This is my WIP Total Beginner's Guide to MUSHing. If Batty hates me using server space for this, just let me know. Also, it's not MN specific, but I can edit it and make a MN specific version once I'm done.

The Absolute Beginner's Guide to MUSHing

So, your buddy has invited you to join an online text roleplaying game. Except it's not on Discord, or an MMORPG, or social media, or even an old school forum. It's a MUSH (or MUX, or Ares, or Evennia). And as soon as you check it out, you're immediately hit by a wave of things you don't understand, supported by help files that only make sense if you already know the basics. How do you get involved in the first place - what's this client business, and where do you find one? And then once you log in, how do you actually communicate with anyone, let alone play? For that matter, what does actual play even look like?

In short, WTF is this?

Why bother?

I'm just going to toss an example out of what MUSH roleplaying looks like, so you can decide right away if this is even appealing to you. Here is a snippet of an example roleplaying session involving three characters: John, Mary, and Susan. Something like this represents about five to fifteen real time minutes, depending on player speed, of roleplaying.

Regardless of your feelings on these three characters specifically or their little tea party, does this format of roleplay interest you? If yes, then read on. This guide won't teach you everything, but it should get you to the point where you can connect, interact, and - when you have to ask for help - understand the answers.

The Very, Very Basics

A MUSH (or MUX, or Ares, or whatever your particular code base is called) is a text based virtual space that you connect to using a special client or web portal, with - in general - a unique login used per character. This means:

Text Based

While some code bases may, under limited circumstances, support images (such as small avatar pictures), it's otherwise all words. While clients have a GUI, the MUSH itself doesn't; all commands have to be typed out, not clicked on from a menu.

Virtual Space

"Virtual space" is not some airy metaphor: MUSHes are literally divided up into virtual rooms, somewhat similar to Discord channels. A room is the basic unit of a MUSH. When you're in a room, you'll see a list of the other connected characters in there with you. If you use the game's basic commands to speak, or write out your character doing something, those players will see it. You'll be able to see the room's written description, as well as the descriptions others have written for their characters (and they'll be able to see yours). Most roleplaying occurs between characters in the same room.

You can only be in one room at a time, and you cannot simply immediately switch to any other room you please. Instead, rooms are connected with exits: custom commands within each room to take you to a neighboring room. You may need to pass through several rooms and exits to get where you're going. This network of connected rooms is known as the grid, from the (very) rough grid shape it makes if mapped out. Games can and do create entire virtual cities this way, with a web of rooms representing city blocks and the businesses and homes that branch off from them.

Clients and Connecting

Just like you need a browser to see web pages and the Discord app to connect to Discord, you need some sort of special client (sometimes embedded in a web portal, accessible via browser) to play a MUSH.

Just like a website, each MUSH has its own IP address, usually with a human readable DNS attached: e.g., mush.mushhosting.com. Unlike a website, MUSH addresses also have port numbers.

While some games do have web portals on their sites, it's generally easiest to find and install a client. These come with a variety of features, but for now, all you really need to do is connect. This will require the game's address, including its port number, and should be fairly self explanatory once you get the client installed.

Should be.

An incomplete list of clients:

MUSHclient
SimpleMU
BeipMU
Potato
Mukluk (but seriously, don't MUSH on your phone, it's terrible)
Duckclient
Atlantis

One Login per Character

Each character you play is its own unique object in the game, with its own login name and password. (Ares also has general player accounts, one per actual player, to which all your character logins are attached. Other code bases do not.) If you want a second character, you need to make a second login.

Other Basic Concepts

Before we get into the actual commands used, including how to log in, there are a few other basic concepts worth explaining.

IC/OOC

As MUSHes are roleplaying games, they draw a distinction between IC (in character) and OOC (out of character) actions. In character is what your character does; out of character is what /you/, the player, do. IC and OOC are very common abbreviations, to the point of being used in some commands, so learn them well!

The Grid

I touched on this earlier, but the grid is the network of rooms that make up the game. Grids are usually divided into IC and OOC sections. The IC part is whatever city (or other area) the game is set in, and where roleplay occurs, while the OOC section may include an OOC lounge for chatter, character generation (abbreviated to "chargen"), and rooms full of information about the game.

The phrase "going IC" refers to leaving the OOC section of the grid and going to the IC part.

Scenes

A scene is, well... a scene. You presumably already know what that is. I include this because MUSHers talk a /lot/ about scenes; they're the basic unit of roleplay. I owe her a scene, I'm in a paused scene with him, I scened with him the other day (yes, "to scene" is a verb on MUSHes), etc.

Staff

You know what staff are: they're the people that run the game, DM for the game, code for the game, etc. Not all staff members (also known as "staffers") will do everything; one person might be code staffer, while another runs plots. While fellow players can be very helpful, they may not be able to give you a definitive answer to every question, and they won't have the authority to do certain things. Staff will.

On most MUSHes, by convention, staff member names follow a theme, such as animals, Shakespeare characters, robots from fiction, etc. The actual theme varies by game.

Connecting

Okay, so you've got your client downloaded or your web portal open. Once you've done that, connecting to the game will take you to the game's login screen. Once at the login screen, you can create a character, log in to an existing character, log in as a guest, or see who's online.

Character Creation

To create a character, go to the login screen of the game and type:

create <name> <password>

Where <name> is your character's name, and <password> is the password you want. Very occasionally, a game will have this option turned off, and you'll need to email the owners to get a login. This is usually for invite only games.

MUSHes can't handle multiple characters with the same login name. This isn't a policy decision by the owners, but a feature of the way the games are coded. If you pick a name and it's already taken, you'll get an error message. Just pick a different name.

Existing Characters

To login as an existing character, go to the same login screen and use:

connect <name> <password>

Easy!

Guests

Some games also allow you to connect as a guest and look around. If this is allowed, the command to do it is usually "connect guest" or "connect guest guest" (the second "guest" is because that's the guest account password!).

WHO

If you type "WHO" - yes, with all caps - you'll get a list of who's online. Keep in mind that, because MUSHes have one login per character, seeing 25 characters connected does not mean that 25 unique players are connected.

The Rudiments: How to Talk and Move

Once you connect, you'll land in a room, typically in the out of character section of the grid. There are a few commands, common to every game, that let you see who and what is in there with you, communicate with them, and move to other rooms.

Look

By typing "look", you can see the written description of the room you're in, a list of the other (connected) players in it with you, and the available exits. Some rooms will have non player items in them, known as objects, which will be listed with or near the player list. The exact format of the player and exit lists will vary from game to game, but they should be obvious and easy to read.

Typing "look <player>" or "look <object>", where <player> or <object> is the name of a player or object, will show you the description of that character or item.

Communicating to the Room: Say, Pose, and Emit

There are three basic ways to communicate with people in the room with you: poses, says, and emits. These will be shown to everyone else in the room. Each command has a long version and a short version. There's no difference between these, beyond how long they take to type. Save your fingers: just use the short versions.

Say

Say is not commonly used during actual RP, but it's reasonably frequent in OOC (out of character) chatting. To use it, type:

say <stuff>
or

"<stuff>

Where <stuff> is what you want to say.

Say is unique in that when you use this command, what you see and what everyone else sees are different. If you type:

"Was it something I said?

You'll see:

You say, "Was it something I said?"

But - and let's pretend your character name is Bob - everyone else in the room will see:

Bob says, "Was it something I said?"

Pose and Semipose

Pose is your roleplaying workhorse. Most play is done through poses (and emits, which are basically poses - see below). Posing allows you to write out what your character is doing, including dialogue, while automatically prepending your character's name. To use it, type:

pose <stuff>
or

:<stuff>

If you type (and again, let's pretend your character's name is Bob):

:pauses and huffs. "Or was it something I did?"

Everyone in the room will see:

Bob pauses and huffs. "Or was it something I did?"

Semipose is basically the same command, but doesn't insert a space between your character's name and the pose itself. It's useful for adding an apostrophe or comma after your character's name, and that's it. To use it, type:

semipose <stuff>
or

;<stuff>

Important note: Posing is almost always done in the present tense.

Emits

An emit is basically a pose that doesn't automatically include your character name. That's it. (Note that there are still ways to tell if it's an emit or a genuine pose, so don't try faking a pose from another character!) To use it, type:

@emit <stuff>
or

\\<stuff>

For example, if you type:

\\Scowling, Bob crosses his arms. "I don't understand what her problem is!"

Everyone will see:

Scowling, Bob crosses his arms. "I don't understand what her problem is!"

OOC Says and Poses

Most games will, in addition to this, have a command for OOC (out of character) remarks. It's usually the following:

ooc <stuff> ooc :<stuff>

The first one will produce a say with some variation on <OOC> attached to the front, while the second produces a pose. For example:

ooc I gotta go, sorry.

Will show to the room:

<OOC> Bob says, "I gotta go, sorry."

While:

ooc :waves and runs!

Will show:

<OOC> Bob waves and runs!

Basic Movement

To leave a room and go to a neighboring room, you'll need to use one of the room's exits. An exit is basically a special command, custom for the room it's in, that will take you to a particular neighboring room. Looking at a room's description will list the available exits, sometimes labeling them "Exits" or "Obvious Exits." They will almost always have a section in brackets, such as in the following:

<E> Exit
[E] Exit
Exit <E>
Exit [E]
<E>xit
... and so on

You see how the exact format might vary, but there's always an "E" in brackets of some sort? That "E" is what you actually type to use the exit.

Communicating Outside the Room: Channels and Pages

Pages

Channels

Games also typically have a channel system (the helpfiles for which are almost invariably terrible). Channels are ways to talk and make short poses that are not limited by room. Rather, anyone on the channel will hear what you say. Most channels are for out of character (OOC) chatter, but a few sometimes represent in character (IC) communication. Channels can be turned on and off, and some channels will be restricted to certain types of characters.

The actual commands for talking on channels vary by code base (MUSH vs. MUX vs. other things) but it's usually an abbreviation of the channel name, sometimes preceded by a +. For example, a channel named Public (for general public chatter) might use one of the following commands:

pub <stuff> +pub <stuff>

Many games have newbie, help, or questions channels, some of which you may be automatically added to as a new character or guest. There will often be a message displayed showing what the channel is and how to talk on it.

User:Lauren

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