Getting Started

Welcome to Stonekeep! This is a medieval fantasy roleplay server based on the codebase of Roguetown, which has several large differences from the majority of Space Station 13 codebases.

If you’ve never played a round of Space Station 13 before, we recommend that you don’t do it here. The controls are obtuse enough as it is, and Stonekeep adds several features and subsystems which can be confusing to even an experienced SS13 player. If you’re new, check out servers like /tg/station, Goonstation, Fulpstation, or Yogstation.

Also, make sure to read the rules before you log in. They’re short, but they exist for a reason!

What Makes Stonekeep Different

Stonekeep tries to focus on immersion and a hands-off approach to in-game administration. This means the roleplay experience should remain as smooth and unbroken as possible.

• There is no LOOC. It is disruptive to a roleplaying game and used most often for extended OOC conversations in game, or being salty. If you need to know a game mechanic, you should consult the wiki, the Discord's #help channel, the Mentorhelp verb, or try to ask ICly.
• There is no in-game adminhelp. In many cases, it is disruptive for an admin to have to stop the game in its tracks to deal with a situation. To report rule-breaking conduct, use the #rules-reports-appeals channel in the Discord or message the Scrivener of the Keep bot.
• There is limited "definitive" lore information. Basic information that a character would know is within the game's selection screens and the Lore Primer. Much of the setting is kept deliberately ambiguous. You could ask several characters questions and get several completely different answers. In-character books may not be gospel, but your character can certainly treat them like such. This is meant to foster a sense of mystery.

Basics of the Setting

You can also read the lore primer here.

This is the world of Grimoria, on the Isle Kingdom of Enigma. Most characters will start out in the town of Rockhill (colloquially known as Roguetown). Rockhill is presided over by Castle Stonekeep and its royal family. A variety of different races make Rockhill home, even beings that are feared and distrusted.

Why your character ended up on the isle is a mystery, and up to you to decide! Were they born here? Did they travel here seeking fame and fortune? Are they running away from a sordid past? Whatever the case, they can choose to start a new life in Castle Stonekeep, however they choose.

Races

• Humen: Yes, it’s spelt with a “men”. A prolific and rather ordinary-seeming race inhabiting Grimoria. Said to be the greatest creation of the Forgotten God, whose name is unknown. Most humans come from Grenzelhoft, Zynbantu, or Valorian.
• Elves: Said to be the “first people” of Grimoria. They are not as fertile as humanity, but live long, long lives and are incredibly good with magic. There are several distinct cultures of elves, depending on the region they originate from.
  • Dark Elves: Historically feared and reviled for their habits of slavery and raids, a small but significant population of dark elves have begun to turn away from their kin and join elven enclaves… or more commonly, human populations. Rumours abound that they are necromantic mockeries of life, creations of the death goddess Necra, or a creation of a disciple of Saint Pestra.
• Dwarves: Stern, hardy, and stoic, dwarves are loyal friends of humanity. They are slow to trust, but a dwarf’s friendship is for life, and betraying this trust leads to swift and hardy retribution. They are said to be the creations of Malum, the god of craftsmanship; still other legends say that they created their own god to destroy their oppressors.
• Orcs and Goblins: Orcs and goblins are called cruel mockeries of the other mortal races, and were said to be manufactured by a Demon Prince, Gragger. Shorter-lived than humanity but equally prolific, the “greenskins” have cemented their place as sophonts in the world of Grimoria by their industrialization and mass-production.
• Aasimar: Aasimar are beings of divine creation, first making their appearance in the God-War alongside armies devoted to the goddess Astrata. Though legend tells Astrata made them to lead Her armies, the aasimar developed a reputation for brash, foolhardy decisions, with little care for the mere mortals under their command. When the God-War ended, Aasimar were shunned and feared for their violent legacies, and are still considered naive and stubborn.
• Tiefling: Tieflings bear the mark of the infernal; they are said to be children of the unions between Zizonian demons and demon-worshipping humans, and show it with their red skin, horns, and other varying features. While in the distant past the first tieflings fought on the side of the demon armies during the God-War, the modern day sees them an integrated part of human society, if often stereotyped and seen with suspicion.

Character Creation

So you’ve just opened the game, and you’re met with the character sheet pop-up! What to do?

Don’t panic. The character creation system is pretty similar to most other SS13 servers, but let’s take a quick look through our options.

• Name: Your name, obviously. Can be a mononym or a personal name and surname.
• Race: The race of your character, as discussed up in the Basics of the Setting.
• Sex: If your character is male or female. Some of the sex selections do come with stat bonuses or penalties.
• Flaw: A flaw is a character penalty that can be applied to give you the opportunity to (do the thing). If you don’t have a physical flaw, the flaws will cause pop-up messages in your chat telling you that you need to drink/pray/have sex/do drugs/smoke every so often, or your mood will rapidly decrease.
• Faith: A sub-menu for who your character worships; as of right now, you can only worship one of the Divine Pantheon or their saints.
• Patron: Your patron god. Opening the menu and selecting one will cause a short blurb about them to appear in your chat. Each god has favoured actions (things they want you to do) and sins (things they don’t want you to do).
• Dominance: Whether your character is right-handed or left-handed; this affects combat and your moment-to-moment actions, depending on which hand you’re using.
• Body: All of these are customisation options for your character, and don’t have any mechanical effect but how cool you look.
• Descriptors: Not currently shown on the

Settle on your first character, and click “Save” down there at the bottom left. Once you’ve saved, it’s time to look into the other important thing, at the top right of your character sheet…

Controls and Keybinds

A more in-depth explanation of how to use the controls can be found here. This guide explains the very basics of the controls and how to use them to interact with people.

The default keybinds.

At the top right of your character sheet is your Keybinds setting.

Stonekeep’s controls are largely what is called hotkey mode on other SS13 servers; the command bar is mostly disabled. You walk around using WASD, and click to interact with most things. Shift-Click will examine an object. The above picture shows the Keybinds tab with some more /tg/-like or conventional SS13 controls. But before we get too deep into that…

Frequently Asked Questions About Controls

• How do I talk? Open a chat window with T, and type whatever you want your character to say into it. If you want your character to perform an emote, press M. If you want to whisper, press T and put a plus sign (+) in front of your text.
• How do I accept an item? Right-click on the person you are offering or being given an item by. You have to have an empty hand to do so, naturally.
• How do I swap hands? A few common actions, like swapping between your hands and sprinting, are unbound by default. Rebind them!
• How do I sleep? Stand on top of a bed, drag your sprite to the bed, then click on the shutters around your eye icon to close your eyes. Eventually, you’ll fall asleep. To wake up, click on the shutters to open them.
• How do I point? Control-click on whatever you want to point at.
• How do I wave at someone? Right-click their sprite while on touch intent. Other intents will make you perform various gestures at them, such as shaking your fist, taunting them, etc.
• How do I take something from a bundle? Right-click the bundle.

Intents and Special Actions

When you’re holding an object, 1, 2, 3, and 4 will cycle through intents. These aren’t always intents like base SS13, but rather each intent changes what action you do with an object, and these vary depending on the object. Not all objects have different intents, with some only having one.

Special actions are by default cycled through with H, J, K, and L. These special actions are biting, jumping, kicking, and stealing. By default, you click the middle mouse button to perform the special actions.

Some very important actions for Stonekeep specifically are Yielding and Sneaking. Yielding is what signals to an attacker you are surrendering. You’ll lie down immediately and a little white flag will pop up over your character. Sneaking allows you to wander the wilderness relatively unmolested– you won’t trigger random encounters if you’re sneaking while in the wild.

Combat Stances are your fighting style. Your chosen stance affects both your combat and your non-combat actions.

• Feint stance lets you right click attack and knock the opponent off balance if they are parrying.
• Weak is your training/torture stance; you can't crit. Weak stance is also essential for surgery.
• Defend increases your ability to dodge or parry and removes the time delay between defenses.
• Swift shortens your action delay in and out of combat letting you do things faster.
• Strong increase your strength by 1 for actions while using more stamina.
• Aimed increases your accuracy and lets you hit specific parts easier.

Naturally, when you’re getting into a fight, press the Combat button. If your combat button is off while you are fighting, you won’t defend yourself at all, and you’ll die!

Surviving Your First Round

There are a couple roles that can suit a new player’s first round, depending on your confidence. It's generally recommended against going Drifter on your first round, as you usually spawn far away from the town in the wilderness and have a tendency to die.

• Towner: If you’d like to get more involved in the town, this is the role for you. Wander around, help out with farming or cooking, and maybe even learn the art of the anvil.
• Princess/Prince: Be a clueless young noble. Ask a bunch of questions. Watch the king and queen do important stuff. You have even less expectations than a Towner, if that's possible.
• Beggar: Be a gutter wretch; try to steal things, do drugs, and basically be cut out for getting strung up in the dungeons or dying. Remember to abide by the rules regardless.

Once you’ve picked your role, you can either ready up or late-join. If you late-join, you'll likely spawn on a boat or in the docks; just find your way out of the room, and follow the path to the Town of Rockhill.

Now, let’s get a few other basics out of the way…

• I’m thirsty. The best bet to replenish your thirst is at a well or a river. A well will usually have a bucket next to it, but a river can be directly drunk from using the Bite intent. Fill a nearby bucket, then click the Feed intent and then click on yourself with the bucket hand highlighted. Drink until your thirst is gone.
• I’m hungry. You can dig through bushes to have a chance of finding jackberries, which you can eat to replenish your hunger. Be careful, though; there are two colours of jackberries in any given round, and one of them will poison you. Someone might know in town which one is poisonous and which isn’t, so you should ask around.
  • You can also go to the Skullcrack Inn to ask for some food and drink. If you don’t have any zennies, the in-game money, you can offer some work in exchange for food. Or steal it, it’s up to you.
• I’m hurt! Find a bed, lie down, and go to sleep. You’ll heal up the injury very quickly! Or you can ask the Feldsher, whose office is just south of the Skullcrack Inn, for some help.
  • If you want to bandage bleeding on a body part, you’ll need to take off your clothes and put some cloth on that body part.
• Zizo. Every so often, some monsters will randomly spawn from bone piles or goblin portals on the map. This is an omen of Zizo. Don’t get too close unless you want to get hurt.

Other than that, feel free to wander around, ask for stuff to do, roleplay with people, or jump into the moat and drown. Really, it’s up to you. Have fun!