Volume Two Issue Eight
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............./ / THE LEGENDARY TIMES
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..../ /_/..\______/./_____/./__/.../__/./_______/ MUD
.../________________/ running on bashful.cc.utexas.edu 9999
128.83.108.17 9999
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http://www.cs.cmu.edu:8001/Web/People/johnmil/legend/legend.html
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VOLUME TWO, ISSUE EIGHT Jan. 27th, 1995
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!!!SEND IN YOUR NOMINEES!!!
...:/:[ CONTENTS ]:\:...
SOME BUG FIXES AND UPDATES
- a few changes to stun -
- curse spell rendered 'harmless' -
ARTICLES
- Nomination Ballot for the Expies! -
- Sylia's Tips & Tricks III: Stats -
SOCIAL EVENTS
- An Open Letter from the Order of the Scroll -
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BUG FIXES & UPDATES
You now only have a 2/3 chance of waking a stunned person.
You get a message when woken from a stun, and when you awake naturally.
Curse spell is fixed and no longer crashes the mud.
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.' '.
.: FEATURE :.
'. ARTICLES! .'
' '
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In the high tradition of the Oscars, the Emmies, the Clios, the Tonys,
and the Grammies, we are pleased to announce:
THE FIRST ANNUAL LEGENDMUD AWARDS: the EXPIES!
These awards are given in a variety of categories. Nominations are supplied
by players and winners are voted on by players. All those who subscribe to
the Legendary Times recieve both ballots.
Nominations must be received at the LT offices prior to midnight Central
Standard Time on Friday February the 3rd. Nominations will be tallied and
the top nominees will then be placed on the final awards ballot. An official
form is being mailed under separate cover to every subscriber to the LT
and LDL.
Votes for the final ballot must be returned by midnight CST on February 14th,
the end of LegendMUD's first anniversary of being open to the full Internet!
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In the AREAS division, awards are given to areas and their builders in the
following categories. Note that ONLY areas built since Feb. 14th 1994 are
eligible. For your nominating convenience, here follows a list of the
eligible areas:
Egypt Hell Phoenicians
Savanna San Francisco Seoni Jungle, India
Andes (Med or Anc) South Seas/Macao OOC Lounge
Black Forest Tortuga Nottingham Castle ONLY
Cem-Anahuac--Aztecs Medieval Germany Arabian Murals
The Alhambra Viking Scandanavia Ireland EXCLUDING Tara & the Dun
St. Denis Abbey Roof and Crypts ONLY
The categories:
* The ELESSAR MEMORIAL AWARD, given in memory of the immort who helped
create the historical concept of the mud, is given to the area which best
represents history. Note that Klein is ineligible for this award.
* The H. G. WELLS MEDAL goes to the area you would most like to visit in
real life if you were capable of time travel.
* BEST ROOM goes to the single room in an eligible area with the nicest
description, atmosphere, or other superior qualities. Note that Klein is
ineligible for this award.
* BEST ITEM goes to the item you feel has most enhanced the game; not the
best in stats, but most useful, most interesting, prettiest, cleverest.
* THE VAMPY SPECIAL AWARD goes to the best mobile. Best not as in toughest,
but as in Best. You decide what that means.
* THE LAMPY SPECIAL AWARD goes to the coolest quest. Any quest found in an
eligible area is valid, with the exception of the ritter quest in Klein.
* BEST SPECIAL EFFECT goes to the niftiest special effect, echo, or mob
behavior.
* BEST DEATHTRAP should be self-explanatory.
* THE GOLDEN SQUIRREL TROPHY goes to the mob who best exemplifies the spirit
of the vorpal squirrel.
* BEST AREA is given as an award for the best overall area added during the
time frame. Considerations should include quests, game balance, writing,
design, etc.
* BEST BUG is given to the bug in an area that is most clearly the result
of amazing boneheadedness.
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Awards in the IMMORTALS division may be given to any immortal who was with
us during some part of the past year. The following are eligible:
Sadist Charity Ptah Kaige Flagg
Fionn Breton Llew Arkenstone Parrilyn
K'Mala Wraith Matrix Mingus Ganelon*
Branwen* Aneirin* Chocorua* Mania*
*denotes immortal no longer with LegendMUD.
The categories are:
* BEST REASON FOR TURNING DOWN A REIMB REQUEST which must be for an actual
reason given to a player by an immortal.
* IMMORTAL YOU ARE MOST LIKELY TO ASK FOR HELP.
* IMMORTAL YOU ARE MOST LIKELY TO ASK TO COOK FOR YOU.
* BEST POOFS which must be for poofins and outs actually used by an immortal
during the past year.
* SNAZZIEST DRESSER.
* BEST BUILDER is given for overall care and quality in area design.
* BEST ADMIN is given to the immortal who in your mind has done the most for
the mud in activities other than building.
* THE SADIST AWARD FOR BEST CODER. Only Sadist is eligible for this award.
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PLAYERS:
Any character is eligible for the awards that follow, whether or not they
are currently active. If they were once mortal and are now immortal, they
are eligible as well for their mortal activities.
* MOST HELPFUL goes to the player who is the most helpful to newbies and
established players.
* BEST CLAN goes to the clan judged to be most successful in completing its
goals. Note that this is for the overall history of the clan, not for their
present condition. If you prefer, you may nominate a clan during a given
period of its history. The eligible clans are:
rogues Clan Connaught*
Order of the Scroll Clan Gunn*
Hermetic Order Wandering Mage Rescue Alliance*
Secretives Druid Emergency Response Team* (DERT)
Knights of Legend
Assassins Guild *denotes an rp-only clan
* BEST GUILDMASTER goes to the leader of a clan who accomplished the most
in developing and strengthening their clan. Eligible characters are:
Magdalen Wraith Eretz
Rusalka Parrilyn Gig
Warbird Khelleck Taro
Aragorn K'Mala that Assassins guy
Lirra* Mingus* Ganelon*
Rory* Jove* *denotes gm of an RP clan
* BEST ROLEPLAYING MELODRAMA goes to the ongoing narrative roleplaying
situation that was most interesting, captivating, and the best expression
of the spirit of roleplaying. Note that this award goes to *situations*.
Examples: the recent transcript of the Leileth/Greyscot/Dusty/Hunter_Rose
thing, or the original Dante and Maegwin tragic love affair, or the current
Bart/Rusalka epic.
* BEST SUPPORTING ROLEPLAYER IN A MELODRAMA goes to the character who, though
not the lead/instigator, was most integral to the rp of the situation. This
award is given in MALE and FEMALE categories.
* BEST ROLEPLAYER goes to the character judged to be best at roleplaying. This
might be for best characterization, best acting, best improvisation in
situations, best background, or all of the above. This award is given in
both MALE and FEMALE categories. This award can be viewed as for the player
who best plays the mud as a social environment for roleplaying.
* BEST HACK N SLASHER, or the DIKU MEMORIAL AWARD, goes to the player who
is best at playing the mud as a game, best at levelling, beating the game,
coming up with strategies, tricks, etc. This award can be seen as for the
player who best exemplifies the gaming aspects of the mud.
* BEST MUD CITIZEN is given in MALE and FEMALE categories, and is given to
the player you would most hate to have to do without. This award can be seen
as for the character who best exemplifies the real life social aspects of
the mud.
* BEST DEATH is awarded to the actual incident of death that is judged 'best'
by whatever standards such things are judged. :P
* BEST STRUNG ITEM goes to the player who has made the most creative use of,
or the most elegant/nifty/cool/whatever use of, a strung item. This award
goes to the player who came up with the new description, and to the item.
* BEST WARCRY goes to the best warcry in actual use by a player.
* BEST DESCRIPTION goes to the best description on a character (short/long
and also full description).
* MOST LIKELY TO SUCCEED goes to the character most likely to succeed, at
whatever. :)
Please refrain from zillions of nominees in each category. It is permissible
to nominate more than one, but don't mention more than three per category.
(excepting male and female, three each there).
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SYLIA'S TIPS AND TRICKS OF LEGEND : PART III, STATS
by Sylia
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[Ed.'s note: this is actually the fifth installment of Sylia's magnum
opus. She's written six parts so far, but here at the Legendary Times we're
only publishing four of the six parts. If you want to read the original
parts three and four which were skipped, please check out our Web home
page, the URL to which is given in the banner at the top of this newsletter!]
Stats:
The most important stat is Dex according to my point of view. It gives you
hitroll bonus and grants many combat skills. (Since killing is the main
method to gain xp , explore xp or quest xp can't get you up to level 50)
You'll need dex to dodge your enemy's blow or be able to hit them. Also the
success rate on using some skills are based on your dex comparing to the
opponent's dex such as kick, bash, or headbutt. The tumble skill may save
your life if you failed a bash or headbutt, or perhaps your opponent wants to
headbutt or bash you. And high dex even gives a AC bonus.
Con is high valued by many people. Since you gain more hps for high
con. You regenerate more hps during ticks. It makes you able to fight longer
before you pass out. Also with the new modified headbutt skill. It gives you
a good chance to stun the opponent for a very long time that makes you almost
able to finish them (unless the mob has a ton of hps) And it reduces your
chance of stunning your own with that. And several skills are based on Con,
such as headbutt, warcry, or sustained breath.
Str is the primary requirement for being a warrior. This is not very
true here. Yes lots of good weapons may need a high strength to wield. But
with those magical weapon flowing around, you can use a nice weapon without
having a really high strength. But you still need a not bad strength in order
to use skills such as bash or rage. Also high strenght gives a damage bonus
and may be essential in the fight.
Mind becomes more and more important now with the new modification of
tthose aggressive spells. Now the damage done by it is high affected by your
mind and probably vs the opponent's mind in some cases. It is the secondary
requirement for many skills and determines if you can learn any words. But
either you make it the highest and make full use of this stat or you may want
to keep it barely enough to use your skills.
Perception is a stat vital to all players but uncessary to have it
too high. Hunt skill may be wanted by all players. Peek is intersting or good
when you wanna steal something. And backstab damage is modified by it. Thief
type character may want to have a higher perception. And mage will need a not
bad perception in order to chant certain spells or learn certain words. Also
high perception will allow you to detect hidden exit. It is also essential in
shooting. But so far since gun is kinda weak comparing to other skills and
backstab is still not too desirable ( see previous issue on backstab ). It is
almost unnecessary to have a high perception. Also many items' side effect as
-perception makes it impossible to obtain a high one. But it has the
potential to be the most important one since if damage may be determined by
your accuracy reflected by perception ( it has been suggested by certain gods
that's I know ).
Spirit is a stat for druid and mage. A high stat is required to learn
meditate ( good for spellcasters or druids ) or root ( which is a warrior's
skill actually ). Also augment skill is based on the spirit score too. But
with those many +spirit items flowing around. You don't even need a natural
good spirit in order to make it high with items.
Prestige is basically useless. You lose it too easily. And only a few
skills are based on it. Ride skill is not too prefered since wild animal may
attack you instead. recruit skill is not installed as far as I know. You
ggain a few rent space if you have prestige but it's by far too little to
compare with items' rent. And you may be able to gain a few prestige by
killing a few mobs around in order to allow you to ride, if necessary. Also
you can bug a bard to prasie you so you gain prestige.
hps is your life force. It is highly valued by most players. For me I
never try to gain a high hps since I think trying not to get hitted is better
than able to take more hit. Sometimes the ob is just too tough and they hit
you right away no matter what your stats or ac are, At that time hps will be
in the picture. Also it makes you more powerful and valued as a tank or a
pkiller ( or at least potential pkiller ). there are many =con items out
there for you to lend right before you level so sometimes you may not want to
carry them around. Also certain nice items such as amethyst ring or bane
cloak has a -hp modiflier so you may need good hps in order to wear it.
ac is very useful in order to make yoour opponent unable to hit you.
It works best for low-mid level mobs but not too handy when facing very high
levelers. And it is very hard to reach really high ac without the help of
armor or barkskin spell or a few nice items. Also if you want to concentrate
on ac, somehow you have to free some slots out and make your other stats
worse.It may be good for the tanker but unfortunately people only group for
high level mobs and in such case it is kinda useless. Also theer are too many
other methods to harm you that ignore your ac score such as special skills
that many mobs have and spells.
Notes on mobs: due to the importance on dex. many mobs's dex have been raised
to fit the players' ability. Also some special skills of the mob doesn't
require a dex check. ( You 'll know what I mean if you're ever slamed by a
piano, scratched by fingernails, stunned by bright light, or even slayed
immediately ) Most mobs have martial arts but it's not very scary since you
have a good chance to avoid it by a successful dex check and with a
successful tumble skill. These mobs with special skills are basically
duplicating those effect of bash , headbutt, or merely doing a certain amount
of damage. They can use these skills once in a while without any restriction.
( unless they are stunned or based down ) if you are fighting several
thieves or hyena, you may be tripped down and unable to flee or chant spells
or use skills. And will be probably killed ( when you are sitting, you suffer
more damages on hit ). So it is more dangerous to fight mobs with special
skills. You may want to scream I want to have trip, I want to have
fingernails but players have their own advantages so it's not a problem of
fair or not fair here.
Shieldmaiden of the hermetic Order
Sylia
P.S. I am looking forward to some feedbacks or else I'll quit writing.
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o O | Wonder what folks are |
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Let it not be whispered in dark corners that I allow the Legendary Times
to serve as a propagandistic vehicle for clans! Instead, say it openly.
Here's the latest bit of boosterism to appear on my desk...
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A SHORT CHAT ABOUT THE BARDS
By Eretz Mizraq, GuildMaster of the Order of the Scroll
The Bards, one of LegendMud's three principal clans, has its
own character. We are musicians, artists, and writers, dancers and
singers, poets and philosophers--a very diverse band of people--
tied together by a common loyalty and devotion to a creative
interpretation of our endeavor: not only to build a world safe for
decent folk, but also a world well worth inhabiting.
What kind of a player makes a good Bard? The kind who reads
Kant while bashing a sailor; who listens to the Beatles while
beating up the abbot; who enjoys fine food and wine at any of
Legendmud's superb eating establishments, and who is courteous
enough to junk his mugs.
Since having the great honor of taking leadership of this
clan, I have tried to be worthy of this task. Membership has
tripled and we have embarked on some projects you may want to know
about. I should stress here that membership in the Bards is non-
discriminatory, open to those of every hometown, alignment and
specialization--mages and warriors; Arabians and Peruvians; the
good and the evil; the armored and the unarmored.
The traditional task of the Bards has been to help newbies and
to gather information. I have added a third principle which may
seem obvious but is all-important: To help each other:
1. Helping Newbies
Under this program, called "Bard of Avon Calling," all Bards
are encouraged to greet newbies and to help them. If you are a dual
player, however, we would appreciate you not RPing us to request
information as a level 1 that you already know as a level of 40.
Advice, however, can be restricted to verbal assistance. The
information given should be pertinent to the level of the newbie.
Bards are not required to get anything or kill anything for
newbies. I am pleased to report that our newbie-helping services
are sharply up in productivity.
Newbies should be aware of a new program called Future Bards
of Legendmud (FBOL), which allows them to pledge Bard for extra
attention. But of course there is no obligation and we help all
Newbies without discrimination.
2. Gathering and disseminating information
The Bard Book Club (members only) has published a number of
works of fiction including Thomas Hardy's Far From the Mudding
Crowd and Grayscot Fitzgerald's Tender is the Knight, we are now
embarking on a line of reference books. The first in the series
will be The Whole Quest Catalog, while we are serializing The
Bards' Guide to the World in our newsletter BardBoard. I hope that
some day we will produce Everything You Wanted to Know About Eq But
Were Afraid to Ask and The Encyclopedia of Magic, Spells, and
Words.
Although Bards are happy to give information to all players,
no individual Bard is required to respond to all requests. In a
very tiny number of cases, data is classified and to be given only
within the clan. Bards are forbidden to charge for information.
We also carry a supply of basic maps for hometowns.
Information-gathering is conducted by the Bard Intelligence
Agency (BIA) and distributed by the Bard of Education.
3. Help each other
A Bard is pledged to assist other clan members in gaining
information and equipment; to rush to their assistance if needed to
reclaim corpses or defend them from attack. Bard can use the Bard
warehouse (Eq Are Us) and get assistance in levelling. Please note
that--like other clans--we help non-members a great deal, too. The
important thing is a real commitment to go out of one's way,
sacrificing time and xp, to assisting others.
CULTURAL ACTIVITIES
Our cultural activities include the Bard Jazz Trio (Peleg,
Greyscot, Eretz) and the Bard Marching Band. Our new album, The
Bard Jazz Trio Live at the Wild Boar Inn! includes the following
cuts:
Side One: "Knights in White Satin," "Don't Step on My Calf-
High Blue Suede Boots," "Quest, Sara, Sara," "The Inn Crowd," "Love
is Good for Anything that Ales You," "I Shot the Sheriff (of
Nottingham)," "Tiger Rag," "They Call the Wind Morion," "Hail to
the Chieftain," "I Believe in Magic," and "Ein Klein Nacht Music."
Side Two: Our special Bob Dylan annd Beatles tribute! "A Bard
Rain's Going to Fall," "Stuck Inside a Mobile with the Memphis
Blues Again," "It's All Right, Ma, I'm Only Bleeding," "Hey
Prudence," "I Say Hell-o and You say Goodbye," and John Lennon's
"IMageine."
Bards are encouraged to make puns; create riddles; and to use
cultural references from all eras of history.
The Bard Marching Band has been signed up for its first gig at
a forthcoming wedding. Watch for details.
As part of our duties, we are interested in the history of
great adventure and battles on LegendMud. You may request a free
poem about your life or adventures, in any style from high art to
Soldier of LegendMud style. Please ask me for details.
In the event of the creation of a new Hollywood zone, we are
casting for several feature films under the direction of the
internationally known Bernardo Bardalucci, including "Annie Clan
Hall," the classic children's story, "Captain Hook-nosed," and that
marvelous tale of east Asia, "The Last Compradore."
PEACE AND LOVE
The Bards are neutral in inter-clan conflicts, urging all
players to concentrate on the real enemy: the mobile menace. I am
proud to have participated in the first interclan summit. We
believe that the heroic, virtuous Knights and the brilliant,
talented Hermetics provide needed services. We treasure their
friendship and sing their praises. Let us go forward and upward to
create a better Legendworld!
SOUND GOOD?
See your local Bard recruiter today! We require you to
complete a special quest, and to have knowledge of play and
eloquence. (These skills may be acquired after clanning.)
MAKE HISTORY! BE A BARD!
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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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