MUD Information

By Bart Green

This is quick 'getting started' information for using a MUD.

This is a first pass and was just 'thrown' together. Updates to come as I have time.

/>             /<      {XXXXXX(*}>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>              \<               \>

=MUD - Multi-User Dungeon=

1. The Basics:
This is a character building game. you start off life as a wimp and build yourself up as you go. In most MUDs you are at level 1 when you start and are very limited. You cannot 'chat' or 'gossip', but you can 'tell' another player something. you can also 'say' something to everyone in a room. There is usually a 'newbie' area or learning hall to get you familiar with a MUD and it's commands.

a. Renting:
Some MUDs are norent and some are rent. If you are playing a rent MUD then you must 'rent' a room when you leave to keep the equipment you are wearing/carrying. If you are playing a norent MUD you may just Quit and you will keep 'all' your stuff.

Some exceptions may be a maximum number of items carried or particular items such as keys you may not be able to quit with.

c. Dice roll and damage:
Yes this is based on the D&D game so everything is based on the roll of the dice. There are many different dice in the game ranging from 2 sided to 100 sided dice. And there are adders and multipliers for certain events.

weapon Damage: 5d6 indicates that 5 six sided dice will be used to determine the damage done to your opponent as well as any other adders you may have.

d. Equipment Statistics:
Example Equipment Statistics:

You recite a scroll of identify which dissolves. You feel informed: Object -='knife'=-, Item type: WEAPON Item is: - Anti Class: cleric monk druid Weight: [8], Value: [1000] Min Level: [35] Damage Dice is '4D6' Can affect you as : Affects : HITROLL By 4 Affects : DAMROLL By 4 Affects : DEX By 2

You recite a scroll of identify which dissolves. You feel informed: Object -='gauntlets spiked'=-, Item type: ARMOR Item is: MAGIC Weight: [10], Value: [13000] Min Level: [40] AC-apply is 8 Can affect you as : Affects : DAMROLL By 2 Affects : HITROLL By 4

e. Player stats:
Some MUDs have a status command and some you need to find a scroll to see some of this information about yourself.


 * Level: Your current player level.


 * age: how old (in MUD years) you are.

most personal stats are set initially by a 'dice' roll they can be improved randomly when a player achieves a new level and range normally from 1 to 18 or up to 25 in some cases (ie for GOD races). They can also be improved by wearing certain equipment. The personal stats are:
 * Str: strength
 * Int: Intelligence
 * Wis: Wisdom
 * Dex: Dexterity
 * Con: Constitution
 * Cha: Charisma

Some personal stats are used to determine how other player stats will improve. For instance Con is used on some MUDs to determine how much your HitPoints will increase on a level.


 * AC[xxx/10]: Your Armor Class.  Lower number for xxx is better numbers range from 100 to -500 (or even lower)


 * Hitroll[x]: a dice adder for your hit roll


 * Damroll[x]: a dice adder for your damage roll


 * THAC0[x]:   This starts at 20 and goes down as you level It stands for 'To Hit Armor Class 0' and is a measure of what hitroll you need to hit an opponent at Armor Class (or AC) 0.


 * Resistances[0/0/0/0/0]: resistances to magic,poison,fire,

If you join a clan you may also see:


 * Clan[xxx]:    The clan number you are in


 * ClanLevel[x]: The clan level you are at


 * Magic: ( time left ) spell in effect


 * HP: Your HitPoints,  How much life you have left  0 or less is DEAD
 * Mn: Your Mana, The amount of mental energy you have for spells etc.
 * Mv: Your Movement points,  when at 0 you cannot move or fight you will 'pant' for breath

f. Player score:
Most MUDs I have seen have some type of a score display. here is one example:

--       You are NAME TITLE (level XX). You are a XX year old minotaur. You have XXX(XXX) hp, XXX(XXX) mana and XX(XX) movement points. You are neutral. You have scored 1000 exp, and have 12000 gold coins. You need 1200 exp to reach your next level. You have been playing for 0 days and 9 hours. You are carrying 8 items with the total weight of 39 pounds. There are 8 items in your inventory and 18 items equipped. You are sleeping. You are sensitive to the presence of invisible things. --

g. communicating with other players:

 * gossip:
 * auction:
 * chat:    everyone on the MUD can hear you unless they have it toggled off
 * tell:    tell another player (private except maybe for the MUD GODS)
 * say:
 * yell:
 * shout:

2. Some definitions, again these may very from MUD to MUD
MOB: The generic term used for a non player character that you can attack.

LAG: The response time of the MUD and the network. The Lag is bad if you type in a command and it takes a while for the MUD to act on it. Lag can be in both directions (usually) or sometimes just in one direction.

3. Links

 * CircleMUD
 * TinTin++ MUD Client
 * MUD Wikipedia Article

Bart Green. 05/15/1996