Contents

Rules of Solace

Before playing, be very sure you're familiar with the Rules of Solace. These can be viewed on our site at the Rules & Laws page along with the Laws of the Land, which are also good to know. The Laws are enforced by the Guardian clan in protected cities. The Rules are enforced by the Immortals. Be sure you do not break any of the Rules, or you'll likely be in a lot of trouble.

If you ever interact with an Immortal, for any sort of reason, remember to be respectful. They dedicate their personal time to maintaining and improving Solace for no personal gain. So long as you're respectful towards them, they'll stay respectful towards you.

If an Immortal is being abusive towards you for no reason (and be very sure of this), in-game, on the forums, or elsewhere, you can contact Chemosh, the head implementor, either by a note in-game (see help note), or a PM (private message) on the Solace Official Forum. Your character will be protected from association with this, and the problem will likely be solved.

Getting a Client

We highly recommend that, 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 MUD Clients page for a list of alternative "clients" (programs used to play MUDs and similar things). Each has its own benefits and advantages. You can start your Solace experience with JMC, as the basic instructions to follow will be for this client.

So, to get started, download JMC MUD Client (553k), run the 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 receive 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 key. To connect to the game, type #connect 213.248.63.74 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

Choosing a Name

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).

Choosing a Race

Assuming you have a gender chosen, the next thing to look at is your race and class. We'll give a general overview here.

The elven races, including elves, wild elves and dark elves, are a frail, nible and intelligent people in general. They rely more on quick movement and quicker minds than raw strength or stamina to meet their ends. They excel most at various forms of magic, clerical devotion, and dextrous combat in some manner.

Minotaurs and dwarves, by contrast, are a slower, somewhat dimmer bunch, but ones who far exceed most strength and endurance. Minotaurs are the strongest of all playable races, while dwarves are the most hardy. These races make excellent fighters and rather effective clerics, though they will likely take longer than most to perfect their skills.

Kender are a carefree, childlike, incredibly dextrous race. They have an outlook on life akin to a young child's, coupled with a complete absense of any sort of fear, with curiousity in its place. Even death as seen as a final adventure, and just about anything in between is a new and exciting experience. The worst pain to them is that of boredom. Being the most dextrous race around, their focus lies there, with certain types of fighters, rangers, thieves and assassins.

Gnomes are the wisest of the races, quite intelligent and are fairly sturdy, though generally slower and somewhat weaker. They make exceptional clerics, druids and mages, as these let them apply their skills best. They also tend to speak in constantly running-on sentences.

Humans and half-elves are a balance between just about everything, with an even distribution of stats across. Half-elves are somewhat smarter and quicker, while humans advance more in the primary stat of their profession. They can do quite well in any class they choose.

Draconians are a purely evil race, and are strong, hardy and intelligent, though rather slow and a bit less than average on wisdom. They are powerful at just about any class available to them, and have natural flight and regeneration, though they're weak to holy power.

Check out the Races page for more information.

Choosing a Class

As to classes, Knights, Rangers, Fighters, Assassins, Outcast Knights and Thieves are generally combat focused types, with variance in their styles between each. Clerics and transmuters are more defensive casters, while invokers and necromancers are more heavily offensive, perhaps the most of all classes. Druids are a balance between healing, offensive casting, and fighting.

Check the information at Classes page for more information.

For new players, it is recommended to not pick a mage or cleric class, as they tend to take more time and knowledge (this includes transmuters, invokers, necromancers, clerics and druids).

Fighters, assassins, rangers, outcast knights and full knights can become easily just as powerful as the frailer classes, and with less difficulty getting there. You're better off playing one of these, at least to learn your way around (knights, outcast knights and assassins can see invisible of those classes, and assassins can hide and detect invisible, while rangers can camoflauge in forested regions).

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

Druids general guide

Knights general guide

Rangers general guide

Assassins general guide

Clerics Worship
Note: some Gods are currently unavailable for worship. See help good, help neutral and help evil in-game for more information.

Invokers Spell Tree
Note: Invokers need to achieve near mastery in lower level spells to attain higher ones, this shows which ones you need to practice most.

Hint: 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).

Starting a Character

.. Choosing Your Name, Race and Class..

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 determine your stats.

.. Assigning Your Stats..

In our stat system, you assign where your stats fall. The total will be 6 under the maximum racial total for your character. For example, you might have maximum intelligence (int), wisdom (wis) and constitution (con), 2 less strength (str) and 4 less dexterity (dex) than you can possibly have.

For maximum gains and benefits during ranking up, be sure that your int, wis and con are no more than 2 from their maximums in sum (e.g., for a human fighter, 20 20 20 19 18 is fine, but 20 19 20 20 18 isn't). This is to ensure you can max them with your two training sessions from creation before levelling up. Con will increase your health points gained every level, wis will affect the number of practices received, and int will affect the % of skill you gain for each practice session.

You can use the [stat] +/- command to adjust your stats to your liking, where [stat] is str, int, wis, dex or con. Remember that you have two "training sessions" at creation to add two more to any stat ("train " while at a trainer).

Following these guidelines should finish with a nicely rolled character.

Hint: there are items available which can raise your stats above their actual levels, but not above your racial maximum.

.. Choosing Your Alignment, Ethos and Hometown..

One of the few things remaining then, is alignment and ethos. Alignment is fairly self-explanatory, and a description is given of each. Information on ethos can be viewed here. 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.

.. And Finally You're In!

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

Welcome to Solace!

Learning Basics

Basic Concepts and Commands

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

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 shortcuts for these moves). Try using n to move north off the boat you arrived on.

Now look at the string of text that appears after every command and received message, showing something like:

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 (such as open north or open door).

Take note that if your health points (hp) drop to 0, you become incapacitated (you cannot do -anything-), 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, just 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 Clan Hall 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, you can see something like:

If it's almost anything else, it's probably a mobile, or mob. Such as:

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 and concepts 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).

The kill [target] (or just k [target] for short) 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 the combat is going on, anyone engaged in it will trade attacks every round. You can also use special actions, e.g., 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 in commands queue. If your health points are getting low, you might want to 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 at your current level, and can move three or more spaces north, typing scan n will yield:

This means a rabbit is two rooms north of the current room. If you type scan e and get:

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).

Communication

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.

Grouping

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 a player named John is the leader, and you're joining him, you would type follow john. If, however, you're the leader, and John is joining you, wait until you see:

You would then 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.

Recalling

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. After you pass level 10, you'll need to find other ways to recall. If you're a caster, you probably have the spell later. If not, or before you get that spell, the potion shop in Palanthas sells potions of recall (just quaff it).

Items, Equipment, Comparing and Getting

Much of what you can accomplish revolves around what items you have. To see what you're currently wearing, type equipment 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 first 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.

Resting and Sleeping

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 40 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.

Quitting and Saving

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 automatically saves 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.

Disconnecting

If you're still in JMC and need to leave before you can quit, you can use the #zap command to terminate your connection, or simply close JMC. 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. NOTE: If you disconnect before getting the 2nd level, your character will NOT be saved.

Other Useful Topics

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.

Aliases, Triggers, Hotkeys and Highlights in JMC

JMC, like most MUD clients, offers a number of useful options to make your life easier. This will cover a few of the more common ones, taken from the official documentation available here.

Aliases

#alias

Syntax: #alias {<alias name>} {<commands>} [group_name]

The #alias command allows the user to create a "shortcut" to a command or string of text. Whenever the user types an alias name, JMC will replace it with the second part of the alias.

Example:

#alias {k} {kill %1} {common}

Now, every time you type k dragon the string kill dragon will be sent to a MUD. This alias assigned to group named "common".
If the second parameter of the #alias command doesn't exist, then JMC will show you all defined aliases with a name that matches the first argument.

Example:

#alias k

When you type this command, JMC will show the (predefined) alias named "k" to you.

If #alias is used without any arguments, then JMC will list all defined aliases for you.

Triggers

#action

Syntax: #action {pattern} {commands to be done} [{priority}] [group_name]

The #action command describes the action to be taken by JMC, when text mathing the pattern arrives from the MUD. The variables %0-9 are substituted from the text recieved, and can be used in the command(s) side of the command.
Whenever you recieve the "pattern" text, the "commands" text will automatically be entered.

Example:

#action {You are hungry.} {eat bread}

When you are getting hungry (and see the words "You are hungry"), you will automatically try to eat some bread from your inventory.

Hotkeys

#hotkey

Syntax: #hotkey {key name} {string to be typed}

This command defines a new hotkey or redefines an existing hotkey. When you press this key on your keyboard the "string to be typed" part will be used by JMC, as if it been typed in directly. This allows the use of variables, aliases, and the like. Check the documentation for the list of key keywords.

Highlights

#highlight

Syntax: #highlight {colour} {<text to highlight>} [group_name]

Whenever you recieve the "text to highlight", it will automatically be highlighted in the "colour".

Example:

#highlight {red} {hits you very hard}

Whenever you see "hits you very hard", it will will be highlighted in red.

Using Options Tab in JMC

As an alternative to using text to set these, you can enter them in the options tab. At the top of your JMC window, underneath the menu tabs, is a row of buttons. There should be a group of three, a space, a group of two, a space, a single forklike button, a space, and then a white box. Clicking this white box opens up the options tab, where you can directly enter most of the above. Feel free to explore this.

Helpful Links

- Solace's Official Forum. All sorts of discussions take place here, from ideas about Solace, to logs of fights between players, to bug reports, and more (watch out for some friendly insulting between old players). You'll need an account to view and post.
http://solace.i-read-you.ru/forum

- Solace's Official Forum, Newbie Section. Ask any questions you have, view helpful guides and tips, and see the answers to questions other have asked. Again, requires an account on the forum, easy to sign up.
http://solace.i-read-you.ru/forum/index.php/board,3.0.html

- 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.html

- 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.html