Thay - Realm of the Red Wizards
Balanor
Member Posts: 176
Thay - Realm of the Red Wizards, is a Neverwinter Nights Persistent World (PW) set in the Forgotten Realms. It began open beta testing on January 1, 2008 and went live on January 1, 2009. Since that time, it has been continually updated and improved by many contributors over the years.
The setting follows official 2nd and 3rd edition D&D and Forgotten Realms source material very closely, and in-game time began in the years prior to the Salamander War, the Time of Troubles, the arrival of the Tuigan Horde and the crusade to stop it, and more than a decade before Szass Tam makes his first bid at ultimate power using the Runes of Chaos - all events that greatly affect the realm of Thay. In short, if something, someone, or some event could be found in Thay according to official lore, the odds are that he/she/it exists in game.
Being widely considered an "evil" place, Thay is definitely slanted in that direction, and themes are generally mature in nature. Good PCs may face additional in-game challenges or hardships, as Thay isn't the sort of place that has much interest in being saved by would be heroes. Things like slavery, drug use, prostitution, torture and betrayal all exist. You'll find slavers and assassins (or they'll find you). You'll find brothels, drug dens, and countless other things that offer all of the vices an aspiring Thayan needs. And if you thrive, your characters may join and even become leaders of the military, magical, and political forces in one of the most evil lands of Faerûn.
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Server Type: Roleplay is strongly encouraged, however other types of play are allowed as long as they do not interfere with the roleplay of others.
Level Cap: 25. Leveling speed is generally slow. The average level on the server is somewhere in the 7-12 range. Experience is given in many ways, including killing things, performing quests, roleplay XP awarded by DM's or other players, picking locks, exploring new areas, and simply by being on the server and doing something.
Magic Level: This is a high magic world with mid magic treasure. Anything above +2 is considered rare. Players will have to enchant most of the better items themselves. Immunity items are very rare, but some can be obtained via special quests at higher levels. Equipment enchantment is available, the cost of which varies based on what is being done to the item and what enhancements already exist on the item being enchanted.
Notoriety: The notoriety system is used to for many things, such as assessing faction advancement, obtaining certain types of building deeds, determining what enchantments are available to you at enchantment forges, buying special mounts, and so on. While a higher notoriety might keep you safe from slavers, it could also lead to increased assassination attempts. The actual numbers are hidden from the players, but many of the in-game systems are based on notoriety as opposed to level.
Death Penalty: Magic placed on all characters as a result of the opening event in Thay can save them while dying an unlimited number of times, but it weakens if used often over the course of an in-game month. If this magic does not activate to save a PC while dying, the character may choose to Respawn. If a Raise Dead contingency magic was purchased from any of the dozens of temple priests that offer it, they will be revived where they fell and saved from death. Otherwise the character will die and be drawn to the Fugue Plane.
Once in the Fugue Plane the a player may choose to wait for allies to raise the PC (which incurs no XP penalty), they may retire the PC and then create a new character which starts out with half the levels of the ‘retired’ PC, or they may sacrifice a percentage of XP and notoriety and return the dead PC to life.
Resting System: Resting can only be done in appropriate ‘restful’ locations (i.e. near a bed). Resting in the wild requires a bedroll, flint/tinder, and some dry wood to burn. Resting will recover full hit points and can be done as often as desired provided it's done in an allowed location. There are no timers involved.
Hunger/Thirst/Fatigue System: PC's do require food, drink, and rest or they will gradually wear down (and eventually die). Access to all three is readily available, and eating and drinking provides healing and the ability to overcome disease. However, the system, like several other configurable systems, can be turned off in-game by the player.
Encounters: Thay does not use default enemy AI, nor does it limit itself to standard foes. Expect a lot of custom adversaries during your travels. Spawns do scale based on party size/level. Party play is encouraged, but a careful, powerful, or lucky PC can solo. Soloing is rather common, in fact.
Self Sufficient: One of the primary goals of Thay is to provide new experiences and many options to players every time they decide to adventure in the realm of the Red Wizards without requiring DMs to make things interesting. To this end, scripted systems have been created that dynamically generate creatures, treasure, encounters, traps, quests, and even areas. This provides a world and situations that are always different in some way and presents ever-changing challenges for both new and returning players.
Read more about the many numerous features of this large PW by visiting our website.
The setting follows official 2nd and 3rd edition D&D and Forgotten Realms source material very closely, and in-game time began in the years prior to the Salamander War, the Time of Troubles, the arrival of the Tuigan Horde and the crusade to stop it, and more than a decade before Szass Tam makes his first bid at ultimate power using the Runes of Chaos - all events that greatly affect the realm of Thay. In short, if something, someone, or some event could be found in Thay according to official lore, the odds are that he/she/it exists in game.
Being widely considered an "evil" place, Thay is definitely slanted in that direction, and themes are generally mature in nature. Good PCs may face additional in-game challenges or hardships, as Thay isn't the sort of place that has much interest in being saved by would be heroes. Things like slavery, drug use, prostitution, torture and betrayal all exist. You'll find slavers and assassins (or they'll find you). You'll find brothels, drug dens, and countless other things that offer all of the vices an aspiring Thayan needs. And if you thrive, your characters may join and even become leaders of the military, magical, and political forces in one of the most evil lands of Faerûn.
-----------------------------------------
Server Type: Roleplay is strongly encouraged, however other types of play are allowed as long as they do not interfere with the roleplay of others.
Level Cap: 25. Leveling speed is generally slow. The average level on the server is somewhere in the 7-12 range. Experience is given in many ways, including killing things, performing quests, roleplay XP awarded by DM's or other players, picking locks, exploring new areas, and simply by being on the server and doing something.
Magic Level: This is a high magic world with mid magic treasure. Anything above +2 is considered rare. Players will have to enchant most of the better items themselves. Immunity items are very rare, but some can be obtained via special quests at higher levels. Equipment enchantment is available, the cost of which varies based on what is being done to the item and what enhancements already exist on the item being enchanted.
Notoriety: The notoriety system is used to for many things, such as assessing faction advancement, obtaining certain types of building deeds, determining what enchantments are available to you at enchantment forges, buying special mounts, and so on. While a higher notoriety might keep you safe from slavers, it could also lead to increased assassination attempts. The actual numbers are hidden from the players, but many of the in-game systems are based on notoriety as opposed to level.
Death Penalty: Magic placed on all characters as a result of the opening event in Thay can save them while dying an unlimited number of times, but it weakens if used often over the course of an in-game month. If this magic does not activate to save a PC while dying, the character may choose to Respawn. If a Raise Dead contingency magic was purchased from any of the dozens of temple priests that offer it, they will be revived where they fell and saved from death. Otherwise the character will die and be drawn to the Fugue Plane.
Once in the Fugue Plane the a player may choose to wait for allies to raise the PC (which incurs no XP penalty), they may retire the PC and then create a new character which starts out with half the levels of the ‘retired’ PC, or they may sacrifice a percentage of XP and notoriety and return the dead PC to life.
Resting System: Resting can only be done in appropriate ‘restful’ locations (i.e. near a bed). Resting in the wild requires a bedroll, flint/tinder, and some dry wood to burn. Resting will recover full hit points and can be done as often as desired provided it's done in an allowed location. There are no timers involved.
Hunger/Thirst/Fatigue System: PC's do require food, drink, and rest or they will gradually wear down (and eventually die). Access to all three is readily available, and eating and drinking provides healing and the ability to overcome disease. However, the system, like several other configurable systems, can be turned off in-game by the player.
Encounters: Thay does not use default enemy AI, nor does it limit itself to standard foes. Expect a lot of custom adversaries during your travels. Spawns do scale based on party size/level. Party play is encouraged, but a careful, powerful, or lucky PC can solo. Soloing is rather common, in fact.
Self Sufficient: One of the primary goals of Thay is to provide new experiences and many options to players every time they decide to adventure in the realm of the Red Wizards without requiring DMs to make things interesting. To this end, scripted systems have been created that dynamically generate creatures, treasure, encounters, traps, quests, and even areas. This provides a world and situations that are always different in some way and presents ever-changing challenges for both new and returning players.
Read more about the many numerous features of this large PW by visiting our website.
Post edited by Balanor on
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Comments
In particular, it opened up the entirety of the Underdark beneath Thay, including the drow city of Undrek'Thoz. For those who love the Underdark and the drow, this is for you!
Check out all the details of our latest server update on Thay's OneNote.
ive done the homework for you..ive played them all
if you like low cap, low magic, within a server that feels *alive*..
man just grab a beer.. download the haks and play..seriously
Even though we're "just now" going live on March 27, Thay has been around and continuously developed for over 10 years. It is a large, well-polished PW with many custom features and things to keep our players entertained. For example, we have over 120 areas of adventure, and 650 areas in total, not to mention two overland maps (Thay and the Underdark) comprised of leagues-upon-leagues of travel and adventure opportunities. There's thousands of custom magic items, forges to enchant your own items, unlimited quests, and much, much more.
Maybe even more importantly though; we've also been actively developing on NWNEE using the new features that have been rolling out. A couple examples where we've made use of NWNEE functionality are that our players now have true open-face helms, as well as a very robust player-housing system which now generates player-decorated buildings and even lets players name those locations (among many other configurable options).
If you'd like to get a sneak peak and investigate Thay yourself before we go live, you can visit the "Forgotten Realms Thay" server which is found in the Multiplayer server list in NWNEE. Otherwise though, I'd invite you to stop by on or after March 27 and join in the "go live" festivities.
Hope to see many new and returning faces there!
I'd like to thank everyone for their support on our 'go live' events.
I hope to see you all carrying on with us, and participating in the events that our staff will be offering for you.
Bela.
Now the chance to turn your friends into a chicken or a cow with a miscast spell. Or kill them with that Mage Armor spell you cast which instead turns into a fireball. Everyone I've spoken to about it agrees this is the best thing they've ever experienced in a NWN persistent world. You will too, guaranteed.
"It's not the worst virtual world I've ever been stuck in." -Neo
"This PW is really not my cup of tea, but I suppose I don't hate it." -LizThe2nd
"Thay's a truly great world. Really terrific, very beautiful. Just a fantastic place! Other worlds? LOSERS! Total disasters! Ask anyone, they all know. Everyone agrees, believe me." -DonTrump45
That's all I have to say. Thanks for your time.
As a result, we're planning and scheduling numerous DM-led events over the next month or so to incorporate the Tuigan Horde invasion into the timeline of the Thay PW. Come check out how amazingly awesomely frustrating Thay and the Underdark can be, and join in some of the Horde campaign events while you're at it. Or don't, since I can't make you.
To borrow a spectacularly evasive phrase direct from Beamdog; perhaps you too are "interested in exploring the possibility" of visiting the Thay PW? Although for the thousands of you console gamers reading this; don't even think about having any interest in exploring the possibility of visiting Thay. We're not one of the official Beamdog PWs, so you can't login anyway. Lucky you!