How To Play

How to Play
The play of the Tir Na Nog game unfolds
according to this basic pattern.
1. The DM describes the environment. The DM
tells the players where their adventurers are and what’s
around them, presenting the basic scope of options that
present themselves (how many doors lead out of a room,
what’s on a table, who’s in the tavern, and so on).[This is mostly for Dungeons]
2. The players describe what they want to do. Sometimes
one player speaks for the whole party, saying,
“We’ll take the east door,” for example. Other times,
different adventurers do different things: one adventurer
might search a treasure chest while a second examines
an esoteric symbol engraved on a wall and a third keeps
watch for monsters. The players don’t need to take
turns, but the DM listens to every player and decides
how to resolve those actions.
Sometimes, resolving a task is easy. If an adventurer
wants to walk across a room and open a door, the DM
might just say that the door opens and describe what
lies beyond. But the door might be locked, the floor
might hide a deadly trap, or some other circumstance
might make it challenging for an adventurer to complete
a task. In those cases, the DM decides what happens,
often relying on the roll of a die to determine the results
of an action.
3. The DM narrates the results of the adventurers’
actions. Describing the results often leads to another
decision point, which brings the flow of the game right
back to step 1.

This pattern holds whether the adventurers are cautiously
exploring a ruin, talking to a devious prince, or
locked in mortal combat against a mighty dragon. In
certain situations, particularly combat, the action is
more structured and the players (and DM) do take turns
choosing and resolving actions. But most of the time,
play is fluid and flexible, adapting to the circumstances
of the adventure.

Often the action of an adventure takes place in the
imagination o f the players and DM, relying on the DM’s
verbal descriptions to set the scene. Some DMs like to
use music, art, or recorded sound effects to help set the
mood, and many players and DMs alike adopt different
voices for the various adventurers, monsters, and other
characters they play in the game.