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Olam docs

How Olam works, from your first lesson to the night you run a game.

These pages explain Olam the way I'd explain it to a friend who's sitting next to me. I'll cover what each screen is for, what the buttons do, and how learning the game and building a world fit together. If you're new, read What is Olam? first, which gives you the whole picture in a few minutes, and then Install. If you'd like to look around before you install anything, the demo at stuffs.tiresia.xyz/olam has the lessons and the wiki, with nothing to sign in to.

Basically, the first three pages are for anyone, the middle ones are for using it, and the last two groups are for running your own copy and changing the code.

Getting started

  • What is Olam? — what it does, the screens, and what works where
  • Install — with Docker, without Docker, and on your phone
  • A first evening with Olam — the order I'd do things in, from the first lesson to a world of your own

Learning the game

  • Learn: the Road — the 18 stops, the four steps of a lesson, Review, the Atlas of Rules, and notes in your own words
  • The Codex and wiki pages — searching everything at once, the hub page for a monster or a rule, and reading the archives
  • Ask and the AI — rules answers with sources, summaries, the AI Game Master, and interviewing your characters
  • Where it all comes from — the six shelves, every source and its license, and your own books

Building your world

  • Your vault — setting it up, the folders, the six Obsidian plugins, and what Olam writes
  • Map and People — pins on your map, places, the people in your world, their ties and their secrets
  • The Table — an encounter and your party, initiative, HP and conditions, and the players' screen for the TV

Running your own copy

  • Your own server — the settings, the commands, keeping it running, the demo, updates and backups
  • Olam for Android — the phone app, and how to build it

Under the hood

  • How it's made — the code, how a lesson is written, and checking a change

Something wrong, or missing?

If something doesn't work for you, or you'd like a lesson or a source added, open an issue and I'll take a look.