There will be 7 sessions of Fourth Place over Michaelmas and Hilary term, along with an optional character creation session and a post-game debrief, where players and GMs are given a chance to talk about what happened in the game. We will meet at 19.00, with a short brief before the gameplay starts. Sessions will occur on Tuesday evenings every other week, starting from third week of Michaelmas 2026 (27th of October). For more information see the page When and Where.
Each Uptime will take place during a meeting of Fourth Place inhabitants in response to certain changes or crises. The meeting location can be varied between each uptime. For example, the first Uptime is the first meeting being called since the failure of the umbilical cord and the cessation of resource delivery to Fourth Place.
During these sessions, you will be live roleplaying as your character in real time. What this means is that, for the most part, everything that you act out is something that your character is actually doing — that could be chatting, dancing, plotting in a corner, or making a proposal.
Props and costumes, often called physrep, are optional but we encourage you to dress up if you want.
If you know ahead of time that you’re likely to miss a session, please let us know either via email or Discord so that we can plan ahead and let other players know that you won’t be there. Emails and Turnsheets will still be available even if you miss a session.
Calls are when you say a word or make a small gesture action that has some kind of effect on the game. These calls are used by both GMs and players to indicate things to others out-of-character (OC). Here is a list of calls we will be using in this game:
This is used by GMs to announce the beginning of the session, or resuming after a time freeze, to announce that it is time to switch into character
This is used by GMs to interrupt roleplaying during session, so we can describe something going on that we wouldn't be able to adequately act out.
This is used by the GMs to announce the end of the session and that it is time to drop out of character.
Pointing upwards with the index and middle fingers, this is used by players and GMs to show that they are temporarily dropping out of character. This may be to ask a question OC, to pass through the playing space unimpeded, or even for GMs to listen in on secret conversations (this last one is off-limits for players). When someone is doing this, it may indicate that their character is not there.
Additionally, there are a number of calls that can be used by players at any point to act as formalised ways to remove yourself from situations involving uncomfortable topics.
You needn't use these if you prefer to simply talk any issues out using the OC gesture, but these provide an agreed upon system to help navigate the sensitive topics that can arise during RP.
Here is a list of these safety calls:
This call is used when a conversation that your character is in makes you uncomfortable OC and you want it to stop. When this call is made, the current topic of the conversation will be dropped and moved on from, no questions asked.
This call is for situations where you are okay with the topic continuing but need the intensity of the situation to be decreased. Again, no questions asked.
This call can be used to simply remove yourself from the conversation if you are uncomfortable. Your character is simply no longer there and you can remove yourself while the conversation continues.
Physical contact with other players or the GMs must be agreed upon OC first (e.g. asking “Is it alright if we shake hands?” while making the OC gesture).
GMs will be more than happy to answer any questions you might have for them in uptime, but please be aware that we may be busy with other players or even need to consult our notes/the other GMs before we can give you an answer.