Starting New

Welcome! This page tells you how to get into the game and what to choose when you create your first character. The advice on choices is a guide by Kymon MacDaire; for an older, alternative guide, see Alternate Starting New.

Connecting #

In your browser: play now - nothing to install.
With a MUD client or telnet: realmofmagic.org, port 4000. Port 4001 sends no colour; port 4002 is made for blind and visually impaired players using a screen reader.

Creating a character #

Type a new name at the login prompt and the game guides you through these steps:

Name - confirm the name you typed.
Password - type it twice.
Gender - male or female.
Race - one of nine; type help and the race number to read about one first.
Class - one of five; help and the class number work here too.
Email - optional; used for notifications such as forwarded board messages and mudmail. Press RETURN to skip it.

After the message of the day, choose 1 at the menu to enter the game.

Your character starts in Entrancity, the academy for newcomers. At its end, the Portal Room offers four portals - to New Midgaard, Moonglow, Atalia and Al'khandriis - and the town whose portal you take becomes your home town. Until you have chosen, a character below level 5 who dies in Entrancity wakes up in Entrancity again.

Choosing well #

General #

There are no "wrong" or "right" choices: it all depends on your playing style and your goals in the Realm. The newbie and expert choices below are just meant to give you an idea of the strengths and weaknesses. The best way is to try several combinations yourself and find out what you like best.

Name #

Anything goes... as long as the gods accept it ;) Real first names such as Harold and pronounceable fantasy names work well; names of famous people, trademarks, plain words and random letters do not. help approve in the game has the details.

Password #

Pick something you can remember easily, preferably with both letters and numbers. Do NOT use your online banking password. The password for this website is set separately in the game with web passwd, and must differ from your game password.

Gender #

Though there are rumours about secret abilities that only one gender of some races has, your choice of gender has more social than gameplay consequences.

Race #

Newbie choice: Human Humans have evenly balanced attributes, which avoids pitfalls such as missing everything because of low intelligence.

Expert choice: Elf Mana! Elves gain extra mana, which makes up for early problems such as sometimes not being able to wield a sword as a warrior. The lower hit points can easily be made up for with healing potions. One look at potion prices shows why elves are the expert choice: a movement point costs about 5 gold, a hit point about 20 gold, and a mana point about 300 gold!

See Races for all nine.

Class #

Newbie choice: Warrior As a warrior you can concentrate on exploring and learning the basic commands without worrying about complicated spells, or dying after two hits because of low hit points.

Expert choice: Thief Thieves have a tough start: average hit points, no spells, low damage. But once they learn knockout and backstab, they turn into the ultimate killers. Whether you prefer slaying mobs or hunting other players, nothing beats a thief at killing quickly and efficiently.

See Classes for all five, and for subclassing later on.

Home town #

You choose your home town at the end of Entrancity, by the portal you take. You can move later by signing the town book of another town (sign book).

Newbie choice: New Midgaard Large enough to have many shops, guilds and travel connections, but small enough not to get lost in. Cheap healing potions, too.

Expert choice: Atalia A huge town with more shops than a troll can count, easy money and good guilds (though not for druids).

Hard-core #

The game no longer asks about this when you create a character. A hard-core character is set back to a newbie when it dies. To become one, find the hardcore book in the Temple of the Horned Rat and write in it - twice, because there is no way back.

Newbie choice: No There isn't much fun in starting from scratch each time you die. And you will die. A lot.

Expert choice: No Unless you are a masochist or want to show off, there is no point in going hard-core: there is no gameplay advantage to make up for permanent death.

Your first steps #

help - the in-game help; help tasks starts from what you want to do, with guides such as how to fight and survive, how to find your way and how to leave the game safely.
nsay <question> - the newbie channel, for players up to level 10. The Fellowship order also listens there.
consider <monster> - a rough idea of how hard a fight would be.
areas - the zones meant for your level.
Read the Policy - the rules of the game.