Genre

Frail Realities has its own unique setting and though elements of it may be familiar to you, it is unlike anything else.

Current affairs will give you a more 'in character' view of the genre.

FR takes the early 19th Century  - the era familiar to most people from the Sharpe books and series  -as its baseline. We have changed world history such that magic of various kinds always existed, removed Christianity and replaced it with the churches of Mithras and Isis and had gunpowder not develop. Elements of the Industrial Revolution have come early, allowing for 'galvanism' (early electronics), steam power and so on.

In some ways FR could be considered Steampunk.

However, the FR setting also has had reality collapse, allowing for a mingling of time periods (though nothing after 1818). Characters can be drawn from a whole variety of historical eras and events have featured contemporary 19th century characters as well as Egyptians, Romans, mercenaries from the Wars of the Roses, Germanic Barbarians and so on and so forth. This multitude of options allows for a whole variety of possible plots and also allows players to use a vast array of possible costumes and props.

It has to be stressed that FR totally abuses history and we are in no way overly bothered by historical accuracy. We require the setting to be true to itself and drawn on history for ideas and inspiration, but you do not need to know a great deal about history to play. If you do know a lot about history, then be prepared to put some of your knowledge aside, as some things may well be different!

A summary of the setting follows:

1.      The world is superficially like our own, with some major changes.

2.     In 1818, as the Liche emperor Napoleon was imprisoned on the island of Snt Helena, French Mathematicians caused the collapse of reality trying to free him.

3.      The world is now free of the normal constraints of geography, ‘islands’ of reality, called realms, dot a great ‘wasteland’ in which most people get hopelessly lost.

4.     Some of these realms are from other times. Thus, close to the London Realm is a realm ruled by Aztecs and another which is part of ancient Germany and peopled by Romans and Germanic tribes.

5.      Christianity never happened, instead the dual church of Mithras and Isis is seen as the ‘true faith’ (And actually is the ‘true faith’).

6.      Gunpowder never developed, such that the Napoleonic wars were fought with longbow, crossbow and galvanic engine.

7.      Magic exists and works. Elemental magi are often skilled professionals, as are ritualists. Much of the French army were undead.

There is a host of books, films, comics and computer games that can give you a feel for some elements of the FR setting, though it must be stressed that none of these tell the whole story:

The Sharpe books and TV series.

The film the Madness of King George.

The Sandman comics give a good idea of how weird FR can get sometimes.

The film Gothic is set in our era.

The computer game Arcanum can help show how magic and technology exist side by side.

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