% Scepter of Goth % David A. Wheeler % 2012-05-20 **Scepter of Goth**, also spelled **Sceptre of Goth**, was the first commercial multi-user [role-playing game (RPG)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role-playing_game "Role-playing game"), or [MUD](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MUD "MUD"). It was originally written by Alan E. Klietz and used simple text interaction (in the style of Zork). Although other settings were implemented with the software, it usually implemented a fantasy setting in the fictional city of "Boldhome". Scepter of Goth influenced many [multiplayer games](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiplayer_game "Multiplayer game") that came after it, particularly the [Swords of Chaos](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swords_of_Chaos "Swords of Chaos") and *Mordor* series of MUDs, and can be seen as one of the ancestors of today's massively multiplayer online role-playing games ([MMORPGs](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MMORPG "MMORPG")). I was the lead Scepter developer for InterPlay in the mid-1980s, where I modified it, maintained it, and added various capabilities to it. However, a lot of information about Scepter of Goth has disappeared from the Internet since InterPlay folded. I have repeatedly requested for permission to post historical records, to no avail. I think Scepter of Goth was an important part of the history of gaming. So here I will try to record some of that information, for posterity. # Commercial history In 1978 Alan E. Klietz wrote a multi-player game called Milieu using Multi-Pascal on a [CDC Cyber](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CDC_Cyber "CDC Cyber") operated by the [Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MECC "MECC"). The MECC CDC Cyber was used by some high school students and some state colleges in [Minnesota](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota "Minnesota") for educational purposes. Most CDC mainframes had only "128K words (60 bit words) of memory and 110/300 baud teletypes or modems." Playing on a faster connection, 2400 BPS or the rare 9600 BPS could give some advantages in game play. It was inspired by the single-player computer games *[Colossal Cave Adventure](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossal_Cave_Adventure "Colossal Cave Adventure")* and *[Zork](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zork "Zork")*, as well as [non-computer RPGss](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role-playing_game "Role-playing game") such as *[Dungeons & Dragons](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons_&_Dragons "Dungeons & Dragons")*. Klietz ported Milieu to an IBM XT in [1983](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983 "1983"), naming the new port Scepter of Goth. [Richard Bartle](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Bartle "Richard Bartle")'s *[MUD1](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MUD1 "MUD1")* was already running at Essex, but Klietz was unaware of this at the time. Scepter supported 10 to 16 simultaneous users, typically connecting in by modem, and ran on the [QNX](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QNX "QNX") operating system (a Unix-like operating system). It was programmed in the [C programming language](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_(programming_language) "C (programming language)"), with nonportable QNX extensions for 8086/80286 memory segmentation. Klietz first wrote "Milieu" in 1978. Milieu may have been the first multi-player role-playing game (RPG) in the world. The other contender for that role is Multi-User Dungeon (MUD), developed in 1978 in the UK by Richard Bartle. Bill Wisner believes that Milieu probably predates MUD (Wisner). However, it is especially difficult to determine which came first. Scepter of Goth, a port of Milieu to an IBM XT, was the first commercial multi-player RPG in the world, as it was up and had paying customers in 1983. Michael J. Tresca's [The Evolution of Fantasy Role-Playing Games](http://books.google.com/books?id=8H8bzqj6S4sC&pg=PA114&lpg=PA114#v=onepage&q&f=false) page 114 states that, "Alan E. Klietz produced Milieu in 1978. High school students across Minnesota were given access to the mainframe for educational purposes. Klietz transitioned the game to an IBM XT in 1983, which supported up to 16 players simultaneously over the modem, and renamed it Scepter of Goth. It was the first commercial MUD, run by GamBit." [Richard Bartle also notes that Milieu was ported to an IBM XT in 1983 and renamed as Scepter of Goth.](http://www.mud.co.uk/richard/imucg5.htm) Bob Alberti recalls putting in a Christmas theme in 1983 where the town mayor was changed to Santa, orcs became rapid reindeer, and so on. These were officially playtesters, but they were playtesters who paid to play Scepter, making this commercial in 1983 (Per an unpublished email to me dated 2012-05-20). In contrast, the first commercial implementation of Essex MUD (the other likely contender) wasn't up until 1984 by Compunet. CompuNet was a UK-based network primarily for Commodore 64 users, which licensed MUD1 and ran it from late 1984 until 1987. Mark Peterson's "Realm of Angmar" started as a clone of Scepter, and it appeared in 1984, so clearly Scepter cam first. Another early commercial multi-player RPG was [Island of Kesmai](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island_of_Kesmai "Island of Kesmai"), a multiplayer RPG that used roguelike pseudo-graphics, but Kesmai wasn't launched on CompuServe until 1985 (significantly after Scepter). In short, Scepter of Goth was the first commercial multi-player RPG in the US. Scepter (as well as an unfinished advanced MUD by Klietz called Screenplay) was first owned and run by GamBit (of Minneapolis, Minnesota), founded by at least Klietz, Bob Alberti (Senior), and Bob Alberti (Junior). Scepter of Goth was handled as a franchising business: franchisees paid for the right to run the system in a certain area, and a system was provided to them. Franchisees then administered the system and collected fees from users. Users would then dial in to play; while a franchisee could accept calls from outside their local phone call area, the extra charges this imposed on users meant that users tended to use the franchisee that was local or at least closest to them. Each franchisee would set their rates; most charged a certain fee per hour (typically $2-$4 per hour), since only a limited number of users could play simultaneously. [A history of GamBit](http://albatross.org/images/20100801Gambit/pss.php "GamBit History") shows some of the key documents from GamBit's history. ## InterPlay GamBit's assets, including Scepter and Screenplay, were sold to InterPlay (of Fairfax, Virginia). InterPlay continued to sell franchises as well as maintaining its own nationwide chat system (ProtoCall). InterPlay's lead Scepter developer [David A. Wheeler](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_A._Wheeler "David A. Wheeler") modified and maintained Scepter, adding a number of capabilities and fixing various bugs to improve its stability. As a result of this franchising business model, several Scepter of Goth systems ended up running in various locations, including at least ones in the following locations: Minneapolis, Minnesota; Austin, Texas; Chicago, Illinois; Ottawa, Canada; Fairfax, Virginia; West Valley City, Utah; and Bowie, Maryland. The system also included electronic mail, bulletin boards, a separate chat system, and some other facilities, but the game itself was the primary draw for its users. At a time when most Bulletin Board Systems (BBSs) only allowed one person to log in at a time, larger dial-in services had few interactive services, and Internet access was rare, Scepter was a startling new development to many. It was also accessible to anyone, not just those at one or two universities, so it was seen and used by a variety of people. Unfortunately, Interplay president Denny Flanders was charged and eventually convicted for tax evasion (for actions unrelated to the company), and was sentenced to jail. Although InterPlay could show that its revenue was increasing and when it would start turning a profit, the venture capitalists who had funded InterPlay were not willing to wait, and pulled their remaining funds. Once the funds were pulled, InterPlay immediately went bankrupt, and Scepter was no longer widely available. ## Influence on later systems Scepter influenced other work that followed after it. In particular: - One of the later Sceptre of Goth licensees was a company started by Rob Denton, [Matt Firor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Firor "Matt Firor"), Don Campbell, and others, which was slated to run in the Atlanta area. Because of financial problems at InterPlay, the system was never installed, prompting Denton, Firor, and Campbell to write their own text-based, multi-user online game named *Tempest* - later renamed *Darkness Falls*. Their company, Interesting Systems, eventually merged with another company to form [Mythic Entertainment](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mythic_Entertainment "Mythic Entertainment"), and *Darkness Falls* became the codebase for Mythic's 2001 worldwide hit MMORPG, *[Dark Age of Camelot](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Age_of_Camelot "Dark Age of Camelot")*. - Mark Peterson was "hooked on Scepter of Goth" in 1984, and after running out of money playing Scepter he wrote his own. His first MUD, *The Realm of Angmar*, was written in Pascal in 1984, and began as a clone of Scepter of Goth, though soon he added his own ideas. This was ported to Unix, then to an Apple ][ in assembly language (renamed *Angbar*), rewritten in C on Xenix as *Angmar*. It was then rewritten to run on DOS to be compatible with the MajorBBS (and other BBSs of the time) and renamed [Swords of Chaos](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swords_of_Chaos "Swords of Chaos"), which for many years was a successful commercial MUD sold to various BBS operators until widespread Internet access eclipsed local BBS systems. - Brett Vickers developed the noncommercial MUD *Quest for Mordor*, and specifically noted Scepter of Goth as his inspiration. Keegan states that "the authors of *Mordor* adapted ideas from Scepter of Goth for their publicly distributed (in 1993) mud server software." That MUD in turn spawned other MUDs such as *Darbonne*, *Chalacyn Nights* and *Isengard*. Brett Vickers eventually joined Arenanet, developers of the MMORPG *[Guild Wars](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guild_Wars "Guild Wars")*. - Tom Zelinski (InterPlay vice-president) and Susan Zelinski (another of InterPlay's employees) co-founded the company [Simutronics](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simutronics "Simutronics") with [David Whatley](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Whatley "David Whatley"). Simutronics went on to develop a number of multiplayer games. This includes various versions of *[GemStone](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GemStone_IV "GemStone IV")*, which was originally accessed through General Electric's internet service provider GEnie, later was accessible through AOL, Prodigy, and CompuServe, and eventually on Simutronics' own systems. - [J. Todd Coleman](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Todd_Coleman "J. Todd Coleman") was an assistant DM on the Austin-based installation of Scepter of Goth. In college, Todd teamed up with Josef Hall and James Nance to create *ChaosMUD* (a [dikumud](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dikumud "Dikumud") derivative), and the three of them subsequently founded both [Wolfpack Studios](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfpack_Studios "Wolfpack Studios"), (the company that created *[Shadowbane](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadowbane "Shadowbane")* and was acquired by [Ubi Soft Entertainment](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubi_Soft_Entertainment "Ubi Soft Entertainment") in 2003) and KingsIsle Entertainment, the creators of the children's MMO *[Wizard101](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wizard101 "Wizard101")*. - *[Meridian 59](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meridian_59 "Meridian 59")*, the first commercial, 3D massively multiplayer game, was inspired by Scepter of Goth. (Kirmse) Many MUDs and MMORPGs, commercial and noncommercial, are inspired by and use ideas from a variety of sources to develop their own work -- including ideas from Scepter. In particular, Scepter helped demonstrate that it was possible to develop such multi-player games, and that there was a demand for them. # Dunjon Masters (Dungeon Masters or DMs) Those few people who had the privileged status "Dunjon Master" (now more typically spelled as "Dungeon Master", and always abbreviated DM) could execute a set of special privileged commands that modified the game's status. DMs could create, modify attributes (including location), or remove rooms, objects, monsters (non-player characters), and players (collectively called "things"). These commands were typically used to create new or modified areas for the players to explore, so that the players (paying customers) would have a reason to keep returning. DM status was not earned through play, but had to be specially granted by the system's administrators. Typically the franchise owner, and a very few others, would have this status. DMs operated as referees, and the difference between a good and bad franchise often depended on the capabilities of the DMs. ## Expectation of online DMs The expectation (at least by InterPlay) was that at least one DM would be online most of the time while players were connected. DMs would be alerted of certain events, or do occasional spot-checks, and were expected to occasionally act in ways that would make the paying players' experience more fun. The DMs typically did not constantly monitor the system, but would be alerted when certain actions occurred. For example, rooms could be set so that DMs would be automatically notified when a player entered them. Other actions, such as making a wish, would also alert DMs (so the DM could determine how to respond to the wish). DMs could then perform a variety of actions. For example, they could make it appear that a monster could fully understand language and have the monster perform arbitrary actions. DMs could also create monsters and objects on the fly to create an interesting setting. DMs could essentially take control of monsters-making them do and say as the DM pleases. Many DMs were very benevolent and acclimated newbies to the MUD. Many DMs spent their time creating new worlds and monsters as well. If a DM had anticipated a complex action, the DM could execute a script of their own design on command. DMs' occasional actions made the game appear far more varied and "intelligent" than any software could manage by itself. ## Attributes Scepter was not fully programmable by the DMs, or even by the franchisees (who only received the executable files). Instead, rooms, monsters, players, and objects had a large set of attributes that could be set by DMs; these values influenced the underlying engine. On the positive side, this made it fairly easy for non-programmers to create situations as complex as the underlying software would permit. However, this also meant that many complicated scenarios could not be implemented by the system itself, but instead would have to be implemented by online DMs. This limitation was in part because of the limited computing power available at the time, and was one of the limitations removed by the never-completed ScreenPlay. The game did support a number of settable attributes that was extensive for a game of its time; combinations of attributes were used to achieve various useful effects. Monster attributes included block (tries to prevent player from leaving the room), follow (follows the player), guard (completely prevents player from picking up anything in the room), magic (cannot be harmed by non-magic weapons), spell casting (can cast spells), undead (can be turned), and rust (weakens player's primary weapon or armor). The object type had many different subtypes (such as door, key, armor, weapon, teleport device, money, chest, and so on), and each subtype had a set of attributes peculiar to that subtype. For example, a teleport device had the attribute for where it would teleport to, and (optionally) what room the user had to be in before it would work; this meant that players would need to decipher clues on where they had to go to use the device. All things had the attribute "description", the text shown when looking at the thing. Descriptions could be multivalued; a description beginning with the slash character "/" was followed by multiple descriptions, each separated by a slash. When a multivalued description was to be displayed, one of the values was randomly chosen. Multivalued descriptions were used to vary the descriptions so that they would not be so repetitive. This feature was also used to simulate examining an object: if there were 4 identical descriptions for an object, plus a different description that gave a clue, then a user might need to look at an object several times before obtaining the clue. ## Handling resets In any MUD, a major challenge is handling resets. In Scepter, when a player entered a room that was not in memory, the room would be loaded into memory and set as necessary, with any (live) monster stored in the room (a "permanent" monster) set to their maximum health. Once a player no longer was in a room, it would be eventually retired from memory and that status would be saved back to disk. "Permanent" monsters that were still alive were written back. If a DM directly placed a permanent monster in a room, and the monster died, it simply stayed dead without any automatic reset; if a DM wanted to revive the monster, the DM had to send a command to do it. Scepter was designed to allow easy displays of settings (for later reloading), so DMs would often simply store in a file the commands to reset a given area, and then load that file when they wished to reset an area. This was consistent with the notion that DMs were often online anyway; the goal was to simply make it easy for DMs to issue the commands to reset an area when the DM determined that was the right thing to do. Rooms could be set to periodically generate a random monster from a list (which would not be permanent), and monsters could be set to generate a set of treasures when killed, and these lists were separately maintained. Thus, a room in an "ice castle" might point to a list of different cold-related monsters, and killing the monster might produce one of a set of cold-related treasures. # User Experience ## Basic Mechanics and Commands Scepter had *[Dungeons & Dragons](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons_&_Dragons "Dungeons & Dragons")*-like role-playing, combat, character classes, and levels. The normal classes were cleric, fighter, lady (female only), magic-user, paladin, ranger, and thief; it also had the special classes assassin and barbarian, which could not be directly selected by players. As with other similar games, killing monsters or obtaining certain items gave a player "experience points", and a sufficient number of experience points would grant the player's character a higher level (which granted more hit points and power). Combat occurred blow-by-blow; if a player's "vitality" (also termed hit points) dropped below zero, they died; death would cause the character to lose one or two levels, and reappear at the standard starting point for the game. Vitality would slowly regenerate until it reached maximum vitality; the maximum vitality increased when a level was gained. Typical single-player adventure game text commands were accepted, such as "north" to go north, "get X" to get object X, "inventory" to show the list of current carried items, "drop X" to drop carried item X, and "attack X" to attack monster or player X. The command "follow X" would cause the player to follow player or monster X; this command was used to form groups of players. The game had a built-in system for magic. Casting a spell required a certain number of "magic points", which like vitality slowly regenerated up to a maximum number of magic points for the character. Some spells could only be cast by certain character classes, and a character could not cast a spell until they had "learned" it (from a scroll or another character). Casting a spell also required entering a chant (a text phrase); a DM might occasionally change a chant, making the spell unusable to everyone until the characters had figured out the new chant (typically by solving riddles in adventures). The most powerful spell (castable only by high-level mages) was "wish", which permanently cost one point of constitution and sent the wish's text to a DM to determine how to respond to it. DMs were obligated to maintain game balance, and Scepter's lack of programmability meant some wishes could not be exactly granted, but wishes to create a specially powerful weapon, or to create an extraordinary magical "home" for the player and/or his friends, could indeed be granted. ## Player vs. Player Scepter had several mechanisms to prevent powerful player characters from constantly killing significantly weaker player characters. Such killing was considered very undesirable because it would drive paying customers away; players would generally complain about "unfair" fights. Some rooms were set as being "safe rooms" (where players could not attack each other), including the locations where new players began. Some doors had attributes that limited the minimum and maximum levels of characters who could go through them. Scepter also had a mechanisms to penalize certain kinds of player-on-player killing. In earlier versions, player-killing was occasionally followed by creation of an unkillable monster called the "Revenant", who would attack the killer until the other player was also dead. In later versions, if a player with a much higher level killed another player's character, a "ghost" of the low-level character with power equal to the killer would appear and attack the killer; no experience points were granted for killing the ghost. ## Worlds The typical setting used in Scepter of Goth was a fantasy setting involving the town of Boldhome and outlying areas. Adventurers would meet in Boldhome, buy or sell equipment, and set out to adventure. Dungeon Masters would occasionally create new areas in which to adventure, or modify those areas. One oft-used motif in many franchises was that the primary shop ("Sharkeys") was considered illegal by the Boldhome authorities, so it was constantly being closed by the Boldhome police and reopening somewhere else, requiring players to look for clues for its new location. (The typical notice said, "By Order of the Boldhome Police: This illegal establishment has been closed..."). Boldhome included a newspaper stand; the newspaper reported various things including obituaries (noteworthy deaths, including text by the player about his character's demise). Other important locations included a combat arena and training areas for each class. Before its closing, InterPlay worked with [Margaret Weis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Weis "Margaret Weis") and [Tracy Hickman](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tracy_Hickman "Tracy Hickman") to create a *[Dragonlance](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragonlance "Dragonlance")*-based environment, but this was never as popular as the Boldhome environment. Many areas were explicitly designed to require multi-character groups. Areas might be designed so that a set of different classes was required to succeed, or only a low-level character could get a key (while only a high-level character would succeed against a certain monster). This was often accomplished by inserting portals into the area; portals could be set to require specific class, or to require minimum and maximum levels. This encouraged the formation and sustainment of groups. Typical Scepter games involved a mixture of combat and puzzle-solving, with players talking with each other and working together so they could succeed. Puzzle-solving was considered an important part of Scepter games, and these puzzles were supported by several mechanisms. For example: - One object type was the "portal", an object that you could "go" to (or "enter"). If its attribute "invisible" was set to true, the only way to know what to "enter" would be to examine clues from the room description (or from elsewhere). - Teleport devices could be set to only work in a given room... and since there were many rooms, figuring out clues was necessary. - Doors might be locked, requiring the acquisition of a key. - The DMs could change the chant of one or more of the spells, and then set clues for determining what the new chant was; until the players could find the new chant, they could not use the spells. - Scepter supported variant descriptions, so talking with monsters several times might occasionally yield up clues. - In later versions of Scepter, players could "say" words to monsters (such as the bartender), and monsters could have certain responses set to occur based on the appearance of certain keywords in speech to them (including replying with speech or giving items). This simple mechanism made it possible to have complex puzzles and riddles with the limited computing capabilities of the day: riddles could be posed (such as in room descriptions, object descriptions, or by monsters), and the player would have to figure out what to say and who to say it to... possibly in a long chain. ## Examples On May 15, 2012, Alan E. Kleitz sent to me (David A. Wheeler) a few sample transcripts that showed some examples of Scepter in operation. These are available here: [scepter-sample1](./scepter-sample1.txt "Sample 1"), [scepter-sample2](./scepter-sample2.txt "Sample 2"), and [scepter-example](./scepter-example.txt "Example"). # Dunjon Master (DM) Commands This section describes the various commands available to DMs, in particular the various parameters (attributes) that could be set to create various effects. This material is based on "The Dunjon Master's Editor User Manual" by Interplay, Inc., copyright 1985-1986. I don't have the rights to release the manual, sadly. However, I believe I have the rights to release the material below. Although copyright covers expression, facts themselves cannot be copyrighted. I have rewritten the material in this section so that it is expressed differently, and merely describes some of the same facts. Even if was determined that this material overlapped another's copyright, I believe that sharing this material is a fair use, per 17 U.S.C. ยง 107. It is released for purposes of criticism, comment news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Here are comments about how it meets the four parts of fair use: - "The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes" --- this is not released in a commercial nature, but for nonprofit educational purposes, and in particular, enabling the recording of information for the future. I make no money out of releasing this. - "The nature of the copyrighted work" --- Again, facts are not copyrightable, and this section describes facts of a particular system that is historically important in its field. - "The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole" --- This section does not cover all of the original material; substantial parts are missing. - "The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work." --- As of 2011 it's hard to imagine this has any potential market. Many MUDs are available for free, and have been for over 20 years, and they are now far more capable than Scepter. AberMUD, the first open source software MUD, was released in 1987. Text-based MUDs in general have been completely eclipsed by graphical role-playing games, anyway, so there's practically no commercial value in these kinds of systems at all. In any case, a description of the mechanics of a work like this does not reduce the value of the work itself; this simply describes the capabilities of a historical system, instead of competing with it. Scepter of Goth underwent continual change, so this is really information at an arbitrary point of time late in its development. It's not even really consistent, e.g., sometimes "Barbarian" is listed as a class --- and sometimes it is not. ## DM-only commands Users could type in normal commands like "get OBJECT" or "north". A DM had a player character, but that character had the "ZZ" (aka DM) parameter set so that the player had a long list of additional privileges. DMs had a number of additional special commands, all beginning with "*". These were: - *abort: abort program. - *bloat: Set bloat threshold (maximum memory for a room cluster) - *clean: Clean memory (erases random items in rooms) - *close: Close game, normal players can't join. DMs can join. - *dayfile: Prints important events. - *edit: Enter "edit" mode. - *file: Dislay character files - *invisible: Makes DM (mostly) invisible to players; mainly, the DM isn't directly visible to other players in the same room. - *monspeed: Number of seconds between monster speed, typically 4-8 seconds. If no number given as a parameter, the current speed is shown. - *nonexistant: Turns on/off nonexistant. A non-existant DM can't normally be detected by any player. The "nuaers" command listed the total number of people, and thus unintentionally exposed nonexistent DMs, but this bug was was not broadcast to players. - *open: Allows players to play, reverting *close. - *panic: Instantly shut down without saving, intended for use if memory is corrupted. - *say: Print a message, without any of the prefix identification that would normally happen. - *send: Send a message without prefix. - *test: Only allows normal players with PL (playtest)=true. See *open and *close. - *update: Clean up files, like *clean. - *yell: Send a message without prefix. The most important command was *edit, which entered a mode that let DMs make arbitrary changes to the world (a DM could create, delete, modify or show anything). Scepter by itself was limited in what it could do, but a common DM trick was to use *nonexistant and then wait for players to do something "interesting". For example, some rooms were set as NO=true (notify); a DM would be alerted when a player entered that room (such as a bar or a quest end). The DM could then use *send, *say, and *yell to display interesting responses, as well as the *edit commands to change things in interesting ways. A good DM, by doing this judiciously, could make it really fun to play. ## Basic *edit commands The *edit command entered the Scepter Editor, which let DMs show and change the world at run time. This had four basic commands: create, delete, modify, and show. Here are the commands, and some examples: * create TYPE NAME LOCATION [[,] STATS]: Create something (index, monster, object, character file). TYPE could be object, file, or monstaer. LOCATION might be a "in ROOM-NUMBER", "in CONTAINER-NAME [in ROOM-NUMBER]", "on NAME-OF-PLAYER-OR-MONSTER [in ROOM-NUMBER]", and so on. - create monster orc in 35 lvl=4,hi=30 (this is a specific example) - create monster NAME in ROOM# STATS (how to create a monster) - create obj NAME on PLAYER-NAME, STATS (how to create an object on an active player) - create obj NAME file PLAYER-NAME USER-INDEX, STATS (how to create an object on an inactive player) * delete TYPE NAME LOCATION: Delete something (object, monster, room, character file) - del mon NAME ROOM# * modify TYPE NAME LOCATION, STATS: Modify something (description line, random monster/object, character, monster, room) - mod room ROOM#, STATS - mod mon NAME in ROOM#, STATS - mod obj NAME in ROOM#, STATS * show TYPE NAME LOCATION: Show the attributes of something (character, index, random monster/ojbect, description index) - show room ROOM# - show mon NAME in ROOM# I believe LOCATION could be omitted, in which case the location was the current room. I believe you had to put a comma before any statistics if you did this, so that it wouldn't be interpreted as a location; e.g., create monster orc, lvl=4, hi=30. This may have been a later addition. Show had a "brief mode" and a "verbose mode". The verbose mode would show everything in detail, and was good for new DMs, but the brief mode is what DMs normally used. The brief mode would show the data in the form that could be used to re-create the object, so you could capture that in a file for later reuse. When creating or modifying things, a DM would set the statistics (aka parameters or attributes) that would cause the desired result. So you needed to know about the various attributes you could set. There were several main types, especially player, monster, room, object. The "object" type had a parameter that was confusingly named TY (type), which determined the subtype of the object. I will list the room parameters first, since they are the simplest. ## Room parameters Here were the room parameters: - AM= : anti-magic. Default false. If true, no player magic works in the room. - DI= : description index. Default 0. Room description; this is the number of the edescrp description file to print as the room description. - EN= : encounter time. Default 0 (no encounter). The time between random encounters. - ET= : encounter type. Default 0. The random monster index to use to determine the monster that is created in a random encounter. - N=, S=, E=, W=, U=, D=, OUT= : direction. Default=0. The number of the room north, south, east, west, up, down, out; 0 means "no exit that way". There was no built-in "in". - NO= : notify DM. Default false. If true, all logged-in DMs will be notified on player entry of the room. - SA= : safe haven. Default false. If true, no combat actions/spells can be used in the room. Used in some areas of town, so that low-level characters have a chance. Room numbers varied from 1 to 4095, and rooms weren't really created, they were just modified. Rooms 1-30 were special and never left memory: - 1: New players arrive here. - 3: Drinks purchased here. - 4: You can buy a newspaper here. - 5: Player jail. - 7: Kidnapped players are put here. - 8: Pawn shop. - 9: Guests arrive here. Scepter supported "guests" who typically weren't paying; this let them see some of the game, without getting to play it all without paying for it. - 10: Weapon shop. - 13: Combat arena. - 17: Players resurrected to here. - 18: Weapon repair. One of the gimmicks in the game was that Sharkey's (the shop) was illegal, so it was always getting closed and then re-opened somewhere else. This set up endless questing to find the shop. One of the description files at one point read: > By Order of the Boldhome Police: > This illegal establishment has been closed. > Anyone attempting to open this door will be killed by a trap. > Signed: Boldhome Chief Guardsman. Another read: > Reward: > Sharkeys opened temporarily in the backroom of the mercantile! > He has been shut down again. > A reward of 10 gold pieces is offered for information > leading to his PERMANENT capture! > Boldhome Police ## Player parameters ### General parameters - AC= : Armor class, range -10..99, default 10. Lower values are better. - AG= : Assassin's guild member, true/false, default false. Players who are members of this guild are charged extra (in-game) fees, but in return, they receive a bonus when they hide or backstab, and will not be lynched if their piety is too low. - BR= : Brief mode, true/false, default false. If true, player sees brief info. - CL= : Class. Maybe assassin*, barbarian*, caretaker*, cleric, fighter, lady (female only), magic-user, paladin, ranger, theif, town mayor*. The starred classes must be set by a DM; players cannot simply become them. - EC= : Echo mode, true/false, default false. - EV= : Evil, true/false, default false. Monsters will not attack the player. The DM manual says, "NEVER tell players that this is available. Use it to create situations...". - FA= : Fatigue points, range 0..999, default 10. Battle damage is subtracted from fatigue, then vitality. Regenerates with time up to MF. - HD= : Hidden mode, true/false, default false. Set on players who try to hide using the HIDE command. - IV= : Invisible, true/false, default false. For DMs, who can use *invisible to set this on themselves. - LVL= : Level, range 0..31, default 1. - MA= : Magic points, range 0..999, default 10. Used to cast spells. Regenerates with time. - MB= : Message blocking, true/false, set when a player is blocking other players' messages. - MF= : Maximum fatigue (FA), default 10. - MM= : Maximum magic points (MA), range 0..999, default 10. - MO= : Money, default 0. Current amount of money. - MV= : Maximum vitality (VI). - NA= : Player name. - NO= : Nonexistent, true/false, default false. If true, cannot be seen. The DM command *nonexist turns this on for that DM. - PL= : Playtester, true/false, default false. If true, can access the game when it is in playtesting mode. - PO= : Poisoned, true/false, default false. - RO= : Room#, range 1..4095. Changing this teleports the player. - SE= : Sex, m/f, default m. - SL= : Spell limit, range 0..5, default 0. Remaining number of specially-limited spells that can be cast today. This number is reset each day. The specially-limited spells are appeal, bless, curst, disintegrate, identify, teleport, and wish. - TG= : Thieves' guild member, true/false, default false. In-game fees charged, in return for which members receive bonuses when they try to hide, backstab, picklock, and steal. - TL= : Talk limit, range 0..31, default 0. Limits the number of broadcast messages. - VI= : Vitality points, range 0..999, default 10. Maximum number of vitality points. Regenerates with time, up to MV. - WE= : Weight, range 0..5000. Computed automatically. - ZZ= : DM, one of Master DM / DM / Associate DM / none. Only master DMs can change this value. One odd thing about Scepter is that the privilege of being a DM was not connected to a person/user, but to a player-character via the ZZ parameter. ### Basic statistics - ST= : Strength, range -127..127, default 11. - IN= : Intelligence, range -127..127, default 11. - DX= : Dexterity, range -127..127, default 11. - PI= : Piety, range -127..127, default 11. - CO= : Constitution, range -127..127, default 11. ### Skills and experience - BS= : Blunt skill, range 0..7, default 0. - PS= : Pole skill, range 0..7, default 0. - SS= : Sharp skill, range 0..7, default 0. - TS= : Thurst skill, range 0..7, default 0. - EXP= : Experience, range 0..16000, default 0. Number of experience points remaining until next level achieved ### Class values Some key statistics (vitality, fatigue, and magic) were primarily assigned based on the class and level. Note that the "hit points" of other games are, in Scepter of Goth, two values for players (fatigue + vitality). A level 1 player would have certain stats, and these values would be added at each level. So a level 5 player would have 5 times the default values of the level 1 player, for a given class. For example, a level 6 fighter should have vitality= 6 * 8 = 48, fatigue= 6 * 14 = 84, magic= 6 * 2 = 12, so here's how the DM could reset the stats of online player "fred": > modify player fred, MV=48,VI=48,MF=84,FA=84,MM=12,MA=12 The following table shows the values for each class: +----------------+--------------------+-------------------+-----------------+ | Class | VI (vitality) / MV | FA (fatigue) / MF | MA (magic) / MM | +================+====================+===================+=================+ | Barbarian | 10 | 15 | 1 | +----------------+--------------------+-------------------+-----------------+ | Cleric | 7 | 11 | 4 | +----------------+--------------------+-------------------+-----------------+ | Fighter | 8 | 14 | 2 | +----------------+--------------------+-------------------+-----------------+ | Lady | 6 | 9 | 3 | +----------------+--------------------+-------------------+-----------------+ | Magic User | 7 | 10 | 5 | +----------------+--------------------+-------------------+-----------------+ | Paladin | 11 | 8 | 3 | +----------------+--------------------+-------------------+-----------------+ | Ranger | 7 | 11 | 3 | +----------------+--------------------+-------------------+-----------------+ | Thief | 7 | 10 | 3 | +----------------+--------------------+-------------------+-----------------+ ### Leveling through experience points +-------------+------------+ | Level | Experience | +=============+============+ | 1 | 0 | +-------------+------------+ | 2 | 512 | +-------------+------------+ | 3 | 1024 | +-------------+------------+ | 4 | 2048 | +-------------+------------+ | 5 | 4096 | +-------------+------------+ | 6 | 8192 | +-------------+------------+ The required experience points continue to double up to 21st level. A player can't go beyond level 21 just through the game mechanics. ## Monster parameters Monsters, aka non-player characters (NPCs), had many parameters. A key parameter was PE (permanent); monsters from random encounters had PE=false, and eventually got erased if a room has no players, while permanent monsters got saved to disk. If a player attacks it, key parameters included HI (hit points) and LVL (level). The monster parameters were typically grouped into basic, primary, and secondary parameters. ### Basic - EXP= : Experience, range 0..64000, default 100. Experience points awarded to the killers of the monsters. When there were multiple attackers, attackers all receive a fair fraction of this, and the individual who kills the monster receives a bonus. - HI= : Hits (hit points), range 0..1023, default 10. Monsters with a less than 40% of their maximum (MH) may flee. - LVL= : Level, range 0..64, default 1. - MH= : Maximum hit points, range 0..1023. Monsters with RE=true will regenerate hit points HI up to this number. - NA= : Name. - PAR= : Parley, range 0..39, default 0. Defines how the monster reacts to the TALK and PARLEY commands. - PE= : Permanent, true/false, default true when set by DM (default false if generated by a random encounter). If PE=false, monster may be deleted some time after there is no player in the room. If PE=true, after there is no player in the room, eventually it will have its hit points set to maximum. - TR= : Treasure type, default 0 (no treasure). Identifies which treasure index (the treasure index had a list of up to 6 possibilities). Parley settings included: - 0 : No reaction - 1 : Sell object (from treasure list) - 2 : Negative reaction - 3 : Positive reaction - 10: Teleport player to one of the rooms in 30-300. ### Primary - AS= : Assistance, true/false, default false. If attacked by a player, player loses primary weapon by town guard and may be placed in prison. Intended for protecting townspeople. - AT= : Attack last agressor, true/false, default false. If false, keeps attacking whoever attacked it first. If true, attacks whoever attacked it last. - BL= : Block, true/false, default false. if true, 50% of the time will prevent an attacked player from leaving the room. - DE= : Defend, true/false, true. If DE=false and AT=false, won't defend itself. - FL= : Flee, true/false, default false. May flee. - FD= : Follow, true/false, default false. Follows player it's attacking. - FR= : Fast reaction, true/false, default false. If true, attacks players immediately. - GU= : Guard, true/false, false. Players may not pick up objects in the room. - MO= : Moral, true/false, false. If true, will attack impious characters (piety less than 7), preferring the lowest piety. - NK= : No kill, true/false, default false. If true, players will be told that they "changed their minds" if they try to attack. - SR= : Slow reaction, true/false, false. If true, hesitates 1-10 seconds before attacking. ### Secondary - AM= : Anti-magic, true/false, default false. Immune to spells. - DR= : Level drain, true/false, default false. Drains a level, 50% of the time, from a player on hit. - IN= : Invisible, true/false, default false. Can't see monster, "to hit" has a 20% penalty. - KI= : Kidnap, true/false, default false. If true, a player with fatigue=0 will be kidnapped to room 7. Kidnapping monster will be placed in the room connected to the door in room 7. - MA= : Magic, true/false, default false. Immune to non-magical weapon attack. - PO= : Poison, true/false, default false. On hit, may poison player. - RE= : Regenerate, true/false, default false. Regenerates hit points during attack. - SP= : Spell casting, true/false, default false. Can cast these spells: poison, fireball, lightning, or befuddle. - UN= : Undead, true/false, default false. Vulnerable to TURN command (clerics can use this). - RU= : Rust, true/false, default false. Weakens player armor or primary weapon (deducts strikes or hits) ### Experience There were various guidelines for setting the EXP value. The suggested guideline was to set the experience point value as: > EXP = HP + Table(level) + bonus Where Table(level) converts the monster level to experience as follows: +-------------+------------+ | Level | Experience | +=============+============+ | 1 | 10 | +-------------+------------+ | 2 | 20 | +-------------+------------+ | 3 | 30 | +-------------+------------+ | 4 | 40 | +-------------+------------+ | 5 | 50 | +-------------+------------+ | 6 | 90 | +-------------+------------+ | 7 | 200 | +-------------+------------+ | 8 | 300 | +-------------+------------+ | 9 | 1000 | +-------------+------------+ | 10 | 2000 | +-------------+------------+ | 11 or more | 3000 | +-------------+------------+ The recommended bonus is based on the number of: - Primary attributes (PAs): Block, follow, guard, fastreact, moralreact, flee, undead, rust, steal - Secondary attributes (SAs): Magic, Antimagic, spellcasting, invisible, regenerate, level drain, poison, kidnap +---------------+--------------------------------+ | Monster level | Bonus | +===============+================================+ | 1-5 | (PA + 2 * SA) * (HP / 10) | +---------------+--------------------------------+ | 6-8 | (PA + 2 * SA) * (HP / 10) * 2 | +---------------+--------------------------------+ | 9 or more | (PA + 2 * SA) * (HP / 10) * 6 | +---------------+--------------------------------+ ## Object parameters Two parameters controlled object names: - NA= : Name. The form is "NOUN, ADJECTIVE %s PREDICATE". So "sword, rusty %s" would print as "rusty sword" and "bag, small %s of silver" would print as "small bag of silver". - AR= : Article, a/an/the/some/none. All objects had the following parameters: - CA= : Carry, true/false, default true. If true, can be taken. - DI= : Description index, range 0..32565, default 0 (no long description). The number of edescrp (description index) for use as its long description. - INV= : Invisible, true/false, default false. Hidden from view (may be found via SEARCH). - PE= : Permanent, true/false, default true (default false if created as random treasure). If permanent, sticks around (saved to disk) after all players leave the room. - TY= : Object type, see below. - WE= : Weight, 0..1000, default 5. Heavy doors/chests are harder to smash. Objects have an "object type" TY (which is confusing, because things have a basic type as well: object, monster, player, room). The object types are: armor, blunt (weapon), card, chests/containers, door, key, magdevice (aka magicaldevice), misc, money, none, pole (weapon), portal, scroll, sharp (weapon), shield, teleportdevice, thrust (weapon), treasure. Note that many items had limited uses. Armor had armor hits (AH), magic devices had charges left (CH), and so on. This ensured that players weren't all-powerful, and thus made things more interesting. The following describes the parameters for each object type. ### Armor - AR= : Armor factor, range -10..99. Each point provides 5% more protection. - AH= : Armor hits (left), range 0..500, default 50. The number of hits left that it can take. ### Card This is a special magical device used by DMs that allows the user to teleport to any person in the game. It's not intended for use by players. It is activated using: > use card on PLAYER ### Container/Chest - CC= : Container closed, true/false, default false. - CL= : Container lock type, range 0..1000, default 0 (no lock). The last digit indicated how hard it was to break (1=easy through 0=impossible). The rest differentiated locks. - CT= : Chest trap, range 0..50, default 0 (no trap). When the container is opened or unlocked, this determines the trap that might go off. Thieves are better at avoiding traps; the formula to avoid the trap is DEX - random(6) > (CL mod 10), but for thieves their DEX was multiplied by 2 in this equation. - PO= : Number of contained objects. Should not be edited. ### Door See also portal objects. The larger the weight, the harder it is to SMASH. If the door is not magic (MA=false) then a magic-user may be able to get through using the PASSDOOR spell. If a door is magical, has lock type of 1000, and weighs 1000 pounds, then it cannot be opened by any player. Doors are seen on both sides. - DC= : Door closed, true/false, default false. - DL= : Door lock type, range 0..1000, default 0 (no lock). See container parameter CL. - DT= : Door trap type, range 0..50, default 0 (no trap), see container parameter CT. - TO= : Room number that the door connects to. ### Key Traps are not triggered if they are opened with a matching key. A special key is the DM master key (UL=1000); a key with this UL value unlocks any locked door or container. - UL= : Unlock, range 0..1000, default 0. Must match the container CL or door DL exactly, or, if the key's last digit is zero, must match the rest of the CL or DL. Thus, a key with a digit ending in 0 is a master key for a range of locks. ### Magicaldevice (magdevice) These were used for magic wands, potions, and similar spell-casting devices. If a player says drink OBJECT, the item affects the player. There is no intelligence or level requirement on the use of a magical device. - MA= : Magic, true/false, default false. True if magical. - SP= : Spell number, range 1..17. 1:vigor, 2:heal, 3:fireball, 4:lightning, 5:hurt, 6:curepoison, 7:disintegrate, 8:befuddle, 9:teleport, 10:wish, 11:passdoor, 12:enchant, 13:bless, 14:protection, 15:curse, 16:poison, 17:intoxicate. - CH= : Charges left, range 0..100, default 1. Every use reduced this by 1, and for use it has to have at least one charge. This example creates a 2-charge fireball wand: > create obj wand in chest in 3001,ty=magdevice,magic=true,spell=3,value=1000,charges=2 ### Money - MU= : Money multiplier, range 1..127. Copper=1, silver=20, electrum=50, gole=100, platinum=127. This converts to shillings. ### Portal Portals are one-way connectors. You can then GO or ENTER a portal. A portal needs a TO value. See also door objects. - TO= : Room number that the portal connects to, no default. When a player types "go PORTAL_NAME", this is the room the player ends up in. - MN= : Minimum level allowed through, default 0 (no minimum). Useful for keeping out low-level players. - MX= : Maximum level allowed through, default 0 (no maximum). Useful for keeping out high-level players. ### Scroll These use the DI parameter, described above. Players can use EXAMINE to figure out what the scroll will do. A player can READ a scroll to cast a spell (on a player, monster, or object). Once read, the scroll disappears (a scroll is basically a one-charge item). Scroll minimums for intelligence and level are somewhat lower than spell-casting, but if they are not met, nothing happens (the scroll is not ruined). ### Shield - SF= : Shield factor, range -10..99. Like armor AR, each point provides 5% more protection. - SH= : Shield hits left, range 0..5000, default 50. Like armor AH. ### Teleport / Teleportdevice These are sometimes used like special keys to access special areas like the Thieves' lair. Usually the departure room is set, so it will only work from one room; the player may need to work out clues to figure out where a teleportdevice works. - TO= : To where (room#). - RO= : Departure room#, default 1 (0=works anywhere). A teleport device need not be magical. The teleport device sends the recipient to exactly one room, and perhaps from only room, while the teleport spell sends the recipient to a random room between 30 and 300. ### Treasure - VA= : Value, range 0..54000, default 0. Value in shillings. ### Weapon (blunt, pole, sharp, thrust) - MI= : Minimum hit damage, range 0..127, default 0. - MH= : Maximum hit damage, range 0..127, default 0. - SL= : Strikes left, range 0..512, default 100. When it hits zero, the weapon breaks. - WP= : Weapon plus, range -127..127 (was -10..99), default 0. Each plus adds 5% to the hit probability. Players have skills in each of the four types of weapon. Weapons can be repaired (i.e., have strikesleft increase) at the repair shop (room 18) as long as "strikesleft" is more than 0. There's a 50% chance that the repair will be botched if the weapon is magical or has MH more than 30. ## Indexes/lists A DM can create/modify/show/delete a "description", which is just an indexed string of text typically used for long descriptions. Description #1 is the login text, description 101 is the spell chant for vigor, and rooms have description numbers of room#+10000. If slashes are in a description, it is treated as a separator, and a random one of the separated descriptions is selected on each use. A "\n" can be used to insert newline. So to change the long description of room #123: > modify description 10123 "/in a dark alley./" A DM can create/modify/show/delete an "mlist", which is a number-indexed list of monster attributes. Each mlist entry sets up a monster for a random encounter. Monster #1 is special; it is the "revenant" to counter player-killers. You can set monster mlist #240 like this: > modify mlist 240,NA=bear, ... The revenant (mlist #1) by default had these settings: > NA=revenant,LVL=1,HI=30,MH=30,DEF=T,BL=T,FO=T,GU=T,ATK=T,... > PE=F,EXP=25,UN=T,DRAIN=T,RUS=T,TR=0 A DM can create/modify/show/delete an "mindex", which is a number-indexed a list of 1-6 numbers. Each of those numbers refers to an mlist entry (above). Typically you would then set a room's ENCOUNTER value to this mindex value. > modify mindex 10 241,242 Using mlist and mindex makes it easy to create a lot of randomness that still makes sense. Similarly, a DM can create/modify/show/delete an "olist" which is a number-indexed list of attributes to set an object, and an "oindex" which lists 1-6 olists when an object shows up randomly. These are often used for treasure; a monster would have its TREASURE value set to an oindex; the oindex in turn lists 1-6 different possible treasures as olist values. (Of course, if a monster already carries specific items, then those items become available to others if the monster dies.) Olist items 1-20 are for sale in the weapon shop; olist items 21-40 are reserved for sale in the (never implemented) magic shop. ## Magic The spells in basic Scepter are: 1. Vigor. Restores 6 * caster_level fatigue points. Uses 3 MP (magic points), requires 10 INT. 2. Heal. Restores 3 * caster_level vitality points. 6 MP. 10 INT, cleric level 2. 3. Fireball. Attack spell, min(3 * (lvl+1), int * 2) hp. 10 MP. 11 INT, mage level 2. 4. Lightning. Attack spell, min(20 + 2 * (lvl+1)) hp. 15 MP. 13 INT, mage level 4. 5. Hurt. Attack spell, 1-3 hp. Can be cast by anyone. Documentation isn't consistent; some documents say it does 1-2 hp. 6. Curepoison. Cures player of poison. 6 MP. 9 INT, mage level 1. 7. Disintegrate. Most powerful attack spell, lvl * 2 + ran(5 * int). 20 MP, 14 INT, can only be cast 5 times/day, mage level 5. 8. Befuddle. If player, paused 30 seconds; if monster, paused 3 * MONSPEED seconds. 15 MP. 11 INT. 9. Teleport. Randomly transported to a room# 30-300. 30 MP, 14 INT, mage level 5. 10. Wish. Sent to DM; DM then decides. 50 MP, 17 INT and costs a constitution point. Mage level 10. 11. Passdoor. Passes through any door where MAGIC=false. 20 MP, 13 INT, mage level 5. 12. Enchant. Makes object magical; it must be carryable. Doesn't change the hit points. 20 MP, 13 INT, mage level 5. 13. Bless. Raise piety of someone else by 1. Can only be cast on a person of equal or lower level. 15 MP, 11 INT, cleric level 6. 14. Protect. Temporarily improve armor class by 1. 10 MP. 10 INT, mage level 2. 15. Curse. Lower piety by 1. Target must be equal or below caster level. 10 MP, 10 INT, mage level 5. 16. Poison. Poison someone. 10 MP. 10 INT, Mage level 4. 17. Intoxicate. Recipient is drunk for 60 seconds. 8 MP. 9 INT, Mage level 3. There are also special commands: - Identify. Find its true identity. - Turn. Turn undead monsters. - Appeal. Appeal to gods (DMs), costs 1 piety point. Only clerics can cast heal, bless, or turn. Only mages (magic-users) can cast protect, disintegrate, enchant, or wish. An oddity is that mages could curepoison at level 1, but clerics couldn't until level 2. Here is when a given class can cast a given spell ("-" means never): +-----------------+------+---------+--------+---------------------+-------+ | Spell | Mage | Fighter | Cleric | Paladin/Ranger/Lady | Thief | +=================+======+=========+========+=====================+=======+ | 1. Vigor | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | +-----------------+------+---------+--------+---------------------+-------+ | 2. Heal | - | - | 2 | - | - | +-----------------+------+---------+--------+---------------------+-------+ | 3. Fireball | 2 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 5 | +-----------------+------+---------+--------+---------------------+-------+ | 4. Lightning | 4 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 7 | +-----------------+------+---------+--------+---------------------+-------+ | 5. Hurt | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | +-----------------+------+---------+--------+---------------------+-------+ | 6. Curepoison | 1 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | +-----------------+------+---------+--------+---------------------+-------+ | 7. Disintegrate | 5 | - | - | - | - | +-----------------+------+---------+--------+---------------------+-------+ | 8. Befuddle | 1 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | +-----------------+------+---------+--------+---------------------+-------+ | 9. Teleport | 5 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 8 | +-----------------+------+---------+--------+---------------------+-------+ | 10. Wish | 10 | - | - | - | - | +-----------------+------+---------+--------+---------------------+-------+ | 11. Passdoor | 5 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 8 | +-----------------+------+---------+--------+---------------------+-------+ | 12. Enchant | 5 | - | - | - | - | +-----------------+------+---------+--------+---------------------+-------+ | 13. Bless | - | - | 6 | - | - | +-----------------+------+---------+--------+---------------------+-------+ | 14. Protect | 2 | - | - | - | - | +-----------------+------+---------+--------+---------------------+-------+ | 15. Curse | 5 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 8 | +-----------------+------+---------+--------+---------------------+-------+ | 16. Poison | 4 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 7 | +-----------------+------+---------+--------+---------------------+-------+ | 17. Intoxicate | 3 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 6 | +-----------------+------+---------+--------+---------------------+-------+ | Identify | 5 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 8 | +-----------------+------+---------+--------+---------------------+-------+ | Turn | - | - | 1 | - | - | +-----------------+------+---------+--------+---------------------+-------+ A player must learn a spell before casting it, either by being taught the spell or by examining a scroll. Once learned a spell is not forgotten. The player must also type in the chant for a spell to cast it, which means the player must also find out what the chant is. The default chants are: +-------------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | Spell | Chant | +===================+=======================================================+ | 1. Vigor | I return vigor | +-------------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | 2. Heal | Thy wounds are mended! | +-------------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | 3. Fireball | Ball of fire fly to thee! | +-------------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | 4. Lightning | I command you to glow with energy! | +-------------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | 5. Hurt | Ouch! That hurt! | +-------------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | 6. Curepoison | Let thy fluids run pure! | +-------------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | 7. Disintegrate | I disrupt they molecular structure! | +-------------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | 8. Befuddle | Be thou confused utterly! | +-------------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | 9. Teleport | Let me go to someplace new! | +-------------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | 10. Wish | This is the last time I want to change this chant! | +-------------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | 11. Passdoor | I refuse to be stopped! | +-------------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | 12. Enchant | I infuse you with magical dweomer! | +-------------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | 13. Bless | Your soul is now pure again! | +-------------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | 14. Protect | You are being watched! | +-------------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | 15. Curse | I denigrate thee for all to see! | +-------------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | 16. Poison | May thy blood fester in thy veins! | +-------------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | 17. Intoxicate | More than one hundred proof! | +-------------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ # Other information ## All possible user commands Here is the full list of possible player commands: accept, appeal, attack, backstab, block, break, bribe, brief, buy, cast, catalog, circle, climb, clock, close, d (down), down, draw, drink, drop, e, east, echo, end, enter, examine, exit, experience, feint, file, follow, get, go, health, help, hide, hint, hit, hold, identify, information, inventory, kill, leave, list, lock, look, lose, n, north, offer, open, out, panic, parley, parry, pawn, picklock, put, quit, read, repair, return, run, s, save, say, search, sell, send, smash, south, status, steal, strike, suicide, take, talk, teach, thrust, track, train, turn, u, unlock, up, use, w, wear, west, where, who, wield, yell. ## Attack hit calculation Attack hits were determined as follows: if random(20) > level(player) - level(monster) + 10 + factor, then hit, else miss. There is an 8% chance of double damage in an attack, and 1% chance of a fumble. The factor is computed as follows (added unless stated otherwise): - Weapon plus (added) - Strength/6 - Skill percentile/10 - 1 if player is paladin and monster is hostile - 1 if player is a fighter - 2 if player is level 1 - -4 if monster is invisible - -level(player)/2 if player is parrying - +level(player) if thrusting (but subtract level(player) from fatigue) - 5 if backstabbing and hidden - -5 if backstabbing and not hidden, monster gets double damage on next attack I'm sure that armor class affected this too. # References - (Keegan) [A Classification of MUDs](http://mk.ucant.org/info/classification_muds.html) by Martin Keegan, Grandmaster Data Services Ltd, Cambridge, U.K. - (Kirmse, Andrew) Kirmse, Andrew. ["Meridian 59"](http://web.archive.org/web/20060916185745/ieatcode.com/meridian/). *Andrew Kirmse's Web page*. Archived from [the original](http://ieatcode.com/meridian/) on 2006-09-16. [http://web.archive.org/web/20060916185745/ieatcode.com/meridian/](http://web.archive.org/web/20060916185745/ieatcode.com/meridian/). Retrieved 2010-05-02. - (Klietz 1992) Klietz, Alan. Jan 20 1992. Scepter - the first MUD? http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.mud/msg/e423bcf6cf93d73b - (Woolcock) [An Introduction to MUDs](http://www.topmudsites.com/article08.shtml) by Richard Woolcock - (Wisner) Wisner, Bill (1990-06-29). "A brief (and very incomplete) history of MUDs". alt.mud. http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.mud/msg/6ac0255fe640074e This notes that "Milieu was originally written for a CDC Cyber owned by the Minnesota Educational Computer Consortium. High school students from around the state were given access to the machine for educational purposes; they often ended up writing chat programs and games instead. I am uncertain of the precise time frame, but I believe Milieu probably predates MUD." This text is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License (CC-BY-SA). I wrote this material in the Markdown language, and then used pandoc to convert it to HTML. [The markdown text is available.](scepter-of-goth.markdown) The history of this text is complicated; I wrote most of the Wikipedia entry of "Scepter of Goth", and portions of the text above is derived from the 2011-09-17 version of that article. Since it's all the CC-BY-SA license, it doesn't matter. This document has a lot of additional material based on "The Dunjon Master's Editor User Manual" by Interplay, Inc., copyright 1985-1986. I don't have the rights to release the manual, but facts cannot be copyrighted, so I can release the facts of that manual even though I cannot release the manual itself.