Hello, and welcome to the wiki for Fourth Place! For many of you, whether you are a fresher or a current member, this is your first experience with society games. There's a lot to wrap your head around, with its own lingo and structure, but fear not! This page will try and give you a rundown of the basics you have to know.
Just one very important note: you don't need to read this entire website! We've written a lot about this world for you to read, but by no means must you read all of it (although if you do want to, we'd be very honoured!). Read only what interests you and what's relevant to a character you might like to play. Please also familiarise yourself with the game's Conduct and Acceptable Themes Policy, which every player should have an understanding of. You will find a guide to the sections of the website and what they tell you below.
Any questions, concerns, character concepts, and anything else you'd like to tell us about should be emailed to the GM Team or shared with us on Discord.
A role-playing game is… a game where you play a role, shockingly. It's a game where you turn up, create a character to play, and act as that character, with many others around you doing the same. You can make the story whatever you want it to be: there's no linear story that must be followed, just the setting, the characters and the Game Masters (GMs) to ensure it runs smoothly. The rest is up to you!
The most important thing about roleplaying is to have fun. You can do that by winning, you can do that by losing, or you can just interact with your fellow players' characters and weave a lovely story. Absolutely no experience is required to play a Society Game like Fourth Place, and there will be plenty of supportive people on hand to help you out if you're confused about any aspect of the game. Turn up and enjoy yourself!
If you've come to this society, you might be expecting a big table, a bunch of character sheets and someone with a cardboard screen at the end. You wouldn't be the first: a lot of our veteran players expected a tabletop before their first games, but Society Games are not tabletops. Instead, they're a semi-live-action role-playing system where players meet up in a room (during Uptime) or in emails (during Downtime) and talk in character to other PCs (Player Characters) and NPCs (Non-Player Characters) to share information and move the plot forward. Fourth Place will take place at Balliol College on Tuesdays of odd weeks from 7pm to 10pm (please see When and Where for more information).
The Society Game changes from year to year, and usually consists of a two-term game from Michaelmas to Hilary, and a one-term game during Trinity term. Fourth Place is one of two games running throughout Michaelmas 2026 and Hilary 2027, the other being The Rat Race.
Please read the society's CAT (Contents and Acceptable Themes) Policy before starting a game at Society CAT policy, as this is mandatory for Society membership. The Fourth Place-specific CAT policy is available at Conduct and Acceptable Themes Policy. The CAT policy will let you know what potentially upsetting topics to expect in the game, and which you should not bring up while playing, so that we can all have a safe and enjoyable experience.
The game consists of a combination of Uptime and Downtime. Uptime refers to the in-person roleplaying sessions described above, where your character attends a gathering in which you play them talking to, and plotting with, other characters, pursuing GM-led story, and making arrangements for Downtime.
Downtime refers to any in-game time and story that occurs between Uptimes. After every Uptime, you will have a couple of days to email other PCs and NPCs to explore relationships, expand plot, and set up the actions your character will do in your Turnsheet.
A Turnsheet, which you submit through the Society Game wiki (this website!), details the actions your character takes throughout the rest of Downtime. Turnsheets come in two parts: the Turnsheet submission, which you write to tell the GMs what your character does with the time between sessions, and the Turnsheet response. Before the next session, your character receives a Turnsheet response, which is a piece of prose custom-written for your character by the GMs. It describes how you got on with your actions, and provides some starting points for plots going forward into the next section. You can read more about Turnsheets and how they work here.
There are some other terms you may hear thrown around the society ('ballgowning,' the 'IC/OC divide'…). You can find an explanation for many of these terms on our Glossary page.
If you've made it this far, you should be all set to start playing a Society Game! But don't worry if you still have questions – the GMs are very friendly (we promise) and are always happy to answer any questions you might have. You can contact the GMs on Discord or via the GM email, gm@fourthplace.oxfordrpg.com.