Universalis is a bit of an odd duck. The literal answer to your question is "it depends on the players". A more detailed answer means describing a little of how the game works. No initial setting No initial characters No proprietary characters at all Few initial rules. No game master All these aspects (save game master) are determined as part of initial play, as are initial introduction of initial setting characters. Players have the ability to determine facts about the consensual reality, and the game. Their ability is limited by game coins which are limited resource - but you can gain new coins by participating in the construction of the ongoing plot. The more you advance the plot-line, characters, etc., the more coins you earn, and the more power you have to influence the construction of the "reality". For more detailed reviews/explanations, check out here: <a href="http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/10/10384.phtml" rel="nofollow">http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/10/10384.phtml</a> The setting and the atmosphere are - then - whatever evolves as a synergy between elements that the players introduce. Eventually the setting settles down, story characters are fleshed out, and "scenes" are pitched, and played out - and as they are played out, new facts about characters and places are established, and control of story elements can change hands. Control of any story elements (characters, places, organizations, philosophies, items, etc.) are all "purchasable", and proposed "Facts" about the world can be challenged, and even bid on (how badly do you really want that facet of reality to be part of the game? How badly does another player want to exclude it?). You might "purchase" and control one, or a few, characters, and hold onto them for the whole game - but odds are that control of characters will move around, as people steer characters to add elements to the story that they want. Settings can be really unique, and it can be a fun challenge for players to try and mix what appears initially to be a bizarre set of initial circumstances into a reasonable and coherent setting. Player A: (tossing in a coin) "Post apocalyptic zombie setting" Player B: (tossing in a coin) "In ancient Sumeria" Player C: (tossing in a coin) "Aliens visiting Earth" Player A: "Uhh... what?" But eventually they settle down playing out a setting where fugitive aliens, whose technology is purely biologically based, flee their dying world, and arrive (secretly) on Earth in 4500 B.C., and whose technology accidentally causes re-animation of the dead in ancient Sumer, causing massive chaos and strife in the ancient Mesopotamian civilization. The prist-king Enferu tries to hold the city of Akhad together, while trying to deal with the horrifying plague of the dead, while the evil cult of Nerferu tries to wrest religious control from the god-king's priesthood (secretly working with the Ursoid aliens to halt the zombie horror), and the rival city state of Erfendu threatens to "purge" the "accursed" lands of Akhad to prevent the Gods' curse from spreading to their lands .... It can be a lot of fun, and very creative.
