Character Creation

When you log onto TFC for the first time you will need to create a character. Many people find it useful to create a few different characters to test things out before making one they will play for a longer period of time. There is no limit on the number of characters you can create. Feel free to try out as many different races and classes as you like. The following information is designed to take you step-by-step through that creation process...

When you create a new character, you will be asked a series of questions. When prompted, enter the response to the question, and press <enter>.

Once you connect to TFC, you will see the menu screen, and following prompt:

By what name do you wish to be known?

Enter the name of your character. When choosing a name, please choose one that is consistent with a fantasy-adventure world, and that reflects the kind of character you would like to play. If you are stuck for ideas, try these suggestions:

• Open a dictionary, pick a word, and scramble the letters
• Look through a baby name book
• Search the Internet:
  • Flat Earth Games Name Generator: [[1]]
  • RinksWorks Fantasy Name Generator: [[2]]
  • The Everchanging Book of Names: [[3]]

The name you choose may not always work. If you have chosen a name that has been disallowed, you will get a 'Illegal name, try another' message, and will be prompted again for a name. If the name you chose is already in use, you will be prompted for 'Password:'. If this happens, just press <enter> and reconnect.

If the name you chose is not in use, you will be asked to confirm your name choice:

Is this the name you want: name (Y/N)?

Press Y to confirm the name choice, or N to select another name.

You will be prompted to select a password for your character:

Give me a password for name:

Type a password for your character. It is recommended that you follow the password guidelines when selecting your password.

You will be asked to confirm the password you entered.

Please retype password:

If you don't type the same password when prompted to retype your password, you'll receive a message telling you so, and you will be prompted to enter a new password. If the two passwords you provided match, you'll be prompted for your character's gender:

What is your sex (M/F)?

Type M for male or F for female. Gender has no effect on your character's stats, abilities, or anything else code-related.

Next, a Class and Race Table is shown. Most classes are restricted to certain races, and vice versa. This table shows which class and race combinations are available. For example, if you wanted a thug, you would need to choose a race that is able to be that class, such as human, dwarf, giant-kin, minotaur, or half-ogre. An elf could not be a thug.

After you have examined the table, you would press <enter> to continue.

You will then be presented with a list of races:

 1) Human
 2) Dwarf
 3) Elf
 4) Gnome
 5) Half-Elf
 6) Halfling
 7) Aarakocra
 8) Giant-Kin
 9) Minotaur
10) Half-Ogre
11) Sahuagin

And prompted to select your character's race:

Please select race, name ('help race_name') for help:

You would enter the number of the race you want. For example, for a half-ogre character, you would enter 10.

Once you have selected your race, you will be prompted to select your hometown. Assuming you selected 'half-ogre' as your race, you would see the following:

No.  City Name                      Location                           NFR
---  --------------------           --------------------               ------
10)  Og                         Northern Continent             Medium
16)  Skull Top                  Southern Continent             Easy

The NFR, or Newbie Friendliness Rating of the hometown is shown at the far right. The Newbie Friendliness Rating is a vague guide to how difficult it is having that hometown, reflecting such things as how far the town is from good low-level exp zones. It does not take into account PK threat. In the example shown, Og is rated as difficulty 'Medium', and Skull Top as difficulty 'Easy'. You may then select your hometown number:

Please select a hometown, name (or 'help'):

If you wanted to choose Skull Top, you would enter 16.

You are then given a list of available classes for the race that you choose. Assuming you chose 'half-ogre', you would see the following available classes:

 4)  Warrior
 9)  Shaman     (More Difficult)
10)  Bard       (VERY Difficult)
11)  Thug       (More Difficult)

Note that half-ogres can select from 4 different classes. The more difficult classes are labeled as such. The bard class is meant for expert players.

You are prompted to select your race:

Please select class, name (or 'help'):

If you wanted to be a thug, you'd enter 11.

You are then presented with an index of TFC rules. These rules spell out what is allowed and prohibited in the game. To read a specific policy, you would type 'policy' and then the number of the policy to view, e.g. POLICY1. It may seem like a lot to get through, but read every one of these Policies. Ignorance is no defense for breaking them. When you have reviewed the policies, type YES to continue.

You are then prompted to enter an email address. This is your only opportunity to supply an email address, and it is a very good idea. The email address is how we determine who "owns" the character, and is how we verify that the character is really yours, such as if you have forgotten your password and need it reset.

Please enter e-mail address, or press <enter> to skip:

Supply an email address, or just press <enter> to skip this prompt.

You are then shown your character's attribute statistics, or 'stats'. The 7 main stats are strength, intelligence, wisdom, dexterity, constitution, charisma, and luck. Each starting stat is given a rating, ranging from LOW (stat is on the low end of the available scale) to MAX (stat is at the racial maximum).

For example, you might see the following for your character:

Your stats are:

Str: AAVG.  Int: BAVG.  Wis:  LOW.  Dex:  AVG.
Con:  MAX.  Chr:  MAX.  Luc:  LOW.  - Accept? (Y/N):

In this example, strength is above average, but intelligence is below average. Wisdom is low, but constitution is at the racial maximum.

If the stats shown are acceptable, enter Y. Otherwise, you can re-roll your character's starting stats by entering N.

At this point, your character has been created. You are shown some general information that you should read. Once you're read it, press <enter> to continue.

Your character has been created, and is placed at the starting point in the game.