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Thay - Realm of the Red Wizards

BalanorBalanor 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.
Post edited by Balanor on
tbone1TorgrimmerWarChiefZeke
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Comments

  • FlayerivFlayeriv Member Posts: 23
    Are you accepting volunteers to help work on building/expanding the server?
  • BalanorBalanor Member Posts: 176
    Absolutely. Volunteers are always welcome. Right now we are working on a large (and final) update for our 1.69 server module, which will then be ported (again) to EE. After that, active development will only occur on the EE module. If you'd like to discuss getting involved in development on the Thay PW, either send me a PM here or head over to our forums and PM me there.
  • BalanorBalanor Member Posts: 176
    edited February 2018
    The EE server for Thay has undergone some big changes in the last few days as we finished up our final update to our 1.69 server and have ported all those updates over to EE, which will now be the version of NWN where Thay's continued development/updates will occur. We're a server that's been continually developed and updated over the last 10+ years, and this most recent update is one of our largest ever.

    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.
  • deathlessdeathless Member Posts: 21
    edited February 2018
    ive played quite a few nwn pw servers and the developer for thay has a real artist's touch for coding..which a lot of developers on other servers seem to lack (sorry I said it)... changes adhere to sourcebooks(thank..god)...world is suitable for BOTH single player (boasting tons of quests, places to explore, unique items, pc housing, monstrous templates i.e. lichdom, vampirism,lycanthropy, cool ass spells implemented ala 3.0, cool subraces and things to do) AS WELL AS a perfect fit for multiplayer...

    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

    Post edited by deathless on
    Balanor
  • Old_BearOld_Bear Member Posts: 4
    Downloaded the hak pack for Thay and put the required hak in the hak file location and the tlk file in it's correct location. When I try to log in says missing the tlk file. I have checked it is there. Any suggestions?
  • Old_BearOld_Bear Member Posts: 4
    Also when made my char. there was nothing about disguise skill points.
  • BalanorBalanor Member Posts: 176
    edited March 2018
    Are you using the latest hak and tlk files for Thay EE that were updated just this last weekend? You'll want to check the thaypw_v2.tlk is in the tlk folder.
    Post edited by Balanor on
  • Old_BearOld_Bear Member Posts: 4
    got the problem resolved thanks to discord & balanor. Thank you very much
    Balanor
  • BalanorBalanor Member Posts: 176
    Thay's first NWN:EE-only update was released today. One of the cooler things is that we now have open face helms, crowns, and tiaras/circlets thanks to new NWN:EE functionality. Log in and check them out!
    tfox
  • Old_BearOld_Bear Member Posts: 4
    I was on the Thay account in Discord. Now I and another new player I met ingame, no longer see Thay in Discord. Did something happen?
  • TheSupremeForceTheSupremeForce Member Posts: 4
    They killed off the Thay Discord server sometime last week.
  • BalanorBalanor Member Posts: 176
    Since Thay was made available in NWNEE on December 21, we've been in a beta testing phase. However, I'd like to formally announce that Thay will be "going live" along with NWNEE when it launches on March 27, which means characters created in Thay on or after that day will be permanent!

    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.
  • BalanorBalanor Member Posts: 176
    The Thay EE server is live, as of minutes ago! Login now to create your permanent characters and get a jump on things, and to participate in DM events being held throughout the day.

    Hope to see many new and returning faces there!
  • BeladraMariasBeladraMarias Member Posts: 5
    I have to say....since we went live, the response from our existing players, old players and new players has been amazing.

    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. :D
    tbone1
  • BalanorBalanor Member Posts: 176
    It's been a couple months, so I just wanted to bump this thread and invite others to visit the Thay PW if it peaks your interest.
  • TorgrimmerTorgrimmer Member Posts: 331
    I will be visiting this looks amazing and very interesting, any room for a Half-orc Barb/Black Guard, hehe.
    [Deleted User]
  • BalanorBalanor Member Posts: 176
    edited June 2018
    You bet! We've also made some changes to the Blackguard class, to get it to more closely resemble the 3.5 implementation, that you may want to check out. Things like being able to summon a Nightmare mount, the ability to cast numerous spells, fiend summons that scale with your level, and the most important thing: glowing red eyes once you hit BG level 9. ;)
    Post edited by Balanor on
  • AhnullAhnull Member Posts: 3
    Hi Balanor - does Edin Sumar still DM for you? I played more than 10 years ago and I still remember his campaigns on the Rasheman as being among my favorite moments of RP out of NWN.
  • BalanorBalanor Member Posts: 176
    If you're willing to spend your limited time in this world reading a comment on a thread previously 9 months dead perhaps you can tolerate a PW that will not die, but is neither alive? If so, visit Thay. It still exists, much to the delight of someone, somewhere....
  • BalanorBalanor Member Posts: 176
    Come play in the Thay PW for a few minutes today. It's a non-HOF server endorsed by none of the really important people in the "NWN Community." But I can say, with a fair degree of confidence, that it's better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.
  • BalanorBalanor Member Posts: 176
    It's nearly the Time of Troubles in the Thay PW. If you want a 50% chance every magic spell you cast or use to misfire, you should definitely visit today. A non-scientific poll suggests that 10/10 people find wild magic really enjoyable.
  • BalanorBalanor Member Posts: 176
    It's the middle of the Time of Troubles in Thay. Only a few more weeks remain.

    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.
  • BalanorBalanor Member Posts: 176
    Hey you! Yeah you. No, don't click away yet, you know you read this. You should really come check out Thay sometime. You won't be sorely disappointed. Probably. But don't take my word for it - here's a few glowing player reviews that we may have recently received:

    "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
  • BalanorBalanor Member Posts: 176
    PSA: The Thay PW recently removed its 3-PC-per-player limit, so players may once again create as many PCs as they like. Additional playability-focused changes are on the way with our next server update planned in a week or so.

    That's all I have to say. Thanks for your time.
  • KimowarKimowar Member Posts: 9
    one of the best servers period...
    Balanor
  • BalanorBalanor Member Posts: 176
    As the years roll on, the PW has now come to the point in history of the Tuigan invasion of the west - starting with Thay. And recent events have left the realm undefended from the barbarian horselords of the Endless Wastes just at the point The Horde is making their way west.

    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.
  • BalanorBalanor Member Posts: 176
    Season's Greetings, everyone! The Thay PW has finally caught up to many other PWs and made it into the 19th century since, as of today, we're using NWSync. This means if you join, you'll automatically get our custom content in about a 5-10 minute download. As a result, we've updated our content with lots of new goodies (new robes, alternate combat styles that work for everyone, improved creature appearances, and so on).

    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!
  • BalanorBalanor Member Posts: 176
    edited February 2020
    Nevermind this, it's just the occasional reminder to come and check out Thay. If you need some incentive though, we recently added more Rust Monster spawns.
  • BalanorBalanor Member Posts: 176
    We just added Mercenary Henchmen today, which even includes the ability to convert a PC to a henchmen for another PC of yours. It's the dawn of a new, friendlier, era of adventuring in the realm of the Red Wizards. Come check them out and buy a slave too, while you're at it.
  • BalanorBalanor Member Posts: 176
    Rise like a Phoenix from the ashes, 'o Thread of Thay and draw forth hundreds -no thousands- of players to the Thay PW where they are guaranteed to experience...something....unlike anything they've encountered before in a NWN PW.
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