''Deliria: Faerie Tales for a New Millennium'' is an "interactive

urban fantasy Urban fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy, placing supernatural elements in a contemporary urban area, urban-affected setting. The combination provides the writer with a platform for classic fantasy tropes, quixotic plot-elements, and unusual charac ...

setting" created by Phil Brucato. The title refers to an

altered state of awareness An altered state of consciousness (ASC), also called an altered state of mind, altered mental status (AMS) or mind alteration, is any condition which is significantly different from a normal waking state. It describes induced changes in one's me ...

in which several levels of reality can be perceived at once, to both good and ill effect. The core concept behind Deliria is one of "ordinary people in an extraordinary world." Inspired by classical

fairy tales A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the Folklore, folklore genre. Such stories typically feature Magic (supernatural), magic, Incantation, e ...

and

, the setting presents a

multicultural Multiculturalism is the coexistence of multiple cultures. The word is used in sociology, in political philosophy, and colloquially. In sociology and everyday usage, it is usually a synonym for ''ethnic'' or cultural pluralism in which various e ...

world in which magic is always present but often invisible. To "twilight people" who encounter the magical realm, the world becomes a frightening yet wonderful place. Meanwhile, the immortal

faeries A fairy (also called fay, fae, fae folk, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Cel ...

, or ''aelderfolk'', regard mortal humanity with a mixture of awe and terror. The accelerating pace of human imagination reverberates through both worlds, bringing changes that many aelders fear. Within the tensions of this setting, ordinary people become heroes - or villains - in their own new

. Inspired by authors like

Charles de Lint Charles de Lint (born December 22, 1951) is a Canadian writer. Primarily a writer of fantasy fiction, he has composed works of urban fantasy, contemporary magical realism, and mythic fiction. Along with authors like Terri Windling, Emma Bull ...

Erik Davis Erik Davis (born June 12, 1967) is an American writer, scholar, journalist and public speaker whose writings have ranged from rock criticism to cultural analysis to creative explorations of esoteric mysticism. He is perhaps best known for his b ...

and

Francesca Lia Block Francesca Lia Block (born December 3, 1962) is an American writer of adult and young-adult literature. She wrote the '' Weetzie Bat'' series, which she began while a student at UC Berkeley. Early life and education Block was born in Los Angele ...

, films like ''

Edward Scissorhands ''Edward Scissorhands'' is a 1990 American gothic romantic fantasy film directed by Tim Burton. It was produced by Burton and Denise Di Novi, written by Caroline Thompson from a story by her and Burton, and starring Johnny Depp as the title ...

'' and ''

Practical Magic ''Practical Magic'' is a 1998 American romantic fantasy film based on the 1995 novel '' Practical Magic'' by Alice Hoffman. The film was directed by Griffin Dunne and stars Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Dianne Wiest, Stockard Channing, ...

'',

world music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

and

ethereal wave Ethereal wave,Glasnost Wave magazine, issue # 42, p. 32/34, genre classification of the bands Trance to the Sun (''"Ghost Forest"''), This Ascension (''"Light and Shade"''), Soul Whirling Somewhere (''"Eating the Sea"''), Cocteau Tw ...

music, and TV shows like ''

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. The concept is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film, also written by Whedon, a ...

'', Deliria's setting emphasizes "normal people" over superheroes. As a

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out ...

, it features a flexible rules system, collaborative

storytelling Storytelling is the social and cultural activity of sharing narrative, stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatre, theatrics or embellishment. Every culture has its own narratives, which are shared as a means of entertainment, education, cul ...

, and a character-crafting process based on telling stories about the character. Deliria has also been noted for its vivid

digital art Digital art, or the digital arts, is artistic work that uses Digital electronics, digital technology as part of the creative or presentational process. It can also refer to computational art that uses and engages with digital media. Since the 1960 ...

, evocative short stories, and emphasis of "courage rather than carnage."

Non-hero characters

The player characters are not meant to be heroes in the classical sense. Characters are not elite fighters or wizards, super-soldiers or super-criminals. Normal people, who live through an (perhaps even the) adventure of their lives, are the ''heroes'' in a Deliria Campaign. "Courage rather than carnage" means that the possibilities of the characters should only limited by their players' imagination, not by

stats Statistics (from German: ', "description of a state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a scientific, industrial, or social ...

like hitpoints or class levels.

Scalable rule-system

Deliria's game system is designed to be used at three levels of complexity, depending on the wishes of the group. "Flexible" rather than "crunchy," it's versatile enough to support almost any form of

roleplaying Role-playing or roleplaying is the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role. While the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' offers a definition of role-playing ...

, given the powers of imagination and creativity on the

player's John Player & Sons, most often known simply as Player's, was a tobacco and cigarette manufacturer based in Nottingham, England. In 1901 the company merged with twelve other companies to become a branch of the Imperial Tobacco Company of Great B ...

and the guide's behalf. The core of the system is summed up as: Challenge, Prowess, Chance, Result. To resolve a ''Challenge'', the player checks her character's ''Prowess''. If necessary, she takes a ''Chance'' that may add to or subtract from that Prowess. Success or failure is the ''Result'', which is then described in "story elements" - that is, narrative rather than mathematical terms. ''Chances'' are resolved through two ten-sided dice, a deck of cards, or a computer program (sold with the main rule book).

Narrative rules

The very simple rules that encourages narrative solutions of contests and reduces random challenges to a minimum. Characters are described through abstract key traits as well as narrative elements. This level of complexity reflects a Storytelling approach. This level is proposed for

Computer-assisted Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, mainly by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machine ...

Live action role-playing game A live action role-playing game (LARP) is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically portray their character (arts), characters.(Tychsen et al. 2006:255) "LARPs can be viewed as forming a distinct category of RPG because of ...

Simple rules

Slightly more detailed rules feature an in-between solution. This option uses contest solutions through dice rolling or card drawing only when it's important and, if necessary, also modifiers and counterdraws. This level is proposed for pen and paper or

Advanced rules

Every significant action is resolved through a random challenge and many rules (and optional rules) can be used to handle special situations. This level is proposed for only for pen and paper games.

Publication history

Though now out of print, the game was also bundled with a CD/ROM that had sound effects and music. A pdf patch was released to clear up a few rules. *Deliria - Core Book (2003) *Everyday Heroes: Adventures for the Rest of Us (2006) *Goblin Markets - The Glitter Trade (2011)

References

{{Reflist

External links

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Fantasy role-playing games Role-playing games introduced in 2003