Frequently Asked Questions: Races

What does the stat potential chart mean?
What is the difference between spiritual and hermetic spell max?
What happens when I reach my maximum age?
What effect does diet have in the game?
How will my race be effected by # of limbs, armor, and weapons?
What does skill max mean?
What is an experience rate?
What is a heartbeat?
What are slots?
What role do advantages/disadvantages play?
Why are there different types of regeneration?
Can any race join any guild?
What is the difference between commands and emotes?



What does the stat potential chart mean?
The stat potential chart represents each race's potential for increasing in a given statistic when you gain an adventurer level. You may gain as many as 1 point per adventurer level, and your potential simply increases or decreases your chances of gaining in a certain stat with each level. It does not effect guild levels and does not place any limits on how high your stats can reach. Therefore, having a potential of "high" in strength does not necessarily mean you will end up with a high total of strength, nor does a potential of "horrible" mean you will necessarily end up with a very low total.
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What is the difference between spiritual and hermetic spell max?
Retromud's guilds use two different types of magic - Hermetic and Spiritual. Spiritual magic is mainly of a religious type, such as the Templars and Cultists use. Hermetic magic is of a more scientific nature, such as Biomancers and Alchemist use. Your max in both categories will determine how high you will be able to train or study any spells or skills that fall into those categories. For instance, if you are a pudding, which has a spiritual spell max of 80%, and a cultist, which uses spiritual magic, you would be able to train your spiritual spells to 80% at the highest. For arguments sake, if you were a giant, which has a spiritual spell max of 20%, and a cultist, you would only be able to study your spells to 20%. Therefore, make careful note of the type of magic your guild uses, if any, and be sure your selected race has at least 60% in that category.
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What happens when I reach my maximum age? In the rare case that your age exceeds your maximum age limit, you will be force reincarnated. There are spells in the game which can decrease your current age. Also, ages are relative to each race, therefore an 18 year old homarid is not the same as an 18 year old satyr.
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What effect does diet have in the game?
Every race is effected by hunger in the game. Your size will determine how much food you need to consume before you are full, and certain races become hungry faster than others. Your diet determines what food you are capable of eating. See: help diet and help food types to view the specific types of food related to each description. Note: A dietary requirement of 'none' means you are not effected by hunger and cannot eat.
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How will my race be effected by # of limbs, armor, and weapons?
Number of limbs determines how many things you can hold or wield. Non-melee type guilds do not typically need to worry about wielding things, while it is essential to all melee. Do not chose a race with no limbs if you desire to do combat with weapons. Having more than 2 limbs offers the potential to use more than 2 weapons, though it requires skills not found in any of the primary guilds. Your natural armor determines how much protection value you have without equipment. There are many spells which can temporarily increase your protection value, and armors have varying degrees of protection as well. This is just a base condition. Natural weapons are similar to naturl armor, as it determines the base amount of damage you do with your attacks. Your proficiency it battle skills, your statistics, and the weapons you use will affect the amount of damage you do also.
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What does skill max mean?
Similar to spiritual and hermetic spell maxes, your skill max determines how high you are able to train in any skills you aquire. Unlike spells, skills are all grouped into one category. So if you are a giant, which has a skill max of 100%, and a fighter, which is a non-magical guild, you can train any of your skills all the way up to 100%. If you were a giant and a cultist, which uses spiritual magic, you would be able to train your non-religious skills to 100% as well.
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What is an experience rate?
Your experience rate will effect how much experience you gain from killing a monster. For instance, if you have an experience rate of 95%, you would recieve 95% of the worth of the monster. If you had 103%, then you would recieve 103% of the worth. It works the same way in parties, were the exp is shared and each player recieves their experience rate % of their share.
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What is a heartbeat?
Your heartbeat is the speed at which you regenerate. Heartbeats, also called 'ticks', replenish some of your hit, spell, and endurance points. Races with a very rapid heartbeat tick more often than races with slower heartbeats. Your racial tick uses only your racial ability to regenerate. Equipment regeneration 'ticks' occur separately and at the same speed for all players, in order to keep things balanced.
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What are slots?
Slots play a large roll in retromud. While essentially a simple concept, it can get quite complex when combined with bulks and other restrictions. Basically, your racial slots determine where you can wear equipment. Every piece of equipment in Retromud covers at least one slot. For instance, gloves cover your left and right hands (though there are some that cover only one of your hands), so you will be able to wear gloves as long as your race has the left and right hand slot.
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What role to advantages/disadvantages play?<
Every race has certain advantages and disadvantages, except humans. Some races have a larger list of either than other races. Advantages and disadvantages are exactly what they mean. See: help advantages and help disadvantages for specifics on what each type of dis/advantage means.
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Why are there different types of regeneration?
In Retromud, each character has an amount of Hit Points, Spell Points, and Endurance Points. Each race has a certain proficiency in regenerating each of these points. Certain races are better at regenerating magic while others can regenerate damage very quickly. This rating, coupled with your races heartbeat, determines how well you regenerate.
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Can any race join any guild?<
Yes, basically. You may join any of the primary guilds no matter what race you are. However, there are many factors which will determine how effective your can be in that guild. For instance, a race with no limbs can join fallen but will not even be able to wield the fellblade (the fellblade is the only weapon fallens can use, and they must kill with it in order to increase its power so they can advance in level), thus rendering that character useless. As another example, a giant joining the biomancer guild will not only have a very low spell point total but will only be able to study any of the spells to 20%. Not many players will trust their lives to a character who only has a 20% chance of successfully healing them! Therefore, choose your race and guild combination wisely. Read our F.A.Q. on Race/Guild Combinations for more information.
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What is the difference between commands and emotes?
Commands are additional abilities that a race may or may not have. Some races have many commands while others may have none at all. These commands are basically a skill that is only available to that race. For instance, werewolves have a 'feast' command which allows them to bite into their opponent while in battle, doing a little damage and regaining a little hunger. Emotes are simply for the roleplay of your character. They are unique to their specific race, and do not offer any additional skills or ability.
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