Play by post Character Creation

Creating a character on Heimr can be a small ten minute job or a grand project involving several large steps depending on what you want to achieve. A Freelinking: Unknown plugin indicator just to join a fun battle could consist of nothing more than a paragraph detailing your fighter and some combat statistics. A LARP character that you want to play for years could take weeks to detail and months to build a costume for. But this chapter will tell you how to build any Heimr character, no matter your wishes, just by following these few simple steps.

Step 1: Choose world

This may sound strange to start with, because the intro of this guide already assumes you want to create a Heimr character. So if you are sure you wish to create a Heimr character to play with your friends on Heimr, go ahead and skip this step.

You are still reading.

Alright, let me tell you what the advantages and disadvantages are about creating a Heimr character. We are biased because we built Heimr and find it the most awesome thing in the world, but we will try and give you an honest overview of both sides of the coin.

The Bad

Heimr is a detailed world with lots and lots of background lore, social structures, history and its own metaphysics. This may be a bit daunting to new players. Although you are only required to read only a fraction of the lore to play your character correctly, you are required to read some of it, and this will take some time. Of course, old players can also simply tell you how Heimr works in a few minutes and by then you probably know enough to play a simple character.

Although you are able to start playing as some rich, noble, heroic or similar character, you are not able to start off as a king, prince, princess, half-god or other such things. These important roles are preserved for NPCs since they are already detailed (and for some other reasons). If you want to play a fallen angel who has killed their own god... you will have to do it in a world of your own design.

Heimr has only 15 races. If you want to play as a Heimr character, you will have to be a member of one of these races. There are no other races available on Heimr. Although you have untold freedom within these races. (Regional variations, mutations, etc.) If you want to play a Drow, Githyanki, Nazgul or any other race that is not one of the 15, you will have to detail your own world.

Because Heimr is a detailed world it is probably very hard to "port" a character from a different story/setting/LARP into this world. This is generally frowned upon anyway, but some people like to play one of their "old" characters from a different game in Heimr. The setting of Heimr could make this very hard, but it has been done before by several players with various levels of success.

Of course, building a Heimr character robs you of the job of detailing your own fantasy world. Which is a highly enjoyable job and should be tried by any player at least once in their role-playing career.

The Good!

If you create a Heimr character you will have instant connection and play with other characters from Heimr. The fact that you all come from the same, consistent world, makes your character feel more real since the other players will acknowledge your position related to them.

The world of Heimr gives untold opportunity to play your character in between LARPing events. This "down-time" play is highly optional and not necessary to enjoy the LARPing events at all, but it gives you a better feeling for your character during LARP and you can even establish relationships with other characters before the event.

A part of these "down-time" opportunities include a very active roleplaying forum. An optional system to fight on this forum against NPC enemies, or (in some rare cases) other players. A system to build a home for your character or group. A system to create large NPC groups to compliment your LARP group. Systems that detail naval battle and economic struggle between merchant houses, gangs, and other power houses of Heimr. And the everlasting war between Asgard and Utgard can also be influenced on both fronts by players.

Heimr is a very detailed, living, breathing world. It evolves around your character, with your character and even in your characters absence. You are able to influence it, but not control it, since allot of characters are influencing it. (of-course, if you are powerful enough, you will be able to control some parts.) Influence you have on the world is far more likely to influence play even after your character died.

Heimr is a really realistic world. Although it is of course a fantasy setting, it is a very believable fantasy setting. Lore and happenings are constantly mirrored to real life situations and social structures, based on medieval history and modified to incorporate magic, strange races, enchanting flora, fauna, active gods and other divine beings.

Creating multiple characters that come from Heimr gives you enough knowledge to become intimately known with the world, giving you the oppertunity to play a wise old person that truly knows as much about the world as you say you do.

Heimr is also an active community of fun people that frequently gathers to party, talk about their LARP experiences, build cool things, and host larps themselves.

Heimr also gives you the opportunity to help us out and build a part of the lore of heimr, beeing part of the grand world that is heimr.

//OPTIONAL// Step2: Choose Group

Heimr is an active community with allot of players. If you create a character you might want to be part of a group of characters that hails from Heimr. You can also skip this step and simply create an individual, a lone wolf, trying your luck on your own in the big wide world (this still means you could encounter other players of-course, maybe even join a group later).

If you want to be part of a group, you have to ask the leader(s) of the group for permission. Some groups consist of only close friends, some groups might want only experienced roleplayers (the elitist snobs!) but most groups will demand that you build a certain characters to fit the group (these demands will be detailed by the group leaders).

If you are searching for a group you can check Freelinking: Unknown plugin indicator for active groups or create Freelinking: Unknown plugin indicator .

Step3: Concept

A two or three word description of your character can be a major help in defining the outline of your character.

Step4: Choose race

Choose race (sidebare method: Choose kingdom)

Step5: Choose character creation method

Skills first, Background first, random character creation... or some other method.

Step6: Write background

Write the IC background for your character. What has happened to your character up till now?

Step7: Optional: Choose vortex skills

If you want to roleplay on the Vortex with this character, you have to choose your Vortex skills.

Step8: Optional: Choose heimr statistics or package

If you want to be tactically involved in battles on the forum you might want to deviate from the standard "all 5" heimr statistics. If you don't have allot of time or if you don't find choosing numbers all that interesting you could also choose one of the standard starting sets (see below).

Do nothing

If you do nothing and come into contact with a situation where heimr statistics are needed to determine what happens during downtime (you try to attract followers for your cult, you want to buy a house, you attack or get attacked by someone, etc) the DM will act as if all your statistics are 5 (out of 10) making you an all-around character in all situations. You can always choose to further define your statistics later.

Choose starting set

Several starting sets are available to form a bit more of a specialized character. You can find these here:

• 7 - 6 - 6 - 5 - 4 - 4 - 3
• 8 - 6 - 5 - 5 - 5 - 4 - 2
• 7 - 7 - 6 - 5 - 4 - 3 - 3
• 6 - 6 - 5 - 5 - 5 - 5 - 3 (+20 xp over)
• 7 - 6 - 5 - 4 - 4 - 4 - 4 (+60 xp over)
• 8 - 5 - 5 - 5 - 5 - 3 - 3 (+60 xp over)
• 6 - 6 - 6 - 6 - 5 - 3 - 3 (+40 xp over)

Build your own set

You can build your own set of statistics by either starting at 5 and gaining xp by lowering statistics:

While spending xp to raise others:

Alternatively you can start all statistics at 1 and spend xp to raise them with a starting xp pool of 4200xp:

Step9: Optional: Write group background

If you want to play underbelly with this character you will have to write the background for you power house (add link).

Step10: Optional: Choose fleet

If you want to play fleetbattles with this character you will now have to choose your fleet (add link) (you can also do this on the first fleetbattle gathering you attend).

<THIS WHOLE GUIDE SHOULD PROBABLY BE MOVED OUT OF THE RULES SYSTEM AND INTO SOME NEWBIE GUIDE (still to be made)>