The basic measure of success is your Social Level (SL). You start with an SL somewhere between 1 and 15, although most people start in the range 1-4 and those over 11 are very rare. Each month you are in Paris you gain a certain number of Social Points (SPs).
The main ways of gaining social points are:
Below is a description of a typical character sheet. This is designed for new players, and so the rest of you can simply delete it {or read it and correct my mistakes (how embarrassing)}. The description reads from left to right and proceeds down the page. It'd probably help to print out your first character sheet so that you can compare it with the description.
NAME is the name by which you will be known. It is now probably X followed by a number. You should choose a suitable name, and remember that your initials are what your character will also commonly be referred by, hence Argenta du Pheasante is known as AdP.
PLAYER is you!
The untitled line under your name is your position within your family and your father's occupation.
INITIAL SL is your starting social level. It is always the same since it only represents where you started. Your real SL is just under family position and this will change as you play.
INCOME COSTS SP's are three column headings that should match up to various listings on the left. SP stands for Social Points: earn enough SPs and you go up an SL (Social Level).
SL is followed by a number which represents your current Social Level. Social level is a measure of how well regarded you are in society. It affects everything from which regiments and clubs you can join to which positions you can hold.
SUPPORT is the first listing using the three columns mentioned above. Under Costs will be how much you must pay each month for clothes, food, etc.
*On Hold* RESIDENCE is simply where your character lives. You can buy up to better housing or if desperate for money you can opt to live really cheap in a loft. It can safely be ignored for now since Rooms are normal and cost nothing but give you no SPs (that's what those zeros are under Costs and SPs).
CONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION is how much extra you spend on clothing, tips, and other such - it is basically how visibly lavish you wish to be. Being lavish earns you extra SPs. The more SPs the better, but of course it costs geometrically more money (crowns) to be more and more lavish.
SPs HELD OVER are the social points you have left over from last month. It gets you a head start on the next month toward getting the points you need (roughly 4x your current SL). For example, if you are SL 3 then you want to aim for at least 12SPs during the month. SPs are gained by Toadying to people, carousing, consuming conspicuously, getting a better residence than Rooms, owning and using a coach, and so on.
CURRENT FUNDS is the amount of money, measured in crowns, that you have at your disposal. Remember that if your current funds are not sufficient to meet your monthly expenses, you will lose stuff or be sent to the front (the front being where one earns money).
ALLOWANCE is for those lucky enough to get money from father. There will be a number under the Income column telling you how much, if any, you get per month.
TITLE tells you if you have a title and how many chances you've had at it. Don't worry about it for now.
STRENGTH CONSTITUTION ENDURANCE are the three physical stats used in EnGarde to measure your characters abilities in those three areas. A 10 is average for Strength and Constitution. Endurance is like 'hit points' in other games (AD&D) and 100 or so is about average. In a duel, you will lose Endurance when hit. You will regain a portion of Endurance for every week that passes.
EXPERTISE is followed by Base which represents your basic ability to handle any weapon. As you get better with weapons, they will be listed after Base and will show your expertise with that particular weapon.
DEFAULT SECONDS is who will second you in a duel. If you make a friend, you can add their name. In any event, it will default to your regiment and need not concern you immediately.
WILL SECOND is who you will second. Same as above but you are seconding (i.e., watching) the person's duel. In both cases, the other person must include you on the matching list (i.e., AdP names RH as someone he will second, and RH must list AdP as a Default second).
CLUB is the club to which you belong. It costs money and gives you SPs (currently you should have zeros listed), as well as a place to go and carouse and gamble. There is a list of clubs in the rules: SL 3-4+ can join Red Phillips; SL 5-6+ can join The Frog & Peach, and so on. SL 1 and 2 characters cannot join any club until they reach SL 3 and so qualify for Red Phillips. Join a club as soon as you are able and join the best one for which you qualify.
MISTRESS is the lovely woman you have won to your side (for now). You must court a mistress, which costs money, and can get you into duels. Look for unattached mistresses to begin with, but you can of course attempt to take someone's mistress. If the mistress is with the character (such as at a party) in the week you attempt to court her, you will automatically fail. Mistresses give you influence, SPs, and either cost money or give you money (the latter only if Wealthy, which means they have a W after their name on the mistress list).
REGIMENT is the regiment, such as the 27th Musketeers, to which you belong. Which regiment you can join depends on your SL. If there is a PC commander, that is who admits you but you must still have the minimum SL. If it is an NPC (a character played by the GM (Gregory) and not another real-life player) then you have to roll above the number listed on the regiment chart. The number depends on your SL and the regiment you are attempting to join. Join a regiment your first month if you can.
RANK is the rank, such as subaltern or captain, that you hold in a regiment. The two zeros listed go with rank and mean that for now you get no money and no SPs since your rank is None (you haven't got one because you don't yet belong to a regiment). Major is as high as you can buy when first joining, but remember that you have to pay to buy private, then to buy subaltern, then to buy captain, and then pay for Major. Once you have joined, you can subsequently buy as high as Colonel as long as there are open slots leading up to the rank you want.
MA is your Military Ability. 6 is good and 1 is bad, but don't worry about it too much.
APPOINTMENT is the one job you hold besides your rank in a regiment. Examples are Minister of State (MOS) and Aide to Brigadier General. You can only hold one post (i.e., appointment) at a time. Gets you influence, SPs and money.
MiD's are Mentions in Dispatch and you will get these if you go to the front and are mentioned for your bravery (it's a 2d6 (i.e. two six-sided dice) roll made by the GM if you are at the front). They give you SPs.
The final section is a suggested background. It is very rough and random, and may be safely ignored (no one knows it but you), or else used to spark ideas about your character. Give your character background some thought and let it develop further as you begin to write press. In addition to thinking about how your character acts and thinks, give some thought to your actual style of writing since your letters are the medium through which your character will be known by the other players. Although you may certainly send letters intended to be private to the press (mark them as private), only share your good ones written 'in character' (i.e., written as if your character, not you, wrote it). If you are writing quick notes or questions to one person; writing out of character questions to your mentor or the GM (Gregory); sending your orders for the month; or wish other players not to know what you are planning to do, send private messages.
Unless you're reasonably lucky with your character you will be short of money. Getting a decent rank in a regiment will be the main expense, and courting mistresses is usually also fairly expensive. You will almost certainly need to borrow money, either from richer PCs (Player Characters), or from the Shylocks. PCs can ask you to repay money (without interest) after 3 months, The Shylocks will lend you up to 100*SL Cr and will demand replayment, with 10% interest, after 6 months. Running out of money is in general a bad idea: you are likely to lose your mistress, your horses, or even your own SLs if you cannot pay to support yourself or them, and you will be sent to the front if you cannot pay your debts when requested.
All die rolls (except those pertaining to the front) are on a single d6, and you need to roll equal or higher than the required number. For example, if one applies to join the GDMD at SL 7, then one requires a 3 or higher on a d6 to join (see the tables attached below). Some die rolls will be greater than 6, in which case you need to use influence to bring them down, or they may be 0 or less, in which case your enemies may use influence to increase them.
All NPC die rolls are semi-open-ended (except for courting). They only go downwards: if you roll a 1, you roll again, and subtract 5, (if this is a second 1, you roll a third and subtract 10, and so on). You can still get a 'natural' 1 by rolling 1, then 6. This means that you can fail any NPC die roll if you are particularly unlucky.
If a PC is making the decision, then a die roll is not used, and influence is irrelevant. The PC can merely choose which outcome he wants.
In general you want to be a member of a regiment: it gives you SPs, pay and the ability to practice your regimental weapon for free (usually practicing costs your SL in SPs per week) and some automatic friends. But you also gain an enemy regiment (except if you are a member of the RFG) who you must duel on sight, and it costs quite a bit to buy ranks: the purchase prices given are the amounts to buy the rank from the previous one, and not from scratch. You'll also need horses (100Cr each): one for a cavalry regiment or captain in an infantry regiment, three for the rank of major. If you are a private or subaltern, then you have to do regimental duties (two and one weeks respectively) unless excused by your battalion or squadron commander. The roll to be excused by an NPC commander is only a 5, so it is worth asking for anyway.
FC is female companionship, and not getting it is a frequent cause of not going up levels: you need to be seen with a woman each month or tongues will wag (being seen with a mistress means successfully courting a new one, or visiting or taking your existing mistress to a club: merely having one does not count). The basic amount a mistress costs to court is 3*her SL. However, you can spend extra money to increase your chances: each amount of 3*SL you pay up to 15*SL reduces the die roll by 1.
If someone else also shows up to court a mistress you must either stand down to them (in which case you lose SPs equal to the difference in your SLs if they are lower SL than you) or fight a duel with them. The winner gets to attempt to court the mistress with a bonus -1 modifier for each duel he won, but a mistress will always reject you if she rolls a 1.
The bawdyhouse is a cheaper, if less prestigious way, of getting FC: it costs your SL to carouse (compulsory) and the same again for the FC. Remember to order the FC (it is optional) and to order how much cash you are taking, since you may get robbed on the way back.
This is where you will gain a lot of your SPs. Joining the best club you can is always a good idea. Visiting a club is a weekly action, and you may carouse (drink) to gain one extra SP at the cost of your SL in Crowns, be toadied to by individuals, take your mistress, gamble, or any combination of these. Alternatively you may toady to someone else at their club. (see the tables for SP gains). You are allowed to charge money for people to come and toady to you, or alternatively give them money (often in the form of paying for their drinks) to encourage them. Announcing parties is a good way of letting people know about them: remember to give some indication as to who you will let in and who not, so as not to annoy too many people.
Paying an extra SL in crowns for support each month gains you one extra SP. This is often useful. Please note the difference between carousing (drinking at a club) and ConCon (as it is usually known), as they are often confused. You only get to ConCon once per month, but you can carouse each week you are at a club.
Not yet converted to the new order format, with notes in [].
Premonthly
Join CPC as subaltern, RM, GDMD as captain, all lower regiments as Major.
[These will be processed until one of them succeeds.]
[Note you cannot join a regiment at a higher rank than Major]
Con_Con.
Join Red Phillips.
Ask to be excused regimental duties.
Borrow 400 from Shylocks and 200 from XdX.
If at front, bravery to 11, poltroon from 9 or under to 9.
['bravery to 11' means if death roll over 11, reduce to 11: a standard shorthand]
Week 1:
Court Irma Mistress, paying 42. Stand down to senior members of the CPC.
[standing down to senior members of your own regiment is a good idea, since dueling them sends both of you to the front for a year]
Week 2:
Toady to XdX, carouse, take mistress.
Week 3:
If I have to do regimental duties, do them now, otherwise as week 2.
Week 4:
If courted Irma, then practice sabre, otherwise go to the bawdyhouse, get FC, take minimum cash. [making sure that he gets FC]
Announcements/press:
AdA asks the Colonel of the CPC to resign on the grounds of excessive age and weight.
Alfred d'Angleterre invites Paris to join him at his grand spring banquet in Bothwell's during week 3 of April. Those of SL9-11 will have all expenses paid, those of SL6-8 will be admitted free and there will be a charge of 30Cr for those of SL4 and 5. Those of lower SL will be admitted only by personal invitation. Members of the 53rd Fusiliers are not welcome.
Premonthly:
Ask Colonel CPC to resign. Use mistress's level 4 influence and my own level 3 influence to get him out.
Buy Colonel.
Con_Con.
Join Bothwell's.
If in control of the regiment admit BdB to the CPC.
[i.e. if Colonel has resigned]
Lend BdB 250Cr.
Ask CdC to repay his loan.
Week 1:
Toady to XdX, take mistress, carouse.
Week 2:
If let in week 1, then repeat, otherwise practice sabre.
[note the slight paranoia in case XdX has not submitted orders, didn't let him in, or has gone to the front unexpectedly]
Week 3:
Go to club, carouse, take mistress, admit guests as follows:
No members of 53F [the enemy regiment of the CPC]
SL9-11, paying their and their mistresses' carousing costs.
SL6-8, no charge.
SL4,5, if they pay 30Cr.
BdB for free, and CdC if he pays 50Cr [these are the special invitations]
Week 4:
Court Betta Mistress, paying max [enough to reduce the roll to 2], standing down only to BFG [Paris's largest duelist].