ArmageddonMUD - Community Resources - Formatting Submissions

For information on questions such as indentation, spelling and capitalization, see the stylesheet. Submissions should be, whenever possible, sent as a plain text file, and the presumption is that you are responsible for spell-checking. Submissions should be sent to either the staff member who asked for them, with mud cc-ed or, if not intended for a specific staff member, to mud@armageddon.org, so it can be forwarded to an appropriate staff member. All staff members can be reached with the address <theirname>@armageddon.org or <theirname>@ginka.armageddon.org

Writing has to live up to our standards, which are high, to be used. Armageddon reserves the right to edit, sometimes heavily, as necessary.

Be original. Yes, when Armageddon started, it borrowed from the Dark Sun milieu, but it has grown into a world system and ecology of its own. Think about the atmosphere of the game and try to make your item, npc, script, etc fit into the game world. Think about what materials and techniques would be available in the area where the item would originate, and how that would affect the item. Decide what styles of art might have affected the item and how it might be decorated. Consider what conditions your npc would have grown up under and what her/his history is like. If it's an ornament or tattoo, think about what sort of culture would have produced it.

You can think of crafting as working similarly to real life cooking. That is to say, what much be created for each crafted item is the recipe, or list of items that can be combined to make it. For example, to make an arrow, you need the arrowshaft, the arrowhead, and a feather for the fletching.
Crafted items can be cumulative. For example, crafting a particular chest might require that first the player must craft the carved panel used to adorn it.
Large items can be crafted into multiple smaller items. For example a log can be split into several planks, or a large chunk of raw meat turned into several smaller pieces of cured meat.
In contributing crafted items, consider whether or not the item fills a gap in existing craftable items. For example, we have many types of arrows, and yet another instance of such is probably not necessary. Similarly, there are many types of craftable wooden shields, so I would rather see one that uses tortoiseshell, since there are (currently) no such shields in the database.
If it is something craftable only by a particular clan, indicate that. There is currently no way to make something craftable only by a particular race or geographic location.

Necessary information, in order:

Item Description Example

ingredients what goes into making the item two small red rubies, a piece of bone

what is created the item created via the use of the skill. If it's a item that doesn't exist in the world yet, you will need to provide the information on the object separately. See the section on making objects. a ruby-studded bone hairpick

what is left upon failure anything left over if fails two small rubies

skill what skill is used to make the item jewelrymaking

difficulty how hard it is to make the item fairly difficult

duration how long it should take to make the item, in very general terms (instantaneous, a couple of minutes) long time

success message to crafter what the crafter sees upon success. Try to avoid having these messages be over 80 characters. You shape the bone and set the small jewels into its surface.

success message to room what others in the room see upon success. Try to avoid having these messages be over 80 characters. $n shapes the bone and sets the small jewels into its surface.

failure message to crafter what the crafter sees upon failure. Try to avoid having these messages be over 80 characters. The fragile bone snaps as you attempt to shape it.

failure message to room what others in the room see upon failure. Try to avoid having these messages be over 80 characters. The fragile bone snaps as $n attempts to shape it.

Helpfiles should be formatted by using this utility.

Necessary information, in order:

Item Description Example

the npc's keywords The keywords associated with the npc, including her/his name, any nicknames, and any special identifiers, like [winrothol], [blackwing], or [poets_circle] designed to make searching the database easier. Junipa small dark-haired man human

the npc's sdesc the description seen when the npc acts. Generally starts with "a" or "an" rather than "the". a small, dark-haired man

the npc's long desc the description seen when someone enters the room A small, dark-haired man sits at a table in the corner, drinking.

the npc's desc the description seen when someone looks at the npc This lanky man is weatherbitten, his skin a deep bronze where lighter lines of scar tissue do not cross his skin. His hair is a pale, sunbleached brown, kept slicked back with some sort of perfumed oil. A moustache droops mournfully beneath his long nose, and his eyes are a shrewd shade of jade green.

the npc's background Notes that someone inhabiting the npc should be aware of Junipa's life is his store. He is obsessively neat, and convinced that it is the existence of the store, providing folks with tools, that helped free the Northlands.

details race, age, sex, guild, subguild female half-elf, 32, assassin house servant

skills estimate of their skills, and anything unusual they might have, skillwise barely skilled, except in floristry, which she is highly advanced in. Plus knows a smattering of cavilish.

miscellaneous Notes about their clothing, their accent, how they might introduce themselves, rumors they might report, etc. Prefers blue linen in clothing. Has Northern accent. "Junipa, welcome to the free Northlands, praise to Muk Utep!"

Keep the following points in mind:

Unless the item is one of a kind, it should not have lines in its description that would imply it is one of a kind. For example, Scrawled in blood at the bottom of the parchment are a series of enigmatic runes or The cloth has been torn at the hem and stitched back with red thread, the repair clumsy and erratic.
You may want to give the object a particular scent or taste (if it's food).
Material types include: wood, metal, obsidian, stone, chitin, gem, glass, skin, cloth, leather, bone, ceramic, horn, silk, ivory, duskhorn, tortoiseshell, isilt, salt, dung, plant, paper, food, feather, and fungus.
Objects weights can be 0, .1, .25, .5, 1, 2, 3, etc. Weights are reckoned in stones.

Item	Description	Example
the item's keywords	the words used to manipulate the object, as in "look blue" The list should start with a noun, such as "table", to avoid awkwardnesses like "You break the ornate." If it can only be made by a specific tribe, or area, include this as a [name_make] flag, i.e. [blackwing_make], [southern_kadian_make], [northlands_make], etc.	backpack yellow sandcloth [allanak_make]
the item's short description	the short description of the item, i.e. what is normally seen when manipulating the item	a small leather pouch
the item's long desc	what is shown when the item is lying on the ground. Try to avoid having these messages be over 80 characters.	A small wooden lyre lies discarded here.
the item's main description	what is seen when you look at the item	This long bow of dark thornwood has carefully sanded and polished until the wood gleams darkly. Stretching tautly between the arms is a bowstring seemingly fashioned out of thin but sturdy sinew. The dark brown wood curves gracefully from the tip down to the recurve at the far end. Halfway down, a sturdy grip has been skillfully carved and wrapped with dark leather to provide a sturdy hold. Pieces of tortoiseshell have been used as both strengtheners and decoration at the arrow rest and plate as well at the tips where the bowstring slips onto the ends of the bow itself.
the item's material	what the item is made out of	wood
the item's price	how much the item costs. Note: this will be affected by both the individual shopkeeper and the area's taxes	15
wearflags	where the item can be held/worn	back, holdable, in_hair

Involve as many senses as possible. Let the reader know what the air smells like or how the crowds outside the window sound.
Do not write in second person, i.e. the use of "you". Instead of "You see a room filled with candles," try "This room is filled with candles," or, better yet, "Candles fill this room."
Avoid passive voice whenever possible.
Unless you have included an alternate night description for the room, do not mention day specifics, such as harsh sunlight.
Avoid qualifiers, such as "rather", "quite", or "very". If you feel a qualifier is necessary, then perhaps you need a more precise word. For example, instead of "very tall", "towering" or instead of "rather small", "diminutive".

Necessary Information, in order:

Item	Description	Example
the room's name	the name of the room. It is best for the name not to contain information that the character would not know.	A Small, Dusty Plaza
the room's desc	the description seen when one enters the room	Crowds choke this crowded plaza, stirring up thick dust and fine, silty sand into the air, already thick with the odors of the lives conducted here. The ground underfoot is simple, hardpacked dirt, worn smooth with footsteps, but with an occasional jagged crack or pile of offal that keeps the traveller's step wary. Slightly taller buildings surround this plaza, many of them featuring balconies fluttering with the laundry which has been hung out to dry in the fierce sun.
extra descriptions	the descriptions seen when you attempt to look at a room's detail, such as "look skull' or 'look skulls'	skull, skulls These skulls vary in race, including examples of human, gith, dwarf, elf, and other, less known, races. Each has been painted, the eyeholes outlined with brilliant colors and the bony plates adorned with various patterns
night description	the description seen at night	Even lying under the thick sweep of night's dark wing, this plaza is full of life, commoners passing through it on their errands, many lingering to gossip, talk or simply watch the passersby. The ground underfoot is simple, hardpacked dirt, worn smooth with footsteps, but with the occasional jagged crack or pile of offal that keeps the traveller's step wary. Slightly taller buildings surround this plaza, torchlight marking the entrances of a few.
scent description	what is reported to the player when they 'sniff room'	The smell of refuse and feces sullies the mouth of this alleyway.

Remember that tattoos and scars are not location specific, and that someone may choose to put the scar or tattoo in any location.

short description of the tattoo (ex: "a flaming skull tattoo")
cost of the tattoo
description of the tattoo (what is seen when you look or view it)

To keep the website looking consistent, a few templates have been created to be used when a webpage is submitted. To make it as easy as possible for you to use, there are plenty of comments within the source code, however it is recommended that understand the basics of HTML if you.re going to use one of the templates. To save a template onto your computer, either right-click on the link and select "save target as" or view the source code for the template and copy and paste it into a html file.

Standard Template (used for most webpages)