Starting out?

[aeeolag]

I think we should be able start out near or close to our trainers etc. Such as if you are a Druid or Ranger you would start out in the Grove at either the Druid Haven or the Ranger outpost. I don't know if its my playstyle or the world itself. I have been soloing as to go with my background and class I play. The xp loss is alot if you have died alot like me. 5 times in 2 hours.

[RPMike17]

Soloing is a crazy man's path here in Sundren. *spoken in high pitched voice*

While it is possible for some and if you very careful, it is difficult and not recommended at all. Find a friend or two with complimenting styles of play. How do you find friends? RP! Everyone here in Sundren loves a good RP session! Just avoid the Red Blades... ( Lane )

About the boat... if you read about Sundren on the wiki, you will find out that that is the way you arrive in Sundren no matter who you are. It is part of the great story!

[Saulus]

Sundren was designed for group-play, soloing is intended to be very difficult.

[Cornuto]

About the boat... if you read about Sundren on the wiki, you will find out that that is the way you arrive in Sundren no matter who you are. It is part of the great story!

Perhaps for now...

[kovah]

Perhaps for now...

(safest thing I could find on a Google image search for "tease")

[RPMike17]

Perhaps for now...

Right... Beta Site = could change at any moment!

[aeeolag]

I guess I have to go back to the drawing board with my character and how I want to go with it.

[EndsBeginning]

RP! Everyone here in Sundren loves a good RP session! Just avoid the Red Blades... ( Lane )

Hey don't let Lane give us all a bad name. Chara is a decent sort. Too bade Andy outranks her. I'm stuck playing smile and nod to the crazy for now. >.<

[Phantom Lamb]

There will likely be other starting points available in the future. While I think it's a good idea, we restrict certain zones because of survivability. If you're low level, but a rogue, we don't want you starting near the Cartel. However, there are some safe spots, like the druid grove, that could warrant discussion as starting location options when we reach that point in development.

HOWEVER, there's no reason for you NOT to RP that you are a local. Yes, the game kinda forces you to start off on the boat for now. You could simply ignore that introduction and state, as a RP background, that you are a Sundren local.

[aeeolag]

For being a local I sure am lost as far as knowing my way around Sundren. I don't mind grouping when needed. I just don't have the time to group due to family and being in the army. As far as having to group that goes against what I want to do for my character. Most Rangers are anti social and only group out of necessity (Drizz't is a great example). IF I decide to continue and once I am able to acquire the PC Assassin how group friendly are those classes with the background that is required to go that route?

[Zoberraz]

Well, some advice might be in order - I remember it being kinda lonely when I created my own character, with few people of similar level to help me out.

For the Sharahan hills:

If you are a ranger, you'll find level 4 rather pivotal: it's where your animal companion becomes available and that made a world of a difference to me. Use your bow to start a fight whenever you can to soften up the opposition. Try to position yourself so that you can make attacks of opportunity on those goblin archers if you can - those are either free attacks... or you force them to use a weapon that they are far less adept at using.

If you've got a choice of 2 goblin archers and a defender (that frequently happens), you're probably better off killing the archers off first, because the defender will take considerably longer to kill thanks to its higher AC.

If you're a druid, the Spittlefist goblins probably won't give you too much trouble thanks to your spells and animal companion... as long as you don't go and take on more than you (and your animal buddy) can chew.

Don't be afraid to run away, and remember that you can rest anytime until you get to level 6. Once you get to level 6, you end up having to deal with a timer until your next rest. Also, try to complete those quests in the expedition camp - they'll help you get over to level 4 and 5.

Other areas to consider are the Sundren sewers. There's this big place where you can fight rats and bats. Avoid the lizardmen - unless you're something of a low-level powerhouse, they never seemed worth the trouble to me except for quest completion.

Around level 5, you'll have mostly outgrown the outdoor zone (or should have, given your experience gains). Level 5 is the first week level cap, so, you can take that opportunity to talk to other people. Not only will you get some roleplay xp every 10 minutes, but you'll be able to forge ties and contacts with others which will help make your stay on this persistent world much more enjoyable.

I made the mistake of neglecting on that part and I ended up having a level 17 ranger whom has a very small list of contacts... therefore, I'm a level 17 character with very little fame or reputation which - honestly - quite sucks and it's all my fault for having prioritized leveling up to reach the level range of the other guys I envied and wanted to spend more time with feeling I was making a useful contribution instead of being a third wheel and a liability.

Amongst the places you'll be able to go, nature inclined characters usually gravitate toward the Viridale forest, which is great level 5 and up. Encounters there can be stiff though because most of the opponents you'll meet will be clustered in groups and you won't be able to rest as often unless you go to some camps. I largely managed thanks to a fey heritage feat I had that allowed me to put groups of opponents to sleep - you'll have to find someway of coping too.

Make the most out of the Viridale. Once you outgrow it (level 9+), you'll have to move on and the Viridale is pretty much the most contextually relevant adventure spot a woodland-oriented character can have. On Sundren, you can linger in zones where monsters no longer give you xp, so your choice of nice outdoor zones to linger in narrow down and you no longer really have access to woodlands until you brave the Mossdale forest.

The Mossdale forest is not a place for anyone to linger in. It's a high-level party death-trap (hyperbole on my part ^_^ ) and no place for your nature-lover to really hang out, unfortunately, like they could back when they were in the Viridale.

Lesson of all this: don't rush, try to make contacts and involve yourself in the game world (interest yourself in factions, namely), and if you're a nature person-character make the most of your low-mid level gameplay because the Viridale forest is quite neat.

* * *

Rangers are loner, yes. But they rarely accomplish anything significant on their own. Drizzt by his lonesome has gotten his arse kicked on many occasions except in very particular duels. It could be argued that Drizzt's mentor Mooshie was also very solitary and that he managed, but...

Montolio often waxed on his adventuring days when he had companions, and about the great times he had then. Drizzt's most significant accomplishments were done by the side of the other companions of the Hall... where he provided expertise they lacked, to have them perform better before adversity - that's why i don't really agree with your example.

The archetype of the ranger loner exists, but it's not necessarily those rangers that become successful (and high level in the process). Adversity shared often result in shared triumphs that are much, much greater than any single individual could accomplish as far as I am concerned.

[aeeolag]

Although this PW has great content. It is too difficult to level at the lower levels. I am not expecting instant XP etc. But 6 deaths the last 2 days. No meeting places to try and get adventure parties going. I do see inn's campgrounds at certain places but no one my level range to tell tales or rumors for adventures to go on. Good luck in this Endeavor.

[Cornuto]

Although this PW has great content. It is too difficult to level at the lower levels. I am not expecting instant XP etc. But 6 deaths the last 2 days. No meeting places to try and get adventure parties going. I do see inn's campgrounds at certain places but no one my level range to tell tales or rumors for adventures to go on. Good luck in this Endeavor.

Best of luck in your search for a PW that fits what you're looking for. We'll keep the light on for you should you ever wish to give it another go.

[Phantom Lamb]

Not every world will match your needs and wants. I think Cornuto said it all

[The Almight Red]

Yeeeah. Even if most Rangers were loners, it doesn't mean they're loners exclusively, otherwise TSR/WotC wouldn't be promoting a party adventure game. D&D (whether Faerun or otherwise) was never meant to be a game played by one DM and one player, so the Ranger could be the loner you imagine. Is it possible to make a lone Ranger? Sure.

But even in PnP, encounters and stories are never created and modeled in such a manner to accomodate such an intention. Rangers do work in groups, especially for the purposes of storytelling.

It moves to reason that it is more difficult for someone to adventure alone. A lot more difficult. Rarely would an individual throw themself against dozens or hundreds (yeah, most people easily kill over a hundred of those goblins in their early career) of goblins both by their lonesome and when still green in their battle experience.

Also, on my first character on the server, I died quite a few times at early levels. And it was very frustrating. But then I realized something. This was a smart system. Why? Because it makes the proposition of death intimidating. You don't want to die, and it makes you more cautious and wary of the possibility.

Video games and most PWs have very, very light penalties for death, and it produces this sort of dispassionate sentiment towards such, that is rather unrealistic and irreconcilable with dramatic and powerful story telling. If death is nothing more than an inconvenience, it makes it nigh impossible for people to be effected by their own mortality.

In a PW that imposes harsh penalties upon death, people will hopefully begin to look at it within the context of a heroic or nefarious story. That death will stop them from realizing their goals, from saving others, from pursuing their romance with their loved one, etc. etc.

My suggestion would be to take it as such: Your character has to evaluate the situation they're in. Killing goblins is difficult. He doesn't like working with others. (Or She, not sure on the gender of your character.) So, he decides from there what he would do. Perhaps he'll have to force himself into tenuous communication and interaction with others, if he believes the goblins are a serious enough threat to warrant it.

Keep it all IC and decide how to use the environment and situation through such. Basically, try to get into your character's head, and decide how they would view that particular circumstance.

It helped me develop a profound respect for this death system, and how it makes death a serious thing. I love the idea that people have mortality. Love it.