Newbie Guide to Guilds

Are you a Newbie and need some help? Or are you a seasoned player and have tips for newbies? Post here!

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Delmon
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Newbie Guide to Guilds

#1 Post by Delmon » Thu Apr 16, 2009 3:41 pm

Personally I don't like asking lots of questions of other players, particularly the more OOC stuff. Asking what the guilds do, how to find them, whether they're any fun etc. I think it would help if some more of that basic information was directly available to newbies - i.e. the stuff that an 18 year old human or 40 year old dwarf would already know from growing up in Giat/Arborea/Elvandar etc. Now if my character was an inquisitive, chatty halfling it would be less of a problem...
Fun?? All guilds are fun :wink:
Hope this helps Grimforge:

This guide is intended to help new players understand as much as a normal experienced player and plan for their character of choice. I knew all of this information very soon after I begun the game so I do not think I am ruining any "fun of discovery." If you think I am, please tell me and I'll delete it or modify it!

Introduction: What the helpfile <help guilds> says
Guilds are institutions where characters can learn specific skills ain other advantages. There are four types of guilds: racial, craft, layman and occupational. Currently there are no racial guilds. Examples of craft guilds are tanners, parchment-makers, trappers and gem-cutters. Examples of layman guilds are skalds (ministrels, actors, entertainers), scribes and alchemists. Examples of occupational guilds are religious orders (priests of the gods Taniel, Asral and Sathonys), Crusaders, Rangers, Shaolin and Druids.
You can be a member in several guilds at one time, but you cannot
choose every combination of guilds you might want, because some of them don't let you join if you are member somewhere this guild doesn't like. It is possible to be a member of two layman guilds OR one layman guild and one occupational guild. You can be a member of only one craft guild, but guest memberships can be purchased to other craft guilds. You must join a guild to be allowed to use its services, but there are also some schools which you do not need to join to receive training. Training in guild-specific skills is usually limited to full members.
Occupational guilds usually need another player to accept new members,
and they will often require several weeks of "testing" before allowing
membership to make sure a new member is loyal, understands the rules
and will be a good fit with the other members of the guild. Players
interested to join an occupational guild should learn about it from other players and contact leaders of their chosen guild in person or using the mail system. Usually you can join a craft or layman guild by finding the guild and
talking with an NPC there. Some keywords to 'ask' about might be the
name of the guild, 'join', 'join as guest' and 'join as member'. In the guild-office for craft guilds you can also leave the guild at any time. But it could be possible that you must wait until you can join another guild. Leaving layman and occupational guilds is also possible at any time, but most guilds do not appreciate their members leaving after they have taken the time to train them, and after they have learned their secrets. You may gain the emnity of your former guildmates by leaving a guild, and may have trouble being trusted
and accepted by another guild for your former associations and your
fickleness. Think about this before joining or leaving a guild.

Ok, that is simple enough. To join a craft guild, go to their store and ask an npc to join. To join an occupation guild, you have to be invited by a real player. This probably takes about a month or so. To find out who is the leader of guild, it's best to ask around.

Again, examples of craft guilds are tanners, parchment-makers, trappers and gem-cutters. Examples of layman guilds are skalds (ministrels, actors, entertainers), scribes and alchemists. Each are fairly self explanatory. Simply go up to some character and ask about one of these and most of us would be willing to help. Syntax or what to type, and even suggestion help can be asked through the newbie channel type <newbie help me!>. As a note, skalds offer magical songs that can help in surviving, scribes boast learning languages and eventually learning magic, and alchemists offer numerous helpful potions, while the rest generally help with gaining gold.

Advantages! I want advantages too… What are the occupation guilds all about?
Basic advantages: All occupational guilds use some sort of item that allows them instant communication to others with the same line anywhere, anytime. Clerics have an item communication as well as a way to “Mind call” anyone a message which is classified as a “miracle” <see below>.

1. Clerics
First, there are clerics. You will see these guild members walking around or preaching to gain favor. Each guild has various ways of gaining favor. Favor allows clerics to use miracles like curing wounds, smiting an enemy, torching an enemy, or throwing bone shards at an enemy. There are many offensive and defensive “miracles.” Miracles use both favor and mana (mental strength).
Rp wise, each type of cleric has its own set of rules and principles. It’s easy to gain a grasp of the basics of these principles by typing <help Sathonys> <help Taniel> and <help Asral>. Taniel Clerics are always at war with Sathonys Clerics and Asral Clerics generally claim neutrality but that just means their loyalty changes every so often.
Taniel Clerics base out of Elvandar, Sathonys Clerics live around Asador though their guild hall is somewhere else, and Asral Clerics claim home in Arborea, though their guild hall is somewhere else.
Each group of clerics have a set of weapons they need to wield to use miracles in battle (that, or no weapon at all). Taniel C. use staffs and swords. Sathonys C. use daggers, maces, and spears. Asral C. use halberds or morning stars.
When casting in battle as a cleric, you cannot swing or use your weapon, but you can use specials such as elbow, so many clerics tend to fight in mood “wimpy” and wield a shield and their chosen weapon. This being said, defensively and offensively it is important to be able to use the weapon wielded.
Each guild also offers armors and guild specific items. Sathonys C. offer light medium bonemail armors, and Taniel and Asral C. offer chainmails, or medium armors. They are better than normal armors.

Note:
Suggestion stat distribution??:
STR: 20 (damage given from weap.), DEX: 5, AGI: 5, CON: 20(amt. damage can take), INT: 15(mana), WIS: 15 (important for being able to use miracles. Without wisdom, you cannot utilize all the miracles of your guild), DIS: 20 (casting while bleeding)

There are also the Druids, who are clerics of Evren <help Evren>. They are basically treehuggers that are very defensive and “healer” oriented, who can raise treants and use nature to their advantage. Very interesting, but not as prevalent of a clerical guild as the other three.
From an RP point of view, they do not mandate doctrine as clergy do, so they're not really clergy in that regard. From a mechanical / gameplay point of view, having played both a cleric and a druid, they are very different. Druids don't perform "miracles" or use "favour" like clergy. As well, it should be clearly stated that Druids are not allowed to take any lives and many of their "requests" prevent them from attacking.
This is a cool log example of a Sathonys clerical battle scenario:
http://wiki.geas.de/view/Main/Something ... LookingFor

2. Fighting Guilds (Rangers, Crusaders, Shoalin)
A. Rangers
Rp: Rangers are a group of warriors who protect the forest, hunt, and try to protect the innocents from beasts, sathonys clerics, zombies, ect. and most members attempt to be friendly to others.
Fighting: They promote sneaking, hiding, ambush tactics, along with utilizing a bow, knife, and spear. They have various guild weapons including a bow-spear (both bow and spear) and a dagger. Their weapons and armors (leather or chainmail) are very expensive but it’s all better than mithril (the best anyone can buy). Their guild hall is hidden.
B. Crusaders
Rp: These warriors are strictly opposed to evil and anything that supports evil practices ect. They utilize torture and fighting strength to suppress evil. Obviously some are nicer than others.
Fighting: They are the tanks of the region, and use heavy armours and a spear or axe. Crusaders were designed to withstand a lot of hits, and can stay in battle for some time with buffs. They also have access to high-powered warhorses (its very difficult to kill a horse) called unicorns. They have a large, heavily defended castle as a guild hall.
C. Shoalin
Rp: This group of warriors are somewhat martial arts monks, and must study music and reading and intelligent sounding philosophy. They claim neutrality.
Fighting: They have a host of special skills devoted to them such as special kicks, chops, ect. (type <specials> for a list). They are light fighters and mainly use hands and other weapons of choice. They have many variants of light armors available to them.

--Smart stat distribution for all these guilds vary widely based on race and preference. I would not suggest putting a lot of experience into dexterity, but rather strength, agility, and constitution. As a shaolin, mana is needed for specials so perhaps a little more experience should be put towards intelligence if one is a tshahark or dwarf.

3. Secret Guilds (Thieves, The Order)
These two guilds are both evil oriented. I classify them as secret because they are not prevalent. The thieves guild boasts of many skills that are truly amazing to see in action, and I honestly don’t know much about the Order. Both have very few members, and even less active. I am sure if someone wished to join either of these they could after some time of patience (and hiding from Crusaders!!).
Last edited by Delmon on Tue May 25, 2010 4:30 pm, edited 4 times in total.

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Delia
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Re: Newbie Guide to Guilds

#2 Post by Delia » Fri Apr 17, 2009 4:31 am

Shao-Lin addentum:
Offers plenty in terms of different skills but little in equipment. As said, light armours and light weapons used. As for stats I'd say all stats are quite useful depending on your race though. Primary focus on AGI. Shao-lizzies tend to run out of mana quite often so INT is nice. Go for DEX only if you are going for craft skills and such.

As for RP and outlook shaos are basically lawful, neutral and 'minding their own business' for the most part. While not complete hermits the on-going trend has been avoiding conflict and PvP for its own sake. If you are looking for exciting mudding involving battling other players frequently(frequent as in crusade&taniels vs. sathos) this might not be the place to be. More interested in philosophy and theory rather than in any individual god as a guild.

Well, atleast this is my quick, short little IMHO.
"To be is to do" - Sokrates
"To do is to be" - Jean-Paul Sartre
"Do be do be do" - Frank Sinatra

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matusalem
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Re: Newbie Guide to Guilds

#3 Post by matusalem » Sun Aug 02, 2009 9:18 pm

Just wanted to clarify a bit as towards Druids being clerics of Evren; I believe that to be an over-simplification of the Druids. From an RP point of view, they do not mandate doctrine as clergy do, so they're not really clergy in that regard. From a mechanical / gameplay point of view, having played both a cleric and a druid, they are very different. Druids don't perform "miracles" or use "favour" like clergy. As well, it should be clearly stated that Druids are not allowed to take any lives and many of their "requests" prevent them from attacking.

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Re: Newbie Guide to Guilds

#4 Post by luminier » Mon Aug 03, 2009 6:40 am

Crusader Add-on

The roleplay of a Crusader is pretty much summed up in my decription of them under "Guilds and Crafts" on the main website.
Ill paste it.

"The Crusaders

The Crusaders act as the judges and executioners of our Lord and Lady, Taniel and Evren. The Crusaders fight the Evil that seeks to blot out the Light from the World. We are comprised of the –most– holy and devout men and women of all races who have sworn to dedicate their lives to the commandments handed down by the Lord and Lady. When I say dedicate, it is not a word that is to be taken lightly by any means. When you accept your vows and become a Crusader, you swear to follow the path of the Light for life. The path of a Crusader is righteous and rewarding, but by no means is it easy, and it should only be considered after much time has been spent thinking whether or not this is truly the right path for you. You’ll learn much about the World, about other people’s habits, and about yourself when you walk the path of the Light. You will constantly seek out just causes and take action against the wicked. As a Crusader, it is important to keep in mind at all times that you bring the justice of Taniel, bringer of Light and Order, bulwark against chaos and destruction, and of Evren, giver of life and adversary of death, disease, and decay, to the innocent and the good and the weak.

Luminier, of the Crusaders of Lord Taniel and Lady Evren."

As for gameplay, I wouldn't exclusively label us as tanks, we have many other possibilities that are open to us. Also we use spears, axes and morning-stars. And yes, medium or heavy armour.
The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world.

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Delia
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Re: Newbie Guide to Guilds

#5 Post by Delia » Wed Aug 05, 2009 4:02 am

Just a bit more shao stuff regarding combat. Compared to the normal armoured fighter, the shaos are well suited towards specific kinds of opponents and generally perform better against those. Of course there are opponents that the shaos have their butts handed from and the armoured fighter reigns supreme against them. Trolls are the most obvious example and generally anything that is slower and has poorly armoured spots.

Most bulk monsters in groups are easy to deal with given you can do many multiattack moves one after the other when you are experienced(for example, needleswarm, roundkick, spinchop then a weapon special such as spin, whirlwind or backswing.) It can give a distorted image of shao combat prowess though, not everything falls that easily against shaos. Shaos are just more tailored than the rest.
"To be is to do" - Sokrates
"To do is to be" - Jean-Paul Sartre
"Do be do be do" - Frank Sinatra

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Delia
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Re: Newbie Guide to Guilds

#6 Post by Delia » Tue Sep 29, 2009 3:12 am

Some tips for aspiring shaos:

It might be better if you do not rush your joining the guild. Starting with a completely fresh character as a shao can be somewhat hard given how the system works. Granted you will learn the various moves bit easier than the experienced character.

Delia joined the shaos after becoming an experienced fighter and had good skills with armours and the benefit of decent stats. She managed to dodge most if not all the various troubles many beginning shaos go through, mainly the notorious belt "bug". Strength, agility(to a degree) and armour skills decide a long way how deflect and the various moves work for you. I can only say I was a little suprised to see one character doing the moves with a piece of plate armour worn over head. He had really good strength and heavy armour skill which enabled such a feat. Going for the armour skills after joining the shaos can be quite hard as you need to train your deflect which allows for very little armour in order to be trainable.

So the monks are really not restricted to fighting in next to no armour. The armoured samurai approach can be possible with effort which could actually make for a survivable and adaptable fighter later on(read, experience++). Granted it would also require a bit of experimenting which combinations are possible and which not. Humans and half-elves would be more suitable for this than elves(STR). Shao tshaharks might actually be very efficient this way ;)
"To be is to do" - Sokrates
"To do is to be" - Jean-Paul Sartre
"Do be do be do" - Frank Sinatra

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