New to Amia: Where to Start!
The Absolute Beginner
Nothing much could happen
Nothing we can't shake
Oh we're absolute beginners
With nothing much at stake
First of all, you need to think about what you want. Amia is not a World of Warcraft or Guild Wars clone. We have a somewhat older player community (generally speaking), and don't allow names such as "..||xxss-P0wnz0r-Drizzt-ssxx||..". On the other hand, we think that Amia has far more depth than the aforementioned games.
So, you are sure you want to play Amia. Grab a copy of Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition from GOG or Steam. We have NWSync activated
The second step would be downloading our technically optional hands and feet pack. You don't need it to play but you might have to endure the default club hands if you do not use them. You can find the files here. This download also includes a readme with specific instructions for what to do with the files. Follow them carefully to make sure they work right.
Now it's time to play!
First Steps into Amia
And even though it’s moving forward
It’s just the right amount of awkward
And today you accidentally called me baby
We advise you to start with a human fighter if this is the first time you've played Neverwinter Nights at all. It's pretty straightforward. You don't have to bother with comparing the wiki and the changes we made to a lot of standard game mechanics, and you can take a few hits. Let's go for bread-and-butter: take longsword as your weapon, take at least 17 strength (always handy for carrying as much loot as possible), 13 dex and 13 int. This will make you a happy Weapon Master after a while.
You can obviously ignore this recommendation and make yourself a more exotic character with our selection of subraces.
A remark about names is in order! For the love of all that is Roleplay, please make a sensible name for your character. The First Name + Last name genre will do perfectly well. Don't use names that are well-known (Gandalf) or just nouns (Death). Just use what the random name generator creates and change a few syllables if you're unsure what to do. You can see more information about creating your character here.
When you enter the first area of Amia (conveniently called "Welcome to Amia" but also known as "The Entry") you see a mirror. Click it and follow the instructions. You are new, so do as the mirror suggests.
Our primary starting area for most characters (and yours, if you followed the steps above and didn't make something like a drow) is the Wave & Serpent Guildhouse. This is where your character has found him/herself after traveling from whichever Forgotten Realms area you want to use in your backstory. You start with enough gold to get appropriate gear and supplies for adventuring, and you also receive enough experience points (xp) to reach level 3. This gives you a nice jump-start to make fighting those pesky goblins easier! Inside the inn, you'll see a fellow named Benny. He's your newfound friend who can tell you a bit about the area and some things that will help you out in general. You'll also find a few early quests outside the inn in Frontier's Rest. Speaking with NPCs you encounter will generally give you some kind of direction or at least a bit of information and lore. Just keep an eye out! Other players are usually very helpful also.
A relatively safe way to start your life as an adventurer is also the most unhygienic one: cleaning out the sewers in nearby Southport. There are entrances in the East and Central districts of Southport, but you will find a helpful quest there. Make sure to stock up on Alchemist's Fire! Venture north from the Guildhouse instead and you will probably end up in goblin territory. Make sure to look around for quests in the early game to start. Gilbert, Son of Holvin in Frontier's Rest gives you one for the goblins, for instance.
These Forums
I make some coffee, I eat some rice chocs
and then I sit down to check my inbox
Our current playerbase is quite helpful. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out in our General Questions thread or on our Discord server. Make sure to read over our Rules & Lore section to get a solid grasp of what to expect and what is expected of you as a newly-initiated member of our community. We're glad you're here and we're looking forward to playing with you!
A little hint: Make a bookmark to index.php so you don't have to get past the introduction screen all the time.
Rules
Oh, I make mistakes
And you just say it's growing pains
You can find our primary list of rules here. These are the big ones you need to pay attention to. The rest of our rules and guidelines are in this forum. The biggest thing to take away from our rules is that we want to encourage a healthy and friendly community environment. You might find that we're all strange and joke about the weirdest things, but we mean well. You are more than welcome to join in on our banter and enjoy our discussions and debates. Just try to be courteous and don't be afraid to reach out if you have any problems or if anything/anyone upsets you - or if you just have suggestions about something! We have an entire forum dedicated to Improving Amia. You are welcome to post there. Just keep in mind that Amia is its own server and we can't do everything the same way other servers do. It's okay to draw inspiration from other places, though.
Amia Unique Systems
I don't know why you gotta be so undemanding
One thing I know: I want more
If you want to try something other than killing monsters to get XP you can do two things: DM's like to reward your fabulous roleplay with Dream Coins, or you can try our Job System which provides XP for gathering resources and crafting.
Dream Coins are not really coins (they used to be before we upgraded them to better storage, hence the name) but they can be used to request special things for your character or to gain gold and XP to level your character easier than going out and killing things. It is entirely up to you. Some players enjoy applying and learning how to use their builds by gradually leveling them through combat.
Crafting items beyond aesthetic tailoring options is done with the Mythal Crafting System. There are multiple different tiers of mythal crystals which can be found throughout the game world, and you use your Craft Weapon/Armor and Spellcraft skills to use the crystals at a Mythal Forge to enhance particular items. This can be a bit daunting to start with, but most players will be happy to help you. Many characters even specialize in this.
Are you playing a Cleric or some other religious type? Check out our Deity System. It covers many deities available in the Forgotten Realms setting.
Go Your Own Way
If I could maybe I'd give you my world.
How can I when you wont take it from me?
This page is not meant to be an exhaustive overview of options and possibilities, but it has a lot of helpful tips and information that will hopefully make your start here easier. Don't hesitate to ask for help if you just feel lost.
Good luck!