Object Creation Format

I have gone to great pains to balance the object file on the MUD. Early on in the lifetime of JediMUD, the object balance was atrocious, because so many people wrote areas and they were "designed" for different muds. Often, this meant that some common sense rules just were not followed by area authors.

 

Potions, Scrolls, Staves, and Wands

You can create almost any object that you desire. Please make full use of wands/scrolls/staves/potions, the only stipulation is that their rent, cost, and minimum level reflect their worth. Please, no level one usable wands that will do Word or Death.

 

Weapons

The absolute maximum damage that I will allow a mortal wieldable weapon to do is 30. This is including any damage bonuses that are specifically written into the weapon, as well as those that are possible with the enchant weapon spell. If I feel that a weapon is just too powerful, one of two things will occur:

1. The weapon will be toned down to a level that is more reasonable in the JediMUD world.

2. A God Only flag will be added to the object and mortals will never be allowed to wield it.

 

Other than damage, there are some other rules that I am going to enforce. These further rules are listed below.

• If a weapon is under 1d10 (10 max damage), you may add whatever modifiers that you wish, as long as they are reasonable. Guidelines for maximum modifiers, listed by the statistic can be found in the documentation about writing objects.
• If a weapon falls in the range of 1d10 to about 3d5 (10-15 max damage), you may add modifiers, but one of them has to be undesirable. Again, keep the magnitude of these modifiers within the realm of reason. A +100 hitpoints sword just is not going to go into the game, regardless of how lousy it is in other ways.
• If a weapon can do more than 20 damage, then you must add flags to make its use restricted. Some good ways to do this include class flags, alignment restrictions, hefty minimum levels, and making the weapon itself prohibitively heavy. In addition, any weapon that is capable of large sums of damage should always have a Limited flag.
• You may use any of the decorative effects, such as humming, invisible and glowing that you wish, but the ones that appear in the items short description must be limited to 2 or less per item.
• Always include the logical class restrictions when you write your weapons. There is nothing more annoying than going through a finished zone and adding No Cleric and No Mage flags to claymores.

The weapon's power should match the difficulty in getting it. "Common weapons" that do less than 10 damage can go just about anywhere, but "great weapons" should only go onto mobs that are worthy of them. Something that does more than 25 damage in one swat, should go on a mob that has spell casting ability, a large number of hit points, and basically should be very risky to get.

Extremely powerful weapons are desired by everyone. The simple fact that your weapon is the main source of your player's combat damage means that inevitably, they are also the easiest means of royally screwing up the balance of a MUD. For this reason, powerful weapons must exist in extremely limited quantities. Limit how often they load when you write the zone file for your area.

 

Armour

There are tips for assigning value to armor and clothing within the object building documentation. The following list of armor values should be observed where possible, to keep armor values of the players in the game from skyrocketing.

• Bracelets, rings, necklaces and belts should not have an "armour" factor of more than 3.
• Shields average around 3-5 ac, 8 for EXTREMELY good ones.
• Helmets should never go above 10 ac for any reason. (average:4)
• Boots... see helmets
• Leggings/Sleeves: average around 5, 12 for GREAT ones.
• Cloaks/Capes: try to keep them under 6
• Breast plates/Body Armour.... average around 5, 12 for GREAT ones.

Bards, thieves, ninja and rangers are restricted from wearing armor heavier than chain mail. Mages should be forced into the even weaker protection of cloth armor or robes. Have fun with your armors, but again, as with weapons, keep the most valueable and effective armor items very rare.

Object Creation Fields

#<Virtual number>

The object's virtual number. The rules are same as for room virtual numbers.

<Namelist>~

The namelist is a list of keywords that the object will answer to when a player tries to manipulate it.

 <Short description>~

This string will be displayed whenever the object is used.

• For example if the short description is "a rubber raft~" and a player drops it, then the message "Zippy drops a rubber raft." will be displayed.

<Long description>~

This description is displayed only when the object is lying on the ground.

• For example, if the long description is "A furled umbrella lies here.~", then a player who walks into the room will see "A furled umbrella lies here."

<Action description>~

Do not use this field.

 <Type flag>

The type flag defines what kind of item is being described. An object may only be of one type. Choose the type flag for each object that is appropriate for its function.

<Extra flag(s)>

Objects will often have special properties such as alignment or class restrictions.  These are listed in the extra flags field. Use as many flags as necessary to fully describe an object. When you do use more than one extra flag, write them in a block with no spaces between the letters. If the object has no special properties, then this field should be filled with a 0 (zero).

<Wear flag>

The wear flag indicates which locations of the body on which the item may be worn.  The vast majority of items should have a take flag, but some exceptions include fountains, devices, and atms.

Location	Flag	Function of the Flag
Take	A	The item can be taken.
Finger	B	The item can be worn on a finger.
Neck	C	The item can be worn around the neck.
Body	D	The item can be worn on the body.
Head	E	The item can be worn on the head.
Legs	F	The item can be worn on the legs.
Feet	G	The item can be worn on the feet.
Hands	H	The item can be worn on the hands.
Arms	I	The item can be worn on the arms.
Shield	J	The item can be worn as a shield.
About the Body	K	The item can be worn about the body.
Waist	L	The item can be worn around the waist.
Wrist	M	The item can be worn on a wrist.
Wield	N	The item can be wielded and used as a weapon.
Hold	O	The item can be held in a hand.

<Value 0> <value 1> <value 2> <value 3>

Many types of objects need storage fields for type-specific attributes.  A maximum of four such unique fields is needed for even the most complex of objects on JediMUD.  Each item type uses the four fields differently.  The specifics for exactly how these item types use the individual fields and examples of each type of object can be found in the documentation for values.

<Minimum level>

Many powerful items have a minimum level for player use associated with them.  To describe a minimum level for an object, write the number of the first level able to use the object into this field.  If the object is usable by any player, put a 0 (zero) into this field.

<Weight>

The weight of the item in pounds.

<Value>

The value of the item if it is sold to a shop.  See the generic value list for guidance in attaching a value to your items.

<Cost per day>

The unmodified cost in gold coins to store the item in reception overnight.  A quirk in the code base makes the actual rent value half of this number.

E  (extra descriptions)

All objects should have some kind of description associated with them.  Then, when the "look" or "examine" commands are used on the object, the player will see the description rather than "You see nothing special."  An E at this point in the object allows you to assign an extra description to the object.  There is no limit to the number of unique descriptions that may be added to any one object.  Each E will have a keyword list and extra description listed immediately below it.

<Keyword list>~

The keywords that will respond to the "look" and "examine" commands.  Avoid re-using the same  keyword for more than one extra description on an object.  Only the first description with a specific keyword will be visible via "look."

<Extra description>~

The actual description a player will see when they "look" at or "examine" a word from the keyword list of this object.

A  (item affects)

Between zero and two item affects may be set on any single item.  These affects only modify the character's statistics when they are actually being worn.  No more than two affects may be associated with any one item and excessive modifiers will be toned down before the item enters the game.

<Ability to be changed>

Each of the abilities that an object can modify is assigned a number.  Some guidelines for the maximum amount you should modify a statistic by have been included in the table below.  Some stronger items may go in, but they have a much higher chance of being toned down than items that follow these guidelines.  The maximums apply to both additions and subtractions from abilities.  Choose the number for the ability that you want your item to impact from the table below:

 

Ability	Number	Maximum	Description
Charisma	26	2	Influences the number of pets a player can control and the power of many bard songs.
Constitution	5	2	Influences the number of hitpoints a player will gain when they increase a level.
Dexterity	2	2	Influences the success rate of many hand-to-hand combat skills.
Intelligence	3	2	Player intelligence directly influences their ability to learn new skills and spells.
Strength	1	2	Influences how much a player can carry.  Strong players receive combat bonuses.
Wisdom	4	2	Influences the number of practices a player will gain when they increase a level.
Damage	19	1	Adds directly to the damage a player does in combat.
Hitroll	18	2	Increasing a player's hitroll increases their ability to hit an opponent in combat.
Armor	17	-	Adds to the player's armor value.
Hitpoints	13	15	Adds directly to the maximum hitpoints a player has.
Mana	12	15	Adds directly to the maximum mana points a player has available to cast spells.
Movement	14	15	Increases the distance a player can travel before resting.
Hitpoint Regeneration	27	5	Increases the rate a player will regain hitpoints.
Mana Regeneration	28	5	Increases the rate a player will regain mana points.
Movement Regeneration	29	5	Increases the rate a player will regain movement points.
Height	11	-	Increases player height.
Weight	10	-	Increases player weight.
Save vs. Breath	23	2	Increases the chance a player will not be damaged by breath weapons.
Save vs. Paralysis	20	2	Increases the chance a player will successfully avoid being paralyzed.
Save vs. Petrification	22	2	Increases the chance a player will successfully avoid being turned to stone.
Save vs. Rod	21	2	Increases the chance a player will be avoid the effects of certain types of spells.
Save vs. Spells	24	2	Increases the chance an offensive spell cast at the player will fail.

<Modifier>

The modifier is the numerical amount added to the character's statistics when the item is worn.  "Bad" modifiers can be placed on an item by making the number negative.  Remember to adhere to the guidelines from the table above when you assign modifiers.

Questions? Send mail to the Build Team: areas@jedi.america.net