n00b-friendly Night's Omen

[Ash Leone]

Essentially, this is going to be a crash course in getting started at Night's Omen, so that it doesn't seem so overwhelming.  This thread will contain everything you need to know in an abridged, but simple and concise manner.  Don't take being called a 'n00b' as an insult.  If you don't have a character here, that's what you are, and we don't eat n00bs.  Promise.

Notice: This is classified as an advanced role-playing forum. We encourage creative writing skills here, so please take a look around at various character profiles and threads before you register to get a better idea of what we expect of our players. You will find we are very friendly and willing to answer all questions, so don't hesitate to message us with any concerns/ideas, so long as they are not already prohibited (Falcons, et cetera).

Setting:  This board is set predominantly in MODERN DAY New York City, New York.  Just about any mention of 'the city' is talking about NYC.  Just assume, for simplicity's sake, that both Ramsa and Pyrige (smaller towns) are within driving range.  Ramsa is considered to be outside the city, and Pyrige is a few hours away, but accessible.  Midnight (the fortress run by those involved in the slave trade, there will be more on that later) is outside of Pyrige, and Mayhem (the vampire-run town that doesn't participate in the slave trade) is outside of Ramsa. 

Races: There are four main races.  For each, there will be a short description and a link to a topic that isn't nearly as n00b-friendly as this with more extensive information in it.  Be warned: if you click that link and go to that topic, it WILL be information intensive.  My absolutely honest suggestion for anyone who isn't sure they're comfortable immediately?  Create a human who's completely ignorant of the supernatural (Nyeusi) world as your first character.  It allows for you and your character to become familiar with the board, setting and world at the same time, and makes things easier for you.  You won't be ignored just because you have a human who doesn't know about the world.  We pick on everyone indiscriminately.

• Humans: Humans are your everyday person, just like you and me.  They're very diverse, and they're exactly what you're familiar with.  Perfect for n00bs who aren't too confident to start.  Some of them know about the Nyeusi (remember, that's the word we use here for the supernatural folk) and most of those who are aware of the strangeness around them are either hunters or doctors who deal with the hunters.  Or slaves/pets to the vampires that live in Midnight, a bloodbond to a vampire, Single Earth (mostly pacifist organization full of peace and love and all that jazz) members.  See?  Humans aren't boring.  Those who don't know about the Nyeusi world can be anybody and anything, so long as they're still human.  The only thing they can't be is naturally Freeblood (the term we use for being their own owner.  Being Freeblooded means that the person can't be taken by a vampire without one of their own or someone with power over them selling them in.  It's a vague rule regarding who can sell them to the vampires, but it usually helps.  Humans can be GRANTED Freeblood status, but they don't have it from birth).


• Vampires: Vampires come in different lines, and I'm not going to explain all of them, simply because that wouldn't make this thread very n00b-friendly.  Just know that MOST vampires aren't vulnerable to holy water, holy artifacts, garlic, sunlight or running water.  They can only be killed by total destruction of the heart, though removal of the head and burning the body are a VERY good idea as well.  They all have black eyes, more powerful ones can change the way they look (usually only subtly), and they can all teleport from one location to another at will.  They're VERY strong, they have excellent senses, their bodies are warm to the touch, and they all possess some mental abilities (mind-reading, telepathy, causing pain that's entirely in the victim's mind, planting suggestive thoughts, and stuff like that.  It depends on the vampire whether they can do different things, and how well they do it), though the strength and degree of power depends on the vampire.  A human is not made into a vampire through a bite. 
  
  Any additional information on vampires can be found here.


• Shapeshifters: There are MANY types of shapeshifters, and a whole long list in our shapeshifter information thread.  You can look into a specific breed of shifter if that's what you'd like, but here's the basics.  Shifters can either be born as such, or infected.  Natural shifters inherit the ability from one or both of their parents, but humans who are infected require blood contact with the shifter infecting them.  That means that both parties must be bleeding, or something like that, to pass on the infection.  Their senses, instincts and habits vary depending on the breed, but they mostly blend in as humans.  Some end up being hunters, while others take humans jobs and go to college just like normal people.  There are also some that get taken by the Midnight vampires as slaves or pets, but that has a few requirements.  Unlike humans, Shifters are BORN Freeblooded, which means that they can't just be kidnapped by a vampire and taken to Midnight.  Either a family member or another shapeshifter has to kidnap them and sell them in.  Unless that happens, they're essentially safe.
  
  Any additional information on shapeshifters can be found here.


• Witches: The Witches here at Night's Omen are a bit different from the usual.  They don't ride brooms or brew potions or wave wands.  Their magic is more intuitive than that, and a little harder to pin down.  Witches aren't suggested for new players, but you should know about them.  Some are healers, and some devote their lives to killing vampires.  There are specific family lines that all witches are descended from, making them a bit few and far between.  Everyone in a single line is related somehow.  Witches ARE born Freeblood.
  
  Any additional information on witches can be found here.

Hunters Humans, vampires, shapeshifters and witches can all become hunters.  Vampires, shapeshifters and witches can all become targets for the hunters.  They're almost like hitmen and exterminators rolled into one.  They're paid extremely well for doing their job, mostly because it's very dangerous and has a high mortality rate, and so long as someone is willing to pay to have a specific target killed, it's an assignment that can be taken by one of the hunters. 

There are three Hunting Guilds, called Bruja as a whole, that most of the hunters are a part of.  They're broken down as follows:

• Crimson: For the plotters and planners.  These hunters are more likely to plan their attack and make it look like a suicide or an accident than attack in the open.  They're good with most weapons.
• Onyx: For the flashy hunters.  They like looking good with their hits, and are likely to be showy and make their kill right out in the open.  They like audiences.
• Frost: For the more brutal types.  They're blunt, to the point and don't mind making it look like a mugging.  Frost teaches bare-handed ways of killing vampires.

Other hunters can be freelance, but it's not terribly common.  Power in numbers.

Single Earth: A mostly pacifistic group that believes that everyone can live in harmony.  They're made up of humans, shifters, witches and vampires, and will help anyone they can, so long as it doesn't endanger others to do so.  They WILL protect their own, though.

Midnight: Midnight is a fortress located outside of the town of Pyrige, where some vampires run the Slave Trade.  This is where they buy, sell and train pets and slaves.  These pets and slaves can be human, witch or shapeshifter, so long as the rules are followed in acquiring Freeblood creatures.  The Vampiric Trainers in Midnight will train the slave or pet they acquire, not in a nice way, and either keep or sell it as they please.  Not a nice fate for characters, but always interesting. 

Mayhem: Mayhem is located outside of Ramsa, and is a vampire-run town that is actually known as 'New' Mayhem.  The old one burned down, but that's a long story.  It's hidden from the general human populace, so the humans that don't know about the Nyeusi won't know about New Mayhem, either.  The vampires that live there don't keep pets or slaves, and oppose the slave trade.  Midnight and Mayhem don't get along, to say the least.

Any and all questions can be asked by PMing Ash Leone or Danielle Vida, or by IMing me on AIM at ImmoralReticence, or Angie at Have Supra.

[Danielle Vida]

'Want/Do Not Want' list, to be updated whenever Darren changes the list in the newest update.  Check back often.

Types of characters we want:

• Single Earth members
• 
  Humans (ALWAYS!)
• 
  Vampires (Younger vampires only. Not all vampires are insanely old, and young vamps can be really fun. This means 200 or younger, unless I give express permission.  No, that doesn't mean ask.)
• 
  Non-Hawk Avian shifters (There ARE other breeds; Crows and Sparrows specifically.)
• 
  Non-Cobra/White viper Serpiente shifters (Rat snakes, boas and pythons are cool, too!)
• 
  Pakana!  (Come on, hyenas are cool, and these ones are all touchy feely and cuddly.)
• 
  Police?  If you want one, go for Ramsa.

Types of characters we don't want:

• Falcon shapeshifters
• 
  Golden Hawk shapeshifters
• 
  Feline shapeshifters
• 
  Crossbreed shapeshifters
• 
  Triste Witches
• 
  Silver's Line (vampires)
• 
  NYPD.  They're looking pretty full, and Ramsa is kind of fail in that department.
• 
  Made-up shifter breeds -- without admin approval for why they exist. If it's not on the shapeshifter list in the information forum, then it requires admin approval.
• 
  Onyx trainees (There ARE other Guilds, you know.)
• 
  Old vamps (Anything older than 200 is going to require talking me into it, and it had better be effing awesome.  I mean it.)
• 
  Anything canon from another fandom
• 
  Anything that doesn't make SENSE.  This is a modern dark fantasy realm, people.  There are no fifteen year olds that can fight vampires, orphans are auto-fail, and superly-asian characters (even non-Asians who are super into the Asian thing are going to fall into this category.  There ARE other cultures and it is NOT reasonable to walk around in a kimono with a katana for your weapon.) will be refused.  This is NOT an anime story, and so anime characters will not be accepted.
• 
  Drama Llamas.  Seriously, guys, your character does NOT have to have a super depressing, tragic mary sue past to be interesting.  If you make a character like this, chances are pretty good that I'm going to tell you to tone down the drama and make a less cliched character.  Same with characters purely for smutty situations and ship characters.  Don't do it.  Just, don't.
• 
  This shouldn't be something I have to list here, but just to be safe...We follow the canon, while not actually touching the canon characters usually.  That means that none of the canons have any mysteriously lost children or other fandom-type stuff.  No, you can't be Jeshickah's daughter from before when she was human, made into a vamp and even crazier than mommy.  No.  Unless you mention it to me and I don't start twitching and snap into an alternate consciousness that allows my body to go on a mass-killing spree, don't do it.  And if you don't KNOW that I won't do that and catch you in the crossfire, don't ask.
• 
  I've mentioned the 'Don't ask' policy a few times, but here it is in detail.  Don't ask.
• 
  If you don't follow this policy and you DO ask, I will give you an answer, and then an even more important policy comes into play.  Don't ask AGAIN.  While you may survive asking the first time, repeatedly hounding myself or one of my mods for something is the most surefire way to never get it.  Ever.  Everrrrrrr.

[Danielle Vida]

An extra note from the staff:

I notice a lot of new players have a habit of asking for things that are rare/restricted. Here's a way to stop from being denied! Don't ask! We will never allow someone's first character on a board in which you have no established rapport be something that is classified as rare or restricted - that means ANYTHING ON THE LIST BELOW THAT IS ANY COLOUR OTHER THAN WHITE:

• Key
  • Yellow text means that the breed is restricted. Look for another breed first.
  • Orange text means that the breed is highly restricted with conditions - check the breed to see those.
  • Red text means that this breed has been locked. Chances of getting one of these shifters are SLIM TO NONE.

True Breeds:

• 
  Avian:
  • 
    Golden Hawk
  • Crow
  • Raven
  • Sparrow
  • Osprey
• Serpiente:
  
  
  • White Viper
  • King Cobra
  • Taipan
  • Viper
  • Python
  • Red Rat Snake
  • Black Rat Snake
  • Emerald Boa
  • Mamba
• Mistari:
  
  
  • Tiger
  • Goshawk
• Desmodus:
  
  
  • Fruit Bat
• Shantel:
  
  
  • Cougar
  • Leopard
  • Lion
• Azteka:
  
  
  • Jaguar
  • Quetzal
• Pakana:
  
  
  • Hyena
• Vulpes:
  
  
  • Red Fox
  • Arctic Fox
• Wolf
• shm'Ahnmik:
  
  
  • Gyrfalcon
  • Peregrine Falcon
  • Aplomado Falcon
  • Merlin
• Rajar:
  
  
  • Manta Ray
  • Moray Eel
  • Spotted Eagle Ray

Crossbreeds:

• Azteka Jaguar/Quetzal Cross
• Avian/Serpiente Wyvern
• Falcon Mongrel

(Taken from the Vie Elavie information thread - see for more info before attempting to create ANY shifter)

Also, before you leave, a note on the lines of vampires:

There is zero chance that anyone is getting a Katama or a Silver vampire, at this point. Don't ask. It just wastes time.