Atticus' Playlist
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@Alamias Howdy again and thanks!
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There's some of the culture shock I mentioned.
None. People will help. You will NOT be expected to be an expert in game lore, even if our natural reaction is to expect that we should (since that is a cultural expectation that we 'grew up' in mushing with).
There are basics to get down and some initial reading to do, but it's less material than your average RPG sourcebook (though it's about as well organized as a 90s rpg sourcebook, soooo). In a nutshell, it's a low-fantasy society going through an upheaval in the direction of high-fantasy society, with nobles but a slightly different serfdom situation and a lot of RL -isms removed (sexism does not exist, genders are generally seen as equal).
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@sibermaus A lovely idea. I will cobble some scenes together for it.
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@Sunny "(though it's about as well organized as a 90s rpg sourcebook, soooo)"
Heh.I would call it my own expectations for myself. I hate being the FNG. I mean, I own it, but if the situation is a canoe and I want to go with the flow of the river anyway, I still want a paddle.
I am not a "just dive in" sort, I guess.
That said, it is a relief to read your post. Anything I glean will be bonus. Still, the joint needs a Newb Primer, stat.
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Staff can be trusted and they handle creepers. The setting/story being fantastic is icing on the cake, imnsho -- as mountainous as it is, it is also very good. However, it is VERY important that you manage your own expectations going in. I get not wanting to be the FNG but some of us have been playing for years and still do not know even a quarter of everything. The figuring-it-out is part of the game/story, and so if you go in holding yourself responsible for knowing something it isn't possible for you to know, or if you go in thinking you are going to be able to keep up with all fifty plotlines (spoiler: you can't), you're going to get really frustrated with yourself. Being aware of it going in makes it a LOT easier to adjust to.
Totally agreed on the newbie guide, though. I used to have one but it's out of date so much as to be useless, these days. IDK if somebody else has one floating around or not.
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@Atticus Best tip I can give you - read up on your house's story and ask them for the brief (if you chose to be a noble), and then do not worry overly much about learning all the coded commands, and getting clues, or any of that for a few weeks. Focus on the RP.
I almost left Arx cause I felt stressed for not knowing where to even begin and the coded commands were all new and I felt old and dumb for not getting it. But they will sort of come dynamically along the way. Don't forget it's still about RP - I did. It got much better once I relaxed and just enjoyed meeting people.
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http://arx.mythicus.net/Getting_Started may be helpful - there are a number of guides to stuff on the player wiki.
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@saosmash Bookmarked!
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@Atticus When it comes to the various code systems, the best advice I've seen is to basically learn them one at a time as they become relevant to your play. Like, you don't need to learn the investigation system until your character wants to investigate something. You don't need to learn the action system until they want to do something that needs GM response. There's a lot of different code toys, some of them more relevant than others, and you can pick them up at a slow, natural pace as you get acclimated.
As for the setting/lore, there's definitely a sort of hierarchy of files where you can start with some broader ones to get an overview. Ones like -- lore arvum, lore compact, lore city of arx, lore <Great House> (where there's a file for each Great House: Grayson, Valardin, Redrain, Velenosa, and Thrax), lore timeline, lore unexpected canon, lore pantheon, lore Principles of the Great Houses, lore expectations. I think that's a list that'll give you a good sense of everything without getting nitty gritty. The stuff on 'lore expectations' is really helpful for play, but you can leave it for after you have a character if you're getting tired of reading.
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@Atticus said in Atticus' Playlist:
Arx is, as you said, daunting. I'm not sure where to even start. How much lore understanding is needed?
I think it depends on how much you're willing to be, as you put it, the FNG.
The difference between Arx and, let's say, a World of Darkness game is that World of Darkness settings presume a certain amount of seasoning in a starting character. Werewolves, for example, generally understand what a tribe, auspice, and breed are (in the Apocalypse setting) in character, along with renown, gifts, and rites. These sorts of things you have to read up on.
This is not the same for Arx, which is premised off of fantasy stories. If you've watched Game of Thrones, you'll get a good handle on the sort of politics that may be played. While each of the major Houses of the Compact have their own flavor, they are easy to grasp with a bit of reading from the site.
You can start on a variety of levels. Maybe you're a commoner who bakes things for a living; that's a good concept to work with. If you're a noble, maybe you're a younger one that grew up sheltered, and therefore may have some incorrect notions about the world. When I built my PC, her background basically put her out of noble politics, which explains how and why I may have some IC questions about political issues and ideas which others have a strong grasp on.
Finally, the players can be excellent resources.
Where it gets a little overwhelming is in the depth of engagement, and that's another topic for another day. Think about all of the "world building" you wanted to do on a Vampire: Dark Ages game? You can do that.
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Yeah, what Gany said. There's actually an IC conceit that helps with this, in fact. Not with all the mundane human affairs and history, BUT with the magical/supernatural end of things. Basically: the world has forgotten that magic exists. The society is highly skeptical in a way that's almost SUSPICIOUS. (That is: there are forces encouraging skepticism.) When weird shit happens, the general populace will kind of explain it away, and they'll self-reinforce that view. The slow reawakening and freeing the setting of that blindness and loss of history is part of the on-cam story that's happening. The PCs are obviously special, and so are awakening to this faster than the NPC populace, but it means that most PCs are gonna come in with a perspective of 'lol magic doesn't exist.' Which means that the swathes of magical setting lore you don't know OOC? Your character also doesn't know IC.
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@Atticus I played for some reasonable time on about half the twenty-some-agos in your list, so, hi, we probably played together at some point in there! Welcome back.
