New player

T

The Owl

Novice
Hi everyone!

I'm a student and writer in the Chicago area, and I'm really interested in Alliance! I've played tabletop roleplaying games for years, but I'm totally new to LARP. I've got a few questions about the game here in Chicago...hopefully I'm not too ignorant. :-)

How many players should I expect at a typical event? Is there any dominant age group, or is there a mix of older and younger players? Will I have to sign up especially early to guarantee a spot?

How "in character" should I expect people to be? Based on the rulebook, it seems like people are expected to stay in character pretty much all the time, which I love, but some videos I found online (from Alliance Calgary, if I remember right) showed players talking out of character during battles and even breaking the rule against real-life profanity. Please be honest! I'm not picky, I just want to know what I'm getting into.

What rules should I use to build my starting character? Some posts on this forum indicated an errata to the website's rulebook, claiming I start out with 25 Build Points as opposed to 15 (or something like that). I've also heard about the 2nd edition rules coming out...where can I find these, and when should I expect to need them? Sorry, I'm totally lost with this part of the rules.

I'll follow up with more questions if I have them. Thanks in advance for your understanding. :-)

Oh, and the fun stuff: I'm planning on playing an idealistic Dryad (or Sylvanborn? I read something about a name change) Templar, sworn to heal the sick and injured without asking reward. He's been awakened only recently, so he has little experience with practical concepts like "money," but he's curious and friendly, if a little naïve.

Okay, that's all. I'm really excited! Hopefully I'll be joining you in April!
 
Hi! I'm sure one of the official staff folks will be around to answer in more depth shortly, but I can cover a couple of those things for you as a player. Reaching out to waysidelogistics@gmail.com is a good point of contact for information, as the staff don't always check these boards daily.

We've been averaging about 45 PCs and a dozen or so wonderful NPC players for the last few events, and the only real time pressure to sign up is hitting the pre-registration window to get a discount for making the logistics team and wonderful kitchen crew's lives easier by letting them know who's coming. That will be clearly announced in a post here, usually a couple weeks out from the event.

The Sylvanborn change is actually to the race currently called Mystic Wood Elves, as they are not actually elves nor from the Mystic Wood, so they're being renamed into something more appropriate to remove the confusion. There are some more racial changes in the 2.0 rules, but they are mostly nothing to be worried about at a character concept level. The big ones are that Sarr are no longer going to be a race of their own, but will instead be rolled into Wylderkin, and that Barbarians are being removed as a race and a new race is being added called the Oathsworn that has some similar traits but different roleplay and costume requirements.

The new rules, Alliance 2.0, are currently in pre-release status and can be found here. A full new rulebook is forthcoming once everything is fully set in stone and both the chapter owners and Alliance rules committee are content with it.
 
Hello The Owl,

Thank you for your interest. As Chris stated we normal have about 50-60 people total. The ages to very but most are over 18. We do have open registration that at this point does not have a cap.

We do ask that people try to stay "in character" in public spaces and keep it PG 13. Game is on from Friday night till Sunday morning at some time. We know that sometime breaking character is need especially as a newer player or with races with a heavy RP requirement ( i am looking at you Stone elf) but part of the fun is trying to walk in the shoes of that character and see life as they do. We just ask the if a person need to break character that it is done in an out of game areas or privet spaces. This way they are not breaking the immersion for someone else.

Yes, all characters start with 25 Build Points (level 2). As of this moment we are still running 1.3 rule to my knowledge but, if that changes there would be an official announcement by the owner Rob. 2.0 is set to be released mid year(June ish) but does have the pre-release rule available for review and character planning. However think of the pre-release rule as an update to the 1.3 rule. So it is 1.3 rule unless the 2.0 rule state a change.

Sounds like you have a great idea for a character in mind. The Dryad race will have a minor change in 2.0 ( see below). It is often recommended to start with fighter or scholar first to maximize you starting build and the Fluid Class (change) to templar once you have some more build. This allows you to get a little more out of every build point however your starting equipment is based on you starting build.

Jon D. Logistics

2.0 Pre-release doc
Dryad: Although the Edged Weapon skill restriction is removed, remember that Dryads are still allergic to metal and this should figure into their weapon choices. An obsidian or stone dagger is acceptable, a metal dagger is not. The physrep should clearly represent a non-metal object. Dryads may stack natural forms of armor; leather, bone, wood etc. to increase their overall location maximum to 4. Dryads are still never permitted to have metal as a main component of their armor (buckles would be an obvious exception if required).
 
Heya Friend!

I'm not much of an official anything, but I really enjoy working with new players and helping folks get to know them game. I love answering questions! Feel free to join us on Facebook ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/308199321138/ ). We also have a link there to our discord where we're discussing the new rules. Feel free to reach out to me here, on discord, or on Facebook and I'd love to help you in any way I can.

I'm excited to see you in April!

-Sid P
 
Hi, The Owl!

I'm handling new players this year, so please feel free to email me at alliance.chicagonp (at) gmail (dot) com. I'll be glad to help you get started, and ready for your very first event with us!!

Thanks!

Ashe(IG Yao)
 
Thanks everybody! Hope to see you at the season opener. :-)
 
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