• Chapters
• Getting Started
• Survival Guide
• The Basics
• The Combat System
• Advanced Features
• Player Races
• Experience and Advancement
• The Spell System
• The Skills System
• The Guild System
• The Safe Trading System
• Adventuring 101
• Questing
• Player Groups
• Playing Spellcasters
• Crime and Punishment
• The Player Warning System
• Advanced Command Editing
• All Commands
• Atmospheres
• All Quests
• All Spells
• Autobagging
• Glossary
• Player FAQ

Wyvern Gameplay Basics

Contents

• Logging In
• Moving Around
• Firing Bows and Spells
• Entering Commands
• Hotkeys
• Using Teleporters
• Communication
• Talking
• Telling
• Whispering
• Atmospheres
• Shouting
• Chat Channels
• Emote Rooms
• Using Objects
• Reading Signs
• Water, Ships and Boats
• Inventory
• Encumbrance
• Money
• Food and Drink
• Shops
• Saving Your Game
• What's Next

Logging In

You must first create a character. Once you've chosen your race, it's permanent. (But you can make other characters with different races.)

After completing the Tutorial, you should spend a little time exploring New Verden and the nearby towns of Amita and Davos. Here you should focus on learning where the most important places are. The most important is the Inn, which is where you can save your game. Saving your game is free — you find a bed in an Inn, apply it by pressing 'a' while standing over the bed, and you'll save and quit. The next time you log in to Wyvern, your character will appear in the Inn you last saved in.

Also, you should note that you are not allowed to leave the area of the three towns, New Verden, Amita (to the west of the Tutorial tower), and Davos (to the east of the Tutorial tower) until reaching experience level 4. There's plenty to keep you busy there while you learn to play the game. You'll get to the big, dangerous world of Wyvern soon enough!

Moving Around

You can move around with the keyboard or the mouse.

To move with the mouse, click on the screen where you want to move. Your character will run to that spot. It's best not to hold down the mouse button unless you have lots of distance to cover and know exactly where you're going. Otherwise you could end up in places you didn't want to go.

To move with the keyboard, you can use the arrow keys or the numeric keypad, which will take you north (up), south (down), west (left) or east (right). Or even diagonally if you use the numeric keypad.

If you're a Unix/Linux user or an accomplished typist, you may wish to use the default keys for moving around:

You can rebind these keys to whatever commands you like. We strongly recommend you keep the default bindings and learn how to use them. The keys are the default movement keys used in many Unix applications (including editors like vi and games like Nethack). You'll find you can move around quickly, with a lot of control, if you learn these key bindings and practice using them.

Firing Bows and Spells

You can Fire your current "readied" range attack. Range attacks can be range weapons like bows, or spells. You can only have one attack readied at a time.

• To ready a spell, type ready spell <spellname> (without the <>)

• To ready a bow, type ready bow, or right click on it in your inventory and select "ready".

It will appear in your Stat View under "Readied:".

To fire, press Shift plus any direction. If you have no range attack readied, nothing will happen.

Example: "shift + h" (press shift, then the 'h' key) will fire left. If you have a range weapon or a spell readied, it will fire to the west.

For playing convenience, you can use a bow and a melee weapon at the same time. Just wield the weapon and ready the bow.

Bows shoot arrows, and crossbows shoot bolts. If you have the correct type of missile in your inventory, firing the bow will automatically use the missile for you. The fire command will also look in your first quiver for the appropriate missile type.

Be careful if you are only readying a ranged weapon to shoot monsters becauses bows, crossbows, etc., DO NOT melee monsters very well. Archers should dodge the monsters, stay at a distance, and pelt the monster with missiles. Besides readying a bow, you can wield a melee weapon such as a sword.

Wands and Rods are both used like bows — you can ready them and fire them just like a bow, except they don't need ammunition. Wands have a small number of charges and don't take any mana points to fire, while rods have a very large number of charges but cost mana to fire, and some require a recharge time before you can fire them again.

Entering Commands

Many things you can do in Wyvern require you to type in a command. Example commands:

• get sword from bag
• wield sword
• inventory
• put ring of protection from shape changers in bag of holding
• cast firespray north

There are dozens of built-in commands in the game, and some items give you new commands temporarily.

To enter a command, press the Enter key, and a text field should appear in the lower-right corner of your client window. Type your command into the text field and type Enter again, and your command will be sent to the server. If you change your mind and don't want to send the command, press Escape to clear the text field.

There are also little buttons that can make the text field appear. The button looks like a little right-arrow. Pressing it makes the text field appear, and the right-arrow disappears, replaced by 2 new buttons: an X and an "OK". Pressing "OK" will send whatever you've typed to the server, while pressing "X" will discard it and not send the command. Pressing "OK" is exactly the same as pressing the Enter key, and pressing "X" is exactly the same as using the Escape key.

Hotkeys

You can change the command sent by any key on your keyboard using the alias command. (You can also set up aliases with longer names that you type, such as aliasing heal to cast medium healing.)

Default hotkeys:

• comma (,) — "get"
• period (.) — "look"
• left angle-bracket (<) — "up" (goes up stairs)
• right angle-bracket (>) — "down" (goes down stairs)
• o — "open"
• c — "close"
• s — "search"
• i — "inventory"

Also, the single-quote key (') is special: it acts as if you had typed Enter, followed by say . Basically it's a shortcut for saying something. Type the single-quote key, followed by what you want to say, and then press Enter to send it to the server.

Using Teleporters

Teleporters are very important to playing Wyvern. A teleporter is an object that takes you to a different map (or sometimes, to a different location in the same map.) Wyvern's game world is constructed from hundreds of game maps, so you MUST be able to use teleporters to play the game.

You'll quickly learn what objects are teleporters. All staircases are teleporters, as are some doors. To use a teleporter, walk on it, then press the 'a' key (or capital 'A' if you like), and it will activate the teleporter and take you to the new map.

All buildings are teleporters. If you walk on a building and apply it with 'a', it will take you inside the building. Not all buildings are "open" — some don't have anything inside them, or are not accessible right now. If you try applying a building and nothing happens, it means the building doesn't have an interior yet.

Anything that looks like it might be an entrance to something is probably a teleporter. Examples: a fiery volcano, a pit or hole, a cave entrance, even some fountains. Don't be afraid to try to apply an object and see if it takes you somewhere.

Some teleporters work automatically. You just have to walk on them and they'll transport you somewhere.

Some teleporters have no destination. We've discussed closed buildings already, but sometimes you'll find a staircase or magic portal that doesn't seem to take you anywhere. This is normal: the game world is always under construction, and you can try the teleporter again in a few weeks and see if a wizard has added something to it.

Teleporters function just like hyperlinks on the internet. Some links are broken when the target document moves, or if a server is down. If you suspect a teleporter is broken (for instance, it used to work but now it doesn't), feel free to log a bug with the bug command, or mail your local game administrator.

Here are some examples of teleporters:

Note that spiral staircases are special: you can go up or down by typing up or down, so they actually have 2 possible destinations. If you apply one normally, it will take you down, unless you're already at the bottom, in which case it'll take you up. Sometimes a spiral stair won't have one or the other exit, though, and it'll tell you you're already at the top or bottom.

Communication

There are several ways you can communicate with other players.

Talking

You can type say <whatever>, and whatever you type after "say" will be printed to everyone within 10 squares in any direction. For example, if the character Rhialto types say hello there, every player within 10 squares of Rhialto will get the message "Rhialto says: hello there".

Telling

You can send a message to a player anywhere in the game by typing tell <playername> <message>.
Example: tell froobar can you meet me at the main shop?.

Whispering

You can whisper a message to a player if they're next to you. The player will hear your message, and all other players in sight will see something like "Dracos whispers something to Hrothgar."

Atmospheres

Nonverbal communication is an important part of the game. The game includes a hundred or so "atmosphere" commands, such as wink, kiss, hug, sigh, yawn, groan, cheer, grumble, and so on. Each atmosphere has its own set of messages that go to you and the people who see you perform the atmosphere.

Shouting

You can shout a message to everyone in the game. This costs shout points, and can also be very annoying if you do it too much. Shout points are regenerated over time, and you can increase how quickly the regenerate by training in the oratory skill.

There are limits on what you can shout, and every shout is logged, so don't try to abuse it. You should use shouts with caution, and only do it if there's really something that everyone in the game might be interested in hearing.

A variation of shouting is called "emergency" — if you type emergency <message>, it will say your character screams the message, which can be a bit startling. This should only be used in really rare emergencies — e.g. if a bug is killing your character and you need the attention of a wizard immediately. Misuse of this command is grounds for punishment/banishment.

Chat Channels

There are a variety chat channels available. You can type:

• help <message> to ask everyone on the game for help
• auction <message> to buy or sell something on the game.
• rp <message> to say something that's in character, if you're Role-Playing.
• ooc <message> to say something that's Out Of Character, if you're Role-Playing.
• lq <message> to say something on a special 'live quest' channel. This should only be used when a live quest is going on.

There are also channels for discussing movies, sports, school, music or telling a story. You can use the subscribe command to get a list of the channels available.

Emote Rooms

A common MUD feature is a room where you can go to "emote". This is just like the say command, except what you emote gets printed right after your name. If Grond types emote takes off his shoes., the game will print "Grond takes off his shoes." to everyone in sight. This can be a very powerful and fun form of communication, but since it can easily be abused ("Grond smashes you with a bone-crushing sound"), it's only available in certain designated areas.

There is an Emote Room available upstairs in the Adventurers Guild.

Using Objects

Many objects in the game can be "applied". This usually invokes the primary function of the object. Teleporters will teleport you, signs will show you their message, food will get eaten, armor will be worn, and so on. If you're not sure how to use an object, try applying it by walking over it and pressing the 'a' key on your keyboard.

Reading Signs

There are signs all over the game that tell you helpful information. To read a sign, walk over the sign and Apply it by typing the 'a' key on your keyboard. You can also middle-click on it in your Ground Display window if you have a 3-button mouse, or shift-click if you have a 2-button mouse.

There are some "signs" in the game that spit out their message automatically when you walk on them. These are known as "magic mouths". There is no harm on walking on a magic mouth multiple times.

Water, Ships and Boats

You can't enter the water with a new character until you type swim. This will enable you to enter the water.

There's a good reason for this: if you go in the water, you'll move slowly, and you'll start to drown. If you stay in the water long enough, you'll die.

If you're flying (from a spell, magic item, or racial ability), you can cross water at full speed. If you're swimming or water-walking, you can move through water at increased speed, but not full speed. You don't take damage from water if you're flying, swimming or water-walking.

If you don't have the ability to cross the water without taking damage, you can get on a boat. Boats are simple to use once you get the hang of them. To use a boat, apply to enter the boat and use move as you would normally using the keyboard or mouse. Type apply again to leave the boat.

Boats have an interior that can hold more than one player. To see inside the boat while you're in it, type view in. To put your camera back outside the boat, type view out. You can't move the boat while your camera is inside of it.

Inventory

There are lots of items in the game that you can carry. You can pick them up, drop them, give them to NPCs, throw them, put them in bags, and so on. You can't give items to other players.

Every character has a limit to how much they can carry, based on the character's strength. You'll want to choose carefully which items you carry around with you. There is no way to save items unless you're carrying them, and we do not intend to add storage lockers of any kind. We used to have them, but they were removed because they caused serious game-balancing issues. See the Player FAQ for more information.

Many spells in the game operate on the first applicable item in you inventory. Examples:

• remove curse — works on the first cursed item in your inventory
• charging — works on first wand in your inventory
• enchant armor, destroy armor, enlarge armor, shrink armor — all work on the first piece of armor in your inventory
• enchant weapon, frost blade, life blade, and flame blade work on the first weapon in your inventory

You can show subsets of your inventory using the show and inventory commands. See the command reference for more details.

Encumbrance

Your character has a strength (based on your race, with Pixies being the weakest and Giants being the strongest) that determines, among other things, your carrying capacity.

If you exceed your normal carrying capacity, you will get the message "You are encumbered." Your movement will be slowed while you are encumbered. As you pick up more items, and your load increases, you will become burdened, then strained, and finally immobilized until you drop some of your items.

Your current encumbrance level is shown in your Stat View in the game client.

Money

Lots of things in the game cost money. You can buy things from shops, pay to get items identified or repaired, pay to get healing, and so on.

So where do you get money from? You get it from killing monsters and selling their stuff. Go to a dungeon, find a monster, kill it, pick up any items it was carrying or guarding, haul them back to a store, and sell them.

You can sell items directly to players if it makes sense. Let's say you've found a nifty artifact weapon, but it's not as good as the one you're carrying. You might shout "Sword of Blood for sale, main shop", and see if anyone shows up. Open-market selling like this usually works out better for you and the buyer — you get more money than a shop would give you, and they pay less than they would in a shop.

You can carry your money around with you, but it's heavy, so you can also put it in the bank. There are teller machines in the banks in every town. You stand at the machine and type balance to see your bank balance, deposit amount to deposit some money, or withdraw amount to get money out.

Food and Drink

Your character gradually gets hungrier over time. You have to eat to remove your hunger. Your food gauge is a brown bar on the client stat-display. If your food level goes to zero, you stop recovering hit points and mana until you eat something.

You can buy food in some stores. You can also order food and drink in most taverns. If a tavern has food and drink for sale, you can order from them by typing order <food>. A full list of what a tavern has to offer can be viewed by typingmenu. Tavern food spoils quickly, so only order enough to fill yourself up. If you need food and drink to sustain you during your travels, stock up in a shop, buy a horn of plenty, or learn the create food spell.

Shops

Sometimes it's easier to buy something than to try to find it in the game. There are different kinds of shops in the game. Most of them have all their merchandise laid out on the floor. You cannot leave a shop with unpaid items, and you won't be able to use the items until you pay for them.

You can buy an item by typing buy <item>. For example, if you've picked up an unpaid sword, you can type buy sword to buy it.

You can look at an item before buying it to find out what it does. However, if you buy something and change your mind, you can type refund <item> to get your money back. You can't get a refund if the item has been damaged in any way.

You can sell things in most shops by typing sell <item>. You can figure out how much the shop will give you for the item by typing value <item> in the shop.

Some shops have display cases, and you have to stand near the display case and type buy <item> in order to get the item. If an item is in a display case, there's no way for you to pick it up and look at it until you buy it.

Sometimes you'll find a display case where you can't seem to buy or value the items in it — this means the items are not for sale, and are for display only.

Saving Your Game

The game automatically saves your data as you play. However, since the game is still in beta, it's possible to lose items or gold in the event of a crash or other bug.

What's Next

When you're ready to dive a little deeper into the game, try reading the Advanced Features Chapter to learn more things you can do.

Or if you want to read this manual in order, then just head to the next chapter!