The following guides will help you get ready and situated for your first event.
Please read them carefully.
What Not To Bring To Any Event
What To Expect At Your First Event
Your Character
Items to bring to an event:
1. Sleeping Bag, bed linens and pillow
2. Toiletries (towels, deodorant, shampoo, comb/brush, toothpaste and toothbrush)
3. Mundane clothing (for the drive home and clean-up)
4. Costuming (Character Clothing. We appreciate good costuming and award for it!)
5. Boffer weapons (if you tried to make one. We should have one for you otherwise)
6. Extra socks and underwear. (EG: 3day event = 6 underwear and pairs of socks.)
7. Extra pair of shoes.
8. Food items; such as meal items, snacks and drinks
9. Any props you think might be useful or add atmosphere to the game.
10. Any Medications you may need. (Those that are OTC or prescribed only!)
11. A simple white head band. (Needed to mark yourself out of game.)
12. Money. (Real world cash. Might want to buy something or for an emergency!)
14. Two (2) Copies of your Character Sheet (if you made a character)
15. *** ALL YOUR FRIENDS! ***
What NOT to bring to an event:
1. Weapons (No knifes, swords or clubs. A small pocket knife is allowed.)
2. Firearms (No firearms of any kind - Even if you are CCW enabled.)
3. Narcotics (No illicit or illegal drugs will be tolerated. We will ban you from PLAN if caught!)
4. Alcohol (Even if you are Twenty-one! Sorry, campsite rules.)
During a normal event weekend you can usually expect to arrive on-site between 7 and 9 PM Friday evening. First up is the customary logistical check-in, where you settle up your account and retrieve your character sheet, followed by visits the various other eagerly waiting staff members who will help you check the safety of your weapons, purchase potions, scrolls, elixers, weapons, armour, traps—anything production related, and generally answer any questions you might have of them.
If you are a new player, after settling up your account you will be given over to the care of a new player specialist who will go over with you the rules and other helpful information and help you correctly build your character sheet if you have not already done so. This person will be there for you at any time during the event to answer any questions you may have or to help you solve any out-of-game problems you might encounter. After all the preliminaries have been gone over, should you have any questions about the making or using of weapons or armour, your new player specialist will guide you over to the correct person who can be of assistance.
After all the logistical details have been taken care of you are safely free to move about the campsite. Your first stop, of course, should be your cabin, where you can store your gear, get your sleeping arrangements settled, unpack if you wish and get yourself ready for the excitement that is about to unfold... Game usually starts around 10 PM or so, and from that point on every action you perform and every word you utter should be ‘in-game,’ that is, done by and within the context of your character. It is encouraged that you be in-character for the totality of the event as it makes both your experience and that of others more complete within the reality being presented for you.
The action of the event could begin with a speech, a banquet, an attack. Anything is capable within the imagination of your event-directors. If you choose, you can try to engage every random monster in combat, attempt to join in on every module, or even sit back and just take in the situation around you. The amount of your involvement (and subsequently the amount of your fun) all depends on the chances you are willing to take and the things you are willing to participate in. Remember, you are your character for the next few days. If speaking to random strangers is usually against your nature, it might just be natural for your character. Likewise, dancing and singing to a roving gypsy’s music might be something you aren’t used to, but your character might. Just jump in and try it. You never know, you might really enjoy yourself.
Generally an event is structured around a single dominant idea or theme. Most, but not necessarily all, adventures usually help further a particular goal or purpose. Sometimes this purpose will be known, sometimes it will not. Either way, the more adventures and encounters you become involved in, the more important and relevant you become. Perhaps it is you who will come up with the conclusion that the reason for all the undead attacks is because a powerful liche is defiling and polluting the land and the formerly dead are now no longer able to rest in peace. Perhaps you will also come up with a way to stop the liche. Even if you aren’t able to defeat one of the most powerful creatures by yourself, your insight into a situation may be what helps your side win.
During a standard 2-day event, game play will start around 10 PM on Friday and conclude around 2 AM Sunday. It is asked that you make an attempt to clean up after yourself at all times while playing and that you spend a little time Sunday morning, after you have packed up your belongings, to help the event staff clean up any untidy areas on site. Following that, you are free to turn in your character sheet, where it will be collected and maintained by our staff ready for your use at the next event, and you may leave and return to the mundane world.
You’re NERO experience, however, doesn’t necessarily have to come to an end there. Using the contacts you made during the event you can always talk to your new friends on the in-game message trees or by private correspondence. You can catch up on things, relive the details of the event and even make plans for the next event. Again, your involvement is limited only by your amount of participation.
Your character is who you will be while in game at a PLAN event. You should take some time to really think about what and who you want to play. We highly recommend you create a character background or history (We reward 50 GS for accepted background submissions). You can download a copy of the Player Rulebook here. This will help you to make a decision on what type of character you would like to build. NERO is about roleplaying a character, not the rules. The rules are still important, and you need to know them for combat to work effectively, but they are not meant to hinder your fun.
Here are descriptions of the allowed classes and a list of races in the NERO Game System©.
Classes:
Fighters take naturally to the physical combat arts and rely mainly on strength and stamina to accomplish their goals. They can wear almost any type of armor.
Rogues have a natural bent towards dexterity based skills, and also the practice of alchemy. Rogues are limited in how much armor they can wear. The lower Body Points, lighter armor and relatively high costs for combat skills does not make them well suited for front line combat roles
Scholars are adept at many mental skills and readily learn the magical arts. Scholars are even more limited in how many Armor Points they can use than are Rogues.
Templars are spellcasters who are somewhat more adept than scholars at physical combat skills. They are not religious in any way; NERO specifically prohibits religion in the game. Their combat training leaves them better able to fight but takes away from their studies. They cannot use as many Armor Points as Fighters, but can use more than Rogues or Scholars.
Races:
Barbarians are a race of nomadic tribes. They are given +2 Body Points to start and can buy the skill Detect Celestial Magic. They pay double for any Scholarly skills.
Biata were said to be borne by the magical mating of a Gryphon and a Human. They may buy the Break Charm, Resist Charm and Resist Sleep skills. They cannot learn Read Magic.
Drae are the Dark Elves or Drow of NERO. They may gain the Resist Charm, Resist Sleep and pay half cost for the Archery skill. They start out with -2 Body Points. They cannot buy Two-handed Blunt or Sword skills.
Dwarves are sturdy individuals from the mountains. NERO Dwarves are not necessarily short. They are given +1 Body point to start. They may buy Resist Poison Skill, and pay -1 for Armorsmith or Weaponsmith skills. It costs double for Read Magic. They cannot buy any Two Handed Weapon skills.
Elves are the stoic long-lived, pointy ears race. There are several types of Elves in NERO. All elves can buy the skills Resist Sleep and Resist Charm. They pay half for the Archery skill. They start out with -1 Body Points. They cannot buy Two Handed Blunt or Sword skills.
Humans have no starting advantage, nor do they any starting disadvantage.
Gypsy are humans defined by costume, behavior and culture. They may buy the Gypsy Curse and Remove Gypsy Curse skills.
Half Ogre and Half Orc neither race are Human/Ogre or Human/Orc hybrids, but races of their own. They start with +2 Body Points. They pay double for any Scholarly skills.
Hoblings are a peaceful, curious race. They have furry feets and hands. They may buy Resist Poison and Dodge skills. They pay half for Pick Locks and Disarm Traps. They start out with -1 Body Points. They cannot buy any Two Handed weapon skills. They cannot be a Fighter.Mystic Wood Elves are a strange race of creatures originally from the Mystic Wood in Northern Evendarr. They are not really elves but are called so because of their ears. They have small horns as well. They may buy Break Charm and Resist Charm. They pay -1 for any Craftsman (Type) skill. They Must buy a Craftsman skill every level.
Sarr are a race of felinoids (cat-like people). They may buy the Resist Poison. They are given the "Scenting" ability. They cannot use blunt or ranged weapons. They cannot buy the Waylay skill either.
"Scavenger" is a generic term used for any type not covered by the other races. They are humanoids with mundane animallike characteristics, like those of a rat, badger, skunk, or dog. They may buy the Resist Poison skill. They also are given the "Scenting" ability. They pay double for all Scholarly skills.
