So far I've had a number of hero range characters (mainly Empire) and have now got somewhat of a decent feel for the game. I'm not quite a total noob now and can understand better the pk side of things with some cabal dogma and game knowledge thrown in.

So I'm looking to expand the RP side of my game which is distinctly lacking right now. Not something I am naturally good at. Also I want to play something different after my current char is finished and am looking towards a Shaman.

My only real IMM interaction was with Destuvius as Jithis when I managed to kill the Scoin Chancellor at the time and while only short, it was really cool to get a nod of approval.

What I want to know is which IMMs maybe best for me to follow? (more newbie friendly for a 1st timer). Mainly which ones will be best to help learn this side of the game with, or which IMMs are perhaps best to avoid for now.

I don't have much knowledge on this part of the game so any other tips will be great too.

Oh and I will be looking to play evil again.

Thanks!

So, I've had a few tattoos and one empowerment from a very cryptic IMM.

From my POV it seems that the key to successful religion is not showing up and saying "I understand the virtues of Purity, Para-Elements, and Sloth!" (in my made up religion.)

But rather going on a journey that leads you to an understanding of the religion. Having an idea of what Purity means and then refining that over a hundred hours is, in my opinion, the way to go.

In terms of current IMMs, I can't vouch for availability, but I will say:

Destuvius: Very Cool and active.
Raltevio: Really an amazing, no need to be scared of him IMM.
Drehir: Creepy, creepy, a harder path, but you can find him and have fun.
Jormyr: Seems great, religion may be a little difficult to get (from my POV.)
Deormdrel: Seems popular, I've never interacted.
Scar: Gold Standard of RP if you can handle it.
Akresius: Demanding but amazing.
Verathi: I don't know but he said nice things about me, so I'm gonna follow him at some point.
Avderlain: Dunno
Streinat: If his IMM presence is 1/10th as cool as his mortal one, check him out.
Emnon: Will mix it up with you. Very, very cool

I like this.

The most important thing about playing a role is to really be able to get into the role you've set for yourself. This is pretty easy to ease into if you're role-playing a human. All you really need to do is think of a cool backstory for your character. If you're just wanting to try to role-play better just put yourself in your characters shoes and pretend that the character is how you would be if you had that CURSED and EVIL past. How would you have turned out?

Pretend that you grew up in X, that your parents or whoever died to X, or that they abandoned you, or that you didn't have parents, or whatever, the sky is the limit. But basically if you just establish the characters mindset before you start playing it, its way easier to roll with things as they happen IC. You just think about what you yourself would do if you were this evil bastard with stated past. Just pretend you are evil. That's really all RP is, pretend.

As far as empowerment goes, once again put yourself in your character's shoes. A LOT of IMMs are very open with individual interpretations of their religion. IMMs don't actually even like it when each religious follower has the exact same RP, exact same ideas, exact same everything. Think about your own unique perspective as to why you want to follow a particular IMM and go with it, the IMM will usually play along, or steer you in the right direction if you're just way off base. Some IMMs might not give you a positive experience you want because their characters are assholes. That is sort of a danger of following an evil IMM though. Religions like Deormdel's are neat though because they are pretty open to interpretation and you can think of a lot of reasons why your evil character might want to bring balance. My last empowerment guy was a shaman follower of his who either was Empire and hated Outlander or Outlander and hated Empire. But the general role concept was..these Outlanders are out of control and committed X, Y, Z crimes against me, I must take control of the fates of the world and smite them down with your power to make the world stable and balanced with order...or something. Just an example.

My two cents anyway. Good luck!

After meshing Destuvius' religion with the Paladin code on Zerliae, it was so much fun. I've had great interactions with multiple religious characters, but as far as on my end, Zerliae was the most fun.

If you look for those odd angles and get into your character's head, it is truly a fun and unique experience.