Enchanted Realms
“It’s all in the cards!”

Dear Reader: August 12, 208

Enchanted Realms began in 2000 as a project to help me learn Microsoft Access, then became a way to make roleplaying
simpler, easier and lighter. As these ideals and the game evolved, I saw the potential for making “my million”, and for
changing the landscape of the roleplaying games market. While there are plenty of CCG’s, like Magic The Gathering, which
focus on being collectible, I feel that Enchanted Realms succeeds at merging true roleplaying with card play. I have watched
the market over the years, looking for signs that the roleplaying community was ready to accept what I had to offer. The signs
are there. Numerous attempts have been made to do what I have done. The closest being Knights of the Dinner Table and
DragonStorm. Yet, even the creators of these games were unable to let go of the control that the CCG industry seems to base
its marketing stratagem. There is a reluctance to relinquish control over the imaginative process during game play; it is that
which limits the scope and potential of these and other games. But I found a way to not only encourage players to use their
imaginations, but require it of them. Enchanted Realms makes the statement that gamers can be mature and take responsibility
for the creative process that is roleplaying.

I feel the mechanics of Enchanted Realms are solid and balanced. They facilitate random action resolution, support
storytelling, and encourage proactive use of the imagination. Not only does the game obtain these ideals, it does so with
minimal usage of rules and equipment. The entire set of rules can be found within this document. The only equipment needed
to create and play adventures are a few decks of Enchanted Realms cards, a few tokens, and pen and paper for taking notes. I
feel that this minimalistic approach to structuring a game system is a selling point. Just think: an entire roleplaying adventure
within a single deck of 100 cards! No dice, no library of books, no laborsome forms to maintain – just cards. The focus of
marketing is not meant to be collecting and trading cards, though that will no doubt happen, but to provide a dynamic and
expandable roleplaying game system in a small package.

So why am I putting this out to the world, free for anyone to take an use as they wish?

Well, I came upon a stumbling block: the artwork. I think we can all agree that successful artwork is vital to any game
based on cards. All this time, I could neither produce the artwork I could see in my head nor figure out a way to obtain the art
without significant investment. Even producing enough images to create a demo deck with which to approach a publisher was
more than my resources could handle.

And so it is, that after nearly 8 years, I have decided that I have kept this truly fantastic idea away from the world for too
long. With the devolution of Dungeons and Dragons, and the state of excess that d20 has created, the market is ready for
something fresh, something with a new look and feel, something that raises the bar for role-players.

Dear Reader, if, after reading this document, you feel that you can play a part in bringing this game system to the world,
then I hope you will. Though I still cringe at the thought of passing on a fortune that I am sure is tied to the final product of my
work, I cringe even more at the thought that the gaming populace might never benefit from the same. Still, I might ask that if
you do make your millions by bringing out my work for the world to enjoy, that you might consider sending me a small bit. At
the very least I should dearly like a deck or two of the finished product.

You may have noticed that I have placed a copyright on this document. This is only to establish my right as originating
author to grant you license to use the contents as you see fit, with the exception that I maintain that I may continue to use the
contents of this document as I wish. I make no claim on what anyone else might futher produce as a result of using the material
under this copyright. The last 15 pages show a rough version of how I envision the cards would look. Together they are the test
deck of an adventure that I used as a model. I claim authorship of the card layout and concept ONLY; there are many images
therein that belong to others. I borrowed them for personal reference only.

If you wish to learn more about what lies behind the Enchanted Realms system, I have all of my original computer files,
including an Access database with card statistics and data, which I will share if you can show true intent to further my work. I
will also be more than happy to discuss all of my unrecorded ideas surrounding the development of the game so far. I can be
contacted by email at mrmike65@hotmail.com


Sincerely,
Michael Downey
© 2000-2008 Michael Downey

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