Not fact-finding, but attainment to philosophy is the aim of science. - Martin H. Fischer

Starting a new character on any MUSH can be a daunting experience, especially when there's a good deal of theme to familiarize yourself with, and new people to meet and talk to. However, this page aims to make that experience a little less intimidating by providing a Getting Started 101 in the core areas of character creation.

Remember, when you see text that is in this colour then you can click on that hyperlink to be taken to additional pages beyond this guide that will provide you with even more detail! Some link to pages beyond the JTS sphere, but many connect directly to our detailed Wikipedia at http://oswiki.jointhesaga.com

Connecting to OtherSpace

• Connect to OtherSpace MUSH using telnet://www.jointhesaga.com:1790, the PLAY NOW link on the menu bar to the left, or a specialized MU* Client. You can also check out Andreo's Java Client.
• Log in as a guest by typing connect guest guest
• Type +new followed by a space and then your question. For example:

+new Hello. I'm new here. Could someone tell me what's so great about OtherSpace?

OtherSpace Character Creation

OtherSpace players are required to demonstrate familiarity with theme and grasp of character by writing full-blown backgrounds for their characters in order to be considered for approval.

To create a character, you must first log in to OtherSpace at jointhesaga.com 1790. It is recommended that you use client software, such as SimpleMU or MUSHClient rather than raw Telnet to make this text-based connection.

On the connection screen type create (name) (password). Be sure to capitalize your character's name and do not use a name from an existing work of fantasy or science fiction. Our application readers do check for this sort of thing, so no Aragorns, Skywalkers or Snake Plisskens, please. If you find you must change your name before character generation is complete, type +name (newname) (password).

You'll connect in a room called the Dream Nexus, our out-of-character hangout zone. Automatically, you'll be added to the Public and Newbie OOC discussion channels. Here, you can ask for assistance and get to know other players. Type +pub (message) to talk on the Public channel. Type +new (message) to talk on the Newbie channel. Optionally, you can type @chan/on Recruiting to add yourself to that channel, and allow players to try to get you to join their crews. Type +rec (message) to talk on the Recruiting channel.

When you're ready to begin setting up your character, look in the Dream Nexus for an exit marked Get Your Character. Type OCC to proceed.

Through that exit, you'll find the entrance to the OtherSpace Chargen Center. You must answer the 20 questions listed on the questions object in this room. These questions give us an indication of your past RP experience, maturity level, at least passing familiarity with our game, and your knowledge of RP etiquette and sportsmanship. Once you answer the questions, you may proceed through either the Humans or the Aliens exit.

After that, it's pretty much a cattle chute: You walk through a series of rooms, picking your race, and end up in a waiting room where you will be instructed on writing a bio and finding a ship to be a crew member or passenger of. Check out the Writing a biography article as well as the Bad Bios.

Characters begin with a +sheet containing the most basic racial skills, you will need to raise your skills after your bio is approved. Consult the FUDGE guide for an explanation on how to translate your biography into numbers and coded skills.

The Races of OtherSpace

OtherSpace players currently have 15 different races, both humanoid and exotic, available to play in our character creation system. Information about these races can be found via the RACES link that can be found on the navigation bar to the left. Follow the instructions to discover more about the races that inhabit the universe of OtherSpace!

The Worlds of OtherSpace

When OtherSpace started in 1998, the known universe was divided into three distinct regions: The Earth-centered Stellar Consortium, the Nall-dominated Parallax and the sometimes chaotically independent Fringe.

Much has happened since then, when the in-game year was 2650.

It's now 3006. The main regions and factions of this period of OtherSpace's history are the Solar Republic, which consists of Mars, Luna and the plasma-bomb devastated Earth; the Parallax, which consists of Nalhom, Lebal, Vollista, Grimlahd and the forbidden world of Nocturn - as well as control of access to the multiverse nexus; the Sivadian Empire, which consists of Sivad, the colony worlds of Waldheim and Nialesia, and the resort world of Deserata; and the independent worlds, which include Quaquan, Ungstir, La Terre, Tomin Kora, Antimone, Centauri, Demaria, Odari, G'ahnlo, Ydahr, Phyrria, Val Shohob and Castor.

More information about these regions and worlds can be discovered by using the WORLDS link located to the right within the navigation bar.

Writing a Biography

Since the reintroduction of mandatory bios on OtherSpace it has been necessary to write a biography to get your character into roleplay. Approved bios give both entry to the grid and experience points which may be used to increase skills.

In rare cases, staffers may also set skills at an above-average level without the need to +practice. Writing a biography is also the only way to gain some of the more unusual gifts, quirks and faults.

For a detailed look at how to go through the biography process - and how to write a biography that has a very good chance of getting approved right off the mark - please visit the dedicated the detailed page on the OSwiki by following this link: Writing A Biography

Writing a Description

"Cronkheit the Barbarian, the mightiest warrior of the fabled land of Testosteroneia though still a mere 27 years of age, stands proudly before you. Surely the strongest man in the world, he moves with the speed of a rattlesnake, the grace of a gazelle, the courage of a lion. His long black hair is held back with a headband, his bare chest remarkably muscular, his feet clad in leather boots which have seen better days. Sensing your gaze, he turns to glance at you with cold blue eyes which seem to pierce to the very marrow of your being, and you feel your knees go weak as you wonder if he might be angry with you. Somehow you sense that people who arouse his anger don't usually live long enough to regret it. However, after a moment he shrugs imperceptibly and returns to what he was doing before you stared at him."

Okay, how many things were wrong with that character description? To find out, and to learn the secrets of how to write a good character description in the process, please follow: On The Art Of Description

The Seven Deadly Sins

"Sin creates an inclination to sin; it engenders vice by repetition of the same acts. This results in perverse inclinations which cloud conscience and corrupt the concrete judgment of good and evil. Thus sin tends to reproduce itself and reinforce itself, but it cannot destroy the moral sense at its root."

Each MU* has its own set of rules, social conventions, themes, laws, and general community spirit. For the most part, those players who join these MU*s learn to work with these set virtues and eventually become a part of them, definining them with their own sense of morality as they continue to call the MU* home, and eventually protecting it by enforcing these defining points themselves.

Yet, from time to time, each MU* suffers from a player who, for whatever reason, just doesn't want to play the game with anything but their own rules, and will often earn the hatred of their peers for doing so. These kinds of players usually fall into one of the following "types" that Bahamut likes to call: The Seven Deadly Sins.

Avoid these traps at all cost, and you'll remain one of the finest role-players around.


1: Ghosts
The Ghost is a player that, by not understanding that the game world is populated by thousands of nameless NPCs and not just the player characters connected at the time, assumes that if they're on their own, they can do whatever they like.

The Ghost will enter private rooms and steal whatever they can find lying around. The Ghost will enter places that they would never ICly be. The Ghost will read all your books, mess with all your stuff, leave your room in a mess, and then move on to the next place. And when they get caught, the Ghost will reply: "Well, there was no one else around to see me."

Ghosts, more often than not, will find that the IC Consequences of their IC Actions will come back to haunt them whether no one was around or not.

The term of "Ghost" is derived from the player "ghosting" around a place as if unseen by all.


2: Metagamers
Perhaps the second most deadly sin of all, the Metagamer is a player who will use information that they learned from an OOC source and act on it in an IC manner.

For example, the Metagamer might hear on an OOC <Channel> that someone is attacking a friend of theirs in a Tavern. Now, the Metagamer might be on the other side of the world at that point, and have no IC reason at all to travel to this Tavern.

However, acting on the OOC Information, they travel across to the Tavern anyhow, and help their friend out ICly, As If By Magic. The Metagamer may also use information gained from OOC sources to solve IC problems too. They may magically know who it was that stole a particular item. They may magically know where to find something they would have no IC knowledge of.

In short, Metagaming is the sin that is most likely to get you into trouble with both Staff and Players; the former when they find out, and the latter when they have their scenes retconned because of it.


3: Munchkins
"There is something alluring about Munchkinism. What is Munchkinism you ask? To be a proper Munchkin, you need to be focused on one overwhelming goal: attaining Infinite Cosmic Power. Forget namby-pamby roleplaying.

Forget realism. Forget game-balance destroying exploitation of the rules. You want a character so powerful that, in the words of a famous barbarian, "you drive your enemies before you amongst the lamentations of their women". Darn tootin'."
                                                                                                                                                        - Bioware

 4: Powergamers
Though the term Powergamer has its origins set in the realm of MUDs, in which it depicted a player that spent all their time "powering" through levels and mobs, the Powergamer on an RP MU* is something much more ominous, and infinitely more annoying.

A Powergamer is a player that forces actions upon other players through RP, without allowing the other player to either consent to those actions, or oppose them through skill rolls.

For example, while a normal player might pose "...places a hand upon Serena's shoulder and shoves her, intending to push her into the wall.", a Powergamer would instead not give "Serena" the chance to react at all, but would instead pose something akin to "...places a hand upon Serena's shoulder and shoves her, pushing her into the wall before she can stop him, smashing her nose against the hard surface of the barrier, and causing her to hit her head hard and fall unconscious."

Powergamers are obviously a bad thing, and will find themselves with more +vote/coaches than they can handle at the end of each month, along with retconned scenes and, in extreme cases, a temporary suspension from the game.


5: Speedwalkers
Speedwalkers commit a sin called Speedwalking, which is the act of running through a room that other other players in it and not posing your passing through.

A simple "...walks in from the north, seemingly in a hurry to reach the south as they slip through the crowds, making a hasty departure." will usually suffice, as long as either an [OOC] reason is also given for the rush, or time is allowed for the other player to pose too.


6: Spooks
A Spook is a player that will @emit NPCs either to fight against, or to fight for them, when they have no right in doing so.

The "Combat Spook" will @emit people to fight, and win against, just to try and impress other people by showing off their amazing skill rolls, and their 'oh so cool' fighting poses. More often than not, the "Combat Spook" will impress only themselves, annoy everyone else, and feel the ire of the Staff. In following, they'll usually get "Served" by a real player, which rains on their parade somewhat.

In contrast, the "Leader Spook" will @emit people to fight for him, usually to try and "gank" another player with an overwhelming force that he doesn't ICly have. If a "Combat Spook" attains the ire of the Staff, then a "Leader Spook" will attain their wrath, and a solid kicking for their efforts.

The term "Spook" is derived from the player attempting to "spook" other players with NPCs that don't exist. It is an entirely original term coined by Bahamut from Chiaroscuro, yet entirely accurate all the same.


7: Twinks
The most deadly sin of all, a Twink is hard to define, but easy to identify. They are often confused with Munchkins and Powergamers, but more often than not are all of the above, and then some. It often refers to behavior of a (usually inexperienced) player that either ignores rules or social convention, or disrupts the natural flow of a scene to show off supernatural powers that have no place in theme of the game itself, nor on the character, while UrbanDictionary.com defines a Twink as "Someone who cheats in an Online Roleplay fight."

"You can't kill me dude! I'm a demon!"

For the most part, all of the above definitions are true, and extends to all forms of RP across all of the game. You will often find Twinks running up walls, torching buildings with fireballs they summoned, leaping across vast distances to jump behind a rock to avoid being punched, climbing through windows that are on the fifth floor of a building, and so forth.

In a nutshell, a Twink is a Staffers worst nightmare. Avoid at all costs.

Survivor's Game Guide

When all else fails, when the chips are down, and when you have no one else to turn to, there's always the vast collective information contained within the Survivor's Game Guide to help you! To get there, click on the special link below: