Painstakingly designed over the course of a few years, Heartland has now been opened for your entertainment. In this world, you're free to take on the persona of a fictional explorer, craftsman, soldier, priest or anything might be appropriate for the setting, and slowly construct the story of this individual's life, entwining it with those of other characters. The gamemasters (GMs) are there to provide background and extra characters, as they describe whatever scene such individuals might enter. As a form of interactive storytelling, this elaborate and unique art, which many refer to as role-playing, brings writers together in the most fantastic ways, allowing them to influence each other's stories in a straightforward and pleasant way.
The game's thus-far top quality level of writing is something I take great pride in. Writing in-game articles for classical-age "magazines", letting their characters devise authentic prose and poetry, as well as simply mentioning the content of the tomes they read, are options that I look forward to seeing the players pursue. Along with that, custom content, from new clothing styles to games of chance, is always happily received. Therefore, this game accomodates both interactive writing and the more traditional kind.
Generally freeform and established in an original campaign world, Heartland makes up in depth and beauty for what it lacks in stats and skills. The GMs are always there to help, whether in setting up your character or offering you plots: there's even a "player interests" section in the character creation process, to help game-masters understand what stories they should help you join. Characters can range from shopkeepers, tutors and artists to raiders and roaming gladiators - in this roughly classical-age setting, you'll find a remarkable variety of possible roles, each tailored to a certain kind of player. Some regions strongly adhere to the ideal of hospitality, which sometimes allows several characters to sleep under the same roof, while in some others, you're essentially born to a tribe, caste or merchant group. While you can certainly play independent characters in all these regions, kinship is always made available for you.
Players can briefly animate an NPC or two to create short stories in any part of the world, and fluid time is used to give both leaders and the rest of the playerbase a good timetable for their actions. One of the more advanced features of this game is its leadership aspect: Heartland implements a ruleset based on the Birthright campaign setting to make running a domain an easy and balanced task. It takes more to play a leader, OOCly and ICly, than an ordinary character, and this should be reflected by the perseverence and maturity of applicants.
Just like our own, the world of Heartland is far from a paradise. Tribes rage, "adventurers" set forth to burn entire villages, while nations swallow one another whole, war after war. Civilized regions do exist, and offer players quite a handful of intrigue and social role-play, but even these sometimes feel the tremors of a distant war, or find their enemies' armed forces scrambling to their gates. Beside the proud Confederacy, a collection of republics joined into a single council, the kingdom of Baurez extolls its degenerate ways, inhabited by haughty giants prone to hammering intruders into furniture and tools. Entire tribes form and disintegrate across the Azmilavic marshlands without their neighbours' awareness, fully hidden in their shroud of brambles, tall grasses and shrubs. Urban tribes squabble in Astul, prying control of neighbourhoods away from one another, while the King struggles to maintain a semblance of cohesion. Southern kingdoms such as this use throwing weapons as their currency, a testament to their long history of piracy and war. Even the forest of Calindra, stretching past this human wasteland, has not been spared its depravity, as the narcotics found therein and rumours of abominations constantly intrigue both smugglers and adventurers. North of this wilderness, throughout the gorges and ravines of Middle Mountain, the Free Minions who escaped from slavery attempt to plunge into the ruins of their old civilization and redeem their desolate race, piecing together their lost language, history and science. In Heartland, you'll always have something to do, whether you play a power-hungry gnome or his feeble minion slave.
Visit this world at
http://heartland.blogbloom.com and cast your faith within; its wonders, conflicts and intrigue are yours to savour.
