AQ: Jaern is a tabletop role-playing game system that evolved during a 40+ year (and still going!) campaign. The main mover behind the system was Dan Lawrence. While it's specifically made and tuned for PFC settings, AQ: Jaern is free to use by anyone for any campaign they may desire to run.
The Purdue Fantasy Club uses an updated version of the manual and has gone in a slightly different direction than Dan. Our changes (against this version) are available and we have incorporated them into our own version of the manual (with permission).
At meetings and in the club Discord, you'll meet a good few of our club officers. These people help keep PFC running, and fulfill various duties from community management to balancing of the game system.
Leaders of PFC, our executive branch is in charge of communication and PR with not only the rest of club, but with Purdue. If you ever have a question or complaint regarding social matters in club, scheduling, etc. the President and VP are the ones to ask.
In charge of everything monetary for club. The Treasurer has the duty of running club fundraisers, managing any incoming donations, and taking care of purchases of club-owned materials. They also manage the Excalibur library system for said club-owned materials.
Along with the appointed Approvals Board which they head, the Rules Coordinator is in charge of the manual and all club-balancing/mechanical matters. Approvals is also in charge of reviewing and approving all magic items. One of the more strenuous jobs in club, be nice to them.
Heading the appointed Story Board, the Story Coordinator manages all collaborative campaigns (for example, the yearly Newbie Campaign) and is in charge of creating and documenting in-universe lore for PFC. Story Board also has the responsibility of updating this website with things such as the correct game date and new historical events.
AQ is the product of years of PFC's hard work, and is sort of our collective baby at this point. Janky as it may be, it's something precious and unique to us, and in many ways is the heart and soul of this club. We do encourage people to explore systems, though; it's pretty common for D&D, Call of Cthulhu, or various other games to start up with club members!
Much like other systems might refer to “levels”, a rate in AQ is an approximate measure of your character's experience and strength. It's calculated by dividing the current total EXP your character has by 2,500. Characters below ~rate 35 are considered low-rate, from 35-100 mid-rate, and 100+ high rate or legendary.
However, things like magic items, team compositions, and specific situations can muddy this number; with the help of some powerful items and a favorable situation a rate 32 character can easily outperform a rate 60 character.
There's a channel within the Discord called #game-listings, where GMs will periodically post game hooks with details on the adventure and how to sign up. Usually, if you find one you're interested in with open spots, tag the GM (usually in the #game-text channel or a thread attached to the game listing itself) and let them know you want on! Any in-club game can be joined by any in-club character, with the only restrictions lying around legendary-rate characters.
First, make an account in the Admin Section of the website with an email and password. The website tends to glitch out accounts made with Gmail addresses, so try and avoid that if possible. Then, navigate to “Magic Item Database” and search the unique code for your item!
It's recommended to keep a personal log of your magic items on your character sheet, in case anything happens to the website, or if you need to play offline.
PLEASE DO! This club's beauty is that every person contributes a little to the collective lore and story. Just check over whatever you make with a GM to make sure there's no conflicts, write it down, and pass it over to the Story Board - soon enough, it'll appear on this wiki and become canon!
CHRs are magic item codes that refer to details on specific characters. It's recommended to make one around the mid-rate (~rate 35) mark, to keep track of any special abilities or Mutates your character might gain. You can also list out the other magic items your character owns in their CHR listing. Write up the text, and then ask any GM to submit it on your behalf!
Elections occur at the end of each academic year. While the positions of Vice President and Treasurer are open for anyone who has been in club at least one year, the other positions require one to have been in club for two years. When election season comes by, just nominate yourself and campaign!
At the end of each winter break, re-appointments for Approvals and Story occur. Forms will be posted by the relevant Coordinators, asking why you want to be on the board and what your qualifications are, and the coordinator will then choose a group of people to serve on the board with them. There is no time requirement to be on either board; though rare, freshmen can serve on both.