Getting Started

Welcome to Avatar, Good Traveler! If you're feeling anything at all like I felt when I first found this wonderful addiction, your head is probably spinning and you haven't a clue where to start. Don't worry, you're not alone. The realms are constantly evolving, and there is always something new to learn. My goal in writing this is to provide a quick, simple reference to a lot of little tidbits people wished they knew when they started playing here.

As a new player, there are a few basic rules to keep in mind:

1) This is a family mud. Foul and abusing language will not be tolerated on public channels

2) Player killing is not allowed, and kill stealing is very frowned upon.

3) Harassment of any kind is not tolerated

4) Cheating in any form will be dealt with severely (See also: Loopholes)

They are pretty much common sense. Be kind and respectful, make friends...that sort of thing.

I strongly suggest that as you begin to feel your way around, you ask lots of questions. Use nchat often. Be vocal. There is a very large and helpful community of players here, with many different points of view. Don't be afraid to ask for opinions or help and try different methods. Also, I feel it is very important to learn how to do something instead of asking to have it done for you. It will pay off in the long run.

The commands are very intuitive once you get the hang of things, and the help files are very extensive. However, if you are new to mudding altogether, or feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of commands, the value of the Mudschool cannot be overstated. It will take about 10-15 minutes to walk through the most basic commands and how to begin your adventuring days.

Starting out

The first thing you're going to want to do is to train your Wisdom. Wisdom determines how many practice points you will receive at each level. Second to wisdom, Intelligence and Constitution are also very important. Intelligence determines the amount of mana you will receive per level, and also determines how quickly you are able to use Practice_Points to learn your class skills. It is a common practice to train up these three stats as fast as possible before focusing on learning a lot of skills.

Gathering Gear

By now, you're also probably wanting to fix that whole naked thing and start finding some good gear! If you completed Mudschool, then you got a lot of very basic gear to start you out. Otherwise, you can find pretty much the same gear inside the Tree of Knowledge next to Nom. There are a few helpfiles you might want to check out. Help Level Gear will show you a list of nice stat boosting equipment you might want to track down, and Help Meadow will show you simple, ascii-based map of good areas to start killing things in, most of which will contain some of the aforementioned gear.

Healers

Nom will be your healer and default Recall until level 4. This is a good place to buy candles (along with the nearby Jim the Peddler)and other basic supplies. Conveniently located in the center of the Meadow. Sol will be your healer and default Recall until level 14. He is located in the center of Stonehall, near many other useful services, such as a bank, Carl the trainer, an ent who will identify items for you for free until level 10, maps, and a safe place to rest. It is one of the first steps out into the wide world as you outgrow the Meadow. Aelmon is the healer and default Recall after level 14. Aelmon is located in the middle of the city of Midgaard. The large city is central to the continent, and provides many services nearby, as well as faster access to many areas.

At any of the three healers, you can type list to see any items they may have for sale, or heal for a list of their services. All three will cast healing spells, cure poisons and diseases, and remove curses from you. For a price.

Sanctum

Sanctum is a very popular social hub of Avatar. In Sanctum, there is a donation room to possibly find some gear, an infirmary which is a healing and recovery room, as well as the location of many Spellbots. Many groups form in here and prepare themselves for battle. Gear gets sorted out, items traded, and many strange conversations happen in a safe place to sit idly and talk with friends. It is also a nice place to trade equipment between different alts, since multiplaying is not allowed (except on special occasions).

Exploration

As you gain in levels, you will find yourself outgrowing areas you once hunted to extinction and watch your xp begin to dwindle. Exploring is key! There are hundreds of areas in Avatar, scattered and tucked away everywhere. The world is vast. Two vital tools to your exploration are the Areas command and the Where command.