Subject: Newsletter jan 4 Sorry its late, folks. The holidays kinda had me rushing around like mad. :) I'm looking for some heroes to do some jobs for me, so if you want a job, heroes, lemme know. Mortals, please be reminded that any contribution to the newsletter is greatly appreciated, even responses to what has already been written. We are always looking for new things to be added to the game, so your ideas might help BR become even better. :) @>----------------------(Ideas)------------------------------------ PenDragon: How bout a Avian skill called dig? It would be a food type skill, E.G. you dig for a worm/mouse/creature, and then you kill it and eat it? Gryphon: a griffon race Zababa: I think Illithids should have some kind of rescue spell. Some of the other races have nice start-offs in attack, but they can't handle defence to nicely :) Zababa: When the Illithid spell 'enhance armor' fails, I sit with nodrop, no value and a +4 AC item which I can't sell, drop or really want to wear. This doesn't seem the same with the ElF spell enahnce weapon. Why not? Lysta: With talk of regeneration ring, why not have some nutrition rings: last a period and gives freedom of hunger/thirst for some long period Zababa: maybe the responsibilities for a pet should be more. How about messages from them telling you they are hungry and thirsty? Dukkha: Sort the areas list alphabetically...PLEASE! (It's quite difficult to search for an area's levels when you know the name. Thanks! Mandwe: make a camoflauge command to hide items or other people :) Christina: make gold harder to come by,or not on certain mobs(how often do bugs carry gold?) Sandra: Let characters build homes to go to before quitting. Peken: when using "ignore" command, make that person not able to astral/track/tp/summon you Zulx: Can't we have an armourer in the academay that will buy back all the newbie equipment after we've used that, make that armourer in town more accessable to higher levels :) Zulx: I heard a good one today. I was emoting and someone asked me if I was using telepathy. I think that is a cool skill for illithids since we are mind people after all. I'll think out the skill if you want me too Peken: perhaps make a 'busy' flag for those who don't want to be bothered? instead of people going afk all the time Cord: hmm....a new spell, for one of the races: illusions of grandure...would temporarily increase the users total hps or mps or something Slaytanic: you should be able to enhance your hit/dam...mabye charge more yganthos: what about a smoke command (e.g. for jopints, I hate to eat them) ? Zulx: Why is there two place around the neck? Xyganthos: It's not realistic when it snows underneath the surface of the dark sea :) Smilofax: How about making Lexie stay open all day? Berry: when you start sobering up from drinking shouldn't their be some adverse affects? like a hangover Corn: Maybe Intelligence should be a factor in spell damage... Mandwe: have password for deleting- then if someone finds out your first passwprd, they need another to delete you MacHack: Barren could automatically kill a character's pets when that character loggs off to speed up logoff time and to make things easier and to reduce temptation not to follow rules. Hardishane: it would be great to have an atm machine located in the tavern. Micah: I would like to send a comment about having something new in the BR world. How about a carm person spell of some sort for the Ills? I am one and feel sorta cheated not to have a spell like that. Thanks. Rasimbol: What objects are projectiles? i can`t seem to find any. This is berry. The idea of mine I worked on most is this one. Mobs fighting players cast this spell which hits players and affects certain parts of their bodies. Such as 'a set of horns sprouts from your head' this would destry or remove what ever armor they had in an apporpriate armor slot and prevent the player from wearing armor in the slot for the duration of the spell. This might also give a player advantages though like a point of dam for horns perhaps. So far I've deciced on these 'growths' and the slots they would affect. Claws - Hands Hooves - Feet Horns - Head Fins - Cloak Tail - Waist Lump(or ridge) - Armor(not sure what this slot is called but wherever frost armor and teh likes are worn) I can further elaborate on this idea if you like it. I also have another idea I'm formulating where players fully morph into another species(not the current races) giving the player a full set of advantages and disadvantages. Tell me what you think. -Berry @>-------------------------(Responses)----------------------- > Windancer: Could there maybe a plastic surgeon for Avian heroes, so we > can remove claws and other extra bodyparts? Nobody: Hmm... at a permanent reduction to hit points or mana or stats... hmm... *grin* *chuckle* > PenDragon: How about more skills for Avians to learn AFTER level 35! Nobody: Aren't you able to fight well enough at level 35? No race gets much after 35. Example, Elves get Create Potion and Laughing Buddha after Level 33. Plague is at Level 33. Parry is at level 27. I don't know about y'all, but I never use Plague, Create Potion, or Laughing Buddha... therefore, theres not much for elves after level 27. Least avians can fight, unlike elves. Chin (or beak) up, and drive (fly?) forth with what skills the gods have given you. > Scavenger: Very good idea. If you see that it says that you have logged > in at a time that you _know_ that you didn't, you know that your account > has been hacked. You can then change your password. A lot better than > having your character deleted. Nobody: And this HAS happened before... multiple occasions. > Hardishane:This would be okay if it is optional...like toggle on/off. > Personally its nobody's business when I was last on. Nobody: That's RIGHT! it's NOBODY'S business. So give the feature to ME. *grin* *chuckle* (set yerself up for that one...) > Erika: > This seems like a good idea even though I don't think a lot of people are > deleted by someone else when they don't want to be. Oh and maybe you > should play somewhere else if you can't trust people there. Nobody: Oh, trust me, it's happened... friend squabbles, boyfriend/girlfriend squabbles... bottom line, make sure no one sees/knows your password, unless you enjoy risking your (and possibly, others) enjoyment on BR... > Hardishane:I think this is still a good idea but not sure how it would be done.= > Possibly a spell called 'trance' for druids, illithids and elves. > Automatically putting you into a deep catatonic state for 1 tick for every > 10 levels of the cast. i.e.. level 32 would sleep 3 ticks. The drawback is > if attacked during this time you can not cast any spells for the first 3 > rounds. However the normal skills like dodge and parry would still work > during this time. This spell could not be cast on others. Nobody: Any mana spell to get more mana is doomed to not be implemented. That's like spending gold to get more gold, guaranteed. If there was a good enough balancing effect, then fine, however, I don't think the coders/imps are gonna want to put something like this in. It's been asked for since the dawn of time. > Hardishane:Thats what crobin the container salesman in solace is for. I > wish it was easier to find though. The sign on the south path helps but an > awful lot of lowbies end up finding fewmaster toede. Nobody: That's why people can ask where Solace is. There are MANY good souls that don't mind giving a little directional help. Or, alternatively, it is easy to take a look at Scavengers web-page that is stacked full of directions to places, with level. ...now if I could only remember the address... *grin* Scav, gimme a hand? > erika: I think you mean a quest flag for people who are in quests. Heros > seem to be able to manage keeping track of all the questers so we don't > really need this. Nobody: Yeah, it's not that hard. If I'm running the quest, I'll usually write down names. > erika: Is there going to be a "most" list? If so I want a spot for most > deaths. Nobody: I think Berry'd claim that one. *grin* isn't he up to like, 700ish? > Hardishane: Hate to say since I love my tanking buddies... But dwarves > are big, dumb and stupid and I think the ability to track would be way out > of character. Unless drastic limits were put on it. Like be within 20 > steps. Nobody: Even then, it'd not be...dwarfish. I'd not give track to them, if it were up to me. > 9. Why do we have RL when there's BR? (Anyone who can answer this gets = > a souvenier fish. =3D) Nobody: Cause kissing the computer screen SUCKS. *bleah!* @>-------------------------(bios)-------------------------------------- Bio for Proximus/Elrond Hi there. Most of you know me, because i've been playing since June of 1996, and i'm still only level 30 (hopefully 31 by the time this newsletter goes out). I found Barren Realms when i was trying out a demo account on Nucleus (Calgary BBS/internet provider. REALLY good, with a connection to Barren Realms in their MUD LIST.) and Doomhammer was talkin' to me and told me to go to the mud section and i did. He told me to select BR, and again, i did. Of course, this was waaaaay long ago when the academy sucked. I had a different character back then, and when i got my i-net account, i telnetted to nucleus, and tried but it didn't work. SO i just surfed looking up muds and 'lo and behold! that big mud connector list had it. I've been playing ever since. I'm a 13 year old, in grade 8, and i live in south calgary (in canada). I enjoy programming, but since i'm really short on cash, i have to use qbasic (ok ok! stop laughing already!). Oh course, im hoping for c++ for christmas :P i'm not really athletic, but i get pretty good grades in school. I also hate snow. and the -20 degrees weather. i am also an argumentive person (remember the borg collective vs. evil empire from starwars argument?). -Prox/Elrond Well, I guess I'm supposed to send my bio to you? Okie, here goes..... My BR character's name is PenDragon and Olf. My real name is Jack Wierzbicki. I'm thirteen years old and I live in NorthEastern Michigan. I play BanTam hockey on Weinkauf Plumbing. Our record, so far, is 13-3-1. (That's 13 wins, 3 losses, and 1 tie.) I like hockey, football, and BR! I also like anything that has to do with the outdoors, (E.G. camping, hunting, fishing.....) I live in a small town with a population of only 30,000 or so. Our town is now currently fighting to get a actual dial-in internet number. I love gaming and anything that has to do with computers. Oh, and if you ever go to RiverMOO look for KewlDudz, (that's me!) :> L8R. @>-----------------------(silly stuff)-------------------- As I hit enter I realized that going to te arena might not be smart, so I tried to return, with no luck at all, for as soon as I took one step, I was hacked into little pieces by some big person... I hate monarchy.. -just thinking on resent experience- MANDWE This letter is brought to by: The knights who say NI! Subject: newsletter jan 11 Sorry about the awkward timing, its all messed up due to last weeks error. Next wednesday we'll all be back on schedule again. @>-----------------(ideas)------------------------------ Echo: race/guild channels so we could bug a smaller group of people for help than the whole MUD? :) Prozak: group members shouldn't get xp while sleeping Xyganthos: (not important ) add :see also TIMEZONE to the help on TIME Kiri- DONE, and thank you for the EXCELLENT suggestion :) Prozak: dying shouldn't make you full... Quiver: How about merchants/traders that wander around buying and selling things from various cities? This would distribute the amount of merchandise that is in each store, and add more reality to the realms. Mandwe: use bottles as weapons :) Sakura: how about a summoning room? Forent: why not give an award to the mortal who does the nicest thing for another each week again about the kindness award a mortal can submit notes to a hero in charge and then they can decide who gets awarded Echo: Why do experience points only come at the end of a fight... especially sonce so many things flee... Gorzak: make aliases recognize strings case-sensitively (ie chat All welcome %1 should produce such things as All welcome HanSolo as opposed to All welcome Hansolo ... Berry: when scanning from indoor rooms perhaps you shouldn't see what's in outdoor rooms in bad weather Berry: make using a shield give you a chance to block an extra attack(since you didn't think you might be able to get an extra attack) Berry: avians be able to dive from a room away, dealing more damage, but groups don't follow(because they build up speed) Berry: how about a meditate skill for druids exactly like sleep except whatever amount would've been added to mana is instead added to hp each tick Berry: elves have a hear skill where they can hear mobs in nearby rooms(maybe even up to two rooms away) this shouldn't apply to hiding,sneaking mobs and it could be an automatic skill or you have to type listen or something Berry: ill skill/spell coax:ills attempt to 'coax'(they use there physci abilites)into dropping items or money, an unsucessful attempt causes mobs to attck Berry: a skill for dwarves where tehy practice with a weapon and become very good at using it giving a bonus and making it two-handed Berry: kender try to tell mobs stories to lull them to sleep making them easier to backstab or steal from, shouldn't work on damaged mobs(they're suspicious) and unsuccesful attempt provokes an attack the reason why story telling(above) would provoke an attackis because wouldn't you be pissed if you wasted your time listening to a bad story :) Berry: perhaps a skill that gives humans bonuses for not using weapons Berry: hehe humans(great cooks that they are) should have a skill for turning corpses to food, xor jerky! Slaytanic: Widen the required lvl to be within a group like within 10 lvls... Slaytanic: make the spell prayer a useful one ..like a group blessing Sakura: how about a float like a seashell irng and dragon ship on the ice cream sea DragonHeart: You should add a feline type race and a reptile race, too. :) from i think avians need some kind of skill that uses mana the only time i see it go down is if i get drained by an enemy it's DEPRESING maybe i just haven't found the skill that uses it maybe sence we stare to charm we could use are will to make mobs feel that they are sick or as an extention of blast/windzone have a HIGH level skill to bend the wind from your wings into a tornato with mana large birds are canivoris why not just eat corpses? @>--------------------(responses to previous newsletters)------ >Zababa: maybe the responsibilities for a pet should be more. How about >messages from them telling you they are hungry and thirsty? elrond: Yeah, i think this would make this more realistic... you don't feed your mob, it loses hp and, basically, stops being charmed. >Peken: when using "ignore" command, make that person not able to >astral/track/tp/summon you elrond: This is good. Also not let the person follow you or do socials on you, cause they might be mad at you and keep doing nasty socials (slapping, you know, whatever). sykle: Good idea. I could see an upset druid summoning a player who has been ignoring him to the molasses swamp. Bad scene! Although you'd think that we'd be a little more courtious to our fellow players. Besides, wouldn't this be a punishable offense? >Berry: when you start sobering up from drinking shouldn't their be some >adverse affects? like a hangover elrond: Heh heh :) maybe that way, for a period of time, casting spells takes more concentration, since you got a killer headache and uses more mana... >Corn: Maybe Intelligence should be a factor in spell damage... elrond: Ooh! Like this one a lot. Or even better: have the inguilds of a spell/skill do some more damage, just to differ us from other races with the same skill out of guild. Make us elves not shunned as worthless. :P >MacHack: Barren could automatically kill a character's pets when that >character loggs off to speed up logoff time and to make things easier and >to reduce temptation not to follow rules. elrond: Yeah, sometimes i'm in a rush and gotta go and the last thing i wanna do is kill my charmed mob. sykle: Does anyone keep a pet that long? >This is berry. The idea of mine I worked on most is this one. Mobs >fighting players cast this spell blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, whatever... elrond: Like this :) Could restrict players from skills maybe too, like kick (i don't think it's very easy to kick with hooves) and i like the idea that it removes armor. But instead of destroying it, maybe just bang it up a bit cause maybe someone went through a lot of trouble to get a helmet, armor etc or something . >Zababa: I think Illithids should have some kind of rescue spell. Some of >the other races have nice start-offs in attack, but they can't handle >defence to nicely :) Sykle: Ilithids do make good tanks. >Zababa: When the Illithid spell 'enhance armor' fails, I sit with nodrop, >no value and a +4 AC item which I can't sell, drop or really want to >wear. This doesn't seem the same with the ElF spell enahnce weapon. Why not? sykle: I don't like it, but Zababa's got a point. >Lysta: With talk of regeneration ring, why not have some nutrition rings: >last a period and gives freedom of hunger/thirst for some long period sykle: Nah, then everyone in the realms would get one. Could you imagine the stench from all the uneaten appendages? >Mandwe: make a camoflauge command to hide items or other people :) sykle: This goes back to being able to Hide/Sneak with glowing/humming, etc...EQ. Besides, that's onw more thing to make Kender (I think) so unique. >Christina: make gold harder to come by,or not on certain mobs(how often >do bugs carry gold?) sykle: Then how do newbies get gold? >Sandra: Let characters build homes to go to before quitting. sykle: Not unless sleeping by Clericus or Recall is going to become an offense and the townguards are going to arrest us. >Slaytanic: you should be able to enhance your hit/dam...mabye charge more sykle: I've always wanted this, but it would make the MUD too easy. >Xyganthos: It's not realistic when it snows underneath the surface of the dark >sea :) sykle: Use your imagination. It's not really snow, there's a storm on the surface that is stirring up the sand and sediment! >Corn: Maybe Intelligence should be a factor in spell damage... sykle: Sounds good to me. The more you know, the more damage you can do (isn't that true in RL, too?) >Micah: >I would like to send a comment about having something new in the BR >world. How about a carm person spell of some sort for the Ills? I am one >and feel sorta cheated not to have a spell like that. >Thanks. sykle: I agree with this one. Maybe call it "Force Will", or "Trance", or "Hypnotize". >This is berry. The idea of mine I worked on most is this one. Mobs >fighting players cast this spell which hits players and affects certain .. Sykle: I like it, but don't have it destroying EQ, players will never fight them (firespouts). > Berry: a skill for druids to go into a deep sleep and regen faster > (perhaps just regen hp faster) Xyganthos: Maybe they could meditate, regenerate mana by doing so. Only they would only be able to reach that level of concentration at the temple-altar of one of the cities. This skill could be for druids and ills and elves. > Berry: a duck skill for kender thats works like another dodge > Xyg: Is dodge not enough? > Berry: a confusion like spell/skill for ills that makes mobs become > aggresive to other mobiles > Xyganthos: I like this one. Only to make it not to easy the mob could be aggressive to the caster too, so he would have to flee, come back invis and give the final blow. > Berry: give tp/astral/summon/track ranges that increase as levels do Xyg: Or ranges that increase as the percentages of practice do > Berry: be able to get one half the number of attacks you would get with > your off hand weapon with your shield > Xyg: Yeah! but then shields would have to be a "damage done". It's a fact though that shields are hardly used on BR on higher levels and they should be made more of a concurrent of offhandweapons. > Deuces: How about a ring of regeneration? It'd be a tough item to get, > but would significantly boost rate of healing. > Xyg: I think healing potions/pills are enough. > CuR: how about when you have a purse, and you put coins in on different > occasions, it consolidadets the total amount and when you look in it > tells you that? Xyg: would be great:nomore autosplit mistakes in groups > Testy: How about bags in the general store? > Zyg: Solace is easy enough > Foxy: How about a command that would put all gold in your inventory in > the specified container? xyg: make an alias > Linkless: since there is message if you kill stuff lower level then you > There > sould be messages if you kill something is is a "laughs at you > mercilly(sp?)" and higher.,., something like Nice go xyg: I'd like that! would make me feel a little proud > Foxy: How about in the identify spell it tells you what part of your body > a piece of armor is worn on? xyg: Would be useful, esspecially for weapons like long vine and baseball> > Shan: this is the second time it's happened - i lose my internet > connection while playing and then try to relogon after regaining > connection. It says I'm already playing. If i typed the right password i > should be able to get my player back xyg: It would be good to be able to make yourself quit when that happens. Message like: "Character is already playing? Do you want to reconnect? (Y/N? > > Slaytanic: how about a wealth command to see total $$ in bank and > in inventory:) > xyg: Or just see your balance in info or score > Kelemvor: When playing hangman for money, we should, perhaps, get extra > money for winning it without any misses. Like double money or money and > a half. xyg: I think the satisfaction of winning like that is enough > PenDragon: This WILL displease the Druids and Elves here but here goes. > How 'bout any sort of cityguards that sees a drunk player gets fined? AND > THIS IS JUST AN IDEA! Xyg: Make drunkenness substract automatically 200 points from your allingment!! > how about the longer you have a weapon > the more adept you become with it... note this would make age really > worth something// tie it in with it if a person has a weapon in thier > wielded hand after so much time they would be adept to it and provide > more damage this would be a minus in getting better weapons but a plus > on holding onto yor lower level weapons instead plus i would just like > to added my two sense if we have a bird race why not a cat one they > could be natural enemies of each other and you could tie them in with > having abad group cause they cannot get along tofgether mind the > spelling skywalkerx Xyg: Then you should before you use the weapon practice it in guild like any skill. More pracs per level are needed then and the newbie weapons are wieldable unprac'ed. The damage you do with the weapon increases with prac percentage. >> Proximus' spiffy idea #3: Trip. It doesn't really make sense for you to > trip someone, and not affect their damage. It should render the mob > offguard for a round, not letting them to hit you as hard. Of course, it > shouldn't take off much of their damage, since people will just keep > using it over and over. It just seems common sense. > xyg: Actually I never see the effect of trip when I use it. It could be made a more powerfull skill, but the effect should last shorter; the mob gets up faster >>> Hardishane: since cr's are a privelige (spelling?) and not a right I >> think pass door should be available at much lower levels... ie elves >> at 10 and all others in the level 12 range -but- still out of guild. xyg: Make Pass door available from Clericus > (more were sent to me but would take up some considerable space.. will be in next newsletter) @>------------------------(bios)------------------------------------------ Tantalus: ok. I was born on January 3,1984, in Louisville,Kentucky. I have lived in Indiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma,Florida, and know i live in Knoxville, Tennessee. I have one brother one sister live with both parents and my grandfather. I like to play soccer, baseball, basketball, and the computer. When i grow up i want to go to college and become a computer programmer. Fossil's bio: Hi! In RL I own/run a software company, and my name is Roger. I started it as a "computer gypsy" -- just me, ten years ago. Today I have six employees, and we write apps for Windows and the Internet. You can visit us at: http://www.westportal.com If you'd like to see some of our work, try http://www.hubblepix.com (You'll need an up to date browser for both of these sites) This site was developed for a company that sells photographic prints of Hubble Space Telescope pictures. There are some Hubble images on the site that you might enjoy. The largest consumers of our software are (gasp) telephone companies. I estimate that there are about 20,000 users of our software. See ya online -- (Humming, Glowing, Coding) Fossil @>-----------------------(cool stuff - many parted)--------------------- This is being passed around as "real laws that are actually on the books". Alabama: 1. It is illegal for a driver to be blindfolded while operating a vehicle. California: 1. Community leaders passed an ordinance that makes it illegal for anyone to try and stop a child from playfully jumping over puddles of water. Connecticut: 1. You can be stopped by the police for biking over 65 miles per hour. 2. You are not allowed to walk across a street on your hands. Florida: 1. Women may be fined for falling asleep under a hair dryer, as can the salon owner. 2. A special law prohibits unmarried women from parachuting on Sunday or she shall risk arrest, fine, and/or jailing. 3. If an elephant is left tied to a parking meter, the parking fee has to be paid just as it would for a vehicle. 4. It is illegal to sing in a public place while attired in a swimsuit. 5. Men may not be seen publicly in any kind of strapless gown. Illinois: 1. It is illegal for anyone to give lighted cigars to dogs, cats, and other domesticated animal kept as pets. Indiana: 1. Bathing is prohibited during the winter. 2. Citizens are not allowed to attend a movie house or theater nor ride in a public streetcar within at least four hours after eating garlic. Iowa: 1. Kisses may last for as much as, but no more than, five minutes. Kentucky: 1. By law, anyone who has been drinking is "sober" until he or she "cannot hold onto the ground." 2. It is illegal to transport an ice cream cone in your pocket. Louisana: 1. It is illegal to rob a bank and then shoot at the bank teller with a water pistol. 2. Biting someone with your natural teeth is "simple assault," while biting someone with your false teeth is "aggravated assault." Massachusetts: 1. Mourners at a wake may not eat more than three sandwiches. 2. Snoring is prohibited unless all bedroom windows are closed and securely locked. 3. An old ordinance declares goatees illegal unless you first pay a special license fee for the privilege of wearing one in public. Nebraska: 1. A parent can be arrested if his child cannot hold back a burp during a church service. New Mexico: 1. Females are strictly forbidden to appear unshaven in public. New York: 1. A fine of $25 can be levied for flirting. This old law specifically prohibits men from turning around on any city street and looking "at a woman in that way." A second conviction for a crime of this magnitude calls for the violating male to be forced to wear a "pair of horse- blinders" wherever and whenever he goes outside for a stroll. *MORE TO COME NEXT LETTER* Subject: Newsletter Jan 15 Check out the new ascii from Cutlass. Thanks Cutlass! /(*) | / | |\--------------------------------------------\ (@)(((((((( | >-------------------ideas-------------------- > | |/--------------------------------------------/ | \ \(*) Dove: How about a push command like push *mob* *direction* - might help when Aod gets in the way of buying something, but it should be strength based so it doesn't always work Gorzak: PLEASE put area list back in order of builder's names =) and fix spacing on area names (ie Land of Fire Newts, Kyoto, Realm of Grendel, Sports Complex) so it looks all in alignment Kiri- Zulx created a new help for us doing just this, and with ascii art. Look for it soon under help arealist. Corn: maybe age should have an effect in the game... Maybe your Hp max and mana max should increase or something... Corn: I think that elves should be able to scribe spells like fireball onto scrolls or make a staff... It would take a lot of mana tho. Mandwe: group list to see the current groups Order: Infravision should be a skill, not a spell. Personally, i think infravision would be much better if it worked like vision. Sakura: how about being able to carrry a small pet? APEX: glare/charm shouldnt work on a fighting mob easy way to give someone killer flag=[ CRYMSON'S NOTICE TO BR PLAYERS===============================> Want more help on Barren Realms? There are several webpages dedicated just to BR. Each of them offer their own amount of info to help you get through. Try them all out! The Official Barren Realms HomePage: http://www.tmn.com/Community/travisr/barren.html The Unofficial Barren Realms HomePage: http://www.coredcs.com/~aberkvam/barren/ Oakley's Page: http://www.liii.com:80/~jarrodl/ Oakley's Barren Realms Page: http://www.coredcs.com/~barren/ Temper's Area Building Page: http://www-scf.usc.edu/~torjada/ Klatu's Area List: http://www.voicenet.com/~rellis/brareas1.html Wildfire's BR Page: http://www.dragonfire.net/~WFire/barren.html Ohaern's Barren Realms Page: http://www.net-link.net/~karen/barren.html Ghandi's Barren Realms Page: http://newt.rmc.edu/~fheckel/barren.html Cutlass' Barren Realms Page: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/5201/barren.htm **FROM KIRI**: If you have a webpage and would like to include BR information in it, and have it listed on BR and given a connect button from Crymson's page and others, contact me for more information. /(*) | / | |\--------------------------------------------\ (@)(((((((( | >-----------responses------------------------ > | |/--------------------------------------------/ | \ \(*) **KIRI's NOTE***: there has been a flood of responses, keep them coming in! I will only be including two a newsletter though due to lack of space :) thank you! Nobody's replies: > Lysta: With talk of regeneration ring, why not have some nutrition rings: > last a period and gives freedom of hunger/thirst for some long period Nobody: I like this idea. Could possibly give it selectively - have a ring of freedom of hunger, another for freedom of thirst. A more powerful one could give both. Maybe this could be timed to "burn out" after, say, a year game time (4 hrs play time)? Other timed "burn out" items giving other benefits might also be interesting - those that could give bless, sanc, fly, invis for a limited time, then burn out like a torch does. > Dukkha: Sort the areas list alphabetically...PLEASE! (It's quite > difficult to search for an area's levels when you know the name. Thanks! Nobody: Possibly make it searchable either alphabetically or by level. Good idea. > Peken: when using "ignore" command, make that person not able to > astral/track/tp/summon you Nobody: Eeew. Everyone raise your hand if you've been harassed/hounded by an annoying individual. Course, you could always go to a "no summon" area, but, waiting on someone to leave you alone really bites. Any ideas? > Peken: perhaps make a 'busy' flag for those who don't want to be > bothered? instead of people going afk all the time Nobody: If you're busy, tag a note on the end of your AFK. People will know you're busy or just "don't want to be disturbed" at present. > Slaytanic: you should be able to enhance your hit/dam...mabye charge more Nobody: Technically, strength and dex should affect hit/dam. However, I don't see a reason why it should be made any more easy to kill things by permanently raising hit/dam. Do you REALLY have that much of a problem killing stuff that is equal to your level? > Zulx: Why is there two place around the neck? Nobody: Shh! They'll take one away! *grin* (What, YOU don't have two necks?) > Smilofax: How about making Lexie stay open all day? Nobody: You want to take Lexie's nightshift? *grin, chuckle* > Berry: when you start sobering up from drinking shouldn't their be some > adverse affects? like a hangover Nobody: You know... I like this idea. Minus to hit/dam for a short while? Course, there's a way to end the hangover early - drink more! *gulp! burp!* Berry's comments: > Echo: race/guild channels so we could bug a smaller group of people for > help than the whole MUD? :) What do we need this for? We have enough channels as it is. > Prozak: group members shouldn't get xp while sleeping You shouldn't attack mobs while group members are sleeping *grin*. This is unnecessary > Prozak: dying shouldn't make you full... I don't think it should make you full either. The only difference it makes though is for eating pills, something you need after you die. > Quiver: How about merchants/traders that wander around buying and selling > things from various cities? This would distribute the amount of > merchandise that is in each store, and add more reality to the realms. I think that the shop keepers in the city should randomly remove items from their inventory every tick so they don't get swamped with garbage. I also think they shouldn't either not buy more then 3 (of the same) items or multiples of the same item should be listed as one item(and handled as one item) > Mandwe: use bottles as weapons :) > There are more then enough weapons in the realms. > Sakura: how about a summoning room? There are quite a few no-exit rooms in the realms, just ask a druid for directions. > Forent: why not give an award to the mortal who does the nicest thing for > another each week again about the kindness award a mortal can submit > notes to a hero in charge and then they can decide who gets awarded This is a nice idea :) > Echo: Why do experience points only come at the end of a fight... > especially sonce so many things flee... Instead of gaining experience in fights your skills improve :). Chase those fleeing mobs down and kill them. > Gorzak: make aliases recognize strings case-sensitively (ie chat All > welcome %1 should produce such things as All welcome HanSolo as opposed > to All welcome Hansolo ... Sounds like a good idea. > Berry: avians be able to dive from a room away, dealing more damage, but > groups don't follow(because they build up speed) Perhaps dive should always work like this. > Slaytanic: Widen the required lvl to be within a group like within 10 > lvls... Why don't we just give you 5 levels so you can group with people 10 levels ahead of you. Really the 5 level range is enough. > Slaytanic: make the spell prayer a useful one ..like a group blessing Hehe. It is useful for getting killed and being unable to get your corpse. If this is changed, change wrod of recall to be useful also. > Sakura: how about a float like a seashell irng and dragon ship on the ice > cream sea I'm not sure what you mean but they're are items that case you to fly all the time (vultures wings, floating stone, etc.) > DragonHeart: You should add a feline type race and a reptile race, too. As soon as you design them and get them approved :) > from > > i think avians need some kind of skill that uses mana the only time i see > it go down is if i get drained by an enemy it's DEPRESING maybe i just > haven't found the skill that uses it maybe sence we stare to charm we could > use are will to make mobs feel that they are sick or as an extention of > blast/windzone have a HIGH level skill to bend the wind from your wings into > a tornato with mana > > large birds are canivoris why not just eat corpses? Just though I'd take this oppurtunity to say yes avians need something to do with mana. I've suggested spells in the past and all I get in response is that Avians are powerful enough as it is. I personally think Avians are not powerful enough as it is, they are the weakest class on the mud in my opion, because of their loss of armor. Every time new armor is added to the mud(with new areas) it weakens avians. I mean have you ever tried to tank with a level 40+ avian after level 40? After level 40 avians are totally group dependent which wouldn't be so bad except that mobs attack a charmed mobs owner instead of the charmed mob. Otherwise avians could just use their glared mobs as tanks. > >Zababa: maybe the responsibilities for a pet should be more. How about > >messages from them telling you they are hungry and thirsty? > > elrond: Yeah, i think this would make this more realistic... you don't > feed your mob, it loses hp and, basically, stops being charmed. We would need hunger warnings and I don't think the mob should stop being charmed because magic could be involved > >Peken: when using "ignore" command, make that person not able to > >astral/track/tp/summon you > > elrond: This is good. Also not let the person follow you or do socials on > you, cause they might be mad at you and keep doing nasty socials > (slapping, you know, whatever). > > sykle: > Good idea. I could see an upset druid summoning a player who has been ignoring > him to the molasses swamp. Bad scene! Although you'd think that we'd be a little > more courtious to our fellow players. Besides, wouldn't this be a punishable > offense? I think perhaps this should only apply to summon so if the person wants to go out of their way to say something to you they can. > >Corn: Maybe Intelligence should be a factor in spell damage... > > elrond: Ooh! Like this one a lot. Or even better: have the inguilds of a > spell/skill do some more damage, just to differ us from other races with > the same skill out of guild. Make us elves not shunned as worthless. :P The inguild out of guild thing makes sense but I don't think int should be a factor in spell damage unless avians get attack spells. > >This is berry. The idea of mine I worked on most is this one. Mobs > >fighting players cast this spell blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, whatever... > > elrond: Like this :) Could restrict players from skills maybe too, like > kick (i don't think it's very easy to kick with hooves) and i like the > idea that it removes armor. But instead of destroying it, maybe just bang > it up a bit cause maybe someone went through a lot of trouble to get a > helmet, armor etc or something . I think it should destroy armor because people are always using the same armor and it gets real boring. And the point of that was so if they went through a lot of trouble to get the armor, they would have to do it again. > >Zababa: I think Illithids should have some kind of rescue spell. Some of > >the other races have nice start-offs in attack, but they can't handle > >defence to nicely :) > > Sykle: Ilithids do make good tanks. Ill's spend so much time using there brain they don't have time to learn how to rescue their friends. > >Zababa: When the Illithid spell 'enhance armor' fails, I sit with nodrop, > >no value and a +4 AC item which I can't sell, drop or really want to > >wear. This doesn't seem the same with the ElF spell enahnce weapon. Why not? > > sykle: I don't like it, but Zababa's got a point. I don't think the enhance armor spell should leave you with a no drop item, it should either destroy the item or not give it a no drop flag. It gives you less of an advantage then enchant weapon and doesn't deserve such a harsh failure. > >Lysta: With talk of regeneration ring, why not have some nutrition rings: > >last a period and gives freedom of hunger/thirst for some long period > > sykle: Nah, then everyone in the realms would get one. Could you imagine > the stench from all the uneaten appendages? Hehe. Are you really having that much troulbe finding food and water? > >Christina: make gold harder to come by,or not on certain mobs(how often > >do bugs carry gold?) > > sykle: Then how do newbies get gold? I meant more along the lines of not all mobs carrying gold. So the trainees still would but not all those bugs thus newbies could still get gold. And besides what do you need gold for, most people are stuck with millions of it. > >Xyganthos: It's not realistic when it snows underneath the surface of the dark > >sea :) > > sykle: > Use your imagination. It's not really snow, there's a storm on the surface that > is stirring up the sand and sediment! Xyg is right underwater rooms should not be affected by weather. Of course you shouldn't be able to scan underwater either, the waters murky. > >Micah: > >I would like to send a comment about having something new in the BR > >world. How about a carm person spell of some sort for the Ills? I am one > >and feel sorta cheated not to have a spell like that. > >Thanks. > > sykle: > I agree with this one. Maybe call it "Force Will", or "Trance", or "Hypnotize". I think a much better idea was the coax spell I suggested. Someone said Ills are great tanks so tehy don't need charmed mobs :) > >This is berry. The idea of mine I worked on most is this one. Mobs > >fighting players cast this spell which hits players and affects certain > .. > Sykle: > I like it, but don't have it destroying EQ, players will never fight them > (firespouts). I explained why it should destroy eq above. But who said the spell was going to be given to firespouts who have flamestrike I think not polymorph. > > Foxy: How about a command that would put all gold in your inventory in > > the specified container? > > xyg: make an alias Please explain what you mean. You can't make an alias(on the mud) unless you use a variable and then you have to check your worth anyway which makes the whole thing useless. And some of us (me) don't use z-mud or a good client so we can't make good aliases. > > Kelemvor: When playing hangman for money, we should, perhaps, get extra > > money for winning it without any misses. Like double money or money and > > a half. > > xyg: I think the satisfaction of winning like that is enough In blackjack the satisfaction of getting a blackjack isn't enough. You win extra. I think it should be the same with hangman. > >>> Hardishane: since cr's are a privelige (spelling?) and not a right I > >> think pass door should be available at much lower levels... ie elves > >> at 10 and all others in the level 12 range -but- still out of guild. > > xyg: Make Pass door available from Clericus Sometimes you can't make it to your corpse in the duration of the pass door spell. /(*) | / | |\--------------------------------------------\ (@)(((((((( | >----------------Bios------------------------ > | |/--------------------------------------------/ | \ \(*) HI! :) Here is a small bio to put in the newsletter. First off, I am a freshman Computer Science Major at Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri. When I am not doing work for classes or mudding I am normally playing AD&D or Worlds of Darkness. May all your quests for heroism and/or immortalism so very smoothly!!! Maia Bio of Dove! Age: 27 Eyes: blue-green Hair: dark blonde Height: 5'3" Now that we've got the basics down... My real name is Dawn and I live in Milwaukee, WI. I was born and raised in the suburbs NW of Chicago and came to WI to go to the Univ of WI - Milwaukee where I majored in Marketing. I currently work in radio as a Traffic Director which doesn't mean that I'm on the air telling you what the traffic is like, I handle the commercials. I live alone with my macaw, Velcro (who is also in my room) and three cockatiels, Frisky, Jake and Jasmine (they're small parrots). I love to read, mud (of course), music and playing D&D. I collect comic books and Disney animation - I'm still a kid at heart. For anyone wondering, I am single and available *grin*. I love anything to do with fantasy - dragons, unicorns, castles, etc. I read Tarot cards and runes, but I don't take them TOO seriously. I don't smoke or do drugs and I don't like it when people do, but I do drink occasionally. I love talking to people on the muds, so if you see me feel free to say hi :) /(*) | / | |\--------------------------------------------\ (@)(((((((( | >-------------------silly-------------------- > | |/--------------------------------------------/ | \ \(*) ACTUAL STATE LAWS: (CONT.) North Dakota: 1. Beer & pretzels can't be served at the same time in any bar or restaurant. Ohio: 1. Women are prohibited from wearing patent leather shoes in public. Oklahoma: 1. Violators can be fined, arrested or jailed for making ugly faces at a dog. 2. Females are forbidden from doing their own hair without being licensed by the state. 3. Dogs must have a permit signed by the mayor in order to congregate in groups of three or more on private property. Pennsylvania: 1. A special cleaning ordinance bans housewives from hiding dirt and dust under a rug in a dwelling. 2. No man may purchase alcohol without written consent from his wife. Texas: 1. A city ordinance states that a person cannot go barefoot without first obtaining a special five-dollar permit. 2. It is illegal to take more than three sips of beer at a time while standing. Vermont: 1. Lawmakers made it obligatory for everybody to take at least one bath each week -- on Saturday night. Washington: 1. All lollipops are banned. 2. A law to reduce crime states: "It is mandatory for a motorist with criminal intentions to stop at the city limits and telephone the chief of police as he is entering the town. West Virginia: 1. No children may attend school with their breath smelling of "wild onions." Subject: Newsletter Jan 22 Starting next newsletter we will start with articles from many players. I'm looking forward to sharing them with you :) /(*) | / | |\--------------------------------------------\ (@)(((((((( | >-----------------ideas---------------------- > | |/--------------------------------------------/ | \ \(*) Forent: make it so you can mark your weapons with your name or some way so that when people pick up your weapon for you they cant exchange it for there lesser enchanted weapon Sylvester: With report, instead of showing Total Experience points, which tells nothing, how about making it show Experience To next level? Corn: If mortals can heal when fighting monsters... I think It'd be fair if the monsters could heal when fighting mortals... APEX: avians should et something like perch for when they sleep to keep outa reach of none flying mobs that attack sleepers Campyhamper: Coffee should make a person jittery as booze makes you drunk. Deuces: would it be possible to make it so that jenny waits at the fountain until someone get on the bus, she's a hard woman to track down :) kiri- this will be fixed soon Fig: how about being able to tell a character a secret word that would make them go linkdead.. So we dont have to bug imms when it happens... kiri- this should be fixed soon.. well, not in this manner, but in some way. :) Dorkus: Make a spell for booze...that would be sooo cool. Kiri- booze is cheap to begin with! Dorkus: We should haggle with the shop keepers for better deals on selling and buying....sound good? Zorak: A spell that raises dex temporarily, like haste. Would be nice for elves, and maybe Kenders and Humans out of guild-might even want to keep the aging affect, like there is in the D&D spell :) Prozak: if the leader of your group recalls, whole group should recall Quiver: Some type of 2ndlist to list from the second merchant (AOD & Armorer). Corn: Why can't we ram mobs with vehicles? Quiver: how about giving pets more movement??? Dart: Why not try and make a new race like Trolls kiri- if you want to write em up? sure! Kalar: how 'bout a MUDmail destination (or whatever you call the things you input after you type "note to -") like newsletter for people who don't have/like an email server to be able to still put stuff into the newsletter? Kiri- you can get your ideas into the newsletter.. um, like this! *GRIN* With the idea command, just like you did. Cutlass: 'chance' command - executes a random social (to liven up those boring conversations :P) Ok..here are a few ideas that I've been thinking about. I think we need more group commands. So here are a couple. whogroup A list of people that are grouped together.. with their levels and races and with the leader at top. grouptitles How about if we do that..we have a bunch of randomly selected groupnames..ie.."The Vorpal Bunnies". Maybe even a command so you can change the title if you wish. How about an area channel..so you can talk to all the people in your area like chat but without spamming chat as much. One thing I've noticed and heard is that elves need some help..so here is my contribution to be hailed or rejected:} Mirror Bubble this spell would reflect the next hit or spell from a mob and hit itself at the same damage that it was going to do. Finally, my last idea(hehe). Though I believe Illithid spells should be pared down and cut drastically..I also think they really don't have any good offensive spells till much later. So here is one I thought up. Psychic Vampirism At a mana cost of course this spell takes life force (hit points) from the target and adds them to the Illithids life force (hit points). We could either have a set number or the number could get better the higher you get in level. Personally I think Illithids are supposed to be played as evil brain sucking monsters ...Thats how I play Squidly(ask him to show you his alias some time), so an evil nasty spell like this might just fit right in. Well that's enought of taking up your time:} have a nice day *drooolll* Polgara the Lagging *** Lopping *** Snow Owl! /(*) | / | |\--------------------------------------------\ (@)(((((((( | >----------------Bios----------------------- > | |/--------------------------------------------/ | \ \(*) Ohaern: Well..lets see. I am in my 30's and live in Michigan. Barren Realms was the first MUD I ever tried. I actually was cruising web pages for various MUDs and came across Scavenger's. I like the idea that he had directions to various places.. and the names of the areas sounded 'cool' so I ventured forth. I have had many characters but always come back to druids. I love the art of healing and supporting my group thru my efforts. Lets see.. Pet peeves are people that I have never even grouped with asking me to astral to them and summon something or to go get eq for them. When I am not at BR I am usually at work as a banker. I hate when RL gets in the way of the game! :) Ideas... I would like to see magic users get more mana when they level than they do now. I think that all races get about the same and I think that a magic user should get a bit of a bonus. Thats my boring life :) Ohaern-_-Eion_-_Hardishane-_-Earthshaker_-_Stegoman --------------- Reykjavik THE BIRD-O-WAR!! - Reykjavik grew up on the east coast of the US and decided to travel round the world!! He's settled several far away lands and currently resides in Iceland....next he might explore the jungles of Australia (might have to change my name to Sydney?)....THAT'S IT! (what more can a mysterious nomad reveal?) - Reyk --------------- /(*) | / | |\--------------------------------------------\ (@)(((((((( | >------------------response------------------ > | |/--------------------------------------------/ | \ \(*) All from XYGANTHOS: > Doomsaw: when a creature is blinded it shouldn't be able to parry or dodge Xyg: I aggree with that! If a mob is blinded it shouldn't be able to use any skills. Instead of that it could get into a frenzy by just pummeling around like a madman....ehh..blindman. > Corn: why not make it so pets and mercs autoassist? Xyg: I would never use that, because I always let my pet be the tank, but it might be useful if you have other tactiques (spelling?) and why not? > Cord: why not have tellh, chath, ect work while you are asleep? Xyg: Maybe it would be a problem in the code to let tellh work when asleep and tell not, but it would be nice /(*) | / | |\--------------------------------------------\ (@)(((((((( | >-----------------jokes---------------------- > | |/--------------------------------------------/ | \ \(*) The top 55 NERD T-Shirt Slogans 1. Cannot find REALITY.SYS. Universe halted. 2. COFFEE.EXE Missing - Insert Cup and Press Any Key 3. Buy a Pentium 586/90 so you can reboot faster. 4. 2 + 2 = 5 for extremely large values of 2. 5. Computers make very fast, very accurate mistakes. 6. Computers are not intelligent. They only think they are. 7. My software never has bugs. It just develops random features. 8. C:\WINDOWS C:\WINDOWS\GO C:\PC\CRAWL 9. C:\DOS C:\DOS\RUN RUN\DOS\RUN 10. <-------- The information went data way -------- 11. Best file compression around: "DEL ." = 100% compression 12. The Definition of an Upgrade: Take old bugs out, put new ones in. 13. BREAKFAST.COM Halted...Cereal Port Not Responding 14. The name is Baud......, James Baud. 15. BUFFERS=20 FILES=15 2nd down, 4th quarter, 5 yards to go! 16. Access denied--nah nah na nah nah! 17. C:\ Bad command or file name! Go stand in the corner. 18. Bad command. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaay.. 19. Why doesn't DOS ever say "EXCELLENT command or filename!" 20. As a computer, I find your faith in technology amusing. 21. Southern DOS: Y'all reckon? (Yep/Nope) 22. Backups? We don' NEED no steenking backups. 23. E Pluribus Modem 24. ... File not found. Should I fake it? (Y/N) 25. Ethernet (noun): something used to catch the Etherbunny 26. A mainframe: The biggest PC peripheral available. 27. An error? Impossible! My modem is error correcting. 28. CONGRESS.SYS Corrupted: Re-boot Washington D.C. (Y/n)? 29. Does fuzzy logic tickle? 30. A computer's attention span is as long as it's power cord. 31. 11th commandment - Covet not thy neighbor's Pentium. 32. 24 hours in a day...24 beers in a case...coincidence? 33. Disinformation is not as good as datinformation. 34. Windows: Just another pane in the glass. 35. SENILE.COM found . . . Out Of Memory . . . 36. Who's General Failure & why is he reading my disk? 37. Ultimate office automation: networked coffee. 38. RAM disk is not an installation procedure. 39. Shell to DOS...Come in DOS, do you copy? Shell to DOS... 40. All computers wait at the same speed. 41. DEFINITION: Computer - A device designed to speed and automate errors. 42. Go ahead, make my data! 43. Smash forehead on keyboard to continue..... 44. Enter any 11-digit prime number to continue... 45. ASCII stupid question, get a stupid ANSI! 46. E-mail returned to sender -- insufficient voltage. 47. Help! I'm modeming... and I can't hang up!!! 48. All wiyht. Rho sritched mg kegtops awound? 49. Error: Keyboard not attached. Press F1 to continue. 50. "640K ought to be enough for anybody." - Bill Gates, 1981 51. DOS Tip #17: Add DEVICE=FNGRCROS.SYS to CONFIG.SYS 52. Hidden DOS secret: add BUGS=OFF to your CONFIG.SYS 53. Press any key to continue or any other key to quit... 54. Press any key...... no, No, NO!! Not THAT one! 55. Press -- to continue ... Subject: Newsletter Jan 28 /(*) | / | |\--------------------------------------------\ (@)(((((((( | >-------------------------------------------- > | |/--------------------------------------------/ | \ \(*) Colgate: how about instead of making poison weapons no-drop, make them like FLAMiNG weapons that druids and elves can use but nobodyelse oh, except for kender of course! Fig: a mana shield spell, that takes away mana from a mage instead of hit points when hit.. make it like 2 mana points for every damage taken. Cord: how about a "Barren Realms Record Book.....you all know where id come in on those >:) Berry: doors that can't be passed through with pass door Berry: when making areas being able to control what a mob says when it dies, it would be an oppurtuinity to provide hints depth and fun to an area Corn: Sit in furniture would be nice... Shriek: how about an avian or dwarf skill called - drag - which would enable them to drag a group members corpse out of a room so we dont have people draggings corpses all over the mud and back making it hard to find Quiver: how about something that tells if you succeed at sneaking? Xyganthos: if it is dark and you haven't got a light you should be able to see a ball of light if it's on the ground Blacklight: Make it so replies show up too when you do a tellh Corn: Make bless and magical do more stuff... Maybe make blessed weapons cause the person to be blessed... Berry: a way you can see your afk message (what it's set to) Quiver: Another Jenny idea...how about having some type of brake that we can push? So we can stop & get out or something. Cutlass: a 'grumble' note spool for all these pointless complaints we have been getting over the 'all' spool recently Polgara: how about changing help wisdom so it has the fact that wisdom help with Mana when you level..like help con has the fact that it help with hps Berry: curse affect you like pless when you evil and bless affect you like curse when you're evil :) SGETSUO: I was looking through your "extra files" section on the web page, and I'd like to recommend a mud player. Ok, here it is: MUTT Lite - it is a freeware program, found at www.graphcomp.com/mutt/lite.html the actual program is downloaded from ftp://ftp.graphcomp.com/pub/msw/mutt/mutt_01k.zip The program is v.small (32k exe) and supports a script language. It comes with some sample sound files and generic script files for autologins etc. On the downside, there is no ansi, but there is a large scrollback. There it is...just a recommendation. Other than that, the homepage is pretty damn fine, just like the MUD. Cheers for everything, (Sgetsuo) POLGARA: Ration-Why waste all that good meat..ration your corpse and make fun and nutrious food. But don't fail..might be poisonous. Stun-This skill would stun a mob..preventing them from doing attacks..or half their attacks for a couple rounds. The player also wouldn't be about to enter a command for several rounds but would be fighting the mob still. Eat Brain-WARNING!! for those with weak stomach don't read on. This skill is for Illithids. Kinda like a second attack (like 1000 palms for humans) This skill makes use of the Illithids tentacles which go up the nose passage of the mob and does damage to the brain. SLURPPP..hehe..gross huh..but it is very illithid. Also on the subject of Illthids..Avians lose many armor slots to new body parts..Personally i think Illithids should lose the one for head..because their heads are enormous and bulbous and because of their tentacles..something to think about. Well thats it.. Yours with a drooling *Chackleberry*, Polgara the Snow Owl Here's Elrond's new race idea! Found in the deepest parts of Haon Dor, lies a new reptilian race to the Realms, named Chameleons (ok, i don't know the spelling.). These creatures are able to blend in with their surroundings, as well as attack with great force. Main Attribute: Str - Sharp Jaws - Claws on hands and feet, so feet & hand eq is able to be worn until level 10. - Tail at level 5, so body eq becomes useless - Natural above average armor class (Not high) - spells/skills marked with (i) are inguild Level Spell/Skill ------------------- 1 Screamer(i) 3 Crush(i) 5 Whiptail(i), Headbutt, Rescue 7 Reptile Vision(i) 10 Slash(i), Disarm 15 Burning Air(i), Electric Charge(i) 18 Fly, Shield, Armor 20 Blend(i), Enhanced Damage 27 Pass door, Scale Rearangement(i) 30 Cook(i) 42 Fury(i) SCREAMER This skill is nicknamed this by the intense pain it causes. The Chameleon jumps at the victim, swiping and slashing claws in midair, hiting the victim several times before it hits ground. Syntax: Screamer Screamer is available in guild for Chameleons at level 1. CRUSH In this skill, the Chameleon hits the victim with such force, that the victim is crushed to the ground by the attacker. Syntax: Crush Crush is available in guild for Chameleons at level 3. WHIPTAIL As the Chameleon matures, he finds himself with a nice, long, thick, tail that would really sting if someone whipped it at you >:) Syntax: Whiptail Whiptail is available in guild for Chameleons at level 5. REPTILE VISION A Chameleon finds himself with ultra-sensitive eyes, that see what most people wouldn't see unaided. Syntax: c 'reptile vision' Reptile vision is available in guild for Chameleons at level 7. SLASH The Chameleon finds himself with claws as he grows. With these, he can slash his opponents to bits. Syntax: Used automatically Slash is available in guild for Chameleons at level 10. BURNING AIR With this spell, the Chameleon can create a burning sensation in the air and direct it at a certain victim. Syntax: c 'burning air' Burning air is available in guild for Chameleons at level 15. ELECTRIC CHARGE The Chameleon suddenly finds himself to conduct electricity from his skin to the air when he reaches a certain point. The Chameleon can create a shield of electricity around him, thus repelling enemy attacks and causing them damage as well. Syntax: c 'electric charge' Electric charge is available in guild for Chameleons at level 15. BLEND Chameleons soon learn to change their scales to blend in with their surroundings. Syntax: blend Blend is available in guild for Chameleons at level 20. SCALE RE-ARANGEMENT After a Chameleon learns to change the color of it's scales, it soon learns to re-arange his scales to provide better protection. As soon as the spell is cast, the scales begin to slowly return to their original positions. Syntax: c 'scale re-arangement' scale re-arangement is available in guild for Chameleons at level 27. COOK Stomach grumbling? Need some food? Here's the product for you! Just take a corpse, cook it, and voila! Food! (additional mana not included) Syntax: c 'cook' corpse Cook is available in guild for Chameleons at level 30. FURY A very powerful skill, indeed, for Chameleons. The Chameleon attacks the victim with it's baring teeth and claws, and attempts to rip up the victim into teeny tiny little pieces. Syntax: fury Fury is available in guild for Chameleons at level 42. * Notes on the race * - Blend: this is like invis, not hide. Hide is almost worthless. - Reptile Vision: Detect invis and infravision sort of thing. - Scale Re-arangement: I was going to suggest this be like sanc, but then i thought it being like protection better. This should filter 1/4 damage. - Electric Charge: Does not cause lots of damage (1/2 of norm. attack maybe) and lasts for not very long. - Screamer: Another tanking skill. I just thought it would be neat, and you can take it out if you like. - Whiptail: Smacks the mob senseless, but knocks the mob down as well. This is pretty 'first draft'. I'll probably make changes. Tell me what you think :) -Elrond the incredibly fantastic programmer /(*) | / | |\--------------------------------------------\ (@)(((((((( | >----------------bios------------------------ > | |/--------------------------------------------/ | \ \(*) Hi there! Strange enough, but my name is ZulX. The first Illithid hero in a long time. Not that I am a stranger to Illithids. I've played a few of them before this character. I just love playing them. Maybe I'm just hooked on the idea of extra special mental capabalities, or maybe I just don't like being normal. Now where did I get this name? you can hit me with a fish and I still won't know. I was just sitting thinking about a name, paging through a few books and couldn't think of anything. Didn't see anything I like at all. So I just typed something in and here I am, ZulX. Sometimes I think it is real strange, sometimes I like it a lot. Well, anyways there is a few people out there that said I could have hero'd a long time ago with one of my other Illithids, but maybe I just wasn't right then. Maybe I was just being nuts, when I deleted 2 level 50 Illithids, Ahkran (I like that name, came from Rose of the Prophet series. I will hero that one sometime. I hope :) and Vulcron (Made that name up as well, also like it). I also deleted Zababa, a level 39 one. (Didn't particularly like that name, came from some african legend). Moaned for days afterward at myself for deleting Ahkran, but then just took on BR with a new character. Anyways so here I am and sometimes you can see Ahkran playing again. Hopefully he is a better Illithid than he was at first. Just in case you do think I'm hung up on Illithids, I do have a druid and a human as well. But I'm not telling who they are *grin*. Well, that is my BR stuff. In real life I'm called Thys van der Merwe. I am 30 years old, I'm tall, but not dark (I have red hair). The handsome bit can go depending on what you like of course. Almost forgot, I think I'm also the only active player playing from South Africa. There are two others as well, but I haven't seen them in months. I speak a language called Afrikaans, but as you can see my English isn't too bad (I hope). I also know a little bit of French, but please don't flood me. I'll just say, 'Je ne comprend pas'. O yes, even though Xyganthos and I speak two different languages, we can understand each other perfectly. Mostly because our languages were derived from the same old Dutch of a few hundred years ago. What do I do for a living. I have the ideal job. I'm a Systems Analyst. I help design, modify and implement huge system software. My last project was a production system for building motor vehicles (cars) in Port Elizabeth. The project I work on now in partly in Johannesburg and then Saldanha Bay. It is for the Steel Industry and I'll be handling Sales & Distribution as well as Warehousing. I also do a bit of programming. Well, OK, maybe more than a bit. I know Visual Basic, SQL and a few in-system languages like ABAP. Luckily all 4GL stuff. Next thing I want to teach myself is C++. I have a copy of Microsoft C++ Version 7 standing here on my table. Just been too busy to really have a look at it. Maybe this year :). I've also become very interested in writing areas and have just completed one area (hopefully awaiting approval of BR Imms) and I'm also working on another higher level one. I have really found a place to spend some time and made lots of friends on the way. I'm not going to mention anyone in particular, but I really enjoy all of your company and the enjoyable chatting and grouping we had done. Anyways, I don't want to fill up Kiri's whole newsletter with my bio. So this is the end. ZulX, the cute Illithid monster /(*) | / | |\--------------------------------------------\ (@)(((((((( | >------------------responses------------------- > | |/--------------------------------------------/ | \ \(*) from momnic >A spell that raises dex temporarily, like haste. Would be nice for >elves, and maybe Kenders and Humans out of guild-might even want to keep >the aging affect, like there is in the D&D spell :) great idea :) i think that would be a great way for avians to get a LITTLE bit more AC... god knows we NEED it to DO anything :( > Sylvester: With report, instead of showing Total Experience points, which > tells nothing, how about making it show Experience To next level? just type 'worth' it tells you how much you have to level > Dorkus: We should haggle with the shop keepers for better deals on > selling and buying....sound good? i like this.. not quite sure on how'd it be done but i like it ;P > Prozak: if the leader of your group recalls, whole group should recall what happens when the leader recalls out of battle because he's getting his butt kicked? this would make the rest of the group disapear and not even get a chance on killing the mob. i say a group recall skill/spell or something but not just when the leader types recall they all do. make it sorta like mass invis. > Kalar: how 'bout a MUDmail destination (or whatever you call the things > you input after you type "note to -") like newsletter for people who > don't have/like an email server to be able to still put stuff into the > newsletter? > > Kiri- you can get your ideas into the newsletter.. um, like this! *GRIN* > With the idea command, just like you did. i'm working on this so you can do it from the web page as well (i just don't know cgi scripting all that well) if any of you guys and gals know how to do this type of stuff.. contact me!!! please!!! ;P (leave me a note online or email me.. it's in my profile) > > How about an area channel..so you can talk to all the people in your area like > chat but without spamming chat as much. > type 'yell ' it only stays within the area you are in. /(*) | / | |\--------------------------------------------\ (@)(((((((( | >----------------Verc's Column----------------- > | |/--------------------------------------------/ | \ \(*) A short while back, a new area was added to the Realms to replace the area Sesame Street which was being removed as part of the move to a medieval theme by removing some of the stranger and technological areas. The addition of the new area went off with only the minor problem of some of the Sesame Street equipment disappeared, leaving some mudders frustrated, but if you go through the new area there is some definetly cool new eq to replace it, so the loss is not that major. The area replacing Sesame Street is called the White Tower and is based on the Wheel of Time books by Robert Jordan (Can never remeber authors names). This is quite a large area as they go, though not quite as large as some, and is meant for levels 35 to 50. All the mobs in the area are featured in the books, so any one with more than a passing aquaintance with the novels should recognize many of the characters portrayed as mobs. There are a good blend of diffucult, higher level mobs and things even the weakest level 35 should be able to beat. Many of the higher level mobs in this area are autoassist, so great care must be taken, even though few of the mobs are aggressive. The towers floor layout is quite complex, with many hidden rooms and long winding corridors. It does not require a lot of effort to get quite lost further into the tower, so a good map of the place will come in handy later on. The area is quite cool, and I think it is a good addition to the realms. Offering a good blend of challenging mobs and good eq, this area is a winner. Don't mourn the loss of Sesame Street, as the White Tower is an area that is at least as good, if not better, and is a welcome addition to Barren Realms. /(*) | / | |\--------------------------------------------\ (@)(((((((( | >-----------Berry's column------------------- > | |/--------------------------------------------/ | \ \(*) This is berry sending in my article. I also have a couple of questions for my next article. Is there a point at which lowering you ac will no longer be helpful? Is there a point at which raising you dam roll will no longer be helpful? If you have a lower ac will that prevent some damage? My next article will be about damroll vs ac so it would be really helpful to know this stuff :) Here's the article: So you've made your first million gold and you're wondering what to do. Well lucky for us items on this mud are cheap and people will help you for little or no gold. So many people turn to enhancements to get rid of all that gold, but is it really worth it? Compared to other muds the price of an enhancement here is cheap at only 150,000 gold and 300,000 experience rather then wasting those precious practices. You probably have the gold to enhance but the real decision is about if you want to set yourself back 300,000 xp. If you're a dwarf, kender, human, or avian it's worth it to enhance str, dex and con to their max, because these stats will really help you fight and tank. If you're a druid, illthelid, or elf maxing out wis and int will help you be more sucessful with your spells and regenerate mana faster. Avians also need 14 int to tan, and Kender need about 19 wisdom to taint so these stats are quite useful for them. So yeah enhancing your stats is worth it, it certainly makes you a better fighter/spell caster for a mere 300,000 xp which can be earned rather quickly sometimes. Enhancing hp and mana is another story, you really shouldn't enhance either of these unless you find yourself having to flee from perfect matches all the time or you're always out of mana. Freedom from nutrition and movement shouldn't ever be enhanced because they're pretty useless(if you are running out of movement use fly or take off some of that lag eq :). The most important part of enhancing is to do it on a level you're comfortable with and can gain xp quickly on your own. Unfortunatly these levels zoom by so fast you don't stop to think about enhancing. The last thing you want to do however is enhance on a level where you're too low or too high for every area, if you do you'll find yourself waiting around for groups for a long level. Hope ya'll find this useful. -Berry Subject: newsletter jan 5 /(*) | / | |\--------------------------------------------\ (@)(((((((( | >-------------------------------------------- > | |/--------------------------------------------/ | \ Fargo: Avians' wings shoul dcount as protection.. like armor Corn: I think another factor should be added into BR... Fatigue. If you don't sleep at night, you should get a negative thing in your affect... maybe -2hit -2 dam... Hax: Can we get the Ignore command to work with 'All' so as to ignore everyone and everything? =) Quiver: How about making movement higher at the start, & then get less movement for leveling? Arrow: When track fails, how about the sprite going out and coming back & saying I can't find him! (Instead of who do you want to track?) Zebulac: how bout a sleep channel, for people who are sleeping? Zebulac: pemote : like emote but sticks 's after your name Iceflame: new spell, time confuse for elf/illithid, if works make shopkeepers go from open to close, or close to open Iceflame: new idea for illithid spell mana suck...take mana from players/mobs and gives it to the illithid Iceflame: shove command: allows you to push l/d groupmates to the ground, so they don't follow you into an aggie room Erekose: We can already write socials...How about letting us write extra 'pose' socials? Mandwe: paperwor--- errrrr I mean furniture that you can sit/lay in- gives bonus nwhen geretting back movement Quiver: How about making it so that parry will occasionally disarm an opponent? New Kender skill... Torture: This skill would allow the dexterious kender to torture a mob, possibly by tickling them, or pinching them repeatedly. As a kender would have to be extremely fast to accomplish this, this skill may require 20+ dex. Also, as a kender grows, this skill would become more harmful (depending on hp). New Dwarf skill... Carry: This skill would allow the mighty dwarf to pick up a follower and sling the follower over its shoulder. Basically works like carry for avian, but doesn't require the dwarf to be flying. May work some formula out for the amount of strength required. (Would take less if the character is lower level, more if higher). Minimum of 22 str. Well, tell me what you think about these. -Quiver /(*) | / | |\--------------------------------------------\ (@)(((((((( | >----------------------response--------------- > | |/--------------------------------------------/ | \ \(*) Here are some responses to newsletter stuff: > Forent: make it so you can mark your weapons with your name or some way > so that when people pick up your weapon for you they cant exchange it for > there lesser enchanted weapon That's terrible... this shouldn't have to be done... Here's a hint... when someone does this, don't hang out with them anymore... and tell your friends not to either... that's nasty, and hopefully not something commonly done at BR. If whoever does this sees this, you deserve a big fat *raspberry* because that's really a pissy thing to do. > Corn: If mortals can heal when fighting monsters... I think It'd be fair > if the monsters could heal when fighting mortals... This would be good to a limited extent... perhaps a spec_fun... also, morts can heal in battle, but it also creates a waitstate which will prevent them from doing anything else (including fleeing) for a short period of time... this seems to be penalty enough IMHO > APEX: avians should et something like perch for when they sleep to keep > outa reach of non-flying mobs that attack sleepers Here's an idea... why not just not be asleep around mobs that are prone to attacking you? > Dorkus: Make a spell for booze...that would be sooo cool. Might be nice to introduce players to some of the more exotic booze in the Realms ;) > Dorkus: We should haggle with the shop keepers for better deals on > selling and buying....sound good? Oh, come on... shopkeepers won't sell stuff to you unless it's your level, and if it's your level, you should certainly be able to afford it... besides, certain things are priced higher for a reason... (ie rutabagas cost 4000 gold apiece because they ... well, they rule) > Corn: Why can't we ram mobs with vehicles? Because it will see you coming and jump out of the way *DUH* > Quiver: how about giving pets more movement??? How about relying less on pets? I mean, pets are nice, but not THAT necessary that you need to have it follow you all around to entire MUD... > Cutlass: 'chance' command - executes a random social (to liven up those > boring conversations :P) We have something like this... it's called pose. > How about an area channel..so you can talk to all the people in your area like > chat but without spamming chat as much. There's already a channel for this... it's the yell channel, and perhaps the most underused channel in the Realms. It sends a message to everyone awake in the same area as you. > One thing I've noticed and heard is that elves need some help..so here is my > contribution to be hailed or rejected:} Elves are actually quite a powerful race (and hear me out before you start laughing) Elves are only difficult for the beginning levels. Once an elf passes the level 20 mark, it gets easier, and elves (believe it or not) make GREAT group members... --------------- Gorzak /(*) | / | |\--------------------------------------------\ (@)(((((((( | >-----------------articles-------------------- > | |/--------------------------------------------/ | \ \(*) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- On The Web Road by Ohaern This series is devoted to bringing you information on some of the 'special' sites I have found, usually while looking for something else on my web cruises. :) Each article will feature a couple different sites. I was looking for some weapon/armor info the other day and came across a site called Murphy's Law's of Combat. Since we kill, KILL, kill on Barren Realms I thought this would be a good one to start with. Its hilarious and very insightfull. Addy: http://www.montana.edu/wwwarmy/html_docs/rulscmbt.html Also for those interested in realistic armor and weapons of the medieval periods.. check out The Arador Armour Library at: Addy: http://darkstar.swsc.k12.ar.us/~davidc/ As always.. I have a BR page at: http://www.net-link.net/~karen/barren ------------------------------------------------------------------------- BERRY'S ARTICLE: One of the hardest decisions to make on the road to herodom(an even then) is what equipment to use. Here's a little piece to help you all out. Basically theres three kinds of eq, the kind that makes you hit harder, the kind that gives you more armor class, and the kind that helps you cast spells. Dwarves, Avians, Kender, and Humans should only concern themselves with the first two categories. So which is better? dam roll, hit roll, or armor class. It depends on your playing style, if you're going to be tanking a lot armor class is more important because it lessens the amount of damage you take and tanks usually don't get as many hits anyway. If you like to hit hard or don't tank much you should focus on dam roll which makes you hit harder. I personally don't notice hit roll helping me out that much as long as it's not really low. One thing to note is one you get past neg 300 armor class going any lower won't help you anymore. Now if you're an Elf, Druid, or Ill you should focus on equipment that gives you int, wis, or mana. Your races shouldn't really be doing the tanking anyway so you don't have to worry about your other areas just find a dwarf to group with :). If you must tank you should try to get your armor class as low as possible and don't bother with dam roll because you have all those attack spells. One thing to remember is str will raise your hit and dam roll and dex will lower your ac. May all your levels be easy -Berry /(*) | / | |\--------------------------------------------\ (@)(((((((( | >------------------bios---------------------- > | |/--------------------------------------------/ | \ \(*) Hy real name is Rich and I play ZombyWoof and Merpet on the Barren Realms. I'm 28, was raised in Western Maryland where I am still living but I like the southwest much more. I spent about a year traveling around New Mexico and Arizona and fell in love with it. I moved back to Maryland to take a job which I still have. I am an electronic/video technician working for a small independent service center. We specialize in broadcast video tape machines and do workmostly for TV stations and cable companies all over the country and from some other countries as well. I am an underfunded audiophile and I love music, especially 'alternative rock' or 'modern rock', whatever you call it. I also love classical and just about everything else except for country and rap. Dead Can Dance and Primus are among my favorite bands now. I'm a guitarist in a band with Blackwulf and Tom, both of wich I introduced to the Barren Realms. My other hobbies include in no particular order: mudding, collecting military firearms, sci-fi (X-Files fan!), motorcycles and sports cars, especially driving my '85 MR2 on twisty country backroads. Hi. This is Cutlass, and this is my bio. When I have to leave BR, and return to RL, I am called Mark Sherlock. I am 18 and live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. My hobbies are skiing, MUDing, rollerblading, biking, camping, and programming. Currently, I am working on learning C++. I also am playing around with computer graphics. I also plan to learn JAVA in the near future (no, not javascript - real JAVA) I go to Dr. E. P. Scarlett High School. This year I am taking Chem 30AP, Bio 30, Math 30, Math 31, Physics 30, English 30, Social 30, and CALM. (The 30 means grade twelve course) Next year I plan to attend either the University of Calgary, or the University of Lethbridge. That'll be cool. I plan to take something related to science, computers, or business. If you have ever seen the U of C campus, you know part of the reason I want to go there. *WOW* As for a career, I don't know yet. I hpefully will eventually get a computer-oriented job. I have one sister, 2 dogs and a pair of parents. Unfortunately, my sister insn't at all interested in MUDing. I showed her it once and she didn't like it. My parents dont like me MUDing - they think it's a waste of time. (No accounting for some peoples' tastes :P ) Well, that's me. You can contact me at msherlo@ibm.net Cutlass /(*) | / | |\--------------------------------------------\ (@)(((((((( | >---------------silly------------------------ > | |/--------------------------------------------/ | \ \(*) > THESE ARE ACTUAL EXCERPTS FROM STUDENT SCIENCE EXAM PAPERS: > > Charles Darwin was a naturalist who wrote the organ of the species. > > Benjamin Franklin produced electricity by rubbing cats backwards. > > The theory of evolution was greatly objected to because it made man think. > > Three kinds of blood vessels are arteries, vanes and caterpillers. > > The dodo is a bird that is almost decent by now. > > To remove air from a flask, fill it with water, tip the water out, > and put the cork in quick before the air can get back in. > > The process of turning steam back into water again is called conversation. > > A magnet is something you find crawling all over a dead cat. > > The Earth makes one resolution every 24 hours. > > The cuckoo bird does not lay his own eggs.