In advance of theGuldorand Launch Event this weekend, this article explores thevarious start locations on Arelith, the roleplay and expectations ofeach, and a basic introduction of how to log-in and make your firstcharacter. Remember this weekend we are offering a free 'normal award' to allplayers, new and old, which will also be discussed below. Firstthough, to answer a few basic questions about what Arelithactually is...
Well, what is it?
Arelith is one of thePersistant Words created by users of game Neverwinter Nights, it hasa history stretching back nearly two decades, and has been home toover twenty thousand players. We operate a traditional RPG experienceset within the Forgotten Realms of Dungeons & Dragons 3rdedition. In many ways emulating a traditional tabletop experience, thegame is divided between those actually playing it, and anever-rotating team of volunteer DMs, there to facilitate thenarrative, runnings quests, and overseeing the server.
If you want to read about Arelith in the gaming press, we've also featured in articles from Vice, Engadget & PC Gamer.
Arelith is situated between Lantan, Moonshaeand Amn on the continent of Faerûn.
Knowledgeof the setting really isn't necessary in order to enjoy the game, andwe include a wealth of content on the subject within the actual gameworld, so it is entirely possible to learn one's way around thesetting as one explores. So whilst a little knowledge of Forgotten Realms is certainly useful, knowledge of the setting isn't really neccesary in order to play the game.
OurPlayers.
Playersof Arelith are based around the world, and come from all walks oflife and age groups. They operate a strong community both on ourforums and Official Discord. We currently have around 2000 regularplayers, with the server peaking at approximately 300 during peakplay hours, or as low as 60 when quieter. Our players drive thenarrative in game, and afford us, as developers, the opportunity tobuild a world around them. None are expected to bringanything other than their time. Like other community servers onNeverwinter Nights there is no commercial aspect to anything we dohere.
The Expectations.
One can visit our FAQor main page here on this site to get details of our rules, but theyare somewhat simple. Arelith operates what can broadly be termed a'T' rated setting. That isn't to say there isn't excessive violence(this is after all a fantasy 'Sword & Sorcery' setting), but wedo ask players to avoid explicit content and themes. If you aren'tsure what this means, just pick up any regular D&D sourcebook orcampaign and you'll quickly get an idea of what we mean here.
GETTING STARTED ON ARELITH
With six startlocations we aim to not only accommodate different styles of play,but also provide a repeat play potential for our existing players.
Remember, wherever youchoose to start on Arelith you can log into any of our 5 servers– the engine will automatically move your character to the correctlocations when you have made your character.
The Five Servers
Arelith is spreadbetween 5 different servers so as to ensure better in-gameperformance for our players. These are not instanced locations orgame shards, but together form one large word. Individual characters,as they travel, can expect to move between them based on theircurrent location. Current player-count on each of our servers canbe seen on our 'Portal' page, linked at the top of this website.
Arelith Entry
This is the one 'OOC'area of the server, and where all characters start. Here you canchoose the available options for your characters, such as gifts, andbackground, start location, as well as customise your appearance.
Characters on Arelithdon't start at level 1, so you'll also get a free level before youproceed.
If you have anyquestions, you can speak with the NPC at the help desk, or use the DMchannel on the chat drop down in bottom corner of the screen tocontact a member of staff. If a DM isn't online, messages sent hereare automatically sent to our staff offline, so rest assured theyalways get read.
How to build mycharacter.
Arelith has a wealth ofcharacter options, almost all of which draw from various editions,supplements and expansion for Dungeons & Dragons, these includeclasses otherwise not supported on Neverwinter Nights, such asCavalier, Hexblade and Shaman.
While we believeArelith should be playable simply by making these options in gameupon character creation, those that want to research their characteroptions may use the extensive player run Arelith Wiki, or ask the playersthem via the 'Character Build Advice' channel on our official Discord– players here are quick to help, and also offer prefab characterbuilds for those that want to spend as little time as possiblecreating their own.
If you are still notsure about your character's strengths and weaknesses? We also offer aPGCC (Pretty Good Character Creator) server you can log into, to makeand test and character builds before creating them on the mainservers.
As mentioned at thebeginning of this article, player are also able to spend anyoutstanding awards during character creation, which is also done inthe 'Arelith Entry' area. Outside of this event, these awards areonly granted to players as they retire their characters for good(referred to as 'rolling') This is often at level 30, and is a meansto ensure a steady turnover in characters.
Not everyone chooses toroll their old characters, but those that do have a chance of earningan award. These can be the option to play a rare race, class, oraccess certain options or start locations otherwise unavailable. Thethinking behind awards isn't just to encourage a turn over character,but also our current means of keeping certain things a rarity so asnot to undermine the setting (such as good-aligned monsters and plane-touchedraces).
Awards can, of course,effect one's available start location, and for the Guldorand event weare launching a whole new one. The 'Mid-Level Guldorand Start', thiswill allow non-monster races to start the game in the new city atlevel 14, with increased starting gold. Arelith has been populated bydifferent players over the last fifteen years, with over twentythousand having played here. Each has a mark on our shared history,and the new Guldorand Start award is an excellent opportunity for newplayers to be there right from the beginning of this chapter; not tobe building upon the legacy of others, but creating that which mayshape the city for years to come.
That isn't to say itisn't the only only option available. The award might also be spentto play a rare underdark race, or a feature for a character in one ofour other start locations. Some people enjoy that low leveladventuring experience, and it's an excellent way to get to grips withour game.
So let's now look at the six start locations available toplayers....
Cordor (Original Start)
- Sprawling city
- Numerous dungeons
- In Game Advice forNew players
- Lowchallenge/relative safety
- Player rungovernment
Cordor is Arelith'sprimary city, one that has been gradually built on and expanded sincethe foundation of our server. It is ideally suited to characters thatenjoy exploration, and would rather be relatively anonymous duringtheir first levels. It's easy to fade into the background in a largecity, but if one prefers the limelight there is an active politicalscene in the player run government and guard force.
Monster/Underdark racesare not permitted in Cordor, but any other race may choose to do so.As a lawful city-state there are limited opportunities for newcharacters to take part in criminal roleplay, or to align with evilfactions.
Characters start at adock in the government district, and can follow advice of the nearbyNPCs to find their footing in the city, which includes a courierquest which will introduce you to many of the key locations.
Cordor is hosted on itsown server, alongside many of our supported planes (Cordor &Planes Server)
Andunor (UnderdarkStart)
- Thematic setting
- Extensive city
- Monster roleplay
- Numerous dungeons
- Player-rundistricts
Situated in theUpperdark, Andunor (At the time of writing) is Arelith's most popularand populated city. Divided into 3 often competing player rundistricts, it functions as a start location for a number of monsterraces, in addition to human and half-orc outcasts & Slaves
Based around thecentral 'Hub', Andunor, despite its size, is a far more condensedstart location that Cordor, and one can expect to quickly be drawninto role-play with fellow players.
While in-character, theUnderdark is known to be highly dangerous, and full of many opposingraces and factions, the players in Arelith's Underdark have along-standing reputation for offering welcoming and inclusiveroleplay experience. If playing alongside others within a clearlydefined setting filled with intrigue and conflict is your primarymotivation for playing Arelith, then Andunor might be the perfectchoice.
It should also benoted, that given the condensed nature of the Hub, the Andunor Start(like the Skal Start below) is well suited players in countries withtraditionally 'off-peak' playing hours, such as Australia, Korea andNew Zealand, as even when players numbers are overall low on theserver, Andunor's Hub remains active throughout the day.
Players start onAndunor arriving on the 'Underferry' from elsewhere in the Underdark,and like Cordor will be invited to complete a courier quest to helpthem learn their way around the city and its key locations.
Andunor, along with anextensive surrounding underground landscape is situated on the'Arelith – Underdark Server'
Brogendenstein(Earthkin Start)
- Condensed startlocation
- Unifiedin-character community
- Player-runsettlement
- Dungeons dividedbetween surface and underdark
On Arelith, the'Earthkin Alliance' is an informal partnership of dwarves, halflingsand gnomes. Together they populate much land across the centre of theisle, including Bendir Dale,and the mountain city of Brogendenstein.
Halflings, gnomes anddwarves have the option of starting in this location, and will findthemselves part of strongly-bound community from the moment theybegin, and one which even has its own class available. Everypossible requirement for a new player; merchants, henchmen, banks andsocial spaces, are all tightly packed together, with a number ofdungeons close at hand.
Due to the nature ofthe Earthkin Alliance there is less diversity of characters, andfinding common cause, and faction roleplay can present itself almostimmediately. It is also the only start location to be equally splitbetween the underdark and surface.
Characters begin indifferent locations of Brogendeinstein depending on their race, withthe gnomish races beginning within the Great Grotto, the halflings atthe Hearthhouse, and the dwarves within the Golden Halls.
Brogendenstein islocated on the Arelith – Surface server.
Sencliff (Pirate Start)
- Condensed startlocation
- Criminal setting.
- Immediate accessto Arelith's ship system
- Steep learningcurve
Arelith's ship systemallows players to join crews (or even obtain their own vessel) andsail the archipelago, experiencing a large variety of encounters,conduct battle with other ships, and visit many otherwiseinaccessible locations.
The pirates of Senclifflive at the centre of this world, and characters starting in thislocation will very soon find themselves with opportunities for seatravel. There are a few local dungeons to help characters getstarted, and NPC smugglers that can help ferry them to differentlocations around the central isle.
Due their criminalnature pirates may well be subject to heavy amounts of discriminationelsewhere on Arelith, so characters contemplating this start locationshould carefully consider whether they would be comfortable with thatsituation. It is also the least populated of Arelith's startlocations, so encountering other PCs is less likely. While this maysuit some players, who prefer a solo environment when finding theirfeet on the server, it can also be prudent for those wishing to finda party to arrange, in advance, to have other players to startalongside. This can be done by joining with a group of friends, orusing the 'New-Character-Hook-Up' channel on our official Discord.
Good characters may notselect the Sencliff start, and it is located on the Arelith-Surfaceserver.
Skaljard (Enforced LowLevel Environment)
- Condensed startlocation
- Party Roleplay
- ExtensiveWilderness
- Action-focusedsetting.
The frozen lands ofSkal, and the central village of Skaljard were launched on Arelithalongside the Enhanced Edition, both as a means for players new toNeverwinter Nights to experience a more action focused setting, andfor our existing players to have a whole new experience to goalongside their purchase of the updated game.
Unlike other areas ofArelith Skal is an enforced low-level environment, with ship travelto the Arelith mainland going only in one direction. With the seafrozen throughout the winter months, the player-owned ships ofArelith can only visit during the thaw, and only after a lengthyperiod of travel. This ensures that for much of the year lowcharacters have the isle to themselves, which itself stops providing'enemy' content beyond approximately 15th level.
The central village ofSkaljard is the only non-hostile location available to new players,and is extremely small when compared with the cities of Cordor andAndunor, with many of the new characters meeting around a single,central campfire. As a result finding an appropriate party can happenimmediately, something which is strongly advised as one heads out toexplore the many hostile locations in the tundra beyond the village.
Characters arrive inSkaljard via the village dock, and, when ready to experience themainland Arelith can return there to book travel to the mainland.There they are taken to the new city of Guldorand, where level rangecontent begins where Skaljard's ends, thus, the Skal starteffectively serves as the low level start location for Guldorand. Ifyou wish to experience the new city, but also enjoy the low levelexperience then the Skal start is ideal.
Skaljard is located onthe Arelith – Distant Shores server.
Guldorand (Mid-LevelStart)
- Extensive City
- New Content
- Massive dungeon
- Dangerous setting
- Player-runGovernment
Unlike the other largesettlements on Arelith Guldorand has not been designed as a startercity, or with low level content. Here, the setting is immediatelychallenging, requiring at least a level 14 character to survive.
A city state and onlyrival to Cordor in the south, Guldorand covers not only the cityitself, but a large wilderness beyond. This city was developed usingthe latest content available for NWN, both in terms of the actualbuildings and map, but also the creatures, and as such is somethingof a visual upgrade when compared with much of the older content.
Guldorand also holdsthe 'Elven Quarter' a separate area of the city under elven control,and as such the city contains not one, but two player rungovernments, with the latter restricted to members of the elven race.
Character are able tostart in Guldorand by spending a 'Normal Award' and will begin in thecity's Port Authority Building, where upon completion of theirpaperwork with the city authorities will be lifted to 14thlevel and granted 30,000 gold pieces. Nevertheless anyone taking thisoption should expect a challenge. During our Valentine's Day LaunchWeekend we are giving every unique player of NWN their own normalaward, so it is the ideal moment to experience this city alongsideother players of a similar level.
Guldorand is situatedon its own server, newly introduced to Arelith alongside the launchof the city. Arelith – Guldorand.
Remember, howevercomplex Arelith is, a lot of this is optional, and can be learned alongthe way. While a great many resources exist to learn your way aroundthe game before playing, much can equally be picked up during thein-game experience.
If you have questionsfor the community in advance of joining the server, the ArelithOfficial Discord is active day and night. Once in game you may alsoregister on the forums. We can also be found on Twitter, where weshare any news regarding Arelith, as well as other NWN relatedcontent.
