The Updates

The Quickstart Guide

The Words

IC means in character, and refers to the things which exist and events which are happening in the gameworld.
OOC means out of character, and refers to things which are real.
PC means player character, a character in the game controlled by a player.
NPC means non-player character, a character in the game controlled by a GM.
GM means Game Master, an honorific given to the people running the game to make them feel important.

The Game

The timeline is a useful place to start, to give yourself some historical context. Here's the quick summary: once upon a time powerful forces made the world. They then ran away, or went to sleep, leaving mankind doing his thing. The world is divided between the True and Treacherous Lands, the latter being decidedly stranger than the former. A big Wall separated the two. The gate through the Wall was guarded by a city, called Horizon, which spawned an Empire which at one time controlled the world. Then the Treacherous side of the Empire was lost forever, and the True side of the Empire rebelled, and the city ended up as a small city-state desperately playing the nations of the True Lands off against one another to avoid being eaten.

Now is probably a good time to take a quick look over the writeups of the Four Nations - Irgar, Jurica, Lasinia and Vegdarbarra. In summary: the Kingdom of Irgar was a nation of brawling clans before the Empire came, and that tension remained after the Empire was driven out; however, they have diverted much of their enthusiasm into steamworking. The Caliphate of Jurica is a desert land, with most of the population crammed into the fertile band. It is known both for its University of Marvels and its exports of narcotics. The nation of Lasinia is in theory a democracy, although the power of elected bodies and the number of people able to vote are both limited. It is a centre of culture, civilisation, and learning. The wasteland of Vegdarbarra sits at the foot of the Wall, and is controlled by battling warlords, recognising no central authority. Also of interest is a guide to the fashions of the various nations.

Enough about the neighbours: let's take a look at the City. There's some strange geometry going on close to the Wall: the important lesson to take away from this is that people just ignore the problem and take it in their stride. The upshot of this is that Horizon is both at the centre and the edge of the True Lands: this unique strategic position made the establishment of the Empire possible, and makes Horizon a major centre for trade. People get around the city in a variety of ways: poor people go by foot, or by cart, or by subway, moderately well-off folk in a hurry take taxis, and the rich flitter and flutter about with their shiny clockwork wings.

The government of the city is run by the Mayor, Colonel Zero, and consists of ministries full of bored, often-corrupt lackeys behind desks with a few elite troubleshooting agents doing all the important work. In theory, the Mayor is elected, though only 15 people get to vote; in the first game, you probably won't need to understand the electoral process unless, ooh, some player character assassinates Colonel Zero or forces him out of office. You will also want to know about the Embassies of the Four Nations, which throw their weight around quite a lot, and the Ghouls from the Treacherous Lands who chase murderers and cultists and dispose of the dead in their own special way, and the cuddly dogs who witness oaths and chase oathbreakers.

The player characters in Horizon are the cream of the crud, the most competant and influential people in the Lower City, the elite of the criminal underworld and related subcultures. They meet in the Riverview Inn, and you should probably understand the details of the truce under which they meet. The traditions of the criminal underworld are also worth looking at, and you should carefully note the delicate balance of the status quo: too much chaos in the streets will bring down martial law, which is terribly bad for business.

At this point, the swiftest way to learn about the setting is probably to begin generating a character. During the character generation process, you'll need to choose which district of the Lower City your character lives in. This decision is important; whichever district you belong to will be controlled by a criminal gang, who will have a certain influence on your life - precisely how much influence depends on how much you want to get involved with them.

The Steam, the factory district, is the territory of the Rumblers, a gang of strikebreakers gone bad.

The Docks is the stamping ground of the Dockyard Rats, a ragtag bunch of cutthroat pirates, scheming smugglers and purveyors of entertainment (legal and otherwise).

The Trading District is home to the Cartel, a Jurican-influenced drug smuggling ring.

The Craftsman's Quarter is the territory of Inmack's Boys, a band of pickpockets and robbers.

The Slums are controlled by the Three Families, a powerful coalition of crime families keen on promoting the idea of honour amongst thieves.

The Imperial Ruins, the remains of the defunct Imperial government, has no native criminal gang - it does, however, have the Watchdogs, the city's police force, some of whom are little more than uniformed thugs.

Alternately, you could be a beggar, a resident of nowhere, or you could be an Incognito Noble who lives in the Upper City and skips down to the Riverview from time to time to mix with the hoi palloi. Whoever you are, you will at least want to take a look at the relations between the mobs.

You'll also be wanting to choose an Affinity. This is like a little star sign which tells us a little bit about your character's personality - although if you don't go out of your way to develop these aspects of your character, they needn't end up ruling your life. You might want to learn a little about the Gods and Powers you inherit these Affinities from - but don't worry too much about reading the full descriptions yet.

When choosing your quirks, there's all sorts of things you may want to check out. Once you have chosen your job quirks, you should look at the money system to see what someone of your income level can afford. Thieves will doubtless want to see the burglary system, explorers the advice for expeditions. If you wish to become a cultist, sorcerer, or shaman, you will almost certainly want to look at the Gods and Powers writeups and the magic rules in more detail; alchemists will likewise want to read up about the Powers and alchemy itself. Aspiring inventors should consult the engineering rules, and perhaps would like to look at the Grey Order, a mysterious cabal with access to unusual technology. If you'd like to know how we handle seniority in organisations, there are seniority rules, but we've tried our best to make sure you don't need to understand the underpinnings of them. Beggars will, of course, want to know more about the Beggars, and members of mobs should ensure they have read through the relevant mob writeup. Revolutionaries may want to glance at the article about subversive organisations. Drug smugglers - or drug addicts - may want to know what sort of narcotics are smuggled into and out of Horizon.

Once you have completed the character generation process, so long as you have followed this guide you should know all you need to know about the world of Horizon. Feel free to read the rest of the website at your leisure; perhaps you'd like to learn about the districts of the Upper City, where the other half live, or hear some of the mysterious stories of the Treacherous Lands.