There is also the possibility of switching nations “in character” - if you like your character and wish to keep them but feel that you would be more comfortable or happy in a different nation. There can be a lot of fun in switching - from dealing with the Eregores of the different nations to managing the transition from the old nation to the new.
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If you are planning to fight in the battles, then I’d definitely recommend playing in the same nation as your friends. (The battles are much less lethal if there is someone who will lead a charge back for you if you have fallen wounded / will administer potions to you…)
[quote=“Isca”]…
You can’t cast magic together with people from a different nation…[/quote]
Really?
[quote=“The Land”]
[quote=“Isca”]…
You can’t cast magic together with people from a different nation…[/quote]
Really?[/quote]
You can cast magic on people from other nations, but for multiple ritualists to work together to cast a ritual too big for them to cast on their own, they all need to be in the same coven; to be in the same coven they need to be in the same nation.
Empire has been running for a bit over 2 years now, and all the nations were created at the start. It isn’t based off any computer game or specific world, but was written by the PD team to be a complete world.
This does mean that occasionally new bits of the world get revealed that we really should have known all along, because they finally became relavent to the plot and got a full writeup 
The reason the site is moving is because we outgrew our old one, and had a possible permenant site arranged which then fell through. Studley isn’t ideal (not much bigger than old site, no woodlands, IC field split in two, no potential for long-term lease and planning permission for permenant structures) - PD are actively looking for a permenant home that can have buildings erected for better facilities, permanent IC structures, possibly even (we dare to dream) paved streets…
It is possible to have friends across nations, but it helps to have something else in common with them to give you the excuse of constantly visiting.
If you have health concerns then you can have a very rewarding character without ever setting foot on the battlefield. Parents of small children are required to stay off the battlefield (babysitting duty) and there are plenty of other non-coms due to health reasons or personal preference. Our group is about 50:50 battlefield attendees.
[quote=“Anwar”]
Having spent a lot of time in both camps, I’d say Urizen was larger than the Brass Coast last event (although we suffered badly from non-attendance - we were completely missing a couple of large groups, and those that did turn up were all down a few players).
Nation size is not necessarily the best indicator of how much is going on within a camp, though. The brass coast is a numerically small nation, but because we are set up around multiple small family groups there is a LOT of internal politicking going on which may be missed in a larger, more homogenous nation.[/quote]
The League, Urizen and the Brass Coast are larger than they look based on their battle stats: they each have a larger proportion of non-combatants. The orcs, by contrast, have a near-100% battle attendance: they may not be the biggest nation in the Empire, but they are the most enthusiastic!
The League looks medium, but on pre-book numbers they are large: giving Wintermark a run for their money. Similarly, Urizen and the Brass Coast are both small-medium, but have a large number of stay-at-home Wizards and Traders and send less people off to fight than another Nation would if a similar size.
Absolutely.
I don’t know if you’ve a background in computer games but think of it as an MMO with a character limit of 1. As soon as one character dies or retires (PD are very specific that retirement is permanent), you go back to the character creation screen* and can select any Nation… including the one you just left.
As for costume… some people have multiple costumes, but almost everyone keeps common elements between them so that you can tell it is still the same person (rather than a new character of someone who has died). Plenty of people have a single costume for the whole lifetime of a character and when the mud rises, everyone gets muddy so nobody minds if your costume is muddy.
The big thing in Empire is that battles occur at specific times and in specific places… so people only have to put on their armour and all their wargear when going to war. Wearing armour and/or carrying weapons around the field on a regular basis says something about your character… be they paranoid, spoiling for a fight or just trying to give the impression of “being a warrior” as part of their political image.
Ohh yes, girding (getting your armour on for battle) has a particular hearth magic in Dawn, you wouldn’t want to miss out on that.
[quote=“LauraH”]Ohh yes, girding (getting your armour on for battle) has a particular hearth magic in Dawn, you wouldn’t want to miss out on that.
profounddecisions.co.uk/empi … arth_magic[/quote]
Yes, it’s the hearth magic. That’s why Dawn are always last to the portal for the battles… Definitely.
It is usually because we have better things to do than stand in the mud and hurry up and wait. Your mileage may vary but I personally find staring at the gate for thirty minutes in either the blazing sun, blistering cold or pissing rainless less comfortable than sitting in a chair chatting.
I imagine you say that based on looking at photos from the events.
Remember that photographers tend to photograph the people with the best costumes more often, so you might have an artificially high impression of the overall standard.
Do the best you can, but don’t worry about it too much: see profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Costume which says, among other things,
[quote]
We would like Empire to be an aspirational game, one where every participant strives to have the best possible kit. Kit is more than just costume, it includes the props, set dressing and everything else that players bring into the in-character area at an event. The more effort every individual puts in to their kit, the better the game becomes for everybody. But kit is expensive to make and transport to events so it can become demoralizing to make this effort if people feel other players are not trying equally hard. To get the best possible game we need everyone who participates to agree to try their best.
But all aspirational games are at risk of appearing elitist, the assumption is that participants’ costume will be judged against some unknown standard, which can be intensely intimidating to new players. We want Empire to be an accessible game that anyone interested in live roleplaying can feel confident about attending. We want the game to be inclusive, to be inviting and welcoming towards everyone interested in taking part.
An aspirational hobby is one where every participant aims for the best standards they can achieve - an inclusive hobby is one where those involved accept the different standards that others can achieve. What we want for Empire is for every player to agree to try their best - but for no player to ever feel embarrassed that their best effort is not good enough.[/quote]
It seems to work pretty well. People tend to admire and give compliments on good elements of kit, and overlook the less-than-good.