The first step is to request from RSI a set-up for War of the Avatars. Contact RSI with your name and mailing address and tell us that you want to play War of the Avatars. If you want to participate in War of the Avatars with a few of your friends, it is important to request set-ups for all of the players in your group at the same time. Contact RSI with the names and mailing addresses for all players (in the same envelope) and mention that you all want to play together in a War of the Avatars campaign. You (and your friends) will receive Set-up Rules, a Set-up Status Report for your realm, and a First Turn Order Sheet.

If you want to join a campaign, read the Set-up Rules carefully. You can play your first turn after only reading the Set-up Rules (the Main Rules will be more useful for the second turn and on). Then look at your Set-up Status Report and figure out what you want to do on your first turn. Once all friends have filled out their Turn 1 Order Sheets, submit all the order sheets to us in the same envelope to guarantee placement in the same game. On the top of each Order Sheet, write "FRIENDS GAME" and the names of each member in the group of friends. (Example: if Bob Smith, Mark Jones, Gary White wanted to play in a game together, they would each write "FRIENDS GAME: Bob Smith, Mark Jones, Gary White" on the top of their Order Sheet.) Finally, these sheets should be either paper-clipped or stapled together to further insure that they get into the same game.

RSI places you in a brand-new campaign that is just starting up. As soon as the campaign is filled, the campaign starts and RSI processes the first turn.

Once a campaign is almost filled, the remaining positions are filled by players who choose the "Immediate" or "Standby" options. Immediate players get placed into a position in a new campaign but don't get to process first turn orders. To compensate for this, their realms begin with some extra gold to spend. The advantage of an Immediate set-up is that you don't have to wait for us to send you a Set-up Status Report--you get started playing right away. Immediate players also are not charged a set-up fee, and they get Turn 1 results at no charge.

Standby players can get put either into any position in a new campaign or in a good position in an existing campaign (these good positions crop up when a player has had to drop out for some reason, even though he or she was doing well in the game). Standby players also have the advantage of getting into a campaign right away and avoiding any fee for set-up and the first report they receive. Since Standby players are getting a late start and thus may be at a disadvantage, they are charged only 80% of the normal turn fee if the campaign they enter has already passed turn 4. Like Immediate players, Standby players don't get to submit orders for the first report they receive.

To be placed on the Standby list, send RSI a note with your account number and the number of Standby positions you want. To be placed on the Immediate list, send RSI a note with your account number and the number of Immediate positions you want. If we sent you this manual, then it means that you are already set up as a regular player. We just wanted you to know about the Immediate and Standby options for your future reference if you decide to join additional campaigns.

A player is dropped from a campaign if he or she misses two consecutive turns. If the now-vacant realm is in good shape, it is filled by the player at the top of the standby list. The realm receives an infusion of new gold to make up for any opportunities the new player might have missed.