Sentinel guild

The Sentinel guild is a distinctive one, in that its members not only 
have the versatility of forming their own parties and standing in the 
front, but also the ability to combat effectively from the midrow with 
a polearm, crossbow, or whip. Like the Fighter guild, Sentinels have 
the potential to become skilled in various weapons, but Sentinels have 
additional skills for bludgeons and polearms, and to a lesser extent, 
crossbows and whips. However, Sentinels give up some strength 
(compared to other front row guilds) for their versatility.

In addition, members of the Sentinel guild are charged with the task 
of settling any player disputes that may arise, so they are granted 
unique metagame skills that assist them in their duties as part of the 
RMPD ('RetroMUD Police Department'). Because of this, players who wish 
to join the Sentinel guild are strongly advised to read the help files 
that detail certain rules of the game (especially the ones that are 
required before entering the game).

This help is in two parts: the first part explains how to get started 
in the game, as well as some useful skills to train up, while the 
second part explains more about the metagame duties.

PART I: GETTING STARTED
When you first enter the game, you will be in the guild's training 
room. A newbie guide will be there to assist you (HELP GUIDE). Make 
sure you have read HELP GETTING STARTED so you don't end up asking a 
simple question that is answered in there (HELP FAQ is also quite 
useful). Take some time to look around the guild, and be sure to 'ask 
gilgal about rules' when you see him.

The first thing you should do as a newbie is explore (HELP EXPLORE). 
At early levels, it is easier to gain experience points needed for 
advancing levels (HELP ADVANCE) and training your skills (HELP 
TRAINING) by exploring, than it would be to go out and kill things. At 
the very least, you should explore the various cities and newbie areas 
located on each of the six planets, which should easily get you 30-40% 
explore so you can start training up your skills. You can also do some 
of the level quests (HELP LEVEL QUEST) to help you learn your way 
around the MUD as well as reduce some advancement costs. 

You can advance to level 10 without being locked out of any newbie 
areas (HELP LEVEL LOCKED). It is recommended that you do not advance 
past level 10 until you have learned how to travel between planets 
without using the newbie transports located in the Adventurer's 
Guilds. (HELP INTERPLANETARY TRANSPORT, HELP NEWBIE ADVANTAGES).

After you have explored and trained a bit, you are ready to take on 
the monsters of RetroMUD. If you can, form parties with other newbies 
(HELP PARTY). Parties are a great way to make friends and will allow 
you to kill bigger monsters. The following are some useful skills a 
Sentinel should train. Not all the skills are listed, but you can 
consult the individual help files for more info (HELP SKILL ).

LEVEL 1-9 SKILLS (gold-free training up to 70%)
Essential skills
ATTACK (level 1)
FIRST AID (1)
BLUDGEON (1)/BROAD BLADE (2)/AXE (5)/THIN BLADE (5): These are all 
frontrow-only, or melee, weapons (HELP WEAPONS).
CROSSBOW (4)/CROSSBOWMANSHIP (4)/TARGETTING (4): These skills 
determine your effectiveness & ability with a crossbow, which is for 
midrow/backrow combat only (HELP RANGED COMBAT). 
POLEARM (1)/WHIP (3): This determines your effectiveness with a 
polearm or whip. These weapons work for both frontrow and midrow 
combat. 
RESCUE (3): This is the skill that allows a sentinel to gain dues, 
which will be explained later (additional info can be found in HELP 
GUILD DUES).
DIAGNOSTICS (7): This helps you get more specific info about the 
condition of the target you're fighting (HELP DAMAGE DESCRIPTIONS, 
HELP SCAN). 
DOUBLE HIT (8)
AMBIDEXTERITY (9)
INFIGHTING (9)
REMEDY (9)
ASSIST (9)
Other useful skills, levels 1-9: consider humanoid, douse fire, city 
navigation, detect burglary, flagellistics (for whip users), 
nightvision (for those who can't see in dark conditions) and 
observation.

Once you've explored and trained a bit, and feel fairly comfortable 
with the different transports methods for the various planets, you're 
ready to advance. The next recommended stopping point is level 15, 
which is the last level you'll be able to summon a guide for 
assistance.

LEVEL 10-14 SKILLS (gold-free training up to 60%)
Recommended skills:
INTIMIDATION (11)
WARRANT (13)
DODGE (14): (HELP DEFENSE for more info)
Other useful skills, levels 10-14: battering ram, summon watch, 
trailing, polearm sweep (polearm users), command watch (used w/ summon 
watch), flogging (whip), alertness, entangle (whip), heraldry and 
mazzatello

Before you advance past level 15, make sure you're completely 
comfortable with the different planetary transports, as you will lose 
your guide at level 16. Also, it's a good idea to gather all your dues 
(25k total) before you advance any further. Sentinels can use the 
rescue skill at certain monsters in the game to gain dues, which are 
required to level past 15 (HELP GUILD DUES). You might want to start 
training certain skills (like attack) as high as you can. Finally, 
this is the point at which you might want to start looking for better 
equipment/weapons, as you will lose your newbie pack at level 20. This 
is a big step for most players, as the cost of storage for weapons/
equipment is rather steep (HELP STORAGE). Don't forget to check the 
'newbie advantages' to see what you lose with each level; level 18 is 
a favored stopping point before leaving newbiedom at level 20.

LEVEL 15-20 SKILLS (gold-free training up to 50%)
Recommended skills:
WEAPON PARRY (15): (HELP DEFENSE).
RIPOSTE (17)
LANIARD MAKING (17)
ENHANCE CRITICALS (18)
Other useful skills, levels 15-20: prestige, cure poison, tumbling 
attack, abbacinare (bludgeon/thin blade), pardon, wariness, brand (
bludgeon), sap (bludgeon), arrest, blindfighting and polearm double 
hit (polearm).

GUILD COMBOS
After reaching level 20 you are now free to choose other guilds (HELP 
SECONDARY GUILD). Typing 'choices sentinel' shows you which guilds you 
are allowed to join. Some guilds are more skill oriented (ex: ranger, 
bounty hunter) while others are more spell oriented (ex: abjurer, 
telemancer). Keep in mind that these guilds may require you to have a 
high spiritual spell max (ex: shih) while others require a high 
hermetic spell max (ex: telemancer). Spell maxes are based on your 
race, so if you want to take a certain guild, make sure your race has 
the spell percentage to support it (80% is usually the lowest max 
recommended).

PART II: METAGAME DUTIES
As mentioned at the beginning of this help, the Sentinel guild has 
additional duties to help them handle any player disputes or other 
problems that may arise. If you do not want to deal with these duties, 
it is advised that you do not join this guild. Also, even if you take 
only 1 level of Sentinel, you are not excused from these tasks, should 
the need arise. All Metagame duties come first and foremost, before 
any in game things. This may mean having to hold up your party while 
you deal with a situation, or in some cases having to stop whatever 
you may be doing and directly intervene. These are parts of being a 
Sentinel, and there are none exempt from it. If you do not like this 
fact, please, do not join Sentinel. Unlike other guilds, the Sentinel 
guild has real responsibilities, and calls beyond that of a mere game. 
For a Sentinel, these duties come first - and are a lot more demanding 
than any other aspect of the game.

Some special skills & their usage:
DETECT BURGLARY (6): During a castle thieves event (HELP EVENTS LIST   
Castle Raid) this skill is used outside a player-owned castle to see 
if there are any thieves inside, and if so, you can alert others for 
assistance. Also see HELP DEPUTY, HELP DEPUTIZE.

SUMMON WATCH (10)/COMMAND WATCH (12): This summons a watch to assist 
you with various skills, e.g. arrest requires the presence of a bail 
bondsman to be used, denbreaker helps with battering ram.

WARRANT (13): This makes a player wanted on the planet you issue the 
warrant on. You must not use this skill without consulting with other 
higher level sentinels first, as misuse of this skill will be dealt 
with by Talien or another admin.

PARDON (17): This removes all warrants from a player on the planet you 
use it on. You aren't required to pardon a player if you don't wish to 
do so. In fact, there may be cases where you may not pardon certain 
players, as this might be part of a guild-enforced action, until 
further notice (this is called a 'hard' warrant). Unless it is a 
'hard' warrant, you may remove warrants on other players. If you're 
not sure, ask others on the guild channel first. Oh, and yes, you can 
charge for pardons. ;)

ARREST (20): This sends a player to jail, and requires a specific 
watch (bail bondsman) to be present. It can only be used in a city. 
Like warrant, misuse of this skill will be dealt with by admin.

Some help files to be familiar with: botting, cheating, conduct, 
multi-playing, harassment, player-killing, lawbreakers, thieving, 
theft. Also see HELP LEGAL for the full list.

In addition to these skills, players may sometimes contact you if they 
have a problem (for instance, kill-stealing) or have questions about 
the rules. If you're unsure about anything, just ask on the guild 
channel, or if no one is able to answer on the guild channel, send a 
mail to the guild leader/mentor ('nscore' gives you this info). Or 
bother Torch. He's been here forever. Possibly longer. Just bother 
him. ;)

-Meiris, with help from Torch & Foil