Newbie Guide
This page is in progress, but will hopefully be an up-to-date and printable resource for newbies to Achaea when complete. The point here is not to give exhaustive, in-depth information, but just enough for a newbie to be able to use, and to give links and pointers for where to look for in-depth information should it be desired.
What are MUDs?
A MUD (or MUCK, MUSH, MUG, MOO, MMOG, et cetera) is most-commonly referred to in the verbose as a Multi-User Dungeon. In a MUD, you can find interaction with many other players in addition to computer-controlled personas, or denizens, as we like to call them - all in text.
But how can you play a computer game without graphics? One oft-used metaphor compares the experience of a text-based MUD versus a graphical game to that of reading a book versus watching a movie. Sure, there are no pretty pictures, but you'll find that the world we weave with words can be more vivid, more complex, more interactive and immersive, and more compelling than any fancy CGI.
Many of the specifics of this MUD will be delved into enough for you to learn, so we won't go into too many details here.
The Achaea Concept
Once you have created a character and logged on to Achaea, you will find yourself in a world unlike any you are accustomed to. It is important to note that this world's setting is one of medieval ages and, as such, you won't find any modern technologies to role play with. You will, however, find a large host of magical and supernatural circumstances to play with.
Achaea takes place in a fantasy environment that combines elements of classical Greece and Rome, medieval Europe, India, and ancient Persia with the elements of a wide variety of player imaginations.
In Achaea, there is no one goal that everyone is working to achieve. You can kill monsters and beasts, and a wide range of other creatures and sentients to ascend to the level of Greater Dragon, where you can take on the form of the fierce dragon on your whim. You can toil on quests with intricate plots and storylines to earn permanent recognition for your efforts in that area. You may also choose to excel in politics and become the feared or respected ruler of a city-state or House. You may even make your living as an artist or author in the Fellowship of Scarlatti. You can become a feared warrior or thief, a respected protector and champion, or any number of personas including, but not limited to, the jovial court jester and the skilled magi who manipulates the elements.
The path is open to you, and though the actions of others may influence your character, only your decisions will set your true path.
Connecting to Achaea
There are many methods to connect to Achaea, only a few of which are discussed below.
The Nexus Client
Our new NEXUS client is available HERE.
Once the nexus client is loaded, you have the choice between character creation and logging in. We'll cover character creation later, so for now let's assume you are logged in.
There are five status bars on the bottom, left-hand corner of the client. You may note their meanings below.
- The first is a light blue arrow, which measures your experience.
- The second is a red heart, which measures your health.
- The third is a blue water drop, which measures your mana.
- The fourth is a yellow person, which measures your endurance.
- The fifth is a purple square, which measures your willpower.
On the top, left-hand corner of the client you can find a compass that indicates obvious directions from the room you are standing in. The eight cardinal directions are indicated with arrows. Stairs to the right indicate up or down. Doors below the image indicate in and out exits.
You can click on the appropriate direction to walk rather than typing them in.
The client opens in a small window that can not be resized. If you wish to make it larger or smaller, you must first click the detach button in the upper right-hand corner. After doing so, do not close the remaining window, as this will disconnect you from Achaea.
For advanced users, you may find alias, macro, and reflex(trigger) functions in the client as well.
Other Methods of Connecting
Other methods are preferred by some to connect to Achaea. It can be rather confusing to find one that is above the rest with all of the options available out there, but we do have a short list of favourites we don't mind sharing if it will help you out.
When connecting with an external client, connect to www.achaea.com at port 23, or 208.185.247.26 at port 23.
- zMUD is arguably the best client on the market.
- RoAClient is available at no cost and is fairly light while maintaining the offer of numerous functions.
- MUSHclient offers a number of features and boasts a high speed.
- Portal is a fully customisable client that works in win95/98.
- TinyFugue is a favourite among UNIX users.
- WinTin is out there. This writer knows nothing about it but it came highly recommended.
- Rapscallion for Macintosh users is a free choice for those running the Classic OS.
- Cantrip is a good client for Macintosh users running OSX and higher.
- The Mud Connector offers a vast list of MUD clients for you to choose from, with information on each.
Creating a Character
Character creation in Achaea is not a difficult process.
If you are logging in from the Nexus client, look to the right-hand side of the client for a button for character creation.
If you are logging in from an external client, you will be prompted with a numerical list about whether you want to use an existing character(enter your character's name) or create a new character. Simply type in the number associated with creating a new character and the process will begin.
Once you have begun this process, you will be prompted to choose your character's name, race, and sex, then viola: you are an Achaean.
Acceptable Names
When choosing your name, you should keep the following things in mind.
First and most important: If Romeo, Juliet, or one of our Immortals asks you to change your name, then change your name. We don't like to spend our time arguing with you about why Superduperlovechildofdeath is detrimental to the RP atmosphere that we try to maintain. And no, we don't believe you, Superduperlovechildofdeath, when you say this is your real name that your real parents gave you in real life.
The best name is not a real word. This name is your own creation. It has vowels in all the appropriate places to keep the consonants apart and can be pronounced out loud without seriously damaging one's tongue. It has no nasty words within it, either.
Words or names you might hear in real life are okay. Not great, but okay. These can include anything from Michael to Fiddler. These names can be improved upon, but are not forbidden if you can't think of anything better.
More often than not, boasting a poor name will result in being asked to change it. Several things can make a name poor. Read on for more details.
- silly names. Omelette is silly. Bourgeois is too. Frop isn't.
- offensive names of any kind, even dictionary words.
- multiple words (thegreatone, slowhead, lordsmith).
- trade or protected names (Cocacola, Microsoft, Nabisco).
- a name from a book, story, song, or game (Drizzt, Nerevarine, Sephiroth).
- any of these above with their letters reversed (Tzzird, Remohlive).
- any of these above with slight variations (Sefiroth, Froddo, Gollom).
- onomatopoetic words (Kerplop, Buzz, Hiss, Ribbit).
- refer to anything in Achaea (Ashtan, Celani, etc).
- names overly similar to existing Achaean immortal names.
Having a forbidden name can result in the loss of your character if you do not change it. Forbidden names include profanity, racial slurs, stuttering letters(bobbbbbb), keyboard jokes(asdf), and those most likely unpronouncable(klzgt).
One final thing about names: You may see other adventurers with names that aren't in the good or okay categories, and while unfortunate, that can't be immediately rectified in many cases. These names have slipped through the cracks until they became well known, but it shouldn't prevent you from choosing a name that will improve the overall quality of roleplay you, and those around you, experience.
Choosing a Race
The race you choose when you first enter Achaea is what you are considered to be born as. There are ways to change your race later, all of which involve reincarnation, but we aren't at later right now, are we.
Each race in Achaea has statistics. The most average position any statistic can be is 12. Anything higher than 12 is higher than average, and lower than 12 is lower than average. This is not a bad thing - it all balances out.
Each of these statistics means something.
- Strength is related to how much physical damage you can do.
- Dexterity is related to how well you dodge physical attacks.
- Constitution is related to how much health and endurance you have.
- Intelligence is related to how much mana and willpower you have, as well as how much magical damage you can do.
Many races have racial advantages and/or disadvantages. Atavians, for example, can fly, and grooks can regenerate in water. For examples of disadvantages, rajamalans have difficulty waking up and heal slowly from elixirs, and trolls have trouble recovering balance and equilibrium.
Another kind of racial advantage or disadvantage is tolerance. Horkvali, for example, are more resistant to blunt damage than most other races but are weak to poison damage, while xorani are resistant to fire but weak to cold damage.
The races available are Dwarf, Human, Mhun, Troll, Tsol'aa, Atavian, Horkval, Grook, Rajamala, Xoran,Siren (female only), and Satyrs (male only).
The Achaea TOS
The Terms of Service. which everyone must agree to during character creation, can be found here.