New to Nexus

By Florian, A Trailblazer of Erisar

Greetings Fellow adventurers!

This document is intended to assist people new to Aalynor's nexus with some of the basic commands necessary to play the game. While help is available on-line (type help, or help [command] ) it's also useful to get some of the basics out of the way quickly. Some of this information is duplicated elsewhere, but is gathered here for purposes of convenience. Additionally, this is a work-in-progress, and subject to change. My main goal is to support new adventurers in quickly obtaining some of the information they need to enjoy the realms of Aalynor's Nexus.

Aalynor's nexus in my opinion, one of the finest muds on the internet. The commands will come easily once learned, but it takes some time to become used to the variety of commands and how to use them well, especially in combat.

 

Mud Clients

 

First, you should have a mud client. Client's allow you to utilize aliases, which will make play much smoother, and allow you to set up commands (such as spell chants) in advance. This is critical for being able to respond well to situations requiring rapid response. Telnet allows a few aliases (called macros), but is
unwieldy at best; get a client, and learn how to use the alias commands.

Here are two sites for the most commonly used clients:

Macintosh: http://homepages.tcp.co.uk/~ajlewis/Rapscallion/
PC: http://www.zuggsoft.com/zuggsoft/index.cfm

You should also read the player's handbook and the policies in depth, as soon as possible. These will assist you in choosing a class and assigning attributes to your character, among other very important things.

Here are some basics to help you along. Most commands can be abbreviated to three or fewer letters, i.e. Look Monster, can be abbreviated to L Mon
(caps unnecessary). Health can be applied as Hea , etc. *'s will indicate an abbreviated command from here on out, there is no need to type the asterisk in the game, it simply indicates that I am talking about a command. Again, capitals are unnecessary. You should try all of the commands and familiarize yourself with
the results.

I. Looking at things:

 

Examine:

*Exa (your name) or (item name) or (creature name)

This will show you who you are, and what, if anything, you are wearing or wielding. Additionally, it will display your description, if any. This command is also used to examine objects and creatures. When used on an object, it will show you the object's description. When used on a creature it will tell you, along with a
general description, the level of a creature, and whether it is hostile.

 

Health:

*Hea
This will show you your statistics, which indicate your state of well-being, or lack thereof. They are displayed as current/maximum, i.e 10/15 indicates that you have 10 of a total of 15 of a given statistic. Statistics regenerate with time, at different rates depending on your class, the situation you are in, and your attribute-point distribution (i.e Constitution).

Stamina: Your current state of physical vigor, when you take damage, generally it will deplete stamina, then health. When stamina is at zero, you are exhausted, and cannot move. A good time to yell for healing, help or use a device to assist yourself. You cannot cast spells when exhausted, either. The Vigor spell (and a few others) adds Stamina to your character, up to his/her maximum.

Health: The physical state of your body. Vital hits come off health directly, bypassing stamina. When health reaches zero, your character undergoes death. The Mend-Wounds spell adds Health to your character, up to his/her maximum.

Magic-points: This is your current stored magical energy, used primarily in spell casting. These are depleted by spell-casting or being drained by a foe, and regenerate with time. You may not cast a spell which you do
not have the magic-points (or Mana) to support.

 

Information:

*Inf
This gives the most complete status of your character. It shows nearly all the information available on your character.

 

Experience:

*Exp
This command shows your level, how much experience you need to obtain your next level, and the amount of gold currently in your purse.

 

Spells:

*Spel
This command shows the spells (if any) in your spellbook, and any currently active magic (such as a blessing, or protection spell) on your character.

 

Skills:

*Skil
This shows your current skill level in the different weapon types, these improve with practice.

 

Evaluate:

*Eval (item) or (person) or (creature)
This is a magical ability. You get a certain number of evaluates to use each day. This allows you to get very detailed information about a creature, person, or item.

 

Inventory:

*I
This will show what you are carrying, and its weight. By the way, when killed, any items not in a sack or bag will stay with your corpse. Room updates clear away corpses, generally, so get help to get your things and keep valuables in bags or sacks, etc.

 

Search:

*Sea
This will, if successful, reveal hidden creatures, exits, items or other special things to you. Of course, there is not always something hidden to find. (rangers and thieves may be better at this than other classes)

 

II: Rooms

Rooms can be a little confusing at first. This section will assist you in understanding rooms.

Generally, most rooms have five spaces back to front...they are linear and have no width, in terms ofplay...though of course they have width in terms of their reality.

When you enter a room, in most cases, you enter in the middle. You can look at rooms in many ways; I look at them (in my mind) like this, front to back:
+2 +1 0 -1 -2. When you enter a room, you will be at space zero. Someone in the front will be at space + 2 , someone at the back will be at space -2 , etc.

Creatures tend to enter the room in the front, at + 2. Unless they are neutral. Neutral creatures enter in the back or at rondom and move toward whoever is in the room, probably because they are curious. They will not attack unless attacked or provoked in some way. Some creatures enter randomly.

The reason this is important, is that, you must be in range to attack or cast a spell. For a non-missile weapon attack you must be in the same space as the creature. Spells differ a bit, some you must be within one space, others two, etc. Missile weapons also differ. Experiment to find out how each thing works in a room.

The spaces in a room are referred to as the room's Zone.

 

Moving in rooms:

 

Sprint:

*Spr (f or b)
Sprint moves you two spaces forward or back. Note: If you are in +1 already, you cannot sprint forward...there is not enough room to do that...to move forward you must *mv f (see below)

Move:

*Mv (f or b)
As above, but moves you one space in the given direction.

Flee:

*Fle
This command is used when in peril of your life...it sends you (if successful) in a random direction out of the room. You will toss your weapon, and some have been known to lose armor as well when fleeing. Note: you can end up in a worse place than you were, so pay attention when fleeing.

 

Seeing rooms:

 

Look:

*L
This common will display the room's description, items unhidden in the room, obvious exits, and who is attacking what, as well as what is attacking who.

 

People:

*Peo
This command will tell you both the position of other players in the room, relative to yourself, and their general state of well being. Very important for all, but especially for healers.

 

Look Monsters:

*L Mon
This command shows you the position, relative to you, of all creatures in the room.

Standing next to you = in the same space
A few steps (in front or back) = one space away
A dozen steps (in front or back) = two spaces away
Many steps (in front or back) = three spaces away
The other side of the room = four spaces away

 

Scan:

*Sca
In combat, this command gives you a quick report on who is attacking what, and what is attacking who.

 

Victim:

*Vic
If you are attacking something, this command will show its general state of well-being or injury.

 

III. Communicating:

 

Say:

*' (what you wish to say)
This is the command for speaking aloud.Type say (what you want to say).

 

Whisper:

*Whisp (target person) (what you wish to say)
This command allows you to speak privately while in the same room with the target person.

 

Yell:

*Yell (what you wish to yell)
This command allows you to yell something, it will be heard by any in adjacent rooms, possibly including monsters. Yelling a lot is unwise, as it may attract the attention of unwelcome things. Generally, yelling should be used wisely, such as for calls for help, etc.

 

Send:

*Send (person) (message)
This allows you to send a telepathic message to another person in the realms.

 

Ignore:

*Ign (player)
This is a toggle, which allows you to ignore telepathy from given people in the realms. It is on-off, so once turns it on, again turns it off. You have a list which is added to and removed from when you toggle people on/off.

 

Broadcast:

*Broad (message)
When you reach a certain level, you will be given the privilege of being able to broadcast messages to the whole world. All will see them, so use this privelage wisely, and always in character.

 

Emote:

*: (action)
This allows you to perform customizable actions. i.e : sneezes would allow you to sneeze.

 

Paction:

*Pact (person) (what you want to do)
This is an action that only the target player will see. Like whispering, but an action.

 

 

IV. Using Items

 

Wear:

*Wea (item
Allows you, if possible, to wear an item of armor, or another wearable item, such as a ring.

 

Wield:

*Wie (weapon) (ammo type)
Allows you, if possible, to wield a weapon. The ammo field is for use with missile weapons, allowing you to specify which ammo you are using, and you must have ammo for almost all missile weapons.

 

Use:

* Use (item) ?(target)
This allows you to use an item. For instance, a wand upon a monster would require a target, but using a healing salve upon yourself would just be, for instance, use salve.

 

Get:

*Get (item) (target)
Picks something up from the room you are in, if you can carry it. The target field is used if the item is in a container, such as a bag you are carrying, or a corpse on the ground, or a chest in a room. i.e get sword che.

 

Drop:

*Drop (item)
Takes an item from your inventory, and places it upon the ground in the room you are in.

Give:

*Give (item) (target)
Takes an item from your inventory and gives it to the target (in the same room with you). A target may be a
player, or even a creature, in some cases.

 

Toss:

*Toss (item)
This takes an item from your inventory (such as a broken and useless weapon) and makes it disappear. Be careful not to toss the wrong thing, there is no way to retrieve a tossed item.

 

Hide:

*Hide (item)
This will hide an item within a room, useful if you wish to hide something that cant be picked up at the moment to keep a creature from grabbing it, for instance. Rangers and thieves may be more successful with this skill than others, but it improves with practice, regardless.

There are some item skills relating to class, as well. Use the help feature to see (thieves) peek, steal (mages)enchant

 

 

V. Combat:

 

Combat is complex. Generally, you will learn tactics as you go along. What I present here in terms of tactics are, primarily, matter of opinion, and should be treated as such and are subject to change, critique, etc. There is much to learn, as each challenge requires careful forethought, and different situations require different responses. Generally, Nexus is oriented around a cooperative paradigm. Hunting alone, unless highly skilled, will often earn you death. Read the web pages regarding tactics for a start. Generally speaking, in most cases, a smaller party is better. Large parties (over 5) can become chaotic and can tax a healer's ability
to distribute healing well, as well as taxing a leader's ability to care for the party as a whole. Generally, in a party, a leader is elected, who all follow (using the follow command i.e *Fol (someone) )

Each class has differing combat skills, we will start with basics. ! will indicate a commonly used term, rather than a command.

 

! Tank:

A tank is someone whose job it is to take on the majority of dangerous foes, thus keeping them off weaker or more vulnerable players such as healers or mages. This allows those players to concentrate on, for instance, healing or spellcasting, without having to worry too much about trying to heal themselves while healing
others. Fighter-types generally tank. Though any decently equipped character can tank some, if healing magic is directed at them adequately. Creatures will attack those closest to them, but they also tend to seek those with high piety (i.e. healers). Thus the tank watches to see who gets attacked, and tries to get the creatures attention by ! Bashing, ! Parrying, ! Circling, ! Stunning, ! Backstabbing, etc. The previous things will generally cause a creature to turn its attention to the player who has directed that action to the creature. A creature entering a room will also generally turn toward the first person attacking it, so this means that those
who do not want to be attacked should not attack before the tank(s). Of course, the tank requires the constant input of healing magic, since they are taking the majority of damage upon themselves. Try abbreviations with these commands as well, but because I am unsure of them, I'm not listing them here.

Note that some creatures have special abilities, such as poisoning, spell casting, requiring magical weapons to hit them, following you out of the room, immunities, or blocking, etc. A creature that blocks will try to keep you stuck in the room until it can kill you, you must keep trying to escape, flee, or sneak out.

 

Attack or Kill (creature):

*Att (creature #) or
*K (creature #)
This command allows you to attempt to strike creature # x (defaulting to 1) with the weapon you are currently wielding. Possible results are: missing, doing damage, stumbling, fumbling, a double damage blow, a lethal blow, etc. Stumbling causes you to have to recover your balance, which takes a little time. Fumbling causes the same, but you must also re-wield your weapon.

 

Thieves:

*Backstab (creature #)

A special skill of thieves, useable only as follows: the thief must be a: hidden, b: using a sharp or thrusting type of weapon, and c: not already attacking or being attacked by the target creature. It allows the thief to do 2-3 times his/her normal damage, but be aware that it damages the weapon much faster as well. Additionally, if it fails, the thief will be very vulnerable and unable to act for about three times the normal wait between attacks.

 

Fighters:

*Circle (creature #) - Fighters and Barbarians
*Bash (creature #) - Fighters and Barbarians
*Parry (creature #) - Fighters

Circling is an attempt to circle the creature, causing it to become confused, and thus focusing on the one circling it, and giving you some time and a small defensive advantage.

Parry is similar, it drives the creature back and causes it to pause momentarily before resuming its attack.

Bashing, when successful, knock a creature back, stunning it for a bit. It may do less or more than normal damge (the posted rules are a little confusing on this issue). I think it does a lot more damage.

Note that failing any of these types of attack may leave you vulnerable while you try to recover.

 

Rangers:
Haste:

Haste allows the ranger to speed their metabolic processes, lowering their armor class, increasing their
dexterity, and allowing them to act more quickly. It wears off, and you must recover a bit before hasting
again.

 

All classes:
Hide in shadows:

*Hide:
This attempts to hide you within the nooks and shadows of a room, if successful, creatures entering the room will not see you. A *peo command will show all but you and any others who are hidden. Note that a: hide wears off after a while, b: if you speak or act it will reveal you, c: it improves with practice, d: thieves and
rangers are best at it.

 

Rangers, Thieves, Monks:

*Sneak (exit)
If hidden, you can attempt to sneak away. This will a: allow you to enter the next room already hidden, b: leave the room unseen by others and c: possibly escape blocking creatures.

 

VI. Casting Spells:

 

Many spells are difficult to come by. As a beginner, you can get a mage to teach you the basic spells, which are Vigor, Light, Hurt and Curepoison. Type help spells or help (spell-title) for more information. You must have the required mana, or spell-points to cast the spell. And spells fail sometimes, as well, depending on
your class and ability with magic. The scroll for a spell, if it is learnable by your class is learned by studying the scroll, it will then disappear.
i.e > Study Scroll

Vigor adds to the stamina of the target, up to the maximum.

Hurt is a small offensive spell causing damage to the target.

Light allows those without night-vision to see at night.

Cureposion does just that.

To cast a spell, you must know the chant. To see the chant, if you have the spell, type help (spell-title).

For example:

Vigor.

To cast on yourself you dont need a target, just type:
c (return key)
Thy energies return! (return key)

This is the chant for vigor, it must be exact, with a capital T and the exclamation point. c is the abbreviation for cast, the default target is yourself.

To cast on your friend sam (names can generally be abbreviated to three letters as well):

c sam (return key)
Thy energies return! (return key)

To cast hurt upon the White Dragon (generally a very silly and suicidal idea):

c drag (return key)
Breeze, be gentle no more. (return key)

It is best to set up the chants as macros in your client program, this allows for fast casting and less typing. The chants can be found, if you have the spell in your spellbook by typing help (spellname).