Part III Role Playing the Sorcerer

Remember that GemStone III does not use the concept of having a set alignment with regards to good/evil, order/chaos. Some games, such as Dungeons and Dragons, require you to choose an alignment and then force you to rigidly adhere to it. GemStone III, like RoleMaster and various other game systems, recognizes that character personalities (and human nature) are far to complicated to be restricted in such a fashion. Rather, it is how you role-play your character that will determine how you will be perceived in the game by your fellow players.

The key to role-playing a characters personality is to be consistent. Stay in character! If you have to discuss game mechanics or last weeks football game, use whispers or find someplace private so you don't disrupt others!

Outstanding role-playing may even occasionally earn you an experience award or such. If you are always in character the chances of getting noticed for one of these awards goes up. Even if you never get an award, role-playing is fun! People play this game to have fun, and it is difficult for those around you to stay in character if you are trying to discuss out of character (OOC) matters! Try to stay in character as best you can. Even when soloing.

As you decide on how to role-play your character, remember that GemStone III is a family game with just about every age group represented. Please watch the language, and recall that Player Vs Player (PvP) violence is frowned upon. I have known of accounts who have been locked out of the game as a result of abusive behavior. Always remember everyone is in this game to have fun - and fun is not had at the expense of others!

In fact, most older players can only survive and advance by cooperating. The game is designed that way on purpose, and you will save yourself much grief if you accept this. Those players who want nothing but a PvP hack and slash experience eventually give up on GemStone III and move on to other games. So after the first few levels the trash leaves and things get better for the players that remain. Just hang in there.

There are many approaches towards role-playing your character. Think of it as acting. Some people need to generate a detailed character background before they can act the part. Some just jump into the role with no preparation. Both methods are correct. The important thing is to enjoy yourself!

One of the biggest hurdles to playing a sorcerer character is the large amount of time that is spent soloing to advance levels. Young sorcerers make lousy group hunters. This is due to the experience formula which gives the most experience to the person who scores the most Health Point damage. Sorcerers slowly whittle away at their prey, and simply can't keep up when causing Health Point loss. Just read the descriptions of the bleeding spells above if you need this point reinforced.

In my opinion, the inability to effectively participate in a group when young is one of two reasons why most first time sorcerers reroll. I think of it as a frustration factor. Sorcerers are very weak when young, and don't really come of age until well past their 30th training or so. They are the last class to mature into effective killing machines. Sorcerery, above all else, requires patience.

The second reason, in my opinion, is that some folks desiring a PvP environment think of sorcerers as ultimate killing machines. They see some level 50 sorcerer do mean and terrible things to a level 1 critter during a spell demonstration and go "Woah!". They eventually come to realize that sorcerers are better against critters than other equivalently leveled players, it is the way the spells are coded. Folks fitting into this category tend to reroll as wizards once they understand the game mechanics behind the spell systems, as wizards are more affective against other players than sorcerers, given equivalent character levels. Eventually though, they get disgusted over the non-PvP, cooperative nature of GemStone III and leave the game (or get locked out for being abusive players). The game benefits from their leaving. They are not missed.

Remember that not all sorcerers are evil. Several in the game are what would be called "good". When I was faced with this choice, one late night in the midst of a Jolt shortage, I found that this is were not having an alignment system comes in handy. It occurred to me that one of the possible outcomes to role-playing a "insane" evil sorcerer character is that he turns out to be "good", and that this might be more fun to role-play than your traditional good character routines.

I role-play a sorcerer character who is generally considered to have a few screws loose by his friends <allowing for a bit of comedy>. He is also generally considered good by most of the folks he meets <friends and cooperation are important to his survival and advancement>. Granted, he has trouble finding hunting partners unless they've very strong stomachs, but then I am a sorcerer <I do mean, nasty things to my enemies>. Some folks after a hunt even refer to me as evil. Now not everyone should generate their own version of Manny the Mad, besides - you'd have to get your own tickling feather if you did, but it's one example of how a character can be played out in non-traditional ways.

Occasionally I get approached on the issue of a formal apprenticeship, and offer the following commentary:

First of all, you have to love to role-play. That means OOC concerns, game mechanics, etc., are discussed only in whispers. i.e. asking what is CS out loud will get you no answer. You must stay in character at all times (obviously, except when talking with a GM on an assist about a technical problem with the game, such things are not usually done in character).

Due to the manner the character is Role-played, I can't take on a formal apprentice. I can offer to tutor (same effect, only the title in a role-playing sense is different). In character, if you approached him looking for a tutor, you'd might get a response similar too:

"You have a few things to learn. I expect you can learn them from me as well as anyone else. I can't promise to teach you with any regularity - my life isn't structured so - but I will finish what I start."

The rest is up to you!