Onwards! on our tour of the Empire for new players Today it’s Urizen “a nation of magic forged from boundless ambition, of decisive action guided by reason”.
What would you tell new players to try and convince them to play an Urzeni? What do you think is the coolest thing about Urizen? What does the nation give you that others don’t? What are some of the interesting parts of the (recently updated) brief that people might miss? And what are some of the lesser explored character niches in Urizen?
unique high fantasy inspired kit. No one else looks like Urizen.
immediate RP cues: concepts like Space and Poise give Urizen a mystique and enable you to portray a recognizable Urizen character immediately. Bowing alone immediately creates that Urizen atmosphere.
UNLIMITED MAGICAL POWER: Urizen lore, multiple Archmages and Grand Masters within the nation make it a great place for Conclave oriented ritual mages.
actually awesome combat game: As a smaller nation with a lower percentage of fighters, its easier to get those slots on skirmishes you’re interested in. The tight knit nature of the Urizen fighting force means you will be noticed and taken into account quickly.
battling for survival: amazing rp & plot comes out of Urizen’s battle to liberate it’s Barbarian occupied territories. It’s not easy mode, but if you want that emotional engagement with a nation desperately fighting with everything it has to save it’s people, Urizen is amazing.
nightlife & communal spirit: Urizen has the advantage of a communal focus for the nation with excellent parties and music in Phoenix Reach. Anyone labouring under the misapprehension that Urizen doesn’t know how to have fun should come and visit.
OC ridiculously friendly: I turned up to my first Empire event only barely knowing a couple of people from online, by the end of that event I felt fully bedded into the nation and had joined a group. It’s very hard to slip through the cracks in Urizen.
As a (reasonably new) player, Urizen has an archtype (Torchbearer) that basically goes ‘be nosy, it’s your calling’…which makes getting hooked into plot stuff both inside and outside of Nation so much easier.
The emphasis on knowledge within Urizen also makes the first time player IC questions somewhat easier to ask, because they can always be dressed up in a research manner and debated.
Brad has already covered most of it, but a few other points particularly good for new players.
its surprisingly easy to sort out starting kit.
Yes the national kit can look complicated, especially if you see some of the more impressive outfits in the event photos, but really all you need is as robe, a sash and whatever decoration you feel like adding on top of that.
arete means it’s fairly simple to fit almost any character concept into the nation.
Our national “thing” is being the best at your chosen art. You want to be the best duelist? That’s fine, but so is being the best at formation fighting, or formation dancing, or spending your life perfecting biscuits. It doesn’t really matter what you want to do (within reason) as long as you aim to do it well.
easy to get involved in IC conversations
As a nation of scholars, researchers and interfering busy bodies who love to debate things it’s really easy to start an IC conversation. Also a side effect of the brief that disagreements frequently evolve into open debates involving whoever is around at the time.
Today it’s Urizen “a nation of magic forged from boundless ambition, of decisive action guided by reason”.