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| Photo by Sean Finn |
How did you learn about Realms?
Owen West / Balthazar almost always gets me to try new things out, no matter what it is. He convinced me to go to an event which was about 20 minutes from my house and from there on I just kept on learning about Realms.
How many events have you gone to?
I have now gone to six events. Feast of Chimron, Convergences, North South War, Book of Moons (Final Chapter), Pressure Point, and Grimlock Questing.
Have you ever LARP'ed before?
I have never LARP'ed but I have done fencing, martial arts, performing arts and D&D (Owen also convinced me for the last bit). Combining all of these different things, LARP'ing seems like the perfect mix.
What is your character like? Were is he from? What is his race? What is important to him? What do you remember most from my first event?
My character is human named Jace Moonshadow. He is from a tribe of peaceful nomadic gatherers who try and stay out of the general view of others. Jace and his brother Fenrir were two chosen to take a peacekeeper trial but their sister was kidnapped during the trials by an unknown beast. Jace now fueled will the desire to repair his family, set of to find her and bring her back safe.
Jace always puts friends and family first no matter what. Many times, Jace will put himself through unnecessary pain just to help someone else. That being said he absolutely despises scalping and any form of death magic as he morally despised the mishandling of bodies.
I remembered the amount of fun I had at Feast of Chim just helping out the experienced fighters because I felt useful and it was great to watch them do their thing. Plus as a caster with the spell light against shades and bois I was very useful for just my first event.
What things have made you feel welcome in this game?
The people that I have met so far are too numerous to mention but almost everyone I have spoken to or interacted with make me feel like I am a part of the game. The hospitality, kindness, and camaraderie that Realms people show to everyone equally is really amazing and makes Realms feel very unique.
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| Photo by Robyn Nielsen (Michel is in the middle in brown) |
What parts of the game do you find the most challenging?
Fighting is the one thing that will always be a challenge no matter who you are because of how fights change depending on the situation at hand. Eventually it all comes down to training and experience, of which currently I have little. I do plan on making a few fight practices occasionally but the majority of my free time will be for my studies at UMass Amherst during the school year.
Do you have any game related goals?
In and out of character, I would love to gain a bunch of new friends as well as networks. I have always found that the more people you know and respect, the more opportunities are available for whatever your trying to achieve whether it's an alliance in-game or finding real life opportunities for jobs or internships out-of-game. As a player, I would also love to create some sort of plot line or event as I have always loved to tell a story. I feel like event holders and NPC's sometimes have the coolest perspective and I would love to partake in the NPC's and Staff's side of Realms as well.
What advice would you give other new players?
I would give two pieces of advice. #1 Don't be afraid to ask. About anything. I started off just asking as many questions that I deemed necessary to understand the situation at hand. Just by asking the question "Is Spider OK by himself? Should we help him?" I learned about Regeneration, Embrace Death, Heal Limb, and that Spider is always hungry all in the same conversation. In short, questions are very helpful, if you have one, ask it.
#2 Always call shots. Even as a spellcaster, you will be hit by weapons and you must be aware of what hits where at all times. For this reason alone fight practice is a must because it will get you in the habit of correctly calling shots. People will also respect you more if you call your shots correctly and this will help you in the long run.
What have you enjoyed the most about the game so far?
The constant adventure is something that I do enjoy and the game allows me to interact with an adventure as opposed to reading or watching it. The different plot lines also makes the game super enjoyable because it give the impression that every decision you make in game will affect you at some point in the future.
Anything else you'd like to take the opportunity to put in print?
Thank you to Owen/Balthazar for introducing me to Realms and getting me pumped for almost anything. And thanks to all of the people that I have quested and fought with for the past few months, you guys are the reason why I want to stick around for a while.