How to start Nocturnus

[Massinissa]

Hi im new here. I just got out of my dark ages, maybe a couple months ago.

Does anyone have any tips as to how to get started, what kind of bricks I should start with?

I want to do Nocturnus but have no ideas other than that. I have some ideas for my sigfig, I think im supposed to start with that first, but I dont know where to go after that. Any advice on what kind of bricks to buy to start with? I know tan is useful for the desert faction and white is useful for Mitgard, but I dont know what Nocturnus is supposed to start with.

When is the next competition I could join? And what are these talks of Historica Universities and things? I admit im rather confused.

Does anyone have any help for how to get into this? This GoH thing is sort of intimidating.

[LordDan]

We'll , ya know Nocturnus is sort of dark and is definitely the most intimidating guild of all. Avalonia , on the other hand, is very friendly towards new members. Just check our forum( once you get past the trash talk) you will see how we offer receive new members and help them improve. In Nocturnus you will probably receive a skull on a plate, along with horrid tasting pumpkin pie and nasty blood wine.

Back to the original question Nocturnus needs black, but in Avalonia you can use a wide variety of colors such as green, brown, dark tan mixed with other colors, and light and dark gray, as well as blue for sea ports and white for some areas on the Mitguardian border.

Edited September 3, 2014 by LordDan

[mccoyed]

The best advice I could give is this: back read as much of Guilds of Historica's 3 or so years of history as you can. That may seem intimidating but you can do it at your own pace and it's not a prerequisite for joining. The point of it is twofold:

1. Learn the history of Historica (hehe) so you can follow the story at least a bit. It's a sprawling shared story so it's not crucial to know every detail, but you'll absorb a lot.

2. Get a sense of the aesthetics of the different guilds as well as examples of building techniques and different personal or collective styles that have emerged.

I can't emphasize the importance (and enjoyment!) of doing this! I've told other newcomers this, because it was what I did back in April-May when I joined, but not sure how many have listened. :P

Edited September 3, 2014 by mccoyed

[Massinissa]

Wait, do guilds have dedicated forums or something? Or just Avalonia?

[kabel]

all four playable guilds have their own forum and the first page of each of these forums has some basic ideas of what they are about. Maybe you should read these four pages before you carry on.

[Bregir]

I had a similar experience to mccoyed - once you get started reading up on the lore of Historica, you get sucked in :)

However, a lighter start would be reading the beginning of the Nocturnus guild thread and the new member guide - in any case - Welcome to the guilds! And do enjoy your stay! :)

[LordDan]

sorry I meant topics( the book II ( enter guild name) sign up and discussion

also that is probably where you should ask this question instead of making a new topic.

Edited September 3, 2014 by LordDan

[Scaevola]

We'll , ya know Nocturnus is sort of dark and is definitely the most intimidating guild of all. Avalonia , on the other hand, is very friendly towards new members. Just check our forum( once you get past the trash talk) you will see how we offer receive new members and help them improve. In Nocturnus you will probably receive a skull on a plate, along with horrid tasting pumpkin pie and nasty blood wine.

Back to the original question Nocturnus needs black, but in Avalonia you can use a wide variety of colors such as green, brown, dark tan mixed with other colors, and light and dark gray, as well as blue for sea ports and white for some areas on the Mitguardian border.

Don't get too entrenched in guild motifs. While the prevailing color of Nocturnus is black you can build in other colors. Avalonia no more versatile with colors than any other guild, though as for styles of builds you'll find it's more orthodox in the guilds. On the other hand, I would simply read the guild threads and choose the guild you like the most (don't obsess too much over your parts selection)

[LordDan]

Don't get too entrenched in guild motifs. While the prevailing color of Nocturnus is black you can build in other colors. Avalonia no more versatile with colors than any other guild, though as for styles of builds you'll find it's more orthodox in the guilds. On the other hand, I would simply read the guild threads and choose the guild you like the most (don't obsess too much over your parts selection)

Well yeah, all the guilds are very versitile but I'm not going to make the other guilds sound appealing when I trying to recruit him to Avalonia

[nivremis]

Like mentioned by the others, while each of the guilds has it's own "primary landscape" (Mitgardia - Mountains and snow, Avalonia - Trees and sunshine, Kaliphlin - Desert and scorching sun and Nocturnus - Swamps and darkness), it shouldn't be a problem if you wants to build a forest in mitgardia or nocturnus.

I haven't been hugely active, but when I first started it took me a while to decide which guild to go for too. I flicked through the guild forums a little, but mainly just looked at the introduction post each guild has. There are some good pictures there, and seeing the builds by the individual guild members really helped me to decide.

Long story short, JOIN MITGARDIA!

Edit: Apols, I read and posted from my phone and missed that you'd kinda picked Noccy in your post.

Read through the noccy thread, and view the links / mocs that have been posted, and it'll give you an idea of what sort of building style is predominant and thereby the bricks you need. Think black, dark green, lime green and red, swampy colours basically.

Edited September 4, 2014 by nivremis

[Yzalirk]

I'd look at some Nocturnus builds and make a judgment from that. But I definitely recommend lots black and dark colors for Nocturnus builds.

[robuko]

Welcome to Goh! This is the Nocturnus thread

There are some inspiration and idea pictures at the start of it, they might inform your building style. Or do a forum search for Nocturnus and look at the MOCs that have been posted. Or better yet, do whatever you like and use your imagination. Nocturnus is probably the guild that gives you the most freedom of imagination and design.

Book II Challenge III is the next major challenge you can join. It will be quite soon. There are also some mini challenges that are specific to each guild (warlords of Nocturnus) and some mini challenges that go across guilds (eg mount up, which just finished).

There is a New Member thread which is helpful for new joiners and I recommend you to read it.

The University thing is if you use some fancy technique you can get a credit for it. You ask for the credit and peers review it for approval. It helps to develop your building repertoire.

Oh, and last thing... have fun!

ps Kaliphlin is best. Really.

[Tomsche]

Well, when I explained it to the GF for example (someone who just goes a bit like `hmmm hmmm` when a 36 year old starts rambling about bricks) and she asked `what if the munchkin wanted to do this', I answered

* If he has mostly Monster Fighter sets: Nocturnus

* Kingdoms / Castle: Avalonia

* Lord of the Rings / The Hobbit: Midgardia

* Pharaoh`s Quest: Kaliphlin

* Space or City sets: another forum

I know, it`s not a golden rule at all, but I personally think these (more or less current) ranges give a good indication to someone wanting to start to MoC in this `area` for the respective atmosphere, style etc...

[Gideon]

I think a good start is not to focus on the stereotypical colors for the guilds but rather on the characters you want to create. I can easily think of snowy Kaliphlin builds (Rakath mountains), sandy Avalonian builds (there must be a lot of beaches along that long coastline), green Nocturnus builds (swamplands can be quite lush) and black Mitgardian builds (there is a lot of darkness and various kinds of rocks in those miles and miles of Dwarven tunnels).

[Lord Vladivus]

Black isn't necessary for Nocturnus- ZCerberus, our illustrious guild leader, produces fantastic Nocty themed builds in light bley and dark red. I use black for my citadel, but it doesn't mean that I haven't used plenty of other colours in my builds. As Gideon has suggested, make your character, and them your builds around him. The idea behind GoH is to improve your building, and not to pigeonhole certain styles as specific guilds- the guilds are more guidelines to give ideas, but aren't prescriptive.

Edited September 4, 2014 by Lord Vladivus

[robuko]

I totally agree with LV and Gideon. I have made Kaliphlin buildings in green, red, pink, and blue without any tan at all. And if you google "swamp" it's green on green on green. One thing that might be worth considering early is that black and white are both very hard to photograph well. Tan and the grey shades are much more forgiving to use for your neutral colour.

On the type of bricks, it really depends what you feel like building. Lots of small plates are a good thing to have for both building and decorative elements, as are bricks with studs or holes on the side.

Edited September 4, 2014 by robuko

[MassEditor]

Not all of us Nocturnians work in black, I for one enjoy dark grey!

LV and Gideon make a good point, start with your sigfig and then try to imagine where this fellow would call home, sleep, eat, shop, pillage, plunder, eviscerate... you know, that kind of stuff? A good first MOC would be to build your sig a small home or keep, test yourself on your building skills and see how much you can do with your collection of parts. Then just take it from there. Of course, like others said, take a look at what others have built - not just from Nocturnus, but all the guilds. You don't need huge builds to impress folks around here, and I'll think you find that even small, well composed and detailed builds receive some of the most praise around these parts.

Edited September 4, 2014 by MassEditor

[Kayne]

Not all of us Nocturnians work in black, I for one enjoy dark grey!

I see what you did there

[Jorrith]

Well let's just say i've been in the same spot when i joined nocturnus a few months ago. Some things about the developing story still elude me, but i decided to make a sigfig and create a story so my fig becomes part of nocturnus eventually. (my building speed is dead slow lol)

I created a vampire sigfig, and my introduction to nocturnus was that a avalonian graverobber woke Lord Mortis up from 500 years of slumber. The vampire decided to venture outside and that's where i'm currently at. I am building for the next part, the trip to the church where some of his servants rest. (a lord needs his loyal servants, without he is just but a man)

The choice for the nocturnus guild was simple. The monster fighters theme was what got me out of my dark ages, and the theme fits nocturnus very well. As to bricks, well i also got some LOTR and Hobbit sets and i have alot of grey bricks. Parts i don't have but need for the build, i order from bricklink.