Shattered Kingdoms

Introduction

The people you see posting on these forums are the same people who play the game, Shattered Kingdoms.

Shattered Kingdoms is a sword and sorcery fantasy roleplaying game, played online by many people at the same time, who take on the role of a character which they create. As Shattered Kingdoms is free to join and free to play, you can login to the Shattered Kingdoms world and play the game any time you like. Shattered Kingdoms is a particular type of online game called a multi-user dungeon (or MUD for short).

What is roleplaying?

Roleplaying is where you play the role of someone or something and effectively live out the life of a character as though you were him or her. For example, if you are roleplaying an evil priest, the language you might use and the things you might do would be the same kind of language and actions that you might expect an evil priest to use. Your imagination and your diversity are what defines how your character acts and subsequently, what happens to your character throughout their life.

If you have roleplayed before, playing Dungeons and Dragons or something similar for example, you will already be able to roleplay. The difference in Shattered Kingdoms however, is that you type what you want to say and do into your computer, rather than speaking out loud.

What is a Multi-User Dungeon?

A multi-user dungeon, more commonly called a MUD, is a purely text-based game where many people play in the same online game and interact with each other through roleplaying their characters.

Treat a MUD as a book that you and the other players help to write as you play the game.

You can choose to create a character which acts as a noble good knight or a character which acts as a thief and a scoundrel. There are certain rules about what kind of character you can create and play and there are certain rules about what your character can do and where they can go. These rules are defined by the gamesmasters which are also called immortals or imms. The cities which you can explore and the skills, spells and items that you can use are also governed by these rules and your characters race and character class define what you can and can't do.

For example, a rogue or a thief will have the ability to steal items from other characters, whereas a sorceror or a barbarian will not be able to steal. Similarly, a griffon and a sprite can naturally fly however, an elf or a human cannot without the help of magic.

The Basics of Shattered Kingdoms

The world of Shattered Kingdoms is set in one vast land called Pyrathia. In this country there are six kingdoms each with it's own laws, governments and cities. The kingdoms are inhabited by both players' characters and computer controlled characters. There are roads, buildings, rooms, tunnels, lakes, rivers, mountains and a whole range of other geographical elements to the world of the game, each most of which have their own unique appearance and description. More about the kingdoms.

You should think about the character you want to play before you create one as the choices you make when you create your character cannot be changed later, however if you are not happy with the character you created, you can of course delete it and create a new one at any time.

The race you choose can be a centaur, deep-elf, dwarf, elf, giant, gnome, griffon, half-elf, halfing, human or sprite. The race you pick decides not only it's starting age, but also how long it can live for without dying of old-age. More about the races.

The class of character you pick decides what skills and/or spells your character will be able to use as they grow and gain experience. The high-level options are fighter, clergy, adventurers or mages, and within each category you choose from mercenary, swashbuckler, barbarian, priest, paladin, hellion, shaman, bard, rogue, scout, sorceror, warlock or a necromancer. Some classes are only available to certain races, so make sure you choose your race and class combination wisely. More about the classes.

You not only have to choose which race and class your character will be for their lifetime, but also which kingdom you wish to 'born' into, a name for your character and a gender. Once you have chosen these five basic things, you can connect and create a character.

How do I make my character 'do' things?

There are a vast array of actions that your character can perform, although not all characters can do the same things, this depends on the choices you make when you create youe character. General things like, buying items from shopkeepers, sitting, standing and sleeping as well as speaking are available to all characters. The commands that you use to make your character perform an action are simple to use and simple to remember...

For example, if you want your character to sit down, just type 'sit' and press enter; if you want them to stand again, just type 'stand' and press enter. A reference of some of the most common commands and is available here. Also, the entire set of help files are available to read by either typing 'help' within the game or on the the website here.

We'd recommend you particuarly read the help files about communication, movement, combat, objects and training before you start playing the game. The other help files are useful once you want to immerse yourself deeper into the Shattered Kingdoms world.

Connecting to the Shattered Kingdoms game server

Full information about how you can connect to Shattered Kingdoms can be found by clicking here. For a walkthrough of how to play the game from connection all the way to having your character training skills and spells, visit the play area of the website.

If you have any difficulty connecting or you can't seem to get something to work for you, just start a thread here in the newbie forum and someone will help you as soon as they can.

Have fun and play nice.

(credit for the original version of this text goes to sloop)