The purpose of this Frequently Asked Questions is to let new players know what is acceptable within the world of Ultima Legacy when creating a persona:

Q) Can I roleplay an elf, dwarf, hobbit or any other well known race from Tolkien or AD&D?

A) You are not permitted to play races from other fiction. No Dwarves, Elves or Hobbits are allowed in Ultima Legacy.

Q) But the early single player Ultima's from Ultima I to Ultima III had these races.

A) We do not accept the AD&Dish/Tolkienish aspects of Ultima I to III as lore. From Ultima IV onward, these races disappeared, hence showing the way Ultima was to go. We follow that same example. It's our own personal opinion that the dwarves in Ultima Underworld I were a poor mistake considering they were taken out of U4, U5 and U6.

Q) Can I roleplay a human from worlds such as Krynn, Faerun or Planescape?

A) No you cannot roleplay characters or races from preset worlds already in existance. Any AD&D worlds, Tolkien, Final Fantasy or ANY other original world, or series of books, we do NOT allow here. You must either roleplay a character from Britannia, or another world from the Ultima games.

Q: Can I play existing or famous Ultima characters, or NPC's from any of the Ultima games?

A: No, as we feel this is unbalancing for other players, and can be out of character for the particular character. Any existing character from the Ultima games (core or otherwise) would carry their entire backstory into the game with them.

Q) Can I roleplay I am from Eodon, Earth, Pagan, Serpent Isle or any of the Ultima Underworld II worlds?

A) You can, but you must be approved by a GM first to do so after reviewing your char's bio.

Q) Can I roleplay a Britannian born, but who's name comes from a popular fictional story?

A) No. No Gandalf, no Bilbo, no Drizzt Do'Urden, Luke Skywalker, Sauron, Merlin or any other name that belongs to another fictional world setting.

Q) What races are acceptable to play in Ultima Legacy then?

A) We ask that everybody plays a human first off. The acceptable races outside of human to play are: Gargoyle, Lizardmen, Ratman, Orc and Goblin.

Q) How do I get to play a Gargoyle, Lizardman, Ratman, Orc or Goblin then?

A) -If- you have been a regular player on Legacy for more than three months with any character, and -if- you have proven yourself to be a dedicated roleplayer who respects our rules and follows them, we will allow you to play one of these races.

Q) Can I play a Dragon or an Ettin?

A) No races, creatures or monsters other than human and the four listed above.

Q) Can I play a Vampire or a werewolf.

A) No because they don't exist in Ultima Legacy. There are NPC's that come close to being defined as such, but their lore is vastly different. Suffice to say they can't be played by players.

Q) Are there gods and religion in Ultima?

A) Technically no. There are mighty beings like the Time Lord or the Guardian who have godlike powers. But no, there are no established religions-with-relationships-to-deities in Ultima Legacy. No gods. No religions. No Clerics.

Q) How would I go about playing somebody from Earth?

A) As above, you need to be an established roleplayer for 3 months and be GM approved to do so. Of course, we want to keep Ultima in a medi-eval theme. As the Avatar, he never talked about TV sets or computers because of technical restrictions. As a player, talk of this type could ruin the immersion we feel. So -after- being GM approved, the Earth character must come from a time period before the 17th century.

It basically means your story will need to involve a Silver Moongate. ;-)

Q) Why hate D&D and Tolkien so much?

A) I think it's safe to say the entire staff -loves- Tolkien and most of us love or at least respect D&D in some form, but we believe that the world of Britannia is very original and unique when compared to other fantasy worlds. It seems to be a tired and common thread that most fantasy worlds have elves and dwarves. We love them in Tolkien and D&D settings, just not in Ultima.

The lore of Britannia needs to stand seperate and NOT become a cheap melting pot of fantasy worlds, like the real OSI allows.

So in conclusion it isn't about hating Tolkien, it is about keeping the Britannian lore pure and seperate.

Q) Can I roleplay a character from a totally unique world/dimension I've made up?

A) You certainly can as long as the world he/she/[it?] comes from follows the same principles outlined in the rest of this F.A.Q. Best to pass before a GM for approval first just to make sure.

Q) If I am approved to roleplay a character from another world, does that mean I get any special abilities due to the fact that offworlders age slowly like Lord British or Iolo?A) Offworlder player characters get no special abilities from their slow aging. Their slow aging gives no benefits or bonuses over Britannian born characters. It is simply a piece of Ultima lore that you can use in roleplaying, nothing more.

Q) Can I roleplay a character from an existing Ultima world who ages the same as a Britannian, thus not aging slowly? [Some examples of existing Ultima worlds are: Earth, Pagan* , Eodon, Atarka, Serpent Isle, Lands of the Feudal Lords* , Lands of the Dark Unknown* , Balema, Ashtalarea etc ]A) No, all characters who are offworld from these lands who appear in Britannia always age slowly. It would be contradictory to allow otherwise. * - Players cannot play characters from these worlds at this time.

Q) Can I roleplay a child?

A) Unfortunately no, as they go invisible when doing certain animations. If we can ever get a very patient artist to create them, we'll give the green light.

Q) I have an idea for a custom character not covered in this F.A.Q.

A) If you have been a -regular- and participating member of the shard and have an idea for a character not covered in the above, then please ask a GM to review your idea for approval.