DD FAQ: Section 11

A Beginner's Guide to MUDding

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This section describes the basic MUDding commands that will let new players navigate and observe their new world.

[11.1]  Your character

When you are logged into the MUD, you are controlling a virtual character. When you created your character, you chose her basic qualities and attributes, such as her race, class (profession) and attributes.

You can view your character's attributes, statistics and condition by entering the command SCORE. As your character becomes more powerful, more information is revealed in your score sheet. Your class, race and combat kills/deaths statistics are shown in the first section, along with your age and the status of some options [see FAQ 3.13 for help with options].

In the next section of the score sheet, there are three columns of stats, although only two will be visible to most new characters. The first column lists your character's attributes: strength, intelligence, wisdom, dexterity and constitution. Two values are displayed for each, the first is your actual score, the second, in parentheses, is your natural score. The higher your current score for attribute, the more developed that attribute is (higher is better). The second column shows your character's condition. 'Hits' (hit points) are a measure of how much physical injury your character can sustain; when your hits reach zero you become stunned, and when they reach -10 you will die. 'Mana' is the amount of magical energy your character currently has for spellcasting; casting spells drains your mana. 'Move' (or movement points) is a measure of how far you are capable of travelling throughout the MUD; when your movement points reach zero, you will be exhausted, unable to move any further, and must rest (see below). See FAQ 3.19 for an explanation of 'wimpy' and 'aggro dam'. The third column will eventually display your 'hitroll' (to-hit attacking bonus), 'damroll' (damage bonus), and 'armour class' (how physically protected you are from attack). If your character is a ShapeShifter, additional information will also be visible.

The third section of the score sheet displays: your current practice points [see Section 4 of this FAQ]; your quest points [see FAQ 5.1]; your level, how many experience points you have, and how many more you need to gain a level (see below); any coin you are carrying [see FAQ 3.35]; how many items and how much weight you are carrying; your saving throw versus magical attacks (your resistance to magic); your armour class; your fame [see FAQ 5.8]; and your alignment (a measure of how good or evil your character is).

Sometimes your character can become affected by spells, poisons, curses, and so on: enter the command AFFECT to list any effects your character has (more information about each effect is shown to higher level characters).

Your character may also have innate abilities or spells depending on her race, and will eventually learn more as she becomes more powerful. Enter PRACTICE to view your current skills/spells [see Section 4 for more information on skills and training].

[11.2]  Observing and moving about the world

The MUD world is organised into distinct rooms which have exits to other rooms. The term 'room' is often applied to any location in the MUD where your character can enter, and it needn't be a room in the common sense of the word (space within a building with walls, floor and ceiling)... the 'room' that you are in might be the top of a large mountain, a street in a city, or the inky blackness of space.

Type LOOK to view the room that you are currently in. You will see a description of your location, and any items or objects visible to you. Type "LOOK [thing]" to look at the contents of a room, e.g. "LOOK SIGN", "LOOK CAT" [see FAQ 3.38 and FAQ 3.39 for related information]. To look inside a container, enter "LOOK IN [container]", e.g. "LOOK IN BOX", "LOOK IN CORPSE".

Movement within the world occurs in the cardinal directions: north, south, east, west, up and down. To move, you simply enter the direction you wish to leave; you only have to enter the first letter of the direction (e.g. N, U). You can look in a particular direction to gather further information, e.g. "LOOK NORTH"; looking before leaping is a good habit to get into. The command SCAN will summarise what you can see in every direction.

The command EXITS will list what exits are visible to you. Exits are often doors, and you may need to open or unlock them: use "OPEN [direction or door keyword]" and "UNLOCK [direction or door keyword]", e.g. "OPEN NORTH", "UNLOCK GATE". Use CLOSE and LOCK in the same manner. You can also OPEN, CLOSE, LOCK and UNLOCK containers, e.g. "OPEN CHEST". You can use the command ENTER to gain access to some special exits, e.g. "ENTER GRATE" or "ENTER PORTAL".

Other characters may be on the MUD with you: see FAQ 3.14 to learn how to find out who's logged on and how to talk to them.

You are also able to invoke your Deity and ask for divine transportation to the safety of town: enter the command RECALL. New characters will recall to the Temple of Midgaard; Midgaard is the city where new characters enter the game, and spend much of their time. You can gain the ability to recall to other places by questing [see FAQ 5.6]. When players say 'at recall', they refer to the room that you appear in after succesfully recalling. See FAQ 3.4 for more information about Midgaard. Sometimes, you may not be able to recall successfully: see FAQ 3.28.

[11.3]  Resting, healing, eating and sleeping

When you are exhausted, or low on hit points, mana or moves, you can REST or SLEEP to recover. If you are resting, you remain aware of your surroundings but heal at a slower rate than you would if you were sleeping. Enter WAKE or STAND to get up and ready for action. See FAQ 3.5 for more information on healing.

You will need to EAT and DRINK to prevent hunger and thirst. Enter DRINK to drink from a well or fountain in your current location, or "DRINK [container]" to drink from a water container in your inventory, e.g. "DRINK BOTTLE". Type "EAT [food]" to eat something in your inventory. See FAQ 3.3 for help with getting food and drink.

[11.4]  Manipulating objects and using equipment

Acquiring good equipment is essential for successful play. Your character is able to carry objects in her backpack and wear equipment. Enter INVENTORY to list the contents of your inventory, and EQUIPMENT to list what items are currently being worn. Enter "WEAR [object]" to equip an item; enter "REMOVE [object]" to unequip an item. You may "WEAR ALL" and "REMOVE ALL".

Use "GET [object]" and "DROP [object]" to pick up and discard objects. If you wish to get an object from a container, use "GET [object] [container]", e.g. "GET GOLDFISH BOWL", "GET ALL CORPSE". Use "PUT [object] [container]" to put items from your inventory into a container. See FAQ 3.38 if you seem to have trouble indicating which item you really want.

Items in your inventory do not affect your character's statistics. Some types of objects affect your character when they are equipped and require no special activation, e.g. weapons, armour and light sources. Other items produce effects when they are used in a specific way:

See FAQ 3.20 if you need to know how to determine what and object's type and properties are.

[11.5]  Experience, combat and magic

Your 'experience' is a measure of how successfully you have dispatched the various monsters and helpless citizens in the MUD via combat. Your power as an adventurer is expressed as your 'level'; when you gain a certain amount of experience you increase in level, until you reach level 100 and become a Hero. Type SCORE to find out what level you are and how much experience you have. When you gain a level, you gain hit points, mana, movement points, improve in combat, and gain practice points that can be spent on training new skills [see Section 4 of this FAQ for information about training].

You gain experience by killing the creatures (known as 'mobiles' or 'mobs') that mill about the MUD world. You can determine whether it's safe to kill a mob by using LOOK and CONSIDER [see FAQ 3.27]. To attack a mob, enter "KILL [mob keyword]" or CAST an offensive spell at it. The basic action during a fight takes place automatically, and you have the opportunity to apply any skills or spells you have mastered while you slog it out. If you are worried about how the fight is turning out for you, you can attempt to run away by typing FLEE or RECALL. Fleeing or recalling is not always successful, and you will lose experience whether you succeed or fail.

When you kill a mob, it usually produces a corpse. You can "LOOK IN CORPSE" to see what equipment the mob was carrying, and take any items by entering "GET [item] CORPSE" or "GET ALL CORPSE". Mob corpses will disappear after a short time, so be quick; you can also "SACRIFICE [corpse]" for a copper coin.

Any spells that you can cast are listed on your PRACTICE table. To cast a spell, type "CAST [spell]"; if you need to indicate a specific target, type "CAST [spell] [object or mob keyword]". Casting spells uses up mana, and if you don't have enough mana for a spell you will fail the cast. Type SPELLS for a list of spells you have and how much mana they require for casting. Mana replenishes over time. You may be able to learn the skill 'meditate', which will improve the rate of replenishment.

[11.6]  Saving your character and quiting

You can save your character at anytime by typing SAVE. You can leave the MUD by typing QUIT. When you quit, your character is automatically saved. You must be at least level 2 in order to save.

[11.7]  Some notes on command syntax

MUD commands are issued in pseudo-english, but are very strict in terms of how they expect keywords to be supplied to them. Correct sounding english will often not be interpreted as you'd imagine, and may produce bizarre or mysterious error messages. In most cases, small words like 'the', 'on', 'from', 'second', 'my' should not be used. E.g. enter "GET PIE BAG", not "GET THE PIE FROM MY BAG" (you are trying to get a 'the' from the 'pie').

Consult online help for the correct way to use any command: enter "HELP [command]".

Command keywords need not be spelled out in full: the first object that will match the letters you've given will be used. E.g. "KILL PAN" will make you try to kill a Panda if you're alone in a room with one. Be careful when using nasty commands like KILL, because you might accidentally select an undesired target if your keyword is not long enough. (What kind of person would kill a Panda anyway?)

If you need to include a space as part of a keyword, enclose the whole phrase in single quotes ('), e.g. "CAST 'MAGIC MISSILE' PANDA".

The MUD server ignores the case of letters when it parses commands, so even though commands are written in ALL-CAPS in this FAQ and in the online help entries, you need not captilize any letters.

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