A – Music Button. By default, the RPN plays background music associated with each encounter. Use this button to turn the music on and off.

B – Episode Title. The RPN content is divided into individual episodes, each designed to take about an hour to play and consisting of several dozen separate encounters. Episodes are always completed in order (beginning with “Coming of Age”).

C – Main Prose. A brief paragraph or two is displayed within the main prose area, descriptive text that introduces the encounter and gives the player context and meaning. This section represents the “novel” element within the RPN, and is always presented from the player’s point of view (first person narrative).

D – Option Buttons. Typically, each encounter will display three separate link buttons that the player can click, options that allow the player to specifically react to the encounter. Some options will result in a subset of actions that the player must engage with, such as combat with encountered creatures, meeting a shopkeeper or even playing a casino slot machine. Far more often, however, text results will be displayed (see “E” below) and the encounter will be resolved immediately. Don't forget to mouse over each button for details regarding the option!

E – Results Prose. Typically, once an encounter option button is clicked, prose-based results are displayed immediately below the buttons, describing the results of the choice made by the player. Hence, the results prose represents the consequences of the option for the player, and is unique to each encounter option presented.

F – Items Icon. Occasionally, an encounter will be resolved that results in the gain of wealth and/or items for the adventuring party. When this happens, the items icon will display and the player can roll over the icon to see what “goodies” have been acquired. Note that the player can access his item inventory at any time by clicking the “Items” tab in the upper right corner of the screen (see “K” below).

G – Status Update. Many encounters will change a hero/party attribute (such as body, mind, spirit or reputation), the results of which will be summarized and displayed as text within this location. Otherwise, simple messages or instructions regarding the status of the RPN may appear.

H – Next Encounter Button. Once the current encounter has been fully resolved, an arrow button will appear in the bottom right corner of the panel letting the player know that he can proceed to the next encounter. This is essentially a “next page” button in terms of the novel and will retrieve the next scenario content for the player. Note that when this button displays, clicking any other element within the interface (such as the map, party, items or lore tabs) will also force the RPN to proceed to the next encounter.

I – Map Tab. The first of four player tabs that form the right panel of the interface, the map tab will always display a graphic map representing the current episode, complete with relative positions of all encounter areas explored thus far. Such encounter areas are numbered within the map; when moused over, they display the name of the encountered place, and when clicked, details of the encountered place will display within the text field in the bottom right corner (see “N” below). Hence, the map tab is very useful in tracking where one has been throughout the episode and learning more about the individual places encountered.

J – Party Tab. Dedicated to the adventuring party in general, the party tab displays two sets of information. First, a “wealth” icon and number representing how financially successful the party has been is displayed, measured in “peld chips” (analogous to gold). A “reputation” icon is also displayed, along with a text-based reputation title (all players within the RPN begin as “Noob” and then have their reputation improve or degrade depending on how they resolve the many encounters throughout the episodes).

Second, a text-based grid of all heroes that form the current party (beginning with the player and then proceeding alphabetically) is then displayed, including name, body, mind and spirit scores. Clicking the hero’s name displays a brief description within the text box located directly below the party roster. Two actual numbers are displayed for each body, mind and spirit attribute; the first number represents the character’s current value, while the second number represents the maximum value (for example, a hero’s body text may read “34/50” indicating that out of 50 total body points assigned, the hero currently has 34 remaining). Try the lore tab (see “L” below) to learn more about creature body, mind and spirit.

K – Item Tab. To aid the adventuring party throughout its travels, a diversity of items are available throughout the RPN, objects that can heal, protect and otherwise serve the party. These items are all available via the items tab; simply select a particular item from the provided dropdown menu, and then either review the text description provided or click the “Use Item” link button to activate the item.

Note that items are not "equipped" by party heroes within the RPN. Rather, all items belong to the party in general, and when used, the RPN determines who will most benefit from the item. For example, there are no individual weapons, armor or shields within the RPN; those elements are presumed to be equipped (and, generally, the higher the body, mind and spirit scores, the better the weapons, armor and shields presumably carried). This greatly simplifies the RPN.

Instead, items are preprogrammed to behave in a certain way when used. For example, a typical potion of healing will affect the most wounded hero within an adventuring party, a scroll of mirror image will raise the defense of the entire party, and a caltrop used in battle will automatically affect a single random encountered creature. Items are typically gained upon the successful conclusion of certain encounters, but they can occasionally be purchased from a visited shopowner as well (usually allowed once per episode).

L – Lore Tab. The final player tab contains three separate dropdown menus that can be accessed at any time. The initial menu contains a listing of all general creature types that can be encountered (such as a wild pig, standard human or “undead” skeleton), the second menu contains a listing of all items currently available within the RPN, while the third menu contains a listing of general lore items, places, ideas and legends that are relevant to the Mairigan fantasy world. While any element of these three dropdown menus can be selected at any time, individual creature, item and lore elements are only available according to the most learned hero within the adventuring party (that is, the character with the highest mind score). For example, the party could learn about a fierce dragon through an encounter, but may not possess the mind score needed for the dragon creature type to appear within the creature dropdown menu.

M – Map Panel. An element of the map tab, this panel displays an actual map of the current episode, as introduced within the map tab description (“I”) above. Again, the map panel automatically displays individual encounter locations as they are discovered, and by clicking each location, a brief description of the area can be reviewed as well.

N – Location Panel. As indicated immediately above, this text panel is used to display the descriptions of selected encounter locations. Note that the party, item and lore tabs use a similar text box to display corresponding hero, item and lore element descriptions.