Session Flow

Sessions of 『Ventangle』 proceed as follows.

=Consensus= Before holding your first session together, make sure to hold a discussion among all the participants over coming to a group consensus. If during this discussion, it becomes clear that people's tastes are incompatible, you should give up on sessions together.

=Before a Session= If you're a player, create your PC (p.62), remembering to follow the group consensus. Once your PC is complete, show it to your GM as soon as you can. If you're the GM, prepare a scenario. Once you have the PCs to look over, make any adjustments to your plans as needed. As well, everyone should decide upon a place and time to get together. If the GM provides a 「Request Summary」 ahead of time, it can help get the session started that much faster.

=Confirming the Request= A session begins with the PCs receiving a request. This request is the current scenario's focus. The GM should explain the details of the request at this time. In short, the specifics of the issue, the conditions for completion, the reward, and the time frame you have. The PCs should not reject the request. The players can ask any questions they have, but the GM doesn't have to answer everything. It's okay to be honest about details you didn't think about.

=Preparations= A majority of a session is spent preparing to complete the request itself. Players take various actions, and the GM decides the appropriate locations and time spent for each. Preparations can be roughly divided into the following actions. Refer to each section for more specifics.


 * Karma Check (Intel): Gathering info online (p.116)
 * Karma Check (Perception): Looking around on-site (p.116)
 * Karma Check (Negotiation): Listening around and laying groundwork talking to people (p.116)
 * Contact Effect: Gain the effect linked to one of your contacts (p.119)
 * Relaxing: Rest to build your Pride (p.117)
 * Event: Sudden incident caused by the GM (p.186)

For the most part, one such action of preparation takes three hours. However, outside of ERP, time doesn't progress for actions that don't require checks. For more detail, read 「The Course of a Day (p.120)」. When the players feel they've prepared enough, or when a certain GM-decided Event occurs, then is the time to move on to the session's Climax. Of note, if after their preparations, the players don't feel they can handle completing the request, they have the option of withdrawing (p.120).

While it's recommended to separate each 「Preparation」 into its own distinct scene... following that too closely can cause weird inconsistencies when staying in the same location, or rapidly jumping between different areas, or having multiple events in a row, or similar.

Ultimately, it's up to the GM to decide. As for events, for the most part, they're triggered by the GM. However, 「Combat Events」 can also be started by the players. Even so, the specifics of the fight, the enemies that show up, and the amount of time that passes are all left to the GM to decide. If the players want to have a large number of fights, the session may stretch on much longer.

=Climax= This scene contains the greatest obstacle standing between the PCs and completing the request. Most of the time, it is a 「Combat (p.122)」. If you win, you can be fairly confident that the request will be completed. Depending on the scenario, the Climax could be resolved by means outside of battle, or negotiations during the battle itself. If you cannot win or otherwise resolve the request and end up having to flee, you may be able to use any time you have remaining to prepare for a second attempt. However, you may suffer a penalty due to the passage of time (p.120). If the PCs are defeated, they fall into different circumstances depending on the scenario. Generally, PCs will only end up raped, not killed.

=Reporting the Results= The PCs report the end results of the request, recieving any reward credits. If they completed the request, they get the full amount; if they withdrew (p.120), they only get a fraction; and if they failed, they get no reward. What is considered 「failing」 depends on the scenario. It's up to the GM to decide. Of note, even if the PCs were defeated, they still may receive some reward depending on the scenario and the circumstances... even if they don't, they may get an unexpected payment from the foes they were meant to defeat.

=Expenses= Credits need to be spent to pay for 「Maintenance Costs」 and 「Interest」 on any debt. If a PC can't afford to, in order to make up the difference, they will have to earn some 「Side Income (p.121)」. Even if a player has the money, if they want, they can save their credits and earn some 「Side Income」 anyways to cover their expenses.

=Repayment= If after any 「Expenses」, a PC still has credits remaining, their player can decide to pay off however much debt they want. The interest will be reduced accordingly, down to [10% of the debt (round up)].

=Advancement= PCs can level up, increasing their Hunter Level by 1. For what to do when leveling up, see 「Advancement (p.127)」. As well, you can spend any credits you have left on 「Ware」, 「Customizations」, 「Items」, and so on. You can also take out new loans to buy these. Further, with the GM's approval, you can form up to two new Contacts with suitable NPCs from the session.

=End of the Session= At this point, the session is complete. A PC's Pride and Karma return to their base values. They lose any unused Advantage and Reload. Their credits remain at whatever value they were, after the 「Advancement」 step. With this finished, everyone can thank each other for the game together.

After, you can check to make sure there weren't any issues regarding the group consensus. If there were any points that were just no good, any concerns, etc, talk openly. Any points brought up can be used to improve the next session. Having multiple sessions with the same PC can deepen your attachments. Successive sessions don't necessarily have to weave some grand story. Several one-off requests should still be perfectly enjoyable. With your web of contacts growing, you'll be able to find your own place within the Fallen Special Ward. Not only can you can have fun playing with the same GM and player, but by changing up your partners, or even swapping who the GM is. It can become frustrating, if one person is always the GM. Changing things up, you can enjoy all kinds of varied ERP.