Game Expectations

In general, for themes and content, It's Always Sunny in Brancalonia is suitable for players aged 13 and over.

Themes

Low Magic
Many rules and aspects of this setting speak for themselves: the Kingdom is a place where prodigious and supernatural events can be commonplace, but the level of magic and power available to ordinary people and characters is usually very low. Some Knaves will have formulas and prayers to use from time to time, but only their ingenuity, practical skills, and cunning plans will lead to the successful conclusion of their jobs.

Light-Hearted Tone
The setting of Brancalonia is deliberately roguish, raffish, daft, and gross. Many characters are caricatures; many of the situations are paradoxical or contain humorous elements. By this, I don’t mean that the game should be demented – quite the contrary! – but the recommended approach is light-hearted, ironic, and even somewhat foul-mouthed. Brancalonia’s characters never take themselves – or, for that matter, life, death, religion, or love – too seriously.

Tragedy and Comedy
One of the characteristics of Italian fantasy is a tragicomic approach to the great themes and dilemmas of life: as in their films and genre books, however bitter, life must be faced with a smile; though your head might be on the block, you’ll have a parting joke for the executioner about to chop your noggin off; “Hey, Blond! You know what you are? Just a dirty son-of-a-b-!”

Hoe and Sword
Daily life in the Kingdom is based on the trivial toil of peasants and fishermen, artisans and merchants, ambulants and shepherds, around which swarms a malnourished population of big shots, clergymen, men of arms, notables, beggars, charlatans, entertainers, and barkers.

Likelihood
The regions making up the Kingdom strive to be plausible in their social, economic, juridical, warfaring, naturalistic, and cultural aspects. This does not mean that the Kingdom is a realistic or historically accurate place. However, every move in the game and every character’s reaction should be based mainly on criteria of verisimilitude and internal consistency.

Brawly Fantasy
As you will learn, brawling has a place of honor in Brancalonia. As in the best Italian genre films, fist fights, slaps, and whacks are crucial in many of the jobs. Brawl rules are used to recreate that feisty atmosphere while ensuring that the fights in which your characters find themselves involved don’t end up in bloodbaths.

Grand Guignolesque
Some areas of Brancalonia are great for playing extreme, grand guignolesque, grimdark, horror, macabre, and paradoxical fantasy. We are talking about Penumbria, where the level of violence and horror is much higher than in the rest of the Kingdom: here, Brawly Fantasy quickly becomes Gutting Fantasy.

Content

Violence in the Game
In the imaginary Bounty Kingdom, weapons are used, and animals and people are injured and beaten, but I do not recommend indulging unnecessarily in brutal situations or descriptions. Many opponents and enemies can simply be defeated, captured, or put to flight without detracting from the game’s dynamics of combat, magic, and adventure. Killing or torturing other individuals, even in self-defense, subjects Knaves to Kingdom Justice and increases Bounties on their heads. Even among Bounty Brothers, there are precise codes of conduct for those who shed or want to shed the blood of guards, other Knaves, or common people. And those who overstep the mark risk becoming Infamous or falling prey to Royal Bounty agents.

Sexual Themes
Hot, lovelorn, romantic, and raffish clichés are welcome in Brancalonia, but the focus of the game is adventures and fantastic quests.

Discrimination and Parochialism
In a world where talking mice, omnipotent fairies, devils from Inferno, and foul-mouthed marionettes exist, every single character’s ethnicity, race, class, profession, background, origin, language, culture, gender, religion, socio-economic status, sexual orientation, and food preference – even the weirdest – is accepted with a shrug. Any commoner, bandit, or noble who meets the Knaves will cover them in insults from head to toe, give them degrading epithets, and make fun of their traits and nature. Genuine hatred or contempt will have no part in this: it will all boil down to teasing and mockery, in the parochial spirit that reflects the nature of the Kingdom’s inhabitants. Neither justice, nor big shots, nor Bounty Brothers ever truly judge or discriminate against anyone for their appearance... at most they might do so for their conduct.

There will be no bigotry here! Here, you are ALL equally useless!

Only the intolerant, the arrogant, and those who give themselves airs and graces are truly discriminated against: in Brancalonia, such people are guaranteed to be mocked and teased far and wide.