© 1991, 1997 Timothy A. Dohrer and Gerry J. EvenwelAll rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America.

Product number: 100000

Very special thanks... An idea can start with one person but it cannot flourish alone. This idea startedwith Gerry, was refined by Tim, and has been expanded by a multitude of others. We tip our hats to Brian Bessey, Rod Drinnon, Pat Epley, Kay Evenwel, Jeff Go-nion, Butch Kawalkawski, and Ron Robisch for all their advice and help. A veryspecial thanks to Scott Stevens, who became our mediator, motivator, and organizerduring the long writing process. The artists gave us their time and talent freely and in the end, surpassed our expec-tations. Special thanks to Jim Lasser and Heather Ancarrow for their work. ArtistBrian Sago is featured on the cover and throughout the book. He not only gave thisbook a mood, he added invaluable advice to the end result. Finally, we thank all the people who play-tested this game over the past 10 years.To all the players who survived (or didn't) the original realms of Tar-su-lan and Gon-dalin, we salute you. You played this game without a manual, so enjoy this luxury!

From Tim: To my mother for courage, to my father for inspiration, and to bothfor believing in my dream.

From Gerry: To my mother, whose discipline when I was younger allowed forthis game to be created. To my wife, whose understanding is a testimony to the won-derous benefits of a good marriage.

Realms of the Unknown Player's Manual

DedicationsDedicationsDedicationsDedicationsDedications

Electronic VersionCreated with Adobe PageMaker 6.5 on a PowerCenter 150, exported as a PDF withAdobe Distiller.Send comments to Tim Dohrer (Poet22@aol.com)

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IntroductionIntroductionIntroductionIntroductionIntroduction

n the world of gaming, Realms ofthe Unknown (ROTU) has set itselfapart. It is a simulation game which iseasy to understand, yet contains chal-lenging components such as tacticalconflicts, macroeconomics, social man-agement, and cross-cultural ethics. Asa simulation game it involves role-play*,however, ROTU is unique in its appli-cation.

To begin, you need to realize that arealm is where all action takes place. Itcan be thought of as a habitable worldwhere there is land, water, plants, ani-mals, minerals, and people. There aremany realms in ROTU, but it is custom-ary that each individual game concernitself with only one of them.

Secondly, you need to understand afew basic ideas about ROTU. It is not atournament game to be played at one ormore sittings, but rather it is designed tobe played without stopping from itsbeginning to its end. Theoretically, thegame never has to end until you want it.This feature allows the game to be playedby many people in different places andat different times.

Third, the major difference betweenROTU and other role-playing games isthat the player runs a PlayerCharacter(PC), who in turn runs a

population of men, women, and chil-dren. The PC and their population alllive on the realm, as do other PCs andtheir populations. In most role-playinggames, the focus is on an individualcharacter while in ROTU, the focus ison the achievements of a large group ofpeople.

The realm you will be placed onbegins during a time of early civiliza-tion. You will not own weapons, butyou will have strength and knowledge.Bows and arrows will probably be yourfirst weapons, because the productionof these arms is common knowledge.Axes and swords may be your next stepwhen metal is obtained. If fortune smilesupon you, you may even find some goldor the plans for building a warship. Butbe wary! The other players on the realmmay get them first!

The last thing you should know isthat you will have a Realm Controller(RC). This will be the person who youwill have the most contact with whileplaying ROTU. You will give orders tothe RC, saying what you want to do withyour people. The RC will give youdetails on the status of your people,what’s happening on the realm, andanswer any appropriate questions youmay have.

IIIII This manual is designed to giveguidelines to people who wish to playRealms of the Unknown. It will giveexamples of how to start your PlayerCharacter and how to keep your popula-tion alive and growing. This manual issplit into two general sections. The firstsection is for beginners and the secondwill have more advanced rules. Manybasic realms will incorporate a few ad-vanced rules, while many advancedrealms may not be using all of the ad-vanced rules. Consult with your RC tofind out what parts of the Manual youwill need to review. Charts and repre-sentations of play are included within,as well as real game statistics as ex-amples. Those who wish to run a realmof their own should consult the RealmController’s Manual after fully read-ing the Player’s Manual. But now,without further adieu, let us enter Realmsof the Unknown...

* Role-play is when a person takes onthe identity and gives personality to afictional character. This is used in theparameters of an illusory situation.

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The first step in starting up a playercharacter is to find a Realm Controller(RC). In most cases, the RC will findyou in order to populate a realm. If youhave a group of friends that want to playROTU then one of you will have to bethe RC (experienced players make bet-ter Realm Controllers). In the basicgame a group of eight to twelve playersis generally a good number. If there are

less than eight the realm may not haveenough action to promote a good game.If there are more than twelve the RCmay be too bogged down to get thegame off the ground and keep it run-ning. Running a game is a lot of workfor an RC. After an RC establishes arealm, they will begin working witheach player to create a population and aleader.

In this manual, examples from therealm of Calmara will be used. Therealm is run by the god Mara, which isthe RC’s alias on the realm. A portionof the realm of Calmara is included hereto help in understanding the materialwhich will be presented. The realm is abasic realm using none of the advancedrules, at least for now.

The Basic RealmThe Basic RealmThe Basic RealmThe Basic RealmThe Basic Realm

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Start-Up SheetStart-Up SheetStart-Up SheetStart-Up SheetStart-Up Sheet

Names and Titles

To give identity to your people and alittle color to the game, begin by think-ing up a name for your Player Charac-ter, who will be your people’s leader(example: William the Conqueror).Then decide what type of people youwould like to lead. The RC will actuallychoose this for you so that it fits into theparameters of the realm, but make yourpreference known. Types of people fall into two basiccategories: Town and Band. A townpopulation is one that works from per-manent locations. A band, on the otherhand, moves about and doesn’t stay inany permanent settlements. There arevarious subtypes of these groups andeach has its own way of doing things.With each type there will be bonusesreceived for performing various actions,which the group would naturally excelin (example: towns will excel in civildefense). Here is a brief description ofthe two major types:

Town - Permanent dwellings, agri-culturally based, protective of imme-diate surrounding territory, civil de-fense oriented, expands by establish-ing new settlements along its bordersto create a support network of city-states.

Band - Mobile unit of people with nopermanent dwellings, control terri-tory by occupation of their declaredareas, expand by inward divisions tocreate new bands with the loyaltiesbeing associated with a top triballeader, which can call upon any mem-ber band to work in unison with theothers.

Next, you should think of a name foryour people (example: Normans). Youmay also wish to give a name to yourfirst town (if you have one) otherwiseyour RC will simply incorporate yourpopulation name into the name of your

first settlement (example: Normanville).Now, give yourself a title and be ascreative as you wish (examples are:King of the Visigoths, Lord of Rome,Emperor of China, Garbage Man Su-preme of East Gutterland). Once youhave decided upon your PC name, PCtitle, population name, and your prefer-ence on the type of people you wish tolead, write it all down and give it to yourRC along with your name, address, andphone number. This is referred to asyour Start-Up Sheet. An example of aStart-Up Sheet has been provided byThomas Williams, a player on the realmof Calmara.

Thomas WilliamsAddress: 23 North Barton Street

Anytown, USA 00000Phone Number: 555-1967

Player Character Name: Lord Zachary AldenTitle: Ruler of the Free City State of Bolson

People Name: Bolsonites

Type Preference of Population: TownTown Name: Bolson

Example of aStart-Up Sheet

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Now that you have created your PC,your RC will give you people to lead.With considerations from your Start-Up Sheet, the RC will give you yourfirst Player Sheet, which may look likeThomas Williams', shown here.

P o p u l a t i o n

At the top of the sheet you will seethe information that you have given theRC in your Start-Up Sheet. The nextsection is your your population break-down. Your people are represented bythree numbers separated by slashes. Thefirst number is the Total Population(TP), the second number is the Pro-tected Population (PP), and the third isthe number of Men. All of your Pro-tected Population and Men add up toyour Total Population. The Protected Population (PP) ismade up of women and children. Theyare general laborers who do the every-day chores of society. Your populationwill increase based upon the number ofprotected population. They are non-combatants, thereby giving them thename “protected.” The Men is the number of healthyadult males in your population. This

The Player SheetThe Player SheetThe Player SheetThe Player SheetThe Player Sheet

Now that you have received yourPlayer Sheet and understand its basicworkings you are ready to start playingROTU. One of the things that will be ofconcern to you will be the passage oftime in the game. Time is an importantaspect of the game, expecially since itfunctions differently on a realm. A seven day week passes on theRealm for every 24 hour day in the realworld. This means that the realm ismoving seven times faster than the realworld. The result is that events willhappen more rapidly than would nor-mally occur. This is to promote more

section is responsible for the heavy la-bor tasks (i.e. Blacksmiths, Shipbuild-ers, etc.) and make up your armed forces.Your player character will be dealingwith the men for the majority of yourorders, leaving the protected popula-tion to take care of all the basic needs ofyour people. At the beginning of each year, your

RC will calculate your population in-crease. This represents the births anddeaths of your people and domesticatedlivestock. In many ways, it is like acensus and indicates growth or, insome cases, shrinkage of your popula-tion.

action on the realm and do away withlong periods of time which would leaveplayers idle and bored, waiting to pro-ceed. Also, the realm’s months andyears are simplified to promote easiercalculating. A list of these simplifica-tions has been given here. There are often situations when items

will be dated. Realm Time will bereferred to by the name of the realmand the word “time,” for example Marauses CT, which stands for CalmaraTime. Otherwise, items will have areal time date with an AD(Anno Do-mini ) after it.

One Year = 12 monthsOne Month = Four weeksOne Week = Seven DaysOne Day = 24 Hours (12 light, 12 dark)

A closer look at how time works in ROTUSimplified Realm Times Table

Player: Thomas WilliamsPlayer Character: Lord Zachary Alden Title: Ruler of the Free City-State of Bolson

People: Bolsonites - 4327/2561/1766

Raw Materials: Produced Goods: Animals: Ships: Cattle - 1,200 Warships - 1 Horses - 300 Weapons: Metals: Arrows - 4,000 Copper - 12 Bows - 450 Iron - 29 Axes - 200 Silver - 5 Spears - 750 Natural Resources: General Goods: Wood - 257 Shovels - 100 Settlements: Bolson - 5,000 capacity - semi-fortified

Example of aPlayer Sheet

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Raw MaterialsRaw MaterialsRaw MaterialsRaw MaterialsRaw Materials

When you receive your Player Sheetyou will notice that you have been givenbasic resources along with your popula-tion. These basic resources are calledRaw Materials and consist of: Ani-mals, Metals, and Natural Resources.You have no control over the amount ortype of resources you will receive tostart off. Most resources will need to becollected by you and your people.

A n i m a l s

Animals are usually abundant inROTU and are important tools not to bewasted by any good leader. Animals inthe basic game are Horses, Cattle, andSheep. These animals are common anddomesticated and will increase in num-ber at the same time as your populationincreases. Horses are used for work andtransportation. Cattle are used for food,milk, and leather production. Sheep areused for food and wool production. Allcan be turned into hides. Often new andunusual animals will be found on therealm; it is up to the player to domesti-cate and find uses for these new crea-tures.

Type of Time Units Manpower neededGathering Required Gathered

Farming 4 months 900 2 men or 1 man, 4 ppFishing 1 month 40 1 manForaging 1 month 50 4 ppHerding 1 month varies 1 man

Food Gathering Table

available when you begin play. A woodunit is one tree 20 foot tall and one footin diameter(after being cut down andcleaned). A food unit is the amount offood which will feed one person for oneweek. If your population is 1000 peoplethen you would need 48,000 food unitsto live through the year. A chart forgathering food has been included. Allbeginning players will need to tell theirpeople to set-up a food gathering sys-tem, because your people won’t do it forthemselves. This should be one of thefirst things you have them do.

Natural Re-s o u r c e s

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M e t a l s

The metals category contains allmetals and alloys. They are used toproduce metal goods or currency. Ametal unit is measured as a one footcube.

The natural resources category con-tains all raw materials which are not anAnimal or a Metal. This may includewood, diamonds, marble, and the like.In the basic game, food and wood arethe only natural resources which are

Produced Goods

The production of goods is essentialfor the prosperity of a population. Pro-duced goods are all man-made prod-ucts. These products are manufacturedthrough orders using certain amounts ofgathered resources. You will not al-ways be able to make anything youwant, but there are many items whichare common knowledge. Your RC willbe able to better define what can bemade and what is beyond the knowl-edge and skills of your people. A list ofa few commonly known items is givenhere.

Description Amount Materials needed Time required

Armor, leather 1 1 hide unit one weekArrows* 100 1 wood unit one weekBows 10 1 wood unit one weekClubs* 10 1 wood unit one weekKnives 10 1 metal unit two weeksShields, wood 5 1 wood unit one weekSwords 5 1 metal unit two weeks

* Protected population can produce these items in double the time required

Common Knowledge Produced Goods Table

Now that you have received yourPlayer Sheet and understand its basicworkings, it is time to start playingROTU. This is done by giving orders(i.e.telling your population what to do).

Writing Orders

When giving orders to your popula-tion, simply write down what yourpeople should be doing and give thatinformation to your RC, who will thenprocess the orders and give you theresult(s). When giving orders it is im-portant to remember the one RULE inROTU:

If the Realm Controller Doesn’t KnowAbout It, It Doesn’t Exist!!!

In other words, write down all ordersand give them to the RC for them to gointo effect. When writing orders, putyour PC’s name and the type of order itis at the top. Types of orders for thebasic game are: General, Exploration ,and Production. When you submityour orders, the RC will look them overand point out anything which is unclearor impossible to do. When everything isacceptable the RC will date them andthe orders will immediately go into ef-fect. Orders are what run the game.Lord Alden has advised many new play-ers by telling them, “Be specific. You’llbe better off for it.” The following aredescriptions of each type of order in thebasic game. Lord Alden has graciouslydonated some older orders of his to useas examples.

Writing OrdersWriting OrdersWriting OrdersWriting OrdersWriting Orders

Lord Alden, Ruler of the Free City-State of BolsonGeneral Order

• Have 50 women from the protected population put in charge ofcivil defense in the city of Bolson. They will be referred to as civilofficers during times of emergency.• Send 125 men and 500 protected population to clear the landaround Bolson and plant crops. As soon as one crop comes in andis gathered, they are to plant another crop. This is their primary taskand takes precedence over other duties which they may be assigned.If there is a conflict, report to Lord Alden.• Have 20 men begin to lay down the foundation for the temple ofMara. This temple will be built to the north of the city. Plans to thetemple will be coming at a later date.• Have 150 men begin training in metal surveying and basic survivaltechniques. They will become Bolson's mining corp. Have themprepared to meet whatever obstacles they expect to encounter whilebeing so far from Bolson.• Have all the men begin basic training with swords and bows. Havemy administrators choose those men who will make good soldiers.Awards should be handed out for excelling in their combat training.Also, have my advisers watch for men who would make good officersand those who excel in the military arts and will benefit from moreintensive training.• Report any encounters with other populations immediately.

General Orders

The General Order is the most com-monly used. It includes training, min-ing, farming, general civil commandsand laws, and other miscellaneous con-cerns for people. When in doubt, use

a general order. An example of ageneral order has been provided. Eachbullet (•) indicates separate orders withinthe general order.

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Writing OrdersWriting OrdersWriting OrdersWriting OrdersWriting Orders

orders, a good idea is to make standingorders for all exploration groups to fol-low. These standing orders may in-clude what should be done on all explo-rations and what to do in certain situ-ations which may arise only every once

in a while. An example of an explora-tion order has been provided by LordAlden. He also has some standing or-ders included.

Lord Alden, Ruler of the Free City-State of BolsonProduction Order

• 100 swords, 20 iron units, 10 men, 4 weeks• 300 axes, 15 iron units, 10 men, 4 weeks• 300 shovels, 15 iron units and 5 wood units, 10 men, 4 weeks• 300 picks, 15 iron units and 5 wood units, 10 men, 4 weeks• 500 bows, 50 wood units, 20 men, 2 1/2 weeks• 10,000 arrows, 100 wood units, 100 pp, 2 weeks• 100 clubs, 10 wood units, 20 men, 1/2 week• 200 shields, 40 wood units, 10 men, 4 weeks• 150 knives, 15 iron units, 10 men, 1 1/2 weeks

the amount to be produced, the rawmaterials to be used, and the manpowerwhich is to be devoted to the project.Lord Alden is trying to equip his menwith better weapons. He begins bywriting this production order to his RC.

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Production Orders

The Production Order is the lasttype of order used in the basic game.The order is simple, but necessary. It isissued to have something manufactured.All you need to include is the product,

An Exploration Order should beused whenever sending a group of peopleaway from your direct supervision.These orders are separated from generalorders in order to be handled more ef-fectively by the RC. Exploration ordersshould contain information concerningnumber of people going(PP and men),the supplies(such as food) they are tak-ing, the direction they are heading, theamount of time they are to be gone, thegoals they are to achieve (example: mapsurroundings), and what they should dounder certain situations(example: theyrun into an unknown town). Explora-tion orders can take a lot of time, but thetime spent is worth the rewards gainedthrough exploration. Being specific can be of great advan-tage. Many tough situations will needto be handled by your people whileexploring, and your PC won’t be thereto help out. To alleviate some of theproblems associated with exploration

Exploration Orders Lord Alden, Ruler of the Free City-State of BolsonExploration Order

• Send 10 men, each armed with a bow and 40 arrows, on horseback,to the east. They will carry enough food for a two-month journey.They will travel for four weeks and then return to Bolson with theinformation they have gathered. Their assignment is to map the areaand look for any interesting resources(animals, metals, or natural). Inparticular, look for iron in the foothills.• A standing order for all exploration teams: If they encounter anunkown group of people, they are to have four members of the teamhead back to Bolson and report it immediately. The others are toobserve from a distance and try to stay hidden.• A standing order for all exploration teams: BUG OUT fast ifanything looks dangerous. If captured, do whatever possible to savetheir lives, except giving away vital secrets. Lie a lot!

Supplies & CombatSupplies & CombatSupplies & CombatSupplies & CombatSupplies & Combat

Supplies, Storage, Trade, and Perishables

general order to the RC. The supplieswithin the storage area can be added toand subtracted from at any time throughan order. Trading supplies between popula-tions is often needed to gain additionalresources, as well as to alleviate excessinventory. Transportation of these sup-plies will need to be handled throughgeneral orders, as well as the specificnumbers of the trade agreement. TheRC needs to know only the physicaltransaction(i.e. what is moving to where,

and how is it getting there). The rest ofthe negotiation does not need to bewritten down for the RC. There are many supplies that areperishables. The RC will not alwaysnotify the player of goods that haveperished, so watch the player sheetscarefully and keep good records. Avery perishable resource is food, whichLord Alden has attributed to be a lead-ing cause of many populations' down-fall.

Supplies are considered to be allresources and produced goods not allo-cated. They will be listed on yourplayer sheet. They will grow and shrinkas your people collect, produce, and usethem. The actual location of these sup-plies can be established when they areordered into storage. Items in storage are placed in aparticular location and are given somekind of containing area (example: Horsesin a fenced off range north of town).Storage areas are created only through a

The driving force behind ROTU isthe interaction between people. Natu-rally, some of these interactions maynot be of a positive nature. The abilityto fight is an essential skill for all play-ers to learn. This skill is most desirablewhen you are faced with unresolvableconflicts. Outlined below are a fewbasic points which you will need tounderstand about combat on the realms. First, a combat unit is comprised ofmen who have been specified by the PCusing a general order. For example:“Establish 3 companies of 100 men

each as infantry.” The player will alsoneed to specify what the men are armedwith, i.e. shield, armor, weapon. Besure you have produced these itemsalready! Combat in ROTU is run by compar-ing the military power of the two oppos-ing forces and determining the conflictresult under the situation and circum-stances therein. Your RC will calcu-late all conflicts. To give you a basicidea of how the military power of a unitis determined, here is an example.

Basic Combat

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Basic Combat System: Example calculation

100 soldier = 100 pt. base

Other factors(bonus)swords(x2)shields(x1.5)mounts(x2)

Therefore, total unit militarypower = 600

People have basic functions whichare common among all populations.These functions are listed as generallabors. They include hunting, fishing,farming, ranching, lumbering, andmining. The following are short de-scriptions of each labor and what theyinvolve. Hunting is one of the oldest forms offood gathering. A hunting party con-sists of ten men. Equipment needed fora hunting party are a bow, arrows, andtraps for each member. Hunting partiescan collect ten units per man per month.The hunting party is not an effectivemain source of food, but can be used asa supplement to other food gatheringsystems. A fishing group consists of ten menwith nets and two fishing boats. Thesegroups can gather forty food units perman per month from any neighboringriver or bay. Fishing groups may be agood main source of food if there areenough of them. Otherwise, they can beused as a supplement of some of othergathering system. Farming is the most common sourceof food gathering. Ten men and 40 PPcan produce 9000 units of food in fourmonths. Needed for this system is aheavy plow for each man and seeds.Weather and agricultural techniques willaffect this food production process.

General LaborsGeneral LaborsGeneral LaborsGeneral LaborsGeneral Labors

General Labors: Animal Production Table

Raw materials produced Type of animal and amount of units

Cow Goat Horse Pig SheepMilk units per month 10 4 0 0 1Wool units per month 0 0 0 0 1Food units per animal 10 3 7 5 4Hide units per animal 3 1 2 0 1Newborn % per year 10% 12% 8% 15% 12%

Populations with low technology levelsmay not be able to perform standardfarming. Ranching produces food and cer-tain natural resources, and promotesanimal reproduction. Ten men make upa ranching team. Each team can handleup to 1000 animals (numbers may varywith type of animal). The productswhich can be gained from ranching in-clude wool, hides, milk, food, and addi-tional animals. The number of suppliesgained are above, per one animal: Ranches can be fenced off areas orin wide open plains(more risk). Fenceswill of course need to be built(productionorder). Lumbering provides your supply ofwood. A lumber camp needs to be setup in a wooded area with a method of

shipping the wood to your storage loca-tions. A lumber camp consists of 25men, each with an axe, and can produce150 units of wood per month. Mining provides your supply ofminerals. Fifty men are required to setup a mining camp. A pick, shovel, andaxe are the required tools for each man.The amount of materials gained frommining varies from month to month.Transportation from the camp must alsobe worked out. Mining is a risky busi-ness and many deaths may occur frommining accidents. Mining camps can beestablished in a variety of terrains. Sur-veying lands for their mineral wealthand mining potential is a talent which isnot common knowledge.

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With this basic information, you willbe able to begin play on a basic levelrealm. These items are meant to beguidelines only since there are very fewrules in ROTU. It is up to each individ-ual RC and player to decide how theseguidelines are to be applied on eachrealm. The result is a game that isflexible and therefore, open to creativ-ity, customizing, and, hopefully, lots offun. This information also forms the foun-dation for the Advanced version ofROTU, which begins with these guide-lines but incorporates more detail. The

Basic Wrap-upnext section of this book describes theadvanced game in detail and shows waysthat both levels can be used to createrealms of varying degrees of difficulty. Basic realms should not be viewedas a lower level game in terms of inten-sity and enjoyability. In fact, some ofthe most successful realms have beenbasic level realms. These type of realmspay less attention to fine details andmore attention to creativity and fun.Even a detailed, intense Advanced levelrealm needs some Basic level ideas tomake the realm enoyable and exciting.

Player: Thomas WilliamsPlayer Character: Lord Zachary Alden Title: Ruler of the Free City-State of Bolson

People: Bolsonites - 9261/6390/2871(1352/101/8/2) Alusians - 4365/3317(291)/1048(309/7)

Raw Materials: Animals: Cattle - 6234 Horses - 712 Pigs - 245 Sheep - 212 Warhorses - 35 Metals: Brass - 43 Bronze - 30 Copper - 57 12,000 copper coins in currency Gold - 22 7000 gold coins in currency Iron - 123 Silver - 45 5300 silver coins in currency Steel - 3 Natural Resources: Coal - 7 Limestone - 23 Rubies - 34 Wood - 737

Produced Goods: Armor: Leather - 789 Shields, wooden - 1500 Ships: Merchant ships - 8 Warships - 5 - including the "Pride of Bolson" Weapons: Arrows - 15,000 Axes - 429 Bolts - 6500 Bows - 700 Crossbows - 125 Daggers - 300 Shovels - 900 Swords(iron) - 1200

Specialists: 2nd Ring Forger, 3rd Ring Scribe

Settlements: Bolson - 9,000 capacity, semi-fortified, port(5), shipyard(2) New Alusia - 5,000 capacity, unfortified Miner's Town - 750 capacity, fortified

Advanced GameAdvanced GameAdvanced GameAdvanced GameAdvanced Game

s we have seen, the Basic gameis very basic. Because of this it is fairlyeasy to learn and play but also limited indetail and creative options. The rest ofthis manual is devoted to the Advancedrules of ROTU. These rules can be usedin full, creating a highly complex realm,or in part, adding more flavor to a basiclevel realm. A mixing of the Basic rulesplus the Advanced rules results in anintermediate game which is recom-mended for most realms. These realmstend to include detail that players de-mand but not so much that an RC be-comes over-loaded. The bottom line isthat this manual presents two extremesin ROTU. It is totally the decision of theRC and players to decide which level toplay, either Basic, Advanced, or somekind of Intermediate level.

Advanced Player Sheet

In the Advanced game, the popula-tion breakdown gets a little more com-plicated. The basic three divisions arethe same (i.e. Total Population/ Pro-tected Population / Men), but added tothis are categories concerning trainingand combat specialization. Also, in the Advanced game youmay be leading more than one popula-tion which will be recorded separately.This will appear in parenthesis next tothe basic population divisions. As youcan see from this Advanced Player Sheet,Lord Alden controls his own people, theBolsonites, and a conquered people, theAlusian.

Example of anadvanced player sheet

AAAAA

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training session. At the end of thistraining period, the number of soldiersachieving Level B status will appear onyour Player Sheet. Some Level B soldiers may evenachieve higher levels of combat train-ing. Another two months of training isrequired to do this. Level C soldiersmake excellent spies and scouts, as wellas an elite unit of infantry or cavalry.Level D or higher should be consideredthe “perfect warriors.” There is seldommore than one or two of these in anyone’sinitial population, but if one achievesthis level, use them as freelance spies,personal bodyguards, and espionageassignments. These combat specializations arerecorded on the Player Sheet by paren-thesis after the number of men in apopulation. In Lord Alden’s Bolsonites,he has the numbers 9261/6390/2871(1352/101/8). The number of LevelA soldiers is 1352, the number of LevelB soldiers is 101, the number of Level Csoldiers is 8, and the two Level D sol-diers act as his personal guard. Thesenumbers are not subtracted from thetotal number of men, but are simply asubclassification(i.e. 1463 of the 2871of men have some kind of military train-ing). Women within the Protected Popu-lation can also have combat training butwith greater restrictions. Their trainingis much more extensive and, whentrained, they will not be included asProtected Population during populationincreases, due to the amount of time ittakes for them to keep up their training.Approximately one out of 20 (5 per-cent) of the Protected Population willcomplete basic training. Under restrictedcircumstances, additional training willallow one out of 10 (10 percent) LevelA trained women may achieve Level B.The trained troops within the ProtectedPopulation will be recorded separatelyon the Player Sheet but will have thesame abilities as their male counter-parts. Lord Alden’s Alusians have some

Military Training Military Training Military Training Military Training Military Training

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PP who are combat trained. They arerecorded in parenthesis next to the Pro-tected Population. There are 291 LevelA trained women among the Alusians. Trained soldiers should be organ-ized into military units to increase effi-ciency and receive additional militarybonuses. These units will vary in sizeand assignments. The basic divisionsare cavalry or infantry. The divisionbetween cavalry and infantry dependssolely upon whether the troops havemounts or not. Within these two divi-sions, units will be classified as light,standard, medium, heavy, or extra heavy,depending upon how they are equipped.To achieve the different equipment di-visions, refer to the table below to get arough outline of what is required.

Trained Troops

Training your men to fight is a highpriority with many Advanced gameplayers. Trained troops make yourpeople much more difficult to conquersince even the most basic training willdouble the effectiveness of your fight-ing forces. To train your troops, amilitary order is needed. State thenumber of men that will go through thetraining program and when they are tostart. Basic training takes about threemonths followed by a drill session ev-ery two weeks. The drill sessions whichcome after basic training can be placedin a standing order. Basic training needsonly to be done once. All new peoplegained through population increases willautomatically go through basic trainingbefore they are added in. The three-month initial basic train-ing will decide which men will becometrained soldiers(Level A). The standardnumber of men who leave basic trainingwith a Level A rating is about 1 out of 2(50 percent). The rest will have tosuffer through life as blacksmiths, ship-builders, farmers, and the like. Thisdoes not mean the trained men cannotdo general labor. They are often as-signed to many construction tasks andother heavy labor chores. Keeping aunit together will help their combat abil-ity when it comes to fighting, thereforeassigning a company to a single largetask is always best. Training does not stop at Level A.Leaders can request their trained troopsto enter into a second training session tofind the number of men able to achievecombat Level B. The standard amountof Level A troops able to achieve LevelB is approximately 1 out of 10 (10percent). A Level B soldier is a special-ist at combat, and should be considereda “professional soldier.” Level B troopsare good as Non-Commission Officersof Level A troops or as special patrolunits. This specialized training requiresthe soldiers to have another two-month

Assigning officers to units willalso help, if they are available. Tounderstand more about officers andhow they are assigned, consult yourRC.

Light - Level B training, leatherarmor, bowStandard - Level A training,sword or bowMedium - Level A training,sword or bow, shield, leatherarmorHeavy - Level A training, metalarmor, two main weaponsExtra Heavy - Level B training,all metal equipment, exceptionalmount(if cavalry)

Unit Equipment Classifications

Population StatusPopulation StatusPopulation StatusPopulation StatusPopulation Status

The Population Status(PS) is an in-dicator of the overall condition of yourpeople. The PS can range from Excel-lent to Poor and is made up of threecomponents: physical, loyalty, eco-nomic. The physical component deals withthe overall health of your total popula-tion. This component will be affectedby food production, public health, andphysical fitness. The loyalty component deals withthe overall trust your people have intheir leaders. This will be affected bythe outcome of major battles, the suc-cessful fulfillment of their needs, andgood public relations. The economic component is the mosterratic part of the Population Status.The economic component will reflectthe status of the economy you are run-ning under. There are two types ofeconomies, barter and currency. Bothsystems can be successful and contrib-ute positively toward your PopulationStatus. The barter economy is the simplestof the two since it is trade without amedium of exchange(for example, trad-

Another part of your Player Sheetwhich you may find in the AdvancedGame concerns Specialists withinyour population. These Specialists rangefrom blacksmiths to administrators.Specialists have extraordinary abilitiesto perform particular tasks in the soci-ety. Specialists should be experimentedwith and utilized by every successfulleader. A Specialist will come with a degreeof ability within their field. These lev-els of degree will vary from one to ten.Those at the lowest levels can performonly the simplest of tasks while thehigher level Specialists can performmore complex tasks. These levels areknown as Rings, which correspond toactual rings worn on the hands of theSpecialist. For example, a fifth level

Population Status ChartPoor Fair Good Great Excellent

Scribe will have five rings, known there-after as a Fifth Ring Scribe. The RC willassign the number of Specialists a popu-lation has and their ring levels. The Specialist classes in a non-fan-tasy environment are: Forgers, whohandle metallurgy and blacksmithing;Engineers, such as architects and mathe-maticians; Theologians, who are teach-ers and priests; Military Science, whoare officers of combat units; Scribes,who act as administrators, tax collec-tors, historians, and diplomats. Theseclasses can do much more than justthose stated here and oftentimes theywill work together on projects. Otherclasses may also be created dependingon the need in your society. Work withyour RC to explore the possibilitieswith the Specialist.

Specialists

pending on the rarity of metals used tomint coins. Leaders should be aware ofproblems like inflation, recession, over-taxation, and tampering with the econ-omy. When your Population Status is Ex-cellent, your people are at the peak oftheir abilities. This is a time to try somenew and creative projects because yourpeople are behind you. However, main-taining an Excellent PS is difficult so itis imperative to take advantage of thisstatus while it is available. A Poor PS indicates that your peopleare very dissatisfied with their situation.A Poor status is just as fleeting as anExcellent status but it brings with it thepossibility of rebellion, which wouldterminate your leadership. Most popu-lations will fall into the Fair , Good, orGreat category.

ing six chickens for three swords). It isaffected by the amount of trade whichyour people actively engage in. Thebest way of increasing a barter econ-omy is by increasing your trade, therebyhelping your Population Status. How-ever, a barter system will weaken yourPopulation Status when it is unable toattain specialized goods and competewith neighbors, because it lacks a me-dium of exchange. As your population grows economi-cally, you may find it necessary to set upa currency based economic system.This has great advantages over the bar-ter system because a medium of ex-change allows people to trade moreeasily and accurately. It also allowsgovernments to introduce loans, inter-est, taxes, and investments. However, acurrency based economy can fall preyto the devalument of the coinage, de-

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Distribution Orders

The distribution order is a censusof your population that your RC willrequest of you. It shows where everyperson in your population is located aswell as the distribution of raw materialsand produced goods. This order willalso contain special projects currentlyin progress. Include the date that thedistribution order is effective. LordAlden has provided a distribution orderhere.

Development orders

Here is your chance to be reallycreative as a player. A developmentorder will allow you to invent NEWitems(produced goods). These orderswill contain a diagram and a descriptionof the item in as much detail as possible.The RC will accept these plans andprocess them to your specifications ac-cording to the guidelines available inthe Realm Controller’s Manual(RCM).Once processed, the RC will be able to

the realm. For example, there will be nonuclear warheads! If an item you aretrying to develop goes over the limit, theRC will not allow its development.However, we encourage players to de-velop right up to this mysterious “limit.”Lord Alden was requested to give oneof his development orders to us for thismanual but he declined. However, hesent along this common developmentorder for the bow & arrow.

give you updates on the progress ofyour distribution order. After the itemis developed for the first time, the playercharacter will then use a productionorder to manufacture additional items.Often, you will receive one of the prod-uct as a prototype. There are limits to development inthe game of ROTU. These limits areknown to the RC and are designed tokeep players within the framework of

Lord Alden, Ruler of the Free City-State of BolsonDistribution Order

Bolson: 9261/5830/1946(802/101/8/2)New Alusia: 4365/3317(271)/1048(309/7)Miner's Town: 350/50/300(50), 20 horsesNorth Outpost: 125/0/125(125), 20 horsesSouth Outpost: 125/0/125(125), 20 horsesEast Outpost:: 125/0/125(125), 20 horsesWest Outpost: 125/0/125(125), 20 horsesTemple of Mara: 30/10/20Bolson suburbs: 625/500/125 - Farming corpsEffective date: 1/8/91 A.D. - 2/27/9 C.T.

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Advanced OrdersAdvanced OrdersAdvanced OrdersAdvanced OrdersAdvanced Orders

Military Orders

When your people are involved insome sort of conflict or potential con-flict, a military order must be submit-ted. It should include the amount ofmen used, their training, their equip-ment, and their individual and groupassignments. A good leader must bedetailed about military situations. Tryto cover as many scenarios that youthink may occur. Once the militaryorder is submitted, the RC will use it toguide the actions of your people throughthe conflicts that arise. In the absence ofclear orders, the RC will follow guide-lines established in the RCM. LordAlden, provided us with a small mili-tary order, which he claims he neveractually put into action.

Advanced OrdersAdvanced OrdersAdvanced OrdersAdvanced OrdersAdvanced Orders

Special Orders

These orders are used for certainspecific individual events. Individualevents would include assassinations,spying, espionage, and generally secretsituations. Special orders can also beused to request special information fromthe RC. Basically, this type of ordershould be used with items that don’t fitinto the other categories of orders. Thisreport was recently uncovered but it isobviously old(Calmara Time) since thecity mentioned was destroyed years ago.

Lord Alden, Ruler of the Free City-State of BolsonMilitary Order

• Send 500 soldiers, equipped with any weapons they can find, togo and destroy the 50 man exploration party my scouts informedme of. They are coming from the west, therefore, I want to waituntil dawn and attack from the east as the sun is rising. Take noprisoners, kill every man, take their supplies, and then return toBolson.

A response from Calmara might have been:Lord Alden, your men attacked the party at dawn and killed all 50warriors. They spat curses at your troops and took many of yourpoorly equipped soldiers with them. 153 of your men were killedand 73 were seriously injured(transfer to protected population).You did, however, gain 35 steel breastplates, 48 steel longswords,and 18 horses. Nice first battle!

Lord Alden, Ruler of the Free City-State of BolsonSpecial Order

• I want to send four spies into the northern town of Cendex.They are to come from the west and establish themselves as resi-dents. A scout from Bolson will be sent to the outskirts of Cendexonce a month to get a report from the spies. The spies' assignmentis to keep their eyes open and report current events in the city.Also, try to get in good with the government and discover somesecrets. Steal all new ideas whenever possible. Keep a low profileand have limited contact with their fellow spies. Good luck!

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Produced goods are not limited toswords and bows. They also includemobile catapults, ships, exotic weap-ons, domestic products, transportationvehicles, and even food and clothing.The point is that in producing goods,you can show off some creativity andintroduce many items into the realm.They not only help your population livebetter but they can also be sold to othergroups, thus helping your economy. The major factor in producing newitems is the technology level of yourpeople. Their base technology level isestablished by the RC as you beginplaying, depending on the design of therealm. Producing goods within yourpresent technology level is far easierand less time consuming than produc-ing goods of a higher technology level.However, you are not limited to thetechnology level that you start with.The more often you attempt to developmore sophisticated goods or spend timestudying items from a higher technol-ogy, the better your chances of increas-ing your whole population’s technol-ogy level, even if many of your attemptsend in failure. The technology level of your popu-lation puts limitations on what yourpeople can produce. These limits mayprevent your people from understand-ing products produced by a populationat a higher technology level than yourown. When you reach a new technologylevel, many items which were previ-ously unproducable become availablefor your population to develop and build.For example, a group submits designsfor a crossbow to the RC. The RCapproves the plans, thereby raising thetechnology level of the group. Now, thegroup can not only build crossbows butare also capable of designing and build-ing ballistas and other similar missileweapons.

Produced GoodsProduced GoodsProduced GoodsProduced GoodsProduced Goods

Currency

The economic health of your popu-lation is an important factor of ROTU.The economic status of your popula-tion is based on the amount of trade,currency, and taxation. Trade involvessuch things as creating a trade list ofitems, placing prices on the items, andadvertising this to other groups. Mosttrade details are handled by the RC withthe player constructing the basic listsand prices. Most populations start off using ba-sic bartering systems of natural resourcesor produced items. As the economyprogresses, a player may want to intro-duce currency into the economy. Currency is under the direct controlof the player. Metals such as gold,silver, platinum, copper, iron, and al-loys, like steel and brass, are commonlyused as currency. One unit of thesemetals and alloys equals 1,000 coins.The coins are then put into the market asa medium of exchange by a GeneralOrder from the PC. Removal of thesecoins from the economy is done throughtaxation. Starting up a currency basedsystem will often be very difficult but inthe long run will dramatically increasethe economic health of your people.

Settlements

Another large expenditure of rawmaterials is the construction of settle-ments. Settlements fall under two gen-eral categories: military and civil. Mili-tary settlements are fortresses, such ascastles, forts, and border outposts. Civilsettlements can be unfortified, semi-fortified, and fortified towns, palaces,educational institutions, and ports. When you begin playing, your popu-lation may begin as an unfortified town.As you begin to organize you may buildwalls around the city, create a castle foryour leader, or build outposts to markyour territory. These can be upgradedand improved as your population grows.These projects will take time and re-sources to build. Each settlement willbe constructed by using a productionorder.

Stone Wood Metal5 1 0 0 22 0 1 5 0 55 0 2 5 0 1 5

5 0 2 0 0 2 01 0 0 3 0 0 3 03 5 2 0 0 1 0

Settlement Construction CostsTypeUnfortifiedSemi-fortifiedFortified

FortressUltra-fortressCastle

Note: All costs here per 100 personcapacity

Level Weapons & Military Metalurgy Naval 1 spears, stone axe, stone toothsaw none none 2 bows, slings, stone tipped arrows, none leather canoes

wooden armor 3 metal tipped spears and arrows, copper small reed and

knives wooden sailingvessels

4 sword, chariot, cavalry, militias bronze large woodenmetal armor barges(oars)

5 wooden siege engines, phalanx, iron war barges,permanent armies ramships

Technology Levels

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Combat in ROTU differs slightlyfrom other games that involve militarysimulation. Since many parts of ROTUare meant to mirror reality, combat ishandled in the same way. That is, com-bat is not something that happens everyfive minutes with the players alwayscoming out on top. In fact, combat isone of the most random and dangerousthings your people can face. When an RC is determining combatresults, he will consider factors whichinclude: training, equipment, terrain,random factors. The RC has the optionof using some or all of the factors avail-able in calculating combat situations. This might seem like you have nocontrol over combat situations. How-ever, there are several ways of prepar-ing your soldiers and people for these“do or die” situations.

Training

A crucial part of providing adequatemilitary defense for your people is es-tablishing rigid training guidelines.Training is a year-round project andshould be a standing military order.Initially, your men will have to gothrough a mass basic training course.After which, they will need to go throughperiodic drills to maintain their train-ing. The basic training program willcontinue to be used at the beginning ofevery year for new recruits, which youwill gain through population increases.The better trained your troops are, themore effective they will be in combat. Not every man is cut out to be asoldier. Those who are not able to trainwill need to be assigned to other tasks inyour population. Trained troops willneed to be distributed into military units.A general order will assign these unitsto a certain duty or task. Lord Alden hasgiven us an example of a military order,which specifies duties of Infantry Com-pany D.

Advanced CombatAdvanced CombatAdvanced CombatAdvanced CombatAdvanced Combat

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Equipment

Equipment in the ROTU combatsystem includes weapons, armors,mounts, war engines, and warships. Theproduction of these items will need tobe handled through development andproduction orders. Enough items mustbe available to equip your soldiers soyou will need enough natural resourcesto produce them. Creating an army andequiping it is an excellent item to in-clude in your first set of orders.

Terrain

Military conflicts can take place in avariety of environments. Each environ-ment requires a specific military ap-proach that is tailored for that environ-ment. For instance, land combat de-mands the use of hand to hand combat,mounted combat, and land based mili-tary formations. Naval warfare demandsthe use of ships, specialized war en-gines, and naval tactics. However, in asiege, army size and equipment mattersvery little while fortifications and siegeengines matter a great deal. Good lead-ers must understand these situations andhow to approach with them.

Land Combat

Land based troops must be trained inland combat in order to be effective inbattle. Training should include hand tohand fighting, military formations, andphysical fitness to endure the rigors of aprolonged military campaign. The morecompletely trained your troops are thebetter their chances of success. Ad-vanced training should include fightingfrom mounts, missile warfare, and gen-eral field experience through militarymaneuvers. Good leadership amongyour military units will also have a bigimpact on the success or failure of amilitary campaign.

Naval Combat

Naval combat utilizes many differ-ent military factors than land based com-bat. Hand to hand weapons and armorsplay a very small role in naval combat.Instead, the ship itself and the experi-ence of its crew will decide the outcomeof a battle. Leaders who want to excelat naval combat need to concentrate ondeveloping ships which are faster, stron-ger, and more maneuverable. They alsoneed to train crews who excel in navaltactics and seamanship. Leadership andmissile warfare may also play an impor-tant role in this type of combat.

Lord Alden, Ruler of the Free City-State of BolsonMilitary Order - training• Have my men begin basic training to discover those who are ableto effectivily fight in an organized military force. The training willtake three months and is to consist of mount combat, hand-to-handcombat, archery, sword and armor training, basic formation drills,and extended campaign simulations. Commendations and promo-tions will be awarded for excellent achievements during basic train-ing.• Standing Order: As population increases come every year I wantthe new men which are added to undergo basic training to discoverwho is able to join the armed forces.

Siege Combat

Siege combat is a very unique formof land combat. It requires a great dealof planning and patience. Armies andgenerals matter very little in determin-ing the outcome of a siege. The crucialelements of this type of combat involvethe amount and sophistication of thesiege engines attacking, along with thecourage and skill of their operators,versus the walls and civil defenses ofthe besieged settlement. Innovation onboth sides of the siege can be the deter-mining element as to who will break thesiege first, e.g. a Trojan horse or gettingword out to a helpful ally.

Special Areas of Combat

Just as there are men who makelousy soldiers there are also men whoexcel in it. These men, when properlytrained and motivated, can become “su-per soldiers.” Your RC will indicatehow many of these soldiers you haveand what level they have achieved. Thehigher the level, the more deadly andeffective they will be in combat. Thesesoldiers should be placed into special-ized units, which can better utilize theirabilities. You may want to save thesesoldiers for special missions or assign-ments of great importance.

Fantasy Combat

On fantasy realms, magic can be-come an added factor in combat. Spell-casters, magical animals, and magicalequipment can increase your militarystrength significantly. Obviously, onthese types of realms, your opponentwill probably also have magic baseditems to counter yours. Also, godstend to appear more during combat onfantasy realms to lend divine assistanceto one side or the other.

Combat & TerrainCombat & TerrainCombat & TerrainCombat & TerrainCombat & Terrain

Terrain Movement Restriction TableTerrain Type Land movement Sea movementBay/Shore none slowDesert slow noneFlatland(prairie) normal noneForest slow noneHills slow noneImpassable mountains none noneMountain very slow noneOcean none normalRiver slow slowSwamp very slow very slow

Weather and Terrain

Terrains on a realm are often simpli-fied for easy understanding and play.Terrains fall into the categories listedbelow and have some restrictions on

movement. Weather is also a factor butplays a relatively small role in day today affairs, except in such major eventsas a natural disaster.

Alliances, Treaties, and Borders

After you have sent out scouts, metother populations, and discovered yourgeneral location on the realm, you shouldtry to stabilize yourself. Becomingfriends with your neighbors can be use-ful. Written treaties and alliances comein handy during times of war. The RC

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come in handy during times of war. TheRC does not need to be aware of anyalliances, treaties, or borders but if yourpeople need to know it, then the RCneeds to know it also. Alliances andtreaties are not enforced by the RC, theyare enforced by you and your people.

The second component is the optionof having a port . Obviously, you mustbe on a body of water, i.e. a river, bay,lake or ocean. To have a port added toyour settlement, docks will need to bebuilt through a production order. Youmay add battlements and war engines tothe port facility to defend your townfrom sea attack. Port size, shown as anumber in parenthesis next to “port” onyour Player Sheet, is an indicator of thenumber of ocean going vessels whichcan be docked at one time. Initial build-ing and any future increases of a port isdone through a production order, be-cause dock building is common knowl-edge. The third component available to atown is a shipyard. This is a primitivedry dock where the production of sea-going vessels takes place. The cost ofbuilding a shipyard is high and theknowledge for its production must bedeveloped. Expanding a shipyard isdone through a production order and thecapacity is listed in the same way a portcapacity is listed. Battlements for ashipyard may be added for protection.Having a shipyard does not mean thatyou are able to build a ship, but it doesmean that you are able to give it a try, i.e.you can begin to develop ships.

Educational Institutions

Many highly civilized populationswill endeavor to promote higher educa-tion. A logical progression of thesepursuits will produce the founding ofeducational institutions. When estab-lishing an educational system, playersshould include the ages to be taught, thecurriculum, and who will do the teach-ing. At the younger ages, a successfulsystem will simply include details as tothe curriculum and administration.Educational systems beyond this kindof “basic training” require additionalattention.

Population BackgroundPopulation BackgroundPopulation BackgroundPopulation BackgroundPopulation Background

Races and Racial Conflicts

There are a variety of races in themany realms of ROTU. A race is amethod of classification through whichphysical attributes reveal an individual’splace of origin. Race becomes impor-tant when two populations merge, oftenas a result of a conqueror trying to gaincontrol over the defeated foe. Popula-tions of radically different racial stockswill naturally resist merges, while folksof similar or identical races will mergeeasily.

Settlements

Controlling a town is the most popu-lar request of starting players. Even ifyour people don’t have one, chances areyou will have dealings with one whileplaying the game. Listed here are theprimary components of a town and howthey will affect the game. The first component is town de-fense. Each town will have a physicalfortification classification. The classcan range from as high as ultra-fortifiedto as low as no fortification at all. For-tification classes can be increased bythe player to a certain degree, but thecost of these improvements goes upvery quickly. Construction of new for-tifications is done through a productionorder.

Population of the Realm

Many players never fully understandthat there are people everywhere. Mostof the realms within ROTU are wellpopulated. Only some of these peopleare under your control. When you con-trol a town, realize that a town’seconomy is dependent upon not onlythe folks that live there but also thetravellers roaming around the realm.Not only are these folks good for busi-ness but they are also your principalsource of information. People love togossip.

Successful colleges or universitiesare products of societies that promoteintellectual and social freedom, whereideas can be discussed and exchangedfreely. The society is also very active inthe areas of exploration and technol-ogy, constantly discovering the worldaround them and inventing new items.Information, current and ancient, is thecornerstone of these institutions. Theend result will be individuals with spe-cialized expertise in a variety of disci-plines. Guilds are a specialized extensionof educational institutions and will playan important role on the realm. Guildsare groups of specialists in a particulararea who have organized themselvesfor the exchange of ideas and informa-tion. Guilds interact heavily with col-leges and universities, where their mem-bers are initially trained. Guilds areestablished by the RC, who will notifyplayers of existing guild chapters amongtheir people.

History of Populations

Another way to become more in-volved with your people and make themmore realistic is by creating a history forthem. Be imaginative with this! Itdoesn’t necessarily have to be accurate.History may even be useful in the gameas seen from the way Lord Alden usedit in this section of the “History of theNoble Peoples of Bolson.” “... the deity Bolt, wise and faithfulbrother of Mara, did bless the people ofthe blue lands and gave them the nameBolson. And from that day forward, theBolsonites strove to achieve greatnessin knowledge and teaching, as to the callof their fief. Bolt smiled upon...” This section is often quoted by LordAlden’s development teams as theywork diligently on new technologies.

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Theology

Your RC plays the role of the maingod of the realm. The RC may chooseto create a theological system to goalong with the realm, but otherwise theplayer should make up their own. Sys-tems can be as extensive as the playerand the RC wish to make them. Forexample, on Calmara, Mara is the onlytrue god of the realm. There are alsorealms which are strictly atheistic andstill others which have elaborate, poly-theistic systems. A new player shouldask the RC for a description of thetheological system when they start thegame. Political ties between a peopleand their leader are strong, but religiousties can be even stronger.

Creativity

It is fun to discover mountains,oceans, lakes and other such things onyour realm. When you find them, youhave the honor of naming these land-marks, so be creative when doing so.The name you use may stick around. Being creative also includes think-ing of new ways to add color to thegame. For instance, building new andexciting facilities for your people, suchas public parks, playhouses, and even asummer resort can improve their stan-dard of living. Treat your people as ifthey are real. It is what a simulationgame is all about. By being creative inthis and other ways, you will get a betterfeeling for the game and be more suc-cessful.

Relics

Relics are unique items that peopleidentify as symbols of power, beauty,and strength. A relic may be a sword,crown, septre, holy artifact, or any otherunique, man-made item. Players cancreate a relic easily through a specialorder. When creating a relic, rememberthat the more rare and unique an item,the greater the social and spiritual sig-nificance will be attatched to it. A relic will be used primarily by thePC, with a few exceptions. Be creative.This will add a lot of color to the game.Lord Alden has the Emerald War Helmof Sythryl, which is rumored to give theBolsonites victory whenever the rulerof Bolson wears it into battle. To date,he has never lost a battle while wearingit.

Magic on the Realm

Unlike many role playing games,ROTU does not contain magic (the majorexception to this is explained under thesection “Fantasy ROTU”). Spells, wiz-ards, and the like have no place in thissimulation game. However, supernatu-ral occurances can happen and a goodleader will be prepared for anything. Italso doesn’t hurt to keep up your every-day homage to your local gods, just incase.

Beyond the BasicsBeyond the BasicsBeyond the BasicsBeyond the BasicsBeyond the Basics

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Inter-Realm Travel

One of the more interesting aspectsof ROTU is inter-realm travel. Realmsare connected by Gateways, which canbe traveled through. Gateways werecreated by the gods to protect safe travelthrough the chaotic substances betweenrealms. Originally, only the gods andtheir minions used these specializedpathways but in time, mortals discov-ered the Gateways and have begun vis-iting other realms. A Realm Gate is a kind of portal, ordoor, that can be found on realms. TheseGateways can take on many differentshapes and sizes. Some are even invis-ible. Most are protected by riddles,monsters, or simply physical obstaclesand all are dangerous to the ignorantand unwary. Upon entering a Gateway, the char-acter will see a large, neon sign tellingthem that they are leaving the realm andwishing them well. As they travelthrough a Gateway, the pathway willoften be a river or road which willwander through the chaotic substanceof the Multiverse, which is called Astra.Gateways are the only way to safelytravel through the Astra. Stepping offthe gate would mean instant destruc-tion. There are many adventures that trav-ellers may encounter while in a Gate-way. There are strange creatures whomake their homes in these Gatewaysand await realm travellers. Charactersshould always be prepared for the un-known. Upon reaching the destination realm,another neon sign will tell travellerswhat realm they are approaching andwelcome them to it. If this is thecharacter’s first trip to the realm, he willnot know where the Gateway is on therealm. Obviously, Gateways can be dan-gerous items. However, they can be ofgreat advantage, too. New and rareresources can be obtained from neigh-

boring realms, new technological infor-mation can be brought back, and neweconomic arenas can be exploited. Timecan also be different on another realm.For instance, building a ship on yourhome realm might take four weeks butonly four days on another realm. Thepossibilities are endless! When characters travel to anotherrealm which is run by a different RC,the characters are then run by that realm’sRC. Don’t be surprised if you changeRC’s when changing realms.

Library of Ar

The Library of Ar is probably themost unique item in the entire Multiv-erse. Most gods don’t even understandit. It appears on most realms in a varietyof shapes and sizes. Some will be huge,ornate buildings while others may be asmall wooden shacks in the middle of aforest. However, inside it will be filledwith treasures of information.

The Library of Ar is, in fact, a li-brary. Each branch on the individualrealms has one thing in common: it isrun by a head librarian. This headlibrarian, a person of unknown origin, isanything but cooperative. The headlibrarian may run a huge staff of librari-ans or run the library alone. A characterwill be greeted immediately upon enter-ing the library and will soon notice thatthis is no ordinary library. Inside, the library appears to be big-ger than its outer shell. Experts theorizethat the library is a realm unto itself butno one has ever been able to map anypart of it. In fact, it is so large andlabyrinth-like inside that unwary visi-tors, searching for a book, may findthemselves lost and never return. Onlywith the help of an official Library of Arlibrarian can a person get out safely.The character may not always find whathe wants, either. There is never anyassurance that the information he seekswill be available.

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Beyond the RealmBeyond the RealmBeyond the RealmBeyond the RealmBeyond the Realm

The Library of Ar cannot be attacked.It is protected by an unknown force.Any kind of violence or vandalism can-not occur on Library grounds. No ma-terial can leave the Library of Ar. Theycan be copied by hand but they cannotbe removed. Also, the information dis-covered is not assured to be valid. Sincethe Library collects every kind of infor-mation it can, some information may beonly partially true or outdated. TheLibrary of Ar is notorious for this. Finally, since each branch of theLibrary of Ar is somehow connected tothe others, it is quite possible to exitonto a different realm than the one youentered from. This can be frustratingsince it is almost impossible to find theroute back to your realm. Many re-searchers have been lost due to this.Don’t be surprised when one of yoursdisappears, too. Use of the Library of Ar costs money.The assistant librarians and guide li-brarians must be paid a fee for leadingyou around the Library. The cost variesfrom branch to branch. See your localhead librarian for a cost breakdown. The Library of Ar is politically neu-tral. It exists only for cataloguing infor-mation and nothing else. Even when abranch appears inside a city, it willremain totally neutral from the city poli-tics. The advantages of this is that manywarring cities or countries have usedthe Library for a neutral meeting place.Hundreds of treaties and agreementshave been signed in Conference RoomA, a room designed especially for thispurpose.

to remember is that the RC is a bundle ofinformation. Press him(but not too hard)for details on your scouting reports,general rumors, and technological de-velopments. Ask lots of questions and,of course, act on the answers with writ-ten orders. It is up to you to act. It is notthe RC’s responsibility to keep you in-formed about current events. Remember also, that you play yourPC but your RC plays everyone else, i.e.scouts, soldiers, general population, etc.Therefore, talk to your people. Theymay know things that you don’t. There are also RC run PCs and popu-lations. You will be encountering thesegroups just as you would a player rungroup. These RC run populations willbe used to get things moving and offernew challenges to you and your people.Treat them as you would any otherunknown people. Remember that oneof the RC’s responsibilities is to pro-mote interaction and play. These RCrun groups are excellent color for thegame.

You and your RCYou and your RCYou and your RCYou and your RCYou and your RC

Death of a Player Character

If your PC is killed in the course ofevents, you are out of the game. YourRC will probably let you start overagain with another group. However, itwill mean starting from scratch. Mostplayers are despondent over the pros-pect of having all their hard work de-stroyed just because their PC got killed. The makers of ROTU thought of thisand have provided a possible solution.If you plan ahead of time and work withyour RC, you can set up a list of heirs.By doing this, you can at least get aportion of your people back by re-enter-ing the game as the heir of your formerPC. This does not mean that the transferwill be easy. You may have to fight offsome other contenders to the title andoffice of your ex-leader. The positive side is that you do havea chance of getting your people backwithout having to start from scratch.Many of Lord Alden’s enemies havehad to do this more than once. “A few,”boasts Lord Alden, “simply choose tostart over rather than take control ofwhat was left.”

You and Your Realm Controller

A special relationship should be de-veloped with your RC. Always remem-ber that they are having as much fun asyou are with the game. Through therealm controller, you will talk to othergroup leaders, scouting parties, and gods.In a loose way, the RC is the god of yourrealm. He created the realm and yourcharacter along with it. Something else

The RC Supplement

When RCs design realms, they willoften make decisions and interpreta-tions of the guidelines governing theROTU system. They will let you knowabout these interpretations in a RC Sup-plement. The supplement may includethe history of the realm, legends ofimportance, and variations of the guide-lines established in the Player’s Man-ual. On Calmara, the RC supplementcontained this section, which we se-lected to use as an example of a guide-line variation. “...On the realm of Calmara, therewill be little attention paid to the amountof food units a people will have. In-stead, the amount of food will be re-corded as the number of weeks the sup-ply will last at its present levels. Thisnumber may be increased or decreasedaccording to the conditions of therealm...”

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Fantasy RealmsFantasy RealmsFantasy RealmsFantasy RealmsFantasy Realms

fantasy realm uses all the imagi-nation and creativity which a realm con-troller and his players can muster. Fan-tasy realms can be compared to theworlds created by such people as J.R.RTolkien, Piers Anthony, MichaelMoorcock, Homer, Tracy Hickman &Margaret Weis, Anne McCaffery, IsaacAsimov, and Frank Herbert, as well asworlds created in fantasy role playinggames. Even though these realms gobeyond the boundaries of reality and thestructure of a typical “fiction” realm,the RC will follow certain guidelines tokeep the game organized and enjoy-able. This section will deal with differentaspects of a fantasy realm that a suc-cessful leader will need to keep in mind.

Playing a Non-Human Race

More often than not, a player will bethe human leader of a human popula-tion. But on a fantasy realm, there is thechance that the RC will allow you toplay a non-human race. There are ad-vantages and disadvantages to runninga non-human group. For example, anelven race will have a strong constitu-tion, prolonged lifespan, and orienta-tion toward the philosophical and intel-lectual. A disadvantage would be thatelves are notoriously slow moving, in-dependent, and egotistical. Playersshould be aware of the advantages/dis-advantages to these races before choos-ing one. Consult your RC on this.

AAAAA Fantasy Animals

Animals on a fantasy realm rangefrom the bizarre to the magical. Popu-lations who encounter these animalsshould take great care in studying theirbehaviors and attributes in order to util-ize them successfully as resources. It isnot uncommon to find on a fantasyrealm, the presence of winged horsesand fire-breathing dragons, as well ascute little fish that can talk.

Fantasy Elements and Resources

Although players will find the usualminerals on a fantasy realm, such asgold and iron, they will also encounternew minerals which contain magicalproperties. Extensive testing of thesenew minerals may yield some surpris-ing, and possibly advantageous, results.These minerals should be studied andcatalogued for possible use in the soci-ety. Your RC will have informationconcerning mineral descriptions andattributes.

Magical Specialists

In order to deal with the ever-in-creasing complexity of a fantasy realm,your population may have Magical Spe-cialists. Similar to their “fiction” coun-terparts, each has an individual area ofexpertise and levels ofachievement(rings). The three majorclasses of Magical Specialists are:

Druids, who are animal, plant, and envi-ronment experts; Alchemists, who canidentify and properly mix magical ele-ments; Wizards, who are adept inspellcasting.

Producing Magical Goods

Magical goods fall into two differentcategories. First, normal “fictional”items can have enchantments placed onthem, thus giving them magical proper-ties. The others are items molded frommagical elements into a form which cangive them power. Whenever producingthese items you should utilize yourmagical specialists to handle the verydelicate details of production.

Magical Realms

The fantasy realms themselves alsotend to be a bit bizarre. They can beriddled with strange terrains (example:the weeping sea, a sea which soundslike it is crying) or have certain attrib-utes which will need to be addressed byan adapting, successful leader (example:The land is broken up into many smallclumps of terrain which float around ahuge blue beach ball, and all travel isdone with the use of gigantic lighter-than-air floatwhales). Obviously, thepossibilities are endless and a playershould therefore keep in close contactwith his/her RC.

Extra Creativity Needed

The purpose of having a fantasyrealm is to test the player’s creativity.Therefore, successful leaders will needto devote extra creativity toward theirorders and projects. The demands onplayers of a fantasy realm are greater,but so are the opportunities for fun andexcitement. This type of realm shouldonly be attempted by players with someprevious experience in ROTU.

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You hold in your hands a gateway into a newrealm. This manual includes importantinformation for leading a population throughthe trials and tribulations of Realms of theUnknown. You will need strength, creativity,intelligence, organization, and even some luckto take your people from a society based uponsticks and stones and transform them into athriving population advanced in technologyand lifestyle.

The guidelines inside are straightforward andeasy to learn. They will establish your leader,begin your journey, and even give you tips onmore advanced ideas. This manual is a mustfor players interested in joining a game thatgoes beyond typical board games and role-playing games.

$ 8.00 US

©1991, 1997 the walnut groupAll rights reservedPrinted in U.S.A.

the walnut groupP.O. Box 631 Itasca, IL 60143

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