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Old 02-06-2013, 05:10 PM   #1
Zoticus
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LFM: Manual Combat req.

Hello -

I've been playing muds now for around thirteen years, my first 'main' mud being Icesus - which I found after my trial on Avalon wore out and as a kid, I couldn't afford any sort of pay-to-play environs. I loved it, but I got bored after a while, and went looking for a new community. I fell into Achaea, and over the years, every other IRE mud on and off. Some of you might even recognize my username as the handle I tended to use on all their forums before they started forcing character account log ins.

The thing is, IRE muds, while extremely immersive and interactive on many levels, are limited in others. As an example, a friend and I were discussing the Mockers in their Midkemia game. Now, a core concept of the Mockers in the books was that -anyone- could be a mocker, and you'd have exactly no way to know. Your best friend, the stalwart soldier who hates lies, corruption and misdirection could have in fact been the Upright Man. All while being the most attractive woman you know.

So here's what I'm looking for, in convenient list form:

o Role play, preferably RPE or RPI. Muds with zero role play are completely uninteresting to me, even if by playing them I'd experience the best mechanics ever coded, ever.

o Manual combat, both PvE and PvP. 'kill command and watch' diku-style combat is about as fun for me as watching paint dry, without the bonus of nice new paint.

o Fluidity with regards to the path I can take with my character. Maybe he's a battle mage, or a priest who has a lamentable habit of stealing pies.

o Identity options - either a method of disguise or an introduction system. I'd love to name myself 'Jim' to most people, but in one town, they know me as 'Frank' and while 'Jim' is a nice, jovial baker, 'Frank' is a hard-as-nails hired killer.

o Little or no 'chance' based mechanics. If I wanted to roll dice to find out if I'd get anywhere, I'd be playing a table top game. I'm okay with requiring training or practice before I'm any good with an ability, mind.

o Good help files. There's nothing more obnoxious than finding a game that looks like it might be fun, only to find that there's nearly no documentation. I can play a game with a smaller playerbase if I can figure things out on my own. Guessing is not how I like to play games.

o RPK or at least restricted player killing. I'm not fond of being randomly stomped for zero reason because they can do so.

So... Any suggestions?
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Old 02-07-2013, 09:24 AM   #2
KaVir
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Re: LFM: Manual Combat req.

Hardcore roleplaying muds tend to have little emphasis on combat, and vice versa. But if you like the IRE muds you could check out other muds on the Avalon "tree". As well as its spinoff (Avalon: the First Age), Avalon also inspired Terris, Evarayn, Akanbar, Elysium, Orone, Cardea and Achaea.

And while you're presumably familiar with the official IRE muds, they also inspired other muds such as Ilyrias, Elvenblade, Maiden Desmodus and Lithmeria.

While most of those muds seem to have died, some of them are still around - and if you search you may find others with a similar feel.

You could also look at Gemstone IV and DragonRealms. I believe DragonRealms even has a separate server dedicated to roleplaying.
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Old 02-07-2013, 11:29 AM   #3
Zoticus
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Re: LFM: Manual Combat req.

KaVir - thanks for your reply.

As far as rp goes - I just need -some- to go with my bashing / pking. I'd love some more intense, but I'm cool with encouraged rp. I checked out your suggestions, and it does appear many of them either don't exist or at least don't have websites anymore. A couple of them still allow connection via telnet even though there's no website.

Akanbar and Lithmeria seem to still be active. I spent some time last night in Lithmeria - a fun happenstance - but I found that the post-introduction 'wall' was rather notable. There's plenty of skill documentation to be had, but almost nothing with regards to what you should actually invest your lessons in or why to be found, and there weren't any active players in any of my respective organizations to ask. I do intend to go back today, and hope that there are some players around to discuss it.

I have noticed that those suggested all appear to be either pay to play or pay for perks. I'm beginning to wonder if I'll ever come across a manual combat mud with some level of rp that isn't. That sort of saddens me.
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Old 02-07-2013, 01:30 PM   #4
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Re: LFM: Manual Combat req.

Unwritten Legends fills some of your criteria.

Combat is extremely manual. You have to enter in every attack, and can choose what limbs to target for each blow.

PK is extremely discouraged and rare. Mostly through RP rather than hardcode. For example: kill someone in the King's territory, and you're likely to get charged with murder.

RP is enforced, and a lot of fun.

There's a lot of variety in the professions, and you can innate unusual skills. For your thieving priest example, you could pick the cleric class and innate the normally poor larceny skill to make it decent. In fact, you could pick the Onu spell circle and be a generally bad person.

There is no introduction system, but the playerbase is small enough that you can choose to only use a pseodonym. There is one character that's been doing this for a while, and people don't slip up on it.

Ah, there's only two major cities. Of course, major means huge. There's some smaller places around, but players tend to congregate in only one city. is the map of the main city.

Chance is in too, like most muds. The only place you might find a lack of chance based mechanics is with the less 'gamey' MOO or MUSH games.

If you still want to check it out, the extremely comprehensive website is at unwritten.net

EDIT: Oh, and the only perks you can pay real money for are simple things that don't really grant any advantages. Description changes of items and such.
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Old 02-07-2013, 11:41 PM   #5
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Re: LFM: Manual Combat req.

Threshold has all of these, and I from that list, we particularly take pride in our RP and our help files.

We do have "auto combat", but the automatic part of combat is about 30% of what determines a battle. Actively using your abilities, items, managing aggro, etc. is the most important factor in combat.

We are nearing our 17 year anniversary. You should definitely check us out:

web site:
telnet: thresholdrpg.com:23

web client:

Have fun!
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Old 02-11-2013, 04:12 PM   #6
oisin
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Re: LFM: Manual Combat req.

I think KaVir gave a very good answer there with lots of options and nice attention to detail.

I have played a few muds similiar to what you are looking for.

Akanbar was always my favourite because of the combat and because it is quaint and can be as simple or complex as you make it.

I also enjoyed Avalon but like yourself, was unwilling to pay to play a game. Whats the point when in my opinion Akanbar was just as good?

Lithmeria is a promising looking game but it has a long way to go before it gets good, which may not happen.



Role play in Akanbar is encouraged and used by the players but is much more simple than it is on a hardcore roleplay environment such as that found on Armageddon.

o Manual combat, both PvE and PvP. 'kill command and watch' diku-style combat is about as fun for me as watching paint dry, without the bonus of nice new paint.

- I couldn't agree with you more, I can't stand the diku-syle combat.


o Fluidity with regards to the path I can take with my character.

- Your imagination is the limit, though the city/realm you choose is kind of like a statement of whether your character wants to be good, bad or inbetween.


o Identity options

- Nothing like what you described with being known by different names wherever you go. But there is a skill in awareness that allows you to learn different disguises so you can disguise yourself as an NPC and walk around.


o Little or no 'chance' based mechanics.

- There's no chance based mechanics (unless you are at the Dice Den), your skills, speed and the skill with which you use your skills will be the main decider at most things.


o RPK or at least restricted player killing.

- Player killing is restricted. There are times when it is allowed such as defending your city or city towers from raids, or defending a farm if an enemy is trespassing on a citymates farm.

-There is a 'blood scroll' which you can seek out to sign your name on. Your name will be there for an in game year. People on the blood scroll are allowed attack other people who are on the blood scroll as much as they like. Its for players who like the thrill of a more dangerous and violent life.

-You can 'issue' a challenge to someone which they can accept to initiate a duel.

- There are also roleplay exceptions to the rule. For example if someone gave you a legitimate in role reason to attack them it would be permitted, but if you killed them and then attacked them again after or vice versa it would be against the rules.



Hope that helps. I haven't played as many of these type of games as Kavir so i just gave you info on the only one I know well.

I'll be happy to answer any further questions you ask, and good luck.
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Old 02-16-2013, 08:03 AM   #7
Achon
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Re: LFM: Manual Combat req.

I'll second DragonRealms, it seems to meet many of those requisites, albeit
p-t-p.

Pretty sure it has manual combat.

I had read (a long time ago) that the combat system wasn't random but based on
skill rank and strategic use of commands. Also, (the one time i did play) i
don't remember having to roll character stats or anything like that. I think
the game is predominantly based on skill progression and perhaps not
exclusively focused on combat; prob offers a good amount of char flexibility. I
think ya might find committed RP too.
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Old 02-21-2013, 07:12 PM   #8
Dionae
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Re: LFM: Manual Combat req.

Check out . It's rp-enforced with an interactive combat system that's more than just type "kill" and wait. It's level-less and classless, so you can learn a wide range of skills simply by doing them. It has an introduction system, and those in the Rogue guild can learn to disguise themselves to take on another identity. A number of helpfiles, and also a newbie channel to ask any questions you may have. Player killing is based on rp reasons, so the majority of time you can avoid it.
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