Tools to Create Our Stories

Tools to Create Our Stories

The next big important thing you need to know about Layonara is that this is a text-based game. You will read and write, read and write some more, then a lot more, and by the time you've made stories of your own here, you may discover your vocabulary has doubled in size. You'll probably be able to type a lot faster, too. Most of the writing takes place IG as dialogue between your character and another PC or NPC. And no, you don't need to be some sort of published novelist to have fun here. All you have to do is imagine what your character might say in a given situation, and that's what you write/type.

We use several tools in order to create our stories, to field our words. They include the Layonara Website and Forums, Layonara's IRC server, and of course the multiplayer version of Bioware's Neverwinter Nights video game client. Let's chat a little about each:


The Layonara Website and Forums


If your mind is where the story of your character starts for you, the Forums are where the story of your character starts for everyone else. Specifically, it starts with Character Submission. You can think of the character submission as a prelude or introduction to the first chapter of the character's life. Our Character Approvers will help you fit your character into the fabric of the world that is Layonara. In fact, this is where the game really begins. So take your time and dive into the finding out who your character is at the beginning of his/her life.


Our website will help you learn about the places and people in Layonara. You can give your character a history in the world and that history will help shape the character. This will give you a frame of reference for future role play. While you learn about our world, consider these questions: Who are the parents? Why did your character decide to become an adventurer? Who trained them to swing a sword or tame their spellweaving?  These are the sorts of questions you want to consider when developing the first page or two of your character's story.

The forums aren't just for character creation, though. You can create your own journal to chronicle your character's story in the Character Development forums. You'll find that for many ongoing events / stories / campaigns / organizations, a forum exists for IC interaction. Our comunity has found many creative ways to use this resource to both show their originality and to illistrate more about their characters. Tavern scenes, quest discoveries, research and just idle sharing are just a sampling of what takes place IC. In other words, a great deal of role play takes place on the Forums.


Neverwinter Nights


Bioware's Neverwinter Nights (NWN) video game client provides a visual interface for the environment and character interactions, allowing for both a deeper sense of immersion in the world, as well as a means to play with people from around the world in real time. You will very quickly learn that the module is HUGE, with literally hundreds of areas to explore. Mostly, though, these areas serve as the backdrop for the ongoing stories in the world, from the Red Light goblin caves to Le'tennodin's Tomb under the Thunder Peaks. Each place in Layonara has a history - some long, some short - and you will have a chance to leave your character's mark in that history.

We've added dozens of systems to enrich the environment and role play. We've also provided a massive source of information regarding the mechanics of Neverwinter Nights right here on LORE, from the Feats list to a Glossary of commonly used terms. Any questions you may have regarding game play on the Neverwinter Nights client can be posted in the Ask A Gamemaster forums, and someone from our team will reply within the day, if not a few minutes.


IRC


Last but not least are the chat rooms of IRC. You can use an IRC chat client (such as X-chat or Mibbit) to log into the #nwn channel at irc.layonara.com anytime to get real-time responses from players and GMs (Gamemasters) alike. You can also create your own channels for role play purposes. This is especially handy when you can't load up the Neverwinter client for whatever reason but you want to role play an interaction between player characters that doesn't require combat or NPCs. You simply emote and dialogue just as if you were in the game client.


 


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