Volume Two Issue Eighteen
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............./ / THE LEGENDARY TIMES
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..../ /_/..\______/./_____/./__/.../__/./_______/ MUD
.../________________/ running on sylvester.cc.utexas.edu 9999
128.83.108.29 9999
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http://www.cs.cmu.edu:8001/Web/People/johnmil/legend/legend.html
anonymous ftp: nebula.keene.edu, /pub/users/legend
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VOLUME TWO, ISSUE EIGHTEEN Mar. 22nd, 1995
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SPRING BREAK ISSUE
...:/:[ CONTENTS ]:\:...
MUD STUFF
- Mingus resigns -
- a holiday to try something big and new -
- we gain anonymous ftp archives! -
ARTICLES
- The Secretives reveal some -
FUND DRIVE STATUS
SOCIAL EVENTS
- Greyscot and Birdy get married -
- Mystique and No in a brawl -
- Greyscot and Peleg vs. Bremmar -
- Ozy departs the realm -
- Roy_Mast assassinated! -
- Tempus kidnapped by "ladies" -
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MINGUS RESIGNS FROM IMMORTHOOD
Mad Mingus of Clan Gunn has resigned from immorthood at LegendMUD. He tells
us that he did not feel he had the time to commit to it just now as events
in Real Life are preventing his participation to any large extent in Virtual
life. He does promise to be back to visit once RL settles down somewhat. And
he urges everyone to remember that this is a nice place to play, and never
to lose sight of the word "play." :) A nice sentiment with which to leave
us. We wish him the best of luck.
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WE'RE PLANNING A HOLIDAY
Many of our collegiate players are on Spring Break this week or next, so in
the spirit of the times we thought we'd offer up a fun holiday for the
players on the mud. Starting on Friday night at midnight system time (US
Central), anything you do on the mud for a while won't count. You can die,
you can explore, you can murder freely.
Your current playerfiles will be backed up so when the Holiday ends, you'll
be able to pick up right where you left off, with no penalties (even if
you permadied because you wanted to see what the inside of the vampire's
tummy looked like!)
While this is going on, we'll take advantage of the fact that things don't
count in order to test out a potential new fighting system. We'd really
like your feedback on how the system works out--if it doesn't work out at
all, we'll ditch the idea. There are a lot of implications to this, so
what follows goes into detail on what this alternate system is like.
The basic idea of this system is to permit different weapons and people
with different skill levels in various weapons to have faster or slower
attack speeds. In other words, instead of the current 'rounds' we have
now, people would instead be able to attack after set intervals. Some
people would thus get in an extra blow every once in a while, or even as
many as three quick blows in the time that their opponent gets in one.
In general, however, the weapons which permit such extremely fast attacks
would tend to be the lighter ones that cause less damage. Under this
system weapons would be different. Currently, weapons have dice rolls to
determine their damages. Many of the most popular weapons, such as the
Sceptre of Minos, are popular precisely because their damage ranges give
the weapon not only a high maximum damage (max damage for a conventional
weapon in the game is 20 in one blow) but also give high MINIMUM damages.
In the case of the Sceptre, it's also 20 (i.e. the Sceptre does 20 a blow
every time it hits).
The new system sets the minimum damage for all weapons to 1. (This may
sound like a major downgrade, but remember that this weapon that does
from 1 to 20 may end up hitting the opponent 3 times in the time it
currently hits once). The maximum damage during the test would be
determined by the weight of the weapons, because we're not changing all
the weapons in the game for just a one-week test. If we go with this
system, then weapons would be revised and there would be more variety
between a weapon's weight and its damage.
That's not the only change to weapons. Weapons would also have a 'quality'
rating that affected their speed. Weapons of higher quality would be
faster and better balanced and more maneuverable. Those with the forge
skill would be able to make weapons of varying quality according to their
ability. Those with armslore would be able to tell the difference between
otherwise apparently identical weapons. For the test, we would start out
with all weapons assumed to be of quality 0, which is the base, and magic
weapons of quality 3 or four (3 for sword of light, which will become
staff of light, and 4 for ice dagger and flaming sword). Armslore would be
available in its new form to give speed and quality ratings on weapons.
We'd also start out by assigning max damages to current weapons based on
their weights. This means that many of your current preferred weapons will
lose a LOT of damage. However, they will also become a lot faster weapons.
Expect to find weapons like the greatsword suddenly better than ever--and
also very heavy, for the dedicated slasher only. Wobble will be selling
weapons of all quality ranges and types in the Wild Boar Tavern, so you'll
be able to find what you want and try out all the sorts.
So how do you get these fast attacks? Well, here are the factors:
- Weapon quality
- Weapons proficiencies
- Your stat in the 'prime stat' for the weapon
Every weapon falls into one of the three existing weapons proficiencies:
fencing, arms training, or swordsmanship. We'll be giving each of these
proficiencies three levels (i.e. three pracs to learn swordsmanship to the
max). Prime stats for the proficiences are as follows:
Swordsmanship: strength
Arms training: constitution
Fencing : dexterity
The prereqs are simple: 40 in the prime stat for the current skill, 60 for
the next level, and 80 for the master level. Each level shaves time off
your attacks. Wobble will be sitting in the Wild Boar Tavern teaching
these skills, so anyone will be able to come up and learn them. If you
already have the base level of these, then you must also have the new
prereq stats to get the effect in combat, but you won't have to relearn
the skill.
You also get a bonus based on your stats, regardless of whether you have
learned a proficiency. Those with high dex will be faster with fencing
weapons even if they do not have the fencing skills. How much dex they
need is based on how heavy the weapon is. In other words, a very agile
fellow with a lightweight (and therefore low damage) dagger could very
likely do more damage than a person with a heavy high damage sword,
because of the extra attacks.
As for why the extended test? Well, this system is very much merely a
proposal, and we do not know how feasible it is. The hope is that it will
help game balance as well as make fights more varied and interesting. But
we need your help to make it happen. We'll stop the test when either the
system works fine, or the overwhelming consensus is that it won't ever
work.
Some of the particular areas we're worried about and hope you can help
with--how do mages fare in all this? Will the fast attacks that people can
get with the light daggers make powerful weapons useless in practical
terms? How does it work with skill usage in combat? Which weapons need
adjusted? (And there are sure to be many of this latter).
In the meantime, all the mobs will be working off of their usual
once-a-round attacks, so their abilities will be unchanged. This should give
us an indication of the relative alteration in the difficulty of combat that
this will cause.
As a side issue to this test--the 6 attacker limit will be in effect
finally in combat. Mage-created mobs will be unchanged, but elementals
will have more fight skills used. Dancing sword damage is based on that of
the weapon, so that will likely change and different weapons will be
useful than were before.
The technical specs of the fight system will be posted to the LDL for those
interested in poking through the guts of it. To subscribe to the Legend
Discussion List, send email to [email protected] asking to join. It is an
unmoderated email forum for discussion of game issues of any sort.
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LEGEND GAINS AN ANONYMOUS FTP SITE
We have anonymous ftp of the past issues of the Legendary Times at
nebula.keene.edu, in pub/users/legend/lt. Also there, though not in the lt
directory, will be proposing.txt, a text file of info for those considering
immorting. Look for other stuff to be put there as we upload new files.
The space is being offered to us courtesy of Chris Gann, sysop of nebula,
and Dusty, who is maintaining the archive.
Before you ask--we doubt we will have the space there to keep graphics files,
such as gifs of all the players. :)
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.' '.
.: FEATURE :.
'. ARTICLES! .'
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AN OPEN LETTER TO NEW ADVENTURERS AT LEGEND
by the GuildMaster of the Secretives
The other evening, as I was wending my way through the clan
hall--down the aisles of filing cabinets and around the crated
obscurities--I finally decided that the place has become much too
crowded. We have just stored too much information. And much of it,
still classified "Secretive," is common knowledge to many. For
instance, picking a file cabinet, a drawer, and a file at random, I
found a memo (the date was smudged with chocolate frosting from a
donought, so I don't know when the memo was drafted) that read: "There
appears to be a group of neutral songmasters organizing, devoted to
aiding the needy. They call themselves sometimes 'The Order of the
Scroll' and sometimes 'Bards.' Such benevolent goals almost always
attract a great number of people. These 'bards' bear further
observation, lest they become too powerful." Great. That's useful
information.
So the next day, we brought in some help from Washington, DC,
and the shredders have been running day and night cleaning out the
useless files. We should have space to spare soon, if you're interested
in joining us. But in the interest of good public relations--and taking
a tip from some of the others who have recently offered advice for
players--I offer ten de-classified tips from the files of the Secretives
(I've even decoded them for you). New adventurers may find them
especially useful, but even experienced players may find something of
note.
1) One of the greatest benefits of your increasing experience
is that it permits you to use more equipment. If you have the ability
to use additional equipment, do so as soon as you can. Room to spare
for equipment does you no good when you might be wearing or wielding
something to better advantage. And gold in the bank is often similarly
worthless.
2) One of the other greatest benefits of your increased
experience is your ability to learn new skills or spell words. As with
spare room for equipment, unused opportunities gain you no advantage.
Unless you're saving the "practice" with a specific goal in mind, spend
it promptly and begin enjoying the benefit it buys.
3) Never intentionally carry more equipment than you are
permitted [never exceed your "rent"]. When you are so overburdened,
the odds of something terrible happening that makes all your equipment
vanish seem to increase proportionally. If you find yourself with more
than permitted, get to an inn and see what items you might rid yourself
of. If you plan to auction the offending item, find yourself an
isolated spot (where no opponent will pick up what you drop) and drop
enough of your equipment so that you are secure from catastrophe during
the auction.
4) Legend is a large place. Cautious exploration will yield
you many benefits as you find new skills, spell words, items, or
opponents to provoke. Lingering in the popular areas--where you must
compete with a horde of other adventurers for opponents who never seem
to be plentiful enough--can be frustrating.
5) The Secretives are your friends. Tell the Secretives
everything you know. [Thought you'd get a kick out of one of our early
attempts at a subliminal message; we've gotten much more sophisticated
since this one was drafted].
6) A tip for mages: When trying out new spells or searching for
new spell combinations, do so in an empty room or, if you must, in a
room with one weak potential opponent. Some spells will provoke
everyone in the room into attacking you; learning this the hard was is
not as amusing as it sounds.
7) Grouping with people of your own or similar experience can
be satisfying. Grouping with very experienced adventurers can also be
satisfying, but if you find that the rewards from a grouping with a
high-level player are too small--in short, if it appears to you that you
would be doing better alone--speak up. He or she will understand.
8) Buying waterskins in the inns is a good habit to cultivate.
They come filled. Mages--and other unsavory characters--sometimes like
to do things to public wells and pumps that you will find unpleasant.
9) Always carry some food and drink with you. If you find
yourself hungry or thirsty in mid-combat, you can quickly eat or drink
and thereby ensure that you are not unnecessarily weakened for the
fight.
10) You will not always be able to effectively judge your
oppenent. When you attack a new class of opponent for the first time,
always be sure that you are at full strength and that you do not commit
yourself to fighting without the possibility of flight (for instance,
"rage" prohibits you from fleeing).
Well, there's more, as I said, but I've filled another filing
cabinet with new paperwork that allows this old paperwork to be
released. And, anyway, we can't de-classify everything at once--we'd
lose our funding . . .
Hope you found these words useful.
Live and grow stronger,
Bay_El-Lor
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FUND DRIVE STATUS
The pace of donations has drastically slowed. Although we have the memory
and the hard drive we need, we still do not have the case, the monitor,
the keyboard, the motherboard, the network card... so please do keep the
pledges and checks coming.
TOTAL CASH IN HAND: $575 up from $525 last issue
TOTAL DONORS: 7 up from 6 last issue
ROUGH TOTAL PLEDGED: $950
TOTAL PLEDGES: 14 up from 13 last issue
We suggest that those who have the money burning a hole in their pocket
go ahead and send the checks directly to the following address and we will
get the letters out to them as soon as we can, perhaps even crossing in
the mail. This is the address to send donations to:
(make checks payable to Raphael and Kristen Koster)
Raph and Kristen Koster
University Station
PO Box 1114
Tuscaloosa AL 35486-1114
USA
If you are an overseas donor who cannot write a check in US Dollars, please
email us at the LT address given at the end of this newsletter.
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o O | Wonder what folks are |
`\|||/ | doing over at LegendMud? |
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Greyscot Fitzgerald of the Order of the Scroll, a man well known to most of
you, and Lady Birdy of the Knights of Legend, were married in a private
ceremony held atop Mt. Kilimanjaro this past Saturday. Dusty and Silk were
not in attendance, unsurprisingly, but a large number of well-known
personages were, including the several knights led by Sir Dominic, who gave
the happy couple a salute of honor. Member sof the Order of the Scroll
were on handm and music was provided by a range of visiting jam partners
ranging from the Beatles to Bob Dylan to Mika, who played the wedding march.
Greyscot and Birdy spent their honeymoon in an undisclosed location.
\|/ \|/ \\||// \!/
Some sort of trouble is brewing in a different quarter. Mystique atatcked No
but was unsuccessful in her attempt to slay him. Her motives are unknown, as
indeed are most things about this mysterious person. After the encounter No
publicly offered to drop hostilities if she stopped trying to kill him. No
word was forthcoming on whether Mystique accepted this deal.
\|/ \|/ \\||// \!/
Not too long before his wedding, Greyscot was in the Hall of the Order of
the Scroll with Peleg, fellow bard. To their shock, Bremmar, well-known
member of the Dirty Pair, invaded the clan hall, presumably in order to loot
it. Both bards stood their ground but were slain by Bremmar.
\|/ \|/ \\||// \!/
The following letter arrived from a familiar name amongst the bards of the
Order of the Scroll. It was written in an elegant hand....
" Lords and Ladies of Legend, I come to you as a storyteller today,
but this time the story is mine. I have travelled the realm for what
seems like only a brief time, and have learned so much. Alas I am forced
to seek out a new adventure in places untouched by human hands. Remember
me as I was in my prime, headstrong (and yes a little cocky), but helpful
to whoever needed it. My songs of the Realm are almost complete...I wish
I had more time to compose, but I leave you with this...
When trouble comes crawling round your door,
And gloom sits an easy perch oon your shoulder,
Remember that a helping hand is always there.
Simply reach out and ask for help,
And someone will aid thee.
Most of all remember that a friend, a true friend,
Never ever fades away totally,
their spirit remains with you forever.
"And now I take my final bows to you all, may you be well, strong,
and have a life that I may someday hear of in some other fair troubadors
song."
--Ozy, a little wiser every day"
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Last night without any apparent warning, Roy_Mast was assassinated. No
rumors have made the rounds yet about why he may have been targeted or who
may have hired the killers....
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And a bizarre incident of kidnapping took place recently as well! Here is
the firsthand account of the sad victim, Tempus...
"I was resting at the inn in Klein when I meet two women. Following the
Code of a Knight I offered to help them....one of the ladies by the name of
Silk suggested we head to the Halls of Legend. So I followed these ladies
(Silk and Kiera) to the Halls of Legend where I died defending them against
Deathstalker. Just when I thought everything was okay.......the two Ladies
took me by knife point as Hostage. They kept me locked in a room and
ransomed me to my Ecstasy.....for 15k. *sigh* it was awful......they kept
harressing me and blaming me for the wrongs of men. Many friends of mine
tried to help......but only till the ladies got their ransom money did they
let me go."
It's worth noting that Tempus and Ecstasy have been quite a romantic item
lately. The two kidnappatrixes surely knew Ecstasy's weak spot...
\|/ \|/ \\||// \!/
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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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