Abbreviation

It is worth noting that StrangeMUD has abbreviation capabilities. This means that in addition to general mud commands, you can abbreviate player names, mob names, and object names. You may also refer to yourself as 'me' instead of typing out your full name. Examples: 'l' for 'look', 'sa' for 'say', 't' for 'tell'. To look at yourself, you might type 'l me', while to look at Rasmussen, you might type 'l ras'. Directions are abbreviated 'n', 's', 'e', 'w', 'u', and 'd'.

***NOTE: When abbreviating mob or player names, you should be SURE that your action is directed at the one you intend. For example, if you are grouped with Levi, and about to kill the mob Leviathan, you might want to 'bac levia' to avoid killing Levi!***

Assassin

Assassins is a specialized thief. Assassin deal deadly single stikes and is capable of killing victims in a single blow.

Assassins can see in the dark and always walk in the shadows. They also are capable of seeing hidden creatures.

Bard

Bards like to sing stupid songs that annoy people. But they are good at Area Control spells and masters at charming dumb monsters.

Basic Class

The basic classes are as follows:
Warrior, Thief, Mage, Brigand, Lich, Paladin, Conjurer, Evangelist, and Sage.

As you gain in levels, these become more and more powerful.

Berserker

The Berserker has the most HP of any class on the MUD. An enraged berserker is not a pleasant sight. A berserker alone might find death knocking at their door, but in a group setting, they can deal damage like no other class. They are fairly straight forward to play. Point and shoot!

Brigand

A Brigand is a combination of a warrior and a thief. They can be any alignment. Brigands can wield any weapon, but can't wear nearly as much armor as a warrior. Brigands get almost as many hit points as warriors.

Cleric

Clerics have an ancient belief in not carrying sharp weapons. Hence, they can only wield bludgeoning weapons. This class gives you the wisdom of peace, blessing and healing, though it is possible to learn more violent spells.

Communication

There are several ways to communicate with other players in the game. SAY, TELL, and WHISPER are some of the most common, along with GSAY or GTELL. Public CHANNELS are good for communicating with everyone in the game, and provide optional forums that you can toggle on or off. SHOUTing and YELLing are less popular, and written communications exist in the form of bulletin BOARDS and the mud's MAIL system. SOCIALS are also a favorite way of getting a message across.

Conjurer

A Conjurer is a combination of a Mage and a Thief. Conjurers are weaker than Thieves but Stronger than Mages. Conjurers cannot wield Slashing weapons.

Connection

To connect to the MUD, you can use a variety of MUD clients . TinTin++, Wintin95 , and Zmud are just some of the more popular ones. If you don't feel like downloading anything, you can just use telnet.

Simply connect your favorite MUD client to strangemud.net and set the port to 9332, it is as simple as that.

Crusader

A Crusader is a very straightforward class to play. They have great soloing Ability and are useful in a group. A neutral Crusader will not be able to Heal effectively.

Darkone

A Darkone is similar to a Crusader in that they are great at soloing and are useful in a group. However, they are much less straightforward to play. A neutral Darkone will not be able to heal effectively.

Evangelist

The Evangelist is a Thief combined with a Cleric. They are weaker than clerics, and refuse to wield slashing weapons. Evangelists are stronger than thieves, but not by much.

Exploring

Take a look around you. The LOOK command will give you a detailed description of the room you are standing in, as well as WHO and what are in the room with you. You can get a better view of a player, mob, or object using LOOK or EXAMINE: for example, 'look Rasmussen' would show you what Rasmussen, a player, looks like; 'examine scroll' might show you a better description of the scroll you are carrying. EXITS will show you the obvious exits from the room, but you may have to look in each direction (NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, WEST, UP, DOWN) to find closed doors or hidden exits. The AUTOEXITS command will show you obvious exits automatically each time you look at the room.

The BRIEF command will eliminate the room description you would normally see, and the commands COMPACT, COLOR, and PAGER are also useful in making your DISPLAY more comfortable to view.

Fundamentalist

Fundamentalists are crazed followers of their god. They will do anything to carry forth His/Her/Its name and convert the heathen masses. They gain a number of combat skills. Fundamentalists excel at fighting alone and pair great with a mage based class.

Getting Started

All new characters start their first playing session in the temple, a peaceful place where resting and socializing are completely safe. When you enter the game, you'll be naked (woo woo ;), which means you're carrying all your equipment. To see what you're carrying, use the INVENTORY command. You can WEAR individual items one by one, or put everything on at once by typing 'wear all'. To begin using your weapon, use the WIELD command, and to use a light source or a hand-held item, use GRAB or HOLD. The EQUIPMENT command will show you what you are wearing and holding, and typing LOOK ME will show you your character description (which you can enter at the login menu), your physical condition, your equipment, and your inventory. Typing SCORE will give you more detailed information about yourself, like your HIT POINTS (HP), MANA POINTS, and MOVEMENT POINTS (MV), your age and level, and later on, your ARMOR CLASS (AC), ALIGNMENT, HITROLL and DAMROLL.

Illusionlist

Illusionist have fun making illusions and conjuring stuff up. They gain more mana than Bards, but get less hp. Illusionists are the ultimate utility character and a welcomed addition to any crusade.

Illusionists regenerate mana quickly by nature.

Lich

A Lich is a combination of a Mage and a Warrior. They combine powerful fighting with powerful magic. A Lich is weaker than a warrior but can wield any of the warrior's weapons. They get about half as much mana as a Magic User.

Mage

This is the class of powerful and violent magic, but the Mage does not control the nature, and can therefore not bless and such.

Monk

Monks are warrior clerics. They get more hit points than Priests, but less mana. They have more combat skills than priests do, but do not gain the curative powers given to priests. Monks are the easiest of the healers to play. They can heal a large group with very little effort on the part of the player, but are not as effectively as a Priest or a Saint.

Monks are naturally resistant to heat and cold.

Necromancer

Necromancers have embraced death and made an ally of it. They gain powers that help mold the forces of death. Necromancers are prized for their ability to summon a player's corpse and kill monster with just a glace. Should the need arise, they are also quite capable of dealing significant damage upon their vitims.

Ninja

A Ninja is a specialized thief. Ninja's gain a variety of combat skills. They are tough to hit and capable of protecting a group member from harm.

Ninja's are always sneaking around and regenerate hps quickly by nature.

Oracle

Oracles gain the same amount of hp and mana as a Sorceror. They do not posses many damage spells, however they can buff a group of players or charmed mobs enabling them to fight a good fight. Oracles are capable of serving as a backup healer. They can also spell down a mob, but not as well as some other classes.

Paladin

The Paladin class is a combination of Warrior and Cleric. Though they can be of any alignment, traditionally they are Good. Paladin's can use any weapon, and are good fighters as well as healers.

A Paladin can wield any weapon. They get more HitPoints than a Cleric but only about half as much mana.

Priest

Priests are servants to their God. They gain more powerful curative spells and skills. A skilled priest can keep a large diverse group alive in a difficult battle. They excel at healing people of their alignment, but can heal other alignments almost as well.

Priest are permanently affected by Sanctuary.

Ranger

A Ranger is dedicated to the forest and the outdoors. They gain some spells and skills more related to animals and plants and the outdoors. Their ability to avoid direct damage and secure a group is unrivaled.

Ruffian

Ruffians are crazed thievish people who like to bully others. They gain more hitpoints than rangers, and get a lot of combat skills. Ruffians aren't quite as good of tanks as Rangers or Swordsmen, but they gain an array of useful utility skills and are capable of knocking a monster completely out.

Sage

A Sage is a combination of a Mage and a Cleric. Sages are dedicated to learning and magic. Sages can wear more equipment than a Mage, but receive less hit points. Sages, like Clerics, refuse to use sharp weapons. Sages receive more mana than both Clerics and Mages. They also have very good saving throws.

Saint

A Saint is like a Priest only a bit more powerful. They are supremely blessed by their deity, and gain a great number of alignment based skills and spells. Saints gain more mana than Fundamentalists, but less hit points. Saints are full fledged healers capable of handling a fight when the need arises. Saints healing abilities are severly limited when trying to heal players not of their align, but their ability to resurrect the dead secures their position in any group.

Sorcerer

Sorcerors gain the same amount of hp and mana as an Oracle. They are capable of weakening a monster ability to fight significantly. They are also quite able at surviving most confrontations. Under the right circumstances, sorcerer can deal significant damage upon their victims.

Specialized Class

When a player gains enough experience to surpass level 30, he/she/it can choose to specialize. Each class has 2 specialized classes.

The specialized classes are:
Warrior Specs: Swordsman Berserker
Thief Spec: Ninja Assassin
Mage Spec: Wizard Witch
Cleric Spec: Priest Monk
Brigand Spec: Ranger Ruffian
Lich Spec: Vampire Necromancer
Paladin Spec: Crusader Darkone
Conjurer Spec: Illusionlist Bard
Evangelist Spec: Saint Fundamentalist
Sage Spec: Sorcerer Oracle

Specializes characters start at level 31 and can gain up to level 45. They keep all their old skills, etc.

Swordsman

Swordsman are 2nd highest in the MUD with regard to hit points. Their skills are a bit more refined than those of the berserker, though. Swordsman cannot be disarmed. A Swordsman rather die then give up their swords. Swordsman make great tanks and generally form the cornerstone of a group.

Thief

Thiefs are known to have very special qualities, that no other class offers. Many of these qualities can come in handy in many situations, such as picking locks.

Vampire

Vampires are a fearsome class. They get more hitpoints than necromancers. Vampires gain combat skills and the ability to change form at will.

Vampires see in the dark inherently and constantly emit an aura of fear.

Warrior

Warriors are known to have more strength than the average player. This makes them better at hand-to-hand-combat, as they possess skills of violence and fighting unequaled by the members of other class.

Witch

Witches/Warlocks are specialized mages. Witches cangreatly weaken a monster and in turn deal the most powerful of damage magic has to offer. A neutral witch is unable to draw on thier deadliest magic. Witches are capable of raising the dead and make the perfect counterpart to a Monk.

Wizard

Wizards are a welcome addition to any group. They can deal large amounts of damage while being harder to kill than a witch. They cannot provide the same amount of non-combat support as a witch.