So I’m thinking about doing a MUD based on “old school” D&D. Partly because I like this style of game on the tabletop but also because I fancy doing a bit of a re-imagining of DikuMUD.
I really like BECMI as it was my first introduction to D&D but race as class just feels clunky now. Also unless you’re a spellcaster 36 levels is a long way to go with very little mechanical character progression. While d20 and Pathfinder solve these problems there’d be a lot more material to cover for a game using that system and it’s moving further away from the OSR feel I want.
Currently I’m working on a mashup of Adventurer Conqueror King, Basic Fantasy Role Playing and Dark Dungeons but that may change as I go through the material. I really like a lot of the ideas in Dungeon World too although I don’t think it will translate well to a MUD unfortunately.
I don’t want to do another faction based game like Maiden Desmodus and I’m not really worried if there isn’t much of an end game or a constant stream of new content (whether player or staff driven). I rather like the idea of a game with a definite end point and as it’s a completely non-commercial project there’s no need to design the game to keep people playing.
For this game I’d really like to focus on dungeon crawling, adventuring and character growth but with support for role-play if that’s what people want to do. I don’t have the time or inclination to really push for a big player base so I’d want to make solo play viable and make sure casual players didn’t feel at any disadvantage.
I’m undecided on whether to go with an original setting or find an existing one to adapt. I’ve been pretty vocal in the past about people using IP without permission in MUDs so I wouldn’t feel altogether comfortable using an existing setting without explicit permission, even though Wizards of the Coast seem to ignore all those MUDs that are using published D&D settings. You could probably take this as a tacit approval of non-commercial fan use but I’m not sure I’d want to take the risk. If I didn’t want to create a completely original theme I suppose I could take an established setting and “file the serial numbers off”. I always thought Dragonstar was pretty cool but that doesn’t really fit the fantasy theme.
While there are plenty of Open Game Licensed systems around there isn’t a lot of setting or campaign material available. The Pathfinder campaign setting is a notable exception which can be used for non-commercial purposes with some restrictions.
bcdev.design.blog 
I like how that sounds! Have you looked at E6 at all (http://esix.pbworks.com/f/E6v041.pdf )? It might work really well to keep players grouped together and if you’re not as invested in the end game.
Lately I’ve been pondering working on an ‘open source mud world’ (maybe by running a thread at Mudbytes), but it didn’t seem that relevant — do we really need more generic mud worlds these days (I should say I think using OGL content in a mud is not really the same thing).
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E6 looks neat and I was thinking of limiting the game to 10th level anyway (to allow for dominions/strongholds at 9th) so I’ll see what ideas from E6 I can work in.
I’m not sure what would be specific about a generic MUD world over something like an open campaign for a tabletop game. There are a few of those around but they tend to be a bit of a mish-mash as you’d expect from a collaborative effort. I guess the MUD equivalent is the “stock zone” and I’d agree we don’t necessarily need more of them.
I’m interested in existing settings mainly to save myself a lot of creative effort but also because I think it’s easier to get players to try a game if they are familiar with the setting.
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For a really “old school” feel I’d have just two locations: the tavern (where you meet fellow adventurers and are assigned quests by mysterious hooded figures) and the dungeon (where you kick down the doors, kill the monsters, and steal their treasure). If the dungeons were instanced and randomly generated, it should be possible to create a highly replayable game without an excessive amount of work.
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Yeah my current ideas are moving further away from a traditional MUD and more towards a dungeon crawling web game like that. I’d like to include a story and character progression including dominion ownership but I see the initial levels much as you describe with a “points of light” approach to setting rather than mapping out a whole area room by room.
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Hi Matt! It’s me Andromache, I’m back on msn
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I have toyed with the idea of randomly generated dungeons that exist in and around stable content. If you want to crawl, find a dungeon and have at it…if you want to rp, own a shop, work towards your stronghold, etc. then you you can.
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I rather like the idea of game headline with a certain end point and as it’s a definitely non-commercial project there is no need to design the encounter to keep individuals experiencing.
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