The wizard's
path.

Becoming a wizard

At level 20 you face a choice: become a Wizard and help build the world, or an Eternal and keep playing as a mortal without the level cap. To reach level 20 as a wizard candidate you must have accumulated the required number of quest points — check help advance in game for the current threshold.

Once you become a wizard you are no longer a mortal player. Your character steps out of the game world and into its fabric. You gain access to powerful commands, your own directory in the file system, and the ability to write LPC code that other players will encounter. With that access comes a set of rules every wizard must follow.

The wizard hierarchy

Wizards progress through ranks as they contribute. New wizards start at the bottom and work upward by writing areas, maintaining code, and earning trust from the arch wizards who oversee quality and policy.

When in doubt about anything — rules, access, whether something is a bug or a feature — contact an arch wizard or admin. If no arch responds within a few minutes, be patient: many check the MUD between tasks at work.

Wizard rules

These rules apply to all wizards. They must not be read too literally — use common sense. Normal player rules also apply to wizards (type help rules in game), except for the "robots" clause. Arch wizards are not strictly bound by these rules.

1 — Interference

A wizard is no longer part of the mortal game. You may never interfere — directly or indirectly — with the normal flow of the game. The sole exception is adding features (see rule 2). This also means you may not use your wizard character for any mortal character's benefit.

You may not walk around in areas you do not have read or write access to (see help grant), unless the area is the guild area, the backbone area (anything in /room/), or you have explicit permission from an arch or the area maintainer.

See the Interference Policy section below for detailed examples.

2 — Adding features

You may not let objects into the mortal game without QC (Quality Control) approval. Use help arches to find the right people. This includes "testing" items on live players. Coding things that otherwise help players is equally off-limits without QC sign-off.

3 — Test characters

If you need a test character, register it in /room/admin_room. A test character may not itself be a wizard, but is treated as one for rule purposes. The multiplaying restriction does not apply to your test character when it is logged in at the same time as your wizard — but only then.

4 — Privacy

Respect other players' privacy. Checking or entering another player's or wizard's inventory is not allowed unless the person approves, or you suspect a bug and no arch wizard is present to handle it. When in doubt, wait and ask.

5 — Code

Certain code patterns can freeze or crash the MUD. Be careful. Do not write objects or commands designed to grant yourself access or privileges you would not normally have. Be cautious about modifying player objects — severe cases are handled by the Law team.

6 — Disk usage

Your wizard directory is not private storage. Do not keep confidential material there, and do not waste disk space on non-MUD files (archives, images, etc.). Such files may be deleted without notice when space is needed.

7 — Multiplaying

Wizards are bound by the standard multiplaying rules. The exception: wizards of level 36 or above have proven themselves as developers and may have a mortal character logged in at the same time.

Interference policy

The following examples clarify what "game interference" means in practice. When in doubt, do nothing and ask an arch.

1 — Do not patch mortals

Patching means modifying a mortal's stats or attributes — money, experience, hit points, and so on. This is never allowed for a wizard acting alone.

2 — Helping a stuck mortal

You may teleport a mortal out of a location if they are genuinely stuck due to a confirmed bug. You may not restore their lost stats or items — that is the arch wizards' responsibility. Before acting, make sure it really is a bug and not a game feature. If you are unsure, ask an arch or the area creator. Do not act unless you have not received a response after about ten minutes.

3 — Walking in open areas

Do not walk around in open (live) areas other than those you have read/write access to, and know will not disrupt the game. Moving through an area can trigger scripts you are unaware of. The backbone area (Larstown, eastroad, and all rooms in /room/) is exempt — use creator to check; backbone rooms read "Your delicate mind senses that this is a part of Odin's original creation."

4 — Cloning from open areas

Do not clone, load, or access objects from an open area without explicit permission from the creator and/or maintainer of that area.

5 — Misleading messages

Do not generate messages that could deceive players — things like "Connection closed by foreign host.", "You die.", or messages that make you appear to be someone or something you are not. Do not set titles or pretitles that misrepresent your identity.

Contributor agreement

This agreement governs all code and content you contribute to Viking MUD. By contributing, you accept these terms.

1. By contributing any code or content — or modification thereof — you grant Viking MUD a perpetual, royalty-free license to:
   • use, copy, maintain, modify, and erase such code or content on Viking MUD, our website, or other Viking MUD services;
   • designate responsibility for maintaining the code to other Viking MUD contributors;
   • use, copy, maintain, modify, and erase such code or content in development, test, and production systems.
2. You may grant additional rights — such as the right to redistribute or resell — by providing Viking MUD additional, specific permissive licenses of your choice (dual-licensing). Such licenses may not revoke Viking MUD's perpetual license described above.
3. Viking MUD cannot accept any code or content that Viking MUD is not free to handle as described above.
4. You are solely responsible for ensuring your contributions do not violate the AUP, third parties' intellectual property rights (copyright, trademarks), or any applicable law.
5. You guarantee that your contributions neither violate such rights nor are illegal.
6. Through contributor access you may encounter private and personal information about other players. You agree to respect others' privacy and to not gather or use personal information unnecessarily.
7. If Viking MUD becomes aware of contributions that violate intellectual property rights or are illegal, and you cannot prove you hold the necessary rights, we reserve the right to remove or modify such content and to revoke your contribution privileges.

Wizard dashboard

The wizard dashboard is an interactive reference tool that puts all man pages, LPC lessons, wizards help files and hook documentation in one place. You can search the entire wizdoc library by typing anywhere on the page, navigate with the arrow keys, and read any page in the viewer — colour codes and all.