Where does the game take place?
In the many pockets of hidden places in and around Pittsburgh. These
places (worldwide) are collectively called the Praetermundus
(colloquially, the cracks). (Only a few people still use the old term,
"the Mundus" for the rest of the world, preferring the less generous
"the grim.")
The portion of the Praetermundus corresponding to Pittsburgh is called
New Dunston.
What are pockets?
A pocket is a part of the Praetermundus. It might be a single room, or
a building, or acres of woods. Generally, a pocket has an obvious
entrance to and from the grim: for example someone who knows how might be able
to turn right at the end of a dead end and find a building there that
most people don't notice. Most pockets can be entered by anyone who knows about them, but a few are tied to specific keys and can only be entered by someone possessing one.
Most pockets are connected to other parts of the cracks both by underground tunnels and a network of back alleys and small paths. Even a pocket consisting of just one room probably has a back door leading to a narrow path between two tall buildings which eventually leads to other pockets.
Who are the player characters?
The movers and shakers in the government of New Dunston, the
pompously named "Federated Commonwealth of Western Pennsylvania."
How are the citizens of New Dunston different from ordinary people?
First, they know how to get between Pittsburgh and New Dunston. Second,
they all have a knack—some talent they can do that other people can't—
sometimes it's obviously supernatural, sometimes so subtle it's hard to tell
what it is. Third, they have access to ambrosia.
What's ambrosia?
Roughly, the essence of the forces that distinguish the cracks from the
grim. Without it, the residents of New Dunston would be little more
than ordinary mortals. With it, they can reach their full
potential—the typical resident of New Dunston simply seems like an
extremely talented mundane, while people who would have been talented
anyway can exceed anything ordinary people are capable of.
What's ambrosia like?
In its pure form, it's a golden liquid, brighter and thinner than honey,
and disgustingly sweet to taste. It's almost exclusively mixed with
some other drink—mixes with wine or other alcoholic beverages
(collectively called mead) are common, as is plain water (sweet water).
How do we get ambrosia?
There are several hundred sites in New Dunston where essence, the raw
form of ambrosia, can be collected. Each site belongs to a faction
within the government, which then distills it into ambrosia and
distributes it to its members.
What happens if we don't get ambrosia?
People lose their ability to think clearly, their knacks become less
effective, they can't get magic to work. Over time they become weaker
and slower, both mentally and physically. After a few weeks they become
comparable to normal mortals, and after that, most people from the
cracks slip even further, becoming less capable than ordinary people.
Even in the grim, this would be unpleasant, but in the cracks, it's
virtually a death sentence.
What are the factions?
Factions are somewhere between political parties and states. There are
twenty-two of them at the moment. Some are families which trace their
lineages back hundreds of years, others are guilds of craftsmen or
corporations. Every citizen of New Dunston, even those who actually
live in Pittsburgh, belongs to one, since it's the only way to get
ambrosia.
The factions are constantly passing essence sites back and forth. One
of the primary duties of the government is managing the system of duels
that allows one faction to legally take a site from another (and
discourages the constant fighting that used to plague the city).
How does the government work?
The government of the Commonwealth is divided into two branches, a
Chamber of Lords and a Chamber of Commons. Six factions have permanent,
hereditary seats on the Chamber of Lords, and the others have the right
to pay the government for a seat in the Chamber of Commons (at any given
moment all but two or three of them have done so). Each faction decides
by its own rules who represents the faction. A more detailed
description is here.
What does the government control?
It has effective control of almost all of New Dunston, which is all of
the praetermundus within the boundaries of Allegheny county. The only
exceptions are that it allows an independent group to run the radio
station, WTTC, and has an alliance with the mole men who live in the
tunnels underneath (and run the subway that connects most of the
pockets).
There is also a secret police force which, while officially part of the
government, is not actually under the control of any other part of the
government, and is often seen as an independent entity operating with
its own agenda.
Every year, a new pocket or two is discovered within New Dunston and
claimed by one faction or another.
What's outside New Dunston?
There are cracks scattered through the region. Some of them are empty,
and those that aren't may be occupied by dangerous creatures or groups
of people who don't want to be part of the Commonwealth. The only
organized city nearby is Upper Johnstown, the part of the praetermundus
corresponding to Johnstown.
The tunnels are also dangerous—the subway itself is safe (except for a
few identified stops), but wandering through the tunnels unprepared is a
quick way to die.
Are there other cities in the praetermundus?
Yes. The nearest is Upper Johnstown. There are also a number of other
organizations in the area outside the city limits, including a cult of
werewolves, roving bandits, and a coven of wise women.
New Dunston's relation with all of these ranges from tense to actively
hostile. There have been three wars with Upper Johnstown, although not
recently, and a war with the werewolves ended earlier this year.
How do people get around inside New Dunston?
Sometimes on foot (or by bicycle), through the back alleyways that
connect most pockets, and mostly by subway.
How do people get between Pittsburgh and New Dunston?
There are many entrances leading from parts of Pittsburgh to a pocket of
New Dunston. Some are well-known and easy to find—perhaps a dead end
in an alley or an extra hallway in a public building—while others are
secrets known to only a few people. The easiest ones are guarded to
prevent random mundanes from wandering in, but most mundanes seem to
naturally avoid them anyway.
Do electrical or telephone wires pass between them?
Neither wires nor signals pass through any of the entrances to New
Dunston. That means there's no telephone (or cell phone) service.
There is electricity, provided by one of the factions, but how they do
it is a jealously guarded secret.
Does other technology work in New Dunston?
In general, yes. Most items of modern technology are available as long
as they're small enough to fit through doors. Televisions (and VCR's or
DVD players) are common, as are small refrigerators. Larger items can't
get through most entrances to New Dunston, so they're only available at
a large markup from those factions which know ways to get them in.
Cars, and even motorcycles, are non-existent, since even if they could
be brought in, there's no supply of oil to fuel them.
The one catch is that one faction rents out gremlins, small creatures
which interfere with any electronics near them. Simple technology, even
televisions, work decently (although not perfectly) in their presence,
but computers or other complex devices are useless within a few yards of
one.
Also, radio waves and similar signals are subject to much more
interference. Any attempt to broadcast is usually overwhelmed by an
almost constant mix of random noises, strange sounds, and even things
that sound like conversations in unidentifiable languages. (The cause
is speculated to be either the presence of gremlins or a side-effect of
large quantities of ambrosia, but the details aren't understood.) The
only known solution is what the one radio station in the city does—use
a really powerful transmitter to overpower most of it.
