Standard of Request for Classes.

[Omega07]

Hello Everybody.

Just curious on what sort of standard you require for request only classes. (Shadow Adept, Red Wizard, Thayan Knight right?)

Is it a matter of backstory, History of the character and compliance of Forgotten Realms lore?

Is there a matter of in-game roleplay required for the classes?

Many Thanks!

Omega.

[Tsidkenu]

Just poking this for the DMs in case they forgot to answer it

[DM Ditto]

Hi, apologies for the delayed response.

Generally, in applications for restricted classes the team looks for

• An understanding of the lore and roleplay involved with the class. The thing to note is that in this server, the Time of Troubles has not happened yet, so lore details that are specified to happen in the post-Time of Troubles period may not necessarily be the case in the server. An example of this would be the Shadow Weave, where it is considered a closely and/or divinely-guarded secret prior to the Time of Troubles to explain its lack of mention in sourcebooks until later editions.
  
  Helpful pages to refer to would be the Red Wizard Guild public thread written by the titular faction for Red Wizards and Thayan Knights, and DM Echo's Shadow Adept Applications and Shadow Weave Lore for Shadow Adepts. If, after reading these, you still have any questions regarding the lore behind these classes, feel free to send a PM to the DM Team group and we will do our best to assist you.

• A biography of the character. Ideally, one will have a backstory explaining where the class fits in it, and express an understanding of the lore behind the class in the process.
  
  For example, the biography of a Shadow Adept named Alice may involve her growing up with Bob, a nice childhood friend, in a village. One day the village was destroyed by marauders, and while Alice survived with the aid of a stern and enigmatic mage named Charlie, she could not find Bob, and made a personal vow to both find him and exact vengeance on the ones who destroyed her village.
  
  Over the years, Charlie teaches Alice the ways of magic and the Weave and encourages her to become stronger so she can keep her promise, until one day Alice deems herself strong enough to make the journey, and leaves Charlie's tutorship. She will tirelessly track the marauders and corner them in her hideout where she destroyed them all with her power and rage, but when she examined the bodies, she realized that one of the marauders she had slaughtered was Bob, her childhood friend, who had been unwillingly pressed into his captors' service and did not recognize Alice in her fury.
  
  While Alice despaired over what she had done, Charlie will then arrive before her and further destroy her resolve, saying that for all her skill, she still had one more lesson to learn: the foolishness of hope in finding Bob, the prevalence of loss, and solace in the arms of the Mistress of Night. Charlie will offer to teach Alice so much more than what she had already known, and all she needed to do was to swear herself in service to the Mistress. Alice accepted and began her training as a Shadow Adept from there, and the rest is history.
  
  Anyway, that is an example biography (and you may be requested to provide more details than the ones that example gives! ). The team may also require you fill out a simple questionnaire to confirm your knowledge and the consequences of the involved roleplay thereof, either during or after the biography review. Should your application and biography be approved, remember to contact a DM for the feat token that qualifies you for the class and the 2000 EXP or 4000 Gold reward for an approved biography.

Is there a matter of in-game roleplay required for the classes?

Yes, there are some roleplay stipulations involved with lore-intensive classes: Shadow Adepts being forbidden to speak of the Shadow Weave under pain of death, insanity, and/or loss of magic; Thayan Knights being sworn into absolute obedience towards their Red Wizards, and so forth. If you have any queries regarding roleplay expectations, you are welcome to PM the DM Team and we will answer the best we are able to.

Hope this helps, and once again apologies for the late reply.

[Omega07]

Thank you Ditto!

That's definately set the precedent for myself and I imagine anyone else that might look into this.

One last question, Is utilising any of the 3.5 hardbooks (pdf I imagine people get online as well) helpful to such requests? One such example is the unapproachable east in regards to thay lore? (Pre time of troubles friendly of course.)

[DM Ditto]

I think using 3.5 hardbooks are alright, but you may want to ping the DM Team as a whole on it, as there may be older editions that take precedence. Generally, we try to run off 2nd edition if possible, only resorting to later editions if nothing can be found earlier.