Subject: Newsletter July 3, '97 This is really short this month because so few people have been sending anything in. Sorry guys. Must be the summer break getting to you. ******* ************** *** *** ************** **** ***Barren Realms*** **** *** *** *** *** *** ******* *** *********** ** ** *********** ***************** Forent: put what the difeerent phrases mean in the consider help files Beej: Add a command to see who's following you. Add a command to stop people from following you. Avon: how 'bout a high level illithid spell called Brain Drain. It would drain the power from an opponent, in the form of maybe 1 extra max hp and/or mana/mv. This seems very powerful but could be given certain disadvantages to balance it Zaracuthra: would it be possible to tell the player how much longer drunkenness will last, like it does for spells? Tom: to be able to buy more than 1 thing at a time in a store like 23.jello for 23 jello shots Vedder: UNGLARE I feel is Very necessary. /(*) | / | |\--------------------------------------------\ (@)(((((((( | >-------------------------------------------- > | |/--------------------------------------------/ | \ \(*) Article by Uthar. Questing Questing. An important part of barren realms. Here are a couple of reasons why. The quests on barren realms often have a well developed story or plot to make it interesting to quest. Many heroes and imms spend hours thinking of how to make their quests unique. This shows the dedication of the +51 level crew. Once a quest is set up and the questers are ready to go, another important process is about to take place. You will learn more about the realms. Either to hunt down a mob in a secluded area or gather up items to be judged, you are taking the time to learn more about the environment of barren realms. Isn't it nice to know of the perfect dagger for a level 35 kender? especially if you know the mob and directions to the area? Then of course there are the prizes. You might be surprised how well you can do. Getting 1st place in a quest is almost always worth the time you spent. Even coming in second and third is doing well, and the prizes often reflect the effort put into them. You could get an item you never knew existed, giving you that edge in combat. Imm enchants and even renames are given if the quest warrants it. But whatever happens in a quest, you should always take a minute to thank the hero and imm(s) who helped the process take place, Without the ever-loved quest, barren realms just wouldn't be the same. That's about all for now. Remember to participate in as many quests as you can, for you can never tell how much fun you'll have...... or how great the prizes will be. See you later, Uthar /(*) | / | |\--------------------------------------------\ (@)(((((((( | >-------------------------------------------- > | |/--------------------------------------------/ | \ \(*) Responses by Prozak. Some responses... > Bodo: whenever yu get a tell you shouldbe beeped also..amkes it > easier for you to be able to catch tells when fighteng What if you are paying complete attention to the screen and are just getting spammed with beeps? Maybe if it only did this while you were afk? > Vedder: Enchant armor for dwarves The basic idea behind the dwarven race, even from the days of original D&D is that the dwarven race, besides their natural skills are an anti-magical race. On the same note, in many MUDs, dwarves can't even use staves/scrolls/wands... Why should they now have the extra added bonus of being able to enchant pieces of armor? > Silvermage: How about having the town drunks carry bottles of ale > or firebreather Awww... is the steep price of 11 coins too much for you? > Blackwulf: I thought maby after you kill a enemy you can slice off > any of his body parts and eat them Already happens (severed arms, legs, heads) > Lycor: New spell... cure drunkness (druids ?) for emergency > sobering (quest or important conversations)... I don't know... isn't the point of drunkness not knowing when drunkness will wear off and having to suffer the consequences? > Quiver: how about making the spell of recall to allow people to > recall in no-recall areas? Doesn't that sort of defeat the purpose of having no-recall rooms in the first place? -Prozak /(*) | / | |\--------------------------------------------\ (@)(((((((( | >------------------Bios-------------------- > | |/--------------------------------------------/ | \ \(*) Known as Vor here in the realms, I am actually Michael Sinatra in RL. No, no...I am not related ;). If you ever ask me, I will introduce you to Xor, the not-so-friendly people-eater. Oh, my eyes aren't blue, either. I graduated from Fairfield University in 1995 with a BA in English/Fine Art. What kind of job could I get with such a sad liberal arts degree, you may ask? Well, I ended up working in the personal computer technical department at Acclaim Entertainment working on Mortal Kombat II. Stranger things have happened, I suppose. My old roomie, who happened to be a Computer Science major, taught me everything I know. After staying at Acclaim for a year, I decided that I wanted to get my degree in Rhetoric at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Well, I went and did it and didn't enjoy it a bit. So I started doing web design work for the Graduate School of Industrial Administration at CMU. In my spare time, I am working on an area for the MUD that I hope everyone will like, we'll see. And my hobbies are writing, print-making, and occasional hiking. and Mudding ;) Beyond that I am searching for the perfect city to live in, so if anyone has any strong (positive or negative) feelings about a certain city, please let me know. Pittsburgh is the cloudiest city in the US. I am not a cloudy city-person. Rainy, maybe...but not cloudy. Well, that's about it. I can be reached at http://eng.hss.cmu/home/sinatra or sinatra@ix.netcom.com. If you stop by my site, please leave a note to let me know what you think. See you in the Realms... as ever, Vor with really sad grammar ;) Subject: Newsletter 7/17/97 ******* ************** *** *** ************** **** ***Barren Realms*** **** *** *** *** *** *** ******* *** *********** ** ** *********** ***************** Reykjavik: I think you should be able to interact with non-object things in a room. For example, JUMP over the gates on each side of town (and maybe land on them by accident? hehehe..) or you might need 3 or more players in a group to PULL a chain bringing up or you might need 3 or more players in a group to PULL a chain bringing up a drawbridge allowing enterance to a castle area. (etc.) You could make things more realistic and fun this way. Dratital: how about a notice when someone is checking out your profile or asking for info about your charactor Salim: have the where command tell you the closest of what you're looking for. kiri- we kinda have this. Type "where " - if its in the same area, it will tell you where (what room name) its in. Axle: bombs/dynamite that you drop, and after a set amount of time explodes and hurts/kills mobs and/or players that are in the room. Bluewing: c 'mind sweep' , This illithid spell allows the caster to see every invis and hidden mob/pc in the room, for a limited time Bluewing: c 'phantasmal armor' -20 ac, illithid spell, can be casted on others Quiver: How about a web page spot in your profile as well as email? Zog: I noticed that most of the illithid skills are based on psionic powers from Dungeons & Dragons. I also noticed a lot of people clamoring for an identify spell for illithids. There is a D&D psionic called 'object read' that lets you know a bunch of s How about a taunt skill for kender? Maybe it would keep mobs from running away, because they hate you so much Forent: why not call avians gargoyles to keep with the fantasy type theme Cutlass: Avian Skill: 'Downdraft' ... Creates an air current that causes all flying creatures in the room to land Neverborn: i think a mob's parrying/dodging ability should be hindered some when blind. Just a thought Noran: The 5 enhancements per level should not affect attribute and nutrition enhancements. New Illithid skill- Temporal Displacement: The Illithid speeds up time within their own space, allowing them to heal fully. Drawbacks: All spell effects are cancelled, caster becomes hungry and thirsty. Quiver: How about allowing blank lines in your prompt? (%b maybe?) Deuces: skill for kenders: Kender Grab, kender reaches into their deep pockets andpull out something that may or may not have value Deuces: skill for kenders: Kender taunt, sends target into a rage making them worse AC and such, but attack kender Deuces: kender skill: Kender Cry, stops all fightning in the room while everyone pities the kender Deuces: make alcohol effects race targetted, dwarves can drink all day and not get drunk, elves just a glass of wine or drunk, etc etc Trapspringer: note clear all: allows one who has been gone a long time to clear all the notes out of the current note category Kiri- there is a way to do this now. Type note list, and then note read and all will be marked read. Totmacher: we need a command to discover who is in the arena and possiblywhere they are. without our actually entering the area. save appearing beside an angry hero Totmacher: we need a mob that is exceptionally sensitive to socials. not just one that doesn't like them directed at it. but one that cannot stand having them done in the same room as it Tom: In battle instead of your body parts falling off after death, have it where you can lose arms and Legs and still be able to flee Govinda: what about a telephone in the newbie section to call for jenny to come pick them up? :) Darkemist: there should be a command to see all the things other races get. like for example, instead of slist it's dwarf slist, or something... /(*) | / | |\--------------------------------------------\ (@)(((((((( | >------------------Article------------------ > | |/--------------------------------------------/ | \ \(*) The Birth of Xor -------------- by Reykjavik Illith scrambled as fast as he could down the steps into the laboratory beneath the druid city. Fumbling his bag of stolen scrolls from the grand druid library, they spilled across the dusty floor of the lab. After catching his breath, Illith grabbed each scroll and dropped it back into the bag. In the process, he bumped into a metal cabinet which towered high above him on the far side of the lab. The door creaked open and piles of body parts he had collected, rained down upon him. A few strange parts, with a red glow about them, rolled to his feet. Illith, wasting no time, snatched these up and set them on a wide table in the center of the room. Illith worked for hours carefully mending each part together in such a way that this creature was more powerful than any humanoid Illith knew of. At one point, Illith noticed that one of the arms had a peculiar scar on it as if someone had scratched a word into it, but all Illith could make out was 'xor'. Illith was sure he was on the road to creating a powerful warrior that could lead all the druids, under Mota - goddess of order, to victory against all who defied her. By morning, everything was ready. Illith carefully removed a scroll with several dashes of gold and silver streaked ends. He then climbed atop the table, raised his hands in the air, and began a chant written on the scroll. When he was finished, he looked carefully into the eyes of his experiment. Seeing that it remained inanimate, he sat down and looked it over carefully. It was an ugly combination of defeated warriors from lost battles. Illith could feel the screams of those warriors surging from inside this terrible beast he had made. All of a sudden it opened its eyes wide and grabbed Illith by the neck, then tossed him clear across the laboratory knocking him unconscious. After a few moments, Illith regained consciousness and looked up across the room. What he saw next struck fear deep into his soul. The experiment was snarling evilly and was moving straight towards him. It had picked up various torture devices from around the laboratory and had affixed them to several areas of his body - turning himself into a living weapon. As it approached in full attack stance, Illith pointed towards it and with all his might, shouted "BAMF" - banishing it to the far end of the Realms only to be seen again by doomed adventurers.... /(*) | / | |\--------------------------------------------\ (@)(((((((( | >------------------Response------------------ > | |/--------------------------------------------/ | \ \(*) Responses by Whystler: >Grasshopper: Perhaps humans should get enhanced damage because they >are marshal artists and know like where to hit people to do more >damage and such Might make dwarves less appealing. Right now their incredible damage combined with their ability to take it even out their ridiculously high ETL. >Brand: indestructible containers Nah! makes the whole code that destroys containers redundant. maybe a VERRY SMALL container you can only use for the most important stuff, but thats it. Make it heavy enough that it isn't very appealing to use even one. >Berry: get xp for quests. just a little to compensate for you time and >to increase quest participation which is declineing as the number of >players decreases Might be a little more appealing than getting a single healing molasses as participation price. >Derrydale: How about the 'Tan' skill also make other items, like >water skins or small bags and stuff :) I like it.... "Your waterskin decomposes.......You are thirsty" or "you frantically try to keep all your stuff from falling as your small bag decomposes into dust.........An amulet of diamonds falls to the floor.....etc". definetely a must implement! >Quiver: if people can chat and hear chats in their sleep, shouldn't >they be able to hear themselves chat in their sleep? On ZMUD you get a local echo of what you type, but it'd still be nice to see you actually chat. Most MUDS i played on let you see gossip when you sleep, so it should be no problem to implement. >Firethorn: I am a sick and tired of no mana and having to wait, I >think there should be a spell (I call energy infused) in which the >casted becomes violently charged with energy losing hp but getting >mana back twice as fast, I wou;dn't care if the spell is out Druids have energy transfer (if that's the name), and you can always get drunk. the few times i fielded my spellcasters showed that that recharges mana so fast you hardly know what to do with it. Exchanging health for mana just is too outrageous. If you want to cast spells, be patient. If you are impatient, play a dwarf. >Brand: make it possible to fall when flying..like if you're in the air >and you fall, the mob in the room wbelow would break your fall (if no >mob, splat) or if you're over some water fall into the water Makes the MUD quite dangerous, especially since there is no way to "recharge" flight effects. and how would land be affected? "you slowly lower yourself to the ground......you realise there is no ground beneath your feet! you fall...etc". If this is implemented, you might just as crank the death traps back up. Regarding Arion's article: I know it's a little off subject, but a lot of these problems arise by people wanting to talk about a certain subject with a GROUP of people. First i'd suggest that people are being made aware of the chitchat room. Second, would it be feasible to allow regular players (fill in whatever requirements you think a regular should fulfil) to get their own room in some sort of inn? would allow people to bring others who like to discuss a certain subject to their room so they can use say without bothering anyone else. Would also encourage roleplaying if you ask me. Just a wacky bird's 2 cents :) >> Lordcow: Force every area maker to put a sign at the beginning of >> each level to tell what level the place is. >Many people already have sings though they're rarely noticed you can >always check help area. The problem is however, that when a sign is not there at the entrance, you often have to guess what the area name is. This can lead to quite fatal mistakes in some cases, like a level 5 exploring haon dor and stumbling into the old marsh or the troll den without knowing he left haon dor(to illustrate the need for more signs, haon dor is that big forest west of calathar). >I suggested this one before but I really like the idea: >Coax: An Ill spell. If it works the mob gives the ill an item >(syntax: c coax ). If it doesn't the mob attacks the >ill. Should also be able to target a mobs gold with this. This would break the unwritten rule that only thieves (read kenders) should have steal, because that is what this does. If you want an object without attacking the mob, ask a kender. >I'm not sure if ill's have a dispel magic type spell but they should. Why? is having near impregnable armour not enough? >Shrink/Grow: couldn't come up with a name for the spell for ills but >it should make you shrink or grow, your choice (syntax: c >sizechangespell ). The effect is you either get lower ac >and less hit/dam for shrinking or higher ac and mor hit/dam for >growing. Ills are SUPPOSED to have a low to dam. Balances out their high ability to absorb damage. Why else would you play a dwarf? Or get an avian in your group? (did you try playing in a group instead of soloing?) >Phase: A ill combat spell for getting out of combat, randomly >teleports you to somewhere in the same area. sorta like a self bamf. You can recall out of combat. chances are lower than flee. Or quaff a milky white potion (HTOS, in a container). >Trance: An ill could have an out of body experience. They can move >around like a player affected by pass door but not pick anything up or >attack anything. If a mob attack them (aggro mobs) they experience >shock and take damage and are immediatly returned to their bodies. >This could be used for exploration beyond locked doors and ills >affected by this spell might regen at the same rate as sleepers. This is maybe the only ill idea i like. Makes sense that a psionisist has ESP. And the backfire and need to sleep counter the plusses over birds eye nicely. >Now for some Kender stuff: [snip] Do the words BALANCE and GROUPING mean anything to you? When stealing you should be able to steal gold (can you?) from mobs. You can. steal all.coins i believe >Kender have keen eyesight and should have a birdseye type skill. They already can sneak over and hide to prevent agro attack. Or just group an avian. Can also rescue you so you get to use that neato circle skill. >Kender should have a skill called insult where they insult mobs so the >mob fights less effectively since it's enraged. Shouldn't an enraged mob actually get a + on to damage since it's trying to really hurt you rather than just kill you without risking himself? Sort of reverse frenzy. >Kender should kick mobs in the shins instead of trip or bite them in >the shins (they're so short). Get the kick skill, well worth the OoG penalty. >Kender should be able to ride piggyback on people since they're small. >This would work like a reverse carry might check the kenders dex to >see if it can scramble onto someones back. The way carry is implemented means that both people must agree to the carry. In this case the kender gets to call all the shots. Could be liable to abuse by people wanting to harass someone. >Kender should be able to try to impress mobs (get them to stop >attacking them) by doing tricks with their weapons or something. If >they fail they lose their hands or even their head ;) like avians >skin. Ever seen raiders of the lost ark? "the guardian watches your impressive display for a while, then draws his pocket crossbow and shoots a bolt straight trough your heart........The Guardian's crossbow bolt DISCOMBOBULATES you!!.....Your are DEAD!" You should try grouping once in a while. provided you are a little selective in who you group, the sum of the whole is much greater than the sum of the individuals as each character has skills that even out the weaknesses of others. Maybe i'll write an article about it sometime to remind people. Sorry about the length of this response, just had a lot to say. Feel free to clip a few responses where you see fit, as long as you don't alter their content :). Whystler /(*) | / | |\--------------------------------------------\ (@)(((((((( | >---------------Bios------------------------- > | |/--------------------------------------------/ | \ \(*) My Characters name is Rath. He is my first hero and hopefully not my only. I am a new Hero so I still have to get rid of old habits like donate items I get. I have been in Barren Realms for about 6-7 months. Possible longer but i am not sure. Barren Realms is the first I have been in. I have tried other MUDs but nothing has satisfied my hunger for MUDding that Barren Realms has. In real life, I am 14 years old. I live in Calfornia and attend school at Grover Cleveland High School. I am going to the 10th grade this coming year. I got straight A's, as usual, on my Final Report Card. I wanted good grades. Its not like my parents forced me to. It helps me boost my ego and make my Grandparents proud of me. Ever since 3rd grade, I have been in the Honors Program in all the schools i have been to. In my spare time, which I have a lot of, I eitherhang out with my friends, go to Barren Realms or just chat with my friends online. I use AOL to log onto Barren Realms. Many people think that Aol sucks but I personally think that it is a decent internet Provider with a great interface. The only problem about AOL is that it is sometimes hard to log on. I also play AD&D. I just started playing AD&D about 7 months ago. I love it. I have only 2 characters but they rock. They are both Elves just like Rath. One is a Bladesinger and the other is a Ranger/Archer. I like Elves because of their attitudes in their home life and other races. In AD&D, all the other races were just wannabe replica of Elves. I think I have said enough about myself. Thank you for reading my Bio and I wish all a good day. Rath: Bladesinger Extraordinaire Subject: NewsletterJuly 23, 1997 If you are a hero and receive this, please reply "I got it". Its simply for my records, so I can update. Please include your heroes name. ******* ************** *** *** ************** **** ***Barren Realms*** **** *** *** *** *** *** ******* *** *********** ** ** *********** ***************** Welcome to the newest Newsletter. As always, I am looking for articles, responses, ideas, silly jokes (nothing vulgar) and little blurbs about yourselves and your webpages. All submissions are welcome. Question.. would anyone like to see a personals section in the newsletter? Chaos: To make the MUD more realistic you could implement a random day and time that a random bank gets robbed by some nameless Kenders. People who have their money in the bank then gets some lost. Just a thought. Squier: I think it would be cool if there was a Wand Shop in calather where you can buy a new wand and fill it with one of your spells. Like a wand of giant strength. Orionstram: there should be a spell to help you find corpses :) kiri- can always use locate object. Chaos: I think 'dual' should be able to be practiced in guild for kenders, cause Kender's having his Dexterity should be able to be skilled wioth both hands... Totmacher: when things are told to a sleeping person they should be added to the tellh file which still cannot be accessed until you awake. Chaos: How about for chatting you could like emote on it EXAMPLES: chat :smiles. Chatting - Chaos smiles. Totmacher: we need an arena flagged area that has a variety of mobs for testing area affect or other spells and items Totmacher: we need a way to send a chat type message to people in a certain lvl range. there is no need for a lvl 5 to be bothered with a lvl 45 that wants to group Limar: A nasty joke to do on the spellcasters would be to add "Healing" and "Giant Strength" on spell backlash and see then turn white when they just by accident healed/giant str the mob they're batteling Derrydale: The spell restore mana by sancta, etc. Should heal a percent of mana instead of 50 points each, making it easier on us heroes who have alot to fill, and at the same time keeping a balance in the game. Ogion: instead of just saying that doors don't count as exits, say exits:north east(door) west down(trapdoor) I run Razorback and Morlock, I noticed that there are no spells for Illithids after 30th level so I would like to suggest a couple that could be added. At 33rd level "Psionic Probe" equal to an Identify spell. At 36th level "Mental probe" equal to a Detect Invis spell. At 39th level "Hypnotize" equal to a Charm spell. At 42nd level "Thought Projection" equal to a Teleport spell. I don't know how the mana points work in these spells, so I have no suggestions on how much they should cost. I think these spells would help out the class and Players would appreciate the new spells. Thanks for your time, Lenny WorfWorf: How about a bulk erase command to reset all aliases and empty the alias sequences out. This could be handy for newbies who enter an alias wrong or a path wrong and would also save time erasing aliases. Like a 'reset alias' command . Since Druids (the lovable oversized treehuggers we are) tend to be more in tune and in touch with nature, why not give the regulars (to be defined later) the ability to grow a massive tree in which they reside and store scrolls and gear so they aren't limited to what they can carry on their backs?? Also for characters over lvl 10 where clericus no longer works for free why not give the mid-range druid (lvl 25 - 50) a spell package good to lvl 10-15 player/characters called fight where the lower lvl characters receive bless, armor, shield, and giant strength simultaneously for approx. 3/4 of the actual mana used to cast these spells individually. Also as your 10-15 gained lvl the effect of the spell would be lessened because their experience factor increases etc. It would allow the lower lvl guys who haven't muded before or who are unaware of where the stat enhance items like strongman's bracers are and gives them just a little boost until they gain the necessary experience/ lvls to where they wouldn't need it? For Illithids why not a psionic spell called 'rage' whereby when successfully cast on a mob the mob goes into a blind rage at a lower hit/dam and would suffer by becoming easier to mob's vital spots because the fury of the rage negates their concern for their own safety it should also make the mob fight to the death or negate the mob flee option. Can Avians (or Gargoyles (last newsletter)) roost? They should. Being the ones who can fly/dive/peck Avians should get a roost as their hangout. Do kenders have identify?? They should more than anyone else because have you ever met a professional thief who couldn't tell you the value of something just by seeing it. Why would a thief steal something that is not worth squat? That's not good business (for the thief). why not a druid spell (since we are the healers/physicians ) of the bunch where we can raise the attacking mobs blood pressure so high their heart bursts kind of like 1000cc's of adrenaline in oh 0.6 seconds. And if not speed it up how about just stopping the mobs heart altogether (non aggro mobs only) Do Avians molt?? they should with all the feather flinging they do they should molt just like real birds would raise ac decrease hit dam effectiveness for oh 24hrs mud time while they start to grow fresh feathers. Why cry for Kenders?.. They are arguably the race to be on the mud. They get sneak, hide, steal (if they are good enough), not to mention a killer backstab bonus. Backstab has the %chance of successful completion in which death occurs doesn't it?? It should if done right the mob would not know they were stabbed until they hit the ground dead. This could be done by say %chance by %skill/lvl of the kender doing the backstabs %chance successful completion depending on lvl of mob being stabbed. Example Kenders get backstab at lvl one, the percent chance they could successfully backstab and kill a lvl 50 mob (while using hide/sneak) could be 1 in 1 million but there is at least a chance if they are using invis spell/potion then that adds to chance by half a percentage point. /(*) | / | |\--------------------------------------------\ (@)(((((((( | >-------------Article----------------------- > | |/--------------------------------------------/ | \ \(*) Derrydale's Article: The Steps in Playing Barren Realms Level 1: Complete and utter newbie, if this is youre first character, you will have many questions about the mud, and are hopefully led by someone bigger then you :) Level 5: Just graduated mud school, and set out to explore Barren Realmes areas. Probably lost, and constantly out of movement or sleeping at clericus, this is a difficult time to level. Level 10: Probably experienced death a few times, and already sick of it. Learning different areas that give better experience is getting tough. Also probably learned alot about groups by now. Level 20: Now we discover a well-known, (and hated) aggro mob, the infamous Mean Lag. Trying to avoid him, we get a new and more well sharpened vision of our surroundings. Level 30: By now, play is serious. Staying on late at night and all day during the day is common. We know know of quite a few areas, and are even helping out people sometimes, mabye even with the Mean Lag. Level 40: Getting closer to hero, and making a reputation on the mud for youreself, you start talking more and more to people of higher level for advice. Going further and further from youre home city, and even learning some new tricks, you gain a sense of being on The Realms. Level 50: One level away, you tingle with excitement. Experience is scarce, and you have to travel far to see most. Now you are seriously addicted, the only thought on you're mind is to hero and find a whole new race of people and find out how it feels to be in the ranks. Level 51: Beating the game, and getting beat into a bunch of body parts spread around The Realms, you find there are new and exciting things to face. Sitting and talking to people, you feel great about youre accomplishments. You help newbies just like you remember being helped, and one day dream of becoming one of the elites, the Immortals. While going through Barren Realms, you will experience changes of all sorts, and either you will either mature and stay here, or you will find it is too hard and give up. Which you pick depends on you, and while we hope that you make a life here with us, we realise its not for everyone. -Derrydale- /(*) | / | |\--------------------------------------------\ (@)(((((((( | >--------------Response--------------------- > | |/--------------------------------------------/ | \ \(*) I've deleted some of my responses, because it would have got to long. Here's the rest: > Numlock: an item that cancels the affects that weather has on the scan > command Gov: That item could be a staff with a spell on it. The spell would be like infravision, but instead of for in the dark, it would be for in the rain or snow, so you can scan in the rain. I think this would be great. No race should get this spell; the staff should be hard to find. Only I don't know if it's worth it then writing the code for that spell, which might be a lot of work. > Vedder: purchasing spells of armor from clericus, and sanc, bless, > shield, frenzy Gov: That's what I often wondered: why can he cast those spells on newbies for free and not even for a lot of money on me? It should be a LOT of money though, because his bless is really powerfull. > Kaerun: I was just thinking since illithids are supposed to be > supra-itelligent, can't we have some type of spell like identify? Gov: Ill's aren't more intelligent than other races (not less either :)). They only know certain paranormal tricks. The trick of identify is not with them or else Thesius would get bored for getting to few customers. > Aura: Perhaps there could be a help file on crashes, describing what it > is, what to do when one hits, and how, if possible, to help prevent one > from happening. > Gov: *nod* for some newbies a crash is very confusing, especially when they need reimb. Alodar: i think one shouldn't be able to sleep while under the influence > of "frenzy" Gov: This makes a lot of sense to me. I can't even sleep when i've drunk two ups of coffee IRL, and I suppose frenzy must be far worse then that to have the desired effect. > Forent: why not show exactly how each increase in stats will affect you > in the help files for each attribute Gov: well..that's a test for the heroes to see if they know it, when they have to explain about enhancing ;) > Numlock: since weather affects visability, maybe it should affet other > things like rain could make puddles you can drink from, wind will push > you from room to room, snow makes surface slippery so you can slip right > through a room or trip when fighting > >> Emperor: a way to insert a line break at the end of your prompt >> >> > Normally your client you use should cater for this. > Gov: There's still people (no kidding) who are mudding with a plain telnetclient because they have no other possibility, like me :) Responses by Kytar: >Derrydale: a 'lose' command to, well.. lose someone whose following you :) This would be a good idea, perhaps a nofollow toggle in the config options. > >Whystler: the "you are cursed" message you get when in a norecall room >should be changed to reflect that it is outside influences keeping you >from recalling. people get extremely confused by the present message, >thinking they got a curse somehow. > This has been brought up quite a few times, and was a good idea each one. It DOES confuse newer players quite a bit. -Kytar /(*) | / | |\--------------------------------------------\ (@)(((((((( | >-----------------Bios----------------------- > | |/--------------------------------------------/ | \ \(*) Tom's Bio This has been my first Time on any MUD, and as Most of you found out. I didn't know One thing about playing, Gave the Hero's something to do. The first 15 Levels I must had been the BIGGEST complainer...If i died a would go into Panic, But i got thru that. And now after Months of Hard work I'm a HERO *grin* The way my nick came out was not at all like i wanted it to. Tom wasn't even suppose to be there, but somehow I confused everything outta the Barren Realms System. My Name was Suppose to be InterCepter. But I didn't feel like changing my name and deleteing Tom anyway. Tom sounds Civil *grin* I really don't know how I liked Barren Realms considering I was a IRC chatter and a Role-Playing type person enjoying Graphics. I think the people is what made me enjoy this so Much....I mean that's what sets Single Playing PC games apart from MUD's the Interaction of people :) I'm 16 and Live in Hagerstown, Maryland (It is ONE boring Place) The Job I'm studing for is Computer Repair Tech. or Computer Programmer, well Thats about all I can think of. Most people talk about old people Losing there memory Fast. But i think us Young People have the same problem. Like when our Parents tell us to do the Dishes we Forget :) Thats enough from the Life of Tom :) /(*) | / | |\--------------------------------------------\ (@)(((((((( | >--------------SillyStuff-------------------- > | |/--------------------------------------------/ | \ \(*) > did ya ever notice how much elvis and god have in common? > > Jesus said: "Love thy neighbor." (Matthew 22:39) > Elvis said: "Don't be cruel." (RCA, 1956) > > Jesus is the Lord's shepherd. > Elvis dated Cybill Shepherd. > > Jesus was part of the Trinity. > Elvis' first band was a trio. > > Jesus walked on water. (Matthew 14:25) > Elvis surfed. (Blue Hawaii, Paramount, 1965) > > Jesus' entourage, the Apostles, had 12 members. > Elvis' entourage, the Memphis Mafia, had 12 members. > > Jesus was resurrected. > Elvis had the famous 1968 "comeback" TV special. > > Jesus was the lamb of God. > Elvis had mutton chop sideburns. > > Jesus said: "Man shall not live by bread alone." > Elvis liked his sandwiches with peanut butter and bananas. Subject: Newsletter 7/29/97 Welcome to the 101rst newsletter. :) We are adding a new section to the newsletter, and its called the message section. In it, private messages from any player can be sent to everyone who gets the newsletter, things like baby announcements, birthday wishes, and personal ads. Just email me with the subject line "newsletter message" or note me online with the same subject. The section will start next newsletter. Also, I need more webpage announcements, responses, and bios. Remember, ANYONE can do any of these, not just heroes and imms :) ******* ************** *** *** ************** **** ***Barren Realms*** **** *** *** *** *** *** ******* *** *********** ** ** *********** ***************** Avon: I think it would be really cool and realistic to be able to infuse spells into wands etc. Kalar: I think it would make sense for avians' beaks to harden and do more damage with peck at higher levels since I wouldn't expect a birdman to not peck once he's powerful in other respects too Christina: make it so you can see the hit dam of both weapons if you're wielding two Omnipotus: how 'bout making the sex in your profile be your original chosen sex. Omnipotus: add more damage words after Discombobulate. People commonly do much more damage than 200 and words are certainly not lacking. Kiri- This is soon to come. Xiata: what if the bank crashed and gave interst? Chaos: Implement more traps for those Kenders to disarm and lower the level that Kender's can practice detect_trap and disarm_trap =) kiri- this is also soon to come. Omnipotus: have poison do different damage based on the victim's constitution (high con, low damage. low con, high damage) also make plague's damage be con-based Kalar: a way for mortals to move corpses. I know this could lead to problems but it's realistic that oyou could drag a body out of a room, and you could have severe punishments for people who drag it somewhere mean or something. Omnipotus: extend ac below -300. mobs at high lvls easily hit that, and the ac-driven illithids can somewhat easily plummet thiers down to -600, but currently that's no better than -300 Chaos: How about an area that you enter thru a time portal that was ripped open in some forest, the area could be like BR in the Pre-Calatharian times =) /(*) | / | |\--------------------------------------------\ (@)(((((((( | >-----------Article------------------------- > | |/--------------------------------------------/ | \ \(*) Article By Tom: Why all the Battling of the Races The last few days, I've seen so much battling over things being taken from races and races need better this and that....well really I enjoyed playing a Elf. Of Course this is from my personal point of view..Even tho elves run outta mana, I never had trouble just stay drunk. I have nothing to complain about. And i think everyone else should feel the same about the race they picked. Why pick a race that you are not satisfied with. There is many different ways to test other Races, Pick one random play it for a few levels check it's Plus' and it's Bad sides...if you don't like it delete the Race pick another one and play it this way you can pick the race you Liked the best. Just think how it would be if one race was more superior to all the rest...wouldn't you feel weird? Just a few thoughts from Tom /(*) | / | |\--------------------------------------------\ (@)(((((((( | >--------------Response--------------------- > | |/--------------------------------------------/ | \ \(*) Here's some responses for the newsletter: All from Zombywoof: > Avon: how 'bout a high level illithid spell called Brain Drain. It would > drain the power from an opponent, in the form of maybe 1 extra max hp > and/or mana/mv. This seems very powerful but could be given certain > disadvantages to balance it That's an elf skill (energy drain), it temporarily raises your max hit points substantially but lowers your alignment pretty quick. Maybe Illithids should have this skill in guild? Seems to fit them even more than elves. > Tom: to be able to buy more than 1 thing at a time in a store like > 23.jello for 23 jello shots If you do that now, you'd be buying the 23rd jello shot. You could just set up an alias of nothing but variables to do anything you want for a certain number of times. Please limit them to 20. > Bodo: whenever yu get a tell you shouldbe beeped also..makes it > easier for you to be able to catch tells when fighting You could do that yourself if your using a client like Zmud. Why not just set up a trigger to beep yourself when you get a tell? -ZombyWoof All from Ghandi: >Reykjavik: I think you should be able to interact with non-object things >in a room. For example, JUMP over the gates on each side of town (and >maybe land on them by accident? hehehe..) or you might need 3 or more >players in a group to PULL a chain bringing up or you might need 3 or >more players in a group to PULL a chain bringing up a drawbridge allowing >enterance to a castle area. (etc.) You could make things more realistic >and fun this way. I think that this would be pretty cool- Builders, how hard would it be? >Dratital: how about a notice when someone is checking out your profile or >asking for info about your charactor How necessary is this really? I don't think it would be particularly useful... >Quiver: How about a web page spot in your profile as well as email? PLease!! I've wanted this for a while- you can stick it in plan, but, i'd rather put something else there.. >Deuces: skill for kenders: Kender Grab, kender reaches into their deep >pockets andpull out something that may or may not have value > >Deuces: skill for kenders: Kender taunt, sends target into a rage making >them worse AC and such, but attack kender > >Deuces: kender skill: Kender Cry, stops all fightning in the room while >everyone pities the kender As a kender fan, I like all of these ideas...especially Taunt. >Totmacher: we need a mob that is exceptionally sensitive to socials. not >just one that doesn't like them directed at it. but one that cannot stand >having them done in the same room as it > No...PLease, no!! I would die...(literally)and i'm sure many others would too... Just imagine- if i wanted to slap Cherye, and there was one of these mobs in the area, it wouldn't be fair...:( I have to have a chance to slap my sister SOMETIME... >>Berry: get xp for quests. just a little to compensate for you time and >>to increase quest participation which is declineing as the number of >>players decreases > >Might be a little more appealing than getting a single healing >molasses as participation price. I don't like this at all. A quest is meant to just have fun, not to get experience. I don' think it would be a good idea to have people participating jsut because they will get experience. >Firethorn: I am a sick and tired of no mana and having to wait, I >think there should be a spell (I call energy infused) in which the >casted becomes violently charged with energy losing hp but getting >mana back twice as fast, I wou;dn't care if the spell is out >druids have energy transfer (if that's the name), and you can always >get drunk. the few times i fielded my spellcasters showed that that >recharges mana so fast you hardly know what to do with it. Exchanging >health for mana just is too outrageous. If you want to cast spells, >be patient. If you are impatient, play a dwarf. Haven't we been over this before? If you wanna use a spell, u gotta wait for some mana. ON the small amount of experience i've had with the magic races, i've had no trouble with mana when drunk(well, almost). A couple more comments- Personally, i find that all the races have plenty of skills and spells. There are a few things(like an identify for illithids) that could be better, but, having used all of the races, i see no reason why anything should be added. If too much does get added, one race will turn into a race of Titans. But, since people would never accept the extreme additude of, no more skills or spells, how about this? Every time you add a skill or spell to a race, take one away. Do it by the importance of the skill/spell. For example, if you druids out there really want a mana spell, Why don't we just take out summon or something? a mana spell would be MAJOR. Just like Summon. Please, excuse the spelling... -Just my crazy ramblings on the subject....Ghandi /(*) | / | |\--------------------------------------------\ (@)(((((((( | >-----------------Bios---------------------- > | |/--------------------------------------------/ | \ \(*) LARON'S BIOGRAPHY When i started, i went through the first 7 levels rather quickly(i also challance Totmacher who was at level 36 at the time to a race to hero). I was fighting trainees, graduates, and smurfs. after i reached that point i had no hope of survivng the realms without joining other fellow characters in groups to kill. I spent my level 7-13 at the insect guarden fighting termites, ants, and bees. By now I have learned the skills of teleport, enchant weapon, and fireball and am very exited about it. Now i spend alot of time in levels 14-18, not getting enough exp and dying when i need 10000 exp till i level.At this point i am very frustrated and am thinking about commiting suicide (deleting). But i finally reach level 19......now the fun starts. I go through 12 levels in 1 day, reaching level 30 in Lag Central. Now that i am on level 30 i descide i would like to watch a movie..Rocky Horror Picture Show seemed to catch my eye, but i have to take the long journey to Paralandra to watch it. Now i am level 35 and off and going to what i think is a zoo, but it is not at all what i think...I see alot of gay activity going on in the zoo and descide to level and get out of there as fast a possible, since i dont like engaging in that kinda stuff. Now i am at level 37 and totmacher at level 42(grouping range) So i ask totmacher to take me to a place where i can get the thoughts of the Zoo out of my head, and sweeten my day. Totmacher takes me to The Molasses Swamp where it was not so sweet. I died 10 times there, butdidn't have alot to make up since i never enhanced after the first level nor practiced any skills out of my elven guild. After completing my days at The swamp i go to another, more viscious swamp...The Fire Swamp. I am now getting killed by giant rat things called ROUS's. i have to cast mass invisable on my group as i had to do in molasses swamp or these aggro mobs would surely attack me. I lost some backpacks because of the fire spouts which damaged my packs. after my days at the swamp i am now on level 48, Passing Totmacher who is at level 45. At this level kills are scarse, so i have to roam around in a group to kill Lord Mourning, The Lich Ciquala, and the Magestic King Kandy. Now making it to level 50 i descide to solo the level, so i spend my tome at recall waiting for gloppy to repop so i can teleport to him, kill him, recall and do this over and over again. I spend my time at recall healing from the beating i take from gloppy who is the leader of the Molasses Swamp, I am at level 50 with 1 kill before i hero waiting for roshi...who never showed up, so i went ahead and hero'd. Life as a hero is really fun and challenging. There are alot of rules to follow...but that doesn't bug me because i like the way everyone looks up to me now. well i beat Totmacher in our little bet and am waiting for him to hero so i can innitiate him... -Laron @>-------------------------[Webpages]----------------------------------- Well, the URL for the BR site is www.geocities.com/Area51/8048/barren.html and like I always say there is never enough sites to promote BR on the Web. Currently it contains all the area, author, builder and player guide information which is what I wanted on the site, but in a way that makes quick and easy surfing by keeping the pages to be loaded small. However, I'm still working on it and it will most probably grow into something where people would be able to use a JAVAscript or VBScript area editor online. I am also planning to put all the inforation in the pages into a WIN3.x and WIN95 help file format which may be downloaded fromthat site. At the moment it also contains a small MUD client written by one of our own players which maybe downloaded and used as it is freeware. It is under the players link. I know it is still a bit buggy, but I'm waiting for my new PC so I can continue doing some proper development work. Reality /(*) | / | |\--------------------------------------------\ (@)(((((((( | >----------------Silly---------------------- > | |/--------------------------------------------/ | \ \(*) If 99.9% is good enough then.... 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents daily 114,500 mismatched pairs of shoes will be shipped/year 18,322 pieces of mail will be mishandled/hour 2,000,000 documents will be lost by the IRS this year 2.5 million books will be shipped with the wrong covers Two planes landed at Chicago's O'Hare airport will be unsafe every day 315 entries in Webster's Dictionary will be misspelled 20,000 incorrect drug prescriptions will be written this year 880,000 credit cards in circulation will turn out to have incorrect cardholder information on their magnetic strips 103,260 income tax returns will be processed incorrectly during the year 5.5 million cases of soft drinks produced will be flat 291 pacemaker operations will be performed incorrectly 3056 copies of tomorrow's Wall Street Journal will be missing one of the three sections Strive for 100%! Phantasia