Getting Started (Read First)

[Mr. Pearse]

Welcome to the Broken Badlands, a Western meets Steampunk role-play set in America's New Mexico Territory. Follow these steps to quickly familiarize yourself with the site and setting, as well as to begin contributing to the ongoing story.

1. Read the Rules. General website guidelines can be found here. Furthermore, those seeking a brief refresher on forum-based role-playing should consult the handy Wikipedia entry (here) and/or visit the role-playing nexus http://www.rpgchat.com.


2. Familiarize yourself with the setting. Broken Badlands takes place in a rich historical setting, and your posts will be much enhanced with a little knowledge of the game concepts and time period. To this end, I've compiled a brief introductory story post (here), as well as pulled several very useful Wikipedia pages:

A general primer on the Wild West era: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_west

An introduction to the New Mexico Territory: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mexico_Territory

Finally, a description of the wonders of Steampunk: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steampunk

And Low Fantasy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_fantasy

The world of Broken Badlands is gradually being plunged into a Steampunk environment. Expect innovations from clockwork robots to bulletproof vests to airships. However, the world is also being tinged with more and more elements of Low Fantasy, so expect magical powers and (eventually) fantastic creatures to boot.

This is your world to describe. Just remember to be reasonable, and remember that this is a world that is changing gradually. Like in anything, the best way to get a grasp on the setting is to read character sheets, introductions, and story posts.


3. Post a character sheet and begin the screening process! Submit a character sheet to "The Test" In Character forum. This can take any form you want (however, do consult the template here), but refer to other site character sheets for some great examples. After posting, you'll be contacted about a Screening, which typically - but not always - takes the form of a mock battle between a newcomer and veteran member. Note that while the Screening can be skipped, there's no better introduction to the site at large!

After this process is complete, feel free to post character narratives in "The Rest" In Character forum and to enter the main story (either by joining an existing thread or starting your own). Good luck!