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| The Lorethew Mentor Society's New Player Guide | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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You're poised to embark on a grand adventure limited only by your own imagination. This guide was prepared by the Lorethew Mentor Society to help you make the most of your time in Elanthia. For additional information, you can also seek out any Mentor in the lands if you need additional help or advice "on the spot" in your travels. (If you can not find a Mentor, pull the bell outside of the Jadewater Mansion. To get there type DIR JADEWATER once in the game of DragonRealms
for directions.)
Getting Started
As you begin to play DragonRealms , you might want to print this article out and use it as you begin to explore the massive world of DragonRealms . For a quick start or more detailed information on the process of creating your character, check out the Quick Start Guide. Choosing Your Race The races of Elanthia vary greatly. Your choices: Dwarf, Elf, Elothean, Gor'Tog, Halfling, Human, Skra'Mur. Each race offers various strengths and weaknesses, making it easier or more difficult to train in the various attributes. Keep in mind not only your personal preferences but also your guild plans as you make your decision. Training Your Attributes Once you've chosen your race and created your character, you'll want to get him or her fully trained and prepared to join a guild. You'll enter the lands with a set of attributes (strength, reflexes, agility, charisma, discipline, wisdom, intelligence, and stamina). Each guild has minimum training requirements for each attribute, and you are given an initial 600 TDP's (time development points) with which to train. Note: You do have the option to skip training and allow the guild to handle it for you. But be aware that they will only raise you to the guild's minimum requirements and leave you with a character that might be difficult to advance. This option is only suggested for those who want to take a quick look at different guilds. Choosing a Guild So many choices! (Ten of them, to be precise: Barbarian, Bard, Cleric, Empath, Moon Mage, Paladin, Ranger, Thief, Trader, and Warrior Mage.) Consider what you want to do with your character -- do you like magic? Helping folks? Making money? Combat? Telling tales and singing songs? No matter what your interests, there's a guild for you! Finding Your Way Around Town One of the first obstacles you will come across in DragonRealms is how to find the shops, guilds and people who can help you advance. In addition, once you begin hunting you will easily get lost in the dangerous wilds that lie outside of the Crossing. For travel within the city, the solution is close at hand. Simply type DIRECTION (or DIR for short). A series of locatable places will be listed for you. Simply follow the directions you are given and you should find your way around in no time. Getting Outfitted To see what you are wearing, be sure to check your inventory (Type INV). This will give you a list of things hanging off of your body. Most likely this will be some basic clothing and a sack. To see what is in your sack type LOOK IN MY SACK. You will see a map. Now go ahead and GET MAP FROM MY SACK. You should now have a map in your hand. Go ahead and PUT MY MAP IN MY SACK. You can also REMOVE or WEAR clothing and items. Find your way back to the city streets. If you haven't done so already, type DIR to get a list of directions available. You will want to buy a backpack, so type DIR GENERAL STORE. You will be given directions on how to get to the General Store. Go ahead and head in that direction. If you get lost, just type DIR GENERAL STORE again. You are now in the General Store. Take a look around. Do you notice the rough-hewn table? If you LOOK ON TABLE you will see a catalog. Go ahead and READ CAT (short for catalog). You will get an index. READ PAGE 1 to read the first page. You will see many items listed, but it's very important that you conserve your coin only for necessary items. Type WEALTH to see how many coins you have. Do not agree to a price if you do not have the coins. You will not only be thrown out of the shop, but next time you visit you may find the prices are more expensive. To order the sturdy backpack, ORDER BACKPACK. The Shop Owner Berolt will give a price and ask if that is acceptable. OFFER a lower price. He may or may not agree, but there is no harm in trying. Once you have agreed on a price Berolt will hand you your new backpack. If your hands are full he will put it on the table for you. Free up your hands and GET BACKPACK FROM TABLE. Now WEAR MY BACKPACK. Congratulations on your first purchase! Use your backpack to store items. PUT <item> IN MY BACKPACK. It won't hold everything, but it's a good start. Before you make any more purchases, check your WEALTH again. Now, you need to make some important decisions so find some place quiet that you can sit and think. Depending on your guild you will need a certain amount of training in armor and weapons. You need to decide just what kind of armor and what weapons you want to use. To help you in this decision, visit the armor and weapon pages. Congratulations! You have made a choice on what weapons and armor you will use! These are important decisions that will influence the direction your character will follow for ages to come. Go ahead and use DIR to find the ARMORY and WEAPONSMITH and see about purchasing these items. Remember, if you don't have the money, don't buy it. When you are done with the shops, be sure to visit the bank (DIR BANK) and deposit your money. Thieves can be ruthless to your pocketbook if you are not careful. Once inside the bank, read the signs available for directions on where to go and what to do. The Teller Window is used to deposit and withdraw coins, the Exchange Booth is used to exchange coins into different currencies. Often other adventurers will leave things lying about that you can use, or will have extra equipment that they are giving away. If you run across something on the ground, make sure it doesn't belong to anyone. Then go ahead and claim it for yourself. If you need more money, here's some ways to earn it? Making Money If you need money for armor and weapons, then it would be best for you to explore the city until you find one of the gates. Do not wander too far! What you want to do is FORAGE BRANCH. Once you have collected some branches, you can take them to the firewood peddler, Mags, who is located outside Rartan's Collegium of Inner Juggling and Reflexes (DIR REFLEX). He won't give you much, but it's a start! If you belong to a combat guild, and you have some armor and a weapon, use DIR to find the Shipyard. The shipyard is infested with rats that you can skin. SKIN RAT after you kill one, and sell the pelts at the tannery (DIR TANNERY). For more information on combat, visit the combat section of this guide. Advancement By now you should have some basic equipment and have done some exploring. You may be wondering what skills to practice and what is needed to advance in your chosen guild. Type ADVICE GUILD to see the menu on guild specific advice. ADVICE GUILD 1 will give you a list of skills you will need to develop. This is a basic list and doesn't include everything, but it will give you an idea of what skills your Guild Leader thinks are important. To see what specific skills you need, go visit your Guild Leader and ASK LEADER ABOUT SKILLS or ASK LEADER ABOUT LEVEL. Your Guild Leader will instruct you on what he or she thinks you need to work on before you can advance to the next level. Read the entire message! Now go practice those skills! Practice makes perfect, and the best way to get better at something is to do it. When you have met all the requirements that you Guild Leader has given you, he or she will promote you to the next level. Racial Strengths & Weaknesses: Attribute Training Each race has differing costs for developing attributes (training). Assigning the training of each attribute with an arbitrary rate of 0, a negative number indicates that the relative cost of raising this ability with training is less, while a positive one means that it is more difficult (and thus more expensive in terms of TDP's and training fees) to gain further skill in that attribute. Dwarves Strength is 0. Reflex is +1. Agility is +1. Charisma is 0. Discipline is -1. Wisdom is 0. Intelligence is 0. Stamina is -1. Elotheans Strength is +1. Reflex is -1. Agility is 0. Charisma is 0. Discipline is 0. Wisdom is -1. Intelligence is -1. Stamina is +2. Elves Strength is +1. Reflex is -1. Agility is -1. Charisma is -1. Discipline is +1. Wisdom is 0. Intelligence is 0. Stamina is +1. Gor'Togs Strength is -2. Reflex is +1. Agility is 0. Charisma is 0. Discipline is 0. Wisdom is +2. Intelligence is +2. Stamina is -1. Halflings Strength is +2. Reflex is -1. Agility is -2. Charisma is 0. Discipline is +1. Wisdom is +1. Intelligence is 0. Stamina is -1. Humans Strength is 0. Reflex is 0. Agility is 0. Charisma is 0. Discipline is 0. Wisdom is 0. Intelligence is 0. Stamina is 0. Skra'Murs Strength is -1. Reflex is -1. Agility is 0. Charisma is 0. Discipline is 0. Wisdom is +1. Intelligence is +1. Stamina is 0. Character Attributes: Primary & Secondary Primary Attributes These are the basic abilities your character is given upon entering the lands. Attributes affect how well your character responds to daily challenges and guild advancement. Each guild has minimum requirements for each attribute (except discipline, which is a matter of personal preference) and your character must meet the requirements for the guild you wish to join. Your character is given an initial 600 TDP's (time development points) with which to train. As your character progresses in the guild, the guild leader will award additional TDP's. TDP's are also earned on a day to day basis as various studies are completed. Strength This is the maximum potential force a character can generate during physical activity. Strength factors into damage caused during combat. Reflexes This is the character's ability to quickly respond to actions and events going on around them. Dodging and evasion depend on reflex as well as shield use and parry. Agility This is the character's physical dexterity, working with fine motor skills (such as picking locks, carving talismans, playing musical instruments, or working a weapon). Charisma This is a combination of the character's persuasiveness, leadership ability, and other factors when dealing with other characters, NPCs (Non-Player Characters), and creatures. Discipline The character's ability to use their mind to control their body. Wisdom The charcter's worldly knowledge, intuition and personal ability to apply life experience to various situations. Stamina The character's ability to perform strenuous activities over a long period of time. Secondary Attributes These various attributes determine such things as how long your character can stand up in battle or how well they can wield magic. Effective Strength One half (1/2) of the character's full strength. Body Health Points The amount of physical damage a character can withstand before death. Stamina is the primary factor in determining body health. Spirit Health Points This is the strength of a character's soul (the sort of thing some undead creatures like to dine upon). Charisma, Wisdom and Stamina are the important attributes in determining Spirit Health Points. Concentration This is the ability to maintain focused thought, and is necessary for performing some magical actions and using some magic items. Discipline and guild levels are the important factors here. Fatigue This is a character's ability to sustain strenuous physical activity without becoming tired, and is useful in combat. Fatigue is determined using stamina and discipline. Choosing a Guild Barbarian -- Masters of combat, barbarians are first and foremost fighters. Magic: none. Barbarians not only do not use magic, they are sworn against it as it disrupts their ability to call upon their inner powers to berserk and such. Barbarians have a built-in resistance to magic which will increase as they advance. Starting attributes: strength 10, reflexes 5, agility 5, charisma 4, wisdom 6, intelligence 6, stamina 9. Skill groups: Weapons, Survival, Armor. Bard -- Storytelling combatants, bards are competent fighters with the ability to sing spells to aid themselves and others in their hunting party. Magic: the bard's magic is found in their enchantes, which draw their power from the elements surrounding them. Starting attributes: strength 8, reflexes 6, agility 8, charisma 6, wisdom 7, intelligence 7, stamina 8. Skill groups: Lore, Weapons, Magic. Cleric -- Spiritual warriors, following the holy path, clerics maintain direct communication with their gods and goddesses, allowing them to receive everything from divination to protection. Magic: clerics make use of the powers of holy magic. Starting attributes: strength 6, reflexes 7, agility 7, charisma 5, wisdom 8, intelligence 8, stamina 7. Skill groups: Magic, Lore, Weapons. Empath -- Healers, who are unable to fight (even in self-defense), empaths are gifted with the ability to discern injuries and transfer them thru touch. Empaths do not heal others, they merely transfer the wounds to their own bodies which they then heal. Magic: empaths use the power of life magic to cast their healing spells. Starting attributes: strength 5, reflexes 5, agility 5, charisma 6, wisdom 9, intelligence 9, stamina 10. Skill groups: Lore, Magic, Survival. Moon Mage -- Scholars who may or may not choose to engage in combat, moon mages are masters of foresight. Magic: moon mages use the powers of the heavens to cast their predictions. Starting Attributes: strength 6, reflexes 5, agility 7, charisma 7, wisdom 9, intelligence 8, stamina 6. Skill groups: Magic, Lore, Survival. Paladin -- Holy warriors, leaders in the charge to battle, and the protectors of the realms, Paladins are brave and noble. Magic: paladins draw upon holy magic. Starting Attributes: strength 9, reflexes 6, agility 6, charisma 8, wisdom 7, intelligence 7, stamina 7. Skill groups: Armor, Weapons, Lore. Ranger -- Field warriors, rangers are most at home out in the wilds, where they receive a bonus to their survival skills. Magic: rangers make use of life magic. Starting Attributes: strength 8, reflexes 7, agility 8, charisma 6, wisdom 6, intelligence 7, stamina 8. Skill groups: Survival, Weapons, Armor. Thief -- Often known as an "urban ranger," thieves excell at various survival skills and receive a bonus when they're in town. Magic: thieves do not use the magical arts. Like barbarians, they do draw upon an inner power to enhance their abilities. Starting Attributes: strength 8, reflexes 9, agility 9, charisma 5, wisdom 6, intelligence 7, stamina 8. Skill groups: Survival, Lore, Weapons. Trader -- The lifeblood of the realms commerce, traders spend their time working contracts and commodities. Magic: traders do not practice magic of any sort. Starting Attributes: strength 5, reflexes 5, agility 5, charisma 9, wisdom 9, intelligence 9, stamina 7. Skill groups: Lore, Survival, Armor. Warrior Mage -- Potentially powerful in both magic and combat, warrior mages also have the ability to call upon familiars to aid them. Magic: warrior mages make use of the powers of the elements. Starting Attributes: strength 7, reflexes 5, agility 7, charisma 5, wisdom 9, intelligence 9, stamina 6. Skill groups: Weapons, Magic, Survival. Choosing Your Armor Which armor is best for you? Can you wear the sleek, skin tight leathers? Should you try the plate? But that chain sure looks nice ... before you choose your armor, it helps to know what's going to happen to you in the long run as a result of your choice. Each type of armor has a hindrance, and each profession will be better able to work off that hindrance in specific armor. To determine which armor is best for you, read on! Cost Considerations One of the first things you'll have to consider, of course, is the cost of the armor you wish to purchase. As a rule, leather is the least expensive of them all, but there are other things you have to keep in mind, as well. Leather Armor - Leather armor is generally the least expensive of armor's available. It's light, flexible but doesn't protect as well. Training hindrance down in leather is much easier than other armors. Light Chain - Light chain armor is not as flexible as leather, but it offers more protection. Heavy Chain - Heavy chain armor is much more rigid than leather or light chain armors, but offers more protection. Light Plate - Light plate armor isn't so much designed for flexibility as protection. None the less, it's more flexible than its heavy counterpart. It also weighs more than its chain or leather counterparts. Heavy Plate - Heavy plate armor is the ultimate in protection, but also the most hindering. Heavy plate is usually more expensive than most other armors and weighs more than its counterparts in other armor groups. Are all armors created equally? Leather armor is leather armor -- or is it?As you shop for armor you may come across differences in prices, differences in protection, differences in hindrance, and sometimes these differences are noticed in otherwise seemingly similar armors. For example, you may look at one set of hunting leathers and notice that they are the same as the ones from another place but more expensive. So which is better? Sometimes it's not so easy to tell, and asking people will give you misleading information. Keep in mind that nearly ever weapon and armor has 'hidden' qualities that no one can see. Sometimes it's a matter of weight - take it somewhere and weigh the two armors. The only true test is to try them both out and decide for yourself. Armor Hindrances and Your Guild L=Leather C=Chain P=Plate Numbers are minimum penalties in percentages. Before you venture into the great unknown to slay all the beasts and rescue damsels in distress, it helps to have a weapon in your hand. Even better, have a couple and know how to use them. This section contains general information to get you started and help you choose the right weapon(s) for YOU! How do I choose a weapon? Don't go by how a weapon appraises alone. The best way to choose a weapon is to decide what you feel your character would use then find it and try it out. Just about any weapon is deadly in the right hands. Some weapon groups are harder to learn, but that is the fun of using them. As an example, the hanger (a medium edged weapon) appraises fairly badly but is one of the more deadly medium edged weapons. Some weapons cover two weapon groups. A spear for example can be used as a pike or a heavy thrown weapon. If you want to reduce the number of weapons you carry around, consider using one of these dual weapons. Some weapons, like the throwing knives, can not be used as light edged weapons so it is best to find out first what is available before making a choice. Appraising a Weapon When you appraise a weapon, you will get a message along these lines: It is a heavy edged type weapon. It appears as if it could do: low puncture damage moderate slice damage fair impact damage The broadsword is fairly balanced and is fairly suited for gaining extra attack power from your strength. You think the somber black broadsword is worth around 200 copper Kronars, or 100 copper Dokoras. Roundtime: 8 seconds. The most useful information here is it's balance and attack power. The balance of a weapon refers to how much of your agility you use in the attack. The attack power helps determine how much of your strength is used for adding to damage. The damage modifiers will tell you how best to use the weapon. If the weapon does more puncture damage than slice damage, then you will want to jab or thrust with it. A weapon that uses slice damage would best be used slicing. A weapon with a lot of impact damage is best used thrusting, slicing/swinging or chopping/bashing. Another factor that is important in choosing a weapon is weight. A heavy weapon will have a higher roundtime. The roundtime will go down as you increase strength. Some weapons can attack at pole-arm range. The greatsword and flamberge are examples. They have a longer roundtime, but you can attack before they get into range to attack you. Weapon Strategies Due to the huge number of weapons available and different strategies to using them all, only a few general strategies will be covered herein. Puncture weapons. Weapons designed to do puncture damage are often best utilized using a parry/jab/ parry/thrust combination. Parry/jab until you get in a good fighting position and balance, then continue the jabbing or switch to a thrust. An alternative is to switch out with a draw attack. Slicing weapons. Slicing weapons are generally best used by parry/jab to get into position and balance, then parry/slice and continue to slice until balance or position is lost. Again, using a draw attack can be an alternative. Blunt weapons. Blunt weapons are best used by neither parrying or dodging before an attack. Instead, draw/bash at your opponent. An alternative is to draw/swing. If you parry or dodge before attacking you will lose position and balance. Bow weapons. Bow weapons can be deadly if used at melee range - for you and your foe, whomever gets the first lucky, skillful shot. By aiming at your target, then advancing on them, and then shooting right when you get into melee range you can do massive damage. Unfortunately, your defenses go down considerably while using bow weapons at melee range and there is a risk of breaking your missile weapon. Thrown weapons. Move into a position to dodge before using a thrown weapon, then get into melee range. Many thrown weapons can be used as a melee weapon as well. Quarterstaffs. If you decide to use a quarterstaff, keep this in mind - they break easily if used wrong. Experiment with different strategies and figure out what works best for you. Generally a draw/bash combination works well to begin with. There are strategies that will keep these weapons from breaking so easily, but that's for you to discover. Combat Tactics You've got a weapon, you're armored up ... you're in the right hunting area for your abilities. Now you're ready for some combat! Literally thousands of calculations are made in order to determine what happens during combat. Combat in DragonRealms is unique among Multi-user Dungeons (MUDs) and offers a new standard to the on-line gaming community. Before you begin There are several things you should do before going into combat. If you are new to combat in DragonRealms , be sure to read HELP COMBAT and review what the on-line documentation has to offer. INVENTORY COMBAT - Check to make sure that you have the weapons and armor you want to use. Make sure that your armor covers all body parts. Many deaths occur when someone forgets to check and suddenly discovers too late that they had removed their helm and gloves in order to open a box or play a musical instrument. STANCE - Check your stance and make sure it is set appropriately for the weapons and armor you will be using. Remember that anything below 40% will reduce the amount of experience you gain from that particular area. Engagement Engagement with multiple opponents is determined by stating FIRST <critter>, SECOND <critter>, etc. In the areas where I state<number> this MUST be written out fully. ASSESS your combat situation. If there are other people fighting with you, assessing the combat situation will let you know which critters are engaging with you, which critters are engaging with your partners, and which critters have not yet engaged with anyone. LOOK to see which critters are there. If there are two goblins, and you assess and discover that number one goblin is engaged with your partner, then you will want to engage the second goblin. ADVANCE <number> <opponent> will start moving you towards your opponent. There are three ranges: Missile, Pole-arm, and Melee. If you are at melee with a critter, and you advance on them, you will turn and face them. Facing your opponent is very important. If multiple opponents are engaged with you, you will want to make sure by using ASSESS that you are facing at least one of them, and BLOCKing another. BLOCK <number> <opponent> is used to divide part of your defensive ability between multiple opponents. You can only block two opponents - the one you are facing and a secondary opponent. The remaining critters that are engaged to you will use your multi-opponent skill to determine how much you can defend against them. It is wise to face and block the most powerful of your foes, leaving you to defend against those with lesser abilities. Attacking and Combat There are a variety of attacks available, and the best one to use for each weapon will vary. Usually combinations are used (please see the section on weapons). Here is a brief description of the attacking verbs:
There are certain rules of In-character (IC) and Out-of-character (OOC) behavior that everyone should follow, regardless of your interest in Role-play.
Out-of-character is talking about things or acting on knowledge that your character would have no way of knowing and come from the player's knowledge. Here are some examples and alternatives:
So what happens when a person you are role-playing with goes OOC and starts doing or saying things that your character can't really respond to? There are lots of ways to deal with this.
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