Quests & Creatures

Quests

Three commands (replace Aldric with the NPC’s name as shown in the room):

  • ask <npc> about quest – Hear the job, get a reminder while you’re on the quest, or a hint when you’re ready to turn in.
  • ask <npc> for quest – Accept the next quest you’re eligible for.
  • ask <npc> for complete quest – Turn in after objectives are done; you receive coin and reputation on the spot.

A yellow ! before an NPC means you can accept a new quest or turn in a finished one—not only that they have quests in the database (web: styled quest marker).

Click an NPC’s name for a tooltip: short actions ask about quest, ask for quest, and turn in quest (each runs the full ask … command). “Ask about quest” appears when you’re mid-quest or ready to turn in; for a fresh offer you’ll usually see “ask for quest” first.

If an NPC offers multiple quests, the next one you can take is the lowest minimum level, then lowest id.

In Town Center, the Quest Poster (look at poster, look poster, or read poster) lists quests you can still accept, grouped by area with NPC and room. It omits quests you have accepted, completed (ready to turn in), or already turned in; it also skips quests below your level or blocked by an unfinished prerequisite quest. If nothing matches, the poster says Nothing listed for you right now — you’re caught up. Web: yellow ! before Quest Poster; when at least one quest still qualifies for your board, that ! pulses like an NPC turn-in marker; click the poster for the same list in a cream popup.

How quests work:

  1. Accept – ask <npc> for quest. You get an objective (e.g. kill 3 rats).
  2. Progress – Kill the target creature. Each kill grants kill reputation.
  3. Turn in – ask <npc> for complete quest for reward coin and reward reputation.

Rats in the Cellar (Aldric the Banker): Kill 3 rats in the bank cellar. Reward: 150 copper, 10 reputation (see quest_definitions.reward_gold in seed). Min level 0.

Creatures (Beasts)

Creatures spawn in specific rooms (e.g. rats in the Bank Cellar). They show level in the room (e.g. "a rat level 0"). Web: click the creature’s name in the room output for a popup with its description (if the world defines one) and rough health (color bands by condition). With multiple same-named beasts present, use target, first…tenth + name, or a digits-only instance id for attack, cast, look at, loot, and skin—the examine popup’s Attack / Target links send that id for you. Beasts move between rooms periodically; when one leaves, the room shows "🐀 a rat just went east."

When a beast is killed, another respawns elsewhere in its roam area after a random delay (seconds). Examples on the default world: rat 15–30s, giant rat 18–36s, wolf 24–45s, boar 30–60s—timing can differ per creature.

Aggressive creatures (wolves, boars, etc.—marked aggressive in their definition) can start fights on their own: after a random delay between configured min/max seconds once a living player is in the room (0/0 = immediate), they may begin initiative attacks. Each attempt rolls initiative %; the target is a random living player in the room. The wait until the next initiative swing is a new random delay between attack roundtime min/max seconds. They can still counter-attack when you hit them (separate percentage). If everyone leaves the room, that beast’s aggro timers reset for the next visit.

Provoked – Non-aggressive creatures (e.g. rats) don't start fights, but once you damage them they join initiative combat using the same counter-attack % as their melee counter-swing odds. If all players leave the room, aggro resets.

Wounded roamers – Creatures with a roam list that drop to about 20% of max HP or less may try to flee to another connected room in that list (50% chance per check; they wait at least 5 seconds after entering a room before another flee attempt). Type help attack in-game for the same summary.

Attacking

attack <target> or at <target> – Melee. A bare attack uses your target if set, otherwise the first beast in the room. You can pass a digits-only beast instance id (from the web examine popup) as the whole “name.”

target <creature> / target clear – Set or clear the default beast for attack and throw. Same disambiguation as below when several share a display name.

cast <spell> <target> – Cast offensive spell (e.g. cast fireball rat). Target rules match attack. Requires mana and knowing the spell.

Beasts may counter-attack when you damage them. Aggressive beasts may also initiative-attack on a timer without you swinging first—see Creatures (Beasts) above. On the default world, many beasts use high counter-attack and initiative chances; passive species (e.g. cellar rats) skip initiative unless they are marked aggressive. When they hit you, you can receive injuries on body parts. The web client sidebar shows a human silhouette with those regions colored by severity.

Looting

loot <creature> – Loot a corpse for coin and items. Only the killer (most damage) or their group can loot for 5 minutes; others can loot after. Corpse decays after looting.

Decay items – Some creatures drop items only when the corpse decays (not when looted). These appear on the ground when the corpse timer expires (often ~30s if you skip loot/skin).

Death & Respawn

When dead: decay then decay confirm to respawn at your area’s spawn (1-hour stat penalty). Or wait for a gravedigger; from Town Center when dead, ask empath for gravedigger can route you to that area’s cleric room for resurrection (Thornhaven: Cleric’s Cottage). While he walks from the graveyard you may see distance updates (rooms away / “almost here”); when he enters your room you see an arrive line, then hauling begins—no duplicate “almost here” after he has already arrived (help decay).

Skinning

skin <target> – Skin a corpse (e.g. skin rat). Not all creatures are skinnable.

Skinning uses a roll: DEX + AGI + WIS + level + random(0–100) vs difficulty 32 + random(0–50). kneel before skinning for +25 to your side of the roll. Success = skin item (quality by margin). Premium accounts auto-stow skins into your worn pack; without premium, hides fall to the ground for you to pick up. Fail = you ruin the hide (no skin item). Use loot separately for coin, ground drops, and kill reputation—the corpse stays until you loot (or it decays).

Premium Features

Staff can enable premium on your account (Admin → Players). Premium perks:

  • Auto-stow skins – successful skins go into your worn pack automatically. Without premium, hides fall to the ground for you to pick up.
  • Auto-bundle – matching pelts, herbs, and bundlable potions are automatically bundled when they enter your pack (skinning, looting, buying, stowing). Conditions are tracked per pelt inside the bundle; potions follow Admin → Potions → Can be bundled (all catalog rows for that item name must allow it).

See help account and help skin in-game for details.