Welcome to The Fantasy Alternative's news files. In this, you'll find the information you need to get started. The main difference between this version and the on-line version is that this one is specifically designed for HTML. All the information is the same, and it's all here.
This screen lists the general topics. Other topics will be listed on the main screens of the general topics.
| News Admin | Who the admin are and what they do |
| News Building | Building policies |
| News Characters | Character concepts, character generation system |
| News Code | About MUSHcode |
| News Conduct | Rules & Consequences |
| News Maintenance | Idledests, mailing list, database, alts |
| News Role-play | Consent, tinyplot and adventure approval |
| News Theme | General information about this world |
| News Credits | Credits for work and input on the game |
| News Index | An alphabetical index of all the news files. |
| News Update | Lists the most recent updates to news. |
| News Version | About this version of MUSH. |
Click on the topic name to go to a specific topic.
The administration of the game is set up very simply. The managers operate as a core group. This group meets on a regular basis to discuss issues, vote on proposals and generally insure the game is running smoothly. Various managers are responsible for different aspects of the game, but that responsibility is predominately making sure things are addressed; the management corps as a whole make the decisions that affect the game.
The owner of the game is Melissa, and she has the final vote in case of ties, or situations where there is simply no agreement. She is also the person who owns the actual machine and game.
Due to the general use of "wizard" as a synonym for "magic-user," the people who occupy that position are referred to as managers. They, along with Melissa, handle the day to day matters before the administration.
Consultants are Talek and Moonchilde, who assist Melissa with softcode, hardcode, maintaining the machine the game runs on, and a number of other things, including keeping her relatively sane.
The owner, the managers and the consultants are collectively referred to as "managers," with no general distinction made. They, along with anyone who has non-character related responsibilities on the game, are called 'admin.'
The managers are members of the race that is controlling the Island (see news Theme). They are also shapeshifters. Consequently, they may frequently be found under different names than listed above and in news admin structure.
Other Topics:
| News Admin Rules | The rules the admin agree to follow |
| News Admin Structure | The structure of the administration |
| News Admin Theory | The operating theory for the administration |
| News Staff | Information about staff on TFA |
| News Apply | How to become a Player Helper or Plot Helper (staff) |
The administration is slightly departmentalized in order to make life easier on everyone. Each department has a specific 'head', who is the one that is in charge of insuring that the details of that department are taken care of, even if they do not do it themselves. For example, the department head of building will be the one who insures that inspections happen. Organization and tinyplot proposals will be considered by multiple people, to attempt to ensure even evaluation, without prejudice. The department heads and a very short job list follows.
| General Maintenance/Theme | Melissa |
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| Building | Melissa |
| |
| Coding | Melissa |
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| Role-play | Melissa |
| |
| Player Relations | Melissa |
| |
The basic theory behind the administration of the game is two parts. First, it's a game, and it has rules which must be followed. We do our best to make the rules simple and as non-constrictive as possible, but we will add to them to prevent chaos if necessary. The second is that the game is not a democracy, it is a benevolent dictatorship. What this means is that the administration makes the rules, and while we'll accept suggestions, we're by no means required to use them.
The administration, however, must also follow certain rules in order to make the game a more enjoyable place. Some of these are fairly basic - listen when people want to speak, don't strike out against disagreeing opinions, respect privacy. The specific rules the admin have agrees to follow are listed in News Admin Rules.
Although many games use the concept of area leaders (people who are in charge of specific areas of the game), TFA is designed to be run by the managers, possibly with player assistants. We feel that this allows the players to focus on playing, and that in-character positions may be more enjoyable without out-of-character responsibilities. Players who wish to work with the managers on the game may become Player Helpers, Plot Helpers or Temporary Development Staff. See News Staff for more information about these positions.
In return for the rules the players follow, the administration agrees to the following:
The procedure for dealing with disruptive players is under the Conduct policy, under the heading of "Consequences." Should a player have a severe disagreement with one of managers, they are encouraged to approach a different manager to discuss the problem rationally, and attempt to reach a solution.
Staff on TFA are known as Helpers. They are present to answer questions and otherwise help players of the game. Helpers should have basic knowledge of the game, RP, building, and code, as they will be asked questions about all subjects. Helpers members cannot make policy decisions, create characters or remove players from the game.
Player Helpers are people who have the responsibility of greeting new players and guests when they log in, starting to role-play with new players, and to review character generation choices to point out problems or inconsistencies before the player is approved. The primary requirement for Player Helpers is patience - they will be asked the same types of questions repeatedly. Many new players will not read the news files, instead asking to have everything explained to them, and Player Helpers must be prepared to handle that. The managers have developed some training, tips and strategies that will be given to all player helpers.
Plot Helpers both design plots and help implement the plots of others. These people need to be familiar with the tinyplot rules and the resources available on the game. Helping to implement plots includes assisting with building (doing it, inspecting it, or getting someone else to do it), coding (same thing), and recruiting temporary plot characters (if needed). They may work with the managers to implement global plots, or with other players to handle local ideas. Plot Helpers are also encouraged to submit plots for consideration to be put into play. The general idea is that the more people who are coming up with and implementing tinyplots, the more varied the play will be.
Temporary Development Staff are people who have volunteered for a specific project - code, building or writing - and have temporarily expanded resources for the purposes of completing that project. This is only given to people who've offered to do specific tasks, and only for the duration of that task. Examples may include coding a new global, writing a seminar, or building a larger-scale area. These projects are arranged specifically with the managers.
A simple application is necessary for Plot Helpers and Player Helpers. See 'news apply' for more information.
No stringent application or interview process is required to become a Helper. However, we would ask that you look over the following list of qualifications and consider whether you meet them before you volunteer. We rarely turn people down, but may ask you to reapply in a little while if it's clear to us you are not yet familiar with MUSH and the involved commands.
Helper is an administrative role only because it involves working with players and knowing the rules. Helpers do NOT discipline people for rules problems, create characters or perform any other management duties.
Requirements for all Helpers:
Duties of all Helpers:
PLAYER HELPERS:
Player Helpers are expected to role-play with newcomers as well as helping them on an OOC level. The most common complaint of new players is that many established players seem unwilling to role-play with them.
Requirements for Player Helpers:
Duties of Player Helpers:
PLOT HELPERS
Plot Helpers are expected to assist players and managers with designing, implementing and running plots. Sometimes, the most creative plot has problems with implementation; other times, it's just so big that help is needed. Well-run plots provide a way for players to get involved with the story, even if they're new.
Requirements for Plot Helpers:
Duties of Plot Helpers:
BEFORE YOU APPLY
If you think you have the necessary background and interest to be a Helper and would like to volunteer, fill out the answers to the application below and mail it to managers@fantasyalternative.org. Before you do, however, we suggest you consider the following:
If the answer to any of these questions is no, you may want to reconsider your decision to volunteer. However, if you are still interested, answer the following six questions and you're done!
APPLICATION
Once you have answered these questions, send them in email to managers@fantasyalternative.org.
TFA has restricted building to people with the "builder" bits so that we can maintain a consistency of building. In order to acquire a building bit, you must request one from the head of building.
Most, if not all, of the central "public" areas (the city, terrain, villages, etc) are complete. Therefore, needed building consists of (a) stores and other services and (b) adventures. Adventures should be worked out according to the guidelines in news tinyplots.
Building in progress is given a time-deadline, to prevent perpetually unfinished building. Extensions to the deadline can be given upon request.
While in progress, the building must be connected to the building nexus. Once any public building is done (i.e.: stores, adventures, large homes), the building manager will inspect it. If it passes inspection, it'll be linked into the rest of the MUSH.
Other Topics:
| News Homes | How to get a home |
| News Inspect | What the inspection consists of |
| News Quota | Quota limits, and how to apply for more |
In order to build more than a personal home or a small shop on TFA, you must be recognized as a builder. To become a builder on TFA, you must apply to the head of building. This is an informal application, the steps of which are outlined below:
You do not need a builder's bit to have a small shop or a small home. Areas of the city have been set aside as residential or storefront locations. As part of the economy, houses, boarding rooms, inn rooms and shops cost a certain amount of in-game money. This is a one-time only cost, and just reflects your character setting up or expanding on his or her life. Loans are available from the Bank, and are especially useful when purchasing stores.
In order to receive a home or store, do the following:
For a Home: Decide if you want to live in an Inn, a Boarding House or a house off a Residential Street. Choose your location, and type +housing to see the size of rooms or houses available, along with their costs. Follow the instructions printed with the costs to have your new home built. Please note that if you do not have enough in-game money, you will not be able to purchase this room or house!
For a Shop: Choose the type of shop you wish to have, and if applicable, the area in which you wish to have it (see News City for more information about shops). Send an @mail message to the building manager, indicating your desire to take over the shop. Please note that if you do not have enough in-game money, you will not be able to purchase this shop!
Once you've paid for your new home or shop, it will be automatically built and ownership will be turned over to you. You will then be required to put descriptions and other messages on the rooms and exits yourself. If you have a shop, it will be built off the building nexus and you'll have three weeks to finish it and request an inspection or to request an extension (you'll get a notice about this when your shop is made for you). If you have a home, it will be linked to your preferred location but the front door will be @locked so that only you can get in. See 'help @lock' for information about how to change this.
If you want a larger home or shop than the standard sizes available, follow the instructions in 'news building' to receive a builder's bit.
Inspections are performed on TFA to insure that building is up to the requisite standards. These standards are fairly basic, and are outlined below.
Requirements for exits are outlined in News Inspect2
ROOMS:
EXITS:
| Good: The Great Hall |
| Bad: The Great Hall <N> |
| north;nort;nor;no;n | northeast;noreast;northeas;noreas;ne | |
| south;sout;sou;so;s | southeast;soueast;southeas;soueas;se | |
| east;eas;ea;e | northwest;norwest;northwes;norwes;nw | |
| west;wes;we;w | southwest;souwest;southwes;souwes;sw | |
| down;dow;do;d | up;u |
Quota is the amount of actual "items" you can own on the MUSH. This includes rooms, exits, things and players. Everyone starts out with 1 quota, which is taken up by the player body. Upon starting, everyone is able to receive a pet from the Pet Vendor in the OOC (out of character) Lobby.
We use quota in order to encourage the use of the economy system. If you can just @create anything you want, then you have no incentive to buy anything. However, if you need @quota to do something, such as create an adventure, create a tinyplot, or code something, simply place your request in @mail to the managers, explaining why you need more. Your request will be evaluated, along with your current use of quota, and you'll be notified with the decision.
When certain items are purchased, through a vending machine or a shop, an object will be given to the purchasing player, and their quota will be raised. Other purchases may involve the transfer of a description. Players who receive a description can then transfer that to their character at any time.
In general, the average number of rooms for an individual player is two. Shopkeepers will receive an additional two rooms for the store, and encouraged to link their living areas off their stores. However, some houses or shops may be bigger than others. See News Homes for more information about how home and shop purchasing works.
Descriptive items, such as dresses, jewelry and decorative weapons, may be placed in a description category with @desc. This allows the player great flexibility in determining the current 'look' without overloading the player with items to keep track of. Sometimes, plots may call for the theft of descriptive items. In these cases, contact a manager for a temporary item to be used during the plot.
People who wish to request more quota for plots or coding should see news tinyplots and news coding for more information.
Characters are the people you play while on the game. They can be male or female, rich or poor, fat, slim, strong, or weak. In short, they are people. The object of the game is to role-play these people, as if they were real, in the environment of the MUSH.
The character generation system is in place to provide a general outline of a character's abilities and characteristics. It is not intended as a "I'm better than you" system, nor as an excuse for hack and slash role-playing, or player killing.
Character concepts are an important part of creating a character. They define what your character does, and to a certain extent, how he or she reacts to the world in general. These concepts can range from beggar to wealthy, or from priest to mage to swordsman.
For more information on the subject of character development, please see: (URLs to be inserted)
The concept you have of your character is many things. Included are physical - how strong s/he is, what s/he looks like, or what his/her race is; mental - The intelligence of the character, and how s/he presents him/her-self; and what the character does for a living.
Most of the societies in TFA are still medieval in nature Therefore, crafters are an important part of the system. A crafter can be strictly high-class, such as a jeweler, a perfumer or a goldsmith; or can be useful across class lines, such as a blacksmith, a potter or a herbalist. Crafters are usually sedentary, as they have shops to attend to.
Due to the nature of the game, there are also adventurers - travelers who wander around, in search of excitement or profit. These are the people who use the skills of the crafters, and who bring news from outside the city. These are people such as swordsmen, merchants and explorers, who may or may not be affiliated with a shop or organization in the city.
Additionally, there are priests and mages, who are able to use magic (although the priests may call them miracles). They are part of an organization, either a temple or the Mage's Guild, and may or may not find themselves adventuring.
If you're not sure what you would like your character to do, it is usually a good idea to go with something that interests you as a player. Alternately, you can speak with people in the guilds and temples, who will be able to give you more information about their organizations.
Other Topics:
| News Chargen | More information on the character generation system. |
| News Factions | Information on the government factions |
| News Guilds | Information on the available guilds |
| News Monastery | The Monastery and how it works. |
| News Orgs | How to propose a new organization |
| News Races | Information on the various races available |
| News Temples | Information on the Temples, and the deities |
| News Towns | Information on the Towns |
****** The character generation system is being Designed. (this is a lead-in to the chargen files).
Although the original intention of the government was to provide equal and fair representation to all residents of the island, factions have sprung up over time. Each faction has different goals, intentions and general attitudes. Each faction will also recruit members from those with similar goals and interests. Alliances between factions come and go, depending on the situation at the time, and members of opposing factions may find themselves in battles of arm or wit at any moment.
New factions spring up on a regular basis. If they gain support, they may have a long run; otherwise, they die off as interest in them wanes. Factions have supporters in many of the various sections of the community. Shopkeepers may give discounts or raise prices to some faction members; guilds may only accept apprentices from families affiliated with certain factions. Although the Guard and the Ministry of Finance are supposed to be apolitical, the actuality is that factionalism runs rampant through the ranks. Largely, however, the Guard does manage to promote based on merit rather than nepotism, although there are exceptions.
Some of the factions are only named by color - the Blues, the Silvers and the Blacks. Other factions, such as the Tigers and the Dogs, take on animal names. Most of the groups used to have longer names (for example, the Dogs were originally Dwarfs Opposing Gnome Suppression), but as the groups continued, the names were shortened. New groups may name themselves after their goals, their colors, or animals that particularly appeal to them, but there is no real naming convention.
If you wish to start a new faction, you must run it past the managers. See News Org for more information. Some of the current factions are listed below.
The Silvers: A quasi-militant group, the Silvers are made up of Newcomers who claim oppression tactics from the Old-timers. Regardless of the situation, they are quick to see conspiracies against Newcomers in any law proposed by an Old-timer. Consequently, they are prone to attack Blues at any time. They frequently court the Dogs, attempting to ally, but usually just manage to let the Dogs know when a Newcomer needs help getting settled.
The Blacks: Slow to change, the Blacks resist all changes in law and technology, insisting that traditions should be maintained. They cooperate with the monks on gathering information about Newcomers, but once they have done so, they attempt to badger the Newcomers into maintaining their traditions, especially religious traditions. They feel that the people on the Island somehow offended gods, and in order to be forgiven, everyone must lead the pure, unspoiled lives dictated by religion and tradition, regardless of the temptations around them.
The Blues: In contrast to the Silvers, the Blues are an antagonistic group of Old-timers that feel the Newcomers are trying to usurp the Island, making all pure-blooded Old-timers into second-rate citizens. They are isolationist, insisting that Newcomers should be kicked out of the traditional villages and kept only to the City, and claim their presence in the City is only to prevent Newcomer take-overs. They will attack Silvers and Dogs at any time.
The Tigers: Interested in promoting higher technology and explorations to get off the Island, the Tigers are made up of both Newcomers and Old-timers alike. They frequently sponsor new technology building, and have the largest medical and survivor charity of all the factions. They will gladly welcome anyone who has an interest in tech or in sailing, and only require that no Newcomer/Old-timer in-fighting happens.
The Dogs: A pro-Newcomers faction, the Dogs were originally started by an Undermountain group trying to protect some of the Newcomers from being forcibly removed to a new location. Since then, it has been superficially an Undermountain faction, but is generally more interested in ensuring safe passage to the Newcomers who wind up in different areas. Their banner is a snarling dog, but they tend to be rather peaceful most of the time. They do not join with the Silvers, feeling the other group is too violent.
| The Adventurers' Guild | Guildmaster: |
| An organization through which people who are interested in working on or solving adventures and puzzles can get more information. It is both an IC and OOC guild, as it handles many aspects of the adventures on the game. | |
| The Mage's Guild | Guildmaster: |
| Most mages belong to this organization. A mage not connected to the Guild is considered a hedge-wizard. There is a polite peace between the Temples and the Guild, and some cooperation. | |
| The Guards | Captain: |
| The Guards are the people responsible for maintaining peace on the Island. Headquartered in the City, they are stationed in all of the major towns and locations except the Monastery. The Guards are also the local postal service. | |
Other possible guilds: Crafters, Swordsmen and Thieves. Please read news orgs, then contact a manager if you're interested in proposing a guild.
The Shilana runs the Monastery. Since the Monastery is very small, it does not need much more organization than that, although there are overseers in certain areas. Brother or Sister Herbal watches over the hospice and apothecary elements, Brother or Sister Wanderer help both the monks who choose to travel and stray travelers who come to the Monastery, and Brother or Sister Cook handles the kitchen and the gardens. One monk is sent each year to the City to sit on the council as mediator and tiebreaker. That monk also acts as the Shilana's Voice to the monks ministering in the city.
Each day in the Monastery starts with a period of meditation, then a quiet breakfast. Each monk has tasks to accomplish for the rest of the day, breaking for lunch halfway through the day, and ending with an exercise period, then meditations and dinner. After dinner, the monks are permitted to pursue their own interests until the Monastery grows dark for bed.
The monks are dedicated to preserving information about each of the races and cultures that come to the Island. When a new race or a new culture arrives, the traveling monks who are helping at the Newcomers Adjustment Hostel talk to them, recording information such as religions, customs, languages and other differences. Once acquired, this information is sent to the Monastery for recording in the Book of People. Continued study in the new languages insures that there are people proficient in it, so that no language or custom ever completely dies.
In addition to helping with the Newcomers, monks also travel the island, acting as teachers and herbalists. Since the monks rarely remain out of the monastery for more than a year, there are frequently new faces to be seen. No one except the Shilana is ever completely positive how many monks there are.
Monks wear robes, simple dresses or trousers and tunics of brown or black homespun wool. Each monk wears a pendant in the shape of a circle with a hand holding a quill engraved upon it. Men are either bald or wear their hair extremely short; women may also be bald, have short hair or they may wear a very tight braid.
Organizations are those parts of the game, like temples and guilds, that provide a group for characters to belong to. The first thing to remember when proposing a possible guild is that the Island is a small place. There may not be room for everything people want. Further, it's also run by capricious gods, who may not approve of some potential organizations.
With that in mind, anyone can propose an organization. Before any organization can be built or recruit members, however, it must be approved. Beginning either building or recruiting before the approval will result in immediate disapproval by the managers.
The reason approval is required is because the managers have a responsibility to the players to insure a variety of options for role-playing. Therefore, we want to insure that all orgs are well thought out before they are implemented. Additionally, the game is small, and can only support a certain number of organizations. We would like to avoid over-extension on organizations, which can lead to fractured role-playing.
When reviewing an organization proposal, we look for several aspects. One of the first things we will determine is if there is another organization similar to the one proposed already in place. We strongly encourage people to explore the options already installed, and will certainly not approve any organization that seems to be designed for in-character status.
The following list includes the topics your proposal should address:
If an org is approved, you'll need to build any required rooms and work with the org manager to get any necessary guidelines and tools that will be provided. All proposals should be sent to the managers in @mail, or in email to managers@fantasyalternative.org.
Create a race goes here.
The temples are the organizations in which the priests live and work. They are based around fictional deities, and should not be mistaken for real beliefs. If a deity is similar to an Earth based god, it is a purely superficial resemblance. The admin in no way wishes to impinge on the religious belief of any player.
At this time, the full temple structure has not yet been worked out. There will be between 4 and 8 deities, covering many aspects of life. This includes the Temple of Magic, which is where the priest-mages live.
| The City | Council Representative: |
| The City is the single port, and only large city on the Island. It is most diverse in makeup, as this is where the newcomers start out and generally remain. Run by a City Council lead by a Mayor, the City is the main base for the Guards, Temples, Guilds and other organizations. One member of the City Council is also the Representative on the Island Council. | |
| The Fishing Village | Council Representative: |
| This village is off a small cove to the west of the city. The lagoon is protected, but the rocks surrounding the waterway makes it treacherous for any boat to attempt passage. The main economy is fishing in the calm waters of the bay. | |
| The Farming Town | Council Representative: |
| Located to the northeast of the city, halfway between City and the rocky shore, the area around this village boasts rich soil and gently rolling hills. This town provides the majority of the vegetables, grain and meat for the Island. | |
| The Forest Home | Treespeaker: |
| The forest is home to the tree-dwellers, and those that are happiest living in and around a forest setting. The main economy is woodworking and orchardry. Treespeaker is the title of the Forest Home councilperson. | |
| The Mountain Monastery | Shilana: |
| A peaceful group who believed in meditation and contemplation started the monastery. They offer a quiet retreat to those who need it and a way station for those in the mountains - but only if you can find them. Monks travelling out of the monastery make it their job to assist newcomers to the Island in adjusting. The monks also provide healing herbs and potions, to fund the monastery and its works. The Shilana is the leader of the Monastery. Although the Monastery has a seat on the Council, the monk filling the seat acts as the chairperson for the meetings and will not vote, except in the case of a tie. | |
| The Undermountain | Stoneshaper: |
| Under the mountains is a colony of people who like living surrounded by stone, as well as working in it. The work making up the walls of the colony is both old and new, dating back beyond memory. The principal economy is made up of stonework and mining ores and precious jewels. Stoneshaper is the title of the Undermountain councilperson. | |
MUSHcode is the internal language to MUSH. It is superficially similar to LISP, in that it makes use of parentheses (), brackets [], and braces {}. MUSHcode can usually be found on any item on the MUSH, including people.
Unlike creating and building, anyone can MUSHcode. We have, however, some basic rules to be followed. People who do not follow these will be spoken to.
Other topics:
| News Create | Information on object creation and "virtual" objects |
| News Puppets | Help with puppets |
| News Quota | Information on quota, and how it works |
| News Version | Information on what version of PennMUSH we're running |
Built-in help is available for all standard commands. Read 'help' for
more details. You can FTP the entire 'help' document from:
ftp.fantasyalternative.org/pub/tfa/text/help.txt
Read +help for a listing of the global commands specific to this MUSH.
NOTE: In some code help, <> or [] are used to indicate a substitution made by the user, or to further specify a command. The user should read the instructions carefully to determine what should be inserted or specified.
For those interested in learning more about MUSHcode, Amberyl's MUSH manual may be useful. It takes you through the basic steps of MUSH, while teaching progressively more complex code. It can be found in the following formats and places:
COMPRESSED FILE FTP: tinymush.org - pub/mud/tinymush/docs/
ASCII FILE FTP: tinymush.org - pub/mud/tinymush/docs/mushman-2.008/
WWW (version 2.007): http://www.foobar.co.uk/manual.html
Please note that the MUSH manual is fairly old. You'll want to cross-reference its suggestions with the help files or the softcode you write may do strange things.
There are two types of objects on the game - MUSH objects, and "virtual" objects.
MUSH objects are those that you can 'take', 'drop' and carry. These objects are @created or @chowned, and will cost one quota for each object. Every object that exists takes up space on the database
The vast majority of the objects in the game world are "virtual," and exist only as part of a description in a room, on a person, or in role-play. These objects are as real as created objects, in terms of use, but do not take up the space.
Examples of virtual objects include things like the following:
A room's description mentions a living room set. People can sit on the couches and chairs, or put things on the coffee table, and generally move about the room as one would with furniture.Jennifer has described herself with long hair, precious jewels and a satin dress. Joe has described the street as being filled with mud. Jennifer and Joe then role-play the ruining of the jewels and dress, as they're splattered with mud from a passing carriage. The dress, mud, jewels and carriage are all role-played objects, meant to set a scene.
One of the main reasons for @creating objects is simply to describe them, so that they may be looked at. Please don't create objects simply for display. You can set additional descriptions on yourself, other objects and rooms with the +descer or +view commands. Type +help descer or +help view for more information.
The economics of the game are set up to encourage the services of crafters, who will use both types of objects. Some interactions will result in only virtual objects being exchanged, while others will provide actual objects that are either coded to add a description to you, your room, or another object or will actually contain usable code. The managers of the game strongly encourage people to role-play the economics out, both to maintain an economy, and as a form of interaction.
Examples of IC coded objects are things such as horses and other forms of transportation, pets (puppets), and games. If you find yourself in need of other types of IC objects that are not available for purchase, generally in the form of puppets of some sort, please speak with a manager or helper. Arranging such IC things is generally not a problem.
The need to use objects for OOC purposes should be nearly eliminated. If you feel that an OOC purpose would be best filled by an object, or by a global, we encourage you to bring it to the manager's attention.
Puppets are objects that provide their owner with an additional set of eyes and ears. Puppets can be people, although they are usually some form of pet, such as a dog or cat. Puppets are controlled with a controller command, which forces the puppet to perform actions. The command must be placed on an object that is kept on the owner at all times, and should not be placed on the puppet itself.
Puppets can perform any of the same actions that players can, as directed by their owner. The most basic puppet controller is:
$puppet *:@force <## = %0
The puppet's dbref number is inserted in place of <##. When you type something like "puppet :barks", whomever is in the room with the puppet will see: Puppet barks.
You may receive your first pet puppet (a cat or dog) free from a vending machine in the OOC Lobby. Additional pets must be purchased from a pet store. If you want to have a person as a puppet, please speak to a manager.
By playing on the game, you are agreeing to the rules and policies stated and enforced. If you do not like the rules and policies, they can be petitioned, but they have been carefully thought out and discussed among the administration before being applied. As always, the ability to leave remains in the hands of the players.
TFA is a "themed" MUSH. That means that we have some specific guidelines to follow within the game itself. Yes, this is a Fantasy game. However, that does not mean 'anything goes'. Instead, it means that magic works, and we're still placed in a time where swords are the main defense of people.
The players on the game are provided with some of the information in this news file when they first receive a character. This file is also available on the Web at http://www.fantasyalternative.org/TFA/news/html. The managers attempts to give fair announcement to the changes in policy, but all players are expected to know and follow the rules and guidelines.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Because of issues on other games, the managers have come to the realization that it is important to retain records of interactions with players. As a result, all admin are REQUIRED to log any interaction with a player that may be considered administratively related. Players may also request that admin log certain interactions if they feel it is administrative in nature. This is to the player's benefit as well as the admin.’s, and the player may receive copies of any logs containing interactions with that player upon request. This requirement and exception in no way cancels the rule about logging non-administrative interactions.
Other Topics:
| News Consent | What consensual role-playing is and how it's applied on TFA. |
| News Consequences | What happens if the rules aren't followed. |
| News Rules | The rules of the game. |
There is a continuum of consent in role-playing MU*s that ranges from a full consent style to a style known as "auto-consent." The full consent style says that all players work together to mutually acceptable results. Nothing can happen to a character or the character's possessions without the consent of the player, regardless of the circumstances. On the other end of the spectrum, auto-consent dictates that if it's appropriate for the actions to happen, they will happen, regardless of the feelings of the involves players - even death of characters.
The Fantasy Alternative falls closer to the auto-consent style of role-playing. This requires the players to consider their character's actual responses to the situation, and acceptance that some bad things might happen to the characters because of their actions. We do not, however, go to full auto-consent - we will not force a character to die if there are other, reasonable options. However, once a character is dead, it remains that way.
Some things, such as assassination plots, must be run past the managers first. This isn't to say that the plot will be turned down. Instead, it is in the best interests of the game for managers to determine if there is a way to turn the event into a more involving role-play session, and also to consider the play of the person targeted for assassination. See News Tinyplots for more information about what things in this vein would need to be reviewed by the managers.
It is very important to remember that the point of consent is not to shield characters from negative actions. If it makes sense that a character dies, becomes seriously injured or is otherwise damaged, then the role-play will be upheld. If a strong case can be made that the actions stemmed from out-of-character knowledge or is otherwise inappropriate, the role-play may be modified to suit the situation. Players should ALWAYS be prepared to accept the consequences of their character's actions.
Negotiation
Negotiation is a way of mutually agreeing on how events happen in actual role-play. In this form, actions that could affect other characters are posed in a way that allows the other players to determine how their characters are affected. This form of role-play is particularly useful in combat. Although the results will be given to each player in the combat, it is there to make the results of the fights more clear, not to take away the ability to role-play the character. If your character is hit, however, you must pose taking a hit - you can't avoid it just to look good.
Negotiation RP may be very creative, as it helps ensure that any scene is a collaborative effort by all involved, instead of one person 'directing' the action, with others forced into the role of reacting. Even in non-negotiation RP, each character must be allowed to react according to their character; other players may not force the actions or reactions of characters that are not their own. Equally important, each character must accept the bad along with the good, and act or react appropriately.
See NEGOTIATION EXAMPLE for examples of how negotiation works.
Non-Negotiation
Bob grabs up a handful of snow and flings it. It smacks right into Sue's face, filling her eyes with snow.Sue ducks down behind a wall, wiping off her face. She throws one of her snowballs, and it hits Bob right in the groin, leaving him rolling on the floor. (Sue not only doesn't leave Bob any options, she poses his reaction to the hit for him. Don't do this.)
Bob recovers from groin shot, and runs crouching along the ground to where Sue is. He picks her up and pushes her down into the snow, shoving wet snow down her coat.
Negotiation
Bob grabs a handful of snow and flings it, aiming for Sue's face.Sue yelps as the cold snow hits her face. When she finally gets the snow out of her eyes, she throws her ball of snow towards Bob. From the flight of the ball, it'll likely hit him in the groin.
Bob was working on getting a snowball made and doesn't notice the ball coming towards him. It lands. Right where it looked like it would land.
Bob's mouth drops open in an O and his eyes bug out. He falls down.
Sue gasps, jumps up and hurries over to Bob to make sure he's okay.
Bob regains his breath, and shakily gets to his knees. Seeing the perfect moment for revenge he tries to grab Sue and dump her to the ground.
Sue instinctively jumps back from Bob's grab, but trips on a rock, falling on her butt with a hard thump, and filling her coat with wet snow.
Even when the combat system is used, you can only specify where you are aiming, not where you hit or how your opponent reacts.
The following are the steps the managers will generally take about any player who violates the conduct rules. By sending the new player packet, we effectively give all players a first warning. Consequently, the excuse of not knowing the rules will not be accepted. It has been our experience that most people do not deliberately break the rules, and misunderstandings happen. People will not be penalized for misunderstandings or miscommunication or even personality clashes.
All difficulties will be handled on a case-to-case basis. The following are probable forms that will result. Repeat problem-makers will receive harsher results, ultimately culminating in being asked to leave the game. In general, most incidences will have a two or three step approach, starting with a verbal discussion about the problem with the player(s) involved, and moving to more difficult penalties as necessary.
Any admin who has been shown to have a problem with the player base will be asked to step down from their positions. Additionally, admin positions will not be granted to any player who has had proven problems with the player base in general, as we expect the same standards of conduct from the managers and helpers that we do from all the other players.
Please recall that the admin are required to log ALL interactions with players that are, in the admin.’s judgement, even remotely administratively related. This is for player and admin protection.
Possible steps that will be taken if a player breaks the rules are:
Every character on the game, regardless of race or species, is backed by a real, living and breathing human being. Unfortunately, not all the humans seem to have the same definition of courtesy and harmony, so certain rules have been put into place to insure a basic standard. These rules are required. If you don't follow them, then we move on to the consequences section.
If you have concerns about someone's behavior, please contact a member of the administration - manager or helper. We cannot handle the problems if we don't know about them, and we won't always know about them unless we're specifically told. Please don't assume that someone else will tell us - often, they don't. As admin, we want to make the game an enjoyable place to play, and the assistance of the players is an integral part of that attempt.
The admin cannot and will not dictate what players do in private, except to mandate that it must follow the laws of any country that any involved players are from. Blatantly illegal activities will not be tolerated under any circumstances.
Choosing how and with whom we wish to role-play is one of the foundations of enjoyable role-playing. If someone doesn't seem to enjoy playing with you, please respect that, and just leave him/her alone. There are others on the game, just find someone else to play with. Not doing so can, in fact, be considered harassment.
Other topics:
| News Consent | What consensual role-playing is and how it's applied on TFA. |
| News Consequences | What happens if the rules aren't followed. |
Some of the content of the news was adapted from material written by Saidar at Tales of Ta'veren MUSH. It has been reworked and edited to fit TFA, but she did the groundwork - and an amazingly good job. Tales of Ta'veren was a MUSH based on Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. It closed on February 25, 2001.
The advertising information was written by Spirit @ Tales of Ta'veren.
The globals currently in place are the work of many different people,
including:
Sparks @ ElseMUCK
Dark @ Tales of Ta'veren
Talek @ TFA
Melissa
The entire development team, past and present, is much too diverse (and has too many names) to adequately thank. All content of the game is copyrighted to the people who wrote it, with unlimited (and irrevocable) license given to The Fantasy Alternative. If you want to use something, please contact the management, who will pass along your request to the appropriate people.
The maintenance of the MUSH consists mostly of keeping track of players. A database is maintained with email address, character name(s) and dbref(s), player name (if available), and date created. This database is private, and only the managers will be accessing it, usually to update the give information. We'll also track if a person is a helper of any sort, or if they're available for plot characters.
Idledests will be performed on or about the 15th of each month. For more information, please see News Idle.
Alts are available at any time, by request from any manager. First characters will ALWAYS receive their login information and the login packet through email; we will not give out initial login information via the MUSH.
Other topics:
| News Advertising | Guidelines for Advertising the MUSH |
| News Helping | Helping on the game as a regular player. |
| News Idle | Information about idledests. |
| News Lists | Information about the TFA mailing lists. |
| News Packet | Information about the First Character Player Packet. |
The information provided was created to provide a few tips on advertising The Fantasy Alternative to the general public. While the managers actively advertise the game through various means, we encourage players to spread the word about the game as well, provided they follow a few simple guidelines.
Newsgroups
Newsgroups are the best way to reach a large amount of people within the shortest amount of time. However, before posting on a newsgroup, make certain to be aware of the group's posting policies. Generally, most newsgroups follow the basic rules of netiquette. Some newsgroups have their own pages or FAQ's (Frequently Asked Questions) that they'd like for you to review before posting at all. Be sure to do the research before posting any sort of advertisement on the group.
Two of the commonly used acronyms for newsgroups follow:
TAN - This acronym represents an off topic posting, meaning something that has nothing to do with the newsgroup at all, which could be anything from the latest daily joke to something on world politics.
AD - This acronym is generally used for advertising, whether its for commercial or non-profit uses.
The acronyms are capitalized and used in the front of the subject line, to ensure users are aware that they post they are about to read is either off topic or an advertisement. Some newsgroups only require one version of the acronym, while others may require both acronyms to be indicated in the posting.
The two newsgroups that allow MUSH advertising are rec.games.mud.tiny and rec.games.mud.announce
Websites, MU* Embassies, and Banner Exchanges
It might be noted that there are various advertising agencies created for the specific purpose of getting online role-playing games seen and heard in the MU*ing community. Such places offer web space, embassies or banner exchanges in order to advertise various games and informational links.
The managers feel that it is their responsibility to keep on these various agencies and handle any advertising done through these facilities. This is because most facilities that produce these services require a member of the organization staff to be the ones overseeing the updates, changes, and any other arrangements needed.
We do ask that if you find one of these resources that TFA is not represented on that you drop us an email (managers@fantasyalternative.org) so that we may look into getting in their system.
Some facilities allow players the opportunity to give feedback on the various gaming atmospheres. Feel free to express your opinions on TFA to such agencies, as they are there for your use.
Other MU* Related Games
Sometimes, other MU* related games (MUSH, MUX, MOO, etc) offer players the opportunity to advertise different systems or games on their platform. This is usually done through the b-board system, although some games may use a coded system. They encourage players to advertise other games, though may have in-house rules as to what's acceptable.
When considering other online games for various advertising techniques, be sure to check the online documentation for any rules or policies they have about advertising. Sometimes, the game administration sets up such policies under NEWS ADVERTISING, while others may just have a blurb on the b-board that they are using for advertisements.
If there are policies written, please be sure to follow their documented rules. We do not want to anger or alienate the administration of other games. If there are no policies written, the best thing to do is page a staff member or a manager, asking what the general views are on advertising a game if you are not a member of their player base.
Often, MU*'s have b-boards specifically for their players, not guests or outsiders, and nothing annoys them more than a 'drive by' poster attempting to snatch their players away. If you gain permission to post to the BB from the admin or find that the posting would be within the rules, feel free to use one of the sample postings.
Advertising on TFA
Players may advertise other MU* related games on TFA, however we do have a few restrictions regarding this practice. Those wishing to advertise another game should restrict such advertisements to the ElseMU* BB or to their +finger information. These are the only acceptable venues of advertising another game on TFA.
When posting about another game, please be certain to include the following information: game name, domain address, IP address (optional and if known), port number, webpage link, and a brief description of the theme of the game. This gives players an ample amount of information to review, should they wish to further consider other gaming options.
Postings to the ElseMU* BB are timed, and will need to be replaced periodically. Please wait until your BBposting has timed out before making another post to the BB.
Sample Advertisements
The managers will soon provide sample advertisements for use by players.
Many people ask what they can do to help a game they enjoy grow, even when they don't want to be an admin or developer. There are a considerable number of different possibilities available - listed below are just a few.
Role-Playing: Public role-play that gets others involved and interested is the heart of the MUSH. Set aside an hour or two each week to RP with new players and help them feel part of the game. If you're bored in the inn or your room, page a few friends and organize an impromptu event. Role-play on all levels keeps the MUSH growing.
TinyPlots and Events: TinyPlots and TP ideas are always welcome. Contact a member of the admin if you'd like some tips on organizing a TP or event of your own. The managers are always interested in TP ideas, whether large or small. Local plots and amusing events add as much as cataclysmic or wide-scale stories.
Organizations: There are several organizations on the MUSH, such as the Guards, various factions and the Guilds. If you have ideas about how a group might recruit and train people, or role-playing and tinyplot ideas, contact the managers and let them know! You don't need to belong to a group to contribute ideas.
Descriptions: Those who like to write are invited to contact the managers with suggestions for +views to enhance existing areas. Descers can also offer their services to help people with building, clothing descriptions, etc.
Coding: Those interested in coding projects can offer to code items/commands for areas and groups, or general use. Coded activities can enhance our recreation of the world, and are enjoyable for many players to use. Items coded to use Chargen aspects like Skills and Stats are particularly enjoyable for people.
Coding Ideas include:
Characters are deleted for inactivity, or if their players notify us that they are ICly dead (using mail or +autodie). As a last resort when dealing with problems, characters may be removed from the database and the player denied further access. See NEWS CONDUCT for information on problem resolution.
If you know you will be on vacation, unable to access, or otherwise missing for long enough to become eligible for idle-desting, please contact Melissa, and/or set the &VACATION attribute on yourself. Both actions are preferable, as it will help insure against accidents. The format is: &VACATION me={The dates you will be gone}
Characters who have been idle for more than 60 days will be idle-dested. Characters who have not logged in within 30 days of creation will be destroyed, and a new character must be requested. If you notify the managers that the character is ICly dead, or no longer used for play, the character will be idle-dested approximately 30 days later.
If you are a member of an ongoing plot, please let your plot coordinator know if you're going to be inactive for more than a few weeks, so that they are able to plan accordingly.
Addresses:
tfa-offical@fantasyalternative.org
tfa-announce@fantasyalternative.org
tfa-chat@fantasyalternative.org
The tfa-official mailing list is maintained for official announcements only. All players must remain on that mailing list, as that is where information about down times, policy changes and upgrades will be provided, as well as a monthly update and schedule of events. There will generally be no more than one mail a month on that list, and only managers may post to the list. If an email on the tfa-official list bounces, the characters associated with that email will be placed out of play until a new, valid email address is given.
Two other mailing lists exist - tfa-announce, and tfa-chat. The announce list is moderated, and is used for announcing events, new adventures, grand openings, and other player-related items. The chat list is unmoderated, and available for general discussion.
All players are automatically subscribed to the mailing lists. You may remove yourself at any time from the announce or chat lists by emailing tfa-announce-request@fantasyalternative.org or tfa-chat-request@fantasyalternative.org with the subject UNSUBSCRIBE.
The TFA admin makes it a policy to not discriminate against players on the basis of age, gender, nationality, language, religious or sexual preference, and expects the same of all the players. Therefore, we maintain an open approach to character creation. However, due to the unfortunate bad press the Internet has received, we feel it would be safer to maintain information on our players, for the protection of both ourselves and our players. This information consists of email address, character name(s) and dbref(s), player name (if available), and the date each character was created.
When a player requests a character, they will receive a new player information packet. This packet includes a form letter with the character's name and initial password, and several text attachments with pertinent news files included. The form letter explains what is in the files, and why it is included. Once each character logs in, they must agree to play by the rules of the game. This agreement constitutes an understanding that if the rules are broken, appropriate steps will be taken to correct the issue. These steps are not taken because the management believes that players are either stupid or deliberately evil, but rather because we believe that everyone should know what the expectations and requirements are before they start playing a game.
Characters are available by email from chars@fantasyalternative.org
Role-playing is the act of taking on the personality and habits of another person, and playing those out as a role, in a game. The main purpose of TFA is social role-playing in a fantasy environment. It is hoped that the role-playing done on TFA will be fun for all the players involved.
Saidar from Tales of Ta'veren has written up a lot of information on role-playing. The managers strongly recommend this information for anyone who is new to online gaming, or who would like a refresher course. Some of this information can be found in the files below.
Saidar's writing can be found at: (INSERT URL)
Other Topics:
| News Adventures | Guidelines for getting adventures approved |
| News Badguys | Information on badguys, and what needs to be approved |
| News Consent | What consensual role-playing is and how it's applied on TFA. |
| News Government | How the government works |
| News Monastery | The Monastery and how it works. |
| News IC/OOC | Definitions of In-Character and Out-Of-Character |
| News Movement | How movement works in the game |
| News Nobility | Information on nobility. |
| News NPC | Use of non-player-characters |
| News Time | The ratio of time in the game |
| News TP | Guidelines for getting tinyplots approved |
Getting adventures approved, and what that entails.
What badguys are available, and what needs to be approved for them.
The government on the Island is set up as a set of councils. Each town or village, including the City, has a council that manages the affairs of that location. the council is responsible for passing local ordinances, holding trials, collecting taxes, and similar sort of daily operations. The councils are elected from the residents of the area, and receive a small stipend every month as compensation. It is not possible, however, to get rich acting as part of the council, so most people have other jobs as well. In the City, Fishing Village and Farming Town, the Mayor acts as the chairperson and principal spokesperson for the council. In the Forest Home, that position is called Treespeaker; Stoneshaper is the name of the position in Undermountain. Each town council is usually made up of approximately five to seven people, depending on how many people are interested in the job that year.
Each town council elects one person to go to the City and sit on the Island Council. The Island Council passes laws, including tax laws, civil and criminal laws, and punishments. The members also hear complaints against the smaller councils. Each council member receives a staffed house in the City and a small stipend. As each recognized area has one representative, there are a total of five area Council members on the Council.
In addition to the area representatives, there are several other members of the council as well. Ministers represent various interests of the Island, insuring that a large population is covered. The five interests represented are the Ministry of Finance, the Newcomers Advocates, the Guard, the Guilds and the Temples. These representatives are elected by the interests they represent in the following manner:
Finally, there are a four "general council members." These council members have no particular duty except to act as general spokespeople. The idea is that these general members speak for all the residents of the Island, instead of for specific areas or interests. Each General member has a 2-year term, although the elections are six months apart. General Council Seat 1 is elected in the summer of even numbered years, General Council Seat 2 is elected in the winter of even numbered years, while General Council Seat 3 and 4 are respectively the summer and winter of odd numbered years. The Guard oversees collecting ballots in each of the towns and in various locations within the cities, then counts and delivers the results. Any adult resident of the Island may be elected to these posts.
As there are an even number of seats (14), the Monastery provides a monk trained in law and negotiation to act as the mediator, chairperson and tiebreaker to the Council. This monk only votes when there is a tie; otherwise, the monk's specific purpose is to insure that votes and discussions remain as uncorrupted as possible.
Although the original intention of the government was to provide equal and fair representation to all residents of the island, factions have sprung up over time. The goals, interests and aims of these factions are outlined in News Factions.
IC is a common abbreviation for "In Character," a term which refers to the state of acting as your character would act, instead of as the player would act. Most people are assumed to be IC when in public areas, and it's generally considered polite to observe this expectation.
OOC is an abbreviation for "Out of Character." This is generally used to refer to the player's thoughts and feelings, or to give information that would not normally be acquired any other way. OOC conversations should not be held in public, or heavily IC environments.
OOC knowledge is that knowledge gained through game mechanics, instead of through role-play. It is also knowledge that is gained by one character, when another character would not know. It's definitely bad form to use OOC knowledge in an IC situation, or to cross IC knowledge from one character to another in a non-IC manner. What this means, effectively, is that if your character would have no way of knowing about it in the normal course of events, your character doesn't know it. Doing otherwise will generally convince people to stop playing with you.
How movement works in the game
TFA has no actual nobility, as it is arranged as a democracy with overtones of theocracy. In order to be in the political system, the potential politician must have backing of factions, organizations or temples, and be able to successfully run for office. See News Government for more information.
At times, the council may award someone, male or female, the title of Siuer. This title is earned by exemplary service for the Island, or a specific part; bravery, increased knowledge, or anything else the council feels is appropriate. This title comes with a medal, but otherwise grants nothing special to the bearer.
Characters that are on the game are called player characters, or PCs. The PC population of the game is a relatively small part of the overall population of the Island. The rest of the population, the mostly unseen part, is comprised of non-player characters, or NPCs.
Puppets and other people objects are also NPCs, but are not available for general use. The objects and puppets are controlled by their owners. If you would like to have something happen to a puppet or object, please contact the owner in advance.
NPCs are useful in much the same way as described furniture or plants. They add scenery, and perhaps discussion topics, but they don't necessarily have to have an active role. Examples of people like this are an emitted barmaid, or a described guard over a door. They don't have a body - but they exist in the same way the door does, or the tables that the barmaid waits on.
NPCs are also useful for background information. The Island is a unique environment, in that many people will have been transplanted from some other place. However, there is also the possibility of having been born and raised on the Island. In that case, your family does not have to be dead; it can, instead, be comprised of NPCs, who are generally not seen "on camera."
For role-playing purposes, NPCs can also be @emitted, to provide extra color and activity to a session. It is generally wise to determine ahead of time who will be emitting a specific NPC, however, to maintain consistency in any particular scene.
NPCs are everywhere. It is not appropriate to simply get away with any action, just because there are no PCs to see you or stop you. In the world of TFA, the NPCs are as real as the PCs, and should be treated accordingly. This is especially true for areas that would normally be well guarded - just because there are no PCs around, does not mean there is no security. Rules and policies cannot even begin to cover every event that may involve having NPCs. Use your best judgement, and be prepared to back it up with reasoning if you're questioned on it. If you believe someone has inappropriately ignored NPCs, please drop a note to the managers explaining the situation, and they will look into it.
Organizations of all sorts can be affected by the actions associated with NPCs, especially when the actions are violent or otherwise negative. It is understandable to cast NPCs as the bad guys, but if care is not taken, it can affect the reputation of the group or area the NPCs are supposed to be from. When using NPCs in this manner, please contact the group that the NPCs are supposed to be from and work out the details with them - after all, reputation is all the group or area has to pull people into it. If this discussion does not happen in advance, the associated role-play may require modification.
If you're looking for villains, please see news badguys to see what the managers must approve. The same requirements hold for NPCs as for PCs, although it's generally easier to get a background NPC approved.
The ratio of time in the game
Guidelines for getting tinyplots approved
General information about this world, including races and magic.
Other Topics:
| News Adventures | Guidelines for getting adventures approved |
| News Guilds | Information on the available guilds |
| News Magic | Information on how magic works |
| News Races | Information on the various races available |
| News TP | Guidelines for getting tinyplots approved |
| News Technology | Information about current technology, raw materials and limitations |
| News Temples | Information on the Temples and the deities |
| News Town | Information on the Towns |
How the magic system works.
The technology level of the game is set up to primarily reflect the technology available around the time of the Earth Renaissance period. Although there are some exceptions, this is a general guideline to follow when thinking of new items to play with. The managers do request that you run the ideas of your exciting, new inventions past them. This is not to get permission as much as it is to enable the managers to keep up with what's going on, and decide if the Gods would allow this technology to exist. We will generally try and warn you in advance of the outcome, should it be negative, as long as you let us know what you're doing. If we find out the hard way, so will you. :)
Some things, no matter how technologically likely the development, are not going to come in existence. The reason for this, much like the reasons behind a great deal of the situations on the game, is that we have Meddling Gods. In particular, the Great Alchemist God Talek keeps a careful eye on inventions and scientific exploration. Things which are considered dangerous or too advanced have a nasty habit of exploding, breaking, imploding or otherwise destroying themselves, usually at the worst possible time. As a result, Talek's Enclave has been built on the eastern bank of the river, across the river from the City. This Enclave is where the majority of inventors, tinkers and scientific explorers are required, by law, to work on their potential inventions. As the Enclosure is made entirely of dressed stone, with very little flammable materials involved in either construction or in furnishings, the general hope is that the population of the City (and the Island as a whole) will not be endangered by some invention that the Gods disapprove of.
Not Permitted:
Permitted:
In addition, iron working is permitted, but the iron is not plentiful. Swords and other weapons tend to be rather expensive, and it's very difficult to find steel plate or scale mail made from steel. More likely is ring-mail and bronze breastplates. Copper, tin and lead are more readily available.
Coal and wood stoves are common.
Other raw materials:
Papyrus is made from reeds gathered in the marsh. Ink is developed from different plants, as well as some fish and octopi by the merfolk. Beeswax is used for candle-making. Some cotton is available, as well as flax and ramie (a material made from tree-bark). Additionally, there are silk farms in the forest.
There are hot-springs in the mountains, and a plateau near the western shore have a pair of geysers with a temple (to Talek) between them.
TFA runs on PennMUSH. The version and patch level can be retrieved using help changes.
Talek, Moonchilde and Melissa maintain the system; Talek, who is also a primary contributor to the PennMUSH development, maintains the source code. Questions about the system and the source code (hardcode) should be sent in email to melissa@fantasyalternative.org.
PennMUSH is a branch of the MUSH source code tree. It was developed from the TinyMUSH 1.x line, in tandem with the TinyMUSH 2.x and 3.x lines. It has some similarities and differences with both TinyMUSH and TinyMUX. General server support and discussion takes place on the mailing list, pennmush@pennmush.org. Visit http://www.pennmush.org/mailman/listinfo/pennmush to subscribe to the list. Bugs should be reported first to the managers - we'll get them to the PennMUSH development team.
The most recent version of this code is available at http://ftp.pennmush.org in the /pub/PennMUSH/Source directory.
There is a MUSH programmer's list, 'softcode@legendary.org'. Visit http://legendary.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/softcode to subscribe.
| DATE | UPDATE |
|---|---|
Any corrections, comments, or questions about the news file should be sent to the managers in email (managers@fantasyalternative.org) or in @mail.
An alphabetical index of all the news files. Not everything is as cross-referenced as it ought to be, so the index was installed for general reference. Click on the name of the file to go to that page. Major topics are in all CAPS.
| Admin | Who the admin are and what they do |
| Admin Rules | The rules the admin agree to follow |
| **Adventures | Guidelines for getting adventures approved |
| Advertising | Guidelines for Advertising the MUSH |
| Apply | How to become a Player Helper or Plot Helper (staff) |
| Admin Structure | The structure of the administration |
| Admin Theory | The operating theory for the administration. |
| **Badguys | Information on badguys, and what needs to be approved. |
| BUILDING | Building policies |
| CHARACTERS | Character concepts, character generation system |
| **Chargen | Information on the character generation system. |
| CODE | About MUSHcode, and how to get help with it. |
| CONDUCT | Rules & Consequences |
| Consent | What consensual role-playing is and how it's applied on TFA |
| Consequence | What happens if the rules aren't followed |
| Create | Information on "virtual" objects |
| CREDITS | Credits for work and input on the game |
| Factions | Information on the government factions |
| Government | How the government works |
| Guilds | Information on the available guilds |
| Helping | Helping on the game as a regular player. |
| Homes | How to get a home |
| IC/OOC | Definitions of In-Character and Out-Of-Character |
| Idle | Information about idledests. |
| INDEX | General, alphabetical index |
| Inspect | What the Building inspection consists of |
| Lists | Information about the TFA mailing lists |
| **Magic | Information on how magic works |
| MAINTENANCE | Idledests, mailing list, database, alts |
| Monastery | The Monastery and how it works. |
| **Movement | How movement works in the game |
| NPC | Use of non-player-characters |
| Negotiation Example | Example of negotiation-style role-play |
| Nobility | How to become nobility on TFA |
| Orgs | How to start a new organization |
| Packet | Information about the First Character Player Packet. |
| Puppets | Help with puppets |
| Quota | Information on quota, and how it works |
| **Races | Information on the various races available |
| **ROLE-PLAY | General information on role-playing |
| Rules | The rules of the game. |
| Staff | Information about staff on TFA |
| **Tinyplots | Guidelines for getting tinyplots approved |
| News Technology | Information about current technology, raw materials and limitations |
| **Temples | Information on the Temples, and the deities |
| **THEME | General information about this world |
| **Time | The ratio of time in the game |
| Town | Information on the Towns |
| UPDATES | Lists the most recent updates to news |
| VERSION | About this version of MUSH |
TFA home page ** Back to the beginning
The top ** Back to the top of this page.