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The Flow of the Game

In general, gameplay in all adventure role playing games follows a similar high-level structure, and players familiar with other ttRPG rules will find the following immediately familiar.

  1. The GM describes a setting and scenario
  2. The Players direct and describe the activities of their characters to explore the scenario
  3. The GM describes the consequences of their exploration, which may include:
    • Encountering NPCs and role playing character interactions
    • Revealing more detail, with subsequent exploration
    • Danger and/or Combat
  4. A resolution, be it in success or failure, of player actions resulting in an altered scenario, and the process repeats

Players and GMs role playing characters, NPCs, and enemies is a lot of the fun of playing a game like ’Verses, and such role play doesn't need to involve dice rolls. But because ’Verses broadens its game mechanics to encompass more than the rules of combat, there are many situations in which character role play during the exploratory phases of an adventure can have direct or indirect effects on the more action-orient sequences.

Character actions are divided broadly into Long Action and Fast Action.

Fast Action takes place when moment-to-moment choices and split-second decisions determine game outcomes. During Fast Action, the in-world time-scale is slowed down so that players and GMs can consider, describe, and determine how actions play out. It takes less than a second to stab with a blade... and far longer to describe doing so.

Long Action does the opposite: It speeds up the in-world clock so that actions like sleeping, camp chores, and stake-outs can move as quickly as desired, while still considering the impacts of those actions on the characters. A character who spends a few hours each evening maintaining their equipment or practicing their skills will be better prepared to act when the time comes.

In-between and tying together Fast and Long Action, the players and GM role play their characters and the universe around them, collaboratively exploring and inventing the world and the stories that drive it.