How to play

Three ways to tell a story together.

Quick and lively, slow and lovely, or with dice on the table. Most people end up doing all three. Here's how each one works.

1 · Live chat rooms

Write a scene together, right now

Rooms are where scenes happen in real time. Everyone present takes turns posting, and the story unfolds as fast as you can type. There's an out-of-character channel on the side for planning, jokes and "brb, kettle".

Lovely for: Evenings with friends, quick one-shots, and the thrill of not knowing what someone will write next.

Quick start

  1. Pick a character, or make one. You can also post as yourself.
  2. Find an open room on the Rooms page, or open your own and invite people.
  3. Write in character in the story pane. Use /me for actions and /roll 1d20 for dice.
  4. Chat out of character in the OOC panel so the story stays clean.
Browse roomsMake a character

2 · Play-by-post stories

Take your time and write it beautifully

Stories are threads you add to whenever you have a moment. Posts can be long, polished and full of detail, and nobody is waiting on you with a timer. When a story is finished it reads like a book.

Lovely for: Busy schedules, different time zones, slow burns and long campaigns you want to keep forever.

Quick start

  1. Start a story from the Stories page, or join one that's looking for writers.
  2. Write your opening post. Set the scene, then hand it over.
  3. Reply when it's your turn. You'll get a notification when someone posts.
  4. Use the Looking for Group board to find partners who like the same things.
Read storiesFind writers

3 · The tabletop

Roll dice on a map with the Chronicle rules

Every room can open a virtual tabletop: a shared map with tokens, fog, lighting, character sheets and a dice log. Run it with the Chronicle ruleset, which is light, quick to learn and built for storytelling, or bring D&D 5e, Pathfinder 2e or Daggerheart.

Lovely for: Combat, dungeon crawls, mysteries with a map, and groups who like a bit of crunch with their prose.

Quick start

  1. Open a room, then open the tabletop from the room toolbar.
  2. The game master sets up a scene: upload a map and place tokens.
  3. Players link a character sheet and move their token.
  4. Roll from your sheet or the dice bar. Results land in the log for everyone.
Read the Chronicle rulesFind a table

Good to know

Ask before you assume

Check what your partners are comfortable with. Content warnings on rooms and stories help everyone choose.

Out of character is fine

Use the OOC chat, the Global chat in the corner, or Messages to plan, ask questions or just say hello.

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