On this page we cover the following topics:
On page 1 we covered the steps involved in starting a new character in Tharsis Gate:
And here are the links for page 2:
The command to leave the game is 'quit'.This command makes Tharsis Gate save your character and then disconnects you from the game.
NOTE: When you QUIT, you drop all your equipment! This means that nothing (or almost nothing) that is in your inventory will be with you next time you log on.
The only thing you keep is your money.
There are reasons for this that can not be fully described here, and while it may change in the future it is currently the way the game works and must be accomodated.
The items you drop are not destroyed, so if you log in straight away you can walk back to where you quit and pick them up again.
Some hints:
- Sell everything before you quit, then you get money for it so that you can buy new stuff when you log in again.
- Deposit very valuable items in your 'guild box', they will still be there when you log in next, unless someone else in your guild has removed them in which case hoepfully they have left something else in return.
- Quitting and logging back in can be used as a way to return you to the starting room if you are totally lost.
Death happens to everyone at some time in the game. It is not permanent however and with care you can stop it being a traumatic experience and just an inconvienience.Dying penalises you, but you don't have to go back and start your character from scratch again. Death does effect your character though, and too many deaths will eventually kill you to the point where you can not survive and you will be permenantly dead.
In very specific terms: when you die the following happens:
- You loose all your current experience (this is the exp shown on your score).
- One of your stats will be randomly chosen and lowered by 1 level.
- If the stat that was lowered has gone below the minimum that is allowed by your race then your character is permenantly dead and will go to heaven. If this happens you have to start from the beginning again. (Read 'help races' for the minimums).
- Your corpse will fall to the ground, carrying all your equipment and gold.
- You will become a ghost, unable to pick up anything.
To lessen the effects of dying you should always use all your experience as reguarly as possible. Thus when you die you loose very little except for the 1 stat point.
To come back to life, follow these steps:
You will now be back in your body, but still weak and not carrying anything. You should probably head back to where you died (if it is safe) and get your equipment and gold from your corpse.
- Do the command 'church'. This will teleport you to the login room.
- Go w,s,s,e to a room with Mother Theresa in it.
- Do the command 'say help me'.
Some hints:
- NEVER let a stat get to the minimum for your race. (Read 'help races' for the minimums). There are places and means in the game to raise your stats (slowly).
- Deposit money in the bank, this way you will have some in case you die.
The skill system on Tharsis Gate is a complex system to come to terms with at first, but once understood it becomes clear that it adds a lot to the game and maks i well worth the time.In the game your character is "defined" by several characteristics which determine how well s/he performs different tasks, such as fighting.
There are two types of characteristic:
Skills are used by commands that you issue while playing the game. To continue our example of stealing, there is a command that you can be taught in Tharsis Gate called 'shoplift'. (You will not have this command when you start the game.) This command allows you to steal items from a shop, hopefully without the shopkeeper noticing and calling the town guards.
- Stat:
- A physical attribute. One of: Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity, Constitution or Charisma.
These are features set by the physical structure of your body and while they can be changed, it happens very slowly. There is a minimum and a maximum for each of these that is set by your choice of race.- Skill:
- Tharsis Gate has aproximately 150 defined skills. They range from skills in combat to skills in crafting and building to skills in magic casting.
A skill is something that anyone can learn or train in over time and has no maximum level. ALL YOUR SKILLS START AT LEVEL 0.
Note: Having training in the skill such as stealth.theft does not mean you can steal, it means that you are trained in the ability of theiving. This skill could be used for several comands such as pickpocketing and shoplifting. It will no doubt be used in conjuction with other skills such as stealth.sneaking
When you issue the command several of your skills will be checked and if you have received enough training in them, then you will probably succeed, if not you will most likely fail.Your current training in all skills can be viewed using the 'skills' command. Subsets of them can be seen using a parameter: 'skills combat' for example.
The skills are organised into a hierarchy. Part of the hierarchy used is shown below. This bit is the combat part of the hierarchy:
combat // Your overall training in combat melee // Your training in hand-to-hand combat edged // Your training with an edged weapon blunt // Your training with a blunt weapon pointed // Your training with a pointed weapon missile // Your training in missile combat thrown // Your training with a thrown missile weapon fired // Your training with a fired missile weapon guided // Your training with a guided missile weapon unarmed // Your training in unarmed hand-to-hand combat punch // Your training in punching kick // Your training in kicking defense // Your training in the art of not getting hurt dodge // Your training in dodging attacks block // Your training in blocking attacks special // Your training in other fancy types of combat points // This one we leave until later.Any skill in this hierarchy is uniquely identifiably using the "." character as follows: combat.melee.edged would specify the first base skill in the hierarchy above. Note that it is possible to abreviate every skill to the first two letters.
Thus combat.melee.edged, com.melee.ed and co.me.ed are all the same skill.When you use the 'skills combat' command to view the above hierarchy you will see the following:
skill name lvl/ bns # skill name lvl/ bns ---------------------------------------#--------------------------------------- combat 370/ 360 # | unarmed 370/ 357 | melee 370/ 357 # | | punch 370/ 357 | | edged 370/ 357 # | | kick 370/ 357 | | blunt 370/ 357 # | defense 370/ 363 | | pointed 370/ 357 # | | dodge 370/ 357 | missile 370/ 357 # | | block 370/ 369 | | thrown 370/ 357 # | special 370/ 357 | | fired 370/ 357 # | points 370/ 369 | | guided 370/ 357Your level in a skill is an indication of how much training you have put into the skill. Your bonus is the more important figure and is a combination of the training (I.e. the skill level) and your physical characteristics that effect the use of that skill (Eg your Dexterity will be used in calculating your combat.defense.dodging bonus).While playing the game your bonus for your skills will be checked and will effect how well you perform. For example the hierarchy shown above obviously effects how well you will go in a fight.
Please note: A level of 0 in a skill mens you have no training in that skill, and thus no idea how to use the skill. It would not be a good idea to go into a fight without any training now would it?
Advancing your skills
During the game you will train your skills to improve yourself. This may be done at the adventurer's guild or at other locations around the mud where people (NPC's or maybe even players) offer to teach you.You will find this hierarchy is especially important when you come to advance your skills. You can not advance your combat.melee skill until you have reached a high enough level (5) in combat. The reason for this is that if you do not have enugh training in combat in general, then you can not start to specialise into attacking/defensive/etc combat.
Being trained in a skill will cost you experience. The amount of experience will be effected by your current level, but also the level of the person training you. Thus learning combat skills from a magic user would not be a very good idea - it could cost you _heaps_ of experience.
Commands
In addition to the commands that all people can get, you may be taught special commands by other players or NPC's. Your ability to learn and use these commands will be determined by the level of the skills that the command uses.The primary source of such commands will be your NPC guild master or trainer. He/She will teach you the guild commands as you become able to learn them (by advancing the necessary skills to some required level).
Such commands would be like "disarm" for a fighter's guild or "backstab" for the thief guild.
Having a command does not necessarily mean you will succeed with it every time. You will have to raise the associated skills more to become more proficient.
Automatic advancing of skills
Thoughout regular playing of the mud you will use commands, and in doing so you are excercising your training in the skills needed to make the command succeed. There is a chance when using a command that the skills will automatically advance.