The first thing you need to know about the game is that you do not need to read everything. There is a massive amount of lore out there, and it is intended to be overwhelming so that players can enjoy discovering it during the game, whether from each other or from NPCs. You do not need to know all of it, or even a significant portion of it. Ditto for all of the rituals and crafted items that are available, or all of the rules on Armies and the Strategy Layer — unless you’re interested in being a ritualist or a crafter or having anything to do with the military side of the game, you don’t need to read any of that.

What you as a player are responsible for knowing are all of the safety rules (Combat Safety Rules and Code of Conduct), enough of the other game rules to be able to play without detracting from other players’ experience (Calls, Conditions, and Bleed Timer, primarily), and enough about your character's nation and what's going on to be able to interact with the game world and other players when the game starts.

What’s in this guide (click the titles to go to those sections, or just scroll down):

• Character Creation — A quick step-by-step guide to making a character.
• The Story Hook — What’s going on, why you’re in Veilguard, and the bare bones you need to know about current events in the world.
• The Nations — There are ten nations on the Continent, and you need to know at least a snippet about each of them, as well as picking one for your character to be from.
• The Lineages — A summary of the seven Lineages (“races,” “ancestries,” etc.) that your character can be.
• The True Gods — A very brief overview of the five True Gods who are worshipped by the mortals of the Continent. Your character doesn’t need to follow any of the gods, but they would be aware of all five of them.
• Money & Resources — What you need to know about the economy of the game so you can use and trade your loot for best effect.
• Crafting — A very quick overview of how crafting works. Not absolutely necessary unless you want to be a crafter, but every character would at least know this much about it.

Character Creation

Making a character is a five-step process:

• Choose one of the Nations for your character to hail from. There are 10 to choose from, each with their own unique cultures and aesthetics.
• Choose one of the Lineages: Human, Dwarf, Elf, Spring Fae, Summer Fae, Autumn Fae, or Winter Fae.
• Choose which of your Nation’s Provinces your character calls home. They don’t need to spend much time there, but that’s where their primary home base is located. You can find the Provinces listed in the Territory & Provinces section of your nation’s page, or listed with all of the other Provinces here: Province.
• Choose one of the ten types of Enterprises for your character to own or manage. This determines what kind of resources you get as income at the start of each event (see the section on Money & Resources). If you don’t want to read anything about the Enterprises, we recommend an Aether Vent if your character is a mage, or a Business if they’re not. If you want an Herb Garden, Farm, Forest, or Mine, pay attention to which Enterprises are allowed in the Province you picked.
• Pick 3 Character Points of abilities from the Abilities list. You can follow the build guide for one of your nation’s Archetypes, or make something all your own. This step is optional; you don’t need to spend your CP before the game starts. You can spend them at any time during the game by going to Wheelhouse, if you want to wait to see what Abilities appeal to you during play.

The Story Hook

Let’s start with why your character is in Veilguard, and the bare bones of what they know about what’s going on:

• A new Churning has started. This is Bad News, as it means that Old God cultists, demons, and other sinister forces are going to start appearing and causing havoc over the next decade or two before (hopefully) the Churning ends.