Belariath for dummies

Questions and suggestions about the rules of the roleplay and how things work

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Belariath for dummies

Postby Shiho on Sat Oct 20, 2018 4:06 pm

Introduction
So you found the website and the forum, most likely managed to create a character and install IRC. Congratulations. If you are like me, you now stare at the screen and wonder what to do next. Perhaps you try to read as much as you can so you won’t make dumb mistakes or are you sitting in the channel #lonely_inn_ooc and waiting for things to happen. Either way you managed to find this thread and hopefully it will offer you some help. And perhaps it still offers help as you gain more experience and make your way through the community. When I joined, the guide created by Adonai was a great help to me. It offered a lot of information but still most things I learned just from being part of this realm and listening to others. I wrote things down that I found interesting and useful and from those notes, this thread was created.

Starting
When you first join the IRC channel #lonely_inn_ooc you are sitting there unable to talk. Most likely you created your first character and now try to make your way to that roleplay, sex, rape you were promised on the website, but how to get there if you can’t even talk? The channel has operators. Depending on the IRC program you use, recognizable from other plays with @’s, colours or some other way. Desdaemona (Des) is always there but is a bot and won’t help you in this first moment but you will learn to love her and hate her. The other operators will be more useful to you right now. Find one that is awake and active and send him or her a private message (in future times, always try to ask permission before sending private messages as it shows manners, but being unable to talk, you have little other choice right now). You can also wait for an operator to find you, but that make take a while. Explain that you are new and would like to be able to talk. If you have created a first character, share the name with the operator and ask if they have time to look it over. If it is approved: Welcome to Belariath. Chances are they might have a few comments on what to improve before you are let in.

Belariath has a great community, mostly. Someone might roleplay as an arrogant, evil dark elf and still try to answer all your questions. So keep in mind that players and their characters are very different things. Someone that roleplays as a slut, is still not waiting for pictures of your dick. You might have decided that your character is an asshole rapist slaver and you are very welcome to be that IC (In Character), don’t be the same OoC (Out of Character). Respect other players, ask for their consent before you do things that might be against their wishes and always keep the difference between player and character in mind. Most of all, listen to the Operators. They are great people, but they are in charge and going against them will do you no good. If you really have a problem with a ruling, discuss it with them in private messages either with the Operator in question, or with one of the others.

A good place to make your first visit to is #The_Lonely_Inn. This is a great place to meet people that remember how hard it is to find your first roleplay and share some friendly words with them IC. For a one time payment of 10 meherial (the currency of Belariath) you can get a room in the inn. There are no benefits gamewise to having a room but you have taken your first steps of becoming part of the roleplay world. For people who have a room in the inn the meals and drinks are free there. Does it give you penalties if you don’t eat.. no, but this is a place of roleplay so do things that your character would do and don’t try to seek benefits and penalties.

Money and items
You arrive in Belariath with only a few things (you selected those when you made your first character) and some meherial (mhl). 1 meherial is also 100 coppers (cop) but most transactions are focused only on the meherials. You can spend the coins to buy items from the various stores, give them to others in the form of tips, use them for roleplay purposes, etc.

Every month (exactly on the day you were accepted into the realm by an operator) you receive 20 meherial. On the same date owning slaves and concubines will take money away from you. Extra money can be get by finding a job at a store or serving a Noble House.

Jobs and stores
Some jobs pay 20 meherial for each hour you work, while other place pay 30 meherial for each hour. You can have 3 jobs, but only one of that can be to serve a Noble House. Loyalty can become a problem if you serve more than one House after all. Most places are always looking for more workers, but some do require you to be certain level first or to have certain skills. If you qualify for a job, you can find a manager and ask for an interview. With different timezones it can take a while and of course people might be busy, but in general you should be successful in getting the interview and most times you should be able to get yourself hired.

To earn money you are required to really spend time working at the store or noble house. You get paid for every 30 minutes (rounded down!) to a maximum of 8 hours a week. Week 1 starts at the first of the month, Week 2 starts at the 8th, week 3 at the 15th, week 4 starts at the 22th and lasts until the last day of the month. On the forum you should be able to find the right place to post your worklog and the format it should have. Make sure to have it up to date in the first week of the next month, as payment often happens on the first Friday of the month. It is most fun to work and help others, but you can also roleplay doing things for the store (Monologuing).

Next to the money you earn for working hours, you can also earn money by having mastered certain ranked skills. The forum will have some information on what skills qualify for what job.

Levels
You start at level 1 (shocking I know) and by roleplaying with others you gain experience. How much? No clue, it is a big secret. How much do you need? No clue, big secret. All levels seem to take forever, but the more you play the quicker it goes. You only gain experience when there are others in the channel, not being Des. So monologuing all alone might be good to earn money with a job, but doesn’t help in leveling. To reach level 5 you will be required to write a biography about your character (what did you do before coming to the town) and send it to Stormbringer once you have made it past level 4. To reach level 10 you will need to share one of your logs with Stormbringer once you have made it past level 9 to show you can play your character. Only meeting those requirements will allow you to level to those levels. To reach level 15 an operator has to remove a blockade as well, but there is no requirement for that to happen. Each level you can improve your stats, get a little financial aid and perhaps some other benefits.

Skills
At level 1 you can speak (but not read/write) the common tongue and the natural language of your race. You might also get some other free skills from your race or class. After that you have 5 skillpoints remaining to pick skills.

There are ranked skills, going from Novice – Apprentice – Journeyman – Expert – Master that are available to certain classes. Don’t care too much about the description given to the difference in ranks for each skill, but just understand the higher rank you have, the more experience you have with it. The master rank is most important as some jobs offer bonus payment for the right ones, but some jobs allow you to do more, depending on the rank you have in something. Some ranked skills can only be taught by others.

Unranked skills are mostly for roleplay purposes, but again, this is a place of roleplay so that does make sense. There are many skills so pick what you feel your character would have. Being able to read and write the common language is often a requirement for jobs.

After level 1 you gain 1 skill point for each new level to spend to gain new or improve existing skills.

Consent
Belariath allows rape and slavery so you might have the feeling you can get away with everything. Consent however is the most important word here. Any time you do something that might be against someone's wishes ask for OoC consent. Some actions will actually say so on the website, but if you want people to OoC still like you, you can't go wrong with that rule. You want to rape someone, rob someone, stab someone, cast magic on someone, tie someone to the slave poles.... ask for consent. Keep in mind that the opposite is also true: Want to stop someone from getting raped or want to free someone from the slave poles... you better make sure this is what they want from you. Don't just assume things.

Ops/Nobles
Listen to Ops and Nobles although several Nobles are simply other players. How do you become an Op? You don’t. Don’t ask, don’t try or you will never be heard from again. How do you become a noble? You don’t. Don’t ask, don’t try.

Some people that stand out might be asked if they are interested, not the other way around. It is rare so don’t hold your breath and find other reasons to stand out for. You are part of the community and there should be enough reward in giving to the community for what it gave to you.

Multiple characters
There are those that have one character, there are those that have 25. This is completely allowed as long you keep in mind that every character has their own life. Each can have the maximum of 3 jobs, can serve a different House, be submissive or dominant towards people, make friends and enemies. What is not allowed is to use a character to benefit one of your other characters. So no giving items or money to someone to pass it forward to your other char. You also can't be online with two of your characters at the same time.

Des commands
(placeholder for useful Des commands)

<More to come>
Shiho
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