TAKING ACTION
Characters do lots of things. They jump chasms, they negotiate with native leaders, they
decipher strange inscriptions on the ruins of D'ni outposts, etc. Doing things is what
Unwritten is all about. Now, most of what a character does is not all that interesting.
They are not particularly difficult things to do. Nor are they points of drama in the
character's story. Even when they need to be commented on, characters just do them.

In Unwritten, much of what characters do just happens if it makes sense. If it doesn't
make sense, it doesn't happen. This is a call made by the people around the table, with the
GM as moderator of the discussion. That's not to say that every action needs to be
reviewed by committee; but everyone at the table should feel free to bring up relevant
points at appropriate times.

However, there are times when the stakes are higher. At these times, the character can
still succeed, but potential failure is interesting. Even more so, what a person is willing to
do to ensure success is interesting and a dramatic moment for the character and the
player. In these cases, Unwritten uses a action roll.

An action roll not only determines if a character is successful or not. The roll also
determines the cost of success; how much the character has to push, or how much success
will complicate the character's life. In some cases, the player has the option of turning a
failure into a success for a price.

Sidebar: When should I roll?
When considering a roll, you should consider the following questions:

Is the action is a reasonable action for the character to perform?
If the action is impossible, or just too improbable, then it doesn't happen.

Is this an action that deserves dramatic attention?
Unwritten is a game about story and drama. Some things the characters want to
do may be difficult. However, they may not be interesting. Stopping to roll the
dice may interrupt the flow of gameplay unnecessarily. Or maybe failure or the
cost of success will just have little effect on the flow of the story. If it doesn't
really matter, then let the player have the action and move on.

Is failure an interesting option?
Sometimes failure is just boring. Maybe failing here just stops gameplay
completely to no effect. There's no need to have the characters standing around
and the players stumped. If you are in a situation where a character fails and a
player would just decline to pay a price for success and ask to roll again, then it
may not be worth making the player roll in the first place. However, if failure
might lead to the characters making different choices or open up other avenues
for drama, a roll could be a good idea.
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Could paying a price for success be interesting?
Some things the characters are just going to succeed at eventually. The master
cat burglar will eventually figure out how to get past the ancient D'ni security
system - it's what they do. However, what it takes to do that and what effects it
has is a place ripe for drama. A roll can take advantage of that.

Is the action being actively opposed?
Any time two (or more) people are working against each other, we have drama.
Both failure and the price of success have ramifications, so rolling the dice
makes sense.

BUILDING STORIES
Scenes
A scene is a unit of game time lasting anywhere from a few minutes to a half hour or more, during which the players try to achieve a goal or otherwise accomplish something significant in a scenario. Taken together, the collection of scenes you play through make up a whole session of play, and by extension, also make up your chapters, books, and campaigns.
So you can look at it as the foundational unit of game time, and you probably already have a good idea of what one looks like. It's not all that different from a scene in a movie, a television show, or a novel--the main characters are doing stuff in continuous time, usually all in the same space. Once the action shifts to a new goal, moves to a new place related to that goal, or jumps in time, you're in the next scene.
As a GM, one of your most important jobs is to manage the starting and ending of scenes. The best way to control the pacing of what happens in your session is to keep a tight rein on when scenes start and end--let things continue as long as the players are all invested and enjoying themselves, but as soon as the momentum starts to flag, move on to the next thing. In that sense, you can look at it as being similar to what a good film editor does--you "cut" a scene and start a new one to make sure the story continues to flow smoothly.
Starting Scenes
When you're starting a scene, establish the following two things as clearly as you can:
What’s the purpose of the scene?
This question is super-important, because the more specific your scene's purpose, the easier it is to know when the scene's over. A good scene revolves around resolving a specific conflict or achieving a specific goal--once the PCs have succeeded or failed at doing whatever they are trying to do, the scene's over. If your scene doesn't have a clear purpose, you run the risk of letting it drag on longer than you intended and slow the pace of your session down.
Most of the time, the players are going to tell you what the purpose of the scene is, because they're always going to be telling you what they want to do next as a matter of course. So if they say, "Well, we're going search the abandoned DRC office to see if they left any information behind," then you know the purpose of the scene--it's over when the PCs either get the dirt, or get into a situation where it's impossible to get the dirt.
Sometimes, though, they're going to be pretty vague about it. If you don't have an intuitive understanding of their goals in context, ask questions until they state things directly. So if a player says, "Okay, I'm going to the Guild pub to meet with my contact," that might be a little vague--you know there's a meeting, but you don't know what it's for. You might ask, "What are you interested in finding out? Have you negotiated a price for the information yet?" or another question that'll help get the player to nail down what he's after.
Also, sometimes you'll have to come up with a scene's purpose all on your own, such as the beginning of a new chapter, or the next scene following a cliffhanger. Whenever you have to do that, try going back to the story questions you came up with earlier and introducing a situation that's going to directly contribute to answering them. That way, whenever it's your job to start a scene, you're always moving the story along.
What interesting thing is just about to happen?
This second question is just as important--you want to start a scene just before something interesting is going to take place. TV and movies are especially good at this--usually, you're not watching a particular scene for more than thirty seconds before something happens to change the situation or shake things up.
"Cutting in" just before some new action starts helps keep the pace of your session brisk and helps hold the players' attention. You don't want to chronicle every moment of the PCs leaving their room at the inn to take a twenty-minute walk across town to the Guild pub--that's a lot of play time where nothing interesting happens.
If you get stumped by this question, just think of something that might complicate whatever the purpose is or make it problematic. You can ask the players leading questions to help you figure out the interesting thing that's about to happen.
Ending Scenes
You can end scenes the way you start them, but in reverse: as soon as you've wrapped up whatever your scene's purpose was, move on, and shoot for ending the scene immediately after the interesting action concludes.
This is an effective approach mainly because it helps you sustain interest for the next scene. Again, you see this all the time in good movies--a scene will usually end with a certain piece of action resolved, but also with a lingering bit of business that's left unresolved, and that's where they cut to next.
A lot of your scenes are going to end up the same way. The PCs might win a conflict or achieve a goal, but there's likely something else they're going to want to do after--talk about the outcome, figure out what they're going to do next, etc.
Instead of lingering at that scene, though, suggest that they move on to a new one, which helps answer one of the unresolved questions from the current scene. Try to get them to state what they want to do next, and then go back to the two questions for starting scenes above--what's the purpose of the next scene, and what's the next bit of interesting action to come? Then dive right into that.
The one time you should exhibit restraint is if it's clear that the players are really, really enjoying their interactions. Sometimes people just want to yammer and jaw in character, and that's okay as long as they're really into it. If you see interest starting to flag, though, take that opportunity to insert yourself and ask about the next scene.

WELCOME TO THE D'NIVERSE
Our story begins far back in history. It is about eight thousand years before the birth of Christ. It's a busy time in history, but humanity still has a lot of work ahead of it. The plow has yet to be invented. The ancient culture of Sumeria is still about four millennia away. The Great Pyramid of Giza, the oldest of the seven wonders of the ancient world, won't be constructed for another 5500 years.
What the history books do not tell you is that around this time, a small group of refugees called the D'ni fled the destruction of their home, Garternay, to settle in the ancient Americas. There they established the city of D'ni.
Garternay was like no place on Earth. This is because it was no place on Earth. Garternay is another planet, in another dimension. And to understand your journey into D'ni, you need to understand how the D'ni got from there to here. They called it the Art.
Linking
Creation is, in fact, a multiverse. The universe that we know is just one of many. There are an infinite number of universes out there in what the D'ni called Terokh Jeruth, or the Great Tree of Possibilities.
The branches of the Great Tree are called Ages. Each Age is a discrete universe, a section of reality that is wholly independent of other Ages. An Age has its own galaxies, stars and planets. The variety of what exists among the Ages is staggering. If there ever was a possibility of something existing, there is an Age somewhere on the Great Tree that has it. While the basic laws of physics apply across the Ages, an Age can be filled with things that push the limits of possibility. An Age can have a world where the forces of erosion have miraculously carved mountains into the shapes of giants. Or a world where crystals grow on trees, and diamonds can be dug up from the dirt by the handful.
The Art of Writing
The secret to exploring these universes is the Art of Writing. The Art is a discipline that bridges the gap between various branches of the Great Tree. It allows new Ages to be discovered and allows travel between different Ages.
Writing an Age takes a special combination of book, ink and writing. Books and ink must be specially manufactured. In one of these blank books, a skilled Writer uses a special set of symbols called gahro-hevtee. These symbols describe exact concepts in relationship to an environment. The Writer uses them to describe the Age that they are looking for. The book creates a link to a universe that fits the description and becomes a gateway to that universe. An individual only has to open the book, place their hand on the page, and they are taken there.
Writers spend years or even decades learning these symbols, understanding their consequences and how they interact. A poorly written book may describe an Age that has internal forces that are mutually exclusive. Once the link is made, the conflicting forces will continue on their courses and resolve themselves, sometimes in cataclysmic ways. There have been a few cases where the conflict has been so severe that it tore apart the very fabric of the Age itself.
Because the complexity of even a single environment on a single planet in an Age is incredibly vast, one can only describe an Age either in broad strokes, or specific things. Unexpected consequences of a Writer's description are common, and it's the mark of a true genius who can Write an Age with these in mind. Additionally, the link leads to a specific Age that fits what has been written, but has no sway over what it does not describe. What else is in that Age is completely unknown until it is explored.
Once an Age has been linked to, a Writer can travel to the Age and write smaller linking books that lead to a specific place in that Age. Linking books provide portable gateways to Ages. A well-stocked library can lead to dozens of different worlds.
D'ni
Our own universe is just one Age among many. But it occupies a place of special significance on the Great Tree. What makes our Age special has nothing to do with humanity, however. Around 10 millennia ago, the D'ni settled into caverns deep beneath the surface of the New Mexico desert. From there, the masters of the Art of Writing linked to countless Ages and ruled an empire that stretched across reality.
In the late 1800s, the D'ni civilization came to an abrupt end, wiped out by a biological weapon wielded by D'ni terrorists. Survivors spread out into the Ages, but the city of D'ni stood empty for over a century.
The Deep City Breathes
In the late 1980s, the city was re-discovered. A crew of experts formed the D'ni Restoration Council (DRC) to quietly research and restore the D'ni. They began to unearth the long history of the D'ni people, and decipher the strange technologies they found there. They began to explore the Art, and the Ages that the D'ni left behind.
When the 21st century rolled around, the DRC was suddenly not alone. Hundreds of people from all over the world felt an inexplicable 'call' to the New Mexico desert. They found a message there from Yeesha, the greatest Writer to have ever lived, and a descendant of both D'ni and humanity. She sent them on a journey through the Ages that exposed them to the pride and folly of the ancient civilization. At the end, they found themselves in the D'ni city itself.
These 'called', who referred to themselves as explorers, began to set down roots in the D'ni caverns. They pushed the DRC for more information on the D'ni and for more access to the Cavern and the Ages. When the DRC had to abandon their work in D'ni due to a lack of funds, the explorers remained. The explorers began to view themselves as the new D'ni people.
The Bahro
Yeesha's journey revealed one of D'ni's dark secrets: the Bahro, a non-human race that the D'ni quietly used as slaves. The Bahro survived the end of D'ni civilization, but were still in bondage somehow. The DRC denied that they existed, but explorers reported glimpses of them from time to time. Their characteristic screams echoed randomly throughout the Cavern. It was said that they could link without linking books. They left artifacts that acted like linking books, for reasons no one could determine.
Several years ago, things changed. The Bahro were freed from their bonds. An extreme faction of Bahro began a war against everything D'ni or associated with D'ni. They darkened the sky over surviving D'ni settlements. They swarmed the air above the D'ni city. The only thing that stood between them and their revenge were the other Bahro, who were sympathetic to those who now filled D'ni.
Dr. Watson, former head of the DRC, told explorers that he and Yeesha were unable to find anything in the D'ni Ages that would stop the war. He said it was up to the explorers to write new Ages to see if they could find a solution. Yeesha drew off the aggressive Bahro into the Ages in hopes of distracting them from the explorers and D'ni itself.
The Ending Has Not Been Written
The explorers in the Cavern have been holding their collective breath for years now. Yeesha's ploy to draw off the Bahro seems to have worked. But no one has heard from her since then, and there is no telling when the Bahro might come back. The DRC abandoned the Cavern, and many explorers have followed their lead. Those that remain behind have been struggling with the question on everyone's mind: what now?
The Deep City Endures
The skeleton of a new society has begun to grow. Those who have remained behind have clustered into small groups that have claimed neighborhoods in the city. Some are happy to cooperate; others just want to be left alone. A number of successful cottage industries have popped up that focus on supporting the explorers by ferrying in food and supplies. One enterprising explorer has made a killing on porta-potty rentals.
The scientifically inclined feel D'ni should be handled like any archaeological site. They push for D'ni to be in the hands of trained professionals who can research, catalog and explore properly. Those who hold this opinion tend to see fellow explorers as either potential labor, or as annoying children.
Some have taken the lessons they see in Yeesha's Journey to heart. They feel that D'ni civilization fell to its own corruption and pride more than anything else. They see the restoration as a spiritual one, in which they can rebuild D'ni as it should have been. Adherents to this philosophy have an avid interest in the Bahro, as the symbolic victim of ancient D'ni.
Others are intent on 'going native'. They are fascinated by D'ni culture and history and see it as something better than the surface world. They have adopted D'ni (or D'ni-sounding) names and have arranged their lives so that they can spend as much time as possible in D'ni. They scour the city for any evidence of D'ni culture to emulate.
Finally, some are just looking for a new life on their own terms. D'ni is a way for them to start over.
Meanwhile, back on the surface...
All of this has been happening beneath our world while life marches on. Many explorers continue to participate in their 'surface lives'. They work, get the kids to school, pay the bills, etc. But they go back to D'ni when they can, living double lives. Their families and friends may or may not know about their adventures in caverns deep in the earth (and even if they know, they may not believe them). As long as they have their books, they can get to D'ni from anywhere.
Locals in New Mexico are either in the know, or are a little bewildered by the sudden increase of new residents and a constant stream of tourists with an avid interest in archeology. Explorers use the Internet to organize and have formed close-knit communities in several cities. They have worked hard to maintain the secret, but there is always a trickle of new explorers who are 'called' in the same way the originals were, or shown D'ni by people who have been there.
Brave New Worlds
The future of D'ni is where its wealth has always been: in the Ages. Endless worlds are available. Several Ages are readily available in D'ni, rediscovered and left behind by the DRC. Yeesha left Ages behind from her 'journey' as well. The DRC discovered several Ages that they deemed too dangerous to explore or not worth the effort. New explorers may feel differently about these areas. Much of the D'ni cavern lies unexplored, and a previously undiscovered Age is the Holy Grail for many an explorer.
There is no lack of 'living space' on the Great Tree of Possibilities. With the Ages open to them, explorers literally have as much space as they need for any idea that they can think of. Social experiments of all sorts become viable in the right Age. Agrarian eco-friendly societies could settle in a wilderness Age and specifically work to live in harmony with the environment. Dreamers can attempt to build utopias in the ruins of long-lost civilizations.
For the researchers, the D'ni have left hidden treasures in every Age they visited. The D'ni used their Ages for everything and built things to last stretches of time that boggle the human imagination. D'ni colonies and outposts have sat untouched for literally millennia. No one knows what the D'ni may have left in a remote Age outpost.
Beyond that, the sheer amount of resources available through the Ages is staggering. The D'ni generally wrote Ages with specific purposes in mind, so almost every Age has some sort of useful resource. Enterprising explorers could easily find an endless supply of natural treasures to collect or harness into the next big thing for humanity.
Finally, those that remain in D'ni have inherited the Art and have slowly been deciphering it. They have begun to make their own forays into branches of the Great Tree, in Ages written to their own specifications.

Not all Ages are uninhabited, either. In existing Ages, there may be civilizations of all levels of development that remember the D'ni. Given how the D'ni regarded natives as inferior, they may not be remembered fondly. Explorers mistaken for D'ni may find they get a hostile reception, or be treated as returning gods. In those Ages which have never had visitors from other Ages, explorers will find themselves in 'first contact' situations, dealing with locals with unknown languages and unfamiliar expectations.