Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Roman 11-23-04, 02:21 AM	Hello everybody, I am soon going to be playing my first game in Forgotten Realms. The only prior experience I have had with FR were the following two excellent computer games:- Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn Baldur's Gate 2: Throne of Bhaal I do, however, have access to the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting book and most if not all the supplements (wargamers' club has many benefits :) ). The DM e-mailed us that we will be beginning the game in the city of Westgate on the Dragon Coast. As for character creation, he said that anything goes for races, including non-standard races, and classes, though no prestige classes at this point, since we will not be of sufficient level. Since: 1) I have never played in FR and am therefore unaware of the possibilities even if I can access them through wargamers' club sourcebooks. 2) I am as of yet not sure at all what I want to play and therefore need inspiration. So, I thought what better place to come looking for deas/help/advice/suggestions than here? If you have any such suggestions, I would greatly appreciate them! Also, is there anything in particular I should know as a newbie to Forgotten Realms?
Tempus665 11-23-04, 02:58 AM	Westgate is brimming with shady characters of all sorts. It's hard to give you advice without knowing your interests...but, if I were to make a PC that started out in Westgate, I'd probably either play a Lightfoot Halfling or a Chondathan Human. You can find more information on different races in Races of Faerūn. Class would be Rogue (obviously in a city of thieves) or Fighter, with some skill in seafaring. The Stormheart feat (Player's Guide to Faerūn) is nice for such a character, but so is the Thug feat (depending on the background you want your character to have). If you want to be something entirely different, Westgate has many churches both good and bad, so a Cleric or even a Paladin are also good options. Finally, in a trade/portcity as big as Westgate, I imagine Bards play some role as well, to entertain all the different people that come and go.
Lashan 11-23-04, 06:57 AM	I would give the suggestion of playing something you are comfortable with, so that role playing will be easier in a new setting. I would recommend a human, as well, but some people consider them boring. Personally, I find them very interesting to play. The regional feats make them intersting and different, though. The Races of Faerun is a great book to look at your options of what to play. In fact, that is what the whole book is about. If you want to know about Regional Feats, then you will need to look at the PLayers Guide to Faerun. It has regional feats for all races and locations. These are kind of "super" feats that you can only get at first level. They can really give a flavor of an area. If I was playing in a Westgate game, then I would either be a human fighter or a fighter/rogue. You can be a gladiator or a shady underworld fighter. AT least that is what I would choose.
Roman 11-23-04, 08:36 AM	Good point - Lashan. In that case, I will play an arcane spellcaster, since I have played those the most. Any suggestions on race apart from human? I play humans almost everytime, so in this case I feel it may be time to try something different especially given the DM's e-mail that all races, even non-standard races, are fair game.
Lashan 11-23-04, 11:31 AM	I usually find that non-standard races usually have too much of a level adjustment to make them worth it. That's my humble opinion, though. Out of the other non-human standard races, there are a few to choose. Many people like elves, particularly gold elves for casters. I have been reading about gnomes, though, and I would like to play one. Personal preference, though.
heliumgod 11-23-04, 11:34 AM	I actually have been enjoying RPing a Gold Dwarf, most recently. They eliminate the CHA bonus of normal Shield Dwarves (they might bathe on a regular basis), but pick up a -2 penalty to DEX instead. Our group hasn't really seen a lot of material on Gold Dwarf culture (we've got Races of Faerun, Forgotten Realms Campaign Book, and Players Guide to Faerun), so we play it by ear more or less. My Gold Dwarf is a Samurai (a la the Complete Warrior) who dual-wields axes instead of swords thanks to my DMs willingness to fudge on what "Daisho Proficiency" means... (dwarven waraxe and hand axe -- pretty much the same as medium bastard sword and short sword, except that the axes only crit on a 20 instead of 19-20, and do 3x crit damage instead of 2x crit damage -- seemed like a relatively fair trade? I donnu). Seems like an arcane Gold Dwarf could be pretty interesting, with a slight tinge of "exotic" without actually needing to go the whole LA/ECL route...
Roman 11-24-04, 07:08 AM	So I take it gold elves and gold dwarves are suitable for arcane spellcasters then? Thanks for the advice - I will make sure to check out these two races during my next visit to the wargamers' club. Can you tell me a bit about them (or other races you would consider suitable) in the meantime? Thanks! :)
Lashan 11-24-04, 07:19 AM	Many people choose Gold Evles as they get a hooky bonus to Int. Gold Dwarves don't get any bonus to intelligence, but aren't a bad choice at all. Dwarves weren't allowed to be wizards in 2E and only since 3E started are they allowed. They are kind of new. I play in a group with a dwarf wizard named <something> Fireaxe. He always casts the glitterdust spell, so we have started calling him glitteraxe. Personally, I think you should play a race/class that you want to play instead of playing one that min/maxes the rules. Either choice, though, is a good one. Gold Elves can be a fun race to play, so I'm not saying that.
Moscone 11-26-04, 04:13 AM	If your DM knows his FR, I have the best suggestion: Play either a character from Kara-Tur, the Underdark, Maztica or Zakhara. If you've never played a FR campaign before, playing someone NOT native to Faerun is the best- It's how I started gaming in the setting. You learn as much as your character knows. You don't have any kind of inside info, and your character won't be walking around like he doesn't know what's going on in the land where he spent his entire life. A character from another land is perfect as a "fish out of water" character. Trust me, it's fun.
chme 11-26-04, 04:50 AM	On the subject of arcane spellcaster: One of the coolest characters in my group is a really fat specialist transmuter, who has evocation as his forbidden school (we play 3E dunno if this has changed). This makes a lot of common attack spells forbidden, and forces the player to explore the possibilities of less common spells. If you've played a lot of arcane spellcasters, I would suggest this. As for race ... my suggestion is a fat gnome with a toad familiar. You should be able to get your Con up to 20ish easily, giving you a really good boost to hp every level. There are enough protection spells eventually to keep you from getting hit much, so AC is not that important imo. With 20 con, a toughness feat and full hp at first level, a level 6 wizard of this variant would have 42-57 hp (on average 47) ... that's a very good base for survival. He would also be good at Concentration, which is an important skill to wizards.