Retro Gaming - MUD style!

[Warhammer]

Actually MUME style to be specific. I looked at the LotR online game, didn't get the beta or anything due to system requirements, and wound up making a huge terrible, horrible mistake. I looked for an old time killer, MUME.

What is MUME, it is Multi-Users in Middle Earth. It is a derivative of DikuMUD that was started back in 93/94. You basically decide to play either a puke (the Free Peoples) or a darkie (Orcs, Trolls, Black Numenoreans). The game is entirely text based. While I know some may think this is terrible, there are actually some advantages to this.

First, you don't need to worry about your graphics card not being fast enough or what not. You don't get ticked because The Last Homely House doesn't look like the Last Homely House should, etc.

Second, you don't wind up in a click fest. Battles are actually correographed too by groups. Often going up against mobs, you'll rehearse what each party member is going to do. Last night a Mage and my dwarven warrior went up against Malardil, a mob in charge of a castle near Tharbad. It went something like this:

Gilan: OK, you bash Malardil, and while he is down, I will blind him. Then bash and disengage the gypsy and then the guards.

Thruin: Malardil first, then bash the gypsy and then hit guards?

Gilan: No bash disengage the gypsy, but kill her first, then the guards.

Thruin: OK, I'll go in first, and yell when engaged, you come in and do your stuff.

Gilan: Go w, when ready.

The result was a tired warrior, a mage who had exhausted his mana, but both of whom were some 25 gold richer due to the loot.

That brings up another thing. Most mobs actually have items that they use that can ALWAYS be looted. Just died? No money? Find someone with a sword that you can take down, and take all his stuff. Oh yeah, that mob had leather armor too that you can use or sell. Better make sure it fits though....

Now for those that don't like PK, sorry, but it will happen. However, you get very little credit, possibly even negative credit for taking down someone much lower in level than you are.

How is experience handled? Well, you gain xp from killing creatures, but the more you kill a creature, the less xp you get. Those Gray Wolves that are going extinct due to your rampages, may have originally been worth 750 xp, are now worth 50 xp per kill. But, xp is not all that is needed to gain levels.

Any experienced character cannot limit themselves to one area of Arda. They must gain travel points or TPs. These are gained by going to new areas and zones that you have not visited recently. When you satisfy your TP and XP requirement you gain a level.

Unlike most other RPG style games, classes in MUME are relative. At each level you gain practices, 10 each level up to lvl 25, 1 each level thereafter. Practices can be used in thief, warrior, cleric, and mage guilds. So, if you want, you can be a Mage like Gandalf that does use slashing style weapons. Or, you can be a thief that can heal like a cleric, and cast a couple of simple mage spells. The catch is, the more you focus on one class, the better all your skills in that class are. The more practices in other realms you take, the less proficiency you are in your "primary" class.

Another fun item with the combat system is that you have 4 attributes that determine your fighting ability. OB, offensive bonus is a reflection of you skill with a particular type of weapon, plus what type of weapon in the class that you are using. DB, dodge bonus is a relection of you dodge skill and what type of armor you are wearing. PB, parry bonus is a reflection of what shield you are using, what weapon you are using, and your parry ability. Your OB and PB are further modified by your mood. Ranging from berserk to wimpy, this affects whether your OB is up and PB is down or vice versa.

This leads to a variety of groups. You have warriors that are defensive in nature, but how do they do it? Do they go for light armor and rely on their dodge skill? The problem there is that any time you get hit, it is going to hurt. Or, do you go for heavy armor, but low dodge. You'll get hit a lot, but damage will be almost negligible. Being a good dodger is better with lots of mobs, because your DB never changes with number of enemies, whereas a damage soaking buff might be mobbed to death because his PB% is being divided by each additional mob he is facing.

What about PK? Well, there is always PK in MUME, but you don't get too many guys really raping newbies. What drives PK? Well, the darkies need WPs (war points) to level. WPs are gained by killing whities (pukes). So darkie players have, actually need, PK to advance. So that means that when night comes, you better watch out for Orc raids. It doesn't happen much anymore, but sometimes during the winter when nights are long bands of Orcs will come down from the Misty Mountains and assail Bree, or even terrorize the Shire! It's actually quite amusing to see how everyone scatters in Bree when the gates have been picked by an enterprising darkie who lets the Orcs in. My how the whities run!

Anyway, you can check this out at mume.pvv.org. If you play and I'm on, shoot me a line. I play Thruin on the server and I might be able to help you out some along the warrior lines. Not too up to snuff with priests and mage types, but there are people there than can help you.