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| photo by Jason Rosa |
1. How did you learn about Realms?
The long version is a convoluted tale involving generations of nerdiness, the right choice of a college, covid, certain discord servers, and really a whole series of events happening just right.
The short version; I was in WPI’s D&D Discord server, and in the summer of 2021 I asked people if they knew anywhere that I could get more medieval/Renaissance fair type clothing. Zack K (Lt. Bogen) was on that server, and directed me to the SMAS (WPI’s larping club) server for better answers. When my senior year started in 2021 I had to sign up for PE classes, and I had seen boffer sports being advertised in the SMAS. After a few weeks in that class, Ryan, Stephen, and some of the officer board started talking up Black and White, and I decided to go, a decision I felt even more confident in after my Newbie Night Quest.
2. How many events have you been to?
As of writing, I have been to seven events; Black and White, Uncle Cecil’s, Tournaments of Artemis, Divine Intervention 2, the Summer Fest, Countess Naralia’s, and most recently Queen of Hearts.
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| photo by Jason Rosa |
3. Have you ever LARP’ed before? If so tell us about it?
I have not, though I’ve been playing D&D for a few years.
4. What is your character like? Where are they from? What is their species? What is important to them?
Fern is a human from a northern section of Chimeron. They’re a bit headstrong, intensely loyal to the people they care about, and trying to learn everything about the Realms at once. They keep insisting they decided to be an adventurer, and that the only difference between adventurers and non-adventurers is choosing to go down that path, or continuing down that path. They’re doing their best to take up the ‘thinky fighter’ mantle, but often forget that other people are around to help. If you’ve got information, stories, leads, or questing opportunities, find them at an event and they’ll generally be happy to learn and join, or they’ll find one of their friends to send along.
5. What do you remember most about your first event?
That’s a hard one, Black and White was pretty memorable. The dancing was fun, the food was excellent, I agonized over my letter to Pater Yule, I met tons of new people that I’d only heard about in stories, it poured on us all in the evening. I think the bit I recount the most often was how surprisingly competent and up to speed all of the Chimeron militia were. I don’t think the people running the newbie quest expected a bunch of people at their first event to form a double layer defensive wall facing the slowly approaching troll crunchies. Or maybe they did. Either way, we had a lot of great group cohesion and communication, especially for a first event for a lot of us.
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| photo by Kersten Prince |
6. What things have helped to make you feel welcome in game?
First, the people. This is pretty obvious, but there’s a lot to be said for the people who will take the time to slow down and explain parts of a story to you, or marshals who will step aside with you to go over certain calls patiently and calmly.
Second, I guess this is people again, in a way. I really appreciate the newbie quests, but I also really appreciate the opportunity to go on the harder quests and take on challenges alongside more experienced players. I’ve very rarely felt like I’ve burdened a group or slowed anyone down by being there.
Third, the resources. There’s the omnibus, but people are also happy to point me to the Library of Ivory, View articles, or to their friend who knows more on a topic than they do. It’s a lot easier to play catch-up when I know I’m going in the right direction.
7. What parts of the game do you find most challenging?
Definitely the combat. I’ve been practicing pretty much weekly for almost a year now, and I can still see just how far I have to go. I’ve never done any sort of combat sports before, so it’s all been new to me.
8. Do you have any game-related goals (as either a player or character)?
They pretty much overlap between in and out of character. I want to properly join Chimeron, learn everything I can, especially in regards to questing, become a better fighter, some day mentor new people, get better at crafting weapons and armor… everything. I know a lot of these things are long term goals, but so far I’d like this to be a long term sort of deal for me.
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| photo by Jason Rosa |
9. What advice would you give other new players?
I’ve seen this repeated so much in so many places; just get involved. So many people are happy to help explain and bring you along on quests. If you want to meet more people, rotate to the next table or the next group of people milling around. I’ve discovered a secret - people love talking about their nations, gods, friends, quests, magic items, you name it. It’s such an easy way in, and you already know that everyone here shares at least one major interest and hobby with you. If you don’t want to go up to a bunch of hardened warriors, find other newbies. You’re more likely to hear more stories and quest hooks in a pack, and a group is easier to notice than one person, generally.
10. What have you enjoyed most about the game so far?
Have you caught on that it’s the people yet? Because it is. I’ve made a lot of friends through Realms, people who are willing to teach me new things and share experiences. It’s also been really nice meeting and befriending people of different ages, especially coming out of college. I have a feeling I’ll be meeting new people through Realms for a while.