It's totally doable. That's the neat thing about LPC.
Whatever it is, you can probably do it.

In this case, what you're looking at is called "lib coding".

In LPC, the properties of objects and players and monsters
are dictated by the files they inherit. Many of these files are
standard and commonly used. For example, players can
converse because they inherit /lib/talk.c, rooms have exits
because they inherit /lib/exits.c.

In this case, you'll be modifying a few related /lib files. Most
specifically (and obviously) you'll want to examine /lib/combat.c
to see how it works. This is the lib file that living things
inherit to mediate combat events, including weapon combat,
unarmed combat, spell rounds, etc.

There's no "easy" way to do it....you pretty much have to
understand what you're reading in that file before you
should mess with it. Make sure to backup often, and
remember that almost any basic coding question you have
will be answered by the Creator's Manual or the FAQs.

I know you're eager to get the combat stuff done right
away, but I'd like to make a suggestion. If you code a few
small areas first, it will help you get a feel for the code, and
will help you much better understand how combat.c
works.

There are no snippets for this, alas. LPC isn't really
conducive to snippeting, because individual muds tend
to make so many fundamental changes.

Anyway, if you have any questions, you can always ask on
the <ds> line, or you can log onto the sample Dead Souls
mud where I hang out, at rugose.com port 6666
I'll be happy to answer any questions I can.

-Crat

First, let me say I know nothing about Dead Souls. Nothing other then what I have read and most of that has been pretty good. The only complaint I have read about it is the "He updates to frequently!" complaint. To me that should not be a complaint but instead a "Damn good job!".

Now to a thing I know a little about: Combat system design.

What you are talking about combat-wise is often termed non-auto timed combat.

You are going to have to familiarize yourself with the combat systems of your mud and all the systems that deal with queues, timers and "is in combat" flags (if any of these exist in DS, likely do on a guess). You will also likely have to recode the core combat and make modifications to most combat skills.

One thing you may wish to consider is an "autocombat" toggle which will allow people to use auto-combat or manual (their choice). While it will take more time it will be appreciated by those that want auto-combat (and over the years there are many discussions related to why someone would want it).

I have done non-auto timed combat for DIKU/SMAUG and more recently CoffeeMud codebase. It takess a boatload of planning and coding.

Again, take this post with a grain of salt, as I do not know the Dead Souls code.

If you would like to run ideas on non-auto timed combat by me feel free to email me or to even set up an online group and I will share my thoughts on designing such systems with you freely.

Best of luck. Keep us informed of your progress.