Sell me on... Dawn

Mark_Wilkin · 14 September 2021 12:31

We’re back on with our tour of the Empire for new players and today we’re talking about the glorious nation of Dawn. What would you tell new players to try and convince them to play in Dawn? What do you think is the coolest thing about the Dawn? What does the nation give you that others don’t? What are some of the interesting parts of the brief that people might miss? And what are some of the lesser explored niches in Dawn?

And please do post some cool pictures of Dawnish folk looking awesome as well

How would you sell Dawn to a new player?

Geoffrey_Willoughby · 15 September 2021 17:11

Dawn is bright, bouncy, and flambouyant. We don’t do subtle, restrained, or particularly complex.

Dawn is a nation of loud primary colours; with Romance, Tragedy, and plenty of seeking after Glory! If you want to be loud, proud, and obvious, Dawn is worth a look.

Dawn features a lot of martial activities (duels, quests, battles), and a large wadge of non-combat stuff including bards, troubadours, confusing flowers, and courtly love. Not to mention the war witches (often Summer), the Priests (Courage and Pride are favourites), and an internal class system that pushes interactions, advancement, and a slightly different game at each level.

Personally, I love it for the “knights in shining armour” vibe, the bright colours, and the fearless, shameless nature of the nation.

While it might look like a nation obsessed with hitting things, there is ample opportunity, if you want something a bit different, for proud troubadours, dedicated priests, cunning war-witches and pretty much anything amongst the yeofolk.

Dawn is now quite a large nation, so while I can’t think of any unexplored niches, there will be plenty of folk willing to help with whatever you want to try.

Here are some shots of Dawn being awesome:

(apologies, I don’t have many shots of Dawn at peace)

Bozemoto · 25 September 2021 15:07

Being an outsider I’m not the best person to answer. But from the outside Dawn seems like a great place to go if you’re into combat. It also does a great job with giving their new people things to do via their test of mettle system. It’s a great way of combining worldbuilding with a good game experience. Dawn strikes me as having both very strong group identity and being inclusive to their own, while having rivalries with other noble houses. It seems like a good mix.

Please do correct me if I’m wrong about any of these impressions.

Geoffrey_Willoughby · 25 September 2021 16:18

That’s a fair point. The individual Houses, each with their own colour scheme and quirks, have strong group identity. But as you noted, the Virtues of Pride/Courage/Loyalty push the Houses into reasonably friendly rivalry.

While it is a militant nation (along with Highguard and the Marches, in particular), there’s a lot more to it than the combat focus. Dawn is as much Enchanters and War-witches, Troubadours and Crafters, as it is the shining Knights (whether yeofolk or Noble). It’s just that the Knights tend to push to the front and pose in shiny plate a lot

Given that “Knights in shining armour (with adjustments)” is an easy concept for many to grasp, we’ve certainly been popular with several waves of new players.