Home > Help! I'm new! > The Basics

First, a few concepts

I will describe the various features as you would find them on RotJ. If you read how something works here and it doesn't work like that on another mud, well, not my problem.

On RotJ, you have a lot more freedom than the older text-based games. Your list of commands are not limited to "fight, run, explore" or something silly like that. The list of valid commands is quite long. What's also important is that you do not follow a storyline in the game, you make your own, if you really want. You could always just run around killing things and chatting with friends. Or just killing things :p

MUD - Multi User Domain - many people log on to the mud and play at the same time. You only need Telnet and an internet connection to play. It would be a good idea to get a mud client like Zmud if you intend to start mudding more frequently.

Newbie - New to the mud or an inexperienced player.
You also get lowbies, midbies, highbies, and oldbies.
I myself am a midbie on land, a highbie in space and overall an oldbie. I'm level 60 on land, 80 in space, and I've played for a long time, going on 6 years now. :-)

Help files are your friend. Read them whenever you get the chance, so you can learn more about the mud. :-)

You access help files by typing "help <word(s)>"
Eg. "help jedi" or "help cure light"

Basic Commands

To view your list of skills: "practice"

To check what you are carrying: "inventory"

To check what you are using (equipped): "equipment"

To see information regarding your character: "score"

To pick up from the ground, "get shield"
To get from a container, "get shield from bag"
To put in a container, "put shield in bag"
To drop, "drop shield"
To equip, "wear shield" "wield sword" "light torch" (Has to be in inventory.)
To unequip, "remove shield"
If there is more than one item, "get 2.shield" "put 3.shield in 2.bag" where the last item picked up or moved around is considered item number 1. These are normally at the top of the list.

To destroy/get rid of an item "junk shirt" (Has to be in inventory.)

To start a fight, type "kill frogdog" or "hit jawa". You can also start fights with an offensive spell or a skill like sweep, punch, kick, etc.

Shop interface

Shops usually have a "list" feature where you can view what the shop has for sale. To buy an item, either type a clear enough description to make sure you are buying the correct item "buy elite" not "bu el" or on RotJ you can also use "buy #4" to buy the 4th item in the list (they are numbered if you type list)

To sell to the shop, simply type "sell cloak" or whatever item you want to sell. Most shops have a specific item type that they buy, so look for an armor shop to sell armor pieces at. All shops also don't give the same return % for items. Some shops give more, others give less. Use "value cloak" to see what the shop will offer. When buying, you can use the command "evaluate cloak" to get some basic information about it before purchasing.

What the mud world looks like

The mud I play, but not all muds, only has exits in the four wind directions and up and down.
By typing "north" or "down" your character will move in that direction. If you are uncertain or just careful, type "exit" or "look north" to get some info before venturing in that direction. This is a vital component of exploring zones you are not familiar with.
You never get to see yourself, you only "see" what your character is "seeing".
Thus, moving into a new room, you will not get any messages, you will simply see the new room's description and the things that are in that room.
The directions are usually bound to keys. (In a mudding client.)
This is usually on your keypad, 4=west, 8=north, etc. with 9=up and 3=down.

The MUD is divided into rooms. A room is an small area in the world. Every room contains certain things, and every room is connected to other rooms via the exits. Certain rooms have no exits. They suck :p

Hack and slash muds, like RotJ, has tons of mobiles (or 'mobs' for short), roaming the world. All the mobs vary in difficulty and most of the time mobs of equal difficulty can be found in a specific area. In this way you get 'highbie zones' or 'newbie zones' which basically means all the mobs in the area are of similar difficulty. When you kill mobs you gain xp, you get to loot whatever equipment they had and most of the time you get some money. You use this xp to level up or improve your character. Money is used for what money is mostly used in real life too, buying stuff! :p

If you are playing a MUD which is NOT hack and slash, don't walk around killing things at random. On roleplay MUDs, for instance, killing is not a regular occurrence, unless you are participating in a war. You will find there are other ways to gain xp, equipment and money, like finding a job :p

How the mud world works

MUD's are administrated by Immortals. They are still humans (barely), but they don't play the game, they manage it. It is a good idea to show them respect. They usually sacrifice a lot of their IRL time to provide us players with a game to enjoy. Imms also have ranks, much like players have levels. It is good etiquette to bother the lower rank immortals first, before trying to grab the attention of the head coder, for example. If they cannot solve your problem, they will refer you to a higher authority. That is what they are there for. On RotJ, a complete imm list can be found by typing "wizlist".

MUD's have ticks, or heartbeats, which happen roundabout every 70 seconds. Spells run out on ticks, corpses decay on ticks and players and mobs regenerate on ticks. All of these don't happen on every tick, but if it does happen, it will be on a tick. You can regen more over a tick if you go to sleep before the tick happens. Simply type "sleep" before the tick, and "wake" to get up again.

Some commands are not available when you are sleeping. Some of these include auctioning/bidding, checking inventory, prac, quest-say and of course, fighting. Just keep in mind you can be attacked while you are sleeping, so don't sleep near aggressive mobs.

To form a group, have somebody "follow" you, or "follow" somebody yourself. Then the leader should type "group all" so that all members share kill xp. Make sure "autoassist" is on if you want to join all the fights started by the leader. Also make sure "autosplit" is on so you divide credits from the kill evenly between members automatically. If there is a fight going on which you are not part of for some reason but should be, simply type "assist" and you will assist your group members. If the person you want to assist is not in your group, you need to specify their name, like "assist cleaner" or "assist arenahr".

Every player plays a character with stats and equipment and all that jazz, like any adventure game. Some muds allow one person to play with multiple characters at once, but most do not. On RotJ, one person playing with more than one character at the same time is an IMMEDIATE DELETION offence. Don't even try it.

If you are ever uncertain about something, try reading help files. Most of the time this will save you from asking a silly question on a public channel. (Which is, yes, annoying) If you don't know how to use the help system, just type "help" in the game.

What you can do in a mud

One of the things people spend most of their time on is equipment, eq for short. Eq makes your character better, whether that by giving him more health (hp for short), making him stronger, or faster, or if it's a weapon, dealing more damage. Eq only affects you when it is worn. Typing "eq" will show you what eq you are currently using. Typing "inv" for inventory, will show you what you are carrying. Your character's main stats are accessed by typing "score", and on certain muds, including RotJ, typing "score full" gives you a much more complete picture. Equipment loads on mobs and in rooms, and every time the specific zone resets all mobs in it are reloaded, with the odd chance of loading eq again. See "force loading" in the terms page for more info. Eq needs to be looted from dead mobs, it can be stolen from sleeping or stunned ones, or swindled off most mobs. Some eq load in rooms and can be simply picked up, but most of the time this requires a key, which would probably load on a mob. An example of this is the Darktrooper Vault. The Darktroopers have a chance of loading eq, and one of them always loads a key to the vault, where eq loads on the floor.

Do note that you have to pay rent (in-game money) per day to keep eq on RotJ, but the mud is kind to newbies: Until you reach a good level, your rent will be extremely low.

The thing that most people do on a mud is chase down Experience Points. Xp, for short.

You need xp to gain levels, but on RotJ, you also need xp to improve your character by training his attributes. Some muds have training sessions and practice sessions, but on RotJ, you have xp and practice sessions. Practice sessions are used to increase skills, and xp is used for everything else. On RotJ, you gain a small amount of xp for every successful hit in combat. You gain more xp when you kill a mob (mobile, monster) or if the group you are in kills a mob. These two types of xp are called battle xp and kill xp. If you did not take part in a fight, and you are grouped with people who were fighting, you will only gain kill xp, but a reduced amount, because you did not fight. Kill xp is also divided according to level. The higher level you are, the more xp you will gain from the kill xp. If everybody in the group is of the same level the kill xp will be divided somewhat equally.

Most offensive skills also gain you xp when they succeed, including sweep, punch, snipe, etc.

In my opinion, xp is gained much faster in a group of two or three people, than solo. It is a good idea to have a healer in the group so you don't have to spend too much time catching ticks before fighting some more.

Spells

Certain classes get spells which can have a variety of effects. These spells can be beneficial, utility or combat spells. For example, most muds have a spell called 'Identify'. When you cast this spell on an item, you will find out everything about the item, like it's weight, value, extra abilities, armor class if it's an armor piece or damage dice when it's a weapon, etc. Spells require mana to cast. Not all classes have access to all the spells. For example a Cleric might not learn something like 'Firestorm' while a Sorceror might not learn 'Party Heal'. Be sure to read help files on how a MUD's spell system works.

Not all spells work in combat. Most of the beneficial spells have to be cast outside of combat. For example spells like Sanctuary or Focus Mind. This is why many people don't like being in fights against tough mobs over a tick, because if a crucial defense spell like Sanctuary runs out while you're fighting, you may run into difficulties at a really fast rate.

Some spells have to be cast in combat or used to start a fight. These are what are called "offensive spells". An example would be Chill Touch or Burning Hands. You can cast these inbetween each round of normal combat, so a Sith with lots of mana and powerful spells at his disposal is a painful combination.

Communication

The most important thing for communicating with other people would be a comlink. It's an item that you need to keep in your inventory so that you have access to the public channels. There are numerous items, however, in the game that allow you to still use the public channels even with no comlink in your inventory. These items, when scanned or identified, will have the item flag "Comlink". While wearing one of these items, you do not need the comlink in your inventory. Inventors get a skill that allows them to install a comlink in any item they choose. It makes life a little easier, and frees up one slot of your maximum carry capacity. (Determined by Dex)

There are 4 basic forms of communicating:

Tells - These are private messages directly from one player to another, nobody else can see these messages. Some zones are flagged "nocom" and will not allow tells in or out of it. If you are heading to a nocom area, make sure you will be able to get out of it without having to ask for help. You can send or receive tells in your sleep. You can use the "reply" command to send a tell back to the person who sent you a tell.

-> "tell cleaner I want to give you money" or, if I sent you a tell,

-> "reply yeah, I really want to give you money"

Say - When you say something, only the people in the same room as you will see what you typed. They also need to be awake. You cannot speak in your sleep.

-> "say Mace Windu smokes his socks"

Shout - This is almost a public channel, in the way that it appears on your screen, but it is limited to everybody in the same zone as you. You cannot shout while sleeping, and you cannot hear shouts when asleep. So unlike married life...

-> "shout we were here first, go kill your own drebbin."

Public channels - These are available all across the mud, except in those nocom rooms. Public channels are monitored for profanity and inappropriate content. Don't break any rules. The more frequently used ones are Comlink, Auction, Gratz, Question (and Answer) and Quest-say. You cannot Qsay while sleeping, but you can hear it. Quest-say can be heard in nocom rooms, but you cannot Qsay from them.

-> "comlink hello everybody"

-> "auctalk I have a darktrooper rifle to trade for a danish pastry"

-> "qs thanks for the quest Raistlin!"

-> "grat Norbert level 100! way ta go!"

Your score sheet

Here is an example of what Cleaner's score sheet looked like a while ago (14th August 2004). Note, this is what "score full" looks like.

Vital Stats:
    529(529)HP 1082(1082)Mana 151(151) Move     <- Your basic stats, the numbers in brackets are the maximum.
Your statistics:
    Strength : 110         Intelligence: 198                <- These only show the current total values, not the base values.
    Wisdom : 177         Dexterity : 167
    Constitution: 163     Charisma : 75
    Quickness : 160
Character Status:
    Credits on hand: 0 Bank: 2605057        <- Credits on hand can be stolen by pickpocketing mobs, but you need cash on hand to buy from shops. You do not need cash on hand to buy from auction channel. Find a bank to do deposits or withdrawals. 4sw from port.
    Resources: Duranium(2079), Neutronium(6914), Molybdenum(2822)    <- You will only have this line if you have the Salvage skill.
    Armor: You have normal armor. Alignment: Extremely good    <- A description of your armor rating, and an indication of your alignment.
    You are a level 1 Pkiller with 11 PK Points
    You are a 27 year old Zabrak.
    You have been playing for 11 days and 20 hours.            <- Actual game time, translated to days and hours, that you have spent online.
    You are a Padawan of The Jedi Order.            <- This line will only appear if you are in a faction.
    You have a total of 11 quest points to spend.
    You are standing.        <- Your current position. Sleeping, sitting, standing, meditating or resting.
Class Info:
    You have earned a total of 79284536 exp on land and 581396608 exp in space.
    You have 31969 unspent land exp and 80512 unspent space exp.    <- Remember that space xp is spent at the pilot GM, and land xp at any of the others. Space xp cannot be spent on some stats, hit "train" to see. Land xp can be spent on anything.
    Pri:(46)Jedi Sec:(20)Explorer Ter:(20)Slicer Pil:(77)Space Engineer
    TNL:3368031      TNL:668031                            TNL:25919488
    You are an expert with lightsabers. [level 57]                   <- This shows what weapon type you are currently using. If you attack the training dummy, this proficiency type is the one that you will be training.
Affections:                    <- Here follows the list of spells and effects currently active on you.
    You are sensitive to the presence of masked things.         <- Detect mask
    You are sensitive to the nature of others.                           <- Detect alignment
    You are using the Force to sustain yourself.                       <- Sustain
    You feel light on your feet.                                                <- Fleetness
    Your eyes are glowing red.                                               <- Infravision
    Your skin feels more durable.                                           <- Armor
    Your mind is focused.                                                       <- Focus mind
    You are sensitive to danger.                                             <- Sense danger

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