NetRPG DM Commands

"/help DM" gives:
===========================
DM Only Commands
===========================
DM Commands: ("monster" refers to a full name of a monster, capitalization is ignored)
/DO monster phrase -> shows action for a monster
/ADD monster init THACO 2d6+2 HP AC phrase -> adds a new monster
/DELETE,/DEL monster -> removes a monster
/CLEAR,/CL -> removes all monster
/DAMAGE,/DAM X thing -> stores X damage to thing (monster or player)
/INIT -> starts a new round of initiative rolls
/NEXT - (DM or current player) moves to next initiative number
/WAIT - (DM or current player) moves current monster or player to the end of the initiatives for this round
/END -> ends the initiative round
/SAY monster phrase -> speaks from a monster
/ATTACK,/A monster target -> attacks from monster to the target (player or monster)
   or attacks LastTarget if target is omitted
/TARGET, /T target -> set LastTarget for the current initiative monster to target
/FUDGE,/F [H M C F] or [DH DL] -> affects next attack by anyone
   Abbreviations stand for: [Hit Miss Crit Fumble] OR [DamageHeavy DamageLight]
   Both a "hit" modifier and a "damage" modifier may be set
/PHRASE,/P monster phrase -> sets a monster's phrase to new phrase
/MAP BEGIN -> starts saving everything you type into the MAP variable
/MAP END -> stops capture of the MAP data
/MAP PUSH -> sends the current map to all player's info windows
/EMULATE, /EM name -> all speech typed by the DM will appear to come from "name"
/MOVETO, /MVTO thing 54,12 - moves thing's icon to 54,12
/MOVE, /MV thing 4444422 - moves thing's icon 5 spaces to the left and then 2 spaces down
/ICON [LIST,ADD,DEL,CLEAR]
      LIST - prints out active icons   ADD/DEL/CLEAR are same as for monsters

Adding/Deleting Monsters
This may seem a little complicated at first, but you can remember the pattern after a while, or type "/add" by itself to see the correct order... But, it's also a lot easier to type up the adventure beforehand with both text descriptions and commands to add the monsters, as in the example later on in this file.  The DM can type "/add orc1 3 17 2d6+1 32 -3 with a sword" to add orc1 to the monster list, with speed factor of 3, THAC0 of 17, a weapon which does 2d6+1 damage, 32 Hit Points, an AC of -3, and the phrase 'with a sword' which shows up in the '/who' list.  (the reason orc1 is used, is that when you have several similar monsters, they must have unique names in order to identify them. ie, orc1, orc2, and orc3)  Monsters can be deleted by typing "/delete orc1", or by typing "/clear" which removes all monsters.

Damage
DM can type "/damage orc1 12" to do 12 damage to orc1, or "/damage Blade 5" to do 5 damage to player Blade.

Monster actions/speech
Just as players can say things and 'do' things with '/do', the DM can type "/do orc1 cocks his crossbow" in order to get "orc1 cocks his crossbow".  Also, the DM can type "/say orc1 Stop or I'll shoot!" to get "orc1: Stop or I'll shoot!".

Emulating a monster/NPC
"/emulate Dragon" will make all talking and DOing by the DM to act as if he/she were really logged in with the name of "Dragon".  To take off emulation, just type "/em" or "/emulate" without any name.  To switch to another name, use "/em new_name".

Changing of monster phrases
If a monster moves to a new location, or switches weapons, and the DM wants to inform the players of such, "/phrase orc with a sword" or "/p orc2 by the stairs".

Initiative Rounds
DM can type "/init" to start a new round of initiatives.  Initiative rolls (d10) are rolled for every player and monster, with each player's and monster's speed factor added in to their respective roll.  The DM is shown a list of all the initiatives, while each player is shown only theirs.  Then, the lowest initiative player or monster is announced to everyone.  Once the player/monster has gone, either the DM or the current player types "/next" and the next initiative is announced, until the round is over, when it is announced that there are no further initiatives, and the DM can type "/init" again.  (NOTE:  There is a limit of 100 players + monsters in the initiative list.  So I didn't want to bubble sort a linked list and just did an array. Nyah! :-) )

"/wait" causes the current initiative holder to save their action till the end of the round, when they will then get another chance to act.

"/end" will end the initiative round and not start a new one.

Automatic Attack Resolution
The DM may type "/a orc1 orc2" in order to have monsters attack one another, or "/a orc1 Blade" to have a monster attack a player.  Just like with players, once a monster has attacked, its LastTarget variable is set and is visible in /who.  Then, to auto-attack the LastTarget, simply omit the monster's target.  ie: "/a orc lupus" followed by "/a orc" would attack lupus twice.

Quick Attack
If during an initiative round, the DM types just "/a", the current initiative monster will attack its last target.  This feature greatly speeds up the game.

Fudging of Attack Rolls
Just like in real RPG gaming sessions, it is sometimes necessary for the DM to fudge some die rolls behind the screen, in order to keep the adventure moving in the right direction.  NetRPG has "fudge modifiers" to do this, which affect the next use of "/attack" by _anyone_.  The DM can set up both a "to hit" mod and a "damage" mod with "/fudge".  The options available are : 
• for "to hit" modifiers: H, M, C, F - which stand for Hit, Miss, Critical hit, and Fumble.
• for "damage" modifiers: DH, DL - which stand for DamageHigh, and DamageLow.
H - causes an automatic, but random looking hit
M - causes an automatic, but random looking miss
C - causes a critical hit (a 20) to be rolled
F - causes a fumble (a 1) to be rolled
DH - causes the damage rolled to be at least half of the max damage
DL - causes the damage rolled to be at most half of the max damage
NOTE: if the DM wants both a hit modifier and a damage modifier active at the same time, the hit mod must be set first, and then the damage mod.  To remove fudge mods, type "/f  blah" or other nonsense.

Example: The party is on its last legs, and the demon is almost dead.  Dirk the thief comes up from behind to make a backstab, and the DM feels it should be a good one, and therefore types "/f c" and then "/f dh".  This will force an automatic critical hit, and damage that is at least 1/2 of the maximum.  Dirk's attack consumes the fudge factors, so any further attacks are normal.

Maps

/MAP - (can be used by anyone) Returns the current contents of the server's MAP storage, which can be any set of strings that the DM stores.
/MAP BEGIN - makes all subsequent strings sent to the server by the DM be stored in the MAP storage
/MAP END - stops the MAP capture
/MAP PUSH - sends the current map to everyone's info windows

Example:  You could have all of the following lines in a text editor, and paste them into your client when the party enters the area:

    After the bend north, the hallway widens into a diamond shaped
room, with the hallway continuing out the other side of the room.
/map begin
       | |
       | |
      /   \
     /     \
    /       \
    \       /
     \     /
      \   /
       | |
       | |
/map end
/map push
    In the room ahead, something spherical floats in the air
at about chest height. The spheroid seems to have a
central eye and a dozen tentacles topped with eyeballs
growing out of its top.
/add beholder 8 19 1d2 45 9 Floating eyeball
/do beholder slowly turns and looks menacingly at the party...

NOTE: Maps are limited to 20 lines tall and 60 lines wide

Movable Text Map Icons
The DM (only!) may now add text icons onto the map.  Once on the map, if an icon has the same name as a player, that player is allowed to move it.  This is so that the map only has icons on it pertaining to a certain scene the DM may be showing.  NOTE:  The map does NOT need to contain whitespace all the way to the end of lines in order to have icons move there.  The map size is currently limited to 60x20, though.

For people interested in making ascii maps, check out ASCIIPaint by JAHCCC@eworld.com.  It's in this directory: <ftp://mirror.aol.com/pub/info-mac/text>

The commands for the DM are:
"/moveto thing 20,4" - moves the thing (player or monster) to 20,4
"/move thing 4488" - moves the thing left twice and up twice.
"/icon list" - prints out a list of the currently active icons
"/icon add Blade B 20,5"  - adds an icon named Blade (for either a monster or player named Blade) that shows up as a 'B' at 20,5.  NOTE:  Icons may be longer than 1 character  (Ex: "/icon add Dragon <==--==> 30,1")
"/icon del Blade"  - removes the icon named blade
"/icon clear" - removes all icons

DM privileges, notes, and comments:
1) DM gets a copy of ALL whispers.
2) DM can do bookeeping with:

a) /add, /delete to keep track of monsters

b) /damage to keep track of monster damage

c) /init to start up the initiative rolls

d) /next at any time to move on to the next player or monster (if a player has stepped away for a moment, for example)
3) DM sees all stats in '/who'.
4) DM gets a message when any player types /damage.
5) DM gets a message when any player types /set maxhp
6) DM can do a '/who <name>' on anybody, while players can only look at people who are logged in.

DMing Examples

In order to make gameplay faster, the DM usually types in entries for various encounter locations througout the adventure.  Then, when the characters get there, the DM simply copies a section from an open text editor in the background and pastes it into whatever terminal program they have connected to NetRPG.  Here's a sample from a typical adventure:

/CLEAR
/ADD ogre 3 16 3d6 34 3 with a big club
/ADD orc1 5 18 1d12+2 20 2 with a bloody longsword
/ADD orc2 5 18 1d8 20 4 aiming a bow at you
You enter the corridor and are faced by a huge humanoid figure flanked
by two orcs.  They advance toward you...
/SAY ogre Who dares enter my cave?
/DO orc2 pulls back on his bow

The DM would copy the above 8 lines and paste them into NetRPG.  The result would be that the 3 monsters would be recorded in the monster list, the players would see a description of the area, and then they would get the SAY and DO commands.  If the players were to type "/who", they would be able to see more accurate descriptions of the monsters.