|
|
|
|
|
|
Help for the New Player
|
Welcome to Gondor! First of all, please read all of these files in +GHELP, as well as all of the files in NEWS. Then skim the files called HELP and +HELP for some basic commands. Once you have read these files and have been cultured Gondorian, (+mail the Local Administrators for Gondor to ask to be cultured.) then you may continue. To do so, type +GHELP as listed below in the left column. Once you have been cultured your default channel should be your Gondor com and you may speak or pose on it by typing: =(speak or pose). You will find the people on your cultural com very helpful.
|
|
|
Naming Your Character
|
If you have not noticed before, place names in Gondor are almost entirely in Sindarin, discounting a few rare cases where a prehistoric name has survived, or where old Adunaic influences still reign. This is not by chance, but a very important part of Gondorian culture. This tends to be true also where people are concerned; the more "high blood" and ancestory you possess, the more likely you are to have a Sindarin name. Now many people choose the names of their characters because they like the way those names sound, but certain names are without a doubt unthematic and out of place for most Gondorians. So, in an effort to make Gondor more proper, the local admins offer their services to you, the Citizens of Gondor. When choosing a name, remember that we will gladly help you find a thematic one to suit your character.
A few points and considerations. First, this does not mean you /must/ take a Sindarin name. We are not trying to police or restrict players in their choice (though if you name yourself Connor Macleod expect to be asked to change it.) Not all Gondorians hail from families with strong Numenorean ties, and some obscure names can occur. But keep in mind many Gondorians do have Sindarin names. A few families, such as Imrahil's own, also have a strong tradition of Old Adunaic names. Second, do not forget that even a name you make up might have a Sindarin meaning. It happens, quite often. Other names have Sindarin elements, anc could easily be corruptions or mutations of Sindarin words or meanings. Third, this only includes IC names, of course. If you name yourself "Little_Boy" for purposes of anominity, that's fine.
Finally, do not hesitate to ask for help, especially from your Local Admins. We are here to improve the culture and make your stay more pleasurable.
|
|
Writing a Description of Your Character
|
Once you have chosen a name for your character that has been approved by the Local Admins (LAs), you will need to describe your character. See help @desc for how to set up your description. You can see how other Gondorians have described themselves by typing ex *name/describe. This can be very helpful as you decide on how your character looks. Once you have finished, please contact one of the LAs to ask him or her to look it over and see if he or she has any suggestions. Descriptions should rarely exceed twenty lines, but should usually be longer then ten. Try to think about detail, but be concise. Some helpful ideas: use %R for carriage returns, and %T for paragraph indentation/tabs. For advanced descriptions, read +HELP +WARDROBE.
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
Gondorians are descended for the most part from the people of Numenor. Due to this, they tend to almost uniformly exhibit certain physical characteristics, which holds especially true for the folk of Anorien, Belfalas and Ithilien. People from these regions are tall and fair, with black hair and grey eyes.
Those from fiefs such as Lamedon, Lebennin and Anfalas can, however, be somewhat shorter and swarthier than the average Gondorian, with brown hair and eyes. The reason for this is their blood is mingled with that of the hill folk who lived there before the coming of the Dunedain.
Please keep the above mentioned guidelines in mind while writing a description for your character. While a rare few Gondorians might stray from the norm and have blonde hair and/or blue eyes due to mixed Rohirric ancestry, anything else such as red hair, green eyes and the like are unlikely to the point of not being acceptable. Also keep in mind that this is an important factor when a player is being considered for Dunadan status. For instance, it is highly improbable that a character with blonde hair would have Dunadan blood in him.
|
|
Writing A History For Your Character
|
Writing out your character's background history is a very important part of making your character who he or she is and will be. This is perhaps the single MOST important element in creating your character and often the most abused. To write up a history for yourself, type: &history me= and when you hit the return key it will be set. Again use %t and %r to make it easier to read. See HELP @EDIT for details on how to alter it once it is written. When you are satisefied that it is to your liking, then you may set it visual by typing: @set me/history=vis. You will then wish to +mail your LA's and politely ask one of them to read your new background at their convenience and to let you know if they have suggestions to help your history be more in theme or more original. Most start small but add on as they Role Play, thus developing rich backgrounds over time that can become a source of both entertaining reading and prideful segments of who we are on this MUSH. You must have an approved history -before- you may ask to take your combat test.
Some things to NOT do with your background history are:
1) Do not list all of your family as being dead. This is hardly original and seems to be what everyone wants to do as an easy out. You will find having some IC family is often useful later for great RP.
2) Do not claim to be of other blood than of Gondor without a previous approval from the Gondorian +ruler. The only acceptable blood besides Gondorian is really only Rohirric and you really should still have some Gondorian blood as well. Fitting in is better than standing out when you are new. Leave that to the older, more experienced players.
3) Do not make your character ICly related to any Feature character. This is not allowed and is covered in the NEWS files. Even characters of Noble birth or high in Numenorean blood should be cleared with your +ruler first.
4) Do not claim amnesia or simular 'lost' background wanderer type. We in Gondor come from stable families, feel strong kinship to one another and put much trust in each other and our honor. Too often we have orphined or amensia backgrounds and this is hardly orginal.
Some things you SHOULD do with your background history:
1) List family by names.. those who are both dead or alive, (Mostly alive, we hope) as well as friends you ICly have and siblings. Is your character married and have children? Also think about where you are from ICly? What city, town, fief or farm?
2) What skills do you have ICly? What sort of jobs have you had or things you are good at or interested in? Been a farmer's daughter, son of a Guardsmen, student at the University? An apprentice Stone Mason? What does your family do for a living? We can help you with ideas but real life interests are also often useful to start with and easier to RP.
3) Now that you have family and some background as well as interests, tell us about your character's personality. Is he or she shy, greedy, have any phobias, passions, vices, fears, hates, allergies, etc? These will be more to make you an individual than anything else and be an aid in helping you to remember nifty things to add to your RP as you develope your character.
|
|
