FOR NEW PLAYERS

[Lord Solinari]

This is the basic of the basic stuff.  To help you learn how to play, simply, until a proper full newbie guide is set up (coming soon!).

GETTING A CLIENT

First thing, if you have any choice, don't play using telnet.  It doesn't provide you anywhere near the options a full MUD Client does (such as hotkeys, highlights, colour, etc).
Visit http://solace.i-read-you.ru/mud_clients.shtml
for a list.  All have their own benefits, and I personally prefer JMC, so that's what the basic instructions will be for.  Download the file at http://solace.i-read-you.ru/files/jmc-3.26-en.exe to get started.
Run this auto-installer, and then open up the JMC exe file from it.
The screen should be mostly black, with a few lines of grey text at the bottom and some buttons/menus at the top.  This is your client.  The area where the few lines of text are is where you'll recieve messages from the game, much like telnet does.

To enter any sort of information, you type in the small white bar at the bottom and hit enter.
To connect to the game, type
#connect 213.248.23.164 4000
(it's useful to set this as an alias or hotkey, but more on that later)
And voila, you're in Solace.


BEFORE STARTING TO PLAY

Before you start to play, think about what you want to be.  Will you be a noble Solamnic Knight, defending the innocent against evil, or will you be a bloodthirsty fighter, thinking only of the next fight?  There are many, many options to choose from.  The very first decision you make is your name.  There are a list of naming rules shown when you enter a new name as you log in.  Be very sure to follow these (Most importantly, make the name original, and fitting for a Dragonlance fantasy setting).

The next thing to look at is your race and class (Assuming you have a gender chosen *wink*).  Check out the information at http://solace.i-read-you.ru/races.shtml and http://solace.i-read-you.ru/classes.shtml which should give you a good idea on what each is like.  For new players, we recommend you not play a mage or cleric class, as they tend to take more time and knowledge.  Fighters, assassins, rangers and knights can become easily just as powerful, and with less difficulty getting there, so you're probably better off playing one of these, at least to learn your way around (knights and assassins can see invisible of those classes, and assassins can hide and detect invisible, while rangers can camoflauge outdoors).

For several classes, loyal players have created their own newbie guides.  Feel free to look through them for information from those who have experience with them.

Outcast Knights: http://solace.i-read-you.ru/forum/index.php?topic=692.0

Druids: http://solace.i-read-you.ru/forum/index.php?topic=691.0

Knights: http://solace.i-read-you.ru/forum/index.php?topic=689.0

Rangers: http://solace.i-read-you.ru/forum/index.php?topic=693.0

Assassins: http://solace.i-read-you.ru/forum/index.php?topic=702.0

Cleric's Worship: http://solace.i-read-you.ru/forum/index.php?topic=690.0
(Special note: Some Gods are currently unavailable for worship.  See "help good", "help neutral" and "help evil" in-game for more info.)

Invoker's Spell Tree: http://solace.i-read-you.ru/forum/index.php?topic=696.0
(Note: Invokers need to achieve near mastery in lower level spells to attain higher ones, this shows which ones you need to practice most)

When thinking of a good combination, look at the maximum stats each race can have, and how those might fit into your strategy (combat types enjoy strength or dexterity, mages intelligence, and clerics wisdom, constitution helps everyone for health).  Also, take note of the total stats, this will be used next.


STARTING A CHARACTER

So, you've now connected to Solace, and you have a vague idea in mind, and a name to go with it.  Enter this name, and confirm that it's in accordance with the rules (it IS in accordance, isn't it?).  Enter your password twice after this.  NEVER give your password out to anyone asking for it, or you might find yourself with no items and a criminal next time you log in.  You'll see some information to start you off, and then you enter your race.  Next is your gender, male or female.  Some more information, and then your class.  A bit more information, and it's time to roll stats.  Remember where you noted the max stats of your race on the official site, and the max total?  Here is where we use it.

One of the few things remaining then, is alignment and ethos.  Alignment is fairly self-explanatory, and a description is given of each.  For ethos, see http://solace.i-read-you.ru/rules_laws.shtml at the bottom of the page for a description.  Finally, choose your hometown.  Pick Palanthas to start off, as it is currently the most central location.  You can change this later at city hall, for a fee.

The list of information you see is MOTD, and it's something you'll see every time you log in, with new information about what has happened recently.


GETTING STARTED IN KRYNN

You are now a proud citizen of Solace.  Congratulations!
Now it's time to learn a few basic commands.
When you enter, you probably saw something like

There are 3 new news articles waiting.
There are 73 changes waiting to be read.
You have 6 new notes waiting.

These are different types of messages from immortals or players.  Typing "help note" will give you information about them.  Notes can come from anyone, though only immortals and clan leaders can send to all.  Changes are from immortals only, giving information on recent updates and changes.  News is information such as the location of sites, etc.  Type note (or change or news) read to read the next item in the list.  Type note (or change or news) catchup to mark them as read.

The six directions you can travel are north, south, east, west, up and down.  n s e w u d are viable commands for these moves.  Try using n to move north off the boat you arrived on.

See the string of text that appears after every command and recieved message, showing
<30/30hp 100/100mana 100/100mv XXXXtnl | (NSEWUD)>
This is called the "prompt"  It shows you useful information about your character and environment constantly.  In the default, it shows
hp/max hp, mana/max mana, movement/max movement, amount to gain a rank, and exits.  The exits are all directions you can exit at the moment.  There may be closed doors around as well.  Use the "open <direction>" or "open <name>" command to open things that are closed (like "open north" or "open door").  Notice that if your hp drops to 0, you become incapacitated, and if it drops to -10, you die.  When you die, you turn into an invincible ghost with pass door, fly and infravision, and appear at your temple.  Your corpse will remain where you fell for about 15 minutes.  During this time, you can go and retrieve your items from it ("get all corpse"), but others can take things from it as well, as you can from other corpses.  The spoils of war, such as it is.  Whatever items are still in your corpse when it decays after 15 minutes or so appear in the "pit" in your temple (or clanhall for clan members).


MORE COMMANDS

Well, we can move now, so let's learn a bit more about surviving.  When you walk into an area and see anything other than "(Auras, such as White Aura)<name> the <gender> <race> is here (or resting here, or riding something, etc)"  (For example, (White aura) (Translucent) Bobmcgee the male human is here, riding a donkey. <-- This is a player), it's probably a mobile.  A mobile is a creature controlled by code rather than a player.  Some have more complicated code, but the ones you'll be facing for now are fairly basic.  If you attack them, they'll fight back, and chase you if you flee.

IMPORTANT!! - Almost all mobiles in the game will chase you if you attack them and flee.  As soon as they get to the room you're in, if they can see you, they'll attack again.  This is called "tracking".  To be able to rest as long as you like, you need to move to a new area, not just a new room (for example, exiting Palanthas through the south gate into Briarwood), or you need to move in a way other than walking (such as "recalling").  Do NOT flee one space and think you're safe.  Unless you "zoned" (changed areas) by accident, the mob will be back in just a few seconds and hungry for blood.

There are a few commands just about essential for getting along.

Firstly (this isn't totally essential, but very very useful), there is "ntalk".  Using the command "ntalk <message>" such as "ntalk hello" communicates on the newbie channel.  This is a special channel designed specifically to help new players.  Any question unanswered here or elsewhere, feel free to ask on this channel.  Anyone using it will hear your message, and probably reply if they're able to (we have some nice players around here).

Next, "kill" and "consider" or "con".  The "kill <target>" command, such as "kill rabbit" enters you in combat with a simple attack against the target.  If there is more than one rabbit in the room, this example makes you attack the first one.  To attack the second, for example, use "kill 2.rabbit", and so forth.  The "consider" ("con" for short) command is a VERY useful one.  When used on a mobile, it gives you a rough estimate of their strength compared to yours, and a message telling you what alignment they are.  If you're a good character, DO NOT kill good mobiles (A young silver dragon smiles happily at you. - This means the dragon is good).  If something is more powerful than you, be very careful when attacking it.

When combat is going on, anyone engaged in it will trade attacks every round.  You can also use special moves, such as "dirt", "bash", or "cast 'magic missile'", as a few examples.  These will cause a DELAY to you before your next command will go through.  Be careful of spamming commands, as it will stop you from changing tactics if you need to.  If you "cast 'magic missile'", for example, you'll be delayed for 1 combat round, and no commands you entered will go through, though they'll be waiting for their turn.  If your HP is getting low, you might want to FLEE (type "flee"), and go recover somewhere, unless you think you can win regardless.

If you "scan" in a direction, you peer a few rooms over.  The distance you can scan depends on your level, starting at 1 room, and capping at 6 rooms at around hero rank.  If you cannot travel in the direction you're scanning, whether from a wall or closed door, you won't see anything.  If you can scan three spaces, and can move three or more spaces north, typing

scan n
will yield
You peer intently north
 **** 1 north ****

 **** 2 north ****
A rabbit is here.

 **** 3 north ****

This means a rabbit is two rooms north of the current room.

If you type

scan e
You peer intently east
 **** 1 east ****

This means you can only travel east once from here.  Likewise, if no **** 1 <direction> **** appears, you can't travel in that direction, given current open doors and walls.

Other players can be playing at the same time as you.  Typing "who" will give a list of all players currently online that you can see.  It will not show you players you can't see.  You'll notice a small (PK) flag next to your name.  PK stands for Player-Kill or Player-Killing.  Anyone with that flag next to them is in your "PK range".  This means that, if you meet, you can attack them and they can attack you.  Be careful, as some people hunt very frequently.  But don't worry yet, you're immune to PK until you hit rank 10.
This can have arguments as well.  "who newbie" shows all players level 10 and under.  "who pk" shows everyone in your pk range, etc.

Related to the "who" command is the "where" command, or "whe" for short.  This will show you all the players you can see in the same area as you.  Typing "where <name>" will show the room for the first character or mob with that name.  This version works for mobs as well (typing "where rabbit" will show you the room the first rabbit is in).

For in-room conversation, see "help sayto".  For longer-range communication, across the world even, see "help tell".  Also see "help ooc" for OOC, or Out-of-character communication.  Do not abuse this channel for cheating purposes.  You have to turn the ooc channel on before you can use it, by typing "ooc".

When you meet another player, as long as you aren't opposite alignments (good vs evil), you might want to GROUP with them.  Grouped people travel around together, fight battles together, don't harm each other with area spells, get more experience from fights, and more.  Grouping is extremely useful.  To group with someone, one person is the group leader.  All others will "follow" this person.  If John is the leader, and you're joining him, you would type "follow john".  If you're the leader, though, and John is joining you, wait until you see "John now follows you.".  Then you would type "group John".  This adds John to your group.  Typing "group John" again removes him from your group, though he'll still follow you.  Typing "group" alone will show you who is in your current group, including charmed mobiles, such as mounts.

Until you pass level 10, you have the command "recall" available.  Typing "/" alone is a shortcut for this.  Recall is similar to the word of recall spell available for casters, and in potions, later.  It will return you instantly to your hometown temple (according to alignment), and will use up half of your remaining moves.  Once you pass level 10, this is no longer available.  It's very useful if you're exploring, or in trouble from angry mobs, and need to escape.

Much of what you can accomplish revolves around what items you have.  To see what you're currently wearing, type "equip" or "eq".  Typing "inventory" or just "i" will show you what you're carrying.  If you see something on the ground, you can try to take it, using "get <object>", such as "get apple".  If it's takeable, and you can carry it (not too much weight, or too many items), it will go to your inventory.  If it's some equipment, you can "compare" it to what you're wearing in that spot.  "compare gloves" will compare the gloves in your inventory to the gloves you're wearing.  "compare gloves 2.gloves" will compare the first gloves in your inventory to the second gloves in your inventory.

If you're wounded, your mana is low, or you're too tired to keep walking, you need to stop to recover.  If you're in combat, every "tick" you'll restore a very small amount of each (a tick is roughly 30 seconds).  If you're out of combat and standing, you'll gain a bit more.  If you're resting, using "rest" command, (out of combat only), you'll gain more still every tick, and can still see what is happening around you.  However, when resting, you have to "wake" before you can take any physical action.  You can look, but you can't move, for example.  If you're sleeping, using the "sleep" command, you'll gain the most every tick, but you won't see what's happening around you.  You can communicate to your group, but nobody else.
If you happen to find some furniture, such as a bench that's stuck in the room, or a rug you can carry, you can "rest <object>" or "sleep <object>" to recover much quicker.

When you're ready to leave Solace for the moment, all you need to do is find a safe area, such as a city, and type "quit".  If you've been recently fighting, there will be a short delay of a few ticks before you can quit.  Solace will automatically "save" when you quit, and every 15 minutes, but you can type "save" if you're worried as well.
NOTE: You need to be a minimum of rank 2 before you can save, or your character will simply vanish when you quit.

A few other very useful helpfiles to check are "help score" and "help auto".  Typing the "auto" command shows you a list of autofunctions currently on or off, and what each does (autogold - automatically taking gold from corpses, etc).  Typing "score" gives you detailed information about your character.
Typing "affects" or just "a" will show everything affecting you at the moment, and any resistances you have.  To not see resistances, type "verbose" to toggle them on/off.  A few useful auto commands to start off are "affcolor" and "affquotes", as well as "autosplit" to not have upset group members.

If you're still in JMC and need to leave before you can quit, you can use the
#zap
command to terminate your connection.  DO NOT use this in place of normal quitting.  Your character will remain in-game for 5-10 minutes before vanishing, and you're fully vulnerable to attack in this state.  You should only terminate connections when you really need to.

Handy links:

- How to Level at Low Ranks.  Useful for anyone starting off, gives advice on how to level past those few early, slow ranks, including some basic equipment guide.
http://solace.i-read-you.ru/forum/index.php/topic,737.0.html

- Newbie Equipment Guide.  Equipment factors heavily into how strong your character is, and this will help you get started with it.
http://solace.i-read-you.ru/forum/index.php?topic=687.0

- Ranking Area Guide.  You need to fight to level up, generally speaking, and it's good to know where to do it effectively.  Note that neutrals can choose either good or evil sections, often depending on who they're grouped with.
http://solace.i-read-you.ru/forum/index.php?topic=686.0



**********************************************
Update: Added "scan" to "More Commands"

Hopefully this will give some helpful information to anyone new to our world about how to start off.  If there are questions you feel are important an unanswered here, send me a PM on this forum (click the little computer screen next to my name on the left).  You can also ask any questions you have on "ntalk", and hopefully someone will answer them for you.  Old players, feel free to send me suggestions about what to add here, and in the full newbie guide to come.