Frequently Asked Questions - Newbies and Mud School

2.0 What Is Character Creation?

REDEMPTION allows you to customize your character at the time of creation. this means that you can choose the skills, spell groups, and initial weapon proficiency you desire most. If you choose not to customize your character, you will be given a default set of skills and spells appropriate to your race and class.

Each skill or spell group you add will increase your Creation Points (as will choosing a non-human race). Creation points determine the amount of experience your character will need to level. Each character is allowed 40 CP before their experience per level begins to rise.

The "default" skills for your class, as well as the "weaponmaster" skills, are composites of various skills. The price paid in Creation Points for these skills is slightly discounted from what they would cost if gained individually.

Your total CP is entirely up to you. While it could be said an "average" of 3000 experience points (XP) per level existed, there is no set limit. the more skills and spells you take, the more abilities your character will have as it grows, but the slower that will happen.

You can view the helps files on the various skills and spell groups by typing "help <skill>" or "help <spell>" at any time in the creation process. The help files for the creation process are very good, and you should have few problems.

2.1 Is This The Only Chance I Will Get To Gain Skills and Spells?

No. Once you enter the game, you will get a "training" session with each level you gain. These can be applied toward improving your stats, increasing Hit Points and MANA levels, lowering your CP, or "gaining" new skills and spells. The specifics of this process are noted below. At the point of creation, you need only be aware that you can gain skills later. Keep in mind, though, that one training session equals one CP of the purchase price for a skill or spell group-- an eight CP spell group will cost you eight levels worth of training.

2.2 How Do I Get Started?

As a newbie you will get some standard equipment to get you started. 

New Characters will find themselves at the beginning of MUD School (on Terra) or MUD College (on Dominia). You should proceed through MUD School for a number of reasons. The signs in each room of MUD School will explain a different set of common REDEMPTION commands or features. As you pass through the rooms, you can look at the signs with the "examine", "look", or "read" commands. As you progress, read ALL signs.

MUD School will teach you a variety of basic commands-- including the auto features for relieving your victims of equipment and gold, the "consider" command for assessing your odds against a mob, and the "wimpy" command for enabling automatic fleeing when you are hurt. Experiment with these commands-- you will find them very useful.

As you progress through MUD School, you will also gain additional equipment. MUD School is open to your until you reach level 6-- after that you will not be able to enter.

2.3 Other Initial Points

On Terra, MUD School is located on the second floor of the Temple of Bosco, which is in the center of the town of Midgaard.  On Dominia, the College of Shandalar is located on the second floor of the Temple of Shandalar.  The "recall" command will (unless you are in a no-recall area or cursed) take you back to the Temple of your continent each time you use it. (Going up from the recall point will take you to MUD School or College, north will take you to the healer.)

You should note two important things about using recall. Each time you use recall, it consumes one-half of your available movement points. If you recall frequently without resting, you will exhaust yourself. Second, if you recall while in the midst of combat you will lose 25 XP.

The acolytes in MUD School and Shandalar College, as well as the healer at the pit, cast a variety of spells in rotation-- including "refresh" (restores movement), "bless" (increases your ability to hit), "armor" (protective), "cure blindness", "cure poison", and "heal". These spells are free until level 10-- you simply have to sit there and wait for the healer to cast them.

The healer also sells additional spells (and will sell the "free" ones to you after level 10). Type "heal" at the healer for a list.

To see what spells you are currently affected by, type "affects".

2.4 How Important Are Stats? How Do They Relate To Each Other?

The better you understand your stats, the better your character will develop.

Let's do a quick run-through to enhance what you learned in MUD School. Typing "score" will reveal your stats. It also reveals your race, class, level, XP, primary stats, armor status, alignment, and other information.

Race, class, level, sex, your age, hours, gold, etc. are rather self-explanatory.

Your XP will be shown to you as two numbers: you are shown how many experience points you need to level, as well as your cumulative points. You will note that your movement, MANA and HP, as well as the number of items you are carrying and the total weight you can carry, are also shown. For items, the format is reach the max, you can't carry more. Weight works the same way. If you have more than your max weight it will affect your movement negatively.

MANA is your ability to cast spells-- each spell uses a different amount of MANA (which decrease as you gain levels). If MANA reaches zero, you can't cast spells until you've rested. HP essentially tells you how healthy you are-- as you suffer damage you lose HP, and if it reaches 0, you die. Your movement is essential to get around-- if it reaches 0, you will be unable to move until you have rested. To rest, you must either "sleep", "rest", or simply not move. Recovery amounts vary by method, and occur in regular "ticks", or intervals. See "help sleep" and "help tick" for further information.

All of these abilities will increase at each level, and sometimes in relation to enhancements in your primary stats. Your primary stats are special, and are addressed in the next section.

You will also note that your armor class against various types of attacks is noted. As you get better armor, your defenses will improve.

Finally, your score also notes your attitude, or alignment. You alignment changes after each fight. If you kill an "evil" mob, you become a little more "good", and vice-versa. Does this matter? Yes, to some extent. An "evil" gets slightly less experience for killing an evil monster, and vice-versa. Also certain equipment can only be worn by good, evil, and neutral people.

When you advance to level 10, your alignment will be shown to you as a number between -1000 (satanic) and 1000 (angelic), and you can better monitor the changes. Similarly, at levels 15, 20, and 25 you will also gain the ability to see other aspects of your stats, including the specific numbers that represent your various armor classes (the lower your various AC numbers, the better), the specific numbers representing your ability to hit and cause extra damage (the higher the better), and the duration and effects of your spells.

2.5 What About The Primary Stats?

Each of the five primary stats is listed as two numbers, such as: STR 16 (16). The first number is your current natural ability, and the second reflects any enhancements you may have due to spells or armor bonuses.

The maximum natural ability for any stat is 25. Dragons are the only race that can achieve 25 for all stats. Other races will have maximum limits that are beneath that. Once you have trained a stat to its maximum, you will be able to increase it several points further through enhancing spells are armor. However, the absolute maximum on some stat for your may be lower than 22 in some cases.

The affect of increased stats are generally as follows:

*STR - the higher, the more damage you do in an attack, and the more you can carry

*INT - the higher, the faster your skills and spells improve with use, and the more ability you gain at each practice session

*WIS - the higher, the more practice session you will gain with each level

*DEX - the higher, the better your armor class and ability to use skills requiring dexterous abilities

*CON - the higher, the greater your ability to heal, and the more HP you will gain at each level

2.6 So How Do I Improve My Stats

Improving your natural stats is done through "training". You enter the game with three "training sessions". You can use these in Delstar's Training Room (one north and one west of MUD School Entrance) on Terra or Sissy's Training Room (one north and one west of Shandalar College Entrance) on Dominia.  By typing "train" in that room, you will see a list of which stats are available to train. Typing "train <stat>" will apply the training session to a particular stat and increase it by 1. When a stat is at maximum, it can not be trained further.

After you have reached level 5, training can be done at the wise man in the Temple of Concentration in Midgaard or Coven Hall in Shandalar.

You will get one training session each time you level. Additional training sessions can only be acquired by converting practice sessions (10 practices = 1 train) at the Temple of Concentration. Typing "help train" and "help gain" will provide further information on the subject.

2.7 What Stat Do I Train First?

What stats you train depend upon which abilities you consider most important. It is common, however, to first train CON and WIS until they are maxed, as this will get you maximum HP gains and additional practice sessions with each level gained.

2.8 What About My Skills and Spells?

Your skills work in much the same way-- they are not very useful until you "practice" them. You will enter the game with 5 practices session, which you can use in Maclav's Guild Room (to east of the training room in MUD school) on Terra. After level 6 you may practice at the Temple of Concentration on Terra.  On Dominia, you can initially practice in Kern's Guild Room - 2 east of the training room.  After level 6 you may practice in Coven Hall.

To see your current skill and spell abilities, type "practice". This shows only those skills and spells available at your level. The closer your ability to 100%, the better your success rate and effects.

The number of practice session you receive at each level is determined by your WIS at the time you level. A WIS of 25 yields the maximum 5 sessions.

2.9 Should I Practice My Skills Right Away?

Other factors that affect practice performance include the difficulty and/or nature of the skill for your character (reflected somewhat in the CP value when you "purchased" the skill or spell) and the difference between your current level and the level at which you could first make use of the skill or spell.

To some extent, if you don't practice certain basic weapon and defensive skills early on, you won't get far. On the other hand, you want to make the best use of your practice session, so you want to hold off on practicing an ability if you don't really use it (so it will require less practice sessions later to perfect). You do not HAVE to use your practice sessions each level-- un-used sessions accumulate.

You also improve your abilities naturally in the course of the game. There is a chance that you will improve each time you use a skill or spell. Again, your INT and other factors affect the frequency with which this happens. The highest you can practice any skill is 75%, so you MUST gain the final 25%, at least, from experience.

Thus, how you use practice is up to you-- we offer only these basic consideration to aid in your decision.

2.10 You Mentioned Death, What Happens If I Die?

Hehe, good question.

The most significant thing that will happen when you die is that you will lose a lot of XP. In fact, you'll find yourself close be the beginning of your current level. It is not a good thing to die....

You will also find that you aren't where you thought you were. When you die, you will be "reborn" at the recall point (unless you are in a clan). You also won't have a light source and will have lost much of your equipment, and any spells you were affect by will have worn off. You have to go back to the point where you died and retrieve your stuff from your corpse, and re-cast any spells.

A few things to think about concerning death. If your corpse lies at the feet of an aggressive monster, you're going to need to rest (your HP will be at 1 when you are re-born), or possibly even ask for help, to get it back. Think about that before you run back and die again.

Also, if you have to pass through any dark areas on the way, you better get a light source before you go. If you are below level 10 and die, you can type "outfit" and Bosco will equip you with basic equipment again to get you started.

If you have further questions, refer to "help death".

2.11 You Also Mentioned Equipment That Increases Stats. Where Do I Get That?

Well, it wouldn't be much fun if we told you everything, now, would it?

Don't worry much about this at first. The first object you should work for is the diploma in the possession of the Diploma Beast at the end of MUD School or Telim'Tor at the end of Shandalar College. You'll come by this naturally. If you hold it, you will notice a nice change in your stats.

In terms of other help we're willing to give it best to check out the equipment list found on this site. You're on your own to find these items.

(When you have gained a few levels, if you have the "lore" skill, or the ability to identify objects by spell or scroll, you can look at the items and see their affects on your stats. Otherwise, you'll have to rely on others or the equipment list to help you identify specific stats

2.12 Hey! Now I'm Hungry! What Gives?

Well, what do you expect? Have you eaten anything?

Food is a part of life on REDEMPTION, as is getting something to drink. Food can be purchased at various places in Midgaard and Shandalar. You can get free drinks at the fountains around the MUD.

You're going to want to buy a water skin as soon as possible from the general store in either Midgaard or Shandalar (or the store in MUD School or Shandalar College), and it can be filled at any of the fountains on the MUD.  This will provide water while you travel. Later, other containers will be available to you as well--some of which hold more water.

You can, if you have no money, eat the arms and legs of most mobs. Some are poisonous, as are certain other body parts of most all mobs. A little trial and error will provide you a steady diet.

If you don't eat and drink, you will find that you recover HP and MANA at a drastically slower rate.

2.13 Buy Things? With What?

Hmmmmmm. Looks like you need to get a little cash.

You will receive a small amount of money each time you sacrifice a corpse or an item. Please do so whenever you kill a mob so the MUD isn't littered with junk.

At low-levels, you will also find that certain mobs carry small amounts of cash as well. Once you find them, seeking them out regularly will help you build a nice nest egg. Also, you can sell equipment of most types at an appropriate shop. Reading the signs at each shopkeeper will provide basic instructions. As a shopkeeper gets more items in stock, s/he is willing to pay less for additional ones. Thus, the price you get for an item will vary -- see "help value" for details on obtaining current prices. Nevertheless, at low levels it's a good idea to keep and sell as much equipment as possible to keep some cash in your pocket.

If you get too much change, you can convert your silver pieces to gold at Dan the Money Changer on Clan Road in Midgaard. He will convert 105 silver pieces to 1 gold piece. (Read his sign for help.) Gold pieces can be exchanged for gems at the Jeweler (again with a transaction fee). "Help gold" contains further information. You can also purchase a bank note in either Shandalar or Midgaard and store your money on that. See "help bank" for further information.

2.14 What About Borrowing Or Stealing Money?

Many times higher-level players will lend a few coins to newbies when asked. There is no obligation to do so, however. If you're dying from starvation, it's worth a try.

Characters with the "steal" skill can steal from mobs (if they have anything). If the attempt fails, the mob will attack.

Only clan members may steal from other players (and only other clan members). See Part IV for further information on Clans and Pstealing.

2.15 Yuck. My Equipment Sucks. Where Can I Get Better Stuff?

REDEMPTION employs level-limits on equipment usage--meaning that the majority of the equipment available is not usable by newbies.

You will find that major equipment upgrades for newbies only occur at levels 5 and 10. If you stop by the armorer and the weapons shop and review their inventory, you will get a feel for the types of equipment available and the level ranges on its use. Stop by several times--the inventories of the merchants change regularly. In addition, you can stop by the pit in the Temple of Bosco or under the Temple of Shandalar, where you will find items donated by other adventurers. It is also beneficial to "look" at other players on occasion and see what they are wearing.

You can determine if one piece of equipment is better than what you are currently using by typing "compare {item held} {item worn}". See "help compare" for further info.

Be patient at the start. You enter the world of Terra as a 17 year old who has never touched a weapon or cast a spell. It takes time to learn new things, and you can only learn so much at one time. Make use of those first ten levels to master the basics and work on the fundamentals--you'll have plenty of time to worry about the advanced and specific features later, and your equipment and abilities will match your level of experience as you grow.

2.16 You Keep Mentioning Talking To Other Players. How Do I Do That?

There are seven basic ways of communicating on REDEMPTION:

Syntax: gossip {message}

Syntax: clan {message}

Syntax: cgossip {message}

Syntax: shout {message}

Syntax: yell {message}

Syntax: say {message}

Syntax: tell {player} {message}

Syntax: beep {player}

Syntax: reply {message}

SHOUT sends a message to all awake players in the world. To curb excessive shouting, SHOUT imposes a three-second delay on the shouter.

GOSSIP is variants of SHOUT (without the delay, and to all players whether awake or not). '.' is a synonym for GOSSIP.

CGOSSIP is reserved for inter-clan communications and only usable by clan members.

CLAN sends a message only to the other people in your clan.

YELL sends a message to all awake players within your AREA. SAY works for people in the same ROOM.

TELL communicates directly with another player if they are awake. REPLY can be used to respond to the last person to TELL you something.

BEEP communicates directly with another player by making their computer beep. REPLY can be used to respond to the last person to BEEP you something.

To see the status of your channels, type "channels", and you will see the following:

channel status

---------------------

The other channels not noted are as follows:

MUSIC: Plays songs from the bard, and for the occasional quoters of lyrics or bards among you. Syntax: music {message}

Q/A: For questions and answers. Syntax: question {message} or answer {message}

OOC: This channel should be used for all Out of Character talk. If you are talking about your Real Life [RL] use this channel. Syntax: ooc {message}

GRATS: For announcing your levels, and congratulating others on theirs--please learn to use the GRATS channel! Syntax: grats {message}

AUCTION: Auction is an automated mercantile system through which you can offer and sell items over the mud to the highest bidder. See "help auction" for more details.

If you don't want to see messages sent on one of the channels, type a channel name by itself to turn it off. Be conscious of what channels you are using for what purposes--there is more than one channel specifically for that reason. Take care to consider what you are saying and how.

Note that you can turn all of your channels off--"quiet" mode. When Quiet mode is on, you will not receive any incoming communications. (Please keep this in mind if you can't seem to hear anything--you may have accidentally turned your quiet mode on . . .. Check this before asking for help.) Also by typing "deaf" you set it so your character does not receive tells.

2.17 How Do I Find Out Who Else Is On?

Use the "who" command. You can view everyone, or certain subclasses of players. See "help who" for details.

2.18 How Do I Change The Stuff That Shows In My "WHO" Listing?

That's called your "title". Typing "help title" will provide information on changing the text that appears there.

2.19 What About The Text People See When They "LOOK" At My Character?

That is called your "description". Type "help description" for more information on how to change it.

You can look at anyone's description who is online by typing "lookup {player name}".

2.20 Does REDEMPTION Allow Aliases?

REDEMPTION offers you the ability to create up to five "aliases" to substitute simple keystrokes for longer commands. Type "help alias" for more information.

Moreover, REDEMPTION allows players to have personal "macros". A macro is essentially an extended alias with variables. Unlike aliases, macros support multiple commands which are separated by semi-colons, and they can call other macros. For more information see "help macro."

2.21 Can I Change My Prompt?

Yes. Type "help prompt" for details. This will, among other things, help you to better monitor your current HP and MANA.

2.22 Ok, I Wanna Quit Now. How Much Is Rent, And How Do I Save?

REDEMPTION has no rent system. To leave the game, you simply have to "quit".

You should also note that because there is no rent system, you may only save those items that your character is able to carry at the time you quit the game. In addition, any items you have that are more than 2 levels above your current abilities, as well as keys, will be lost when you leave the game. There is no means to save extra equipment, or to save high level equipment for later use-- such as lockers--and there are no current plans to implement such a system. You will always be able to carry more than you can use at one time.

Also, please do not quit the game by breaking your link. Your character will remain in the game unattended for some time after that, and you're likely to end up dead. If you break or lose your link, re-log and log out properly to avoid problems. See "help quit" for further details.

2.23 How Often Should I Save?

There is, for the most part, no need to save regularly on REDEMPTION--the system autosaves your file approximately every 15 minutes. Your character will also be saved every time you quit the game using the "quit" command.

It is sometimes a good idea to save on occasion, though. On days when you have noted that the system is unstable due to repairs or maintenance (a note will usually be posted by the IMPs to inform you of these matters), and you fear it may go down often, it is a good idea to save immediately after major events, such as leveling, or finally getting that piece of equipment you had been seeking for weeks. In such instances, this will help to ensure you don't lose your progress in the event that the system should go down prior to the next automatic save.

Other than such rare instances, there is no need to save regularly. You should also note that each time you save, it takes the system about 20 seconds to complete the process--thus, you won't be able to execute any further commands in the meantime. See "help save" for more information.

2.24 Where Do I Go After MUD School?

If you are on Terra the Arena, which is at the end of MUD School. You can also get there by opening the door and going south at the entrance to MUD School. Until you can handle the mobs in the Arena, you might want to be careful about where you wander.  After you are comfortable, venture out and explore the town. There are several low-level areas within the town boundaries. In addition, you should seek out the Pixies, to the east of town, in particular. Other than that, for the most part (but not always . . .), the areas nearer town are generally safe for newbies. No guarantees. It is, after all, an adventure.

If you are on Dominia, the Campus is a good place for low level characters to gain xp in Shandalar.  Once you leave the city, the fishing hole, the playground, and Ogerton are usually safe for those between level 5 - 10. 

You can get a list of all areas by typing "areas". This will also show you the suggested range level for each area.

2.25 Any Final Advice?

Yeah, a few things.

Read the rest of the FAQ (especially Part III) and don't hesitate to ask other players for help beyond the Read the rest of the FAQ (especially Part III) and don't hesitate to ask other players for help beyond the scope of this document if you need it. Please keep several things in mind, though. Basically, remember that everyone else is trying to "accomplish" something while they are logged-in, too. When you first ask for help, they could be in the middle of a battle, talking to someone else, resting at the pit with no HP, etc. Be patient and polite, and your chances of getting attention are much better. Also, start with players near you (in the same room) and use "say" to talk to them. If you can't get an answer, use the "question" channel, not the gossip channel, for answers to questions.

And as a newbie, you should be conscious of "spamming". Repeated "gossip"-ing of the same question, "yell"ing hello to everyone who enters the game, etc., generate unnecessary communication which is sent to each player. Please be aware of this--if you are perceived as a spammer, you will receive little help. Also, be aware that you can "accidentally" spam. If lag sets in and your commands are not being executed, do not type them 100 times. They will execute eventually--and if you typed 100 of them, 100 will execute . . .. Though not intentional, this is also frowned upon because you should know better.

Basically, ask politely. If no one is available to help you, wait and ask again, or figure it out yourself.

2.26 But Wait! What About Potions, Wands, Scrolls And All That? Aren't You Going To Tell Me About Those?

No. As we mentioned in the first part of this FAQ, other FAQs exist which deal with the basics of MUDding, and REDEMPTION works like most other MUDs in these respects. We have chosen only to provide you enough to get you started--the rest is up to you. Read the help files, review the command lists and, above all, experiment.