---
title:          Emerald Flame
description:    bss's play by email TTRPG meta-campaign.
---

# Emerald Flame

Emerald Flame is a PBEM Cypher System campaign set in bss's "house" setting of [Etravar](../etravar/index.md).

## Characters

* Asal Vorkut is an inquisitive explorer who hunts, with a combat flavor (CKeen).
* Dax Crestfall is a kind and learned mage [adept] who remembers the past (Oz).
* Gegren Ile is a tough helborn adept who crafts unique objects, with a skills and knowledge flavor (Mike).
* Ni'Oth "Nia" Di'Arnay is a mysterious elf guardian [adept] who slays monsters, with a combat flavor (Murph).

Players in the game can access the party's characters in [the Cypher System Character
Builder](https://tools.cypher-system.com/account/teams/JkNqZe).

## Trezuria

|> [![Map of the Mystvil area of the continent of Trezuria](mystvil.png)](mystvil.png)
|: The starting area in Emerald Flame, the Mystvil region of Trezuria.
{: .right }

In the western region of Trezuria, just south of the great mountain range that crosses the length of the continent, lies
the Mystvil region, a fairly remote region somewhat disconnected from the greatest advances in magitech experienced
elsewhere on the continent. However, a strange phenomenon has struck the region, causing the party to assemble and
explore the site of an unnatural blue light that erupted from the earth around Locke.

## Play By Email

Gameplay occurs primarily on the [Emerald Flame mailing
list](https://lists.incorporeal.org/postorius/lists/emerald-flame.lists.incorporeal.org/). Both players and
readers/lurkers are encouraged to subscribe, and can do so via the web form (known/interested players should further
send an email to the list and/or ping me off the list, so I can set up the moderation settings appropriately). The list
is moderated to allow only the current players to post to the game, but anyone is welcome to read, and there is also a
public archive if people would prefer to read that way. The archive [is
here](https://lists.incorporeal.org/hyperkitty/list/emerald-flame@lists.incorporeal.org/) if you need to go back to
refer to an old post in order to read and/or reply to it (which you can do from inside the web interface, if you are
logged in).

A draft of thoughts on how to conduct our game over email is available [here](../play-by-email.md). These are some
things I've learned from similar ventures in the past, and also some ideas that I think should be good --- but they are
just guidelines, and of course malleable to our group's needs.

### Reminders and Pings

I've also started an IRC channel, #emerald-flame, on [Randomus](https://randomus.net/), my IRC network. Players are
encouraged to join for reminders and other out-of-game conversations ([web IRC
link](https://webirc.randomus.net/#emerald-flame), or ask me for access to [persistent web
connections](https://lounge.randomus.net), or see the Randomus site for client setup info), but it is expected to be
very low traffic, and optional.

## Cypher System

I love [the Cypher System](../cypher/index.md). It's a flexible system with a lot of room for homebrew and game-specific
rules, with rich character customization options, and yet the core game mechanic is pretty simple and well-suited for
asynchronous play. There's a great rendering of [the Cypher System Reference
Document](https://callmepartario.github.io/og-csrd/) that I suggest reading if you are not familiar with the game, and I
also have some ever-expanding [set of homebrew and house rules](../cypher/index.md#homebrew-and-house-rules) that will
probably be relevant to the game.

### Character Creation

Firstly, I encourage talking through any ideas and questions you have on the mailing list (I'll start a thread after
some signups), so folks can see them and build ideas around the group. But, if you're still interested or on the fence,
feel free to just ping me with any questions.

[Old Gus' Unofficial Cypher System Player's Guide](https://callmepartario.github.io/og-csrd/og-cspg.html) is a really
good starting point for getting into the system and character creation in a guided way, if you want to just take a crack
at it on your own or get a feel for it. I have some homebrew character options and house rules, as linked above, that
I'm working on integrating into my own copy of the CSRD, but for the moment you can just refer to that above as you're
building a character.

Things to be sure to look at:

* [How to play](https://callmepartario.github.io/og-csrd/#this-is-how-you-play-the-cypher-system)
* [Key concepts](https://callmepartario.github.io/og-csrd/#key-concepts)
* [The fantasy genre in general](https://callmepartario.github.io/og-csrd/#chapter-13-fantasy)
    * [Common foci](https://callmepartario.github.io/og-csrd/#fantasy-foci)
    * [Options in building common concepts](https://callmepartario.github.io/og-csrd/#fantasy-character-options)
    * [Species](https://callmepartario.github.io/og-csrd/#fantasy-species-descriptors)
* [Types](https://callmepartario.github.io/og-csrd/#chapter-5-type)
* [Examples of character arcs](https://callmepartario.github.io/og-csrd/#sample-character-arcs)
