General Information for Newbies to Vampire Wars
Okay - one thing that is different about Vampire Wars is the you DON'T level like on most MUDs. Its an ongoing process. Which also means that you don't need to train or practice at the acolytes. You can do it ANYWHERE!!
It means that you are not stuck with only certain spells and skills, you can have them all! So type prac to show you the spells available (type prac1 then prac2 for them in two smaller, manageable chunks)
Vampire Wars is based around warring clans of vampires - this means that players can be killed by other players. It also brings into it the aspect of how many times someone else has killed another player - this is called status. Read the status page to see how that affects you.
Before you start killing other people, you need to become an avatar. This is one of the things that you can train (type train to see what else you can train).
Firstly (as it is important)
Being an avatar means a few different things.
BUT
If its a player you are fighting, when mortally wounded, you are prone to being decapped! This means that the player in question will beat you down until you are at -10 hp, and then chop of your head! Again, see the status page to find out about this. Also if someone walks past you while you are mortalled (at the mortal level) and healing, they could try to decap you too.
So before turning avatar..think of a few things first.
Alignment - think carefully before going avatar. Once you have done this, your
alignment is set. So consider which you want to be & type either align neutral, good
or evil. We’ve ALL forgotten to align - it means getting decapped just to change it.
Is it worth it? So chose carefully.
BUT do not let others tell you when you can or cannot go avatar. Firstly and
foremost it is up to you.
Money! - IS important on Vampire Wars. The are only a few items that you may NEED to buy (like in Jokers Castle) , but unless you are REALLY hard, there are many quest itmes you will find hard to get. So PAY other people to do it. There are many older players willing to get quest items off a mob for you. The average minimum price IS 10,000 gold tho! So collect items off mobs and sell them in shops, such as weapons in the weaponsmith in Midgaard.
Mazes - Yep, we all hate ‘em. But there IS a way to get out and not just wander aimlessly
for hours. Two commands help.
Ex - shows the exits available, including the BRIEF description. So it could say
North- the void
East- the void
West- the road to newfane
South- the void
Sadly, at night, its too dark to see, so wait until morning. ( you get the message
"Too dark to tell")
Or you could try using the sca command. Similar to exit, except that it tells you
if there is any living (or undead I suppose) creature in the immediate square around you.
Other handy commands to know and use
Save & backup (b). YOU are responsible for regurlaly backing up your characters player file. Its a sad day if your file gets corrupted & you haven’t backed up for days. SO DO IT!
quit - I know, you all use it, but I’ve spotted the odd link dead player standing there. So when leaving always quit, not disconnect.
Score (sc) - Lots of info in score. Hopefully most of it is self explainatory. Things like primal & beast are more complex. Primal is important for starting a quest and beast matters only to vampires. For more information on the score screen, see this page.
Affects (af) - Tells you what is affecting you, usually spells. So how long that Neogi’s posion will last, how long your own bless spell will last. Also shows if you are hidden. If you have a lot of nasty, crippling spell, use the dispel magic spell to remove them.
Diagnose (diag self) - This will tell you pecisely which bits have been lopped off. Or which bones have been broken. So if its some limb lopped off use the clot spell, then pick up the limb ( if you can’t find it, you can replace it with another from any mob - if you can lop on off that is!) and use the regenerate (regen) spell. Broken bones are easier. Use the mend spell.
Train - as you don't level on vamp, you need to be able to train your hp, mana and move somehow, the same for your stats! So type train ans see all the fun things you can spend exp on. ( HINT! Immunities are handy!:> ) Skill (sk) - To see how skilled you are drop into stance and wield the weapons.
Spell - see how well you can cast the different colours of the spell groups.
Flee - handy. dead handy in fact. Might stop you being dead. Use your discretion about when to flee. Be prepared to flee several times.
Wimpy - Another handy way to stay alive. In score (sc) you will see your wimpy value. You will automatically flee (if you CAN) when your hit points dip to this level. Don’t set it too high or you may flee out of a fight you are winning.
Finger (finger destiny) - A way to find out some basic information about players and deities, like their name, title, description and AGE. (Age is a good indicator of how STRONG and HARD a player is).
Consider (con player/mob) - use this AMAZINGLY useful command to consider wether you are hard enough to kill a mob ( or player if you’re that way inclined). BUT, if you walk up to a player who is much harder than you they might not LIKE being conned. SO use the finger command first to see get a slight idea of how hard they MAY be. Save a lot of embarrassment and the typing in of the FLEE command.
Why Doesn't it Work!
Okay. You’ve noticed that casting portals doesn’t always work. Thats because you can turn your summon on or off (either sum on, or sum off). If you’ve got someone big & nasty chasing you ( & yes that means you Lobo), turning your summon off it a good idea.
You can’t teleport around the whole mud either. Only in the area you are in, and then only if its a teleport area. Most (all?) mazes are no teleport, no recall and no portal.
Vampires and Humans
Once you get a little harder, some of you may wish to be come a vampire, take a look at the information on the different clans. All vampires get 5 disciplines, each of which grant one or more extra powers.
But you may wish to stay a human. Netosia is coding in fun things for humans and there will probably be more information on that soon!