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Your First NERO Event. . .
What to Do
If you know for sure that you are going to attend a NERO Kentucky event, it's best if you start planning a while in advance. Make sure you have the day or weekend off from work, get a ride from friends if you don't have a vehicle (talk them into going :) ), if you have any questions just post them on the Out Of Game message board.
Start getting stuff together. Do you have a costume? What about armor? We have linked to merchants who can sell you everything you need for reasonable prices. If you don't want to spend a lot of money, it doesn't take a lot for a basic costume. A black pair of jeans, a significantly oversized plain T-Shirt (no designs or writing) with the extra length worn over the jeans, and a belt around the waist over the T-shirt make a crude, simple costume that's not very anachronistic (you'll want to do better, but it should do for your first event). Women may find a simple dress can work wonders. All we really ask of costumes is that they aren't very out-of-place in a medieval setting, but if you want to go all out on costuming, please do! We love it when we see people in fine costumes roaming around, and that often happens. NERO players tend to go well beyond the bare minimums in costuming, and this adds a lot to the atmosphere of our games.
For weekend events, plan on arriving at the site around 7 P.M. This is to give you time to be briefed on the rules of NERO and get your character created. The game usually begins around 10 P.M. For one day events, plan on arriving at the site around 10 A.M.
You may wish to order a Rulebook beforehand. Reading the rules beforehand will help you get started quicker and reduce confusion and disorder. You may order 8th Edition rulebooks directly from NERO International by sending $24.95 (S&H included) to:
NERO
P.O. Box 543
Rye NY 10580-0543
Telephone: (914) 328 - 9123
Or you can send $24.95 directly to nerolarp@aol.com via paypal.com and order your rulebook online.
If you do not order a rulebook beforehand, you will be able to obtain one at your first event.
What to Bring
These lists are to help you get ready to attend your first NERO Event. These are things a beginning player should bring with them.
What everyone should bring. . .
 | Costume and Armor (appropriate in-period costuming and armor for your character. If you don't have any, you can buy some from Costuming & Armor Links) |
| Real-world Money. You will need it to pay for food (there may also be a slight In-Game charge too if you eat on-site). Rulebooks and merchants selling costuming or other goods for real-world money may also appeal to you. If you didn't pre-register for the event then be prepared to pay for the event. |
| Appropriate makeup for your character's race (elf ears, dwarf beards, green makeup for half-orcs ect. . .). If you are playing a human, you don't need to worry about this. |
| A simple white headband. A strip of cloth about 2 feet long and an inch wide will do. This is for marking yourself as Out-Of-Game if you ever need to. |
| Appropriate Boffer weapons. What weapons you are going to bring depends on what weapons skills your PC intends to take. For safety reasons we have very strict rules for creating weapons, which are found in the rulebook. |
For Weekend/Overnight Events. . .
| Sleeping Bag. While we have beds to sleep on for overnight events, it's really best to lay a sleeping bag down on the bed. |
| Toiletries (deodorant, soap ect.) Most sites used for weekend events do have showers or some provisions for bathing if you need to). |
If you are playing a Scholar (Mage or Healer). . .
| A Book. You must have a prop ("physical representation" or "phys-rep" being the jargon) for your spellbook. |
| Spell Packets. The little bags of birdseed used to represent spells. They can be made very cheaply. Just get some cheap fabric (any color except orange), some birdseed (only a pound or two at first), and some rubber bands. Cut the fabric into squares about 6" on a side, put a tablespoon of birdseed in the center, then gather the edges together and wrap a rubber band around to tie it off, creating a wrapped ball of birdseed with a fabric tail. The resulting packet should fit into a 35mm film canister. If you can't figure out how to make one, someone will show you at your first event. |
If you are playing a Rogue. . .
| Rogues can be very different in their skills, and therefore what you bring may be influenced by what skills you plan to take. |
| If you are playing the classic "sneak thief" you will need thief type tools. Lockpicks are needed if your character has the Pick Locks skill. Myriad mirrors, picks, scissors, ect. are needed to disarm traps. |
| If you are playing an Alchemy oriented Rogue (in this system Rogues get the Alchemy skill cheapest, because Alchemy is the skill to make poisons) you will need a book the same way that scholars do, as a prop for your alchemical recipe book. |
| If you are playing an Alchemist rogue, you will want a few Orange Spell Packets. They are identical to Spell Packets except they are always Orange to differentiate them. |
| If you are playing a merchant type character, bring whatever you want to sell. We encourage characters to sell (for In and/or Out of game money) costuming, jewelry, miscellaneous props to help the atmosphere of the game. In-game items such as alchemical elixirs, potions and such must be obtained from in-game sources and may not be sold for out-of-game money though. You need no special skill to sell anything to anyone, but some NPC's might come looking to trade with you if you take the skill "Craftsman" appropriate to your wares. If you want the item to have in-game value (like your jewelry being valuable In-Game) you will have to spend money at check-in for it to have a definite value. You won't get something for nothing! However, people are known to buy things like Jewelry that have no official in-game value, just because they look nice or it would go well with their costume. |
If you are playing a Fighter. . .
| All you need is weapons and armor at first. |
If you are playing a Templar (Warrior Scholar)
| A few spell packets. Templars have fewer spells than Scholars, so you won't need a whole lot of them. Don't worry, packets aren't always used only once, but in the hectic environment of events, sometimes you lose some. |
| A book to represent you spellbook |
| Your weapons and armor, just like a Fighter. |
If you have absolutely no idea what to play. . .
| Just come with a basic costume, some ideas for characters, and an open mind. We'll do our best to introduce you to the game and help you decide what to play. We can't promise that we'll have any weapons or spell packets to loan out, but if we do we'll try to help you get started. |