Oh yes, I am the noble knight Headhunter - Grand knight and high commander of the Forces Of Good and the Keepers Of the Faith, better know as FOGKOF on Thieves's World…..and what is this clan all about? We'll you seem like a decent man to me, so I will tell you. *Headhunter beams a smile and strokes his beard before continuing*
FOGKOF wasn't one single clan in the old days. They were actually two seperate clans, as you might have noticed from the name. Hmmm, they were both minor and they both strived for the greater good of people in Thieves's World. However, each being so small, they could hardly do anything about the growing evil in the realms. In many places evil took control. Yggdrasil was corrupted and we see other telltales from the dark ages everywhere in Thieves's World. Then the call to the heavens was answered with a child. He saw his mother get brutally killed by raiders between Sanctuary and New Thalos, but this triggered not only grief, but also his extraordinary latent mental powers. A sorceress took care of the child and teached him the art of magic. Soon, however, she realised that the young man would be corrupted by evil because of his pure hatred to raiders and other people with shady pasts. She sent him to me, and asked me to teach him humility, honor and the basics of priesthood. The child - now named Mephisto - quickly became my favorite pupil. His major skills were in the offensive magic, so he was trained by my personal battlemage, but he also enjoyed our conversations about the world and the Gods and Goddesses. I tought him among other things, that you cannot hate evil for evil itself, but rather for the consequences it has when it corrupts the fair people of the land.
Being considered "good" is not about destroying evil whereever you find it. It's about preserving the balance. The really evil beings want to destroy the world and throw it intoa state of anarchy where destruction and despair is part of the everyday life. We do not wish for this to happen. However, on the other hand we can't annihilate evil completely either. Evil is in every man, every soul. Evil shows its face, not only when you kill, but also when you envy your neighbour, when you have an affair, whenyou deceit the authorities. Evil is everywhere and it cannot be destroyed unless we impose a harsh teocracy, and if we do this, are we any better than the evil ones? FOGKOF stands for freedom and prosperity. We want people to feel safe among us. We want them to feel that they can come to us for guidance, but never feel that we try to convert them to our way of living. In fact, we strive to achieve status of paladins. In theory this is an impossible thing to strive for, but we do our best. We strike against evil in whatever form it may appear to frighten the innocent citizens of Thieves's World, but we never go for the core, because what is happiness if there is no evil?…..
Ok, at first you are asked to write your name and give a password for that character. *ponder* I have advice here already. There are two basic rules I think everybody should follow when they choose a name for their character. This should be common sense to everybody.
Next step is to select your race. This is were you will probably be a bit puzzled. See, in TW the race options and class options depend on the stats the computer rolls for your character. If it rolls a 6 for strength, chances are the hill-giant race won't be available. To add to the confusion, you can't see your stats, so it's pretty hard to know what requirements there are for which class and race. Each race is supposed to have their own benefits. There are, however, only a few races at this point in time, I see are worth the trouble.
Now you have a race and are ready to pick your class. Maybe only 1 class popped up and it isn't the one you wanted. Well, choose the reroll option until the combination you want comes up. Some multi-class options demand special races, but most of it is common sense to role players, so you'll figure it out.
For truly newbies (and I mean newbies to MUD's) I recommend that you try to start with single class characters. I have seen newbies start with tri-classes but it's silly in my eyes. The maxx level on TW is currently 125, and even for an old player, who has access to all the right equipment, it takes a very very long time to get to 125/125/125.
For the very first characters I suggest a dwarven warrior supported by either a pure cleric, a pure mage or a cleric/mage. The warrior will advance pretty fast in levels when he/she is supported by some sort of cleric/mage combo, and when the warrior is high enough, then it becomes more easy to "support" other classes in their growth. You will have an easier time finding the right eq, and you will have learned the tricks of the trade, so to speak. *s* A newbie with a multi-class will in many cases (unless they are very patient players) end up begging high-levels to take them on xp-runs, and frankly, this pisses people off badly.
I do xp-runs myself, but it's strictly for absolute newbies (levels 1 through 10), and for people I either want to teach or whose company I just happen to like. I do not - ever - take people along for the simple reason of providing them with xp. I think it's highly immoral, and the people who do it, are playing TW for the wrong reasons. Remember, half the fun is getting there on your own.
Enough morality talk. *lol* When you have chosen a class in the character creation, you are then supposed to pick an alignment. Again, most people would choose the alignment that fits their character, but seeing as you can change your alignment in the game, I propose starting with neutral good alignment, for the simple reason that most of the best newbie equipment is anti-evil. Alignment range from -1000 to +1000 currently. (You see your alignment by typing "att" in the game.
With that taken care of, you're ready to begin playing! You enter the game at Portal of Creation, and the only exit is down. When you go down, you're at Fountain Square. This is an important "room" in the city of Sanctuary. Most heroes of the realms drop by this room to chit chat and Portal of creation will be your recall home (explained later) unless you're member of one of the powerful clans.
Once there you type beg to receive enough xp to gain 2 levels. You gain those levels by walking to your guild and typing gain "guild-letter" twice. Here are the directions for the lower guilds (the ones you use from level 1 to 21 or something).
One little catch for the shifters is that Sisyphus or whatever he's called (never had a shifter myself) sometimes block the entrance. In that case, just rumor for a higher level to deal with him.
Yes, you thought correctly, "rumor" is the command we use for communicating with everybody online. You may also use tells, say, swear, quest and gcomm. Gcomm can only be used if you are part of a clan however.
Now I have a few tips for navigating in Sanctuary as a newbie. Important locations you might say, and all the directions will start from Fountain Square.
Now you should be level three and outfitted with decent beginners equipment. It's time to kill something :o) From Fountain Square, you go s,s,s,w,s and you'll be at the entrance to Zoo. This is a beginners zone so the mobs aren't too hard to kill. Remember to play your class. A mage's dagger won't be much good against a tiger, but his shocking grasps will! This zone will probably bore you after a while because it isn't much of a challenge, but try not to get cocky....use con "mobname" to consider if the mob is too tough for you and remember to set your wimpy. For example if you type wimpy 10, this means you will try to flee if you go below 10 Hit Points. I won't get into explaining all the skills and spells now. Just type help "skill-name" to get the important informations.
So, to summarize on what I just said....
Maybe you want to read some stories?? Well, I only have one of them online at the moment, and it's placed on a temp page, but do go and check it out :o) The Rebel Encounter<
Ok......this is the game site. Get online now! By the way....do visit the Thieves's World home page by pressing here
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