Kex's Newbie Guide
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Contents |
Introduction
This guide attempts to start from the very basics, however, it has been a while since I was a complete stranger to MUDs, so I may miss a lot things. This assumes you have created both atman(the player account) and basic incarnos- a character. This is completely unfinished, so reading this may not be a great help.
Once you have created your new character, you will begin in the Losthaven Adventurer's Guild, usually as a human. If any of the commands given in the text do not work, please double-check spelling and case. These commands are case sensitive.
Not all things you see in the world are players or items you can use. Some are NPCs or Non-Player Characters. These are not real people on the other end, although they may move and talk, they won't respond the same way as you or I would. Most NPCs do not respond at all, and if they do, they only do so to certain key words.
The biggest warning I have to give you is do NOT try to attack them. Even if you are an experienced mudder, Lost Souls is different from many MUDs in that it does not provide you things to attack right off the bat. You need to work up to them.
If you need help, please communicate your problem by typing 'newbie <message>'. This will display the contents of <message> on the newbie channel where people willing to help can see. If there is no response, please type 'ooc <message>'. This will be displayed on the out of character channel where more people are available.
Getting Information About the World
There are several commands that help you do this, mainly the two below. The first is common among MUDs, but the second can often be more useful to the new player.
Look
Look is a command you'll be using a lot.
If used alone, as in a simple 'look', it will give a description of the room and what is in it at the moment.
You will see a title that indicates the room's name. For example, the Losthaven Adventurer's Guild [n, s]. The 'the Losthaven Adventurer's Guild' is the room name. The brackets contain the commands you may use to move around. The word compass means directions n, e, w, s, ne, nw, se, sw, and appending : and direction after the word means append the direction after all compass direction. For example, compass:up means nu, su, etc. The directions after - sign and before the comma are directions omitted from the directions before the - and after the prior comma or bracket. Using the command 'look <the direction you wish to look in>' will show you the room adjacent to the room you are currently in to the direction you looked in.
You will also see 'You see <objects>' or '<objects> are here', which describes the mobile or movable objects in the room.
If you use the syntax is set below, it will give you short description of the object and that will often reveal what to do with the object.
look <obj>
<obj> can be anything you see, as in 'You see <objects>' or '<objects> are here', and sometimes other things. Try 'look me' just to see what it does.
You can also use look in other ways, and this is described in 'help look'.
Info
Info gives you out of character information, information that would not be known by your character. It may or may not give you more information on what you can do with the object in question.
Usage: info <obj>
It may tell you that you can do something to the item or speak to the NPC. Try 'info me' to see what I'm talking about.
ex:
>info me Your limbs are named head, right wing, left wing, chest, right arm, left arm, right hand, left hand, right leg, left leg, right foot, left foot, and tail. You were created by Lost Souls; the source code was last updated Mon Jun 20 00:06:05 2011. The zenun race was created by Fallen and Chaos and is maintained by Lost Souls; the source code was last updated Sun Jun 12 17:31:05 2011.
Help
help <item> may reveal some additional information about the commands or things you are going to see.
Communication
There are two types of communication: Channels and speech.
Channels
You were introduced to the usage of channels in 'Starting Out'. This is a continuation of this introduction.
Channels require you to have the channel in there first place. They're a bit like chat rooms where you share something in common with the other characters. 'show channels' tells you what channels you have available.
To communicate on the channel, type '<channel name> <message>'. For example, ooc Hi => [OOC <your name here>] Hi
Speaking
Speaking to other players or NPCs within the MUD is simply 'say <message>'. Sometimes you will need to append 'in <language>' to say things in another language your character knows besides the default, which varies on your character's race. As a human, the default language will usually be Anglic. Most player-characters know Anglic, and many NPCs also know Anglic.
Ex: > say hi
You rumble, ((= hi =)) in hauntingly-accented Anglic.
Navigation
Before Going Anywhere
Please do not move until you are instructed to by the guide or you feel you can deviate from the guide without getting too lost.
For any player new to Lost Souls, it is a good idea to set a place that you can return to from within the city of Losthaven if you get lost within the city. You will know if you are no longer within the city if the command does not work. Please type 'show familiar topics'. If you do not see the Losthaven Adventurer's Guild within the list you are given, please type 'look'. If you do not see 'You are now familiar with the characteristics of the Losthaven Adventurer's Guild.', please try again in a few moments and again until you do. When you do, please type 'memorize the Losthaven Adventurer's Guild'. Make sure you type in the capitals. Now type 'set alias gohome to go to the Losthaven Adventurer's Guild'. Now if you get lost within the area, type 'gohome' to return to your starting point.
The Commands
The general movement commands are:
n, s, e, w, u, d or north, south, east, west, up, down.
You can combine any of these to go in directions like northup or northeast.
Other commands you may find useful: determine location : This gives you the area you are in, and if you are in an area with a coordinate system, your coordinates.
You may explore now, but be careful not to go west from the west arch or east from the east arch titled rooms. A quick warning: if you see any thugs, keep moving until you don't see them following you or in the room.
The World Map
Going s, then w five times from the Losthaven Adventurer's Guild will be required to experiment with the next set of instructions.
Outside of Losthaven, the first title description you will see is 'the City of Losthaven'. You are now on the 'world map'.
This means you can use 'determine location' to find your current position in coordinates.
When you type 'determine location' at 'the City of Losthaven', you should see something similar to this:'You determine that you are around the coordinates -21, -24, 0 in Cimbra, and so near global coordinates -21, 57, 0.'
Cimbra is the current area on the worldmap you are on. The numbers -21, 24, 0 tell you where in the Cimbra coordinate system you are in. The global coordinates, are far more widespread although rarely used among more experienced characters and should be your focus for now, although learning the relationship of the worldmap areas to each other would be a good idea eventually. Under Locations and Landmarks in Map Overview is a general relationship.
Both coordinates follow the same rules. The first number is e/w, with the more positive the number, the further e you are. The second number is n/s, with the more positive the number, the further north you are. The third number is how high you are. On the global coordinates, that means in the world. On the more local, worldmap coordinates, that is only for the area.
_Please memorize the global coordinates -21, 57, 0.
If you get lost on the worldmap, please subtract the numbers of the coordinates that you will get when you use 'determine location' from the previous coordinates.
Move east if the first number is positive, west if the number is negative. Move north if the second number is positive, and south if it is negative. Up if the third is positive and down if it is negative. Move the number of steps indicated by the numbers._
Ex:
If you are at global coordinates -25, 70, 0, subtract -25 from -21 to get +4, 70 from 57 to get -13, 0 from 0 to get 0. You will end up with the numbers +4, -13, 0. This means you move east and south. If your coordinates are accurate, it means 4 east and 13 south.
After you have reached the room indicated by the coordinates, either eastin or westin will bring you into the City of Losthaven. In most towns or dungeons, all you will get is 'You are in <name of place>'. Please remember that most towns do not have a coordinate system, and you will have to blunder around until you get out of the town if so or ask for help by typing 'neophyte <message>'.
If you do ask for help getting out of the place, please tell them either the coordinates of where you are or if you are in a town, the town name and a description of the room.
Note: Losthaven does have NPCs that can tell you where certain things are, but I'm not quite sure which ones they are.
About You
Levels
Levels, in of themselves mean very little in terms of power. But upon each level up, you gain attribute points, which you can spend on increasing your attributes - but not necessarily at a one to one ratio.
Attributes
Attributes can be increased upon level up by the command increase <attribute> by <number>. They are strength, intelligence, dexterity, constitution, charisma, willpower, and perception. These factor into many things on Lost Souls, but raw attributes will not get you far.
Skills
Skills are one of the most important things on Lost Souls. They determine practically everything about how well you do, well, doing anything from combat to foraging for food to spotting hidden items. These skills are placed into several categories, the most important of which is their attribute category (strength, intelligence, dexterity, constitution, charisma, willpower, and perception).
Skills increase in two ways: through use, or through training at a special NPC we call a trainer.
There are several trainers in Losthaven: Raelan Jax in the Arena, Miss Amelia, Trixie, and more. Most trainers, including the ones in Losthaven cost money, or gold in Lost Souls. How to gain gold will be covered later in this guide, but you should start with around one thousand gold.
Specialties
The specialty degree in a skill will determine how high that skill can get. Zero specialty degrees in a skill will usually cap it at 40, one specialty degree will cap it at 80, two at 120, three at 150 and so on.
You increase your specialty degree in a skill by using the command 'set specialty degree in <skill> to <number>', assuming you have enough specialty points free in the attribute category of the skill to increase your specialty to the number you want it to be at. 'show specialty points' will give you the numbers in each attribute category.
Also, specialty access- how high you can set each skill's specialty degree at all- will give you a hard cap in that well. This specialty access can be changed by methods talked about below.
You can also decrease your specialty degree in a skill. That lowers the cap, and your skill will begin to lower. While the skill lowers to under the cap, the specialty points you spent in the degree are 'suspended'. You cannot use them to increase specialty degrees in other skills until the skill lowers completely under the cap. This allows for a degree of flexibility in the character's skillset. This is not an option with attributes.
These specialty points are determined by how high your attributes are. Divide the attribute by 10 and round down to the whole number, and that's how many specialty points you have in that attribute category.
Here we come full circle. Leveling up, while it may not increase your power immediately, will give you a higher capacity than you had before.
Miscellaneous Commands
score : Gives you an overview of your attributes, what you look like, some current settings for combat, your race, your level.
show inventory : Gives you your current inventory, what you're carrying but not what you are wearing or wielding.
eq : Gives you things that you are wielding or wearing.
Starting Out
Combat
You may want to fight eventually in Lost Souls or get attacked by an aggressive creature like some thugs in Losthaven. Whether you initiate combat or get caught in combat, there are things you should know about it.
General Warnings
1. There is no way of knowing how strong something is in comparison to you beforehand.
2. Anywhere there are guards, attacking them will usually bring the others down on you. Many guards will also come from other rooms to aid the guards.
3. Things will remember if you've attacked them or not. Coming back to a town you've attacked members of will end up with you being attacked on sight.
4. Dying will not make Losthaven forget you've attacked them. Several other places will remember as will.
5. Befriending things will make you aid them in combat. Unless you're certain you want to aid them even in combat, don't.
Arming Yourself
wield <weapon>
wear <armor/clothing>
These, obviously, get you to wear the weapons and armor in your inventory.
Beginning and Exiting Combat
To initiate combat with a creature, 'kill <creature>'.
To end combat, leave the room. Attempting to leave will allow the creature to attack you several times without you returning the attacks, and if the creature manages to stun you, you will be unable to leave the room. Escaping is not guaranteed if you are attacked by or attack a creature you are outmatched by, so be careful.
A good thing to do upon exiting combat is 'treat me' to heal some of your wounds minimally.
Defenses and Attacks
Normal defenses and attacks will happen automatically. You don't need to do anything for them to work. But you might be interested in what improves them.
Both defenses and attacks are governed by almost everything. From skills to attributes, how large you are to the environment you're in- there's so many ways your defenses and attacks are governed that it's impossible to explain every situation.
Fortunately, there's a easy way to evaluate in general. Several commands will be important to you:
'show defenses' will give you the defenses you will be using in combat followed by the cost of defending using that maneuver. 'show deflection rating with <defense>' will show you what factors into that defense in that moment. The score at the bottom of the screen is the combined total of all the things that contribute. You want this as high as possible. 'show dodge rating' will show you the what factors into your dodge defense. The score at the bottom of the screen is the combined total of all the things that contribute. You want this as high as possible.
'show attacks' will give you the attacks you will use in combat followed by the cost of attacking using that attack. 'show attack rating with <attack>' will show you what contributes to your ability to hit your opponent and how much. The score at the bottom of the screen is the combined total of all the things that contribute. You want this as high as possible. 'show damage rating with <attack>' will show you what contributes to your ability to damage your opponent. The score at the bottom of the screen is the combined total of all the things that contribute. You want this as high as possible.
The cost of attacking or defending is both the cost in endurance and the cost in activity points. You have a certain number of activity points per round in combat, as shown by the number that represents speed (show speed). If you run out, you can no longer attack or defend that round.
You may also suspend attacks or defenses you don't want to use: 'stop attacking with <attack>' or 'stop defending with <defense>'
To attack more or attack less, you may change combat modes via 'set combat mode to <mode>'. See 'help set combat mode' for more details.
On Death
You are going to die. It's inevitable, and it can be unpleasant. Before heading out on any adventurers, go to the bank that is 1s, 3e, n, e from the Adventurer's Guild in Losthaven, or n, e from the Losthaven Town Square and type 'show wealth' followed by 'account open', followed by 'account deposit <amount of money you wish to deposit>'. Make sure this is a goodly chunk of money, because you will need this to replace things when you die. When you do die, you often appear at a random altar as a ghost. As a ghost, you are largely invulnerable and can fly into the air. This may be a good time to explore. However, after exploring, make your way to an altar. You will see a name in the title, or 'altar of <name>' in the room. This is who you need to pray to to return to life, as in the command 'pray to <name>'. If you do not see a name, please attempt 'pray for life' before asking help. When you ask help, please tell them where you are- the title of the room and the place when you use 'determine location'.
You only get 30 lives on a character, but can buy more at the church in Losthaven at a cost of 15000 gold.
There is an altar in Losthaven, 1s, 2e, and 2n of the Losthaven Adventurer's Guild, or if you become familiar with where the Losthaven Town Square, 1w, 2n of the Square.
When you come back to life, you can often be hungry and thirsty or a number of other effects that reduce your combat effectiveness and defenses. You will also have lost all your equipment and money where you died. If you cannot reach your corpse (left at the location of death), you will have to withdraw money from the bank- of which there are three, one in Losthaven, one in Sanctuary, and one in the Temple of Discordia- by use of the command 'account withdraw <amount of money you wish to withdraw>. Hunger and thirst can be solved by buying food and drink at the Eatery 1s, 1w, 2n, 1w of the Adventurer's Guild in Losthaven. There are other areas that you can buy food as well. To buy food, check the menu by typing 'look menu'. Then 'buy <food/drink>' if you have the money as indicated by the number after the food name. To eat food, the command is 'eat <food>' and the drink command is 'drink <drink>'. You may have to eat and drink a lot of food to get to a reasonable hunger, which is checked by the command 'hunger'.
On Limb Loss
In combat, you're going to lose limbs, as shown by the command 'show limbs' and seeing the word amputated. In the current worldmap, the best way of curing this is to go to Imptropolis in Ebiria at Global -61, -53, 0 and finding your way to the Amaterasu shrine. 'look sign' to see what to do from there. There are two other places that don't require player help, and that is the Temple of Gaia in Avalon and Kurd's shop in Sanctuary, neither of which are easy to get to at this point in time.
There are also scrolls, which will repair 1 limb per scroll. They are sold in Curan's Magick Shop, in Camille 4 east and north from the entrance. You need to speak the language the scroll is written in to use it. Which 70% of the time is Anglic. They are sold for about 10k gold each. Simple 'read scroll aloud' to use it. You can also target who you use it to, by 'read scroll aloud to [target]'.
Learning Skills
Skills can trained at a trainer or a special NPC that will train you several skills if you ask them to. The proper command is shown in the NPC's info. Not all NPCs train the same skills, so be sure to ask them what they teach/train.
The amount each lesson increases your skills by varies on your skill cap determined by specialty degree, how close you are the trainer's max on how much they can train, and practice or scholarship depending on which skill it is.
You can also increase skills by using them. The easiest to train up are the combat skills. You can do this by 'set combat mode to defensive' and then suspending all other defenses except for the one that contains the skill you want to train.
Commands List
Information Commands
help <item>
look <obj>
info <obj>
Movement Commands
n, s, e, w, u, d, in , out
determine location
About Yourself
score
show inventory
eq
Attributes
show attributes
show attribute points
increase <attribute> by <number>
Specialties
show specialties <attribute/category>
show specialty points
show specialty access <attribute/category>
set specialty degree in <skill> to <number>
Combat
wield <weapon>
kill <creature>
show defenses
show attacks
show deflection rating with <defense>
show dodge rating
show attack rating with <attack>
show damage rating with <attack>
show limbs
After Death
pray for life
pray to <diety>
Miscellaneous
eat <item>
drink <item>
