Gameplay

A MUD, or Multi-User Dungeon, unfolds as a text-based adventure where players navigate fantastical realms through written commands. 

Players craft unique characters, selecting races like minotaurs or changelings, each with distinct abilities forged in the crucible of their heritage. As adventurers journey through shadowy forests and forgotten temples, they engage foes in combat, their prowess growing with each victory, unlocking new skills and magics to wield against greater threats. 

Beyond battle lies the heart of MUD gameplay: exploration of richly described environments, discovery of hidden treasures, and unraveling of ancient mysteries woven through quests and puzzles. 

The social tapestry binds all together, allowing players to chat, trade valuable artifacts, or forge alliances against common enemies. In these persistent worlds, one's legend grows through deeds rather than words, each command typed a step further into realms where darkness and light wage eternal war.

Interacting with the MUD

Your client will let you enter commands at the prompt. These commands let you control your character and find out information.

Here are some of the commands that you can use:

Help

help 

help getting started

help topics

who helper - show a list of people who are eager to help

Communication

mentor - Broadcast a message on a channel. Everybody on the MUD can see it and help you.

say - Get your character to talk. Only people in the room can hear you.

tell - Send a message to a specific person, they can be anywhere in the MUD.

Informational

look - repeat the room description so that you can see where you are

score - show your character stats

show skills - gives you a list of all the skills you have learned so far.

show hermetic - gives you a list of all the hermetic type spells you have learned so far

show spiritual - gives you a list of all the spiritual type spells you have learned so far

map - if you are in the outer world or a city you can use this command to view a map. It won't work in adventure areas.

Movement

The MUD will give you a list of exits that are available in the room. 

They will be listed after the words "Obvious exits are:".

You can use the name of the exit as a command to go in that direction.

You can use abbreviations for the common compass directions, for example you can use "nw" in place of "northwest".

Quests

search - is the most common methods to discover secrets in a room. Sometimes you need to add a target, e.g. "search wall"

ask <npc> about <topic> - the primary way to talk to NPCs. This can be essential to solving a quest, but also to learn about given area

present <object> to <npc> - is used to present quest items to NPCs. You can also use it to show an item to other player characters.

unlock <door/chest/gate...> - you typically need to find the key first!

Some guilds teach skills that can assist with the above. Some areas include other custom commands, which can be deduced by looking around.

Equipment management

inventory - Lists everything that is in your backpack. 💡You can use the letter "i" by itself as a command as a shortcut for inventory.

eq - Lists all the gear that you have equipped

wield - wields the item you specify as a weapon

wear - wears the armor or jewelry you specify 

unwield - stop wielding a weapon

remove - remove a piece of armor

give - to give an item to another player

drop - to drop an item on the ground

keep - to prevent dropping an item accidentally

Skills and spells

You can "use" your skills, "cast" hermetic spells and "invoke" spiritual ones.

There are a lot of skills in the MUD and you can get by as a newbie by using just a small selection.

For now you should try to remember:

• Some skills (but not all) require a target

• Some skills can only be used for combat

• Some skills cannot be used during combat

• Some skills are used automatically

• Skills can take a variable amount of time to use

Roleplaying

• You can whisper to someone so that the others can't hear easily

• A titan can rsay a message in their racial tongue, so that an arcanus can understand, but a goblin, at least an uneducated one, doesn't

• emotes and adverbs provide the list of available roleplaying actions. For example you can hush <player> impatiently,  wink mysteriously or bow politely

• You can find a variety of custom designed armor, clothes, weapons, helds and other items in various styles, both in the areas and in shops around the Retroverse

• Roleplayers can be awarded RP points, enabling additional roleplaying actions (help rpp)