And Now My Watch Begins
And Now My Watch Begins is an upcoming one-shot event written by James Dance, Sean Baxendale and The Award-Winning writing duo of Kitty Dobson & Pascal Siddons.. The game is presented by Feast Your Eyes, set in the world of George R.R. Martin’s ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’. This is an unofficial fan event, not connected with HBO, but inspired by the aesthetics created by their design teams.
The game is set late in the year 284AC, shortly after the conclusion of Robert’s Rebellion. Players play as established members of the Night’s Watch, or fresh conscripts. The timeline of the game enables players to play as Targaryen loyalists sent to the wall, or those who have joined the Night’s Watch rather than serve King Robert, as well as more conventional recruits: the desperate and wretched, the criminals of the Seven Kingdoms and those few who still have faith in the order.
Gender and the Setting of ANMWB
All FYE events are gender neutral and there are no expectations of gendered roles. Although in the original setting the Night’s Watch is explicitly gendered and exclusively Male, characters in And Now My Watch Begins can be of whatever gender the player portraying them chooses.
In this slightly altered setting, the Watch takes on anyone willing to serve, regardless of gender. We will be using the term “Sworn Swords” rather than Black Brothers for simplicity.
It is still a masculine-coded order, where all are expected to fight if the need arises, and relationships are not allowed between sworn swords, as they are not permitted in the Southron religious orders of Septons and Septas, but as in the lands beyond the wall, life is tough and all must work together to survive.
The rest of Westeros is largely the same as in the original setting – however, non-consensual sex of any kind is not a part of this, or any other FYE game.
Beyond the change we are making to the Night’s Watch, the Seven Kingdoms maintain the same gender roles as in the source material – women are usually expected to marry men, or else may serve in the Faith of the Seven as a Silent Sister or Septa. Sex work is common and not criminalised. Female warriors are rare, and more often reside in Dorne, the North and the Iron Isles, although smallfolk of all genders learn how to defend themselves. Westeros is a dangerous place.
Character Creation
In the style of many Nordic Larps, the game team will be crafting each character personally, based on the preferences and choices made by participants in a form that will be available when tickets go on sale.
This is to ensure a balance among the characters in play, with the majority being raw recruits and conscripts new to life in the far North, and others who are established Sworn Swords and Veterans in leadership positions.
Nobles in Play
It will not be possible to play a member of one of the seven ruling families in Westeros, or a named character from the source material. Instead, we’ll be basing noble characters on the banner houses under them: cadet branches of the Umbers, Manderlys, Reeds, Velaryons, Selmys, Seaworths, Fossoways, Redwynes, Daynes and a hundred other houses, depending on the prompts given by players’ responses to the form.
Physical Requirements
This is NOT a 24 hour time-in combat game – There will be a lot of non-combat content, however it is primarily a story about members of a neutral military faction encountering the various people beyond the wall. Combat will be a large part of this, and although there can be low-combat characters in the setting, it will be a physically intensive game involving walking not insignificant distances in potentially inclement weather.