Sierra Kilo

I used to play on a MUD named Faerun.com. It was based on 2nd Edition AD&D and set in the Forgotten Realms (until WotC put a stop to it). This is one idea that I had for a new player-friendly area that would serve as a guided experience without alot of

handholding. I wanted to try to keep it in-character as much as possible, but still teach a player how to interact within the environment.

Ideas:

- 8 sections with chokepoints between each one
=====- Forest (3 sections)
=====- Village (1 section)
=====- Graveyard (2 sections)
=====- Tomb/Hideout (2 sections)
- Forest
=====- Rabbit
=====- Deer
=====- Snakes
=====- Goblins
=====- Kobolds
=====- Wild elves
=====- Gnome/halfling village
- Graveyard
=====- Clerics turn undead
=====- Skeletons
=====- Zombies
- Tomb/Hideout
=====- Thieves pick locks of doors and chests
=====- Thieves detect and disarm traps
=====- Mages detect magic/invisible doors and chests
=====- Fighters bash doors/chests
- Resources
=====- Trees for wood
=====- Shrubs for berries
=====- Mushrooms (edible and poisonous)

- Flow
=====- Village
==========- Forest
===============- Forest 2
====================- Forest 3
=========================- Hideout
===============- Cave
====================- Catacombs
==========- Graveyard
===============- Tomb
====================- Catacombs


- Description:
The newbie area should be very close to the starting area and the “home base.” Ardeep, for example, was around 10 rooms from the Copper Cup, along an often-used path. After following a short path, the players would enter into a large forest area. Upon entering the forest, a ranger NPC could mention the “proper” use of the forest. He could tell the players, “Welcome to Neubee Forest, traveller. I am Rolf, caretaker of these woods. You may KILL creatures under these boughs, but I ask that you only do so with the intention of using all of their resources. I can TRAIN you to harvest your own kills, or you may take them to the village on the southern outskirts of the forest and find a butcher there. Should you choose to harvest, yourself, you would simply GET the CORPSE, WIELD your KNIFE, BUTCHER the CORPSE, then SKIN the CORPSE. The village is always in the market for meat and animal hide.”

The village could provide a “base camp” for the adventurers as well as point out places of interest through triggered NPC conversation. As the players wander through the village, some villagers may mention a goblin hideout on the eastern side of the forest, others may mention a graveyard and catacombs overrun by evil undead to the north, and others may mention a cave filled with odd creatures.

Based on the character’s class, certain NPCs will give different information. A shifty merchant in the small community could react to thieves by saying, “Greetings, rogue…Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone about your skills. I used to be quite the thief, myself, when I was younger. I could still TRAIN your skills as you become more experienced. If you’re looking for a bit of excitement, you might check out the graveyard to the north. My favorite spot used to be the catacombs. The entrance is on the north end of the graveyard. I used to go to the big city, HIDE in the shadows, then SILENTly move closer to a rich fellow and STEAL as much as I could from his pockets. I would go to the catacombs and PICK the NORTH gate and stash my loot inside. I left a few chests down there, but could never remember where I put them. If you find them, you can help yourself to what’s inside. Just PICK the lock on the CHEST. Take care, though. The dead often walk the halls of the catacombs. That was enough to make me stop my illegal activities. Now, I TRAP animals in the forest. Be sure to DETECT traps and DISARM them before you get stuck. If you need any supplies, feel free to come back. Until then, have a pleasant journey.”

For mages and bards of the correct level, the local wizard may be found sitting on the porch of his small hut, smoking a pipe. He’d say, “Hello there. I sense that you have your finger in the Weave…the source of all magic. It is not a subject to be taken lightly. I can TRAIN you as you gain experience, but only if you prove you are a good student. You must take good care of your spellbook, as it is the source of all of your knowledge of the Weave. You must MEMORIZE your SPELLS every day, and CAST them with caution. If you believe you can follow my teachings, I can TRAIN you with a few spells that you should be able to pick up fairly easy. Some spells only require voice or gestures, but some may require physical materials. I have some for sale, but you can probably find what you need in the woods, there. If you come across a Wizard’s Bag, your spell componnents can be used in the bag. Otherwise, you will need to HOLD the required componnents in your hand. Let me know which spells you would like to learn, otherwise farewell.”

Clerics, paladins, druids, and rangers of the correct level would speak to the priest in the local temple. Without going through the shpiel again, the priest would just mention the basics of spellcasting and the basic “how to roleplay a cleric.”

Notice how the commands are in all-uppercase, and directions on how to perform certain actions are placed within the sentences. All of that was done in-character. Of course, the exact syntax would be found on the website or by typing HELP [command], which could be explained in the newbie welcome. Each class would have his own person to speak to and train with. Closeby each trainer would be a shop that sells items related to that class. The magic shop and thief shop would be very important, as would a weapon and armor shop. Items available would vary, but are best suited for first or second-level players. It would be nice to have something unique to the newbie shops so that even at level 10, players may want to visit the village.

The main areas here would be the forest, the village, the graveyard and its catacombs, a hideout of evil creatures, and a cave. The forest should be fairly large. Large enough to accomodate a realistic amount of newbies hunting at the same time. The farther away from the “safe zones” such as the forest entrance and the village, the more difficult the creatures are to slay.

In the farthest corner, creatures could become aggressive. This section of the forest should be clearly marked as being much more dangerous than the rest, since the hunters then become the hunted. Perhaps beyond this advanced section of the forest lies the hideout. This could be goblins, kobolds, brigands, or some other low-level creatures. A below average second-level fighter should be able to fight his way all the way to the back of the hideout, kill some sort of “boss” creature, and make it all the way out of the newbie area alone with only a medium-level of difficulty. An above average, complete newbie fighter should be able to explore half of the advanced section solo with an extremely high-level of difficulty.

The graveyard and its catacombs should be populated with low-level undead and creatures suited to graveyards such as rats, snakes, bats, and insects. I would have to check the Monster Manual, but perhaps skeletons, zombies, and ghosts could populate the deeper sections of the graveyard and catacombs. There should be plenty of locked gates, doors, and chests scattered throughout this section. A below-average complete newbie thief should be able to make it into the catacombs with a medium-level of difficulty, but not explore much. A normal, second-level thief should be able to explore all of the catacombs with a medium-level of difficulty.

The cave should be constructed with mages in mind. The darkness would allow for the use of the “light” spell, “armor” and “shield” should help protect the mage, “feather fall” should protect the mage from the slight drops which would normally injure him, “protection from evil” could help defend the mage against evil creatures found within, “spider climb” would allow the mage to climb walls that would normally be inaccessible, and “wizard mark” would help the mage from getting lost. The cave could also contain invisible doors, found by using the “detect magic” spell. At the deepest, darkest point of the cave should be a magical item. This should not necessarily be a true item, but could be a magical spring with water that heals small wounds or something similar. The item should be replenishable (or respawnable), and therefore shouldn’t give tremendous magical benefits, but enough to feel like a reward to the mage, who could use the “identify” spell to find out more about it. A magical spring with temporary benefits is the best solution I can think of here. Filling a container with this water and being able to sell it could be the reward for reaching it.

The cleric would benefit from all of the areas. His turn undead would help in the catacombs, his spells would be useful everywhere, and he would be able to engage in combat in all sections.

Alot of thought and work should go into this area to make it well-balanced and polished to a high-glossy shine. This is where all newbies should want to go, and should invoke a sense of nostalgia for the older, more experienced players who may visit from time to time, perhaps to help the newbies. Limiting trainers to low-level skills and spells only would force players to venture out, eventually leaving the nest. While areas that are laid out in this fashion may not be completely realistic, it drives character advancement, and is a very good game design. However the area is laid out, balance is key. No class should feel like there’s nothing to do. Players should be able to start every alt by going through this area and not get bored of it. A DM should watch over this area very carefully and play along to foster good roleplay.