Battlemaster is a game that defies being labeled into any known genre. There is a whole world to explore, with real world decades of history, several layers of play to test your mettle against other players, and five rich maps to carve yourself a piece of. It is set in a low-fantasy middle-ages world where players take the role of nobles - from the humble knight to the most tyrannical king. While all players in Battlemaster play the same game, each player experiences and interacts with the world a little differently, making Battlemaster not just a game, but a complex web of player interaction, culminating in a grand story of heroes and villains, victory and defeat, as well as the occasional duck.

Roleplayers find themselves sucked into an expansive world, shaped from an ongoing history that dates over twenty real world years ago. Grand stories unfold regularly, created by the interactions and imaginations of players. Together, the roleplayers build the very foundations of the game world. Group roleplay, one on one roleplay, and even roleplaying by yourself to share with others is all supported in Battlemaster.

Those that are more strategically minded find themselves thrown into a challenging new way to PVP, where the army they command is real players with their own ideas - and the enemy is far more intelligent then any AI. Skills are put to the test - and only those generals that are willing to learn, and master, real leadership skills will shine through history and be remembered for years to come.

Some players find themselves drawn to something far more insidious, placing their characters' living and lives on the line to cross not swords, but words. Political guile is the quickest way to power in Battlemaster....and it's also the most dangerous. However, those that persevere in crossing words and making allies hold the true power.

Most players find themselves dabbling in all of these facets, although everyone has a favorite. Don’t despair if some of the above doesn’t actually appeal to you: part of why BattleMaster is so special is that you don't have to play every single part of the game make your mark on the world and have fun.

BattleMaster is also a game under active development. New features are being added and gameplay and balance are constantly tweaked to improve the game further. You can talk directly to the developers via the community's Discord server, or send an email to admin@battlemaster.org.

BattleMaster takes place in a world not unlike our own. It is a world with inhabited islands clustered within a vast, uncharted ocean. Many games only have one environment for you to interact with - BattleMaster has several unique islands to explore. There are currently five islands players can play on, each with its own history and special flavor. However, each island has the same base setting:

• Medieval: The world's technology and culture is based on the historical context of what our own world would have been around 1000 to 1400 A.D. There are a few key differences: here, there are no guns (there is poorly understood gunpowder), nor is sexism widespread - although there can be characters that have that weakness.
• Low fantasy: The world is grounded in reality, although magic and a few semi-mythological beings exist. The majority of gameplay is entirely set in realistic medieval times.
• Characters are nobility: All player characters are nobility, with everything that entails - your first character starts as a knight of a realm, who has given their oath to a Lord, Duke, and Ruler. Player characters can become more than a simple noble, rising the ranks to even be a King, Monarch, Consul, Tyrant, Speaker, or whatever the ruler in their realm happens to be. Once you've been playing for thirty days, you will be able to create adventurer characters, which are the only non-noble PCs. Adventurers are a small side-game in Battlemaster, with some limited influence on the world. They are peasants and should be treated as such.
• Human PCs: Players play characters that are plausibly realistic - player characters are all humans, have human names, and are not innately magical. There are no elf, sorcerer, nor werewolf player characters. We leave that to Gary's tabletop game. That's not to say characters cannot cause magical havoc - just that they cannot “just have” magic (see more on this on the rules page).

Battlemaster is a unique game, and unlike most games you’ve played before. While the game is mostly text-based, it is still designed to be lightweight enough to be played alongside your other activities during the day. Where other games have levels to clear or a button to advance a round, Battlemaster has two ‘turns’ each real world day. Other games might have a chat box or forum as a nice addon, but in Battlemaster, player interaction is a primary feature via the online/offline messaging system.

• Turns: Turn change happens twice a day during at the same time everyday, however the exact time for you depends on your time zone. Turns happen at 6:00 and 18:00 UTC (see above for the current server time). The turn is what changes the state of the game board. Each player chooses what they want their character to during a turn, and then the game "runs" all of the player actions, as well as various game-state changes at the same time at what we call "turn change". Because of this, player turns are simultaneous, even when they log in at different times. For example, if a player is logged in at 2pm UTC, and wants to travel to a different region, they would click the "travel" button in game, and then wait until 6pm UTC for the turn to run, which will make their chosen action (in this case, to travel) actually happen. This means players don't have to worry about those players who are 'always online' getting any mechanical advantage over them.
• Pace: One of the core principles of Battlemaster is that you can play at your own pace, as little as 15 minutes a day (or 5 if you are really in a hurry). Every button and feature added to the game reflects this: as well as several rules to prevent anyone from trying to bully other people into playing “all of the time”. Although you can spend more time on the game and delve deeply, many players simply log in once a day to catch up on the news, return received messages and preform actions.
• Messages: While the turns are twice a day, the message system in Battlemaster is instant. Messages sent to your character are all waiting for you for whenever you log in. Send rapid fire back-and-forth with a fellow player, or enjoy an easier pace a few times a week, it's up to you and your play style.
• Realms: Each Island has several realms for you to choose from. Each realm is a team of sorts, working together to achieve goals on the grander scale of the island. Every noble has their own goals, but only by working together can a realm dominate.
• Warfare: Realms' nobles fight against nobles from enemy realms in order to win wars. Cities are conquered, regions are defended, and blood is spilled in the name of honor, glory, culture, and power. Every noble can take part in forging alliances, conquering regions, destroying empires, and more in the ever changing landscape created by players, for players.

Battlemaster is not a video game, nor a roleplaying forum, but something in-between. Because of that, BattleMaster has a rather unique community environment.

• Large-Group Roleplaying: Our players are expected to treat each other as though we are all sitting at a beer-and-pretzels game table, or at a friendly off-season sports match. While in-character rivalries are common, players are not their characters - out of character, players have a good sense of sportsmanship with each other. BattleMaster's community supports each other out of character to protect the integrity of the game environment; no one can ever truly "win" BattleMaster. No character is the protagonist, and every character is important to the story.
• Friendly community: Most players in the community are always happy to help each other learn and grow as roleplayers, strategists, and/or leaders. When anyone has a question, help from the community and volunteers can be found in game, in the current out of character hangout space - Discord server, or email to help@battlemaster.org.
• Rules and Cheaters: BattleMaster has an incredibly diverse playerbase, from all over the world. Despite language barriers and cultural differences, we all agree to a set of rules detailing a common etiquette and general behaviours. These are our rules in full, which every player also agrees to upon making an account, as well as every time the rules are updated. Our community dislikes trolls, griefers, cheaters, and similar; players and the various volunteers cooperate on removing anyone that tries to abuse the game via our Titan system.

"I am amazed at this game. It is really a beauty of a design. It's fairly simple and straitforward yet generates a lot of depth. The name for that is art."

-- Mark Gerdes

"Amazing game, with room for all different types of gameplay. Military strategy and battle mechanics, for the thinkers and movers. Immersive roleplay for the creative. Fast-moving political intrigue for the lovers of drama and backstabbing. The option for slow- or fast-paced play, creating a space where people with any amount of time can play. And lastly, the community. I spend just as much time in-game as I do on Discord, talking with the players from around the world."

-- Mark Kaufmann

"This game turns a simple interface into the chance for players to create their own epic history together: I’ve been playing for nearly ten years now with no plans of stopping."

-- Patrick Wiley

"It's the most fun I've had playing a computer game, ever."

-- Aaron Bennett

"We all love BM as it's clearly the finest online game on the planet [...] never before have I played any game, every day - twice a day, for over a year. And it just gets better."

-- George Thompson

"This is a unique game experience [...] It is more fun than any video card intensive, processor sucking, bandwith hogging MMORPG out there."

-- David Wierbiki

"when your spouse hates the Cagilan Empire but has never played the game, you've got a problem"

-- Solari

"During my time playing Battlemaster I have been a Soldier, Husband, Father, Widower, husband and father again... This game is part of who I am now. If the game were to go to hell in a hand basket...I would be here playing. I do turn a little red in the face when my friends and Wife introduce me as Wilson, the King of Lukon...but I am used to it now."

-- Valast

"I'm studying political sciences and the game was introduced to me as a 'tool', a 'political simulation' to understand in practice how society, international relationships, internal affairs and the total of the political attributes function! And of course how some silly persons can spoil an effort of a whole realm-government! I have to admit that the game not only met my expectations but surpassed them by far!"

-- Julie Alexia

"I've been playing this game on and off for a long time, but each time I come back I'm consistently amazed at how closely certain institutions, feuds, and general interactions among characters mimic their real world counterparts. I work in government and have had a lot of exposure to power hierarchies and the like. Seeing the same dramas and plots evolve in a game has made it easier to understand the motives and relationships of various actors/individuals in the real world. It also got me thinking about all the possible parallels that could be drawn between the game world and the real world."

-- Aaron Champion

"I’ve watched the birth of Kingdoms, the deaths of Empires. I’ve laughed, I’ve cried, I’ve created masterpieces (and flops) and still play almost every day after starting over 20 years ago!"

-- James Marshall

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