- All that is absolutely required for a character is a name and race. If you just plan to roleplay everything, you don't need to worry about stats and abilities.

- Each character's information should be maintained within its own thread in the Character Profiles forum. This is for maintaining your background story, organizing your loot, and whatever else. You can get somewhat creative with this.

- Battles can be roleplayed. The main exception is that the GMs may require "real" battles for certain events, but purely roleplayed characters can usually still be involved in an event's story.

- Travel is easier than it appears. In most cases, just "leave" one region by posting a thread, and "enter" another region by posting a thread. You don't need to post the old "passing through" threads, but do realize that the Connections are like "in-between" regions, and can usually be roleplayed as wilderness. Stuff can happen in the Connections, as with any other kind of region.

That's all you're required to know! You'll probably want to look deeper into things because DarkStorm has a lot to offer, but if all you want to do is roleplay, then it's easy to get started. Maybe later you'll want to expand your characters with stats and abilities, but that's up to you.

- It's fantasy, and includes magic (called "Arcana") and technology in a twisted world of many themes. Many races exist, including the versatile Humans, the hate-driven Wraiths, the intelligent Zal'Dharon, the mysterious Ekuwyn, the owl-like Caeriu, among many others. The current time period is the Fourth Age (the "Age of Storms"). The primary world is called "Earthia", but many other worlds exist.

- Technology and Arcana are not mutually exclusive.

- There are points of interest throughout the galaxy, and in other planes of reality, but travel to other galaxies is currently impossible.

- The origin of Arcana is currently unknown, but those with affinity for it can make use of supernatural powers. Anyone with affinity for Arcana is called an "Avendil", regardless of alignment or intentions. For those who want to understand what Arcana is all about, some information will appear in the Codex over time.

- "Good" characters can have dark powers, just as "evil" characters can have light powers. Good and evil are just points of view in DarkStorm, not exclusive forces.

- The "Leaders" are mortal, even if they are extraordinarily powerful. There is no concept of immortality, although some of the planes are timeless and can allow for some people to exist in multiple periods.

- Almost nothing is known about the time before the First Age. The time before the First Age is called the Archaic Period.

- There is no absolute enemy or overlord at this time, but there is a prophecy which tells how the world will end. It's said to happen by the hands of the "Timekeeper".

- Write a story through your character(s). A roleplaying game is all about a collective story between players. Give your characters motivation, and don't just treat them as game avatars... Or worse, simply as alternatives to using your forum username.

- Lose some of the MMOG mindset, such as modular "quests", the limitations on everyone's actions, "reputation" systems, and many other aspects along those lines. Stats, abilities, and equipment slots, should be as far as the MMOG mindset goes. Think of quests as events in a persistent story, reputation as only defined by yourself and other players, and give yourself the freedom to do what you want within reason.

- Players can and should make their own content. Start your own storyline within the general DarkStorm story, and involve others in it. Just contact a GM if you want to give rewards.

- It's okay for your characters to have weaknesses. Nobody will think that you're weak based on your character's personality. The protagonist in a story is rarely indomitable, or even close to it. You should consider what makes a character interesting in a story, and put it into your own character in your own unique way.

- There is a background story, and while you're free to do as you wish, your characters should make sense in the context of DarkStorm. Refer to the Codex for "official" stuff relating to the story.