Hello again!

Another month of building, breaking things, fixing them, and giving people new reasons to wander somewhere dangerous.

For anyone meeting us for the first time, NukeFire is a post-apocalyptic MUD descended from ThunderDome ][. Guns, mutations, implants, tattoos, deep remort progression, crafting, and a world with a fairly unhealthy relationship with movies and pop culture.

Halloween quest this weekend — everyone is welcome

We're running a Halloween quest this weekend for everyone, from brand-new players to established veterans. If you've been thinking about trying NukeFire, or you've been away for a while, come join us. You don't need years of accumulated equipment and remorts to take part.

What have we been doing?

Quite a bit since the last update:

• The Far Reaches is an expansive new region to explore, with hundreds of new areas, dangerous enemies, and equipment worth venturing into the unknown to find. We've continued expanding it, giving explorers more ground to cover and more trouble to uncover.
• Nuke York has expanded considerably. Hundreds of rooms across ruined streets, gang territories, subways, rooftops, and haunted trouble. Escape from New York, The Warriors, Ghostbusters, CBGB, and the Mudd Club all have their place, with distinctive enemies, combat behaviors, and equipment.
• More movie-inspired adventures: Predator, Tremors, The Thing, and Big Trouble in Little China have all featured in October's world updates. There's also Mewgenics, a 100-room house full of mutant cats and questionable decisions.
• Jurassic crafting now offers 32 rewards, with stronger crafted equipment and more plentiful materials, including previously troublesome rare ingredients. Weapons, armor, implants, tattoos, and more reasons to go dinosaur hunting.
• Headhunters received a substantial overhaul, including mechanical skill combinations, better progression, and Siphon Matrix, which turns incoming punishment into opportunities for repair. Pirates, Curists, Slingers, and other classes have been getting attention too.
• Tank Mode now lets you use your class's full set of skills and spells, with reduced outgoing damage while retaining its defensive role.
• New left and right thigh equipment slots, new gear to find, better summon travel handling, and continuing work on combat performance, world consistency, and loot balance.

We've also added a Running Man viewing lounge and wagering. You can now watch somebody else's tactics and put credits on the outcome.

Want to earn your own way? Solo Self Found is an optional path

Some people enjoy sharing equipment and getting a helping hand. Others want to work their way up with what they can earn themselves.

For the second crowd, we have Solo Self Found (SSF).

It's a much stricter approach to progression: your equipment and credits have to come from your own efforts. Find it, loot it, craft it, earn it. No gear handouts, credit transfers, or using an established non-SSF character to supply your progress. Ordinary equipment shopping is restricted too, with specific allowances for approved supplies.

That extends beyond what you're wearing: outside healing, buffs, and kill assistance from your non-SSF characters aren't a back door around the challenge.

If you like remembering where your equipment came from—and what you went through to get it—SSF might suit you.

One small thought on “the genre is dying”

I've seen a few recent discussions here about that. I can only speak for our corner, but we're seeing new, real actual new-to-mud folks, learn the game, and stick around. Alongside them are longtime regulars and veterans who come and go as life allows.

It's encouraging to see people discovering this kind of game and finding a home in it.

Come spend Halloween with us. Bring a friend, start fresh, or dust off an old character.

Website: nukefire.org
NukeFire Client — Windows, macOS, Linux: nukefire.org/client
Discord: Join the NukeFire community
Connect with your favorite MUD client: tdome.nukefire.org port 4000

Hi, Just wondering i'm seeing if i can potentially find anyone that has access to the original Threshold mud (was made by a group of Australian uni students down in armadale, NSW i believe) or Twilight of the Souls (Tots) a Vampire/werewolf/dragon/gargoyle coded mud. I would potentially be willing to pay abit to get a hold of the old code and throw it up or people to play, If anyone knows where i can get it, or has it please hit me up :)

Much love

LESS THAN 24 HOURS UNTIL DURIS WIPES. 30 YEARS OF FACTION WAR. EVERYONE STARTS AT LEVEL 1.

Tomorrow, the world burns. And everyone starts again.

On 28 October 2026 at 18:00 UTC, DurisMUD — one of the original hardcore PvP MUDs, born in 1995 — begins a brand-new era.

30 years of history. Two warring factions. One enormous world. And absolutely nobody gets a head start.

Every character starts at level 1. The old equipment is gone. Legendary artifacts are back up for grabs. Guilds must rebuild, alliances must reform, and old enemies will meet on the battlefield once again.

The race for power starts from zero.

⚔️ What are you fighting for?

• A brutal, open-world faction war. Good versus evil. Full PvP across a massive persistent fantasy world. Ambush your enemies, defend your allies, and fight for control.
• 300+ handcrafted zones. Explore sprawling continents, deadly dungeons, forgotten ruins and the vast Underdark. Thousands of quests, powerful bosses and legendary loot await.
• Artifacts worth killing for. Some of the most powerful equipment in the world must be sustained through enemy blood. Finding an artifact is only the beginning. Keeping it is another story.
• Epic group adventures. Build your party, tackle dangerous zones, defeat bosses and hunt equipment that will change the balance of the war.
• Ships, piracy and naval warfare. Command vessels, trade cargo, raid enemy shipping and take the fight onto the oceans.
• Meaningful character builds. Multiple races, classes and specializations, with unique abilities and distinct roles in both PvE and PvP.

🔥 This isn't just another wipe

We've spent months working on Duris, addressing longstanding bugs, improving class balance, modernizing systems and breathing new life into a game that has survived for three decades.

There's a modern C++ engine, browser-based play, Mudlet support with graphical interfaces, and ongoing open-source development.

But none of that is the real reason to play.

The reason is what happens when the gates open.

The first groups scrambling for levels. The first bosses falling. The first legendary equipment discovered. The first ambushes, betrayals, guild rivalries and full-scale battles.

The stories people will still be talking about years later start on wipe day.

🛡️ Played Duris in the 90s or 2000s?

It's time to come home.

Find your old guildmates. Dust off those ancient grudges. See whether the people who terrorized you 20 years ago are still as dangerous as you remember.

And if you've never played Duris?

There will never be a better opportunity to start.

No veteran has 50 levels on you. Nobody is sitting on years of accumulated equipment. Everyone has to earn their place in the new world.

And you don't need to be a PvP fanatic to enjoy it. Duris has an enormous PvE world, challenging group content, exploration, quests and equipment progression.

⏰ THE COUNTDOWN IS ON

WIPE: Wednesday, 28 October 2026 — 18:00 UTC

• 🇺🇸 US Eastern: 2:00 PM EDT
• 🇺🇸 US Pacific: 11:00 AM PDT
• 🇬🇧 UK: 6:00 PM GMT
• 🇪🇺 Central Europe: 7:00 PM CET
• 🇦🇺 Sydney: 5:00 AM AEDT, 29 October

PLAY DURIS:

🌐 Website / browser client: https://duris.sbs

🎮 Connect with any MUD client: mud.duris.sbs port 7777

💬 Discord: https://discord.gg/adXajEAmk

🛠️ Open-source development: https://github.com/LuminariMUD/Duris

One last question...

Veterans: Which side are you fighting for this wipe? Good or Evil?

Newcomers: Are you ready to find out what a real old-school faction war feels like?

Bring your friends. Bring your enemies. Bring that guildmate you haven't spoken to since 2003.

The world resets tomorrow.

The faction war starts at 18:00 UTC.

See you on the battlefield.

I've played this mud for 25 years.

It has a solid player base. A giant world to discover. Endless advancement. it has 17 races, 22 guilds, and 28 professions.

There are a ton of benefits grouping up.

the player base is very helpful when you log in.

Give it a try!

PowerMud
IP: 54.172.85.187
port: 2000

We've been busy expanding Ansalon's crafting system!

🦀 Crabbing & Traps

Crab traps are now available in the main cities' general stores!

Choose from shrimp traps, prawn traps, crab traps, lobster cages, and king crab cages.
Don't forget to grab some line at a fishing shop!

There are **97 varieties of crustaceans** to discover, including crabs, shrimp, prawns, lobsters, and crawdads! Because... 'tism 😝 jk, but yeah.

Use `CRAB LIST` while at a fishing spot to see what's available in that area.

Buy a trap, add bait, and **USE** it to get started.
Different traps catch different sizes of creatures.

Type `HELP TRAP` for details.

🪱 Bait Making

You can now make your own fishing and crabbing BAIT from fish, crabs, shrimp, prawns, lobsters, crawdads, butchered corpses, and raw meat!

Different bait sizes and types can help attract different catches.
You can even turn part of your catch into bait for the next one!

Dude, kill a seagull, butcher seagull drumsticks, make bait drumstick... fish or crab with them.

See `HELP MAKE` and `HELP FISH`.

🔪 Expanded Butchery & Cooking

Butchery isn't just for animal corpses anymore!

You can now butcher caught fish, crabs, shrimp, prawns, lobsters, and crawdads into different cuts of raw meat. These can be cooked into meals, and some shopkeepers will even prepare your catches for you! Sell your fresh catch to a shopkeeper and you might find it turned into something delicious on their menu! Food Crafting AKA 'Cooking', almost done also.

See `HELP BUTCHER`.

⚒️ The Growing CRAFT System

Fishing, crabbing, butchery, and other crafting skills are part of our expanding **CRAFT** system. Practice your crafts, earn experience, and improve your abilities as you go, no need to buy a skill etc, just start DOING it and you'll learn. And crafts... level up :)

Happy fishing, crabbing, butchering and crafting!

– Ziv & Co.

🌐 **Ansalon MUD:** http://www.ansalon.net

Connect: ansalon.net port 8679

Hey everyone, I’m building a modern infrastructure layer for classic MUDs called Chat with Dragons. We've preserved a 1996 EmlenMUD game called "Legends of Fate", but wrapped it in a modern foundation: Discord identity login, a web app wrapper with real-time maps/graphics, and a Discord Activity bot. Traditional client access (Mudlet/TinTin++) still works simultaneously over port 4000. I am also in the process of building a fully featured graphical MUD client to add to the list of features. I need alpha/beta testers to help stress-test the server authority, verify GMCP mapping stability on standard clients, and break the Discord handoff logic. I am looking for raw feedback from both terminal purists,discord users, and those who like 2d scrolling games with the nostalgic feeling of final fantasy. If you have a discord login you can test directly at https://dragonchat.app/play or via favorite MUD client at https://dragonchat.app 4000 please join us in the official CwD discord [ https://discord.gg/zxvhce2peG ] where all updates and changes are announced. This project is under active development and is updates daily.

Embergloam is a free MUD built to be played in your browser, with sound, weather, light visual effects, and real-time combat. I'm looking for alpha testers!

• Play: https://embergloam.com (nothing to install)
• Telnet: mud.embergloam.com 4001, or 4443 for TLS. GMCP, MCCP and a Mudlet interface
• Discord: https://discord.gg/cvynaw2nR9

In the browser

Every area has its own ambient sound that changes at night, and combat has real sound effects. Weather, fog and day/night skies show on the page, and big story moments play as cinematic scenes. You also get draggable windows, an action bar with drawn icons, and tooltips with your actual numbers. Finding the balance between sound and light visual effects that support the text without getting in the way of your imagination has been a really fun adventure in and of itself!

Custom engine, built from the ground up with Claude as a coding partner

The design, the world and every call about how it plays are mine. Claude helps write and test the code and drafts text that I go over and edit. It's let me build on nights and weekends what would normally take a whole team.

Combat

• Real-time, with cast times, cooldowns and a global cooldown
• Interrupt creatures' spells
• Cast and heal into the next room. Warriors Charge in from it.
• Sense creatures a few rooms ahead as you level
• Threat, taunts and crowd control. Tanks and healers have real jobs.

The game

• 9 races, each with its own starting area and story
• 10 classes with something new every level to 25, then a promotion and talents
• 18 areas and about 155 quests
• Solo-friendly: hire a companion when nobody's on or you just need a little help
• Runes raise your level cap. PvP is limited to players near your rune, with no XP loss and no looting.
• 80 achievements and titles. The first player to each rune or promotion gets a Feat with their name on it.
• Crafting, gathering, fishing, cooking, a player market, mail, trading and dueling

What's coming

• More races, each with its own homeland and starting story
• New lands to the south
• A second promotion, with the level cap rising well past 25

Accessibility: "screenreader on" and "combat brief on" work in both clients. Screen reader players, I'd especially love your feedback.

Testing: expect rough edges, and alpha characters will likely be wiped before beta. The in-game bug, typo, idea and feedback commands send me the context automatically. More at https://embergloam.com/guide.html and https://embergloam.com/patch-notes.html.

Honestly, money's barely on my mind. I just want to build a great game for people to enjoy. If anything ever gets sold, it'll never be power.

About me: I've been a game developer for about 20 years. I got my start on BBS door games like Tele-Arena and Swords of Chaos, then lost way too many years to EverQuest and WoW. Embergloam is my attempt to mash elements of those together into something new, while staying true to its MUD roots.

Happy to answer anything in the comments!

mud.avlis.org:5555

Direct web client at: mud.avlis.org:27744

This has been a project of mine for a while, up and down, and now that my son has become a coder, we are back! (Looking for staff as well, currently.)

AvlisMUD uses a CoffeeMud base with full features, plus a few we've added on our own.

For quick background, I've made several games. I'm the originator of the Avlis Neverwinter Nights PW, which still runs to this day as a fanfic game. I've also made an 80's style RPG, Moon Warrior, and now this.

Here's the description from Mudverse: https://www.mudverse.com/game/721

Built on the expansive depth of the CoffeeMUD engine, AvlisMUD brings the legendary World of Avlis to life. Backed by decades of rich lore, published sourcebooks, and the heritage of one of Neverwinter Nights' most celebrated persistent worlds, Avlis delivers a deeply immersive, roleplay-enforced fantasy experience.

Step into the sprawling streets of Crosstreams, a monumental urban center spanning over 5 MB of hand-crafted text and just one jewel among the Confederation of Seven Cities. Master complex trades, command deep crafting systems, and chart your own expeditions. Whether outfitting trade caravans across dangerous trade routes, captaining open-water seafaring vessels, or constructing spelljamming craft to venture among the stars, the horizon is limitless.

Beyond the gates of Crosstreams lies a vast geopolitical tapestry waiting to be explored. Journey between the coastal ports of Andarr and Malekia, negotiate within the fortified keeps of Bulwark, or navigate the enclaves of Dormiria, Stalwart, Brekon, and Redgate. Beyond the mortal soil of the Prime Material Plane, cosmic pathways lead into extraplanar destinations, including alignment-attuned death planes like The Outlands. Every forest, river valley, and mountain pass is steeped in decades of established campaign history.

The simulation gives tangible weight to everyday commerce and survival. Players can harvest hundreds of raw components—from planar hides and rare ores to exotic botanical reagents—refining them through a multi-tier crafting framework that rewards genuine artisan specialization. Found merchant houses, lease property in sprawling residential districts, or commission private fleet docks. Overland supply lines require real logistical foresight, where wagon durability, mount care, seasonal weather, and road conditions turn simple hauling into high-stakes ventures.

Faith is an active, mechanical force throughout the setting. The deities of the Avlis pantheon—from Mikon, Lord of Balance, to Vorin, Keeper of Knowledge—interact directly with mortal destinies through prayers, liturgical services, and divine curses. Clerics and paladins must observe strict dogmatic strictures, upholding their deity's tenets or risking severe celestial disfavor and loss of spellcasting favor. Religious orders compete for influence in city assemblies, driving emergent theological politics.

Quick note: This mud does portray adult themes when sought out. Generally the NPC's that take advantage of the system we have for that are behind locked doors and not accessible by accident, but they can be accessed by adults. These features are 100% optional and not necessary for the rest of the game. They are just fun.

Hello, I am trying to find an old MUD client I really liked. In the past, about 15 years ago I downloaded it from ashavar.com

The mud client is called ALclient. There are some newer programs called this same thing but they aren't related to muds.

Does anyone have this file or know where I may find it?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

This week I got into MUDding for the first time! This is something I've had on the back burner to try since I started reading Wheel of Time, searched for WoT based games, and learned about the existence of MUDs. I thought I'd document my experience as a new player exploring different MUDs.

Erion

I booted this one up when I saw it floating around on other threads. Common consensus was that it is relatively active, has good writing, and fun life-skilling. That drew me right in!

• Tutorial Experience

Right away my character (Meshek) wakes up on an island, apparently having been shipwrecked and suffering from amnesia. Endria the Healer suggests I walk down to the nearby village to see if I can find anything that jogs my memory. I find that the entire village has been devastated by a terrible storm. I stumble upon bits of equipment for pickup strewn along the way, encounter NPCs, and accept simple missions that send me exploring around the island. The game drops mechanical tutorial hints as I gain bits of lore about what happened here and the darker implications that may lie behind it.

I really enjoyed the tutorial process being wrapped up in an introductory narrative, especially one that sets up the tone and stakes in this way. This is my first time in a MUD, so I definitely need help learning the ropes. Erion tutorialises in such a way that doesn't feel too hand-holdy or fire-hosey, nor does it leave me in the dark and assume I already know what I'm doing. Certain commands and syntaxes are drip-fed organically while I'm performing tasks for characters across the island. There were some frustrating moments, due undoubtedly to my newbiness. It took me too long to master the 'get > item > container' syntax (looking at you, grimoire). I spent a little too much time trying to interact with objects and NPCs more than seems possible, at least in this beginner area. (After the initial 'talk > NPCname' I would frustratingly try to ask follow-up questions or bring up other topics a la Fallout, but maybe this is too much to ask.) Before long I realized what my limits were, wrapped my mind around the basic actions, and checked missions off my to-do list. Finally getting the hang of things was very satisfying.

• Writing

A lot of love went into this tutorial section. Each room was beautifully and tragically painted with words. I felt myself engaging parts of my imagination that are only activated when reading strong, delicate prose. As my play sessions were short and strewn over a few days, in off-times I found myself thinking about the island, the characters I had come across, and wondering what would happen next. I realized that this sort of wondering basically never happens for me with games anymore! If I think about the latest game I'm into, it's usually "gotta log on and make number go up." While playing Erion, I was thinking about my character, wondering what they would encounter next, and whether I'd be able to help the poor people of the island. This made the game fun in and out of play.

• Combat/Skills

I can't say I really understand the skill system yet, but Erion's tutorial introduces it only briefly. Combat encounters also exist (although they seemed optional if you'd rather breeze through). I don't know why I expected combat to be turn-based, but I was surprised to find it to be real-time with auto-attacks. I had one offensive spell which I also used liberally. Combat seemed pretty simple and non-threatening, but I'm sure that will change soon and I will learn my lesson.

• Community

The Erion community has been extremely kind and welcoming so far. The Newbie channel helped pull me through when the initial growing pains of learning MUD syntax nearly created quit-moments for me. Some kind players gave me nifty gifties and chit-chatted with me in tells. The community piece is a huge factor for me right now, as otherwise I might as well play single-player text games (or any other type of game, for that matter). Thank you all for your hospitality.

• Clients

This is a bit of a side-note, but I thought I'd get into it since I'm new to the entire scene. Throughout Erion's tutorial I played a little using MUSHclient with the custom Erion sound package, Mudlet with both available UI packages, and on mobile using MudForge. Mobile is fun in a pinch, but PC definitely seems the way to go. As far as MUSHclient vs Mudlet, I find myself wishing I could combine them. Mudlet feels infinitely more user-friendly to me as a newbie, but I really like the sounds and music in the MUSH package. I also like the display in the Mudlet packages. (I've settled on the minimalist pack so far, even though I liked the look of ssharpjr's better. However, I didn't like having the dialogue in a separate window from the main terminal.) If I was a MUD/computer genius I'm sure I could get the best of each of these worlds, but alas I know nothing. I guess it's never to late to learn.

(PS, I liked Mudlet's little tutorial game as well!)

In conclusion, I'm excited to keep MUDding (do we say that?) and to move on and explore Hillock Hills in Erion. I hope to try some other MUDs as well, with Aardwolf and other recs on the list. Perhaps I'll do more writeups like these as I sample various worlds, systems, and tutorial zones.

Cheers! Until next time, in a Newbie Chat near you.

Star Wars: Mask of Tyranny is set in the Andor era. Specifically, at the beginning of Season 2, a year after the Ferrix riot. It runs on the Ares MUSH server platform, and utilizes the FS3 combat system. Players can log in via the web portal or traditional MUSH clients, or even use a combination of the two.

The game is narrative heavy where perks and advancements are awarded through participation and story. However, XP are awarded passively -- 1 for every PC per week with a maximum of 8 XP banked at any given time. This helps remove the risk of falling behind compared to others who can remain logged and in scenes more consistently.

We also have a Discord server which both players and guests can join. The server is set up to allow immediate, cross-platform posts of game updates and a majority of the channels including the public Chat and Questions.

SW: MoT has been open for three months and continues to grow. Things such as Mounts, Gear Advantages, and an ever-growing grid keeps the game in forward momentum. There are several on-going plots to join and several more planned.

While there are no Force characters open yet, the game is built to facilitate the sub-plots involving the Inquisitorius and those who are hunted by them. This is a feature that will be introduced at a later date.

Currently, the game boasts 50+ player-run characters and 30+ members on the Discord server. Those numbers continue to grow. Check out the Web Portal for more information. Especially "Systems" and "Guides" in the navigation bar. Or ask us questions directly as a guest or new player.

Web Portal: https://sw-mot.aresmush.com

Client: sw-mot.aresmush.com | port: 4201

Discord: discord.gg/UUUTwrMvJp

I really love MUDs, but i’ve been really in the mood for something offline. I know there are text adventures, and don’t get me wrong I love stuff like Zork, but most text adventure games aren’t RPGs in the same vein as Aardwolf (and co). I tried finding some online, but nothing came up. Are there any “singleplayer MUD” games out there?

Hello! It is with great pleasure that I can announce the first major update for YggdrasilMUD. After a somewhat rough start I have slowly been improving the game over the last week and added several new features. Including an improved visual interface, a mercenary and guildbase system, six new classes, a couple new areas and several bug fixes.

If you are interested in playing, hop on https://yggdrasilmud.online !

As above, really. I used to play Arx quite a bit, and was far more interested in the RP than the mechanics. If I'm getting my terminology right, more interested in a MUSH than a MUD with dungeons, loot, etc.

Is there anything like that with an active player base these days? Anything approaching Arx's size from its heyday?

And if not - any ideas why? Where did everyone go?

Like i can only play on mobile right now and this one works on it but I don’t know if it is good or if i should play another one

Hello, all. I'm brand new to MUDs, looking to give them a proper try. As I've searched around I've seen posts and reviews that cover various games' mechanics, class and skill systems, communities, etc. These have been helpful in narrowing down what I might like in terms of gameplay, but when I consider sinking my teeth into a text-based world I find myself wondering which games have the strong world-building, deep lore, engaging quests/characters/dialogue, etc. I'm a fantasy fan and enjoyer of good world-building and lore to dive into and live in. (I'm a fan of LotR, the Silmarillion, Wheel of Time, etc., if that helps. I'm aware that these worlds may have MUDs as well.)

Do any active MUDs rise to the top as strong contenders in this department? What different tones/vibes do various games' create for you?

So far I've booted up Aardwolf and Erion and just begun the tutorial sequences of each. I've seen Medievia mentioned here or there (seems huge and pretty cool). Discworld seems to be a popular name as well, but I feel I might want to read the books before trying that one.

Let me know if you all have any ideas!

I've spent the last couple of years working on a MUD project, and I thought some of the other developers here might find the journey interesting.

I originally started with SMAUG, as many of us did 20 years ago. My old EldhaMUD project had grown to around 150,000 lines of C code, collected and modified over many years. It had accumulated plenty of features, but also plenty of bugs, old assumptions, duplicated functionality and code that was difficult to impossible to maintain.

Anyone who has spent time digging through old Diku-derived codebases will probably know what I'm talking about. Fix one problem, find another three. Change something in combat and discover you've broken something completely unrelated.

Eventually I reached the point where I decided it was time to stop trying to modernise SMAUG and start again.

The result is OldSchoolMud, a Diku-inspired MUD that tries to retain the gameplay and atmosphere of those older games without carrying around thirty years of inherited source code.

What's particularly satisfying is how much functionality I've managed to reproduce with considerably less code.

My old EldhaMUD had approximately 150,000 lines. The new OldSchoolMud source package currently contains around 36,500 lines of C and C++, covering the server, native Qt world editor and supporting python test tools. The separately developed C++/Qt6 game client adds to that total.

And despite the much smaller codebase, the new project now covers the old game's core functionality, along with a substantial number of additional systems.

Some of what I've been building:

• A persistent 1,000 × 1,000 wilderness map, with a million terrain tiles, roads, rivers, mountains, forests, deserts and swamps.
• 130 leveling areas covering levels 1–100, complete with equipment progression, quests, bosses and storylines.
• Six races, six classes and approximately 180 active abilities.
• Multi-attack combat, weapon proficiencies, spells, buffs, defensive skills, pets and equipment quality systems.
• Remorting at level 100, with permanent character improvements.
• Combat pets that level and improve alongside their owners.
• Purchasable mounts with upgrade paths and automatic pathfinding to leveling areas.
• A player-driven auction house for buying and selling valuable equipment.
• Banks, vaults, merchants and an expanding gold economy.
• Dynamic invasions, server events, quests and administrator controls.
• A native C++/Qt6 world editor for building and populating the game world.
• A separate cross-platform C++/Qt6 game client with mapping, combat displays, customisable windows, triggers, timers and aliases.

One of the bigger changes has been moving away from the traditional collection of disconnected rooms towards a proper overland world and away from pretending I am a builder to vibe ai building.

Players can travel across the map themselves, use transport services, or purchase mounts that automatically find their way to the entrance of a suitable leveling area.

The world editor has also become a project in its own right. Rather than manually editing enormous text files, I wanted a proper interface for creating terrain, rooms, NPCs, objects, spawn points and interconnected areas.

I've been developing automated players in Python to stress-test the server. These aren't simply connections sitting idle. They create characters, move around the world, fight mobs, complete progression, purchase equipment, manage inventories and generally try to behave like actual players.

I've tested the server with hundreds of simulated players, which has been invaluable for finding memory problems, CPU bottlenecks, combat bugs and other issues that might never become obvious with only a handful of human players online.

Some of the performance results have been encouraging, particularly considering everything happening across the world simultaneously.

The whole exercise has also reinforced something I've come to appreciate about C. There is nothing inherently wrong with using it for a modern game server. Modern compiler diagnostics, sanitizers, better development tools and more disciplined programming practices make a considerable difference compared with the environment many of these MUD codebases were originally written in.

Of course, starting from scratch doesn't magically eliminate bugs. I've created plenty of my own along the way! But at least now I have a much better understanding of how the entire system fits together, and I'm not constantly fighting inherited design decisions.

The project is still being developed, and there is plenty left to improve. Some newer systems are still undergoing testing, particularly around persistence, economic transactions and multiplayer behaviour.

But after years of trying to keep an increasingly complicated SMAUG derivative going, it's been genuinely enjoyable to build something new while retaining the style of game I originally enjoyed playing.

I'm interested to hear whether any other MUD developers have taken a similar route, or whether you're still happily maintaining and extending the old codebases.

Sometimes I wonder whether I should have done this 20 years ago when there were still lots of players. I certainly do not care if anyone ever plays this, it's now my retirement project and it's about having something else to do while I complete a PhD.

https://oldschoolmud.mooo.com/OldSchool_Editor.png

https://oldschoolmud.mooo.com/OldSchool_Client.png

Hey r/MUD!

I've been wanting to introduce this project to the MUD community for a long time, and I think it's finally time.

I'm the creator of Dreams of the Fallen, a free-to-play, persistent multiplayer text RPG set in an original fantasy world called Astralis.

This is a world I've been developing, imagining, and expanding for roughly 20 years. What started as a personal passion project has grown into something much more ambitious, and I'm finally opening its doors to players.

The game is playable right now in early access, and I'm looking for our very first wave of adventurers to explore it, test its systems, break things, offer feedback, and help shape its future.

What is Dreams of the Fallen?

At its heart, Dreams of the Fallen is a traditional fantasy MUD, but I'm approaching it with a much larger vision.

I don't just want to build another game where you kill monsters, collect equipment, and grind levels.

I want to build a world that feels genuinely alive.

A world with its own history, cultures, civilizations, religions, ecosystems, and mysteries. Somewhere your character can develop an identity that goes far beyond their level and equipment.

A place where discoveries matter, where relationships matter, and where the world gradually remembers the people who inhabit it.

My guiding philosophy is simple:

Not the game with the most features, but the game in which the most things matter.

What's actually playable today?

Astralis already has a growing foundation of traditional MMORPG gameplay:

• An original fantasy world with cities, wilderness, hidden locations, dangerous creatures, and mysteries to uncover.
• Playable races and classes, including different magical and martial disciplines, with an expanding subclass system.
• Real-time combat, class abilities, equipment progression, loot, and character development.
• Crafting and gathering, including blacksmithing, alchemy, tailoring, cooking, and more.
• Quests, exploration, and discoveries that reward curiosity rather than simply following a checklist.
• Multiplayer adventuring, with opportunities to meet, communicate, and explore alongside other players.
• A custom browser-based client with clickable movement, inventory management, character information, and traditional text commands.

I've also been working to make the experience approachable to people who have never played a MUD before, without sacrificing the depth that longtime MUD players appreciate.

You don't need to download anything or configure a client. You can open the website, create a character, and begin playing.

The bigger dream

I believe MUDs offer something genuinely special that modern gaming has largely forgotten: the ability to inhabit a world through imagination.

And I think that experience still has enormous potential.

My long-term ambition is to turn Astralis into a persistent digital civilization, with evolving societies, meaningful player histories, living ecosystems, and a world that continues developing whether you're logged in or not.

Much further down the road, I'd love to see that same world become accessible through increasingly immersive experiences, perhaps even virtual reality someday.

But the text-based MUD is where it begins, and making that MUD genuinely fun, deep, and rewarding is the immediate priority.

I want Dreams of the Fallen to stand on its own as an excellent traditional MUD, regardless of whatever comes decades from now.

A note about development and AI

I also want to be transparent about something I know is an important subject in gaming communities.

I use AI-assisted tools to help with the programming and technical development of Dreams of the Fallen.

However, the world itself, its writing, lore, gameplay concepts, and creative direction come from a human developer who has spent roughly two decades working on this project.

AI is a development tool, not the creative identity of Astralis.

I know opinions on this subject vary, and I respect that. Ultimately, I want the game to be judged by the experience it provides.

Why I'm posting here

I'm not here to pretend I've already built the greatest MUD ever made.

That's something I'd love to work toward, but I know how much experience, polish, and community involvement it takes to create a truly memorable game.

Right now, Dreams of the Fallen is early access.

There are rough edges. There will be bugs. Some systems are still being expanded, others need balancing, and plenty of the larger vision remains ahead of us.

What I need most right now isn't a massive player population.

I need the first handful of people who are willing to give this world a chance and tell me what they really think.

I'm especially interested in feedback about:

• The character creation and first-time player experience.
• The quality of combat, exploration, and progression.
• How intuitive the browser client feels.
• Whether the world feels interesting enough to keep exploring.
• What experienced MUD players think is missing, frustrating, or worth improving.

You don't need to commit hundreds of hours. Even spending your first hour in Astralis and telling me where the experience succeeds or falls apart would be tremendously helpful.

And if you enjoy it and decide to stick around, I'd love for you to become one of the earliest inhabitants of the world.

Come explore Astralis

Play free in your browser: https://fallendreams.cloud/client/

Website and world information: https://fallendreams.cloud/

Connect with Mudlet: mud.lvthn.io Port 4000

Join our Root Community: https://rootapp.gg/ADG6eZjrgQqXVAqT0c7ceA

No purchase required. No installation required. Just create an account and begin your adventure.

I'll be actively following feedback, answering questions, and continuing to develop the game.

I've spent a significant part of my life imagining what this world could become. Getting to finally share it with other people is something I've been looking forward to for a very long time.

If you give it a try, thank you. And please don't hesitate to be critical. Thoughtful criticism is exactly what I need at this stage.

I hope to see some of you in Astralis.

— Developer of Dreams of the Fallen

A world you don't just play. A world you become part of.

Elysium is a deep and interesting RPG, that I would love to share it with you.  The ever-growing world consists of 3 continents, 9 cities with a different race belonging to each, 16 guilds, 6 gods, over 30 skills, and very deep and immersive lore. This is a classless and level-less MUD completely built from the ground up and completely run by the players.

The 9 cities are completely player run (outside of some very minor godly influence in the form of patronage), with one emperor and 8 positions (5 ministries and 3 helpers) for players to take on a political role.

The 16 guilds are a distinct organizations that provide direct access to specific skills. A large majority of them are auto-inguilding and most newbies will be able to join the guild of their choice right out of the gate. (can take between 1 to 5 days to be up ranked once in the guild, which allows you to learn more skills)

---Skills--- There are numerous skills in the game (roughly 30 that count towards your 6 skills and roughly 15 common available to everyone) which you can mix and match as you wish. there are no restrictions on your set of 6 skills that you can learn. Each guild has 3 skills. You do not lose skills when you leave a guild (unless you purposely forget them). You can also learn skills out of guild (at +50% the lesson cost). Lessons are how you learn skills. You receive one lesson every 2.5 hours (although this can be sped up multiple ways) when you are connected to the game. If you choose to study offline, you get one lesson every 6.66 hours while you are not connected. This may seem like a long time between lessons at first, but believe me, they come a lot faster than they seem.

---The World--- The world is divided into 3 large continents housing the 9 cities. Occid, the northwestern continent, is home to the dwarves, goblins, and orcs. Orien, the northeastern continent, is home to the specter and the cyclops. Polaris, the southern continent (and the largest) is home to humans, elves, hamakei, and spawn. Skilled mages can teleport between continents using magical artifacts, but most people will simply choose to sail, (you can now hire npc captains to sail you) using a variety of ships. Sprinkled throughout the large ocean are several islands, some of which hold powerful items that will give you assistance, such as a necklace that gives you more hit points or a ring that will let you locate people or objects. You might choose to be a fisherman and make your money by sailing your trawler over the ocean and selling your catch to the city of your choice, but beware as you travel the sea, you may encounter great sea serpents that are fiercely territorial, and will likely not appreciate your presence in their areas!

Come and try it out you may love it just as much as the 100's of other players over the years.

http://www.elysium-rpg.com

* Elysium is 100% real person player run, there is no Al in the game whatsoever , all areas have been hand-crafted by humans

• You cannot purchase items or trinkets to increase your powers. You can gain special items though quests and events (and very rarely though OOC means). We once had an auction of items for a charity, I also have a special sword (The knightsblade (which I can't actually use as I'm a mage...), As a reward for all my promotional and in game work)
• Roles - The game is a classless, unlike traditional AD&D. You build your RP around the guilds and order you join, and of course in-game character orientation. There is a huge amount of crafting for people who love to craft, magical and physical skills for daily life and PVP focused skills for the killers among us (although you may need a bit of practice before your ready to leap into this). There are 9 cities with positions available for those interested in ruling, building and expanding there civilizations
• There are several world quests running. Roughly equivalent of a good, neutral and evil quests. (although people heavily debate what good, neutral and evil are)

You can also connect to Elysium using a telnet or mud client at [elysium-rpg.com:777](telnet:elysium-rpg.com:7777)7

There is a player run discord site were veteran players hang out and help to answer questions about the game if you're into discord you can join at https://discord.gg/AfCjK4Hvh

As always, I am happy to answer questions on here, or feel free to PM me. Thanks for taking the time to read my promotion post

I tried getting into MUDs back around 2019 or so but never found one I wanted to stick to. I'm not much of a high fantasy lover. Scifi is ok, I'm willing to try out settings other than these two, too. High player count is preferable.

Thanks.

So i'm building from scratch a game with semantic layer and some degree of world simulation. This includes deterministic simulation, procedural generation and some llm integration layers - https://satisfy.dev

The game is at very early experimental stages and it is more of a tech demo which gets updated from time to time. Right now it has a single day running over and over again, a few events, some npc routines and ability to talk with npcs in more or less free manner. The npcs have some memory and are able to give or accept quests from free speech talk.

You're not able to build your own character, but can possess one of the available to explore the 15 rooms world and participate in some of the events.

I will be happy if anyone decides to help test and give some feedback. I'm logging all sessions, so it will be a tremendous help in the development.

UPDATE: Previously there was a problem with TF and some other clients, but thanks to friendly subreddit mods it is supposed to be fixed now.

This is from a MUD I've been working on for some time now.

weave braid lance salt lumen plain clock Roundtime 5.2s. You draw a single line through the air, leaving no room for a second aim. A white boundary draws itself around the sigil; no grain crosses it twice. A fine gold line rises from your hand, too bright to cast a shadow. The grains march into a single white boundary no breath can smudge. The strokes close in a measured, even circuit. Mana 95/115. A training clockwork has some larger wounds. You hold salt and lumen in separate lines until their pulses agree. Dust in the beam becomes legible, each mote briefly given its own orbit. The braid takes its second carrier without losing the first. A training clockwork has some larger wounds. a training clockwork taps at your exposed side with a short padded jab! A training clockwork has some larger wounds. You set the lance pattern against a training clockwork. The air tastes mineral-clean, and the line refuses everything it was not told to admit. Its point waits for one opening. A training clockwork has some larger wounds. You give the circuit its spoken key: 'Fige cinerem album et lucem in ordine!' A training clockwork has some larger wounds. a training clockwork taps at your exposed side with a short padded jab! A training clockwork has some larger wounds. You release a hard line of consecrated salt braided with a lance of clean radiance; it drives both carriers through one opening in a training clockwork. A clean mineral line appears at the chosen threshold and holds. The completed pattern holds its intended shape exactly. The second carrier follows the first into the same narrow wound. A training clockwork is DEAD!! You receive 158 experience points. A training clockwork's heart is torn from their chest. You get a blue fare chip from the corpse of a training clockwork. You concentrate, and the corpse of a training clockwork expands into a pinprick of light and vanishes! Discovery recorded in your spellbook: Salt+Lumen Lance / Plain: (consecration lance) Roundtime complete. You can act.

Seven days from now, the world of Duris resets. And the racewar begins again.

On 28 October 2026, DurisMUD, one of the longest-running PvP MUDs dating back to 1995, will undergo a complete player wipe.

Every character starts at level 1. No accumulated wealth. No legendary equipment. No established guild empires. Just two opposing sides, an enormous fantasy world, and the opportunity to write the next chapter of Duris history.

Whether you played Duris 20 years ago, love old-school EverQuest-style adventures, or have never tried a MUD before, this is the perfect time to jump in.

What makes Duris different?

⚔️ A genuine, persistent racewar. Good and evil races inhabit separate parts of the world, build their own alliances and fight for dominance. PvP can happen almost anywhere. Your decisions, friendships and enemies matter.

🌍 A massive world to explore. Over 300 handcrafted zones, sprawling continents, an enormous Underdark, hidden secrets, dangerous dungeons, powerful bosses and thousands of quests. There's plenty to experience even when you're not fighting other players.

🧙 Deep character progression. Choose from a wide variety of races, classes and specializations. Build a powerful warrior, devastating spellcaster, cunning assassin, dedicated healer or something entirely different. Your choices shape your role in both PvE and PvP.

🚢 Ships, piracy and trade. Purchase and command ships, transport cargo between ports, hunt pirates or engage in naval warfare. The oceans are as dangerous as the land.

💎 Legendary artifacts worth fighting over. Discover exceptionally powerful equipment, conquer challenging zones and battle enemy players for control of the world's greatest treasures.

🤝 Teamwork that actually matters. Duris rewards coordinated groups. Tanks protecting casters, clerics keeping allies alive, assassins ambushing enemies and guilds organizing large-scale adventures and battles.

A classic MUD, modernized

Duris has undergone substantial development, including a modernized game engine, extensive bug fixes, class balancing and improvements to the player experience.

You can play directly in your browser, use your favourite MUD client, or try our custom Mudlet GUI with graphical maps and helpful status displays.

The game is also fully open source, with active development continuing ahead of the wipe.

Why join at the wipe?

Because the first week is something special.

Old friendships are rekindled. New guilds form. Groups race to level, uncover equipment and tackle dangerous zones. Rivalries begin before anyone knows who will dominate.

And for once, that veteran who's been playing since 1997? They're starting at level 1, just like you.

We're under no illusion that rebuilding a MUD community is easy. But we're putting real effort into making Duris worth returning to, and we'd love to welcome both familiar faces and completely new adventurers.

Join the war

Full wipe: Wednesday, 28 October 2026 at 18:00 UTC

• Play in browser: https://duris.sbs
• MUD client: mud.duris.sbs — port 7777
• Mudlet GUI: https://duris.sbs/mudlet-gui
• Discord: https://discord.gg/adXajEAmk
• Latest development: https://duris.sbs/news

To the old Duris players: Which guild did you belong to, and who were your greatest enemies?

To newcomers: Would you rather explore a gigantic fantasy world, hunt legendary equipment, or join an all-out racewar?

There's room for all three.

Seven days. Two sides. One world. See you on 28 October.

Original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/MUD/comments/1x644rt/durismud_full_wipe_on_28_october_the_1995_racewar/

Looking to play a PK mud that is active with players. NO roleplay. Just login, level and pk.

I heard about Duris upcoming wipe. Rites of Passage and Lands of Chaos.

Any others ?

I've never played a MUD before to my recollection. Back 25 years ago, I used to love playing text based fantasy dungeons online. I really enjoyed Vagabond's Quest back in the early 2000s.

Reddit keeps recommending this subreddit and it seems really interesting. Since I love D&D but I'm mostly occupied with DMing, I assume I can find something to try out as a full player capacity. I'd like to know some MUDs that are super easy to access, newbie friendly, preferably medieval or older style fantasy with light RPing so I can dip my toes.