An introduction to the Aurealan Realms

	A New Players Introduction to the Aurealan Realms

Greetings!

This is a walk-through for those of you who are not familiar with MUDs, to get you online and playing as quickly as possible. Periodically throughout the walkthrough, you'll see words that you can click on for more information, please feel free to do so, they'll open in individual little windows so you won't lose your place.

Step 1: Connecting to the MUD.

To connect to this or any other MUD, you'll need a telnet program. If you're using a windows machine, you or if you're using Unix or some flavor of Linux, you can download the RoAClient, which is a special type of telnet program specifically for playing MUDs called a MUD Client.

(NOTE: If you'd like to download and install the RoAClient, an installation guide is available here.)

If you're using a Macintosh and OS 9 or lower, you may or may not have a telnet program, but a basic one is available for free download, and it is called BetterTelnet. There are also MUD Clients for the Mac, such as Rapscallion and Savitar, available online (search for them on Yahoo or Google). If you're using OS X, however, the Terminal that is part of that operating system is a superior means for MUDding, and for the Unix/Linux savvy, clients such Tinyfugue or TinTin++ will install and run on OS X.

As there are many different programs that can be used to connect to the MUD, the following instructions are generic, but hopefully will still be helpful.

From the webpage, you can connect simply by clicking the icon in the upper left-hand corner of the screen. There are also other ways of connecting with telnet if you're interested, but clicking on the icon on the webpage is a good way to start. If you have telnet on your computer, a little window will open up and you'll see an ascii picture and then a line asking you who you are. This is where you decide what your name in the MUD is going to be. Aurealan Realms is a fantasy role-playing-based MUD, so the name you pick should be something original (not from a book or movie or anything) and also something that sounds like it fits into the knights, castles and dragons theme of epic fantasy.

If you take too long to choose stuff, the MUD might think you walked away from your computer and "hang up" on you. Don't be alarmed, just close the telnet window and click the icon again. Also, some telnet programs don't show you what you're typing. This doesn't mean you aren't typing anything, or that you lost your connection, it just means you can't see it. If there is a preferences menu in your telnet program, look for something that says Local Echo and turn it on. If you don't have anything that says "Local echo", you may want to think about downloading a different telnet program or MUD Client.

If you choose a name and the MUD then says "Password:", this means you've chosen a name that someone has already picked and you'll need to choose another one. Just close the window and click the icon again (or re-connect by other telnet means) and pick a different name.

Step 2: Creating a Character on AR.

If you've picked a name no one else is using, the MUD will recognize you as a new player, and tell you about our name policy, and ask you if you're sure you want to use that name. This is just a formality, computers like lots of re-assurance at times, and ours is like that a lot. :) Just type the letter Y to tell it yes, and it ask you for a password. This can be anything you want. It should be something that few people would be able to guess, but something you can remember (and it's ok to write down your name and password someplace safe too).

Once you've entered in your password, it will tell you a little bit about ANSI and ask you if you want ANSI color turned on or not. Chances are that your program can interpret the ANSI color codes, but if you're unsure, type N. If you get into the game and want to try color later, you can do so, but it's best to be safe if you're not sure.

Once you've answered the ANSI question, you'll be at the main character creation menu, which looks something like this:

AR:AoD Character Creation Sequence
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

  Aurealan Realms is a fictional world in which might and magic reign supreme.
All character names must fit into the general medieval theme in which AR
operates, or you will be asked to delete your character and create a new
one.  Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

  Before you can begin your journey throughout the Realms, you must enter the
attributes of your new character.  Sex, race and class are some of the things
you will need to choose for your new character.  AR:TTA vets may notice a couple
of new questions and traits that one may choose for their character.  During
this process, you can always return to this menu and start over.

[C] Create character: YOURNAME
[D] Disconnect
[R] Randomly Generate a Character (for New Players)

Enter your choice:

If you decide you don't want to create a character, you can type D to disconnect. Or, if you want to have the MUD make you a character, you can type R and it will do so. If you would like to have control over what your character is and can do, type C and begin the creation process.

The first question you'll be asked is if you're male or female. This is an easy one. You can pick either, even if it's different from what you are in real life. Just type in M or F and hit return to move on to the next section.

The second question you'll be asked is what race you want to be. This can be a little daunting, but don't be intimidated. There are many races on AR, but for your first character, there are really only five you should pick from: Human, Elf, Half-Elf, Dwarf and Halfling. Click on these names to read a little bit about them. If you like, you can read about all the races from the race selection menu by using the menu help feature. At the bottom of the screen, it says:

Choose thy race (?# for help):

The ?# is the help function. It means that, by typing a question mark followed by the number of one of the races listed above, you can read about that race. For example, typing ?3 will show you the information there is about the Uloitha race. When you're done reading (either here or on the MUD itself), just type in the number of the race you've selected and hit return.

The next section is class, which is the MUD term for job or profession. This is where you pick what it is your character does in the game world. Are you a mighty warrior who fights for his living, a sneaky thief who steals for his livelihood, an arcane wizard who hurls mighty magics at foes, or a priest of one of the Gods of the Realms who spreads their words and channels their holy (or unholy) powers?

While there are several different classes available, each race only has a select few available to it. There are two classes that are good for beginners to pick from, Warrior and Priest. If you are comfortable with the idea of casting spells, select a priest. If you'd rather just concentrate on hand-to-hand fighting, choose a myrmidon. As before, there is a help option available for classes that works just like it did for races. Just type a ? followed by the # of the class you'd like to read about and the MUD will show you information. When you've decided, type in the number of the class you want to be and hit return to move on.

The next step is easy. AR offers many different home towns for players, but when you're just starting off, it's best to stick with the main home town, which is Mesraht. For this menu, simply type the number next to the name "New Mesraht" and hit return. If you don't see New Mesraht as an option and you're a beginning player, you've chosen one of the advanced races and should start over.

The next step is deciding alignment. This is basically what kind of person you are, in terms of being a hero or a villain. Alignment goes from -1000 (really bad) to 1000 (really good). Pick what type of person you want this character to be, type in the corresponding number and hit return.

The next step is to type in a description. This is required, or the MUD won't let you actually enter the game. This is what you will look like to everyone else on the MUD when they look at you. Type in a basic description, hair, eyes, weight, face, etc. One common mistake you can avoide is: Don't put in clothing or weapons or armor or anything else like that in your description. You'll be getting actual objects that you can wear, wield and hold, and people will see them automatically when they look at you.

Congratulations, you're done! You'll see a tip about rerolling your character, and a prompt that says "PRESS RETURN". Do so, and you'll see the Message of the Day, which every player sees when logging in. This is where we put important notices, so quickly read it when you log in. Hit return (which tells us you read it) and you'll see the login menu. It looks like this: Welcome to Aurealan Realms: Age of Desolation:

0) Exit from AR.
1) Enter the game.
2) Enter your character description.
3) Read the background story.
4) Change password.
5) View visible players online.
6) View current AR statistics.
7) Log in as another character.
9) Delete this character.

   What is thy bidding?

If you want to exit the game, type in a 0. If you want to start playing, type in a 1. You can also do other things, but those are the important ones.

Once you're in the game, just read, read, read. Also, there is a way to ask questions if you have them, but that is different depending on which MUD you're on. If you're on the 4000 port, there is a channel usable by everyone of all levels, specifically for asking questions, called Query. Just type the word query followed by whatever you want to ask, like this:

 query how do I find my guildmaster?

On port 5000, just type the word newbie followed by whatever you want to ask, like this:

 newbie how do I move around?

On port 5000, the staff and the Sages (players who have volunteered to help new people), can see that and will answer your questions.

Good luck, and thanks for choosing Aurealan Realms!