Starting Guide
From Mizahar Lore
Mizahar is a collaborative storytelling environment that should take very little preparation to start playing other than some reading of the Mizahar Lore in its rather extensive wiki. A new player should review the Valterrian, study the maps, review regions, and do some browsing of cities just to get a feel for the game. Getting a flavor for the local environment will help considerably when deciding on a character concept as a whole, which is the most important part of roleplaying in Mizahar. If a new player loves to roleplay and really enjoys to write they will have no problem with succeeding in Mizahar’s game world. Mizahar thrives off of character interaction, and each new player brings a breath and scope to the game that can never be anticipated. People are encouraged to breathe life into their characters through the stories they tell, their characters interacting each other, and within the Mizahar World.
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Read the Rules and Browse the Wiki
Before you do anything else, read the Rules. Go over the Terms of Use, and then make sure you read the Mizahar page. Feel free to browse the wiki and read the Creative Manifesto to get some idea of what sort of world your getting yourself involved in. There is also a FAQ that will also help you get started with some commonly asked questions. Once you have a firm grasp on the rules, what we do here, and are eager to join, go ahead and start your character.
Start your Character
Starting a character is relatively simple. You need to decide a few basic questions. As you read through the following sections, it might be helpful to take out a piece of scratch paper or open a notepad on your computer to start taking notes on all the decisions you make as you read through this guide. That scratch piece of paper or notepad document will form the basis of your Character sheet when you get to that section.
Now, its time to make some decisions! This is the fun part.
Character Name
Hopefully you've already picked your character name in creating an account on Mizahar. If not, feel free to do so now, keeping in mind that account name is indeed your PCs name. Multiple word names are allowed.
Race, Age, and Gender
Next, select a race and all the attributes that go along with that race (age, gender, physical appearence). A comprehensive lists of Character Races can be found within Mizahar’s lore. By reading each of the races, you can get some idea of what those races are like, what genders are allowed, and what location they are prominent in. Here is a short list of current races and a brief description of them. Feel free to read the more in-depth writeups before making your selection.
- Complete Race list
Appearance
After you decide on a race, you will have a better idea of the physical description of your character, and what physical parameters are allowed for the race you've chosen. Some races on Mizahar are dark skinned, some incredibly pale. Stick to the guidelines for the appearnce of the race and customize your PC in terms of those parameters. Pick height, weight, skin color, eye color, hair color and anything else distinctive that might represent who your PC is. Any drastic deviations from the guidelines the race descriptions give you requires Special Permission.
Picking a Home Region, City, or Other Domain
The second big decision after Name, Race and Gender is basically 'Where are you from?'. Which area is your PC from or where are you going to be primarily playing? Where you are from doesn't have to be where you are planning on playing, but most people starting out might find some advantage playing from racially familiar locations. Most PCs should feel free to start out in Syliras, which is a melting pot city in the Sylira region made up of mostly humans, though all other races are welcome. You are not required to start out in Syliras however. Instead, you can start out in any open domain you’d like. A domain consists of a city, area of interest, ruins, etc that has an active storyteller within it. Below is a link to a complete list of some of the regions, their cities, domains, and place of interest which are open (or will be) for play.
- Complete City list
Character Concept
By now a person already knows a great deal of information about the character they want to play. Hopefully they know the race, sex, and possible age of the PC. It is now time to think about the character's personality. What are they like? Developing a 'character concept' is the next step. Concepts can be anything really. Is your character a restless rogue, one that enjoys a life of carefree thievery? Do you feel driven to pursue an honorable life of sacrifice as perhaps a Syliran Knight? Would you rather enjoy a quiet devoted life to one of the Gods? It's not necessary to decide right now. A player can let the story speak for itself. However, knowing what sort of personality your character has can really aid in designing a character concept.
Personality Merits and Flaws
Each PC should have both good and bad traits designed into their concept. Characters quickly become 'cardboard' if they are absolutely perfect - physically and emotionally. There's nothing wrong with playing an emotionally perfect character except that they aren't realistic. People inherently have fears, weaknesses, trust issues, or personality traits like greed or perhaps a habit of lying. Maybe someone doesn't let others close to them, or yet another player has a problem with chronic pain and is addicted to herbs to control that pain. Perhaps a character is generous to a flaw, and gives too much of themselves routinely to the detriment of their own personal situation.
Be aware of merits and flaws when designing a character. Build both sets of traits into them.. Design your PCs with both good and bad traits to make them as realistic as possible.
Starting Package
Now that you have the core basics of what type of character (PC) you want to play, where your character is going to be from, their sex, race, appearance, and concept - its time to give them some skills. Please read the Starting package page thoroughly. It gives you some basic gear, a home or horse, and the 50 skill points to spread out. Once you go through the starting package page, you'll have everything your pc needs to jump right into roleplaying in the forums of your choice. So read the starting package page thoroughly, add what it gives you to your notes, and be ready to finally start your Character sheet.
Create your Character Sheet
Sometimes called a CS, Character sheets are just a simple record of your PC's vital statistics. See the Character sheet page for more information, but each PC needs to post a full Character Sheet before they start playing. We have designed a full page to describe what is required on a character sheet and where to post them. The purpose of a character sheet is simply to allow Storytellers and other players to read about your character, what sort of gear they have, where they might live, a little about their history, and what sort of coin they have. It is required to keep a character sheet updated at all times. It's also helpful to include a link to your CS in your character's signature.
Begin Playing
Now that you know who your PC is, what their history is like, and have a solid character concept with a starting package all fleshed out, its time to think about actually starting to play! Hopefully by now you've met some people, picked out a city or other type of domain to start in, and are all crazy excited to dive right in. This is the point to take a deep breath, relax, and work on your first posts, establishing your character as 'someone of note' and making some friends. This is just about the point where you don't need this starting guide anymore. So, we'll leave you with some final advice, and turn you loose upon the world.
First Posts
You need to decide where you're going to begin playing. Once that decision is made, its a great idea to research that domain completely. There will be a wiki page describing the city, ruins, etc in detail, outlining the NPCs involved with the domain, and key locations. Your first point should be made at the city gates or other entrance. City gate posts serve multiple purposes. First, it gives you a flavor for what the city is about, and lets the denizens of the city know there's someone new to play with. It also gives the Domain Storyteller an idea that someone new is in the game in their territory. They will most likely send you a welcome pm, and offer to help you however you might need them.
The next post should be some sort of social thread marked (Open) that invites people who might want to meet you to join the thread to have a little bit of a conversation and 'get to know you' situation.
Establishing Your Character
The best way to establish your character is to simply post a great deal. Join open threads, interact with people, and volunteer to go on adventures and quests. Help others out, start a business, and be a positive productive force (or an evil threatening menace depending on character concept!) to the domain community where you play as a whole.
Making Friends
Social threads are a great way to make friends. Joining adventures are a second way. But a third way is to simply be friendly, helpful, participate on the ooc boards with contests and chitchat interacting with other players. However, we also have a Matchmaker Forum where players can post 'Want-Adds' so they can advertise hookups like apprentices to masters, friends, requests for PC families, slaves, etc.