NewbieGuide

Ways of Connecting to Lusternia

The Lusternia Nexus client is often the first way that a new character is introduced to the world of Lusternia. It does require Java which can be downloaded at the Java homepage. Some people, however, prefer to use an alternative client such as Mudlet, MUSHclient, zMUD, or CMUD. Please note other clients may be available to use, but you will need the telnet address ( lusternia.com ), the port ( 23 ), and possibly the IP ( 209.212.145.235 )

Creating Your First Character

The journey through the Portal of Fate usually takes about half an hour, but for those not accustomed to MUDs it can be rather confusing. You have the option of skipping through the journey using the command END JOURNEY, but for newcomers it is not reccomended. During this journey you will choose your adventurer's gender, age, race, and optionally a home city or commune and guild. Information can be found on each of the guilds, cities and communes can be found in-game in the help files, or here: Playerorgs

The journey itself is automated, but it is key to note that upon completion you will receive a few items to help you get started:

Members of Warrior guilds receive a claymore, while members of Bard guilds receive an instrument.
Vials (one Health, one Mana, and one Bromides).
A small amount of gold.
A backpack.
A set of clothes.
Two of every curative herb in your Rift. Using Your Rift

More information can be found in the New Player Guide

Welcome to Lusternia proper

Fresh out of the Portal of Fate, the world of Lusternia can be very confusing for those new to MUDs. Thankfully, a number of people can help you through your initial introduction to the Basin.

Fate Guides Mister Bobbins, Mistress Skein, and Mister Spindle can help you in-game. The NEWBIE channel is designated as an out of character channel, and even if none of the Fate Guides are online, you can always try asking there as a number of mentors may be able to ask your questions.

Likely when you first created your character, someone welcomed you via the Collegium Channel (CGT). A number of "scrolls" (as they're referred to in-game) can be found in each college that will help you complete your tasks. These, as all help files, can be accessed with the command HELP <topic>. (Offline versions of the HELP files are available as well, see Lusternia's Help File Index)

To search through general help files, you can always try HELP <keyword> which will bring up any help file in which the key word is. There are also sets of help files for your City or Commune (CHELP), your Guild (GHELP), the College (CGHELP), and, if your guild has a clan, there may also be CLHELP, but see HELP CLAN COMMANDS.

Finally, if you have any questions at all there are many players perfectly willing to help you, and would love to share their knowledge and experience. GUILD AIDES will some of those people, but never be afraid to ask for help - we all remember what it was like to be a novice!

Roleplaying

Roleplaying is one of the focal points of Lusternia, and because of this keeping things in-character is crucial. If you are out of character, likely people will tell you to stop speaking 'insanely' - once you step into the shoes of your character, the computer, the 21st Century, none of that exists. However, there are OOC or Out of Character channels for asking questions as needed, especially technical aid, but immersing yourself in the world of Lusternia can be a rewarding experience.

To start out, some players find it easiest to come up with a character profile including a description of what their character looks like and basic details like their general personality and rough outline of their history or background.

Having a basis for why your character is where they are, how they came to be, and what they look like are good foundations. But remember, this is a dynamic and living world, you want a good foundation without having to rewrite your own history as your character grows. You might find your family, mothers, fathers, siblings, or realize your race was not what you wished.

Ultimately, your paths are only limited by your imagination, examples of potential outcomes:

A reknowned and undefeated combatant
A masterful chess player
A famous writer, playwright, or director
A well-respected guild or city/commune official
A master tradesman or woman
A historical expert
A faithful devotee of a Divine forming a unique bond
A demigod or demigoddess!
...and much more!

See HELP ROLEPLAYING, HELP EMOTING, HELP EMOTIONS.

Collegiums

Your first experience in Lusternia will be the Collegium of your city or commune. Each city and commune has their own Collegium where novices and those newly inducted may be introduced to the history, lore, and geography of the city or commune. All Guild Administrators and their aides are able to assist and speak to college students, so you are not required to only seek your own group at this time.

Each college consists of five tasks unique to each city or commune, but designed to give you an overview into the following subjects: History, Hunting, Planes and Planar Travel, Power, and Influencing. Checking your GUILD STATUS in the game will allow you to see what tasks you have left. If you complete all five tasks successfully you will graduate with honours (even after you graduate, if you complete the tasks left, you will be designated as graduating with honours!)

Once you have graduated, you are under the domain of your guild to progress and advance further. As a college student your guild rank will be noted as COL, after graduating you are NOV for novice. At this point many guilds will require further tests to ride from NOV to rank 1, and so on. You are always still free to use CGT <message> to ask questions any time, however!

See: HELP COLLEGE

Hunting

As a novice, Newton Caverns is the main hunting, influencing and questing ground. Finks, gnomes, shroomies and more are free to slay within the Caverns, and some will even give gold rewards if turned in!

These denizens are "free" as they are not protected. Slaying loyal creatures later on will make you an enemy to certain cities, communes, guilds, orders or villages. You can easily see if something is loyal by probing it and see if the denizen "is loyal" to any organisation or person.

Notes on available hunting grounds by level, and where to go as you grow stronger, can be found here: Hunting Guide

Influencing

A different way of fighting - with words! One of the first influencing skills you gain is Begging. This is useful for generating gold and experience. The stronger the denizen's ego and personality, the harder it will be to influence them to your will.

In the Newton Caverns you can beg from gnomes and finks easily and if you successfully shatter their ego, winning the influence "battle", they will give you gold or perhaps, a quest item! Just like a physical attack when you regain equilibrium and/or balance you kick the target again, with influence you do the same. Attempt to influence, wait for equilibrium, influence again, continuously until you either win or lose this battle of egos!

Notes on available areas to influence by level, and where to go as you grow stronger, can be found here: Influencing Guide

Questing

Quests are like puzzles to solve. You should greet all named denizens to see if you can offer to help. Aiding on these minor errands are often mini-quests unto themselves and come with rewards ranging from experience to gold to unique items, or a combination of the above! Complexity ranges as well, from slaying creatures and giving them to someone who requests them, to harder ones involving many hours, steps and puzzles within puzzles to solve.

The key to successfully completing any quest is to talk with denizens to uncover information and manipulate objects to see what is inside them or what falls from them. Touching, pushing, pulling, these are all common ways to reveal a new clue as you quest.

For more general information on how to quest, what may be required of you while completing a quest, and tips on how to proceed see the following: QUESTING

Save the gnomes, be a hero of the finks. Newton Caverns offers two quests specifically for novices that give a good introduction to the world of questing in Lusternia. See: Newton Cavern's Honours Quest