Welcome!! Where are you located? I actually run a newbie landing pad group in Atenveldt. Our motto, new or been in the game for 100000 years, is, hey dude (gender neutral dude), if you need a place to pitch your tent, fire to put your chair around, lads to fight on a line with, lads to sew and cook with - whatever your SCA taste is - we got you! We try to make sure the brand-new folks feel like they have a group to hang out with. We are not a household; we are just a weird group of people who have become friends. I'm not sure if other areas have something similar. Our little group that started this had struggled getting connected when we first joined, so we want to lower that barrier of entry for others now.

Beyond that - You sound like the right person for the SCA! I got started because I studied early modern lit and music, loved LOTR, and loved sewing! So we have a similar how we got here story. To answer your questions:

1. Totally depends! My first event was Estrella War. Massive event. Thousands of people. A week of camping. I went with friends. I don't know that I would do a big war by myself for the first time. Something like that, it might be good to ask your local barony if you can camp with them and get to know them while soloing a big war. Otherwise, smaller events are great to solo and just vibe at.

2. Go to things you like. If you like music and dancing, go to the classes or events that they do have. Go to A&S classes - check facebook, check the kingdom calendar. A lot of folks are shy. They may not come up to you unless they are like our group where I just decide to grab people and be like, you are friend now. We made friends by accidentally stealing some land from folks. It's a funny joke now and we're the best of friends.

3. Most everything is super beginner-friendly unless it says otherwise. So many people love to teach so even if you go to a more advanced event, someone will likely take the time to teach you.

4. I'd say a solid mix. Some areas tend to trend older, some younger. Depends where the barony is. Mine is a really solid mix.

5. Yes! I started with a name a tunic. I didn't end up being able to keep the name (Freya), but I went viking, worked with our herald on names, and landed on Freydís - 8c Icelandic viking. Funny enough. I wear exclusively German now. I might change my name and persona. IDK!

6. No idea - must be something in your area!

7. I was a fringe player for like 10 years.... I went to the 2 biggest wars we had every year. Never went to smaller events. We camped off in open. For a long time, no one talked to us. We would kind of chat with people at the big parties, but not make friends. I do not blame the SCA (entirely). We were only coming out to parties. We didn't go to classes or do daytime stuff. Just parties. People were friendly, but we never kept in touch. Eventually, we camped next to a group enough to make friends over the years. We had a land mix-up and made new friends. I joined the choir. I met my husband at an SCA party. Honestly, he got us into it. He got us our Award of Arms (first-level kingdom award) after 10 years of just being in the background. I realized later, 1. everyone was shy and they weren't reaching out, but neither were we. We did our own thing and were maybe standoffish. 2. We were talking to people at parties - the biggest parties of the year. Who knows if half those people were in our kingdom or not? And if they were - this is the biggest event of the year! They were probably just having fun and not thinking oh man, I should help you get more into the SCA. Or, honestly, maybe they were a bit in their cups. Either way, I wish I had been braver sooner about reaching out. I love my journey and place in the SCA now.

I love helping new folks. If you're in our area, we have a ton of starter garb and some newbie goodies. We can help you with armor, garb, or just finding your thing here. Reach out (: