Thinking of coming out

Sahale

Sahale

Newbie
So i used to go to Nero Empire with a few of you and i'm thinking of coming out to an event. anything different i should know ahead of time? How much build does a new character have? Will play a biata again, is there a lot of difference in alliance? looking forward to seeing all of you :D
 
The rulebook is TOTALLY free: http://nerohq.com/books.php

15 Build is the base for new PCs.

I'm a newb with Nero rules/style vs Alliance rules/style, but give it a few, someone will fly in and talk about the differences as we have many players who play/played in Nero and Nero Empire.

Welcome!

-Porch
 
Rules differences between NERO and Alliance LARPs:
  • National biata packet can be found here to see some of the differences. If you pay the $10 trial membership fee or the $30 full membership fee, you can get a copy of the Player's Guide and a copy of the local biata packet from Plot.
  • You can get a pdf copy of the rulebook for free here. There's also an article here on triaging the rulebook. Much of it will already be familiar to you but there will be some differences in the details.
  • See page 50 of the rulebook for character creation. You start with 15 Build Points.
  • Here's a brief FAQ sort of thing for Alliance LARP Denver.
  • There are a few more classes (p. 48 of the rulebook): Adept (like Templar in NERO, but a mix of Scholar and Rogue instead of the Templar mix of Scholar and Fighter), Scout (a mix of Fighter and Rogue), and Artisan (merchant/crafting class).
  • PCs cannot cast a permanent Circle of Power.
  • Wards don't have ward keys, and whoever is inside the ward when it's cast is invested in the ward automatically.
  • When doing a three-count of any sort, the number comes after the descriptor (e.g. "Killing blow 1, killing blow 2...", "I come out of the woods 1, I come out of the woods 2...", "I pick you up 1, I pick you up 2..." etc).
  • There is no memory bead. You automatically remember everything up to the point of your death when resurrecting.
  • There is no way to rewrite memory except through Biata/Stone Elf mental abilities (and those are roleplay only and can be rejected at any point by player choice). Amnesia does exist, but it simply wipes an hour of memory; you can't rewrite someone's memory through alchemy.
Cultural differences between NERO Empire and Alliance Denver:
  • We have a nobility system. There are four baronies in-game underneath a duchess; above the duchess is the king. Here's an explanation of courtly manners in game.
  • Any PC can become a noble through work and roleplay by getting squired to a knight, and going through a series of tasks and time to become a knight. See page 30 of the rulebook.
  • There's a greater emphasis on guilds (and it is very helpful and strongly advised to join either a guild, a barony, or both for the purposes of getting plot, resources, etc). There is a Mages Guild, a Healers Guild, a Merchants Guild, the Town Guard, the Vigilant (an undead/necro hunting guild), a small guild of adventurers (Lamplight), a new-ish Locksmiths Guild... and of course there is no Thieves Guild *cough*.
  • We are specifically a "good guy game". There is room for bad guys and you are allowed to be a bad guy, but it's somewhat harder to be a "bad guy" in Alliance Denver than it is in NERO Empire/Kilgrave (sp?). You have to be sneakier about it. (See: automatic memory, no memory rewrites, strong nobility.)
 
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Awesome, I'll read up. Any sort of character conversion from Nero available? Thanks for the detailed response
 
Wow, I um, have no words compared to Dani's thoroughness.

Ultimately, many of the spells/effects are the same as NERO, with some minor differences in levels/durations, but those are easy to check. As for character conversions, we do not do character conversions from NERO, but everyone in the chapter started off at level 1-3, and our level average is still level 3, so at 15 build you won't be far behind.
 
I thought of some more! Cultural ones again. (Note that I haven't played Empire in a couple years so my assumptions about Empire culture may be out of date.)
  • Important plot stuff happens on Sunday. We also run until the afternoon on Sundays. It's worth it to get into character and go into game on Sundays. Or come over and NPC.
  • There are occasional mod cards in Alliance Denver, but not every event, and not as numerous or as essential as they are at Empire. We rely a lot more on "hooks" and rumors.
  • Our Plot team plans for the long term. Some plot lines are designed to resolve within a day, some within a weekend, some within a season... and some are planned to last potentially for several seasons. There are both major and minor plotlines that will be impossible to resolve completely within a single weekend and that you will not be able to get 100% of the information on in a single weekend. Patience and long-term investigation is sometimes required.
  • Multiple, often unrelated plotlines run during the same event. It is nigh impossible to see and participate in everything significant that happens in a weekend. There are even multiple major plotlines running at the same time that aren't directly related.
  • Ideally, there will always be some NPCs doing roleplay characters, some NPCs playing wandering encounters, and some NPCs on modules. I know that when I PC'd and NPC'd in Empire, if there were NPCs doing roleplay roles in the tavern, you could generally assume there wasn't going to be a random attack on the tavern anytime soon. This is not the case in Alliance LARP. Obviously we are constrained by how many NPCs we have, but we've been doing pretty well at having multiple groups of NPCs out at once, I think.
  • There aren't really any "nonsensical" monsters. Which is to say, all the wandering monster encounters and random monster encounters are sensible parts of the world and there are plot-thought-out reasons for them being in the area. (For example: There are lots of goblins, orcs, and ogres running around... because a massive seven-years war between those races and the "civilized" races just ended, scattering their organization but leaving them in the area.)
  • We take a break during the winter. The Alliance Denver LARP season lasts from April through November. There's also a faire day (mod day) in January.
A few more rules things:
  • We still use a few tags... Life tags, ammunition, a couple other things. I don't recall ever using any tags in NERO Empire (I started playing in Colorado in June '08) other than a few weapon/item/armor/spellbook tags. We did just switch over to battleboards for spells and skills.
  • You don't have to have your spellbook on your person in order to cast spells.
  • You have to learn new skills from a teacher and get a signed teacher card as proof. (This is a major reason to join a guild... the guild leaders have Teacher skills and can teach you new spell levels, for example, as well as sell you more spells for your spellbook.)
  • Some spells are not yet available (have to be discovered in game).
 
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a plethora of information! definitely jazzed about the system. thanks for taking the time to respond in such detail i really appreciate it
 
Also - spells are memorized. No cast on the fly. I am in the process of finishing the local biata packet but there is a national packet you can use to get the flavor of the race. Player's guide is definitely worth the read as it gives you TONS of background for stepping into the game world and feeling like you have a clue as to what's going on and who's who. - Jenn
 
Sniff sniff... I love our players... so helpful!! Dani rox! I am so pumped for April!
 
Actually you should be scared.. really scared. :D
 
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