Post by Administrator on May 16, 2011 19:01:51 GMT -5
Guide for New Members
Welcome to Selenitas! Being a new member on any board can be a little difficult. This guide is here to hopefully help you figure things out and give you some ideas! If you have any questions after reading this guide (don't worry, we kind of expect you to) feel free to ask Ember or Rei. If they're unavailable you can drop them a Personal Message or sneak on into the cbox at the bottom of the page and ask ye olde regular members for some help or advice! Best of luck and have fun!
Basic Info
Selenitas Weyr has been active for 5 years. That's a long time for a lot of history to build up In Character.
The first thing you're going to want to do, besides reading the rules of course, is to check out the current setting of the Weyrs, Holds, and Crafthalls. These settings will play into how your characters were raised and how they are living now! You can't do this without a bit of history though.
To figure out the history you can read about the old Weyrs that make up Selenitas and Inverness Weyrs and the source of their conflict - Fort Weyr and Benden Weyr. Selentias Weyr has a two part history - one spans from the founding of the weyr to its destruction in an earthquake and the other deals with the founding of the new location onward. Also, Inverness Weyr has its own history. Lastly there is a more specific history of the Great War period.
As a general overview of the history we also have a timeline that lists all the major Pern-wide events.
Character Creation
"I'm ready to make a character!" Great! There are loads of character types you can make. You can check out some the ones we really need here or some of the available adoptables here. If they don't appeal to you don't worry, making your own from scratch is half the fun! You can create any of the following: Dragonriders, Candidates, Wherhandlers, Weyrfolk, Crafters, and Holders. Let's go over some of the restrictions, shall we? Scroll down to the type of character you are most interested in creating.
Dragonriders - You may create brown, blue, and greenriders if you have less than 150 posts. Once you reach 150 posts you can create a bronzerider as well. Goldriders are not available to be created. Your rider can be from Fort, Benden, or Selenitas Weyrs before the end of the war or they can have Impressed during one of the many hatchings after the war. With the exception of a Dragonhealer and a Healer, riders known to have a craft must live in a Hold unless they receive special permission. They remain loyal to their beholden Weyr, though, and may travel and visit other places as they like.
Candidates - You may want to start with a candidate instead of a dragonrider. Candidates come in a few varieties: weyrborn, grandfathered in, or holdborn; dragon or wher. Candidates born into a weyr or grandfathered in remain in the weyr permanently (if they wish to). To be grandfathered in your candidate must have been Searched before the end of the war. Holdborn candidates are shipped to their beholden weyr when there is a clutch on the sands and return to their Holds if they fail to Impress. Candidates may not have a craft (or, at least, must not be caught using a craft!). Dragon candidates are anywhere between 12 and 25 years old and wher candidates are between 12 and 35 years old. Hold candidates must inform their Candidatemaster while they are at the weyr if they wish to sign up for whers as well.
Wherhandlers - Those who have Impressed the nightbeasts of Pern and reside at Selenitas Weyr are tasked with protecting the weyr from the wild felines as well as the Kymans. They have various other jobs which can be seen here. The wherhandlers in the Holds also guard against feline attacks and assist travellers or holdfolk at night. They have some of the same jobs as their weyr brethren. Wherhandlers must live in Holds if they have a craft unless they receive special permission.
Weyrfolk - This is a blanket term for anyone not bonded (or intending to be) to a dragon or wher living in a weyr. They may not have known crafts or they will be sent to a Hold of their choosing.
Crafter - This is a blanket term for anyone who practices a craft. They may receive assignments to anywhere but the Weyrs. Dragonriders or wherhandlers with a craft reside in Holds as well.
Holdfolk - This is a blanket term for anyone who lives in a Hold. This term is used exclusively for those without a craft or a bonded dragon or wher.
Once you pick a character type head on over to the character application, fill it out, and post it in the pending(link) characters board. Ember or Rei will then look at it and give you feedback on it or accept it. It's a bit of a nervous process but don't worry, they won't bite! Also, be sure to mention some of those key events from the timeline if they affected your character. If they didn't a small line explaining why they wouldn't know or care is fine too.
Getting Started
So, your first character is all approved and stuff. What do you do now? Well, you can start an open thread somewhere on the board. Or you could tap someone in the cbox or by Personal Message and see if they are available to roleplay with. Or, wait, there's a handy board of roleplay classifieds that you can check out or post in to figure out character plots, threads, etc..
There are also regular plots and hatchings so watch out for those! They will always be announced ahead of time. Not to mention all those crazy flights that members put up! So, jump on in and join the fun, because there is lots to do!