Hello, and welcome to the website for Ultimate Monster Battle Arena, the Michaelmas Term 2018 to Hilary Term 2019 Oxford University Roleplaying Games Society Game. If you've never played any sort of roleplaying game before, never fear! Here's a quick introduction. If you're a seasoned roleplayer, feel free to check out the quick guide to sections of the site at the bottom of this page.

One important thing to be aware of first: you don't need to read this entire website!

There's a lot of material here, and you certainly don't need to know all of it to start playing (although if you do want to, that's great)! Read only what interests you and what's relevant to a character you might like to play. You will find a guide to sections of the website and what they tell you below.

Any questions, concerns and character concepts should be e-mailed to the The GM Team.

There are a few acronyms used throughout the website which might be a little confusing if you've never played before. Don't worry - help is at hand! And if you're confused by anything, feel free to email us to ask questions!

• OOC or OC - Out of Character. Events and circumstances in the real world. For example, Ultimate Monster Battle Arena sessions take place OOC at St Hilda's College every other Tuesday in term.
  
• IC - In Character. Events and people in the World of Ultimate Monster Battle Arena. For example, the sessions of Ultimate Monster Battle Arena occur IC in a secure Vault.
  
• GM - Game Master or Game Moderator. Us! The team of people who write, run and maintain the game for your playing pleasure. The first place to turn if you have a question.
  
• PC - Player Character. You! The characters that Ultimate Monster Battle Arena players create and represent in the fictional world. You will usually play the same PC every session through the course of the game, though you may switch or retire a character if you get bored or your character dies.
  
• NPC - Non-Player Character. Us again! Other competitors, Trainers, or Stakeholders who may be present at Conferences but will be played by a GM. NPCs will usually vary session-to-session, and GMs will often play multiple NPCs during a game session.
  
• PvE and PvP - Terms to describe the nature of the fight your characters face, 'Player vs Environment' (i.e. the world is out to kill you) or 'Player vs Player' (i.e. everyone else is out to kill you). Ultimate Monster Battle Arena is designed as both a PvP and PvE game - we expect PvP to mostly occur in the setting of the Arena, and PvE to occur outside it. See our policy on PvP for more details.

A roleplaying game is somewhere between amateur dramatics and collaborative storytelling. You turn up, create a character to play, and play them! There are no scripts or lines, no set outcomes to what will happen - just a setting, a bunch of other characters to interact with, and some GMs to make sure it all runs smoothly.

Ultimate Monster Battle Arena is specifically a freeform roleplaying game, which means that instead of narrating your character's actions during game sessions, you actually perform them; you turn up each week, walk around and talk to other characters, make deals, gamble, trade news, gossip, diplome, eavesdrop and orate. This doesn't mean you need to be a great public speaker, or even a particularly good actor - just speak as your character would!

Sessions in Ultimate Monster Battle Arena occur during League Conferences, where etiquette is respected at all times. Combat and fights are not roleplayed, and attempting to attack other characters during session will result in severe consequences for your character.

Most importantly - roleplaying is about having fun and creating stories with other players. Absolutely no experience is required to play the Society Game (indeed, it's designed to offer an easy route in for new roleplayers!), and there will be plenty of supportive people on-hand to help you out if you're confused about any aspect of the game. Turn up and enjoy yourself!

Each session, players meet in the Vernon Harcourt Room in St. Hilda's College. These meetings represent League Conferences of the Ultimate Monster Battle Arena; players represent the attendees at these meetings, picking their fights, placing bets, planning how to be the very best. The world of Ultimate Monster Battle Arena is a “post-post-apocalyptic” setting¹⁾ with comic book and anime amount of ham - overexaggeration is encouraged! (See Style and Tone for more information.) The GMs will be on hand to offer help, advice, information and to keep the game running smoothly, as well as playing various NPCs every session.

Each gap between sessions represents three weeks of IC time. That's the period during which your character has the most freedom to act; you can fight your Monster in the Arena, take action against other PCs, fight, trade and politick! Each turn, we ask that players send in a summary of what they want their character to be doing in that three week period, known as a 'turnsheet'; the GMs will then judge the results of your actions and report back to you on how everything went.

Importantly, downtime is the only time during which you can interact with your Monster - you can't bring them to the Conferences!

There is a system for these turnsheet actions, detailed here - but don't feel you need to memorise it all; we're more than happy to help you out if you're having trouble working out what you want to do in the early turns.

We'd suggest starting in the following places:

• The Setting page, and associated pages in the sidebar - While you don't need to have memorised everything, your character is likely to be aware of the information here. After that, the most important pages we recommend you read are The Arena, Monsterology, and League Conferences.
• Style and Tone: This page will give a general idea about the feel of the game, without needing to read through every page on the wiki.
• Character Creation: Read this when you want to start putting together your character for the game.
• Monster Creation: Read this when you want to build your Monster
• Turnsheets: This page will get you up to speed on turnsheets and how you can submit them.
• Intro to the Wiki System: Society Games run using a wiki. If you want to learn more how this wiki works, read here.