What do I need to play?

Understand the ethos of the game and its themes and our safety approach

Please make sure you’re happy with the style of the event and that you’re ok to play that way. The key themes are also important to understand. We won’t be able to take them out of the game for you at the last minute, and we trust people to have read over them and made an informed decision before they book.

Please check our safety page. We will go over all this before time-in.

Understand the setting and practical information

There’s quite a lot of setting material, but please read as much of it as you can so you understand how your character fits into it – ideally this is everything under Setting on the website, and at least a basic understanding of understanding of everything under Powers at Court. Please be sure to read the details of any areas that you hold power in, or are particularly interested in affecting.

We will not be going over the various powers and the briefs in detail at the briefings and workshops.

Check your contacts

You don’t need to learn the names and details of every member of every court. Your main contacts will be in your brief, and your own court. Please try and remember these and make contact if you need to check in on any details. Remembering anybody else is a bonus, and we’ll all have name ribbons.

We will be doing some basic exercises of who’s in which court, and what their public politics are.

A basic understanding of Tudor history will help

We’ve tried to put all the history you really need to know on the website, but knowing a bit about the period in general wouldn’t hurt. While we have royal polygamy, the broader politics and customs of the period are basically the same as in real history. The mainstream UK education system is heavily biased towards Tudor history, so it’s likely a lot of players will have had a fair bit of exposure to the period, this is likely to be plenty enough information to play. It’s also likely to mean we have some blind spots where we just assume everybody knows something about the Tudors that we’ve not written down.

If you’re lacking in Tudor background, then a few recommendations are:

This short YouTube video summary of Henry’s reign.

Rex factor’s episodes on Henry VIII and his wives, available here or wherever you get your podcasts, His father, Henry VII and his heirs Edward VI, Mary I, Elizabeth I are maybe worth a listen too as they provide three dramatically different views of what England could be.

The Tudors TV series – a fantastic dramatic adaptation of the period, and absolutely the sort of feel we’re going for, even if their costume budget will outstrip ours. Currently available for free on 4OD. This particular clip is almost a perfect setup for the game.

Our workshop and briefing section will cover a recap of our alternative history and the characters’ places in it so we all have a shared understanding before we start.

Know your brief and be happy to play it

The briefs are also quite long – a few sides of A4. You will need to read and understand your brief to play your character. The brief page has more information about what to expect.

Costume

You’ll need an appropriate costume for your character. We do not provide any costume.

If you’re an understudy, then do your best to have something that will work for the gender(s) of character you’re happy to play.