I'm New to NWNOnline - Just A Quick Question

[Demanacus1]

Greetings, All.

I have spent the last 2 days reading alot of the entries in your forum, but I still cannot find some of the information I seek. I have been "monitoring" this server, through the Multiplayer Server List on NWN1, because it was recommended to me, but I was playing on a different PW, that was a little too Role-Play Intense, as in, it was fun and all, but I spent WAY too many hours talking "In Character", to try to get information like, Where's the weapon shop? Where can a low level character get some questing? etc. The death penalty was WAY too steep. 1/3 of total experience was lost, when you died. Thats rough. Anyways, I cant seem to find any notation on "Death Penalty". How much gold/exp does it cost you? How do you get your items back? Does it leave a "corpse", that you have to re-find? etc.

Also, I'm looking to Migrate from the other PW, to a new one (possibly this one), because I was a HUGE fan of Undermountain, back in the days when I used to DM regularly. Anyways, how intense is the RP "In Character" here? Is it necessary? I truly enjoy a little In Character RP, but the other server was just TOO intense. The DM's would "knock you" if you were out of character at ANY TIME while logged in. Anyways, I see that there's never anyone online here, and that worries me. Me and my buddy are looking for a PW where we can play together, as a "Party of Two (or more)". I need to download the last HakPak, and I'll give the server a whirl tonight.

But after all of this, is there anything that anyone can tell me about this place? As in, Why are there never any people in-game? what are the RP rules? what are the death penalties? Whats the level cap? are there custom spells (Divine/Arcane)? etc.

So anything that an Experienced D&D'er who's new to NWN Online needs to know? I've almost beaten the single player, but only logged about 10-15 hours online. So i'm not a TOTAL n00b, just new to online.

Please advise.
Thank you in advance.

[javan]

First off:

WELCOME TO IRONWORKS DEMANACUS1

Now to your questions:

Is there a (gold/experience) death penalty?
The short answer- no.
The longer answer- (the good news) you do not lose gold or experience in Undermountain when you revive yourself. You can wait until a companion uses resurrection magic or click the revive button to bring you back to full health on the spot where you died. (the bad news) Whatever killed you is also still there and still hostile! You might will get beat down again.

Is this a heavy roleplay server?
This is a roleplay "lite" server. While we try to roleplay as best we can, OOC (Out of Character) speech is common and not condemned.

Why is there no one on the server?
It is a matter of timing. Undermountain has fans spread out mainly on three continents- Australia, North America and Europe. You may come across someone no matter what time of the day or night you are on. Despite the loyalty of Undermountain fanatics, they still have a real life to consider. They take time for work/school, family time, and sleep (some of you at least )

What is the level cap?
You will probably reach level 40 before you reach the bottom of Undermountain.

What else can you tell me about this place?
- PVP is isolated to arenas but otherwise mostly banned.
- Devastating Critical does work here (thank goodness)
- read the forum for tips on quests etc.
- every Player Character I have met has been helpful and polite. We try to keep it that way.
- I have not come across any banned/changed spells.
- bags of holding are your friends; bring lots of friends.
- If you are a new character- talk to everyone; explore the inn where you start (it goes up as well as down); and explore the city as well (beware of dark alleyways).


Welcome and have fun!

[roddybug]

Welcome to EfU.

javan has pretty much explained everything to you. There are a few concerns about online roleplaying and you won't need to worry about them if you join up with EfU. I've played on other servers and I now make a point of never playing female characters - there are some real sickos out there. 'nuff said about that sort of stuff.

EfU is a nice, friendly place; just the one DM and no death penalties. By all means cut your online teeth here and branch out to other modules later. I reckon that you'll be back though!

As for the server being empty a lot I can only speak from my own point of view. I've crawled all over the Undermountain many times so I seek new content and/or companionship. Don't worry about the content, there are 15 levels plus sub-levels for you to explore right now. I don't usually announce myself when I log on, I check what character levels are being played (there's an option at login) and leave people alone if my character is of an extremely different level.

In essence make up your own rp rules. Most players will abide by what you'd like and stop using the shout channel, etc.

Have fun.

[robertthebard]

Hi there, and hello Roddy/Javan. I'm mostly distinquished by my absence lately, however, if you should see me log in, basically the same as my name here, don't hesitate to ask for help. I'm sure I can help you out some kind of way. I'm pretty sure that there are maybe three people that know the server better than me, and two of them are in Z's house. Yes, I'm counting Choc.

Watch out for Roddy, he's sneaky.

[Ziroc]

Hey Demanacus!

Good to see ya! EFU is a friendly, laid back Mod. I don't believe in giving out XP/Gold penalties. A Game is supposed to be fun, not a chore, right? Don't worry, the fights in the mod are hard enough!

For starters, level up to 7 when you get in--you get an instant level up from Durnan. It's to balance out things. Start out in Durnan's basement, clear it out, and then leave Waterdeep, and go out on the tradeway area 1. Don't enter Trollbark until you're level 25 or higher. Trollmoors are HARD. Then head to Undermountain level one.

The Hakpak I made has MANY custom models I made--I designed the well area and bar models as well as the entire outside model of the Tavern. (If you notice, the sign for the Yawning Portal is taken exactly from the image I attached) Also in that image I modeled was the lightpole on the far left. It just looked cool, and looks great in the game!

Also, With 15 levels of Undermountain, many of those levels have many break-away levels--some just as huge as the main level! Besides Undermountains levels, you have Waterdeep, stores, the Sewers, the Tradeway, Trollmoors, Highmoors and much more--take a ship to the Haunted Isle, and soon to the Jungles of Chult!

I've read nearly every single Forgotten Realms Novel, and throughout the Mod, you will see little ties to some of the novels, and cool references to things.

I am also building Undermountain levels 16-18 right now, and the plan is for 25 levels. I plan to really bust ass and get EFU's content moving now, and have tons of new areas to enjoy!

[Unglaublich Verwustung]

Originally Posted by robertthebard I'm pretty sure that there are maybe three people that know the server better than me, and two of them are in Z's house. Yes, I'm counting Choc.

This is usually defined as those who don't use the maps because the layout of the entire EFU is hard-coded in their neural routing and know where all of the weird and esoteric items are when you ask them and can tell you what you should actually be looking for as opposed to what you think you should be looking for and can advise you on the next levelling stage of your build, to best take advantage of what the server has to offer, just by knowing what you had for breakfast (that last one is very disturbing).

So, welcome Damanacus1, it is a good place to be: you will find people, chat, gaming and escapism. You will also find a lot of bad typing as several of us seem to have cats which enjoy sharing the keyboard during conversation (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it). If you see me online (usually recogniseable by the unpronounceable character names) then stop and say hello.

[Demanacus1]

Thanks, Guys! This sounds like it could be alot of fun for me and my buddy(s). I downloaded those monstrously huge hakpaks last night, but by the time the last one finished, i was too tired to install it. So I'll be on tonight, most likely, and give this a whirl. I have my eye on two other PW servers (only because my three favorite "Boxed Set" campaign settings were Myth Drannor, Menzo, and Undermountain, in that order), because if those other two are as cool as Undermountain sounds, I'd like to juggle two or three, to keep mixing it up, and keep it all fresh.

So I'll be sure to try out your server tonight, and if its as good as you all make it sound, I'll be sure to pass the word to my friends who are also looking for a nice PW for us all to game together (we were all part of the same D&D Group, but since we've all moved cross country, this is the best way for us to keep gaming together).

Thanks for all teh info, guys. You're really making me feel welcome, and i havent even started yet. =)

See ya in-game!

[toot033]

Hello! Looking forward to seeing you in the undermountain.

[Ziroc]

Oh!!! Drannor, Menzo eh? Well I am planning on a small trip to Myth Drannor (the 1375 time line, current) where the elves have taken it back, and are now rebuilding it--this could be neat, as who knows what they will find, excavating the ruins.. lots of holes into deep underground areas maybe?

And I am planning on another massive Drow area/level set, but I dunno if I'd do Menzobarrenzan--since its so huge, but maybe cover a city near it. (menzobarrenzan was nearly destroyed by stonefire recently).
Now that I think of it, The only boxed sets I have are the same three you mentioned, plus the Forgotten Realms one, and the Skullport set--but IMO, that's officially Undermountain too.

[Demanacus1]

Skullport was also one of my fav's. If you have some sort of "portal" to Myth Drannor, just tell me where it is, lemme get some levels/exp under my character, and i'm off to my Happy Little Elven Court! Yay!

So far, we're really diggin' your rendition of Undermountain. My ONLY complaint, so far, is that within 3 minutes of entering your realm, i was Decked to the 9's with overly powerful magical gear. Left nothing for us to "search" for. There was no real challenge in getting started. Just "Gear and Go"! Now, in some aspects that was a good thing... for me, at least. I'm a very experienced spellcaster (Arcane & Divine). In Table-Top PnP D&D, I was always either a Spellcaster, or a Rogue, or some combination thereof. So this time around, I decided to go Mage, so it was nice to be able to build an impressive spellbook within a few minutes (a defined spellbook means even a Nekid Mage, with some decent experience in his class, is never unprepared.) So it was nice to know that i had a decent repitoire of spells, right out of the gate, but Durnan had SOOOOO much equipment, I was decked to the 9's within minutes of gameplay.

So, I guess I actually have mixed emotions about that. But so far, thats my biggest complaint, and if thats the biggest thing I have to complain about, then all i have to say, is "So far, you've done an OUTSTANDING job recreating this beloved classic, in True-To-Form standards".

If you add any Myth Drannor/Menzo-type stuff, PLEASE please let us know. I'm so very eager to reconnect with those locations, that were so popular among myself and my old group.

Thanks for the outstanding server. I've already begun passing the word along to some of my other friends.