Getting Started in the Forgotten Realms

[Mr_Rieper]

I've got a few friends who might be interested in trying out Arelith, and right now, I'm teaching them the basics of RP in World of Warcraft. I know some of you might regard the game with distaste, but for many, it's a comfortable environment to learn new things with friends, especially things as potentially awkward as trying RP for the first time.

My problem comes in is that it's easy to recommend Warcraft games for people to learn the lore, or watch a few videos on Youtube, maybe even read a few wiki pages. But when I try to transition them to NWN and Arelith, what can I recommend to them to read and/or watch to help them feel more comfortable on the server? For me, it was prior experience with games like Baldur's Gate that helped the most, but I can't tell them to go out and buy a game they might not even enjoy for a simple tutorial into the FR setting.

Of course the best option for them would be to get into a D&D group and play it on pen and paper. Unfortunately, this isn't always possible. So I'm hoping for some suggestions on how to introduce new players to Arelith. Maybe some recommended readings, simple (free) games that can be played or even a suggestion for a race that can be played on the server where the lack of knowledge about the setting can believably be RP'd.

Please, go wild with the suggestions. Anything that I can use as a tutorial for Forgotten Realms lore would be appreciated.

*EDIT* Oh, and as for the Single Player campaign in NWN, I find it difficult to recommend it to people, as I've never really played them myself. I find them to be quite dull (more the vanilla campaign than the two expansions, but still). But if there's a module that somebody can recommend as an introduction to the lore and roleplaying, that'd be perfect.

[ArcanaFTW]

I think the old Drizzt stories were made free in audiobook form, I don't know if they'll help but it's worth a go.

Other than that, I'd recommend giving them a basic backdrop of the game, including the major deities and what their characters would know, and let them dive in head first!

[The Rambling Midget]

If your primary goal is to bring them to Arelith, don't worry too much about lore. Basics are enough. What they really need to get used to is the idea of roleplaying and staying in character. Once they have that, they'll be able to interact comfortably, and watch others in order to learn. If they get hooked, they'll be driven to do lore research on their own, in order to understand what's going on around them.

Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale could serve as an introduction. I don't know how much they cost, these days.

[DestroyerOTN]

My standpoint? Let them in with only this on mind:

Research what you need. Only that. Over time, it should expand itself, but that'll get you off the ground.

Faith, faith enmity, racial tendancies, class proclivities, the like.

If your concept is an interesting one, try to see if it matches the lore. If not? Approximate.

Storm, for instance. In her making, I dipped tons of effort toward, approximately, 6-7 pages each on the topics of Tiamat, draconic bloodlines, warlocks and her pacting entity, magic as the mystrans would -never- allow to see the light of day, and the dragons themselves (for an idea of tendancies)... which sounds extensive, and indeed is;

... but you'd better bet not one word was read on dwarves, cyric, bane, tyr, or -anything else- in the process.

For all of that? Getting the bare bones is mostly enough. Character sees a banite as a lathandrite, there should be some conflict; but all you need to know for that is that he's evil.

Elves? You'd better not say they're in their teens unless you have <10 int, but who cares if you know the tendancies of each subrace, their connections to fey, and how only a select number of their cities still exist? Heck, you don't even need to know their enmity for drow, or anything -at all- about said drow; Just that they're evil and cruel.

For most mundane concepts, this will be enough... perhaps even immersive.

Now, if they're cranking up the loreskill... that might have some conflicts

[Seven Sons of Sin]

I always think a good place to start is the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 3.5 pdf. (very easy to find on the internet)

There's no real game nor literature that properly encapsulates Faerun, in my opinion. It's a massive continent, but a lot of popular focus has been on particular regions over others (i.e., there's been nothing ever written on Unther or Mulhorand to my knowledge).

Lore isn't super important. I think there are a couple 'key' concepts, maybe,

- the ubiquitous presence of deities
- the idea of the Weave
- what the Underdark is
- snapshot of every race

And that's probably it. As someone who's currently DMing in a PnP game with total noobs to Faerun, it's difficult to convey what the entirety of Faerun is. Thankfully, in PnP you can do a sort of regional micro-history and disregard everything else.

Arelith, is different. Perhaps something you can do is censor the exposure to Faerun - make them pick between a couple of regions that are badass (and not like Tethyr for example) - and then go super in-depth into everything about that region. It's really easy to become an expert on Turmish, for example, because no one knows nor cares about - this is the case with a lot of places in Faerun. Easy to make people feel empowered!

So those are your two approaches, either of which is up to you,

i. very basic overview of few key ideas
ii. nuanced approach to one particular region to get a real 'feel' of it

One of the greatest things about Arelith is it's nature of being a microcosm of Abeir-Toril. It's also what can make it overwhelming and potentially outlandish.

[Kuma]

There's no real game nor literature that properly encapsulates Faerun, in my opinion. It's a massive continent, but a lot of popular focus has been on particular regions over others (i.e., there's been nothing ever written on Unther or Mulhorand to my knowledge).

2nd Ed has Old Empires, which is still entirely applicable to 3/3.5 in terms of everyday life, geography, just alter the deities that are dead.

3/3.5 has Lost Empires of Faerun which goes into vast historical detail.

[Seven Sons of Sin]

Oh! I meant popular non-sourcebook literature and media!

I live and breathe some of those ADnD and 3.0 supplements. They provide a wealth of knowledge that has fallen out of favour.

...old empires sounds now most intriguing.

[Rystefn]

Have their characters come from Osse. Make up anything you like about your homeland, and no one can argue. Ignorance about the locals is entirely understandable. Make fun of people who call that a knife. Throw another shrimp on the barbie.

[Anime Sword Fighter]

Or just make up a random, small island to come from, that isn't canonical in itself but hasn't really done anything except be. Collaborate with them on what its lore was like, main deities, ect.

Gives an excuse to be ignorant IG and OOG about matters, especially of deities, and maybe they'll have some fun with making that home and how it has shaped their PC.

Just make sure they don't go overboard and CONSTANTLY reference their home while in-game, only when necessary. They also should keep in mind it'll give them an IC stereotype of 'lel dumb islander tribal guy', but that might be fun to conquer.

[CragOneEye]

Another technique is asking them what kind of character they would like to play and get most enjoyment out of, then introduce them to FR lore that fits their character, rather than having them try to make a character that fits the lore. I say this as Aber Toril is a vast place with multiple pantheons, and sub pantheons with sub lores.

[Urch]

I learnt about the forgotten realms by playing Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, planescape torment (gave me an idea of the planes) and Icewind Dale, and subsequently reading the lore behind what I found in game. Reading every in game description (especially books and items). If you can get a copy of them, try that, plus you could all coop it and get a fun experience while you go.

That, and doing what DestroyerOTN said.

[Christian Leon]

My suggestion would be novels. Depending on the set of novels, they depict different races and gods. This gives a really good idea of how some types of races and religions act.

For Drow (and other under dark Creatures)it would be:
Homeland and Sojourn from the Legend of Drizzt Trilogy
Legacy of the Drow Series
Starlights and Shadows series(Daughter of the Drow, Tangled Webs, Windwalker)... these are Great!
War of the Spider Queen series(a must read even if not to get the lore... these books are GREAT!)
The Lady Penitent Series(for other drow gods and their worshipers)

For Elves
The Last Mythal Series(Forgotten House, Farthest Reach, and Final Gate)These are also good for lore on Fey'ri(demon elves)
Evermeet
For Wild or wood elves, I'd suggest Heir of the Prophecy from the Lords of Storm Weather Series. (Love that the main character of another book is practically the villain, the Evil Erevis Pale... lol his real name is Erevis Cale)

For Netherese or Shadovar:
Heh, The Erevis Cale Series.(Twilight Falling, Dawn of Night, Midnight Mask)
The Twilight War Series(Shadowbred, Shadowstorm, Shadowrealm)This series is also good for learning about the human gods Mask and Shar.

Infernalists and Demons:
The Empyrean Odyssey(The Gossamer Plains, The Fractured Sky, The Crystal Mountain)

Dragons:
The Year of Rogue Dragons series(The Rage, The Rite, The Ruin)

Undead:
The Haunted Lands Series(Unclean, Unholy, Undead)
This is also good to get a better understanding of Thay, Red Wizards, and of Rashemi Barbarians

Dwarves and Halflings: Most of the Drizzt books(with the exception of the first two) delve into a place called Mithral Hall, home of Bruenor Battle-Hammer). A good reference for how Dwarves act. Halflings too(though never seen one about a halfling settlement with one exception)

Ghostwise Halflings:
A reference is made to them in either in Realms of the Undead or Realms of War(I lost those books and so I don't know which one). Sufficed to say, these halflings are not nice at all. Evil little things.

Orcs:
The Hunter's Blades Series(The Thousand Orcs, The Lone Drow, The Two Swords)
The Orc King . The above books are the best depiction of evil orc civilization, and orcs in general.
Also is the Sellswords series. Palischuk is a fully developed city of goodly Half-Orcs.

Goblins and Kobolds: Unfortunately have not a lot of time in Novels outside being killed as fodder. These are great because there's no perceived idea of what their culture is like, hence those two cultures have been primarily player-based concepts.

Human Gods:
Since humans are humans, they have no special qualities or expected personalities. But they have religions, and so just about any other novel not of the above depicts such. But for the best ideas of the gods themselves, The Avatar Series goes into great detail about deities like Bane, Cyric, Mystra, Helm, Torm, Tyr, Talos, Shar, Sharess, Sune, Lathander, and Kelemvor.

It also gives a lot of info on the Zhentarim and the Harpers.

There are books called The Harper Series. A must read for those who like those most secret of agents.

While there are many novels and reference books, these above to me have given the best depictions of the creature's personalities IN ACTION. It gives you actual ideas of how these creatures act by showing them in action.

[Stath]

I came from WoW myself. *Insert canned laughter here*

I honestly reckon the best course of action is to simply ask them what type of Character they'd like to play. Spend five of ten minutes coming up with a small paragraph's backstory and description, and then just dive straight into Arelith!

I honestly don't think there's much point in having the slog through something else, -just- to start Rping on Arelith. Just bring them into Cordor easy, stay at their side with a friendly Character, and get chatting. It'll be far more fun for them that way.

All the knowledge about Gods, Faith, the Planes and etc. can come much later, naturally, and at a pace that suits them. Roleplaying for the first time can be awkward enough as it is! But once they break down that first barrier, they'll be in for a world of fun.

/Edit:

Oh and make sure their first characters aren't the ones they -really- want to play! After mucking up my build about a million times, I can say it'll save them a loooooot of hassle.

[IndifferentPerson]

ye kids from WoW

i first started rpin in warcraft 3 the frozen throne, and back in my day there was no lore you needed to know

but uhm

yeah

I have nothing substantial to add.