For anyone who wanted to play in an ongoing world set in the Forgotten Realms, www.alandfaraway.net (http://www.alandfaraway.net) is your best bet. With secure vaulted characters, support from Bioware and about 50+ Dungeon Masters already to count, it is by far the best online world to play in.

Now I'm not saying this because I will be running one of the servers, but because of all the other NWN World Sites I have checked out and read over.

At last count during Wednesday's DM meeting, there were 480 registered and accepted players out of a maximum 500. Once that number is full, joining will no longer be available.

For those interested, I will be your Dungeon Master for Undermountain (Levels 1, 2 and 3) along with Skullport, the evil city found beneath Waterdeep.

Syl...

I just put in an application on ALFA's site, Syl. Delia - female human rogue. Hope I was in time! Thanks to you and Taluntain for pointing in the right direction.

I think they actually ended up bumping up the application amount to 600 so I don't think you'll have a problem.

They've turned down a few applicants for failure to want to "roleplay".

One application sent in said they were Drizzt's brother and Largo, the guy who checks all applicants laughed and told the person to re-apply as something else or change his character history. He wanted weapons like Drizzt. LOL! :)

Syl...

Guess I'll have to mark the Machine of Lum the Mad and the Hammer of Thunderbolts off my level 1 character sheet then...Ha ha

When this gets started, what will I need to do to request your server?

You cannot start on my server due to the fact Undermountain is not a starting point. It's the largest and foulest dungeon in all of the Forgotten Realms and you'll have to travel there. You can though, start in Waterdeep and gain entrance through the Yawning Portal, which lowers brave warriors into the passages below.

Skullport will be my server, on the 3rd level of Undermountain and only "half-drow" characters in ALFA will be starting there, which is about 8 applicants :)

You'll have to go through 3 levels of hellish passages, traps and foul beasts to arrive in Skullport.

Syl...

How exactly does this ALFA work? I'm very interested in online RPGs. I play 3rd (previously 2nd) edition D&D weekly with my friends,(in person, not online) but I have played online numerous times on mIRC.

I put in my application, and got accepted! Yay!! My character, human female monk, Crystal of Waterdeep is ready for adventure! Thanks for the info on ALFA!

Basically Vile, you apply with a roleplaying character to the ALFA Network where your character is then screened and if accepted, put into the Player Database.

Once the game comes out and the ALFA Community starts up, your character will join the many other hundred who also applied and got accepted. Pick a starting point anywhere in the Forgotten Realms that have been designed by the DM Team (Last count was 53 DMs) and start your adventure.

Now the real difference between the ALFA Persistant world and those of EQ, UO, AC is that it is as close to Pen and Paper rules you are going to get. Simply put, the character you are creating should have a lot of thought and you should also play these characters the way you would in Pen and Paper. Once you die, your character is dead unless someone in your party or in the area come along and raise you.

Dungeons, Tombs and dangerous wilderness areas would not be wise to enter alone. There will be enough low level areas to explore at the start of course, since everyone begins at 1st level as well as safer quests based in cities and what not.

Once the designs are up, you'll start to aquire more and more information about each server and area in ALFA that can help any player decide where he wants to go based on level restrictions, how tough the creatures are, etc. Much like rumours in any world "Best not be heading into the Troll Moors unless you want to be served over a pit of fire!" or something along those lines.

Syl...

Cool, thanks for the info. I might just try it.

Hey CrazyJ!

Maybe Crystal can team up with Delia, my level 1 human rogue, who also hails from Waterdeep. Two mean gals with a taste for adventure!

Hey Syl, so how's Undermountain and Skullport going? Are you able to actually design any of it, or is it all on paper, and the real design has to wait for the release of NWN?

I wish you the best of luck, and I personally think you'd make a great DM :)

I'm designing all of it. Skullport will be to a tee as it is in the FR Sourcebook "Skullport".

Undermountain will be both original and box set based for I don't want people with the boxed set be able to look at the maps and know where they are going.

ALFA, as far as I've heard will have a copy of NWN a month before shipment, but if that goes for all the DMs too, I don't know.

Hopefully I'll have the time to be a "great DM" :)

Syl...

How is the Undermountain tourney planning going? Folks had a lot of questions about it on the ALFA boards. Did you ever determine level limits? Assuming there were no other PC's hunting for the rings, what levels would you expect to attempt the dungeon?

I'm still ironing out the Tournament Rules myself but I think the Tournament will be fit to be for characters level 3 to 5 or 5+. I'm not sure yet.

Undermountain is at least 3rd level or higher exploring. A total level of 18 levels for the first level (6 3rd level players in a party) which will only get worse the lower you go.

Syl...

Ah, yes, yes... I knew you'd be designing the whole thing. What I meant was HOW are you designing it? Do you do a paper-only design for now and then do the "real" design once NWN is released? Or do you have some knowledge of how the designing is done in NWN and can use that knowlegde to help out now?

Hey Syl, I don't geddit, if I look at the ALFA map it's still 80% white (unclaimed servers) so how come its nearly full? Or am I misunderstanding and it's your server thats nearly full?

Only a set amount of players is what I mean. 600 or so is the max.

Syl...

I guess the limit will be increased if/when more servers come on line. Anyhow, I'm in. Thomas the Rhymer, bard, even more irritating than Haer Dalis. No doubt you will have some undetectable and deadly trap waiting for me.

Actually, I have use for Bards in spreading rumours about my server, so don't cut yourself short, or in half (no pun intended) :)

Syl...

OK it's a deal. Thomas is a present residing in Mistledale and publishing a Broadsheet - see www.erran.fsnet.co.uk (http://www.erran.fsnet.co.uk)
He intends this to have a 'Realms Rumours' page where he publishes gossip from passing travellers (i.e any important/ misleading info that deviant DMs want to sling his way)

PS Erran is still in Amn persuing the doomed romance with Mazzy, who is his size but above him. That thing with Aerie was merely platonic.

PPS
Tal says, don't leave dots after URLs. They don't go anywhere. ;)

[This message has been edited by Taluntain (edited December 19, 2000).]

Hey Sylvus, I just put in my application to be a DM. I am applying to take the Lurkwood area. Hopefully I will get to work with you on that side of things soon.

How long before I should expect to hear anything?

I'd say about a week or so, possibly sooner.

Syl...

Syl, if i apply now to ALFA, will it matter that i wont get the game for ages, seeing how i live in the U.K., and it isn't even released in America yet(?).

BTW: How much should i be thinking of writing for the :
What makes your character the way he or she is? In detail, describe your character with a background story and/or a detailed description of who they are.
part?
and, i've never read many of the books, so what race of elves would suit a chaotic good character - obviously not drow.

thanx

Also, would they mind if i called my character after a character in one of the books - because in BG2, i always call my ranger Belkram, which is the same as one of the rangers in i think the Avatar trilogy. I only ask, cos i dont want to spend time thinking up a background story etc, if there going to reject it simply due to a name.

BTW, if you are planning to import your character from BG2, could you say about you being the son of Baal, or would that not be a wise thing to do

cheers,

wildfire

ALFA will have all submitted and accepted characters on a secure player vault, which means no imports from BG2. This is to prevent edited characters and power hungry gamers who want to pry on legit characters.

All ALFA players accepted begin playing at 1st level with 0 experience.

As for your history, keep it to your character and don't worry about locations. IE "When Sylvus was growing up, his mother and father pampered him, wanting Sylvus to become an archer. Sylvus would have nothing of the sort" yadda yadda. Build on what you want your character to be and don't go into too much specifics of events or places as of yet.

As for "good elves". Gold is your best bet.

Your character name is based on a true FR character and since ALFA is going to be recreating the Forgotten Realms to the best of their ability, it wouldn't be wise to use such a name. Although Belkram isn't as popular as Elminster or Drizzt, that name still has a character already tied to them and is somewhat, a hero of the Forgotten Realms already.

Syl...

If I understand correctly the only thing you will be importing from a BG(2) character is the name and possibly the portrait.
No items, no kits, everyone starts with 0xp and the stats (STR, WIS etc) will all be re done according to a points buy system. Now the good stuff - you get to chose skills and feats according to 3rd edition.
It might be possible to recreate a BG(2) character buts it's going to need work, time and Lots of Luck!

Hi i am Chan Qui,
I have sent in my app a couple times tring to get it thru your board of dm's.
I was wondering If you could help me with any hint or any thing. I have serval friends who areon the servers already and I would like the oppunity to game with them.

I summited a Sorcerer of Dragon blood as this is how i wish to role play my char i did not propose ungodly stats to go with this just a light scale texture to the skin and a silver eye color. Darn my app is at work. well my village was in the mountains around sembia(sp?) and that was the major gist of it I can add the rest tomorrow. if you need more. Any help would be great.

Well the boards we have here aren't really connected to ALFA in any way, except that Sorcerer's Place is a fansite.

ALFA won't be accepting any new applications till april so you'll have to wait I'm afraid.

"Hey everyone. Im Darpaek. I do the player apps.

If you have applied since 1/10 to 1/24 (today), I havent even looked at your app yet. I've been out of town. I will get to your app ASAP. I promise.

Gimme a week or so. I post here again when I get through all of them so you know whether you've made the cut or not.

Darpaek"

If you submitted your application before that time (let us say December as an example) and you have not received a notice of acceptance, it's safe to say your character was rejected.

For whatever reason, I do not know as I do not handle the player applications at ALFA.

Syl...

So there are still slots available then? I just visited ALFA yesterday, and Tal's site news tidbit got me interested, as did the ALFA site. If there are still player slots left, about how many. I know there is no hurry as no new apications are being taken until April(?), but I'd like to know so I can come up with my potential character. Incidently, I'm a CRPG player, and I don't know a lot about PnP as I've said in the past around here. Would this affect my application negatively?

Also, while the site is down, can anyone tell me what the application form looks like(read: what questions do they ask). It'll give me something more to work on before April :)

There was another 3 new DMs that joined, so that's another 192 player slots that become available.

As for being a CRPG player, as long as you can roleplay and aren't joining the world to get "phat l00t" you should be fine.

I have no idea what the player application looks like. I would assume, real name, real e-mail, character name, race, sex, class and general description/history.

Syl...

Cool, thanks for the info Syl. I was worried that I might have missed out on joining. Glad there's still plenty of chances to adventure with everyone here. Looking forward to it.

Don't worry about room. Since many people were registering a year ago or so, you can count that at least 10% of them will be dropped by the time NWN is out.

In answer to your question about the players form is not that bad, Crawl. When I filled it out back in Oct. 99. It asked basic character info; PC name, Class, race, alignmnet, gender, and a short discription. Plus two questions. One on your characher's history and one on what are the most important traits to have as a role-player. Again that was in Oct, but I don't think they changed it. I hope that help a little. The only thing I suggest is reading a little about the Realms so you can develope a good history. I look forward to seeing you on ALFA.

Thanks for the heads up Voltric. Hopefully I'll be there.

One other question is your Deity, if any, so check out Sorcerer's pages for FR Deities.
The thing they have said many many times is that they are looking for Roleplayers, and encyclopedia-like knowledge of the Realms is not needed, nor is previous PnP experience.
NWN will be a bit like PnP, a bit like CRPG, a bit like a MUD but a lot like its own thing.