Like?

Big! Fantastical! Full! Fun! This a game of high fantasy realism and low stakes, and I'm building seven kingdoms worth of a huge, vibrant world for you to explore, then filling it with fabulous places to visit, enigmatic sights, as well as interesting peoples of all sorts of walks of life for you to get to know!

In this world, fantasy is a part of every day life. Magic is real, and widely practiced. Non-humans are as common as humans, elves, and dwarves. Not everyone always gets along, of course, and some old habits die hard, but for the most part, the world is heavily blended and the newer generations are much more open-minded! Whether you have fur or are furless, or whether you're dark or light, whether you descend from elves or dragons, and no matter who or what you identify is, there is a place for you in this world and people willing to appreciate you for you!

Genre-wise, we'll be running the gambit. Expect medieval fantasy to meet Eastern folklore, fables and fairy tales, some smatterings of steampunk, aetherpunk, ecopunk (lots of punks, really!), depending on where you are. There will even be some instances where blends of magic and technology even mirrors the modern world to some extents.

Also, because I am something of a culture nut, you should also expect a diverse array of societies, traditions, lifestyles, heritages, customs, and all around walks of life. In addition, more of the same is also welcome, and I encourage you to be free in expressing yourself through your character as much or as little as you like!

What Is There To Do?

Well, that's up to you, isn't it? At its heart, this game is one about food and adventure, and those things will be in no short supply in the world, so how you go about either will be completely up to you!

Now, you might be asking yourself, will this game feature any kind of overarching plot, or even a plot at all? The answer is: Yes! Absolutely! However, I'm not interested in making it the heart of the story, especially in the beginning. Rather, I want the story to focus on the characters, getting to know each one, and seeing how they grow over time as they pursue their own goals, both individually and as a guild!

Additionally, this game is less about the big, winding plots and more about threading in 'every day adventures'. Of course, this is a fantasy world, so there is certainly a steep difference in what 'every day' means versus the real life we're all used to, but that's just what makes it fun, I think. That, and the freedom! I want you to go where you want, explore the things you think sound interesting and fun, and achieve the goals you want to!

That doesn't mean this will be wholly sandbox, of course. I'll definitely be providing a lot of avenues to adventure and lots of threads to tug you into episodic adventures. But for the most part, you are free to choose--alongside your companions, of course--which path to take, and your choices will very much matter in the long run. The world is a living, breathing place, after all, and it reacts to you as surely as you do to it!

Where Do We Start!?

Wherever you want! First, though, we need figure out who you are (Character Creation), and to get the group together! Fortunately, I have just the thing! A little introductory quest will be waiting for you when the game begins, one which I hope will set the stage for our grand adventures to come.

After that, the sky's the limit--or maybe you'll prove me wrong and go beyond it! Either way, this promises to be a fun, endearing adventure which I am looking forward to telling with you all, and I hope you feel the same way!

So? Go on! The road--and all the good food in the world!--is waiting for you!