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 twelve real time minutes, depending on player speed, of roleplaying.

"It was kind of you to invite me to tea," Susan says, looking at John from across the table. She's frowning, though, for all she tries to look nonchalant. She lowers her voice. "But that's not going to fix our problem."

John looks at Susan from across the small table and his teacup, his gaze even. With a casual movement, he reaches into his pocket, pulls out a little packet of something white and powdery, and gives it a little shake into his steaming drink. "Oh," he says, voice soft. "There are ways to deal with her. Easy as adding sugar to tea."

Mary stops by the small table, evidently oblivious to the conversation between the pair. She's chirpy, chipper, with a flower behind her ear and a big smile on her face. "Can I get you two anything? A refill? More sugar?"

Regardless of your feelings on these three characters specifically or their little tea party (or the quality of the writing), 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, often simply referred to by the all encompassing "MU*") 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.

On Modern Nights: Our game has no pictures at all. It's all text.

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

Also 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.

An incomplete list of clients, some of which are no longer being updated:

• MUSHclient (Windows - no longer updated)
• SimpleMU (Windows - no longer updated)
• BeipMU (Windows)
• Potato (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• Mukluk (Android - but seriously, don't MUSH on your phone, it's terrible)
• Duckclient (Chrome - yes, you can play from a browser)
• Atlantis (Mac - though Potato seems to be recommended more highly)

On Modern Nights: We have a web portal that you can use for easy connecting! If you want to use a client, our address is bigdamnmush.com port 1777.

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.

On Modern Nights: Modern Nights doesn't use Ares. No player account for you.

Connecting and Logging In

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. From 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.

On Modern Nights: We allow character creation from the login screen, no invite needed!

Existing Characters

To log in 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!).

On Modern Nights: Typing "connect guest" will connect you to a guest account.

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, Move, and Read the Rules

Once you connect, you'll land in a room, typically one designated as out of character (as opposed to in character rooms, which are for roleplaying). There are a few commands, found on 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 and a space. 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 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 third person present tense. Some players may switch to the second person if there's only one other person in the room.

Emits

An emit is essentially 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!

On Modern Nights: We have this command here.

Basic Movement

To leave a 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 neighboring room. Remember, you can only travel between exits, so if your destination isn't directly linked to the room you're in via an exit, you'll need to pass through other rooms on your way.

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

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.

So what exactly does this look like?

Here is an example of an in character room. This is what you would see upon entering that room or using the "look" command:

---- Mary's Tea House ----

A cozy little room done up in the very best of shabby
chic style. Six round tables are spaced evenly throughout,
each only big enough for four people, their white painted
surfaces contrasting with the dark wooden floor. Baskets
hang from the ceiling, silk flowers overflowing from them,
and the walls are covered in watercolor illustrations of
rabbits, gardens, and other twee things. A glass display
case next to the counter in the back shows off an
assortment of tiny, pastel colored pastries.

Contents:
Mary
John
Susan

<O> Out
<UP> Upstairs

The name of the room is "Mary's Tea House." That paragraph of text is its description: in this case, an unbearably cutesy little tea house. The contents list below shows the connected characters in the room - in this case, Mary, John, and Susan - and there are two exits: one to "out", and one to the tea house's second floor. What's "out"? Well, businesses and homes are usually linked up to rooms representing a street or city block, and it's convention for the exit leading back to the street to be called "out." Typing "up" will take you upstairs, while "o" takes you to the street outside.

Communicating Outside the Room: Channels and Pages

There are ways to talk to people who aren't in the same room as you. The two that every game has are pages and channels.

Pages

Pages let you send private messages to people who aren't in the room. You can page someone - or several someones! - with the following commands:

page <player1> <player2> <player3> <etc.>=<stuff>

or

p <player1> <player2> <player3> <etc.>=<stuff>

If you wish to incorporate a pose into your page, rather than just sending a message, you can use:

page <player1> <player2> <player3> <etc.>=:<stuff>

or

p <player1> <player2> <player3> <etc.>=:<stuff>

Lastly, if you get lazy and don't feel like typing out another player's name (or list of names), the following commands will page the last person you paged:

p <stuff>
p :<stuff>

Be careful if you're having multiple conversations in page, as this is a good way to send a message to someone you didn't intend to!

Pages are most often used for out of character communication - i.e., not actual roleplay poses and emits. Your friends may page you to say hi or set up a scene, for example. A GM may page you some scene details that only your character would notice. Occasionally, pages may be used for in character roleplay to represent something like telepathy, although many games whose settings include that kind of thing will have custom code for that.

On Modern Nights: We do have code for telepathy, phones, and other ways of ICly talking to other characters. See our in game helpfiles.

Channels

Games also typically have a channel system. 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 +, followed by whatever you wanted to say. For example, a channel named Public (for general public chatter) might use the following command:

+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.

On Modern Nights: We have two channels that all guests and new players belong to by default: Questions and Public. Our channel system uses a + in front of channel talk commands, so you can talk on them by typing:

+pub <stuff>- Say <stuff> on the Public channel.
+que <stuff> - Say <stuff> on the Questions channel.

News

Games need a way to convey information about themselves to players: their settings, their rules, etc. By convention, these are called news files, or just news. This is where you'll find all the basic information that staff wants you to know about the game. You can see the entire list by typing "news" and any individual news file with "news <file name>".

...Or you can just go to the wiki. Every modern game has one and they're a thousand times more convenient than typing "news blahblahblah" two dozen times.

On Modern Nights: You're on our wiki right now! In game, our general news files are found with the commands "news" and "news <file name>". We also have special news sections for information on how we run vampire and mage. Our vampire news is found under "vampire" and "vampire <file name>", and our mage news files can be viewed with "mage" and "mage <file name>".

Other Fundamental Concepts

There are some other terms and ideas that you'll see used on games. Some of these are near essential background knowledge regarding how these games are set up, to the point where documentation and people trying to help will simply assume you're already familiar with them. Here are the most vital ideas that didn't easily fit in any of the earlier sections.

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.

Descriptions

Descriptions - also known as "descs" - are used to, well, describe what rooms, characters, and objects look like. You can see them using the "look" command. By itself, "look" will show you a room's desc (plus some other information), while "look <player or item>" will show you the description of that player or thing.

Descs are set with the @desc command. To set your own, use:

@desc me=<description>

If you want to include line breaks or tabs, you'll need to use special characters, otherwise the MUSH will just eat up any extra whitespace.

%r - Adds a line break
%t - Adds a tab indentation

Lastly, if you want to be notified when someone uses the "look" command to read your description, you can copy and paste the following block of code:

&adescribe me=think -- %N just looked at you!

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.

For historical (and code) reasons, staff members are often called wizards, or wizzes, though sometimes this will only be true of the lead staffer in a particular area. A game may have a vampire wiz and vampire admin, for example. They're both staffers who run things for the game's vampire characters, but the wiz is actually in charge, while the admin is only a helper. The chief staff member on any game is usually called the head wiz.

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

On Modern Nights: We use a fictional robot and AI theme for our staff.

Approval

Most games do not simply allow you to create a character at the login screen, head out onto the IC section of the grid, and start playing. There is some sort of approval process to make sure your character fits the rules and/or theme of the game. This approval process can be very simple or very involved, and may involve anything from going through a brief, coded character generator to emailing a detailed application to a staffer. This depends entirely on the game you're in, and sometimes on what you're applying for (or "apping") as well. Check your game's news files (command: "news") and/or wiki for more information.

On Modern Nights: In order to play, you'll need to run through a coded character generator to set your character's stats, write a small background, and be able to explain certain stats that you've bought (for example, if you buy Allies, you'll need to detail who those allies actually are). For more information, see our pages on creating a vampire, mage, sorcerer or psychic, or mortal. Feel free to ask in game if you need any help!

Spheres

World of Darkness games are usually divided up into "spheres." This usually refers to the different game lines: games may have a vampire sphere, a mage sphere, a wraith sphere, etc. Spheres usually have their own themes, plots, and focus, and often their own staffer. Staffers for one sphere may not necessarily be able to run things or adjudicate dice rolls for other spheres.

Some games may also separate crime and/or law enforcement into their own spheres.

On Modern Nights: We have vampire, mage, and mortal+ spheres. We also allow you to play a regular mortal, but there's no dedicated vanilla mortal sphere with its own plots or staffer.

Nice to Know: Concepts

These are the terms and ideas that show up in MUSH 101 files (or would, if most MUSH 101 files weren't written in 1995 and slightly out of date). They're highly useful to know, but only if you already understand the fundamentals of what a MUSH is and how to play on one. Knowing what bar RP is, for example, doesn't do you any good if you're still stuck wondering how the hell roleplay actually works on these weird MUSH things, anyay.

Nonetheless, they are helpful to know, so if you've got Remedial MUSH 100 down, it's time for MUSH 101.

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 those guys the other day (yes, "to scene" is a verb on MUSHes), etc.

Set/Sceneset

"Hey, can I get a set?"

A sceneset, or set, is a pose detailing what's going on in a scene. Literally, it sets the scene. These are typically done at the beginning of a scene, and when a new player shows up in an existing scene.

If you're entering a scene, it's generally a good idea to get one of these or to wait a few poses to see what's going on before posing your character's arrival. This lets your character react appropriately to what's happening, rather than, say, bouncing in happily and trying to hug someone who's actually bleeding out on the floor.

Pose Order/Three Pose Rule

Pose order is the order in which people will pose, and it goes around in a circle. For example, John may pose first, followed by Susan, followed by Mary, at which point it's John's turn again. Keeping to a pose order ensures that everyone gets a chance to pose, and that faster writers aren't effectively "talking over" those who take longer to type. The actual order usually arises organically in a scene. Generally speaking, it's rude to cut ahead, but there are exceptions.

One of these is large scenes. A common way of dealing with this is something called the "Three Pose Rule," or 3PR. Basically, you have to wait for three other people to pose before you pose again. This prevents speedy typists from dominating the scene while still allowing things to move along.

This is one of those things that varies from player to player and game to game. Some people care very much about keeping to pose order, while others don't. When in doubt, it never hurts to ask what your scene partners prefer.

Game Culture

Every player has their own ideas of what constitutes good roleplaying: how long poses and descriptions should be, how they should be formatted, how long is reasonable to wait between poses, should you switch into writing poses in the second person when there's just one other player in the room, how much OOC chatter is desirable in a scene, etc. Some games have players with wildly differing answers to these questions. When this happens, it's usually not a problem: players will adapt and/or self segregate with others who match their playstyle. On such games, however you choose to play, you can probably find others who will either match or accept your chosen playstyle.

Some games, however, have a culture that tilts in particular directions. You may have a harder time here if your play doesn't match their expectations. While this is no excuse for other players to be outright rude to you, it might make them reluctant to play with you.

How do you know what you're dealing with? Well, it never hurts to ask, but for many of these aspects of play, observing works as well or better. (In my experience, reading descriptions to see what length is typical is much more useful than asking how long a description has to be. The latter usually gets you something unhelpful like "however long it needs to be.") Have scenes with a variety of people, and see what - if anything - is usual for the game you're on.

Logs

A log is just a copy of the text output during a scene, such as all the poses and any descriptions you looked at, saved as a text file. Technically, a log can be a copy of any text output from the game, but when players talk about logs, they usually mean scene logs. Some people log everything. Some never log. Some wikis will allow players to, with the permission of everyone in the scene, post logs that aren't too sexual or violent.

Logs are also sometimes kept as a way to keep players up to date with what's going on even when they can't attend a scene - such as a long meeting - in its entirety. If someone has to go two hours into a three hour meeting, but their character would stay, a log will help fill in what they missed.

Logging is done by your client, so you'll need to look at your client to figure out how to turn it on, how to turn it off, and where it saves the resulting text file. This usually is quite simple.

Some games will automatically log everything, with the logs accessible to staff, who may use it to confirm OOC harassment or IC actions. The game's news files should have something mentioning this, if it's the case.

On Modern Nights: All poses, says, and emits in IC rooms are logged automatically by the game. Pages, OOC comments, and anything in OOC rooms is not. These logs are only visible to staff, who will only check them under certain circumstances. Please see our logging policy page for more information on what and why we log (it's not so staff can read about your character fucking, I promise). You can also temporarily turn logging off by typing "+privacy".

Some Other Terms

Lastly, a handful of terms you'll hear thrown around, and their definitions.

AFK

"Away from keyboard." Just what it says: the player had to step away from the computer (or phone) for whatever reason.

Bar RP

Social roleplay consisting of mundane small talk. The archetypal bar RP scene is when two characters meet at a bar, ask each other where they're from and what they do, sip their drinks, and then go their separate ways. ["Except it takes two hours of my life that I'm never getting back!" - ed.] Not all bar RP is boring, but it does have that connotation.

Idle

When a player isn't posing, paging, talking, or otherwise interacting with the game. Used as both an adjective and a verb: players can be idle, be idling, or they can just idle.

TS

Short for "tinysex." (A lot of old school MUSH terms begin with "tiny.") Erotic roleplaying. Included in this glossary so that you don't have to ask in game, blissfully naive, while everyone around you snickers awkwardly.

Nice to Know: Common Code

Continuing on with MUSH 101: games have a lot more code than just say, pose, emit, page, and exits. A lot of this code will be custom made for the game you're on, and well beyond the scope of this guide, but some commands are universal or extremely common.

Before We Begin: What's with the + and @?

A lot of the following commands start with + or @, and you're probably wondering why.

Firstly, if you're playing on an Ares game, you need to get out a big shaker of salt to take this section with. On Ares games, these commands don't start with those special characters, and sometimes have different names entirely. Should you skip this section entirely? Probably not. Ares is based on MUSH, in theory though not actual code, and so many of the basic concepts are the same. What you should do, though, is check the help for your individual game.

With that out of the way:

By convention, commands hardcoded into the MUSH itself start with @. "Hardcoded" means that every game running that particular code base will have that command, and many code bases share commands in common. These commands came with the server when the game owners set it up. Hardcoded commands have their help documentation listed under the command "help", but the help provided is often inscrutable if you don't already understand how the code works.

These are contrasted with softcoded commands, which - again by convention - almost always start with +. These are commands that are added later to each game, using a special MUSH scripting language. While some softcode is shared between games, it is much more variable by nature. Softcoded commands usually have their help files under a command called "+help" (where "+help <command name>" brings up the helpfile for an individual command).

As for why + and @ specifically, when a single uniform special character - or none at all - makes more sense: I have no idea.

On Modern Nights: Modern Nights does not use the Ares codebase, so you're stuck with the + and @. Sorry.

+Help and Help

The help for softcode is almost always found by typing "+help". This is where you'll see listed all the custom commands your game has, and you can view the help for them by typing "+help <command name>". Some versions of +help are fussy and require you to type the + if a command name has it.

+Help is also notable in that the help files are, by and large, actually helpful.

"Help", by itself, brings up the hardcode help. This is the documentation for the commands built into the codebase, and is often of very little use to new players, or even experienced players who aren't familiar with MUSH code. Nonetheless, you can type "help <command name>" to bring up the help for that command.

On Modern Nights: "+help" will bring up our help files.

Other People, and the Finding Thereof

There are a few extremely common commands for finding other players (or staff members).

+who and +where

These commands, which will have different formats from game to game, show you who is connected and where they are. Typically +where will sort by location and may not list exactly who's present, while +who will sort by player name and show individual locations. To use them, simply type "+who" or "+where". If your game is missing one of these commands, you'll just get an error message.

On Modern Nights: +where shows locations and how many people are at them, while +who will not only list individual players and where they are, but whether or not they're up for roleplay!

+staff

Have questions? Need a dice roll adjudicated? How do you know which staff members are online and available - or, for that matter, who even is staff?

Enter +staff! On most games, you can type "+staff" and get a nice list of who's staff, what each person's job is, which of them are online, and possibly whether or not they're around to help you.

On Modern Nights: Yep, we have this command.

+finger

Typing "+finger <player>" will usually bring up a bit of information about that person, both IC (usually a full IC name, sometimes a job or apparent age) and OOC (their availability, what kinds of RP they prefer, and so on).

On Modern Nights: We've got this command.

Aliases

Because character names can be long and annoying to type at times, MUSHes allow for players to choose a shorter (or longer, if they really want) alias for themselves. This is something other players choose for themselves; you can't assign custom personal aliases to other players. If you don't like typing their name or the alias they picked, tough luck.

Aliases can be used in pages, mail, etc. - basically, anywhere a character's full name would be. If you don't know what a character's alias is, it's often displayed next to their name in pages (in parentheses), in their +finger, in +who, or other places. It depends on the game and the code base used.

To set your own alias, you can use:

@alias me=<alias>

Mail

Games come with built in mail systems for sending messages to other players. They work pretty much like any other mail system on any other platform. That's the good news.

The bad news is that the commands vary subtly between codebases, and they're pretty much all hardcoded, so you have to deal with the help files in "help mail", which are never very newbie friendly.

The commands to read your mail are generally similar across codebases:

@mail - Gives a numbered list of your messages.
@mail <#> - Reads message #.
@mail/read unread - Reads all your unread messages.

Actually sending mail varies enough by codebase that, if "help mail" or "help mail-sending" don't do the trick, you're better off asking someone for assistance.

On Modern Nights: To send mail to someone (or someones), you can use the following command:

@mail <player1> <player2> <etc.>=<title>/<message>

Bulletin Boards

Most games use the exact same, soft coded bulletin board system, which allows players to post messages that others can read. Boards can be OOC, as in an announcements board for the game, or IC, such as a board representing a literal bulletin board in a faction hangout. IC news media will also often be portrayed via bulletin board. Some boards may be restricted to certain types of players or characters, while other boards will let you read them, but not write to them.

The help files for the bulletin board system is usually under the commands "+bbhelp" or "+help bb". A full explanation of it is beyond this guide, but the very basic commands are:

+bbread - Lists all the bulletin boards you have access to. Each board has a name, and also a number.
+bbread <#> - Lists all the posts on board <#>. Each post will have a title, and also be numbered. Why the numbers? Well...
+bbread <#>/<post #> - Shows <post #> on board <#>. Now, aren't you glad you've got numbers to use?
+bbread <#>/u - The u is short for "unread". This will show you all the posts on board <#> that you haven't seen yet, after which the code will make them down as as read.

On Modern Nights: "+help bulletin boards" will show you the help for the bulletin board system.

IC Communication: More Ways to Do It

There are a few more ways of communicating in character with other people. Besides phone code, which is so different from game to game that I can't begin to write a guide, two commands that most every game has are whisper and mutter.

Whisper

All MUSHes have a whisper command. Whisper can be used to privately send a message to another character in the same room. Unlike page, it only works on characters in the same room. Additionally, while page is usually used for OOC communication, whisper is typically IC. You can whisper by typing:

whisper <player>=<stuff>
whisper <player>=:<stuff>
whisper <player>=;<stuff>

Those last two options will format the whisper as a pose.

+mutter

Many games also have a mutter or +mutter command. It works similarly to whisper, as a way to quietly and ICly speak to another character in the room. Unlike whisper, it will show certain parts of what you said while randomly concealing the rest of it. Each game's command works a little differently, but the general idea is something like this:

mutter <player>=<stuff>

As an example, let's say that you, Bob, wanted to mutter to Mary. You'd type:

mutter mary=Did you get home okay to your mom?

You would see something like:

You mutter to Mary, "Did you get home okay to your mom?"

And Mary would see:

Bob mutters to you, "Did you get home okay to your mom?"

The rest of the room, however, might see:

Bob mutters to Mary, "... ... get ... ... ... your mom?"

Check your game's +help (type "+help") to see if it has a mutter command and exactly how it works.

Movement

Remember how I said that you can only move between rooms by using exits? I lied. There are ways to immediately jump to another room, but they all have their limitations.

Also, unless your character can teleport, these are all out of character ways of moving around quickly. Your character is assumed to be going the normal way, even if you're skipping right to your destination.

Home

Typing "home" will instantly transport you to whichever room you've designated as your character's home. If you're a new character, this will usually be automatically set as one of the OOC rooms. If you get your own in character home room on the grid, you can change it using a command called @link. To do this, stand in the room you want to designate as your home, and type:

@link me=here

Note that you can't just set any and every room as your home. Rooms that can be homes have to be specially marked in the code. If you're having trouble, talk to staff!

@Tel

@Tel, short for @teleport, will also immediately move you from one room to the next. You need to know the database reference number - or dbref - of the room you're trying to teleport into. That's the number that the game uses to actually keep track of the room. (In MUSHes, everything is internally identified by its dbref, rather than its name. Even you! Rooms, items, and players can be renamed, but dbrefs last until the room, item, or player is destroyed.) The room will also need to be marked in the code as one you can @teleport to; not every room is. If you know the dbref and the room is set up for it, though, the command is:

@tel #<dbref>

+ic/+ooc

These are commands that most games have. Typically "+ic" will transport you to your last location on the in character section of the grid, while "+ooc" will take you to the out of character part of the grid.

Desc Additions: Places, +View, and Others

Sometimes, you'll see room or player descriptions with a little note at the end, usually on a separate line: "places available," "+views available," "+notes available," etc. This means that certain code - places code, or +view/+note/whatever code - is being used on that room or player.

Places

Places code is code on rooms that gives them some extra functionality. It creates "places," which are sort of mini rooms within a room. When you're at a place, you can see the poses and emits of everyone else in the room, and they can see yours. However, you can also use a special command called tabletalk (which allows for poses, says, and sometimes emits) to write things that are only visible to the other people at your place. Places code is often used to represent tables and booths in restaurants, small rooms such as restrooms, or secluded parts of a larger area.

Because these areas are small, places code will limit the number of people who can be at any one place, though the exact limit will be different from place to place. A tiny, curtained off corner might have room for only two people, while a long table might hold ten or more.

This code is particularly helpful when trying to have a more private conversation in character, or during very large scenes where, if people don't break off into places and use tabletalk, the sheer number of poses can easily become overwhelming.

On Modern Nights: We have places code. The basic commands are:

places - Lists the available places in a room, who's at them, and how many spaces each has left. Each place will have a name describing it, and a number for ease of using the commands.
join at <#> - Put yourself at place #
tt <stuff> - Tabletalk say. A say that is only seen by those at your place.
tt :<stuff> - Tabletalk pose. Like the tabletalk say, but a pose.
+place/leave - Leaves your current place. You'll automatically leave your place if you leave the room, as well.

+view/+notes

This code differs greatly between games: games may have one, the other, both, or neither. Both are used as ways to attach more information to a room, character, or object. Generally, +view is used for publically available information, while +notes are for private information, but each game works a bit differently.

+Views are typically created for things like menus or elaborate jewelry and tattoos: details that anyone can notice by looking around a room or at a character, but which are too minor and lengthy to put in the main description. Like descriptions, they can only be seen if you're in the same room. +Notes are more often for things like security systems or magical trinkets. They're visible to staff and usually the player or room owner themselves (if they're on a player or room, respectively), but random other players can't simply read them.

You'll want to check your game's "+help" to see how these commands work and what they're for. +Note in particular tends to be highly variable, but +view is more regular. The most common commands are:

+view here - List available +views on a room you're in.
+view <player> - Lists available +views on a player.
+view here/<view name> - Displays the actual text of a +view.
+view <player>/<view name> - Same as above, but for +views on players.

On Modern Nights: Modern Nights has much more extensive +notes code than many other games. While there is +view, the +notes code has the same functionality - providing extra information that anyone can read - and more besides. +Notes can be public or private, set on rooms or characters, along with a whole slew of other features. Please type "help +notes" in game for more information on how +notes work on Modern Nights, or feel free to ask for help.

XP: Vote and Recs

This is another thing that varies heavily from game to game, but most World of Darkness games (and some others) use some combination of a vote and recommendation system to give out experience points. Typically - and this can differ a lot - players and staff can both give out votes and recommendations (often abbreviated as "reccs" or "recs"). Usually, votes are a participation trophy just for showing up and posing, while recommendations are for play that goes above and beyond, and require an explanation. It's common for votes to automatically award a small amount of XP, while recommendations pay out more and need to be hand processed by staff.

Check your game's news and +help files to see how they handle XP, how the code works, and any limitations it may have.

On Modern Nights: We have both +vote and +rec, along with a small amount of automatic XP gain simply for being IC and posing. You can +vote for as many people as you like, but you can only +vote for them once a month. You can also +rec up to three people a month. The basic commands are:

+vote <player>
+rec <player>=<reason for recommending them>

Please see "+help rec" and our XP policy for more information.

Jobs

Some things cannot be handled while everyone's online. In order to organize a dialogue between staff and player, most MUSHes use something called jobs code. Each job is a little bit like a small bulletin board: anyone with access (usually just you and staff) can read it at any time, and add reply messages that can also be read at any time. (If you've seen a Kanban board, used JIRA, Trello, or some other To Do List software, this is essentially a purely text-based version of the same.) Jobs are often used for XP spends, scene requests, off screen actions that don't warrant a full scene, character approvals, and more.

On Modern Nights: We have jobs code. Your character's approval will be handled in a job, for example. The main commands for jobs here are:

+jobs - Lists all jobs you have access to. Each job has a title and a number.
+job <#> - Shows you job <#>, including all replies.
+job/add <#>=<reply> - Adds <reply> to job <#>.
+request <title>=<message> - Creates a job. By default, only you and staff will have access.

There's more functionality than that, so please see "+help jobs" if you want to read about all the bells and whistles.

Conclusion

While MUSHing has a nasty learning curve for total beginners, there's a lot of enjoyment to be found if you can get through that and find a group of players you click with. (There's a reason it still has fans after all these years, after all.) If you're new to this hobby, or just checking it out, I hope this guide has helped you get over that initial hump so that you can find the fun.

Happy RPing!

Credits and Sharing

This guide was written by Rusalka, aka Lauren@Modern Nights. Feel free to copy and modify this guide as you please, no attribution needed.