Starting package
From Mizahar Lore
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This article is about a rule of the game. |
One of the most exciting things about starting a new roleplaying experience is creating a new character. A person who is brand new to the site should have arrived at this page at the direction of the Starting Guide. Players familiar with Mizahar will likely not need to read the starting guide, but a person completely new to Mizahar should read the Starting Guide before giving his or her PC a starting package. Starting packages are carefully explained below; they give a character all the equipment, tools, money, and skills they need to begin play within Mizahar's world.
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What is a starting package?
Each character in Mizahar starts out with a Starting Package. Starting packages are a highly customizable set of equipment, housing, coin, and skills that a player can pick for their character to help 'flesh them out' and make them more unique in the Mizaharian World. Since starting packages are put together by the player, they require no storyteller approval so long as you follow the guidelines below. If you need help, feel free to contact a Storyteller to give you some clarification, suggestions, or options if you feel a little lost. The Help Desk may be used if you have questions and aren't sure which Storyteller to contact. The best storyteller to ask for a Starting Package help is a Domain Storyteller (DS), one who is in charge of the domain your character is starting in. If no Domain Storyteller is assigned to the area in which the player wishes to start their character, then a Regional Storyteller (RS) will be glad to approve their Starting package.
What is the process of creating a Starting Package?
Once you have decided your character's basic information (name, race, gender, age, character concept, etc.), review the starting package options below and decide on housing and skills (the parts that are highly customizable). Then, once you've decided, set you up a Character sheet thread and jump right into game play!
The Starting Packages
Every Character automatically gets the following equipment, money, shelter, and skills. Once you decide on your starting package, you MUST create a Character Sheet to track your skills, money, and threadsn. Once this Character Sheet is posted, you are free to jump into the game and begin playing! Be sure to read the Skill Guide, The Starting Guide, and the FAQ if you are brand new and want as much information as possible before you begin.
Equipment
- 1 Set of Clothing (cloak/coat & footwear included)
- 1 Waterskin
- 1 Backpack which contains:
- 1 Set of Toiletries (comb, brush, razor, soap)
- Food for a week
- 1 eating knife
- Flint & Steel
Family Heirloom
Player Characters often carry around things they inherit from their family members. An Isur might have his father's first dagger, while a Konti might have her mother's journal. Characters are free to pick one family heirloom (value no more than 50 gold mizas) and include it as a 'personal touch' in their starting package. These can be simple weapons, a favorite cloak, a set of calligraphy pens and ink, or perhaps a book or two. This could be a mother's wedding dress, or even a grandfather's beloved dog. Family heirlooms are as unique and varied as the characters that carry them around. The one hard and fast rule is that it should be personally meaningful to the character.
Money
Main article: Money
Gemstones called Mizas are the most common form of currency throughout Mizahar. Mizas are lined with gold, silver, or copper. 1 gold mizas equals 10 silver mizas or 100 copper mizas. With 100 gold mizas, you will be able to buy a great deal of equipment and support yourself for a considerable amount of time within the game. Mizas are hard to come by, so spend them wisely unless your prepared to get a job to keep them coming in. Different regions use different money, so feel free to read the Money page and switch out your mizas for regional money if , for instance, you are starting in Falyndar and want to have Bikka, the local form of money, instead.
- 100 gold rimmed mizas
Housing
Each character starts out with a rudimentary form of shelter. Some PCs will want an actual cottage or equivalent in a city of their choice, other PCs might rather have a means of living anywhere and travel. Each option (the city dweller or the roaming wanderer) is roughly equivalent in value to the other one, though PCs can only choose one of the two options. If your PC does not require shelter, you may 'cash in' shelter for 500 gold rimmed mizas and add that to your money total. Feel free to see the Price list for an explanation of the gear. Please note, 'cottage' is a loose term. Depending on where you start, this could be a 400 square foot space in a cave, a suite of rooms in Stormhold Castle, or even a cute little beach bungalow on Konti Isle.
- 1 basic 20x20 single room cottage (400 sq feet) with a hearth, bunk, chest, chair, and small table.
or (but not both)...
- 1 large tent (4 person), large tarp, 100 ft of rope, flint & steel, lantern, 2 torches, bedroll, blanket, fishing tackle & hooks, a riding horse, a full set of tack, and a large set of saddlebags. See Horses for the breed of mount you want to pick. However, keep your horse value right around 200 gm or less, which excludes Sungolds and Tiaden Warhorses.
Skills
Main article: Skill Guide
Each character has a history that should be written down and developed prior to or relatively soon after beginning play. Depending upon the character's background, they might indeed enter the game with a certain group of skills. In order to recognize the fact that a character has a past, Mizahar grants new PCs 50 skill points that can be applied to any skill (trade, weapons, magic) that a player might wish to give to their character.
Mizahar does not have a hard and fast list of skills. There is a list of skills that have been developed and/or regularly used that can serve as a guideline. However, there are a near-infinite number of skills that a PC could use that have not been developed or used previously (think snake charming, or wheelbarrow construction, or parrot breeding). If you would like to assign your PC this kind of unique skill, feel free to do so. Just follow the skill point rules listed below, and be sure to record what you take on your character sheet.
There are a few simple rules for the use of the 50 beginning points. A new PC can only have a minimum of 5 points or a maximum of 30 points in any one skill (e.g. Sword, Riding(Horse), Reimancy, Blacksmithing). It is recommended that a new player spread out their PC's skill points in order to give their character a more well-rounded background. For example, a woodsman might have Wilderness Survival (20pts), Hunting (15pts), Long Bow (10pts), Bowing & Fletching (5pts). A basic fighter who likes to tell great stories might go a totally different route by splitting their points into Longsword (30pts), Brawling (10pts), Storytelling (10pts).
There is an almost unlimited amount of customization you can do with a starting package. The only skill that cannot be acquired in a starting package is that of Gnosis (god granted divine Djed) - acquiring this skill must be roleplayed out in the game. In addition, if a skill has a prerequisite, such as Duel Wield (which requires a minimum 30 points in each weapon wielded), that prerequisite must be fulfilled before a skill that requires a prerequisite is taken. Prerequisites are listed in the wiki articles about specific skills.
Lores
Main article: Lore
Each player can start off with two lores. The term Lore depicts accumulated facts, traditions, or beliefs about a particular subject. This subject, in general, is very specific and doesn't fit into the traditional skill groups because its truly not a buildable skill in the sense that as you know more about the knowledge, you get better at something. Lore knowledge is just simple knowledge that is somewhat unchanging and does little to effect your skill. Lore cannot be trained and built upon like a traditional skill. Usually lores are very specific. For example, if a person has a painters background, they might have a lore which indicates they know how to mix paint. Hence their lore would be: Lore - Creation/Mixing of Paint. Perhaps a PC's parents were auctioneers and that PC was constantly being taken from one auction to another as a child. That PC would then have a specific lore involving that fact: Lore - Managing Auctions. Lores are so vast and broad scale that it would be impossible to list the possibilities for Mizahar. Instead, be creative and build on your characters background and experiences.
Gnosis
Main article: Gnosis
Gnosis marks CANNOT be taken as part of starting packages unless you acquire special permission via the Help Desk. Special Permission will only be granted for specific Gods that have a tendency to grant Gnosis Marks prior to birth or at a characters early age. In order to take a Gnosis Mark at start, you must have a Storyteller provide you with a Storyteller Secrets thread which you add to your profile.
Languages
Your character starts off with three Languages: one at Fluent, one at Basic, and one at Poor. This means that they have one language as their native tongue, another which they don't know well but can communicate with, and another of which they only know a smattering of phrases. A complete list of what languages are spoken by what Race can be found on the Language Chart.
Final Notes
Because we allow users to craft their own starting packages (though the Storytellers would be GLAD to help if anyone needs some direction), people might occasionally make mistakes in using points (Using too many? Not using enough?). Since your starting package is listed on your Character sheet, which is a public record, a storyteller may nudge you (via a PM) and let you know if they see an error on your character sheet. Don't worry! This happens, and so long as the situation is corrected, there's nothing to be concerned about.