Volume One Issue Six
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............/ / LEGENDARY TIMES
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../________________/ WHAT'S GOING ON AROUND HERE
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VOLUME ONE, ISSUE SIX Oct. 5th, 1994
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Lots of stuff to tell you about this issue! This will be a long one,
so have fun and settle down for a nice long read. :)
NEW AREA: GOLD RUSH SAN FRANCISCO
Ganelon's long-awaited addition to the Industrial Era should be opening
tonight. Look for a tranfer quest to get to it somewhere near Medieval
Panama. Eventually we hope to add a route across the Industrial Pacific
as well.
Ganelon hopes to hear feedback from everyone (make it constructive,
please :) ... you don't want him mad) on the problems and nice features
of the area. Keep an eye out while there for teachers of the new bardic
skills as well as for guns and ammo sold locally.
Also, there's a new spell word in there... :) Have fun hunting for it.
GUNS ARE IN!
Currently, anyone in the mud can buy and fire a gun, regardless of their
technology level. So all of you, go out there and try them out! To use
a gun or a bow or crossbow, simply HOLD and then SHOOT .
You can of course shoot during combat. :) When you are out of ammo or
arrows, RELOAD GUN BULLETS or RELOAD BOW ARROW will work fine. :) Evenn
during combat. Eventually guns will be restricted to characters with
technological origins--Limans and Londoners. Guns are already on mobs and
in the shops as I write this... go try 'em out!
BUG FIXES:
Whoshort finally works. :)
The problem with items getting changed into useless dummy copies after
renting is fixed.
The mud no longer crashes when there is not enough room to save, or if there
is not a file handle available to the mud process. This has been the cause of
most of the equipment problems people have been having lately. Instead,
you get a "Failed Save due to System Problems" message. If you get this
message, just hang in there, but do not try to rent. You will be able to
save soon after, as soon as there are file handles available.
The mud should no longer crash from fighting the apotheker's apprentice in
Kleinstadt.
NEW BUG:
We're planning on fixing this tonight, but it's still there so I may as well
mention it. We added a BUNCH of new fight messages to spice up combat and
give greater variety. The blocked hits messages are now also much more
detailed and specific. However, you may see <@@@> shown instead of armor
or a weapon. We're working on this and plan to fix it asap.
FIGHT MESSAGES:
Along with the greater variety, we also extended the range of damage covered
by the messages, so you may find your weapon doing the same damage but the
messages making it seem like less. Don't worry, you're still the efficient
hack 'n' slasher you once were. :)
ON RENT:
Many people have expressed confusion regarding rent and the new 1000 over
rule. Here's the basics:
"Save successful" still means the same thing. Your equipment and stats were
saved in a file.
"Save Failed" still means you are over your rent limit. Your equipment is
gonna go poof if themud crashes or you lose link and are autorented.
"Save Failed due to System problems" -- try again later. It has NOTHING to
do with your rent status.
So what is the 1000 over rule? Simply put, it is a grace period. You cannot
equip any items if you are going to go over the 1000 limit OVER your rent
limit. If you hit this limit, you are basically extra-super-overrent.
So the rent limit has not been moved up by 1000. Save failed is still save
failed.
AREA UPDATES:
Well, TONS of updates went in. So here are the basics on what is in where.
Some of these may not be in yet but will be within a day of your reading this,
we hope.
HELL:
- Certain items can no longer be removed from Hell. This affects only the
fairly high level characters.
NAZCA:
- New skill teachers are in.
- Try HELP NAZCA for interesting historical info!
LIMA:
- New skill teachers are in. This is a good place to hunt for bardic skills.
- Try HELP LIMA!
- Bags, lantern oil, and waterskins are now sold in various locations.
- Some of the old skill teachers teach something different now.
SEONI JUNGLE:
- The high level jungle (to the east of the road) is now AGGRESSIVE. Be
careful heading in here! Low level players will get a warning when they
venture in.
- Guns are in the shops and on the mobs!
- Try HELP SEONI.
- There are new skill teachers there too.
LONDON 1841:
- New teachers of new skills...
- Guns and ammo are sold in the shops and are on the mobs.
- Try HELP LONDON for the lowdown on the start of the Victorian "Hungry Years."
KLEINSTADT:
- New skill teachers.
- HELP KLEIN is in too.
SOUTH SEAS:
- HELP TEA ROUTE is in.
- The pirate ambush is deadlier now! Expect twice as many enemies and
expect them to be more aggressive in dealing with you.
ARABIA:
- New skill teachers.
- HELP ARABIA.
- The belly dancer will no longer just hand out NOR eat her equipment. Figure
out how to catch her fancy in order to get the stuff.
AZTECS:
- Look for bows and arrows here.
- Also, HELP AZTECS might be interesting.
ALHAMBRA:
- The quests should be working now, no longer stealing your equipment nor
trapping you in a room nor crashing the mud.
- Try HELP ALHAMBRA.
SHERWOOD:
- Bows and arrows, of course. :)
- New teachers and also a HELP SHERWOOD.
PIRATES:
- New skill teachers.
- Lots of flintlocks.
- HELP TORTUGA works too.
- The quest has been redesigned and expanded... give it a try.
(Make sure you are high enough level).
ROMAN BRITAIN:
- Roman crossbows can be purchased.
- HELP PICTS and HELP ROMAN BRITAIN both work.
Phew! I think that's all of them. So now I will hand over the digest to
four of our best roleplayers on the mud, to discuss the issue and give
their sage advice. Here's a Roleplaying Roundtable for those of you who
feel stumped as to how to get started or take it further.
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ROLEPLAYING ROUNDTABLE
In which Mercenary, Revenant, Mingus, and Dusty talk about their tricks.
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RolePlaying: A how-to and ettiquite guide
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by those masters of congeniality, Mercenary and Revenant
There is a decided lack of role-playing on Legend MUD. Know this: Role-
playing (RP'ing) is FUN. Get beat up on as a kid? Have your glasses crushed by
the town bully? Be a bully in Legend-Mud, then. Throw sand in the
faces of newbie clan-members, demand tribute under pain of death, then
kill them anyway. Or, play the hero out to save the day, who rescues
the victim from the unsavory attentions of their attackers!
This short article is intended to offer guidance in creating and playing RP
characters.
CREATING A CHARACTER
When preparing to create a character, figure out what era you would
like to be from. Don't feel limited by the hometowns: you can invent
an origin for yourself, even if it's not part of Legend per se.
Create a heritage for yourself. Why is your character out adventuring
in the first place. What do they want? What special things does s/he
like/hate?
After you've figured out the background of your character, decide upon
a physical appearance for yourself. Use the DESCRIPTION command to
enter it, so people will be able to see what kind of a person your character
really is! If you're heavy into the role-playing, you should even
equip your character in a manner consistent with their background. Note that
if you're someone other people will want to kill, this could be
a fatal decision.
Now that you've got your character's background and appearance, make
some new EMOTE's for them. Don't just eat things, eye them greedily
first. Skulk in the shadows, glower at people you don't like, stop to
smell the roses. EMOTE's unique to a particular character will give them
a lot of flavor. Also, figure out a pattern of speech, and stick to it.
ETTIQUITE: What and what not to do.
The cardinal rule of roleplaying: STAY IN CHARACTER. Don't answer
questions about your stats and whatnot. If you must, invent creative
replies: "I'm strong as an ox, you pipsqueak!' (uh-huh, and almost as
smart.) Don't mix in Real-life. If you must, go to the OOC lounge and
vent your spleen about your latest real-life trauma there,
Don't answer questions about 'who you really are' and don't ask them.
Who plays a character should have NO BEARING on your attitude toward
that character. Evaluate them by their actions.
Don't carry grudges across characters. If someone
kills one of your characters, don't bring another on to return the
favor. Likewise, if character A gives you a hard time, don't be cruel
to character B just because you think they're run by the same player.
Don't map roleplaying to real life. Are Revenant and Mercenary jerks
and thorns in the side of every player in the mud? SURE they are! Does
this mean their players are jerks as well? Of course not! (but it
doesn't exclude the possibility either). Remember, you're playing a
CHARACTER dealing with other character. If someone tells you you're a spud
in the OOC lounge for bragging about your new computer, well, that's
a different matter...
Have an RP reason for your actions in the game. PKILLing without
justification is plain stupid. The reason for a PKILL can be as simple as
being evil, but if you're PKILLing character A because you hate
character B, you're doing something wrong.
EVERYONE who is clanned should be roleplaying. The ability to PKILL, and
to interact in physical ways with other characters brings with it an
added responsibility. Make certain that actions you take against another
character is based upon the relationship between those two characters,
and not on anything else.
That about says it all. Give roleplaying a try, you will probably like it!
If you're wondering what to do now that you have seen every room in the
MUD, playing a character and interacting with other players -- the heart
and soul of MUDDING -- can be more rewarding than just exploring ever
was.
Role-Playing 'Tips'
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by Mingus, the Madman of Clan Gunn
Create your character. If you need a starting point, use their
home town. What sort of society is it? What kind of upbringing
did you have? What beliefs do you hold dear, and what's important
to you?
This is a beginning, but it's not enough -- if you look around your
own community you'll realize that all sorts of people can spring
from anywhere. You need to build on your background and personality.
As this is a MUD, we don't need to create a complex psychological profile;
come up with some simple, interesting things that distinguish your
character from others. Then, (and this is important) show them, don't
tell about them. Mingus is mildly insane, but you wouldn't notice it
in an encounter with him until he started talking with the skull he
carries around, and speaking the replies in a high, squeaky voice. ;) While
it would have been easier to just state all this in his description,
it's much, much less interesting and fun. In the same light, he also
doesn't spew out his character profile every time people sit down to
chat; if he's asked questions, he'll answer them in whatever light he
feels is appropriate. Try it sometime. ;)
You can build on simple things. Most cultures up to the Industrial era
had some sort of religion. Most children apprenticed at some sort of
craft, ranging from farming to weaponsmithing to scribing. Are you from
a noble or common family, and what sort of education do you have?
Physical description can help; are you a short jolly fat person, a
clumsy, lanky thin one, or any combination of the above? Have you
got some sort of accent you can drop into to help you get in character,
or expressions your character favors?
Continuing on, how do you react to your environment? Suddenly discovering
secret ways between centuries that most of your peers don't know of has
to have affected you in some way; for a lot of us, it's an opportunity
to travel and know that who or what you'll meet over the next hill or
river could be wildly different than the people who've never left
our villages. Why are you travelling? The most common goal is to
gain power and prowess, but some go just to explore, and some could
be on personal quests or missions. Ask around about the white-haired
man in robes who showered your starving village with food (or razed it to
the ground) enough, and you not only have something defining your purpose
in life, you just might bump into him someday. ;) Mingus came unhinged
because he visited his village a few hundred years after he was born there;
the skull he carries might be his own. Psychotic is the great-great-etc.
grandson of Katya and Hunter.
You can start plots, not just between pk clans, but with the people
around you. If you've adventured with a group for a while, form a
Sisterhood (or Brotherhood) and work with them on a group identity --
Clan Gunn is a small family, with certain official roles and relationships
worked out to play with. We negotiated and formed a secret alliance
with one of the 'official' clans, to share and do certain things. In
a more personal sense, there're people Mingus bumps into once in a while
and does improv with. React to that person you pass in the forest,
strike up a conversation; you can forge all sorts of relationships
ranging from fwuppy lovesickness to teasing emnity to casual respect
and an occasional drink in a tavern (they sell 'em for a reason ;) ).
The more you play your character, the easier their 'voice' will be to speak
in. Pretty soon, you won't have to think twice about how they'll act or
react to something. Above all, look at the available choices and choose
the most interesting and fun ones. Yes, it's possible to be a stodgy
English accountant who doesn't like people, but it's a lot more fun
to play one who always longed for a life of adventure and is now finding
himself capable of carrying it out, much to his constant amazement and
delight. It's even fun to play incredibly stupid people, or ones with
strange blind spots; Mingus doesn't believe in time travel. He's
just decided that the world's really, really large, and that the connections
between places have been muddled with by Faeries who've sipped too much
morning dew.
If you're having trouble getting ideas for your character, bug someone
who looks interesting to go with you to the OOC tavern and toss around
some ideas with you. You can even email or talk at me, if you catch
me on.
There's a lot more to interacting on Legend than asking about where the
next weapon or quest item is. It took me the longest to get to level 50
of any single continuing character on the mud, but if you ask around you
might find that I had one of the best times getting there. ;)
Jame
[email protected]/[email protected]
Mingus the Mad, Druid Priest of Clan Gunn
A Few Roleplaying Tips by Dusty the Fox-Tailed Flautist
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Gee, I didn't expect a chance to get to do this! My very own column. :-)
Maybe I'll get hired on a permanent basis and can thus avoid the mud
even more than I do now--maybe even get enough job security that I don't
have to ever worry again about being viciously murdered by the followers
of that Great Astral Flippered Thing in the Sky that calls itself a Dark
Lord. Anyway, here's my hints on how to develop a character and roleplay
it....
Start with choosing a profession. I happen to be a bard. I've dabbled in
rangering a little bit, I admit, but for the most part I was a bard
before there were bards. Since I didn't have my handy-dandy little play
skill to use back then, I used emotes. So hint Number One would be, pick
a profession and then develop mannerisms that fit. You can automate
these mannerisms with macros if you use a mud client like tintin,
tintin++, or TinyFugue:
To set up such a macro, say for my second or third favorite physical
activity:
Tintin: TinyFugue:
#alias spin = ": pirouettes." /def spin = : pirouettes.
#write dusty.commands /savedef dusty.commands
To load a particular character's mannerisms on the spot:
#read dusty.commands /load dusty.commands
To have them automatically load when you start up your client:
Start up with: Put this in your .tfrc file:
tintin dusty.commands /load dusty.commands
or put dusty.commands in (Much easier, now you know
your preferences file why I use TinyFugue these
(which the name of has days, not that tintin
totally escaped me cause you isn't neat or anything,
can't expect me to keep track but I like simple, it matches
of everything for you. :P my hairdo.)
Look it up.)
Hint Number Two: Frame this.
***************************************************
* EMOTE IS THE MOST POWERFUL COMMAND ON THE MUD-- *
* YOU CAN DO *ANYTHING* OR *BE* ANYTHING WITH IT *
***************************************************
If you say that to yourself every night before you go to bed, maybe
you'll believe it and start hearing it backwards in my flute solos.
Hint Number Three:
People have a tendency to act like themselves, which I suppose is
normal, even if it has led to a few hasty retreats from relationships on
my part. (You REALLY find out what a guy is like the next day when you
have to share... never mind.)
So pick three things your character does that you DON'T.
(Psst. I can't play the flute for beans. I TRIED, honest! But all I got
was a sound resembling the noises flippered things make when they've had
too much to drink.)
For best results these should be things that you know well enough to be
able to fake, and that you can then turn around and put into handy-dandy
little macros as described above. Try something your Significant Other
does--odds are you've had to endure it enough times to understand HOW it
works if not why the urge to do it. :-)
Hint Number Four:
People tend not to remember the boring stuff. So don't be. Make those
three things ones that are quirky and odd. How about a character who
never eats anything unless he blesses it first? What about a mage
character who has a stutter? What about a knight with some manners?
(Just kidding, don't kill me yet...)
Hint Number Five:
Have a distinctive manner of talk. It's always the way that people get
tripped up. What are good ways of tricking others?
Welp, try these out and see how they fit your new character:
:) :-) 8) 8-) :> =) =-> ;) :p :P =P :D >:{ =o&>o
I'm sure we can all point to particular people who use different ones of
these. Like, Mystra drives me nuts with her :p cause it looks to ME like
her mouth is off six inches into her cheek. :-)
Point is, if you use multiple characters, make sure you have different
smileys.
Might also wanna change things like whether or not you use complete
sentences, grammatical ones, use caps, use _this_ to make a point or
*this*, or always trail off with ellipses...
Things like my devastating wit and great charm are harder to develop.
Hint Number Six:
You can automate speech mannerisms too, if you want. It's a real pain
though so I won't explain it. But if you use TinyFugue, you can set
certain characters to substitute out and be replaced with others.
Imagine the possibilities! Try these out:
To make a Cockney person start by talking like this:
Hey! My horse! That's a horrible thing to do to a horse!
Set up substitutes to alter it automatically to:
Blimey! My 'orse! Dat's a 'orrible t'ing ta do ta a 'orse!
(You change all Hey's to Blimeys, all thats and theres and those to dats
and deres and doses, and turn all h's left into single quotes).
Or worse yet, try the Valley Girl:
Oh, that's cool, I enjoy that stuff. Do you like Mozart?
Oh, like, that's AWEsome, like, I totally enjoy that scene,
ya know? Do you, um, like Mozart? *giggle*
(turn every comma into ", like," and every "cool" into "AWEsome" and
every period into "ya know" and I think you get the picture here... and
please shoot the next person you see who talks this way in real life.)
Final advice, just cause if they let me I'd take over the whole darn
newsletter. Wouldn't it be nice? Much better than what they usually put
here anyway.
Hint Number Last: SMELL THE ROSES. Start out building your character the
way you want it, and stop to take the time to enjoy playing it. Don't
try to zoom through the levels. Don't give up on the way your character
never seems to qualify for some skills just because you're not levelling
fast. So you have a weak character? Think of the angst and drama in that
tortured weakling swordswoman who desperately wants to shatter the
sexual stereotypes of warriors but has trouble lifting a sword... You
have one with low mind? Enjoy saying DOH a lot, it can be very soothing.
Have you considered trying to play a blind wizard? A warrior missing one
leg? A druid who breaks EVERYTHING he tries to handle? (Fun way to do
this? Set a random trigger on the words "You get" and have it junk the
item. Then you REALLY have no control!)
I mean, I'd like to level sometime this century as much as anyone, but
even though I have been playing here since they first started
playtesting, I'm still level ten. I bet I have had more fun packed into
those levels than some level 50's have. Last time I was on, you know how
much XP I earned?
NONE.
It was fun, too. Isn't that the point?
-Dusty the Fox-Tailed Flautist
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o O | Wonder what folks are |
`\|||/ | doing over at LegendMud? |
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THIS ISSUE OF THE LEGENDARY TIMES BROUGHT TO YOU BY:
No matter where you have come from, no matter where you have been,
life has been hard. And life is hard because, often times, you do not
know what to expect; you are not properly prepared for the road ahead of
you. Clan Grendel will prepare you for what lies ahead. No matter what
walk of life you come from, no matter what destiny you have set for
yourself, becoming a Grendel means becoming the best of what you can be!
Why choose Clan Grendel? Perhaps you don't wish to walk the straight
and narrow, perhaps you don't wish to become the bane of society. Maybe
you don't want a rigid set of rules and regulations, yet perhaps you
don't fully embrace anarchy. Those who walk the boundaries, who find
the world written in tones of gray rather than black and white, will find
a home with us!
What does it take to become a Grendel? Dedication, faith in your-
self, and the will power to succeed! If you think that the way of
Grendel is yours, contact Hunter_Rose, Khan of Clan Grendel.
Vivat, Grendel!
And in other socially exciting news...
- ...looks like Mercenary has gone on a killing spree. If you recall, a
while back there was a nasty ambush incident in which Rusalka, Hunter_Rose,
and Dagda attacked him. Dagda was subsequently transformed in a religious
vision and has not been seen since. Perhaps she finds virtue too hard to
live with...
- ...but Mercenary disregardssuch petty things. His first action in revenge
was to abmush Rusalka, Guildmistress of the Hermetic Order, and slay her.
They kissed and mde up afterwards, and Mercenary even left her corpse alone
so she could recover her equipment. Russie was heard to say afterwards,
"I can't blame Merc at all..."
- ...and he, appaently blameless, followed it up by killing Hunter_Rose.
Twice. The motive was supposedly a slight to his elephant. They did declare
a public truce afterwards...
- ...not so with Matrix, whom Mercenary has now been worsted by in combat
several times, even unto death. We have no doubt the grim soldier for pay
will keep trying...
- ...perseverance also seems to be the watchword for Greyscot and Sanquela.
It seems the ever-popular Dusty of the Order of the Scroll is up to it again,
as both brave warriors marched off to the heights of a peak to do battle
for the right to be her Knight Champion. Although she begged them not to
fight, it looked like it was going to happen... when Sanquela fell off the
mountain to his terrible death. The body has not been found, and perhaps
the dashing Liman is still out there, planning on pressing his claim. In
the meantime, greyscot asked for time to mull over his ability to commit...
- ...while Dusty got herself deeper into trouble by engaging in a very
public theological debate with DeathStalker, whose weapons have been the
leading cause of death among certain clans. She may have incurred the
wrath of the Dark Lord (rumored sponsor of the AntiPaladin clan) by
describing him as 'an evil guppy with flippers.' Hmm...
- ... Hmm... was also the word of the weekend as Magdalen, recently resigned
from leadership of the Bards, and Socrates, mostly unknown newcomer, were
both no-shows to their nuptials TWICE on two separate dates. When contacted
they gave 'reasons beyond their control' as the explanation and hinted they
might just elope. This would devastate their fans...
- ...so keep the social items coming! Since the ONLY submitted item out of
the above was the ad, and I am tired of going LOOKING for them, not to
mention making stuff up out of whole cloth, send your social column
submissions to [email protected] for inclusion in the next issue.
-Ptah, social-editor-cause-he-diesn't-give-K'Mala-any-warning-on-when-to-
prepare-an-issue-but-oh-well-these-things-are-last-minute-anyway
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Legendary Times is put out by the gods of LegendMUD. Please send all
replies/additions to [email protected] for inclusion in the next
edition. We, however, reserve the right to moderate this discussion,
and may object to some submissions. If you feel we have wrongly omitted
one of your messages, please talk to either Kaige or Ptah online or
through EMail and see if we did indeed receive it in the first place.
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