Newbie looking for a bit of IC/OC direction - and hello!

Nations The League
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Terribly sorry for adding to the newbie post tally, but I’ve just signed up and am trying to put together a character at the moment, and am really looking forward to going on my first event!

I’m not too keen on combat, I feel like I’d be good at “looking nice with a sword” but would probably go straight to hedgehog mode and play dead once any battle starts. I’m super keen on the political/philosophical side of things, I enjoy the idea of a gorgeously nasty campaign and I love a good performance…

Possibly because of this, I was really drawn to the League, I love meaningful opulence and the idea of valuing a balance of favours etc. Thinking of doing a Don Juan-y person-of-many-faces character, relying on charisma and leveraging various kinds of conversational/aesthetic/performatory charm to get shit done. Something like gender-neutral Dorian Grey from Penny Dreaful (not going to play as him, he was the closest example I can think of appearance and personality wise).

Hoping to do a basic backstory and focus mainly on character traits, then let the game lead me once I arrive rather than worry too much about where the character has been…

I’m not too sure the best route for a character like this - I promise I’ve tried to read as much lore as I can, but am simply a bit confused as to the options, groups, and guilds. I think my character will be from Holberg, do I only join things there? Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions? And would I be able to join one or even just have a look around them prior to the actual event… any info would be super helpful!

I’m pretty chatty/extroverted so I’m not worried about actually getting there and talking to people but I know I’d feel much more at ease if I knew at least a few people going + a couple of IC goals or directions…

I’d only be able to start going from E2 I think, looking at my current schedule + how long I think it would take me to make a costume, but I was wondering if there was any way to meet people before that and get an idea of how things work? I’m based near-ish to London so can do most things around there and Oxford, but I don’t know if there are socials or anything outside the main events. I have most of the regular social medias, but I’m not big on Discord.

Would really love any pointers on this end also, thank you so much in advance for reading this slog of a post :smile:

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Firstly, welcome along to the game and these forums :smiley:

The League does sound like a good fit, and there are a lot of talented and friendly people there for you to bounce off, performatively.

Keeping things basic and finding out where to go in play is usually a good idea, as one of the bits of advice I usually deploy is “the most important things for the character are what happens to them in play”

Character from Holberg, I suspect you can join most of the groups/guilds in the League, although there may be a few locked to one city or another. Your best bet on that is likely to ask around, find out what groups (Cartels, trading houses, companies, etc) are describing themselves as, and see which one draws you.

Probably the easiest way to do this is to ask for a group to join on the League Facebook group (link below).

That will also help find you a few IC contacts to start with, and maybe a few things to look into.

Coming out over the next month of so will be the Winds of War/Fortune, with a lot of news (generated by player action, usually) about everything in the Empire. Keep an eye out for stuff related to the League, or Holberg, or the eastern front, and maybe something will catch you attention. This will give you a conversational opener, and likely find some folk to argue about it :slight_smile:

There are quite a few socials and meet ups (sometimes known as froth-meets), and I suspect a few in London and Oxford area. And that’s notwithstanding the smaller, sanctioned events (which can be any time of the year).

Are you in need of costume guidance? Anything re the scale and timetable of the events? Mechanical issues?

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Happy to discuss backstory. I live in Oxford (Kennington) and play a Holberg banker / café owner / merchant prince.

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Oooh that would be amazing - can I PM you or something?

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Thank you so much for this response! Froth-meets sound really great, and exactly what I meant :smile:

Re costume, I’ve been browsing, I know the period referenced for League/Holberg quite well, but I think fabric shops and places to get accessories so to speak would be my main query on that front. I’ve been looking at some of the amazing League costumes on the FB page for inspo as well. I have a bit of a “girlish” figure OC so as my character aims to be super-androgynous, I’m thinking of ways to combine types of outfit pieces. I love the accessories especially… is there a store or something people frequent?

I had a kind of weird question that possibly works as both an event question and a costume question, which is that I smoke… I’d obviously not be a freak/obnoxious about it and go to clearings or far off to the side or emptier areas when I feel the urge, but I mainly wanted to ask if you knew if people tend to just roll normal cigs or if there were ways to make it IC? Like pipes et al ahah. I know this is a super specific thing though so no problem if you can’t help!

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Re smoking, so long as you are in the open and away from crowds/children I wouldn’t worry about it. Roll your own cigarettes mean you could have a nice IC feature while rolling them before you step outside. I wouldn’t worry with clay pipes unless you’d like to.

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Re costume, an advisory.

The photos on the FB page and the wiki tend to be the best. The result of year of work and money, taken in their most photogenic moment by professional photographers. They are not the minimum standard, they’re usually the best in show :slight_smile:

Gender and presentation is pretty much a pick-and-mix, wear what suits. I know some places also sell little “pronoun badges” if that may cause confusion. There are a LOT of shops on site, often with a fair amount of accessories. I can reccomend Chow’s Emporium and Das Shoppe for starters.

Smoking: be considerate and tidy and aware of the fire risks. Especially in the heat of summer. Otherwise, you’re fine.

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