Beginner's guide

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This shop article duplicates information This article duplicates significant amounts of info contained in the article General new player guide. Please merge those sections under the more appropriate article name and remove {{Merge}}.

Welcome to DragonRealms, one of the most in-depth and expansive games. This article is an attempt to aquaint you with an incredibly complex world that has not always had the new player in mind.

The number one rule you should keep in mind when reading this is: if you feel confused and lost, good. It means that you're paying attention.

This world is incredibly complex, the results of almost 20 years of existence. It's not something you can pick up in an afternoon of playing, and it will be giving you something to do for years to come.

Character Creator

When a character is first begun, they will be in a limbo world in which they will be able to choose many of their traits.

Name

Your name is actually one of the most important things about your character. It is the thing that everyone will see first, it is how people will talk about you, and it's how people will interact with you.

You initially will only be able to pick your first name, though later on you will have the option of adding a family name.

The rules are fairly straightforward. Your first name must be unique, not contain any real life references (Microwave is not going to work), drug references, profanities, numbers, titles (Lordnose, Kingbrave, etc. won't make it) or references to major literary characters (leave your Drizzt clone at home, or at least give him/her a creative name). If you violate these rules, it may get past the automatic filters, but a GameMaster will probably visit you later and make you change it.

Rule of thumb is that if you'd be ashamed to have it on your birth certificate, consider picking something else.

Now, already you may have seen people with names that violate one or more of these rules. What it comes down to is that DR has been around 15+ years and the rules have not always been stringently enforced, or even terribly well defined. If you see one of these names, understand that they've probably been playing for years and pity has been taken on them so that they wouldn't need to rebuild all their old friends/enemies if their name suddenly changed.

Gender

In DragonRealms, gender means little. While you might occasionally have different reactions from people, there is no real benefit to either gender.

Race

The second major choice you will face is your race. Your race primarily determines how much it will cost you to improve your stats. Each race has several areas in which they are excellent at, and several which they are lacking.

It should be noted that there is no coherent system of racial bonuses beyond the stat training. For example, while a specific shopkeeper might treat all dwarves better or insult elves, the one across the street may have wildly different reactions, or none at all.

While you may pick a race with an eye towards a specific style or guild, it is highly advised that races be picked on the basis of which culture the player enjoys. Some of the most interesting characters can come from mismatched choices (gnome barbarian anyone?).

• Dwarf: Slow, tough, and disciplined. The hairy rock-kissers of fantasy you know and love, even the women can grow beards.
• Elf: Fast and charismatic, elves are slightly weaker and frailer than humans. Tall, long-lived, and tending toward naturistic, elves come in a variety of subtypes that can drastically affect their views of the world.
• Elothean: Incredibly intelligent but weak and frail. A people that value knowledge over almost everything else, and have a strange inability to grow hair on most of their heads, Elotheans push the boundaries of nearly every intellectual pursuit.
• Gnome: Agile and intelligent, but weak and frail. These are short folks with keen minds and an affinity for mechanical devices and magic.
• Gor'Tog: Strong, tough, but not terribly bright. They are huge, hairless, green giants that tend towards physical labor.
• Halfling: Agile, tough, but weak and undisciplined. The short folks with the hairy feet and a love of food, drink, food, sleeping, and food. Don't discount them, or you might find they've run off with your money while you were calling them names.
• Human: Humans lack any particular strengths, but also any weaknesses. As widely varied as any real life group, humans can be found doing nearly anything almost anywhere.
• Kaldar: Strong and charismatic, but often disdainful of mental pursuits. Looking much like large, bulky humans, Kaldar are a refugee splinter group from the warlike Gorbesh.
• Prydaen: Fast and charismatic, but poorly disciplined and prone to lacking common sense. Prydaen appear to be a strange mix between a human and any of the various predatory felines. Call them a cat at your own risk. They came to this land fleeing the near extinction at the hands of a powerful Necromancer.
• Rakash: Fast but uncordinated, slow mentally but tough. While mostly indistinguishable from any random human, when the black moon Katamba is full, they become take on the form of a wolf-human hybrid. Like the Prydaen, they fled a powerful Necromancer and attempt to rebuild their packs in the eastern lands.
• S'Kra Mur: Strong and fast, but a bit slow upstairs. Humanoids with lizardlike features, the S'Kra Mur have a strange culture that has strange concepts of honor and kinship.

A table giving more detail on attribute aptitudes can be found here.

Appearance

DragonRealms allows people to customize their characters to a large extent. In rare cases, some cultures may prize certain features, for the average adventurer it hardly matters. There should be no worry that your choices will hinder you, even if it ends up sinister or silly.

First Steps

Once the appearance is finalized and you step out into the world of Elanthia, you will find yourself in one of the two starting cities, either The Crossings or Riverhaven. It will be noted in this guide if the cities differ in some way.

If at any time you become lost or frustrated, and this guide is not able to help you, use the HELP or ADVICE commands, or seek out one of the Mentors using the command DIR MENTOR.

Movement

DragonRealms uses a fairly simple movement system in general. Players can go any of the cardinal directions using the common abbreviations (n, e, sw, etc), OUT, and UP, and DOWN. In addition, there may be some non-standard movements that require a bit more observation to determine. These portals are entered via GO, CLIMB, or sometimes even stranger things.

While within the walls of either of the starting cities, the DIR command can be used to receive directions to major landmarks, such as the guildhouses or merchants.

Talking to Others

The basic command for speaking is to use an apostrophe before anything you want to say.

'Cold, isn't it?

While there are many ways to make this more elaborate, the basics should suffice to get you through the average conversation. In addition, if you need to speak to one person and only one person, the WHISPER command will do it.

It is a commonly held belief that games like DragonRealms are full of people who are always spouting thous and thees everywhere. For the most part, that is rare and often discouraged. You will encounter people trying to replicate odd accents through misspellings or odd word choices, but it is neither expected nor common.

What is expected is that things from real life be left in real life. People find talk of baseball games or cars to be disruptive to their attempts to enjoy the game. If you wish to speak to someone about that, it is both polite and a good idea to instead WHISPER specifically to that person. There is a split of opinion in the player base about the use of OOC euphemisms, such as using "pidgeon" to refer to an IM. Generally, until you feel comfortable, it is best that such things be kept to whispers.

Guild

The third of the major choices that you will asked to make is to choose your guild. This is much like your class or profession in other games, and it will determine much of your special abilities, as well as affecting how easily you train certain skills.

Much like race, most of the long term players would agree that the characters they enjoy the most have the guilds picked due to their flavor or history, rather than the mechanical advantages.

A short description for each guild follows, but it should be kept in mind that these are general stereotypes and areas of strength for the guilds. With enough effort and time, any character of any race or guild can become great at anything.

• Barbarian: The guild of fighters. They excel at weapon learning and utilize the poorly understood power of Inner Fire to accomplish amazing feats, but give up the ability to use magic to do so.
• Bard: A strange mix of warrior, musician, and historian, Bards wield magic in their songs, but still maintain a strong skill in mundane martial attacks. With their focus on scholarly pursuits, Bards make excellent craftsmen.
• Cleric: Whether crusading to destroy the foul undead or tending to spirits of the fallen, Clerics represent all the gods of Elanthia, good and evil. For their devotion, the gods reward them with amazing magics.
• Empath: The Empath guild is one of healing. Through their powerful supernatural connections to others, they are able to draw injuries to themselves and then heal it with their magic. The side effect is that any harm done to living or once living creatures cause feedback that can cripple their abilities. While some Empaths like to ascribe this as a moral issue, the numerous lifeless constructs that have fallen to more warlike empaths seems to discount this.
• Moon Mage: They are masters of predicting the future from the stars and planets, as well as a wide mix of powerful spells. The Moon Mage guild is made up of numerous sub-sects, and has a history of producing some mages with an unhealthy interest in politics.
• Necromancer: This guild is intentionally designed as a hard mode for long-time players. Everything is more difficult, and the consequences for making a mistake are more severe. If you are reading this guide, you do not have experience necessary to play them.
• Paladin: Holy warriors, these masters of defense are held by the gods to a higher standard of honor than others, but are granted powers by the purity of their souls. Though they are primarily warriors of the sword and shield, their cause is bolstered by dabbling in holy magics unshared with clerics.
• Ranger: The classic woodland warrior, Rangers mix magic, stealth, and weapons to create a potent force. However, their abilities wane when too much time is spent in cities, so it is rare to see a Ranger in town for long.
• Thief: The pesky fellows who take your money and stab you in the back before you see them. While not as bad as the Necromancer guild, the Thief guild is more difficult, including puzzles just to find their guildhouse. Not recommended for people who need this guide.
• Trader: Masters of commerce and the power of money, Traders criss-cross the lands with their caravans delivering goods, or set up shops in the major city's plazas to market their wares to adventurers. Between their aptitude for crafting and ability to rent shops, Traders make, by far, the best merchants. Note: Traders have had a history of little development, however they are slated to receive access to their own magic system at some point in the near future.
• Warrior Mage: Masters of the six elements, Warrior Mages are the classic fireball-throwing mages of fantasy. Luckily for them, no rules restrict them to robes or nightshirts, though they are less adept at wearing armor than the average adventurer. Their typical response is to simply kill everything before it gets near them.

The last, and very rarely chosen option is to remain a Commoner. Commoners will never gain any promotions, or any special abilities, as long as they remain a commoner. Some people choose this path for roleplaying reasons, or because they are preparing for a guild later, since Commoners learn everything moderately well. It is highly advised that a guild be chosen.

Once you reach your chosen guild using the DIR command, proceed to the area with the Guildmaster and type JOIN twice. If at that point, the guildmaster informs you that you do not have the correct stats for the guild, he or she will offer to train you to the minimums.

It should be noted that once you join a guild, you cannot change it, with the exception of anyone joining the Barbarian's Guild. If you feel you chose poorly, the only choice is to find an inn and CHECK IN, to reset your character.

Next Steps

Equipment

After you've picked your guild, it's time to get geared up. The cheapest way to do this is seek out the grizzled old war veteran in the Crossing, or Sir Robyn in Riverhaven, though both of these people randomly wander around town outside the buildings, and it may take some time to find them. Once you find either, GIVE them one of the weapons or pieces of armor you started the game with and they'll offer you a list of replacement items.

In addition to, or instead of, you can purchase gear from one of the many shops in town, using the money you were loaned when you began the game. Again the DIR command can be useful, and a list of basic shops can be found via DIR LIST SHOPS.

Once you've gotten to the shop, look around for a catalog listing the items sold. READ the catalog, or the specific page you want, such as READ PAGE 1. Once you know what you want, you will need to ORDER it, at which point the merchant will tell you the cost. Assuming you're not fond of giving away money, you should probably use OFFER to begin the haggling. Don't be discouraged if you can't reach a deal, just order it again and go a bit higher on your price.

There is a second type of shop, in which items are displayed on a surface such as a case. GET the item to get a price, and BUY the item to buy it. There is no haggling, simply buying or not.

The SHOP command can be useful in both types of shops.

All of the items you began with are inferior to even the basic store variety of goods, so you'll want to replace them if possible. If you run out of money before you have everything you want, skip to here.

Stats

Stats are limited by the number of Time Development Points (TDPs) a character has. These are "spent" in order to raise stats at the proper training location. TDPs are gained in small amounts by learning skills and in larger amounts from gaining circles.

To raise a stat, you will need to go to the proper training location (DIR <stat>). At this point, TRAIN twice, and the stat will increase.

The general rule of thumb at the start of a career is to raise the physical stats (strength, stamina, agility, and dexterity) to 15, followed by the others to the same level. Next, again jump the physicals to 20, followed by mentals.

By this time, you should be accomplished enough to direct your own training, though speaking with your fellow guild members can be useful.

The Game

Money

Money in DragonRealms is a bit more complex than many systems. In addition to the different metals which denote their value, there are also three different regional currencies, Kronars, Lirums, Dokoras. Almost all banks have exchanges that will swap between the currencies, though they will take a percent of it.

The value of the coins is fairly simple, with each step up being ten times more valuable. Their ordering is copper < bronze < silver < gold < platinum.

Earning money is possible many ways. The easiest way is to forage basic items:

Crossing: Go to right outside the Northeast gate, and FORAGE up either sticks or branches. Once you have stuffed your packs as full as they go, find your way to Mags the firewood seller right outside the Collegium of Inner Juggling and Reflexes (DIR REFLEX. You can either give her the stick/branch one by one, or if your container has nothing but sticks and branches, just give the container.

Riverhaven: Outside the east gate and slightly northish, right outside the Ranger Guild tent, is a good place to forage for herbs. The basic "georin grass" or "jadice flowers" are a good start, though it may still be beyond a basic student. You may need to practice a bit finding grass or rocks. Once you do find some herbs, Maisie, who wanders around inside the town, will buy the herbs from you.

Another way is to find an easy animal foe, and once killing them (see Basic Combat section), SKINning them for their hide, fur, or other parts. The town's furrier will buy these from you when you return to town.

Circling (Leveling)

In DragonRealms, leveling is known as circling. Unlike many games where you level and then receive new skills, in DragonRealms you only level once your skills reach certain levels determined by your guild.

To check your progress, go to your guildleader and ASK <guildleader> ABOUT SKILLS.

If your guild leader asks for "general xxxxx," it means that they'll take the top x from that skillset (barring some skills which are not accepted). For example, if your guildleader tells you that you don't have enough "General Survival" it means that your top survival skills, whatever they are, are not sufficiently high.

A good, thought not always perfectly accurate, level calculator can be found at www.olwydd.org

Once you have circled once, it's important to gain some favors.

Death

Death certainly isn't the end in DragonRealms, but it can be irritating. When death occurs, all field experience is lost and the items in hand drop to the ground. In addition, you will begin to forget your life (lose permanent experience) the longer you remain dead.

If you are 1st circle, you are given 6 free deaths, in which you do not have to worry about your equipment, including the things in your hands, which normally drop to the ground. After that, or when you circle to 2nd level, you'll need to think about favors.

When possible, it's best to find a Cleric, as they have a spell which can reverse this experience loss, even quite some time after death, though it will only offset and prevent the loss of permanent experience. Often times, kind people will drag dead bodies to the nearest cleric guild to be treated, but it is not always reliable. If no such Cleric is available, or you are not willing to take the risk, then DEPARTing as soon as possible is the best course.

Once memories are either restored or chosen to be lost, there are two options to regain life.

The first option is simply to DEPART, which will cause your corpse to decay and you will find yourself with a new body at the nearest altar. The basic DEPART uses one favor (If you don't know what favors are, proceed to the favor section, then return once done). It is possible to use more than one favor in order to bring along equipment and/or coins (see DEPART for details). Note that anything that was dropped from the hands on death will not come along, no matter how many favors are spent.

The second, and less common option, is to have a cleric use magic to return life to the deceased body at that location. This is known as Resurrection, which requires a moderately powerful Cleric and a bit of time. Resurrection will simply cause life to return to the body, in whatever state it was before it died. Thus, if death occurred because of a missing head, it is a good idea to get that head healed, or death will instantly occur again.

Favors

Favors are a sacrifice made to one of the gods in order to receive their assistance once you have died. To gain favors, proceed to the Cleric's guild (DIR CLERIC) and enter the library to the east of the entrance. Once their, GET MAGI (the code for the book titled "The Immortals"), OPEN it, and READ it.

This will provide you with an introduction to the deities of DragonRealms, from which you will request favors. After reading through, select the neutral aspect of a deity that you believe your character would be comfortable with.

Next, proceed to the favor area (DIR FAVOR), but be sure to keep an eye on the route, as you will not receive help to return. Next, PRAY twice, then speak the name of the deity you wish to ask a favor from, and then STAND.

At this point, you will be transported to another location and immediately get the orb bearing the name of your god. GO ARCH, and you will find yourself in another location. You will need to perform a menial task in order to exit the area, but if you get stuck, you can drop the orb to return to the begining.

Put the orb away, and repeat the previous step to gain a second orb. No more than two orbs can be owned at the same time, or the oldest will deactivate. The next step is to fill the orb with your sacrifice, which can be done by either RUBbing it, or HUGing it. The first will take a small amount of your actively learning experience as a sacrifice, and the second will absorb experience until there is either none left or the orb is full.

Lastly, proceed back to town, then to the main temple (DIR TEMPLE) and place the orb on the main alter there, at which point a favor will be gained. The more favors currently held and the higher the circle of the person, the more experience will be required to fill the orbs.

Basic Roleplaying

If you wish to dip your toes in roleplaying, a good start is to read through the in-game books on your race and guild (also archived on Elanthipedia), as well as general history. You need not come up with a character that has their history plotted out the their great great great grandfather (though some people enjoy doing that), but it does help to think about a few general ideas. Why are you a given guild? What was your childhood like? Even these simple questions can get you thinking about your character and allow you to enter a conversation once you're ready.

Commonly Asked Questions

Q: Help! I'm confused and this guide isn't helping!

A: That's not a question! Regardless, you can use the ADVICE or HELP commands, or speak to a Mentor (use DIR MENTOR to find one) for help. If none of those work, see if you can get another player to help, such as one of your guildmates. If all else fails, posting your problems on the forums can result in a wealth of helpful information.

Q: Where is everyone?

A: DragonRealms is a huge game, with tens of thousands of areas. This results in people being spread over a large area fairly thinly. Generally most areas will have a gathering spot, where people talk and teach. Because these spots are known to change, it would be impractical for this guide to try to list them, though this article attempts to.

Q: I see people around but none of them will respond to me. What's going on?

A: Many people will run automated scripts to train skills that require repetive actions. The truth is that while it is against the rules to run them while not paying attention or away from the keyboard, it still happens to some degree. Some people skirt the edge by having the game window open but another window on top.

However, do not assume that since someone will not talk to you that they are not there. Some people either for roleplay or other reasons will just simply ignore you.

Regardless, do not let it discourage you, there are plenty of people out there to interact with once you know how to find them. Eventually you will be able to afford gwethdesuans, magical devices that give you access to regional in character chat channels.

Q: Someone just killed me, and I didn't do anything. What do I do?

A: There's two answers to this question. Either you got involved in something that gave someone "consent" on you, or you have met one of the infrequent but irritating people who enjoy killing for little or no reason.

In the first case, there is not much you can do. There is a large set of rules for when someone can and cannot attack you. If you got in someone's face, yelled at them, insulted them, slapped then, or made a hostile move toward them, they are within their rights to kill you. NEWS 5 24 and 5 25 goes into some detail about what's consent or not. Keep in mind, that certain actions you take can give everyone consent on you for a while, primarily stealing from another player. See the Profile section for more detail.

In the second case, you will have to decide whether it's worth your time and effort to contact a GM (via the ASSIST command) and file a complaint. Some people refuse to assist even if someone broke the rules, and others have no issues. It is largely a personal choice, however it is a good idea to find somewhere private to do it if you do choose to complain.

Q: I'm stuck, or something broke, and no one is around to help!

A: If you suspect you've encountered a bug, or that something is broken, your best bet is to use the ASSIST command to ask for help from staff. Keep in mind, there is not always a staff member around, and even when there is there may be a wait.

If something breaks drastically, like you end up in a room with no description, or your spell is creating gold coins out of nothing, use the REPORT command. This is the 911 call for GM help, so use it sparingly. Generally if you're wondering if you should use it, ASSIST is the better route.