🛂 Travel Papers -

In Babayaga, ‘where’ a Player’s character is, matters. Players are not restricted in their, real world, physical movement around the game space. They may consult with, or go to any station in the room, during each round of the game, at the appropriate times. Control only areas are excepted from this, of course, and will be pointed out at the start of the game.

Though the Players have freedom in how they choose to use their time, their first action on the ‘Day Break’ phase of a round should be to write down their, hidden, ‘travel papers.’ These papers commit a Player’s ‘character’ to where they intend on travelling during that round. For each round a Player must fill out their travel papers, if they intend to move, for that round and give it to a Control team member. Time is malleable in Babayaga and Jarlsland is small. Each of the territories are feasibly within travelling distance for the Players within each round. The flow of information in the Realm is often incomplete and difficult to audit. Therefore; Players can go and do anything that they like, but their ‘character’ must exist somewhere on the map, for a full round, each round.

Any effects or outcome from an event, that apply to specific places will be applied per round, during the ‘Gloaming’ phase. If an effect occurs in the general vicinity of where a Player’s character has travelled to in that round, then it is assumed it will affect them unless otherwise declared.

As an example, if a character is in the Capital Territory, Rolcebad – they are assumed to be engaged with ‘what is happening,’ in that territory. This is unless they have specifically stated that they are in a different place, for a different reason. If the palace happened to explode in that round (which does happen in megagames), it would not necessarily affect the Player in question, if they had so indicated that they were not present in the palace. If, however, they had written; ‘Capital Region – Rolcebad’ on their papers, then it might be a different story. Regions and travel can be fairly straight forward, but in certain situations where ambiguity exists, the Control team will make a call at the time on whether the Player is affected or not. This means that Players are encouraged to be as clear as possible when filling out their travel papers each round.

The positioning of the Player characters, as determined by their travel papers in a round, affects how events and other gambits are resolved for the broader game and narrative. For the Control team, knowing that a Player is in a certain location during a particular event resolution is necessary for the progression of the narrative as well as any mechanical considerations. For this reason if travel papers are not submitted in a round, on time, the Player’s character will be treated as if they have not moved that round.

Each accessible region will be controlled by someone. Technically it is good form for a member of the aristocracy, when travelling alone, to announce themselves to the ruling lord of that land. This is, however, a time of insurrection so in practice many have stopped observing this custom entirely. There will be a section on each travel paper sheet for the signature or mark of the acquiescing lord but Players may feel free to ignore this if they so wish. Be aware, that being discovered to be travelling through someone else’s lands without permission may be seen as a seditious act and could lead to a Player's execution as a spy!