New here with a couple of short character creation questions

[Sonnet]

Greetings,

I am quite excited to discover this game and read through a lot of the information on the site and here at the forums.

After reading the forums I realised the characters I was initially imagining in my head would not make a good first character so I shelved them for the moment and decided a ranger would be a nice starter with good rp opportunities, and the whole affinity with nature thing as I venture out and explore this new world.

I have two questions. She already has a name Lalilriel Saeldal and a brief description/background. I went to assign her attributes and being new decided to go with the preset templates but I noticed there were two different templates, one for ranger and another for archer. Archer wasn't in the vocation list so I assume it's a ranger who focuses on her skill with a bow, is that right?

So my questions are...

Is this a good first character, and would I be better suited with the ranger attributes or the archer attributes?

My second question is that after I created Lalliriel, I read that humans are the best choice for a new player, partly for language reasons and because other races require more skill and knowledge to play well. Should I go back and remake her as a human? I just feel an elf is so much better suited to the way I want to play this character but I can re-style the character in my mind, give her a different background and personality as a human.

Any thoughts on these questions would be greatly appreciated.

[Estralis Seborian]

I try to answer the questions as good as I can. First off, when you already thought about a background and a personality of your character, there is no need to switch the race to human. Humans are considered more easy to play in terms of feeling into the role, but I assume from what I read that you are not new to roleplaying games. Thus, just stick to what you imagined so far and enter the world of Illarion.

Concerning the attributes, you will find out that the attribute sets are just general guidances. For using distance weapons, you need good perception, dexterity and some strength - the archer attributes are a bit more focussed on archery than the ones of the ranger, both sets won't make you become a true marksman, though. Concerning the difference between an archer and a ranger, well, the attribute sets just orientate on the classes that are common in other games. Archers are usually referred to as persons who prefer bows as their personal weapon in combat or for hunting while a ranger might use this weapon as well, but his main focus is on nature as well as setting traps and reading tracks.

Since there is no class system in Illarion, you may feel free to create anything in between any classes you might know. Illarion does not limit what your character may become (and hope it stays this way!).

[Sonnet]

Thanks very much for the response, it's cleared things up a lot. I still plan for her to use a bow but went ahead with the ranger attributes and ranger starter pack because I feel that combat will only play a small part in her overall experience.

Now I have to wait till the first of the month to get the client and start adventuring (due to my internet restrictions). Looking forward to it.

[Nitram]

About the templates:

The archer template focuses completly on distance weapons.
Ranger is a mix of distance weapons and slashing weapons ( swords ).

Nitram