The game is multiplayer and game data is saved in a shared common location.
  Characters are password-protected to prevent abuse. Only characters above
  level zero are saved. Characters that are left unused for
  sufficiently long will be purged. Characters are only placed on the scoreboard
  when they die.
The world is based on a Cartesian coordinate system. New
    characters are placed randomly near the origin (center).
A number of the player's more important statistics are almost always displayed
  on the screen, with maximums (where applicable) in parentheses.
Most commands are selected with a single letter or digit. For
    example, one may move by hitting ‘W’, ‘S’,
    ‘N’, or ‘E’. Lower case may also be used; the
    game is not case-sensitive. One may also use ‘H’,
    ‘J’, ‘K’, and ‘L’ for movement, as
    with vi(1). To move to a specific
    (x, y) coordinate, use the move (‘1’)
    command. A character can move a maximum distance of 1 plus 1.5 per
    level at once. Entering a compass direction will move the
    player the maximum allowed distance in that direction.
The players (‘2’) command
    shows who else is playing. The exact position is shown for those who are a
    similar distance or not as far from the origin. Kings and
    council of the wise can see and be seen by everyone. A
    palantir removes these restrictions.
One can talk to other players with the
    talk (‘3’) option. This sends a line
    of text to everyone. To remove the current message, just type
    ⟨return⟩ when prompted for a message.
The stats (‘4’) option shows
    additional characteristics of a player.
The quit (‘5’) command exits
    the game.
One may rest by default. Resting lets one regain maximum
    energy level, and also lets one find
    mana. More mana is found at larger levels and further
    distances from the origin.
One may call a monster by hitting ‘9’ or
    ‘C’.
Use ‘X’ to examine other players.
One may quit or execute a sub-shell by hitting interrupt. Quitting
    during battle results in death, for obvious reasons.
Several further commands become available as the player progresses
    in level and magic, or to other stations
    in the game (valar, council of the wise,
    king). These are described elsewhere. In general, a
    control-L will force the redrawing of the screen.
Other things which may happen are more or less
  self-explanatory.
A player has several options while fighting monsters. They are as follows:
  - melee
- Inflicts damage on the monster, based upon strength.
      Also decreases the monster's strength some.
- skirmish
- Inflicts a little less damage than melee, but
      decreases the monster's quickness instead.
- evade
- Attempt to run away. Success is based upon both the player's and the
      monster's brains and quickness.
- spell
- Several options for throwing spells (described elsewhere).
- nick
- Hits the monster one plus the player's sword, and gives
      the player 10% of the monster's experience. Decreases
      the monster's experience an amount proportional to the
      amount granted. This also increases the monster's quickness. Paralyzed
      monsters wake up very fast when nicked.
- luckout
- This is essentially a battle of wits with the monster. Success is based
      upon the player's and the monster's brains. The player
      gets credit for slaying the monster if he/she succeeds. Otherwise, nothing
      happens, and the chance to luckoutis lost.
 
  - strength
- determines how much damage a character can inflict.
- quickness
- determines how many chances a character gets to make decisions while
      fighting.
- energy level
- specifies how much damage a character may endure before dying.
- magic level
- determines which spells a character may throw, and how effective those
      spells will be.
- brains
- basically, the character's intelligence; used for various fighting options
      and spells.
- mana
- used as a power source for throwing spells.
- experience
- gained by fighting monsters and other characters.
- level
- indicative of how much experience a character has accumulated; progresses
      geometrically as experience increases.
- poison
- sickness which degrades a character's performance (affects
      energy level and strength).
- sin
- accumulated as a character does certain nasty things; used only rarely in
      normal play of the game.
- age
- of player; roughly equivalent to number of turns. As age
      increases, many personal statistics degenerate.
 
Character statistics are rolled randomly from the above list, according to
  character type. The types are as follows:
  - magic user
- strong in magic level and brains, weak
      in other areas. Must rely on wits and magic to survive.
- fighter
- good in strength and energy level,
      fairly good in other areas. This adds up to a well-equipped fighter.
- elf
- very high quickness and above average
      magic level.
- dwarf
- very high strength and energy level,
      but with a tendency to be rather slow and not too bright.
- halfling
- rather quick and smart, with high energy level, but poor
      in magic and strength. Born with some
      experience.
- experimento
- very mediocre in all areas. However, the experimento may
      be placed almost anywhere within the playing grid.
 
The possible ranges for starting statistics are summarized in the
    following table.
  
    | Type | Strength | Quick | Mana | Energy | Brains | Magic | 
  
    | Mag. User | 10-15 | 30-35 | 50-100 | 30-45 | 60-85 | 5-9 | 
  
    | Fighter | 40-55 | 30-35 | 30-50 | 45-70 | 25-45 | 3-6 | 
  
    | Elf | 35-45 | 32-38 | 45-90 | 30-50 | 40-65 | 4-7 | 
  
    | Dwarf | 50-70 | 25-30 | 25-45 | 60-100 | 20-40 | 2-5 | 
  
    | Halfling | 20-25 | 34 | 25-45 | 55-90 | 40-75 | 1-4 | 
  
    | Experimento | 25 | 27 | 100 | 35 | 25 | 2 | 
Not only are the starting characteristics different for the
    different character types, but the characteristics progress at different
    rates for the different types as the character goes up in
    level. Experimentoes' characteristics
    progress randomly as one of the other types. The progression as characters
    increase in level is summarized in the following
  table.
  
    | Type | Strength | Mana | Energy | Brains | Magic | 
  
    | Mag. User | 2.0 | 75 | 20 | 6 | 2.75 | 
  
    | Fighter | 3.0 | 40 | 30 | 3.0 | 1.5 | 
  
    | Elf | 2.5 | 65 | 25 | 4.0 | 2.0 | 
  
    | Dwarf | 5 | 30 | 35 | 2.5 | 1 | 
  
    | Halfling | 2.0 | 30 | 30 | 4.5 | 1 | 
The character type also determines how much gold a player may
    carry, how long until rings can overcome the player, and
    how much poison the player can withstand.
During the course of the game, the player may exercise his/her magic powers.
  These cases are described below.
  - cloak
- magic level necessary: 20 (plus level 7)
    
 mana used: 35 plus 3 per rest period
 Used during normal play. Prevents monsters from finding the character, as
      well as hiding the player from other players. His/her coordinates show up
      as '?' in theplayersoption. Players cannot
      collect mana, find trading posts, or discover the
      grail while cloaked. Calling a monster uncloaks, as does
      choosing this option while cloaked.
- teleport
- magic level necessary: 40 (plus level 12)
    
 mana used: 30 per 75 moved
 Used during normal play. Allows the player to move with much more freedom
      than with themoveoption, at the price of
      expending mana. The maximum distance possible to move is based upon
      level and magic level.
- power
    blast
- magic level necessary: none
    
 mana used: 5 times level
 Used during inter-terminal battle. Damage is based upon magic
      level and strength. Hits much harder than a normal
      hit.
- all
    or nothing
- magic level necessary: none
    
 mana used: 1
 Used while combating monsters. Has a 25% chance of working. If it works it
      hits the monster just enough to kill it. If it fails, it doesn't hit the
      monster, and doubles the monster's quickness and
      strength. Paralyzed monsters wake up much quicker as a
      result of this spell.
- magic
    bolt
- magic level necessary: 5
    
 mana used: variable
 Used while combating monsters. Hits the monster based upon the amount of
      mana expended and magic level.
      Guaranteed to hit at least 10 per mana.
- force
    field
- magic level necessary: 15
    
 mana used: 30
 Used during monster combat. Throws up a shield to protect from damage. The
      shield is added to actual energy level, and is a fixed number, based upon
      maximum energy. Normally, damage occurs first to the shield and then to
      the players actual energy level.
- transform
- magic level necessary: 25
    
 mana used: 50
 Used during monster combat. Transforms the monster randomly into one of the
      100 monsters from the monster file.
- increase
    might
- magic level necessary: 35
    
 mana used: 75
 Used during combat with monsters. Increases strength up to a maximum.
- invisibility
- magic level necessary: 45
    
 mana used: 90
 Used while fighting monsters. Makes it harder for the monster to hit, by
      temporarily increasing the player's quickness. This
      spell may be thrown several times, but a maximum level will be
    reached.
- transport
- magic level necessary: 60
    
 mana used: 125
 Used during monster combat. Transports the monster away from the player.
      Success is based upon player's magic and
      brains, and the monster's experience.
      If it fails the player is transported instead. 60% of the time, the
      monster will drop any treasure it was carrying.
- paralyze
- magic level necessary: 75
    
 mana used: 150
 Used during monster combat. “Freezes” the monster by putting
      its quickness slightly negative. The monster will slowly
      wake up. Success is based upon player's magic and the
      monster's experience. If it fails, nothing happens.
- specify
- magic level necessary: none
    
 mana used: 1000
 Used during monster combat only by valar or
      council of the wise. Allows the player to pick which
      monster to fight.
 
Monsters get bigger farther from the origin (0,0). Rings of distance 125 from
  the origin determine the size. A monster's experience,
  energy level, and brains are multiplied by
  the size. Strength is increased 50% per size over one, and
  quickness remains the same, regardless of size.
Also, nastier monsters are found as one progresses farther out
    from the origin. Monsters also may flock. The percent chance of that
    happening is designated as flock% in the monster listing.
    Monsters outside the first ring may carry treasure, as determined by their
    treasure type. Flocking monsters, and bigger monsters, increase the chances
    of treasure.
Certain monsters have special abilities, as follows:
  - Unicorn
- can only be subdued if the player is in possession of a
      virgin.
- Modnar
- has random characteristics, including treasure type.
- Mimic
- will pick another name from the list of monsters in order to confuse.
- Dark Lord
- very nasty person. Does not like to be hit (especially nicked), and many
      spells do not work well (or at all) against him. One can always
      evade from the Dark Lord.
- Leanan-Sidhe
- also a very nasty person. She will permanently sap
      strength from someone.
- Saruman
- wanders around with Wormtongue, who can steal a
      palantir. Also, Saruman may turn a
      player's gems into gold pieces, or scramble her/his stats.
- Thaumaturgist
- can transport a player.
- Balrog
- inflicts damage by taking away experience, not
      energy.
- Vortex
- may take some mana.
- Nazgul
- may try to steal a ring or neutralize part of one's
      brains.
- Tiamat
- may take half a player's gold and gems
      and escape.
- Kobold
- may get nasty and steal one gold piece and run away.
- Shelob
- may bite, inflicting the equivalent of one poison.
- Assorted Faeries
- These are killed if attacking someone carrying holy
      water. These are Cluricaun, Fir
      Darrig, Fachan, Ghille Dhu,
      Bogle, Killmoulis, and
      Bwca.
- Lamprey
- may bite, inflicting 1/2 of a poison.
- Shrieker
- will call one of its (much bigger) buddies if picked upon.
- Bonnacon
- will become bored with battle, fart, and run off.
- Smeagol
- will try to steal a ring from a player, if given the
      chance.
- Succubus
- may inflict damage through a force field. This
      subtracts from energy level instead of any shield the
      player may have thrown up. This is a very easy way to die.
- Cerberus
- loves metal and will steal all the metal treasures from a player if
    able.
- Ungoliant
- can bite and poison. This inflicts five poisons, and
      also takes one from the player's quickness.
- Jabberwock
- may tire of battle, and leave after calling one of his friends
      (Jubjub Bird or Bandersnatch).
- Morgoth
- actually Modnar, but reserved for council
      of the wise, valar, and ex-valar.
      Fights with Morgoth end when either he or the player
      dies. His characteristics are calculated based upon the player's. The
      player is given the chance to ally with him. No magic, except
      force field, works when battling
      Morgoth.
- Troll
- may regenerate its energy and strength
      while in battle.
- Wraith
- may make a player blind.
The various treasure types are as follows:
  - Type zero
- none
- Type one
- power booster - adds mana.
    
 druid - adds experience.
 holy orb - subtracts 0.25 sin.
- Type two
- amulet - protects from cursed treasure.
    
 holy water - kills assorted faeries.
 hermit - reduces sin by 25% and adds some mana.
- Type three
- shield - adds to maximum energy level.
    
 virgin - used to subdue a unicorn, or to
      give much experience (and some sin).
 athelas - subtracts one poison.
- Type four (scrolls)
- shield - throws a bigger than normal
      force field.
 invisible - temporarily puts the finder's
      quickness to one million.
 ten fold strength - multiplies finder's strength by ten.
 pick monster - allows finder to pick next monster to
      battle.
 general knowledge - adds to finder's
      brains and magic level.All the scrolls except general knowledge
        automatically call a monster. These preserve any spells that were
        already in effect, but are only in effect while in battle. 
- Type five
- dagger - adds to strength.
    
 armour - same as a shield, but bigger.
 tablet - adds brains.
- Type six
- priest - rests to maximum; adds mana,
      brains; and halves sin.
    
 Robin Hood - increases shield and adds
      permanently to strength.
 axe - like dagger, but bigger.
- Type seven
- charm - protects from cursed treasure (used before
      amulet); used in conjunction with
      blessing to battle Dark Lord.
    
 Merlyn - adds brains,
      magic, and mana.
 war hammer - like an axe, but
    bigger.
- Type eight
- healing potion - sets poison to -2, or
      subtracts two from poison, whichever is better.
    
 transporter - allows finder to move anywhere.
 sword - like a war hammer, but
    bigger.
- Type nine
- golden crown - allows the player to become
      king by going to (0,0).
    
 blessing - cuts sin to 1/3, adds
      mana, rests to maximum, kills Dark
      Lord with a charm, and gives bearer first hit on all
      monsters.
 quicksilver - adds to quickness.
- Type ten
- elven boots - adds permanently to
      quickness.
- Type eleven
- palantir - allows one to see all the other players; used
      by council of the wise to seek the
      grail.
- Type twelve/thirteen
- ring - allows one to hit much harder in battle,
    etc.
Any treasure type 10-13 monsters may instead carry a type nine
    treasure.
A monster may also be carrying gold or
    gems. These are used at trading posts to
    buy things. A gem is worth 1000 gold pieces. Too much
    gold will slow a player down. One may carry 1000 plus 200
    per level of gold. A
    gem weighs one half a gold piece. Monsters of treasure
    type 7 or higher may carry gems.
The chance of a cursed treasure is based upon treasure type. The
    more valuable treasures have a greater chance of being cursed. A cursed
    treasure knocks energy level very low and adds 0.25
    poison.
Rings are only carried by nazguls and
  Dark Lords. They come in four different flavors. All
  rings rest the player to maximum and cause him/her to hit
  much harder in battle with monsters (assuming the ring is
  being used for battle.)
Two types of rings are cursed and come either
    from nazguls or Dark Lords. After a few
    times of using these types, the player falls under the control of the
    ring, and strange, random things will occur. Eventually,
    the player dies, and gives his/her name to a monster on the file. Dying
    before the ring is used up also renames the monster.
The two remaining types of rings are much more
    benign. The one from a nazgul is good for a limited number
    of battle rounds, and will save the player from death if it was being used
    when he/she died. The one from Dark Lord is the same,
    except that it never is used up. rings disappear after
    saving someone from death. In general, cursed rings occur
    much more often than normal ones. It is usually not a good idea to pick one
    up. The only way to get rid of a ring is to have a monster
    steal it.
A player may become king by finding a crown
  and going to (0,0). Players must have a level in the range
  of 10 to 1000 to be able to find a crown. When a player with
  one or more crowns reaches level 1000, the
  crowns are converted to gold.
Once a player is king, he/she may do certain things while in the
    Lord's Chamber (0,0). These are exercised with the
    decree ('0') option.
  - transport
- This is done to another player. It randomly moves the affected player
      about. A charm protects from transports.
- curse
- This is done to another player. It is analogous to cursed treasure, but
      worse. It inflicts two poison, knocks
      energy level very low, and degrades the maximum energy.
      It also removes a cloak. A blessing
      protects from king's curses.
- energy
    void
- The king may put a number of these scattered about his/her kingdom as
      he/she pleases. If a player hits one, he/she loses mana,
      energy, and gold. The energy void
      disappears after being hit.
- bestow
- This is also done to another player. The king may wish to reward one or
      more loyal subjects by sharing his/her riches (gold). Or
      it is a convenient way to dispose of some unwanted deadweight.
- collect
    taxes
- Everyone pays 7% tax on all gold and
      gems acquired, regardless of the existence of a
      king. The king collects the accrued taxes with this
      option.
The king may also
    teleport anywhere for free by using the origin as a
    starting place.
A player automatically becomes a member of the council of the
  wise upon reaching level 3000. Members of the council cannot have
  rings. Members of the council have a few extra options which
  they can exercise. These are exercised with the
  intervene (‘8’) option. All
  intervene options cost 1000 mana. One
  intervene option is to heal
  another player. This is just a quick way for that player to be rested to
  maximum and lose a little poison. The main purpose in life
  for members of the council is to seek the Holy Grail. This
  is done with a palantir under the seek
  grail option. The distance cited by the seek is accurate within 10%, in
  order not to make it too easy to find the grail. A player must have
  infinitesimally small sin, or else it's all over upon
  finding the grail. In order to help members of the council on their quest,
  they may teleport with greater ease.
Upon finding the grail, the player advances to position of
    valar. He/she may then exercise more and niftier options
    under intervention. These include all of the council
    members' options plus the ability to move other players about, bless them,
    and throw monsters at them. A valar's blessing has the
    same effect as the treasure blessing, except that the
    affected player does not get his/her blessing flag set.
    All intervention options which affect other players
    age the player who uses them. Valars are essentially
    immortal, but are actually given five lives. If these are used up, the
    player is left to die, and becomes an ex-valar. A
    valar cannot move,
    teleport, or call monsters. (An exception to this is
    if the valar finds a transporter.) This
    is to allow him/her to dispose of excess gold. Any
    monsters which a valar encounters are based upon his/her
    size. Only one valar may exist at a time. The current valar is replaced when
    another player finds the grail. The valar is then bumped back to the council
    of the wise.
The wizard is usually the owner of the game and the one who
  maintains the associated files. The wizard is granted
  special powers within the game, if it is invoked with the
  -S option. Otherwise, the wizard
  plays no different from other players. The wizard abilities
  are outlined below.
  - change
    players
- When examining a player, (game invoked with -x, or
      ‘X’ is used from within game), the wizard
      may also change the player.
- intervention
- The wizard may do all the
      interventionoptions. One extra option,vaporize, is added to kill any offensive
    players.
- super
    character type
- An extra character type is added. This character starts with the maximum
      possible in all statistics, selected from the other character types. A
      super character's statistics also progress at the
      maximum possible rate, selected from the other character types.
Certain regions of the playing grid have different names. In general, this is
  only to give the player some idea of his/her present location. Some special
  places do exist.
  - Trading Posts
- These are located at |x| == |y| == n*n*100 for n = 1, 2, ..., 1000.
      Trading posts farther out have more things for sale. Be careful about
      cheating the merchants there, as they have short tempers. Merchants are
      dishonest about 5% of the time.
- Lord's Chamber
- This is located at (0,0). Only players with crowns may
      enter.
- Point of No Return
- This is located beyond 1.2e+6 in any direction. The only way to return
      from here is a transporter or to have a
      valar relocate the player.
- Dead Marshes
- This is a band located fairly distant from the origin. The first fourteen
      monsters (water monsters) can normally only be found here.
- Valhala
- This place is where the valar resides. It is associated
      with no particular coordinate on the playing grid.
Once a player reaches level 5, the game will start to time out
  waiting for input. This is to try to keep the game a bit faster paced.A guru will never be disgusted with your
    sins if they are less than one.
A medic wants half of a player's
    gold to be happy. Offering more than one has, or a
    negative amount will anger the medic, who will make the
    player worse (add one poison).
The Holy Grail does little for those who are not
    ready to behold it. Whenever anyone finds it, it moves. It is always located
    within 1e+6 in any compass direction of the origin.
There is a maximum amount of mana and
    charms a player may possess, based upon
    level. Quicksilver is always limited to
    a maximum of 99.
Books bought at a trading post
    increase brains, based upon the number bought. It is
    unwise, however to buy more than 1/10 of one's level in
    books at a time.
Players over level 10000 are automatically retired.
A blindness goes away in random time.
Players with crowns are identified with a '*'
    before their character type.
When two player's coordinates correspond, they may engage in battle. In general,
  the player with the highest quickness gets the first hit. If
  the two players are severely mismatched, the stronger player is drastically
  handicapped for the battle. In order to protect from being stuck in an
  infinite loop, the player waiting for response may time out. Options for
  battle are:
  - fight
- Inflicts damage upon other person.
- run
    away
- Escape from battle. Has a 75% chance of working.
- power
    blast
- Battle spell.
- luckout
- One-time chance to try to win against the foe. Has a 10% chance of
      working.
Sometimes waits for the other player may be excessive, because
    he/she may be battling a monster. Upon slaying a player in battle the winner
    gets the other's experience and treasures.
    Rings do not work for inter-terminal battle.