First Character Essay

[Mattamue]

See anything wrong? Suggestions for information I missed? Anything at all? Let me know and I'll get it in the next version.

Edit: If you do suggest a change tell me what post # it's in so I can find it easy. The post number is in the blue bar along the top that has the date and time the post was made. It's the number on the right.

3/5/08 Version 1.0 first First Character Guide

3/7/08 Version 1.1 added quotes to the special race/cabal section to block it off a little

Elf paladin experience penalty fixed, death grasp correctly identified, 20 mana per train, 30 moves per train, newbie channel level 15, help tour pointed out.

Thanks Melinda, Pali, mya, Twinblades, corpsestomp.

[Mattamue]

Creating your first FL character.

You have your client and you're connected now you’re given four choices: [E]nter Aabahran, [C]reate Character, [H]elp Files, [D]isconnect.

Type c and hit enter.

Now you're asked to name your character. As a roleplay enforced mud names Drizzt or Nick aren't going to fly. There are websites that can help you dream up names if you don't have one in mind. Try http://www.rinkworks.com/namegen/ or http://www.squid.org/tools/names/.

I've chosen to call myself Tolinar. Yeah, and I got it right too.

After that you're prompted for the password. Enter it once and re-enter to make sure you didn't typo. Write down your character's name and password somewhere. They're what you need to login.

Now, we're on last name.

I'll choose.. Andath. Both of these are just names I've taken from the name generators.

Did I get that right, yes.

Sex? Easy m or f here. No races are gender specific and no classes are gender specific either.

Now it gets hard. You've given a list of nineteen races to choose from. Dear lord how do you pick?

Before you rush headlong into a race I want to talk a bit about statistics and what they mean.

This one is out of sequence so I won't confuse you with a screenshot, but quoted from the help file about 'stats':

STATS

* Strength determines how much you can carry and how hard you hit

and has small impact on resistance to afflictive magics.

* Intelligence determines how much you can learn with one practice,

how quickly your learn skills from their use, as well as how much

mana you gain per level. High intelligence grants bonus to resist

mental spells.

* Wisdom determines how many practices you gain per level, how quickly

you learn skills from their use, and also aids in mana gain.

It also plays a large part in helping you spot and defuse traps.

* Dexterity determines how well you fight and evade attacks and plays

a part in how well some skills work.

* Constitution determines how many hit points you gain per level and how

healthy you are as well as aids in defense against maledictive magics.

You lose a con upon every 5th death. (See 'help death')

See also MALEDICTIVE, MENTAL, AFFLICTIVE, SCORE

Afflictive magic is a fireball, a ray of truth, or something that directly harms you with a spell.

Mental magic relates to dispelling and other magecraft that isn't direct damage.

Maledictive magic is poison or plague. Something that will deal damage to your character over time instead of right away like afflictive.

A practice is something you earn every time you level up. How many is based on your wisdom score and how much of a skill you learn from a practice is based on intelligence. These practices are what allow you to learn your skills and spells from your guild master as they become available with greater levels.

With an intelligence score of 17 you're able to learn 75% of a skill or spell from a guild master in two practices. This is as far as a guild master will teach you in any ability. From 75-100% you have to build it up with use. For races that have a max intelligence above 17 this is the minimum you should shoot for when you begin rolling the statistics of your character. With wisdom score of 18 you're given three practices every level. Just like keeping intelligence at the 17 maximum you'll want 18 wisdom if your race allows it.

Going below either won't make your character unplayable but there will be levels were you won't be able to learn all of your available new skills right away. Balancing that out on races that have maximums lower than 17 and 18 is part of the penalty they pay for bonuses elsewhere.

[Mattamue]

Be sure to read through every race the first time you read this guide. There's a lot of general knowledge information I'm going to go over as it comes up.

Go ahead and type in 1 and hit enter. You're given a description of the human race and its available classes before you confirm it's what you want with a y or n.

A human can pick any alignment.

Look at the "0 Exp" listed behind the human race on the race list. This is called the experience penalty and it means that humans don't require any extra experience to gain levels. See the 500 listed with the elf? That's 500 more experience every level they have to gain and it adds up over 50 levels. So, it takes more to level the more your penalty is. It also affects the other players you're allowed to attack. As a human warrior with 0 experience penalty I'll be fighting other players similar to my level or below me. As an elf paladin with 850 experience penalty I'll have to fight other players my level or above. Everyone fights level 50 characters once they reach that max level. The stuff in-between 1 and 50 can be a little tougher for a high penalty race and class.

No special skills or talents means that they're not given anything extra. An example of an extra would be an avian's ability to fly. With flight, which other races can get with spells or equipment, an avian can move greater distances and cannot be tripped.

Average attributes is referring to a character's strength, intelligence, wisdom, dexterity, and constitution. A human has a maximum of 20 in each with 21 in one attribute that most matches their class. A human invoker has 21 intelligence and 20 everything else. A human warrior has 21 strength and 20 everything else.

Max: Str: 20 Int: 20 Wis: 20 Dex: 20 Con: 20 (with the 21 in there with class)

Gaining more benefit from magical devices means what it sounds like. A magical device would be a scroll, wand, or stave that some classes can use. A human thief reciting a flight scroll is going to benefit more from it than a drow thief.

Type n to decline the choice and go back to the race selection screen. Choose 2, elf.

An elf can only be good.

500 experience penalty, fighting same or higher leveled characters.

When strength and stamina are mentioned it means your maximum strength and constitution score are going to be lower than a human's. With lower strength some extremely heavy weapons and shields will be too much for you to wield and the total weight that you can carry will be lower. Lower constitution means your maximum health points will be lower.

Max Str: 18 Int: 25 Wis: 20 Dex: 23 Con: 16

There aren't many characters who have access to charm spells but the difference this resistance has against them is noticeable.

Burdened by the touch of iron. This is the first vulnerability we'll talk about and it's one that drow and werebeasts are cousins to. An elf cannot hold or pick up anything made of iron. For the most part this vulnerability only keeps you from having any equipment made of iron. The noteworthy thing here is that another player hitting you with an iron sword is just like one hitting you with a steel one. The only way a player can use iron to hurt you more is if they play a ninja, thief, or bard. These classes can throw items made of iron and they will hurt you more than items made of steel.

The ability to sneak. Sneaking means that players won't see you enter or leave a room. Without sneak, as I walk into a room, anyone in it would see "Tolinar walks in." As an elf, or a class that can learn to sneak like a thief (in cities) or a ranger (in the woods), the other player would have to "look" after you've entered to see that you're in the room with them.

The ability to see in the dark is a skill called infravision. What you're seeing is an infared view in the dark and this is worth noting because not everything in Aabahran is warm-blooded. A slith, a race we'll get to, is a good example of something you won't see at night with just infravision.

Type n and choose 3, drow.

A drow can only be evil.

500 experience penalty, fighting same or higher leveled characters.

Drow are similar to elves in their statistics. Like the description hints they have a higher max dexterity but a lower intelligence.

Max: Str: 18 Int: 24 Wis: 20 Dex: 24 Con: 16

Sneak and infravision is the same as an elf.

When your character is created you pick or, based on race, are assigned an alignment and are expected to follow that for your character's life. A drow who doesn't act evil is going to be outcast. Being outcast means their alignment might be changed, spells taken away, and any other number of things. This is what the description is talking about when it says they have to stay evil to cast spells. This outcasting goes every way with neutrals who act good or evil and goods who act neutral or evil.

Just like the elf iron vulnerability drow have silver and mithril.

Type n and choose 4, dwarf.

A dwarf can be good or neutral.

325 experience penalty, fighting a little lower or higher leveled characters.

The description comes right out and explains the statistics a dwarf has. More strength than a human, the maximum possible constitution of 25, lower intelligence, and higher wisdom.

Max Str: 21 Int: 18 Wis: 21 Dex: 18 Con: 25

Magical damage comes in two forms. This resistance covers both. The first type of resistance is against a fireball or any other spell that does direct damage be it elemental or whatever. The second type of magical damage comes from wielding a weapon that does magical damage. A normal sword will slash, a mace will crush, and a spear will pierce - each one of these types of damage is represented in the armor that you wear and it is mundane damage. A dagger that does magical damage won't always "pierce" - instead you'll see something like "Tolinar's flames hit you." from a fiery dagger, but that's just one example of magical weapon damage. Don't always trust the "flames" or "pierce" verb to tell you if a weapon does magical damage or not.

When swimming is mentioned it's referring to a room that has water in it - there is no swimming skill in Aabahran that will keep your dwarf character from crossing water. Some water is deep and needs a boat to cross while other water is shallow enough for you to walk through it. Both types will affect how your character uses skills and spells. A better way to describe this is to say that dwarves are scared of water instead of saying they can't swim.

Drowning vulnerability. A dwarf can not pick up or hold anything made out of water just like the elf's iron vulnerability. You can still carry around jugs or barrels of water to drink, but you can't carry a sword made of tears that does water damage. This vulnerability is different from the elf iron one in that damaging a dwarf with something that drowns or is made of water will hurt them. A lot more.

Seeing in the dark is infared like elf and drow.

Finally berserk is a warrior and berserker skill that grants you a temporary bonus to your max health points, damage, and lowers your armor. Being adept in it means you don't have to practice the skill and it starts at 100% mastery with continued use pushing it to 103%. Mastering skills is a topic outside the scope of the first character guide, but here it means when you use berserk it won't fail as much as a human's or a fire giant's berserk.

Type n and choose 5, duergar.

[Mattamue]

A duergar can only be evil.

325 experience penalty, fighting a little lower or higher leveled characters.

Duergar have the same everything as dwarves except for statistics. Just like it says more dexterity.

Max Str: 21 Int: 17 Wis: 20 Dex: 20 Con: 22

Type n and choose 6, halfling.

A halfling can be good or neutral.

350 experience penalty, fighting a little lower or higher leveled characters.

This is the first small race. Humans, dwarves, elves, drow and duergar are medium. Yes, dwarves are shorter, but halflings are so short they're treated different when it comes to tripping or bashing someone. Bashing a smaller race is going to freeze them and keep from entering any commands longer than bashing a medium or large race would. Being tripped by a smaller race is going to keep you frozen, or lagged as it's called, longer than being tripped by a bigger one.

Lower strength, lower intelligence, little more wisdom, the maximum possible dexterity of 25, and average constitution.

Max: Str: 17 Int: 17 Wis: 21 Dex: 25 Con: 20

They resist magic like a dwarf.

They are adept at pry, a thief skill for stealing things people are wearing, in the same way a dwarf is adept at berserk.

Type n and choose 7, gnome.

A gnome can only be neutral.

150 experience penalty, fighting a lower or a little higher leveled characters.

Small size like halflings.

Wisest like the description says.

Max: Str: 18 Int: 23 Wis: 25 Dex: 18 Con: 18

The charm vulnerability has the same limited exposure as the elf's resistance but takes the result of the equation just as far in the opposite direction.

The mental vulnerability is going to affect you most against the spell dispel. This spell is something other players are going to try to use to remove any protective spells you've cast on yourself. With that, any weapon that does mental damage will harm you more. There aren't many but it'll be obvious like the fire verb and some extra damage.

They have the same night seeing as an elf, drow, dwarf, and duergar.

They are adept at defuse which is a thief skill for removing traps - other classes can try to defuse things but only thieves have the skill. They are adept at identify and detect invisible which are invoker, battlemage, and bard spells. Identify tells you the statistics of an item and detect invisible lets you see invisible people or things.

Type n and choose 8, avian.

An avian can pick any alignment.

300 experience penalty, fighting a little lower or higher leveled characters.

Max: Str: 19 Int: 21 Wis: 21 Dex: 23 Con: 19

Flight, like the description says, lets you move a lot farther than someone walking or riding around. Some other bonuses from flight mean you don't need a boat to cross water, some rooms actually require flight to go into them, and while flying you cannot be tripped.

An avian's vulnerability is to air damage. It works like a dwarf's water vulnerability. Anything made or air can't be picked up or worn. Any air-type damage done is going to hurt more.

Type n and choose 9, fire giant.

[Mattamue]

A fire giant can only be evil.

200 experience penalty, fighting lower and higher leveled characters.

Max: Str: 25 Int: 15 Wis: 15 Dex: 16 Con: 23

This is the first race that drops below 17 intelligence and 18 wisdom. Like it was mentioned before you're going to receive less than three practices a level with these statistics and it will take more than two to get the skill to 75% with your guild master. Not every level has more than one skill and not every level do you learn a new skill. In the end you will be able to practice everything. You just might have to wait until level 25 to practice the weapon skill for whips, for example.

The first of three giants, this race is considered large. Bigger than medium and twice as big as small.

Resistance to physical attacks works like resistance to magic. Anything mundane like swinging a plain mace is going to hurt a giant less than any other race.

Bash is a lagging skill for warriors and 'mastery' means the same thing as 'adept' for the other skills we've talked about. Bodyslam is a lagging skill only berserkers get and works like bash. Enhanced damage is a skill that is used every time you swing in a melee round. It basically means you'll do more damage swinging a sword than a class without enhanced damage. A good example is that a mage swinging a sword won't hit as hard as a warrior.

A bonus that isn't mentioned is a giant's two-handed weapon ability. The two-handed weapon skill which allows you to block with a two handed weapon is adept like any other adept skill. On top of that you're allowed to wield weapons that normally require two hands with one hand. This lets you dual wield two-handed axes or a two-handed mace in one hand with a shield. You only receive the extra block from the two-handed skill when you're wielding one two-hander.

Mental vulnerability like a gnome.

Fire resistance is obvious and the bit about doing more damage with fire weapons is straightforward, too. A note here is that when a fire giant bashes or bodyslams they do fire damage instead of blunt damage and do more of it because of their fire affinity.

Ice vulnerability like dwarf water and avian air.

Type n and choose 10, stone giant.

A stone giant can only be neutral.

175 experience penalty, fighting lower or a little higher leveled characters.

Max: Str: 24 Int: 16 Wis: 16 Dex: 16 Con: 24

Less than 17 intelligence 18 wisdom.

Large race.

Physical resistance.

Bash, bodyslam, enhanced damage adept.

Two-handed adept with the one-handing a two-hander.

Mental vulnerability.

The boulder is the first race specific skill we're going to cover. No matter what class you pick a stone giant will always be able to grab a boulder out of the ground and toss it. This one is pretty simple and self-explanatory.

Type n and choose 11, storm giant.

A storm giant can only be good.

150 experience penalty, fighting lower or a little higher leveled characters.

Max: Str: 24 Int: 17 Wis: 17 Dex: 16 Con: 22

Less than 18 wisdom.

Large race.

Physical resistance.

Bash, bodyslam, enhanced damage adept.

Two-handed adept with the one-handing a two-hander.

Mental vulnerability.

Resist lightning like a fire giant resists fire.

Their affinity for water is the opposite of a dwarf's scardi-cat-ness of it. You don't ever need a boat and your skills will get a bonus when in water rooms. There's no change in damage from water or with water.

Just like the description says they have a wood vulnerability that matches the elf iron vulnerability.

Type n and choose 12, illithid.

An illithid can only be evil.

500 experience penalty, fighting same or higher leveled characters.

Max: Str: 17 Int: 25 Wis: 23 Dex: 18 Con: 17

Cone of force is an area attack skill that stops the affected from entering commands just like being bashed or tripped. It's a racial skill like the stone giant's boulder throw and is just one of the many I'm going to touch on here.

The state of shock you enter takes directly from your mana pool to protect your failing health points. The inability to heal keeps you from gaining health points through magical means or resting and sleeping.

Light damage affects them the way ice does a fire giant, the way water does a dwarf, the way air does an avian. They cannot hold anything made of light and will take extra damage if harmed with light.

Mental resistance is the opposite of the gnome vulnerability and the lightning resistance is like a storm giant's.

No weapons, and the innate parry ability. Parry is a defense in combat. When you parry someone's attack you take no damage from it and it's harmlessly knocked aside. Sometimes, in a round of fighting, you might have an opposing player swing at you with his weapons four or five times. The more you parry the less will get through your defenses and hit your armor to see if they hit or miss. Combat is for another guide, but know that this is comparable to normally parrying with a weapon even if it is less. It has a plus in that no one can disarm you when you aren't armed so there's no way to keep you from parrying.

You're allowed to carry two 'held' items in your hands as well while everyone else is restricted to one. Most of the held items you find will have statistics bonuses.

The automatic proficiency is talking about being adept again. One of the racials you get, cone, is one of the adept skills. The spell is detect magic and it allows you to look at other players and see what magic spells they have protecting them - you're just adept at it. The two other things are meditation and trace. These are skills that determine how much mana you regain as hours - called a 'tick' like the ticking of a clock - pass in the mud. Being adept at them means you regain a lot right away, but it equals out to the other races once they get their skills up to 100% with use.

Finally leech is a skill that lets you temporarily suck someone's skills away. The helpfile for the skill states that: "...able steal the victim's memory temporarily...chance of causing disorientation to the victim...gain temporary proficiency of spells from illusionists, invokers, necromancers, and psionicists...the Illithid will be drained for a short while after the affects have worn off."

Type n and choose 13, minotaur.

[Mattamue]

A minotaur can only be neutral.

500 experience penalty, fighting same or higher leveled characters.

A minotaur can only be chaotic as well. In FL your character's adherence to the law is given three choices. Lawful, neutral, or chaotic. This choice limits the cabals you can enter and serves to define your character more. For example, a chaotic good cannot join the cabal Tribunal since that cabal enforces the laws and catches criminals. This chaotic good might believe that evil, even protected by law inside a city, should be attacked and killed anyway.

As you choose the alignment good/neutral/evil and ethos lawful/neutral/chaotic you're given a short blurb on how it's defined in FL. Going against the behavior you choose can have the same outcast consequences as alignment does.

Max: Str: 23 Int: 17 Wis: 18 Dex: 17 Con: 22

Large race.

Minotaurs are adept at rage - a berserker skill that grants more health points and damage than berserk while turning off a lot of your defenses and lowering even more armor. The skill is a defining skill for the berserker class and while it is nice to start with 100% mastery other races have comparable rage once they've worked it up to 100% with use.

Minotaurs are also adept with the axe weapon skill, but there's more to it. A minotaur can one-hand two-handed axes like giants, but they only get this bonus for axes. If you charge with a minotaur, like it says in the description, you use your horns. If you're using axes as weapons you'll even take a swing at the person you charged after you've tossed them into the air with your horns. Only a minotaur's charge gets that extra attack and damage in there.

Type n and choose 14, slith.

A slith can pick any alignment.

500 experience penalty, fighting same or higher leveled characters.

Max: Str: 20 Int: 17 Wis: 17 Dex: 22 Con: 21

Less than 18 wisdom.

The slith's tail is its extra attack in combat. You have no control over what it does or when it does it. As the description says it'll do more and do it more often as you gain levels. The tail will either strike for normal damage or attempt to trip, which a lagging skill I've talked about.

Shedding is an ability every slith gets. The way combat in FL works begins with attacking something. Leaving combat before the attacker or the attackee dies is called fleeing. It doesn't always work and you don't know what direction you're going to flee in. What shed does is allows you to leave combat while the person you were fighting with continues to swing at your skin. You'll stay in the same room and can watch the fight against your skin. Mostly, it's a racial running-away ability.

Cold blooded was discussed back with infravision and now it's finally come up. People who only have infravision won't be able to see you at night without a light. Slith have infravision too.

The evil slith's eyelids are a defense against a melee skill, dirt kicking. What dirt does is blind you for an hour - sometimes called a tick. During that hour the guy who blinded you will usually try to disarm you - taking away your parry and taking away the attacks you're doing against him. So, if you are blind and disarmed you have to flee, usually leaving him your sword and losing a chunk of health points in the process. This eyelid ability gets the dirt out of your eyes so this can't happen. It doesn't happen immediately and you're not immune to dirt in your eyes as an evil slith, but it is effective against this common melee fighting tactic.

The neutral slith's jaw unhinge is mostly a source of food. You can use it to eat players you kill as well. You just have to make sure you leave a corpse behind when you kill something - your character begins the game with something called 'autosac' enabled. With autosac on you automatically sacrifice the corpse to your patron when you finish something off in exchange for some gold coins. Typing autosac will toggle this on and off so you have something to eat instead.

The good slith's ability is like a chameleon. It allows you to hide in a room like a thief's hide or a ranger's camouflage, but like the description says only for short periods of time.

They are adept in the weapon skill spear. No special two-handing here, just 100% skill with the max at 103% with use.

Type n and choose 15, feral.

A feral can be neutral or evil.

100 experience penalty, fighting lower or a little higher leveled characters.

A feral can only pick neutral or chaotic for their ethos.

Max: Str: 19 Int: 18 Wis: 21 Dex: 24 Con: 20

Fury is a racial skill every feral gets. It's a skill that you use in combat against casters. The helpfile for fury says, "Those affected by the strike have a difficult time concentrating on their spells and faith, as they must cope with the excruciating pain."

Sense motion is an ability that allows you to detect people sneaking around and hiding. Remember when I talked about sneak with elves? This skill means you'll notice them entering and leaving the room, but you won't know who or what direction. Hidden things won't be revealed in number just that there's a hidden presence.

Fire vulnerability is like dwarf water, avian air, and fire giant ice. You can't hold anything made of fire and being harmed by fire is going to hurt a lot.

Ferals are adept at three skills, dodge which is a defense in combat, parry which is a defense that needs a weapon to parry with, and dual parry which is a defense that needs a dual wielded weapon to parry with.

Type n and choose 16, werebeast.

A werebeast can only be neutral.

175 experience penalty, fighting lower or a little higher leveled characters.

Max: Str: 21 Int: 19 Wis: 19 Dex: 21 Con: 20

Werebeasts can transform into one of the four beasts in the description. It will only happen during combat at first and only after level 15. The abilities they get and the werepower you can use is something you need to find out for yourself. I will tell you that they match the beast's traits rather closely and are comparable in power. While transformed you use whatever claws or talons you have and loose the dodge defense. Revert allows you to control this instinct and become humanoid again. Using the command transform, once you've gained enough levels, allows you to transform outside of combat.

Probe is a skill that lets you check and see if there is danger in the next room. A door with a dangerous trap to the east would show up if you probed that direction. A monster that's going to attack you would show up if you probed in its direction.

Werebeasts are adept in the ranger skills of mind link and beast call. Mind link is a skill that changes with each pet that it relates to. With a raven you can stalk a target to find out what room they're in, you can inhabit the mind of a leopard and leave your body, sometimes a displacer beast will sacrifice itself if someone tries to summon you, and mammoths may jump in front of attacks made against you. Beast call is the skill that lets you summon these beasts you're using. Being adept in them means they fail less and start out 100% and go to 103% with use - like the other adept skills another race's beast call and mind link are comparable once they get them up to 100%.

Probe, the racial skill, is also adept and at 100% right away.

Type n and choose 17, half-elf.

[Mattamue]

A half-elf can only be good or neutral.

200 experience penalty, fighting lower and higher leveled characters.

Max: Str: 19 Int: 21 Wis: 20 Dex: 22 Con: 18

Infravision night vision like all the other night vision races.

Charm resistance like an elf.

A unique trait here in that they learn skills faster. What this means is that the work you put in to go from 75% to 100% in a skill or spell is going to be less than what a human, fire giant, gnome, and whatever other race is going to put in. It stops being useful once you've mastered your important skills, like your defenses, but the OCD players out there take great joy in this bonus.

Type n and choose 18, faerie.

A faerie can only be good.

500 experience penalty, fighting same or higher leveled characters.

Max: Str: 14 Int: 25 Wis: 20 Dex: 23 Con: 14

Tiny size, even smaller than a halfling or a gnome.

Faerie fire is a single-target spell and faerie fog is an area of effect spell. Both of these, when cast on someone, keep them from hiding with the hide or camouflage skill. Chasing after and killing a class that can hide is difficult without some way to keep them from hiding from you. So, it's harder for a faerie mage to keep a thief from hiding and it's harder to keep a faerie thief from hiding.

Flight like an avian.

Sneak like an elf or drow.

Adept at steal, a thief skill that lets you take items from someone's inventory.

They gain more mana each level than any other race.

Type n and choose 18, ogre.

An ogre can be any align.

200 experience penalty, fighting lower and higher leveled characters.

Max: Str: 24 Int: 19 Wis: 15 Dex: 18 Con: 24

Less than 18 wisdom.

Large race.

Like faeries have more mana every level ogres get more health every level.

They are adept at fast healing and regeneration. Fast healing is a skill like meditation and trance from the illithid notes except it deals with how many health points you get per tick. Every class gets it and ogres get it at 100% with a max of 103%. Regeneration is a berserker skill that gives you even more health per tick. On top of that ogres gain extra health per tick as a racial trait apart from being adept at the health gaining skills.

An ogre’s magic vulnerability is unique. Everything that does magical damage is going to hurt you more. Ice, fire, mental, maledictives, spells, weapons, anything. You can still carry and wield weapons that do magical damage and wear armor that's magical. It's just going to hurt a lot when someone uses it on you.

The language skill is a unique point as well. You will type and talk normally when you say things in the game, but an ogre doesn't know language and everything will come out garbled. If you type 'say hello' it might come out as 'hheElLlooOo'. It's mostly readable and everyone else who already plays can understand it. There's a spell comprehend languages that cuts out the change and lets them see what you've typed exactly among other things. If you don't pick an ogre and want to see this effect anyway get drunk and it'll happen too.

Type n to go back to the starting race selection screen. There's still three things we need to cover before you decide what race you want.

Note: There's lots of reading to follow. If you just hit enter occasionally with nothing typed into the mud it'll keep you from getting disconnected and losing your place. If you are disconnected whatever name you dreamed up will still be open for you to enter again and work back to this point.

First, qrace is short for Quest RACE. There's going to be some confusion with the races that are unique that you actually have to apply to, meet special requirements for and quest for, so this first 'HELP QRACE' race is going to be referred to from here on out as a custom race.

A custom race is something you design which the immortals can apply to another pre-established race. There won't be any extra bonuses or stats. No vulnerabilities outside of what you have to work with from the basic 18 races we just went over. For example, you see there's no Sea-Elf on that list. If you wanted one you would start by creating an elf character and getting him complete and into the game. Then, you follow the 'HELP QRACE' guide to apply for the change.

Here is an abbreviated checklist from the helpfile:

1. You must always be a sea-elf. Even before it's applied act like one and never falter with your roleplay.

2. The race has to match the base race somewhat. A sea-elf wouldn't have its base race as a gnome. Nothing immortal like demons or angels.

3. Your description has to be top-notch. A description is a place where you're given space to describe what you look like. 'HELP DESCRIPTION' once you've logged into the game gives some pointers and guidelines.

4. You must send an application to 'Immortal' detailing your character's history/origins/whatever. Format it, not more than 70 lines and spellcheck. (You send an application with a few commands you can learn with 'HELP APPLICATION'.)

If the custom race is applied other players will see an abbreviation on the list of players that isn't 'Elf.' It's up to the immortal who approves you how he's going to fit Sea-Elf into the five or six characters that go on that list, but it will be obvious you're playing something besides a normal elf. If a player types 'whois yourname' they will be able to see your base race. If they type 'bio yourname' they will be able to read your description without having to walk up and look at you.

Second, there are special reserved races and classes in Aabahran that have different strengths and weaknesses. The specifics of their abilities, bonuses, and vulnerabilities is something you have to discover through battle with them or by applying and being accepted. You don't begin life as one of these races or classes - you have to meet their requirements and apply for the change. I'll cover their very minimum requirements here. As a note, exceptional roleplay is a must for any of these choices and as a recipient of this sort of gift you'll be held to a higher standard than most players. Keep in mind that receiving a change like this is going to give players a reason to want to fight you. The number of each of these races/classes is usually limited.

All of these special races and classes have requirements you have to meet. Make sure you meet them if you think you'd like to apply for one.

Liches battle with magic and control' date=' dominating lesser undead, and using them as minions for their dark tasks.[/quote']Lich requires a level 50 human necromancer, invoker, or battlemage. You must be evil alignment and you be a follower of the power of death - which is a choice you get during character creation. We haven't covered that step yet, but we'll get to it. Then, you have to write up an application to the immortals and get approved or denied. The lich change is a race and class change where you are sent back to level 1 and must level up again as a lich.

These creatures of the night have given up their souls to join the legion of the undead.

Vampire requires a level 15-30 human dark-knight. You must be evil alignment and be a follower of the power of death. This requires an application. This is a race and class change.

As for all the ignorance the wise know that the undead minions of Virigoth' date=' chosen among mortals for their loyalty and power travel the roads at night fulfilling Its will in Aabahran.[/quote']Undead requires you to be human and level 15-30. Any class can become undead. Must be evil and follower of the power of death. Application required. This is just a race change and isn't as... demanding as some of the others. Don't think for a moment the responsibility is any less, however.

Demons are not living beings' date=' but nor are they dead or undead. They are the result of a thousand damned souls intertwined into a single mind.[/quote']Demon requires you to be human and level 15-30. Classes are warrior, berserker, cleric, shaman, battlemage, necromancer, and dark-knight. Must be chaotic evil and follower of the power of discord. Application required. This is a race change.

They are the most elite of those who fight for the Light. Avatars are messengers of Irumeru' date=' and are avenging angels of sorts.[/quote']Avatar accepts any race and any class. You must be good and you must be a follower of the path of purity. Application required. This is a race change, sort of.

The Psi manipulates mana by drawing their power from their own mind rather than magical incantations from the Mystic energy around them. By doing so they are capable of the most powerful feats of magic ever seen.

Psi requires a level 50 good or neutral elf, half-elf, human, gnome, avian, faerie, or illithid which is the exception to the good/neutral rule. Applications are only taken from the invoker, battlemage, and monk guilds with necromancer for illithids being the exception again. This requires an application. This is a class change and you have to level up again from 1 as psionicist.

Crusaders are warriors who have chosen to use Faith as the focus for their skills' date=' at times honing them to such degree that their feats all but surpass the mortal realm.[/quote']Crusader accepts warriors, paladins, and berserkers that are level 50. You must be a good elf, half-elf, human, or storm giant and choose the one god as your deity - the path of church. This is a class change where you are sent back to level 1 and must level again as a crusader.

Communing their powers from the Gods and demons of the netherworld they possess a devastating array of maledictions with which to plague their enemies.

To become a shaman you must be a level 30 evil cleric. Any race and any path can become a shaman and there is no application. To join the shamans you must find one of their guild halls in a city and 'inquire' to join. This is a class change.

Their powers of healing extend to such a degree that only they' date=' of all classes, have the ability to reverse all effects of death upon a character, including loss of experience and constitution through the spell of resurrection.[/quote']To become a healer you must be a level 30 good cleric. Any race and any path can become a healer and there is no application. To join the healers you must find one of their guild halls in a city and 'inquire' to join. This is a class change.

Druids are the purest embodiment of nature. The live to serve only Gaia' date=' the Earth Mother, and are perhaps some of the most ancient of the sages in Aabahran.[/quote']To become a druid you must be a level 30 neutral human or werebeast ranger. There is no application and to join you must 'inquire' at a ranger guild. This is a class change and is just a little different from healer and shaman in that you have to complete a quest to finish the change.

Third and last thing to discuss are cabals. Cabals are elite organizations that war over control of Aabahran. They have race, class, alignment, and ethos requirements that I'll cover along with a few basic points.

To join a cabal you being by searching for and joining the cabal's clan and paying the entrance fee of 30,000 gold. "Based mostly within the confines of the three great city-states, their locations are considered secret and not to be divulged. Part of the application process is locating these clans by yourself." - from 'help cabal'. Once you find and join the clan you're given quests to complete for the clan and once you're found worthy you will be given the opportunity to submit an application which the members of the cabal vote on.

Just like the race requirements cabals have limits on who is allowed to enter. If you think you'd like to join a cabal make sure you meet the requirements.

From these warriors a great society has risen based on three major values: Honor' date=' Physical Strength, and Self Reliance.[/quote']The level requirement is 15-50. You can be any alignment and any ethos. You can be any race except the special ones you apply for and faerie. Classes accepted are warrior, berserker, ranger, thief, monk, crusader, and blademaster. Warmaster is described well in the quote with their focus on physical strength and self reliance. They're at war with Savant.

Armed with their new-found knowledge' date=' they emerged from the Tower on a quest to drive ignorance from the lands, and educate the world in the ways of magic.[/quote']15-50 level. Any alignment and ethos. All races are accepted. Classes are cleric, invoker, necromancer, psionicist, healer, shaman, and lich. Savant's goals isn't as clearly defined as Warmaster. Mostly it deals with killing every Warmaster.

Composed of every shade of criminal from whores to deadly assassins' date=' the Syndicate cabal has established itself as a business enterprise like no other.[/quote']15-50 level. Neutral or evil alignment. Neutral or chaotic ethos. Any race. Warrior, berserker, ranger, dark-knight, thief, ninja, cleric, monk, invoker, battlemage, necromancer, psionicist, shaman, vampire, blademaster, and lich are allowed entry. Players can place bounties on other players. Anyone can collect these bounties but Syndicate is dedicated to it.

No longer would they be content to sit passively and protect; instead' date=' they would actively administer and rule.[/quote']15-50 level. Any alignment. Must be lawful ethos. Any race. Any class. There are laws within Val Miran, Rheydin, and Miruvohr - the three major cities. If you commit a crime like murder in one of these cities the Tribunal can make you into a wanted man and come after you and then incarcerate/execute you.

Now they stalk the lands' date=' seeking those that rule and guard the cities, and those twisted by the gods of light and darkness.[/quote']15-50 level. Neutral alignment only. Must be neutral or chaotic ethos. Any race. Any class. The Watchers make war on anything that goes against nature. Cities are unnatural. Races that are given special power like liches and avatars are abominations of nature. Watcher works to eradicate both.

Called the Knights of the Crown' date=' and guided by the Royal Houses, they were Aabahran's last defense against the tides of darkness.[/quote']15-50 level. Good alignment only. Must be neutral or chaotic ethos. Any race. Accepts warriors, berserkers, rangers, paladins, thieves, ninjas, clerics, monks, invokers, battlemages, psionicist, healers, bards, crusaders, and blademasters. The Knights intend to find another king for Aabahran and eradicate any trace of evil.

Bent on the eradication of Light' date=' and the enslavement of Aabahran, they have made unholy pacts with the denizens of the underworld and the planes of Chaos to better strike down their ancient enemies, The Knights of the Crown.[/quote']15-50 level. Must be evil alignment. Only neutral and chaotic ethos are accepted. Any race. Any class. Eradicate good, destroy everything.

They sat in the background and watched idly as the Kingdom collapsed. They watched as the King was slain' date=' and all that he surveyed plunged into Chaos.[/quote']15-50 level. Any alignment. Lawful or neutral ethos. Any race. Any class. Historians, scribes, knowledgemongers. The quote describes the Heralds well as impartial observers - which they usually are.

Finally that covers all the choices. Now, knowing what you can and can't become you should be able to pick your race with a little fore-knowledge of what it can become and the strengths and weaknesses you'll have to deal with.

[Mattamue]

Tolinar will become... a human. This will let me cover all the class choices. You pick what you want and get ready for some more reading.

I type 1 and y.

The adventurer class, like the little blurb talks about, lets you level up to 30 without having to worry about other players attacking you. Once you reach level thirty you've given some time to wander around and find out what you can before you choose a normal class. Anytime you want you can walk into a guild and join it. You're reduced to level 1 and have to level up again. Anything you practiced as an adventurer gets applied to the class you pick if they have the same skills or spells, too. You can't join a cabal and you can't hold rare items. Rare items are items that have a limited number in the game. They're better than normal items and you often have to fight players to take the best ones from them.

If you want you can type y to see the description then can accept or decline it. If you pick the adventurer class still read through the rest of the class part of the guide since I'm going to go over general information again when it comes up. Otherwise, lets look at all the classes.

Type n to decline the adventurer choice or type n to say that you didn't get it right if you decided to view the adventurer class info. You'll end up at the list of professions.

Depending on the race you choose your list might be shorter than mine and your numbers won't always match. If you don't match my choices just read along and be sure to read everything in the screenshot of the description. All this information is only going to help.

Type 1 for warrior.

A warrior can be any alignment.

0 experience penalty, fighting similar or lower leveled characters.

Warrior is a melee class with lots of defenses. Remember parry?

You can learn to use every weapon in the game.

When you dedicate yourself to a weapon it's talking about going beyond 100% mastery in the skill. Races, like slith and minotaur, that already start out at 100% carry over their extra 103% on top of the bonus you get with this mastery thing warriors get. So, you get to choose two weapons to have more than 100% in and you get to choose one weapon to be your lore weapon - you learn an extra skill based on the weapon choice and get 5% more in the skill.

Mercy means when you beat someone your last hit won't kill them. You can turn it on and off, but it gives you a good minute to gloat or preach before you finish the job or whatever.

Type n and choose 2, berserker.

A berserker can be any alignment.

200 experience penalty, fighting a little lower or higher leveled characters.

Berserker is a melee class with less defense than a warrior. They get more offense from rage.

I touched on rage a bit earlier, but I'll say it again, it is a defining skill for the class. It's what separates a disciplined swordsman from a madman with something sharp. This brute force theme continues with berserkers being unable to disarm weapons and instead choosing to try to cut the other guy's sword in half. Easier that way, right?

A berserker gets to choose how dedicated they are to their insanity with a rage focus. The choices affect how hard your rage hits and some bonuses or extra skills.

They get one expertise in a weapon to get the 103% like a warrior gets two.

Type n and choose 3, ranger.

A ranger can be any alignment.

200 experience penalty, fighting a little lower or higher leveled characters.

Ranger is a melee class with a few spells and lots of defenses. The pets they can summon give them a lot of attacks, too. Picture a ranger dual wielding with a tiger and a wolf attacking you too.

Camouflage in forest rooms conceals you from everyone except for people with keen sight which other rangers have.

They have a ranger choice that allows them to focus on an aspect of being a ranger. Ranged combat deals with fired weapons, focusing on tracking will allow you to hunt down elusive players, and beast mastery deals with your pets.

They get two weapon expertise to get to 103% in different weapons like warriors.

Druid class change like I talked about before.

If you choose to play a ranger you've given a choice of a racial enemy. You do a little more damage and the enemy will attack you on sight. Think hard about choosing something like human which are everywhere in a city. Fine, I guess, if you plan on being a Watcher and attacking the city all the time.

Type n and choose 4, paladin.

[Mattamue]

A paladin can only be good.

350 experience penalty, fighting similar or higher leveled characters.

Paladin is a hybrid class between melee and casting.

You can hold your own against a melee class and you can out-melee a casting class. Your casting can heal you and cure maledictives while doing decent damage. Your spell damage won't match a caster's, through.

You can mercy with any weapon.

Type n and choose 5, dark-knight.

A dark-knight can only be evil.

300 experience penalty, fighting similar or higher leveled characters.

Dark-knight is a hybrid between melee and casting.

You melee better than a paladin and your spells are more maledictive than damage-dealing. A noteworthy spell is malform which allows you to create a living weapon to serve your dark deeds.

Type n and choose 6, thief.

A thief can be any alignment.

0 experience penalty, fighting similar or lower leveled characters.

Thief is a rogue class.

You melee well but do best with traps, stealing, and backstabbing. Like, you won't beat a warrior in a fair toe-to-toe fight; but you might win if you knock him out, pry his sword away, steal his items, and then backstab him awake.

You have the ability to hide and detect other hidden characters.

Type n and choose 7, ninja.

A ninja can be any alignment.

300 experience penalty, fighting similar or higher leveled characters.

Ninja is a rogue class.

You melee well and can defend yourself better than a thief. Especially if you use a staff.

Assassination is a unique skill for the class. Once you study someone long enough you can attempt an assassination where the victim doesn't have a chance to run or fight back. They will either die or get pissed and smack you around after you miss.

You have the ability to hide and detect other hidden characters.

Type n and choose 8, cleric.

[Mattamue]

A cleric can be good or evil.

0 experience penalty, fighting similar or lower leveled characters.

Cleric is a caster class.

Cleric is split into two types of clerics. Good clerics get dispel evil, ray of truth which damages the victim more based on how many people they've killed, and portal which lets you set a marker in a room and then cast portal and move to it instantly. Evil clerics get dispel good, path of deceit which damages the victim more based on how many people you've killed, and minister which has a chance of lagging people every hour.

Like I talked about before a cleric can choose to become a shaman or healer at level 30.

Type n and choose 9, monk.

A monk can be good or evil.

300 experience penalty, fighting similar or higher leveled characters.

Monk is a melee class. With the right stance you can hold your own against just about everyone.

Monks are unique in that they use no weapons with any of their skills. Everything is done with your hands and you choose different stances based on what you want to do. All of your special abilities take up mana, but you don't regain mana by sleeping like other class. You have to meditate to gain back the mana you need for you skills.

Any heavy armor can keep you from performing some attacks in combat. You'll know if you put on something too heavy.

You can mercy others.

As you fight different races in Aabahran you learn their anatomy. You character's score sheet will show you what you know about each race. Knowing 100% of a human's anatomy means you're going to hurt them a lot more and use more special skills when you fight. You start out with 100% in the anatomy that your race is. You can't practice anatomies like other skills - they have to grow with use.

Type n and choose 10, invoker.

An invoker can be any alignment.

0 experience penalty, fighting similar or lower leveled characters.

Invoker is a caster class with little defense or melee ability.

The heavy hitter when it comes to mages. No other class can pour out the elemental damage like an invoker can. With the mana charge skill you're able to infuse weapons with magic power to even further increase your destructive power.

Type n and choose 11, battlemage.

A battlemage can be any alignment.

0 experience penalty, fighting similar or lower leveled characters.

Battlemage is a caster class that uses their spells to have lots of defensive and offensive melee ability.

While you have access to damaging spells a lot of your combat damage is going to come from maintaining buffs and using your magic to augment the melee your spells are doing.

Type n and choose 12, necromancer.

[Mattamue]

A necromancer can only be evil.

0 experience penalty, fighting similar or lower leveled characters.

Necomancer is a caster class that can summon pets and create zombies.

You have access to lots of different damaging spells and maledictives, but the point here is raising a powerful army of undead to do the job for you. Think of the ranger's extra attacks from his pets along with maledictives and decent spell damage.

The finger disintegration requires casting another spell called death grasp that wears down the player. Once someone has been gasped a few times the finger disintegration is a real possibility.

Type n and choose 13, bard.

A bard can be good or neutral.

0 experience penalty, fighting similar or lower leveled characters.

Bard is a rogue caster hybrid with better-than-rogue defense and more spell utility than any sort of straight damage or healing from singing.

Instead of spells you learn songs that have similar effects. Sing a song about summer and you cast a fireball or sing about healing and you feel better.

You can hide, but can't see hidden people.

You can steal, but can't pry or backstab or put down traps.

Only class that uses the instrument item. Some of your songs need you to hold an instrument to sing them making you remove a dual wielded sword or whatever.

Type n and choose 14, blademaster.

A blademaster can be any alignment.

300 experience penalty, fighting similar or higher leveled characters.

Blademaster is a melee class.

Blademasters are sort of like monks. Their mana works the same way and you have to meditate to replenish it. You enter different stances the same way a monk does. Instead of shunning all weapons, though, you choose to only use bladed ones.

You can't wear heavy armor like a monk.

They have anatomy like a monk, but can choose expertise in the different anatomies opening up a race's specific organs for your critical strike attack.

Unique to this class is the ability to cut apart a spell before it's cast. You can only pick one, but it can keep casters from using some of their better spells against you.

Type n and go back out to the class selection screen. Our example Tolinar is going to become.. a thief. I type 6 and y.

This is the rolling stage of your character. The line of statistics on the top is your racial maximum. The same one I went over during the race list. The line below that shows the points your character has towards that maximum. The number in the brackets is the points you have left to invest in these statistics.

Use 'roll' to re-roll the number of points you have available. The max you can roll for that number in the brackets changes with each race. Don't worry too much about hitting that max with your first character. There's a post in the newbie help section of the FL forums that lists a max you can shoot for with each race if you want to try for it. Remember to get the 17 intelligence and 18 wisdom minimum I talked about earlier if your race allows it. Maximum constitution means you're going to get your maximum health points every time you level so that's a good investment, too.

I settle for 49 for a human thief after about 30 rolls. Now, you use 'add STAT AMOUNT' to add the points to your base statistics. 'add con 12' puts 12 points into my constitution maxing it out. Also, once your character is created you're given three trains that you can apply to stats with a trainer. Every 5th level you get another train and can increase a statistic another point. Instead of putting trains into statistics points you can get 10 extra health, 20 extra mana, or 30 extra move points for each one. A trainer can convert a train into 10 practices and 10 practices can become 1 train. Anyway, here's how I choose:

[Mattamue]

I 'end' the rolling to finalize my character's statistics.

You get to choose your alignment now. Before you continue there's a few things. Good characters can 'request' equipment from good monsters and get weapons and armor without having to kill for them. Good characters killing other good monsters or players is a serious no-no and can get you outcasted. Remember outcasting from the drow race description? Neutrals who are too bloodthirsty are often outcasted to evil. Evils are evil.

So, Tolinar is going to become a neutral alignment. I type n. You're given a short description of what's expected of your alignment and asked if it's right. I type y.

Now you're given the option to choose your ethos. Like the alignment each ethos is talked about a little and any expectations are covered.

A note about law. There are only three areas that are considered to be under the law. The three major cities Val Miran, Rheydin, Miruvohr. Step outside of one and anything goes unless you're attacking a Tribunal.

I choose neutral again. Did I get it right, yes.

Path choice determines a few things. If you have a warcry or a bless spell the bonuses it grants are going to differ. None of them are better, but they are different. Choosing agnostic or atheism means that if you pick a clerical class you won't be able to cast any spells since clerics get their power from the deity. Dark-knights who choose one of those won't be able to malform a weapon without a deity.

Remember when we talked about the Lich and other other special race stuff? This is where you choose the path that those special races require you to follow.

If you're curious about each and what they mean feel free to read all the different options. Depending on your alignment and ethos selection the available paths change a lot so I won't give every one the screenshot treatment the rest of the choices have been given.

I read a bit. I have a general idea for what I want Tolinar to accomplish but nothing specific yet. Maybe I'll choose mystic, the path that follows magic. Maybe Tolinar wanted to be an invoker but could never get the crazy arcane words to roll off his tongue right. He doesn't want vengeance for his own inability, he's too smart for that, he wants to be an agent for a power he wasn't gifted with. Contribute to the best of his ability. I choose mystic.

Did I get that right? Yes.

Now, your hometown choice. Hometowns serve a few purposes. The spell recall sends you back to the temple of your alignment when you cast it or drink a potion of recall or whatever. They also have the guildhalls for the different classes.

This list changes with races - some of which have racial hometowns - and alignments. I suggest you pick Rheydin for your first character since there are quests that get you familiar with the game in that town. It has every guild hall and in-game maps written that show you where to find them that are created in your character's inventory when you first start.

Tolinar chooses Rheydin. Short blurb about the town. Did I get that right? Yes.

Now, on to detailed creation.

[Mattamue]

I suggest you use the detailed creation. It helps you build a mental image of your character. You get to choose their in-game age. Then, at the end, you get your choice of a special perk that can even further define your character with real game changing statistics stuff.

Tolinar's choices:

Body type, slender.

Face type, pleasant.

Skin color, tan.

Eye color, brown.

Hair color, brown.

Hair length, crew-cut.

Hair texture, thick.

Facial hair, goatee.

This is where you're given a list of perks. Each choice asks the get it right question so you're able to read the short description and back out by saying no if you want to check them all. I won't reveal the specific statistics changes, but they're clear from the explanation you're given.

Tolinar's love of magic makes him pick 3, bookworm. The description says scroll reading master which means being adept at it. Did I get that right? Yes.

Left or right handed? Just aesthetic. Tolinar is right handed.

How old is he? 25% becomes 25 years for a human. Other races who live longer it works out to more. Shorter lived races work it out to less. Aging is aesthetic as well.

Favorite weapon? Your character is created with this weapon in hand and 40% in the related weapon skill. Tolinar wants to start out life with a dagger in his hand.

Welcome to the end of the first character guide. You're in the very first room of the mud and the rest of the world is waiting for you. There are some help files you need to read and some commands to consider before you leave me forever.

n, e, s, w, u, and d are North, East, South, West, Up, and Down. These are the commands that will move you around the mud. Look at the [Exits: down] brackets to see where you can go.

You talk to everyone in the room by typing "say Hello!".

You can bring up a list of players online by typing "who".

You can whisper one of them by typing "tell FIRSTNAME Hello!".

You can talk in a special newbie channel until level 15 by typing "newbie Hello!".

The stuff in the < brackets > are your health points, mana points, and move points in that order.

Help files are accessed with "help WHATEVER". Just typing plain "help" will give you a list of topics. I suggest you read as much as you can stand.

"Help tour" leads you through the first few levels of your character's life. I suggest you get your bearings and figure out the cities before you wander around looking for the other areas that are mentioned, though.

THE END.