Volume One Issue Five
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............/ / LEGENDARY TIMES
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../________________/ WHAT'S GOING ON AROUND HERE
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VOLUME ONE, ISSUE FIVE Sept. 29th, 1994
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BUG FIXES:
- A bug fixed in item damage--one which affected all of you. You should find
that your weapons are not getting scrapped nearly as often as was the case
a week ago when we first installed the equipment damage system. Magical
items are more resistant to weapon and eq damage in magical areas. If you had
a magical weapon destroyed in one blow at some point during the past week, you are likely due for a reimb. Thanks to Khelleck for helping us pinpoint the
problem.
- Whoshort is working MOSTLY correctly. Anyway, it gives the right number of
players but still skips lines here and there. Funny how such a simple thing
can be so frustrating. Anyway, you may find it useful on those nights when
the who list tops thirty.
FEATURE ARTICLE: WEAPON DAMAGE AND EQUIPMENT DAMAGE:
A SURVIVOR'S GUIDE.
This is some advice for those who are struggling withe the new equipment
damage system and find that their favorite weapons seem to get scrapped all
too quickly.
Damage to a weapon only occurs on hits and on blocks. A high dex and AC will
lead to more clean misses and thus less pounding on your armor. Look for new
messages for blocking to come soon, giving exactly what attack hit what
armor. :)
How much is something damaged? Well, a weapon can absorb damage based on its
weight and how much damage it does; and how much it takes depends on how
much it gives in a blow. Things that hit harder will also be more likely to
hurt themselves in the process. Armor takes damage according to how hard the
blow that hit it is.
In practical terms, this means a few things. First off, damage under 10 will
never cause item damage. Weapons which do damage in a range from 1 to 15
will only do damage when they roll over a 10, AND also meet the chance of
doing damage. High-powered weapons that rely on dice rolls like 4d4 or
8d2 or 18d1 will almost always be more vulnerable to equipment damage, whereas
weapons with ranges that go from 1 to 16 would not, simply because the 1d16
will go over 10 less often.
Another major factor is weight. Ebony longswords break very very often. Why?
they have a high damage, but also weigh little. As a result, they do not
absorb much damage. This works fine in Arabia, and less well but still well
enough in ireland, areas with high concentrations of magic, but once you reach
London, the magical abilities of the sword are diminished, and its resistance
to damage becomes normal. The result is a thin weak blade that tends to hit veryhard and thus has a high chance of getting nicked. Or even snapping in two.
So in the meantime, it may be more cost-effective to avoid weapons that are
otherwise superb, just because they will tend to have that superiority only
in magical areas. Alternatives? Well, things like the gaff, the pike, the
broadsword, the greatsword, all have heavy weights and while they lack magical
advantages to resist damage, they can be repaired precisely because they are
mundane. The heavy weight means that only naturally strong players will be
able to wield them, but they will absorb a lot more abuse; and the damages on
these weapons is in the vicinity of 4d4 just like the ebonies and staves.
They do tend to have smaller multipliers and larger dice size, so you will not
be averaging as high damage per round; but this will also make them less
vulnerable to going over 10 per round and getting damaged.
Of course, these weapons may not have the +dam and +hit advantages the magical
weapons confer; but they also have commensurately lower rent costs. You should
be able to then get your +hit and +dam elsewhere.
As far as repairing goes: magical armor and weapons cannot yet be repaired.
When repair for these items goes in, it will be a magic spell that will ONLY
repair magic items. This will of course put more burden on the mages, but
will also make them valued members of a group that favors magical armor and
weaponry. All you fighter types--don't just hit up mages for their magic and
then ignore them; take them along on your killing sprees, you may find that
they have other abilities which can help a group out.
Repairing damaged armor and weapons is limited to characters from hometowns
with sufficient technological knowledge to support the ability. Repairing
of damaged blades and armor was not very common in the less advanced cultures,
as it is a quick and easy way to permanently ruin the blade or armor. What
was most commonly done in those cultures was to melt down the metal and use
it to make a new blade. How do you feel about allowing everyone to forge,
and putting the ability to melt down scrapped or useless metal items to use
as raw material for new weapons and armor?
And finally.... if you found this article useful or informative, consider
writing articles on aspects of LegendMUD gaming that you feel other players
should know. Things such as 'How to play a Mage' or 'Strategies for Hunting
Deer Without getting Caught :)' or any other game-related issues. We'd like
to be able to run items in the LT other than bug reports. :)
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o O | Wonder what folks are |
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Magdalen and Socrates are pleased to announce that their wedding will take
place on Friday, September 30th, in the druid's circle in Sherwood. All are
welcome to attend! The time has not yet been set, but it is most likely
taking place in the afternoon or early evening.
Send in social items if you want to see your name or those of others in lights!
- And word from the bards is... Wraith is the new Master Bard, taking over
from Magdalen as she retires to wedded bliss. Word has it that a few up-and-
coming newbies are thinking of becoming bards whenthey grow up (perhaps those
new fun skills?) In the meantime the bards are hoping that the new skills
get teachers put in sometime soon...
- ..and something else that seems to be going in soon? Well, construction
is nearly done on two new clan halls... but apparently petitioning has begun
for yet another new clan! To be added to the Assassins and AntiPaladins will
be an organization--well, we'll keep it secret for now, except to say that
it is entirely player-initiated and looks like it may be high-powered from
the outset. Look for a name out of old mythology and literature...
- ...speaking of secrecy, looks like some clanned players are acting evil as is
their prerogative, and stealing items rom other clanned players' corpses.
A Lady Knight has been deeply hurt by such behavior, but as yet no Knights have
ascertained the culprit(s)...
- ...the knights are also under attack from another quarter. That deadly
individual DeathStalker has joined forces with the AntiPaladins early, and has
been walking around demanding of the Knights of Legend that they serve the powerof the Dark Lord. Sir gwystel bravely resisted and met his death as a result...
Sir Matrix chose the wiser part of valor and stayed away...
- ...nor was he the only one in hiding. Rumor has it that fair Rusalka, mistressof magic, is in hiding after death threats from Mercenary and Revenant. Bereft
of leadership, the Hermetic Order has been awfully quiet lately...
- ...as have the Secretives, who seem to have managed not to incur anyone's
enmity at all. Yet.
That's all the news from LegendMUD for today! Everyone send emails to K'Mala,
our social editor, at [email protected], and tell her you are happy she is now eating
solid foods again after her root canal.
And while you are at it, ask to join the Legend Discussion List, an unmoderated
discussion that takes place over email. Recent topics of discussion have
included the new headbutt changes, the possibility of more hometowns, and many
other changes. This is the place to be if you want give and take about the
mud design and possible and already implemented changes. Send email to
[email protected] to join the list. Send email to the same address, with the header
Legend: to send something in to the discussion.