OC Social Contract

This is the **social contract** of the Legacy of Veltheria game. It was agreed in Session 0, and both players and GM have agreed to abide by the following principles.

## Game Times

The game will run on Saturdays between 2pm and 6pm (British time).

The group will aim for two sessions per month, with specific dates agreed in advance.

Players and GM will notify each other of any changes in availability as soon as possible. Generally, the game can run with a player absent, but the specific circumstance and state of the game may change this in the moment.

The game's first season will run between January and December 2019, and as it comes to a close the group will discuss whether it is to be renewed.

## Genre, Tone and Mood

Legacy of Veltheria is a high fantasy pulp game with spacefaring elements; it is not a science fiction setting.

The game has pulp elements; the protagonists (PCs) are best described as ‘clever action heroes’, with some of the following inspirations from popular culture:

* Raiders of the Lost Ark, and to a lesser extent The Temple of Doom;
* Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets;
* Lost in Space;
* Atlantis (the Disney version);
* Treasure Planet

Veltherian society is pre-industrial but fairly enlightened. To help maintain good relations between PCs, players should remember that generally Veltherians will assume the best of each other's intentions.

The following are the principles agreed to keep everyone on the same page:

* Success and failure are factors in the game, but the game is about good play more than victory or defeat.
* The player characters are expected to work together...
* The GM's role is to create the initial setup for chapters of the game, or in some cases to set up linear or branching events for the players to respond to in accordance with their goals.
* Generally, action will be driven by the players. Being a pulp game, the players' roles are to fling their characters into tough situations and make hard, sometimes unwise decisions.
* The rules, including houserules, can be bent or ignored; narrative is more important than consistency, within reason.
* The GM will make decisions that are best for the narrative and for player fun, within the constraints of finding them challenges to overcome; players are always welcome to challenge GM decisions in between game sessions, but should not disrupt play to do so.
* The PCs' survival is not always as important as other factors.
* A PC should only betray or act decisively against the group as part of their exit from the game (or becoming an NPC). This should usually be discussed with the GM ahead of time.
* In action scenes, the details of where everything is will be described in the minimum detail necessary to set the scene, and players will ask for more information.
* The players should learn the setting very well, and enough of the basic rules to be able to operate their characters.

## Lines and Veils

All players, including the GM, have the option at any time to ask that a scene move on or come to an end. At that point a veil will be drawn over the scene and the session will move on.

Veils will also be drawn over the following events. Note that these things can happen in the game, and can directly involve PCs, but once the scene is at the point of describing them, it will 'fade to black':

* Sex scenes
* Torture

Lines are drawn under the following. These events will never happen or be mentioned during the game, and will not form part of the backstory of any player or non-player character:

* Sexual assault
* Violence against minors by adults

Note that in the event of disastrous events, certain details will go unmentioned; though they may well have happened, they will not form any part of the unfolding drama.