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--- all_about_mobiles [2026/06/27 15:35] – created - external edit 127.0.0.1
+++ all_about_mobiles [2026/07/04 07:52] (current) – external edit 127.0.0.1
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 = All about Mobiles
-**Mobiles** — //mob// for short, the old MUD word for anything that lives and moves —
+**Mobiles.** ''mob'' for short; the old MUD word for anything that lives and moves, are the world's creatures and characters: a shopkeeper, a town crier, a goblin, a mouse, a shambling zombie. Friendly or fierce, they are all mobiles. They are not items: they stand in rooms, you can look at them, and (soon) they will move about, talk, and fight. Builders make and shape them; the commands mirror items but use ''mob''.
-are the world's creatures and characters: a shopkeeper, a town crier, a goblin, a
-mouse, a shambling zombie. Friendly or fierce, they are all mobiles. They are **not**
-items: they stand in rooms, you can look at them, and (soon) they will move about,
-talk, and fight. Builders make and shape them; the commands mirror items but use
-**mob**.
 == For players
+**Seeing them.** When you ''look'', any mobiles in the room are named after the items:
-**Seeing them.** When you **look**, any mobiles in the room are named after the items:
 {{{
-The Origin
+Town Square
-A featureless point from which Mossworld grows.
+Welcome to the town square. There is a fountain here and some benches to rest on.
 Exits: north
 You see a coin.
@@ Line 21: / Line 15: @@
 }}}
-**Looking closely.**
+=== Looking closely
+* ''examine //name//'' (or **ex //mobile//**) to read its description
+* ''look //name//'' does the same
-* **examine //mobile//** (or **ex //mobile//**) — read its description
+As with items, you can refer to a mobile by any word of its name or its keywords, and adjectives disambiguate; ''look grizzled'' or ''look grizzled zombie'' picks the grizzled one out of a crowd of zombies.
-* **look //mobile//** — the same
-As with items, you can refer to a mobile by any **word** of its name or its keywords,
+Looking at a mobile also shows whatever it has **equipped** — the weapon it wields, the armour it wears — the same way **eq** lists your own gear, so you can size up what a creature is carrying before a fight.
-and adjectives disambiguate — **look grizzled zombie** picks the grizzled one out of a
-crowd of zombies.
-//(Fighting them, trading with them, and watching them wander, are coming.)//
 == For builders
+Making and shaping mobiles needs the **worldbuilder**, **implementor**, or **admin** role. The command is **mob** (**mon** and **monster** are aliases).
-Making and shaping mobiles needs the **worldbuilder**, **implementor**, or **admin**
+=== Creation
-role. The command is **mob** (**mon** and **monster** are aliases).
+A mobile is born in the room you're standing in.
-**Make one.** A mobile is born in the room you're standing in:
+    mob create goblin
-{{{
+//ref// below is the mobile's keyword or its number (id); you edit mobiles in the
-mob create goblin
-}}}
-//ref// below is the mobile's keyword **or** its number (id); you edit mobiles in the
 room with you.
-**Name and describe.**
+=== Name and describe
 * **mob //ref// name //new name//** — rename it
 * **mob //ref// desc //text//** — set the examine text players read
+* **mob //ref// displayname //text//** -- the name players see in the room and in combat, shown in place of the raw name (//The Spider Queen// for a mob named //Spider Queen//). Targeting still uses the real name and keywords. (**disp** is an alias.)
+* **mob //ref// lookslike //text//** -- a whole custom presence line for the room, used instead of the default "//Name// is here." (//A pair of red eyes gleams in the dark.//) (**looks** is an alias.)
 **Data fields.** A mobile's stats, flags, and behaviour live in its **data**, with the
@@ Line 60: / Line 49: @@
 * **data keywords //word word…//** — extra words to refer to it (e.g. **data keywords grizzled thistle**, so two zombies can be told apart)
-* **data hp //n//**, **data damage //n//** — stats (no effect yet; combat is coming)
+**Combat & experience.** Mobiles fight with the d200 to-hit system; set these to make one tougher or more rewarding (all default sensibly — a bare ''mob create'' is already a weak level-1 creature):
+* **data maxhp //n//** — its hit points (default 10) — how long it lasts in a fight
+* **data level //n//** — its level (default 1); each level of gap between attacker and defender is worth an effective +1 hitroll, so a higher-level foe is harder to hit and hits harder
+* **data elevel //n//** — //effective// level for the **consider** command only: what the mobile reads as when a player sizes it up, without touching its real combat **level**. Use it when a creature is tougher or weaker than its level looks (a level-3 brute that fights like a level 10 -> **data elevel 10**). Unset, consider falls back to its real level.
+* **data damage //dice//** — attack damage as a dice expression (e.g. **1d3**, **2d6+1**), default **1**. A wielded weapon overrides this with its own damage.
+* **data ar //n//** -- an armour //modifier// (default 0, zero-based, matching item AR and the //modern// armour display): **+ is better armoured** (harder to hit), **- is worse** (easier). Each point is about 0.5%, so **data ar 10** is ~5% harder to hit and **data ar -20** ~10% easier. Worn armour (onwear-ar) stacks on top.
+* **data hitroll //n//** — a flat bonus to its attack rolls (default 0; each point ≈ +2.5% to hit)
+* **data damroll //n//** — a flat bonus added to its damage on every hit that lands (default 0). Stacks on top of its dice (or its wielded weapon) //and// any **onwear-damroll** from gear it wears — a boss with **data damroll 1** hits for +1 over its dice.
+* **data xpvalue //n//** — experience a player gains for slaying it (default 0). //Mobiles never gain experience — only players do.// (**expvalue** is accepted as a synonym.)
+* **data dodge //pct//** — a chance (in percent) to sidestep an incoming blow, the same skill players train. **data dodge 1** is a 1% chance to make an attacker miss.
+* **data warcry //phrase//** — a line the mobile //shouts// the instant a fight begins (**"For the horde!"**). Flavour; leave it unset for a silent creature.
+**Wandering.** By default a mobile stands where it spawned. Flag it with **data wander true** and it will amble on its own — roughly every minute it may step through an open exit into an adjacent room, and players in both rooms see it leave and arrive. A wanderer never leaves its home **zone** (it only takes exits that stay in the same zone), never walks into a closed/under-construction room, and holds still while it's in a fight. Its position is remembered only while the world is running — a daemon restart sends every mobile back to its spawn room. Leave the flag off (or **data wander false**) for a stationary shopkeeper, guard, or trainer.
+**Mobiles that fight as a pack.** Two fields let creatures come to each other's defence, so
+attacking one goblin brings the whole warren down on you:
+* **data party //tag tag…//** — the pack(s) this mobile belongs to (free-form words, e.g. **data party rats** or **data party goblins raiders**).
+* **data assist //tag tag…//** — the pack(s) this mobile will //defend//. When any mobile in its room whose **party** matches is attacked, this one leaps in against the attacker.
+So a den of rats that all defend one another:
+{{{
+mob create rat
+mob rat data party rats
+mob rat data assist rats
+}}}
+Strike one rat and every other rat in the room joins the fight against you. (Peaceful
+**npc** mobiles never assist.)
+**Hostile on sight (aggro).** A mobile is peaceful until struck by default. Flag it **data aggro always** and it opens the fight itself the instant a player steps into its room (a warren of them will swarm). **data aggro dark** makes it hostile //only when the room is unlit// -- a lurker that leaves you be by torchlight but strikes in the black. Clear it with **data aggro false**. (Peaceful **npc** mobiles never turn aggressive.)
 **Reactions.** A mobile can react to what happens around it. The first reaction is
@@ Line 68: / Line 90: @@
 * **data react_say_chance //pct//** — the chance, in percent (default 100)
-The classic example — a zombie that mutters for brains one time in ten:
+The classic example is a zombie that mutters for brains one time in ten:
 {{{
@@ Line 88: / Line 110: @@
 **Remove a mobile.** **mob destroy //ref//** — takes it out of the world.
+=== Giving a mobile gear
+A mobile can carry and use gear just like a player. This is a **builder** tool —
+worldbuilders, implementors and admins anywhere; zonebuilders inside zones they own.
+Load its inventory two ways: hand over something you're holding with **give //item//
+//mob//**, or use the **as** command to move an item from your inventory (or the floor)
+straight into the mobile:
+  * **as //mob// get //item//** — put an item into the mobile's inventory
+  * **as //mob// drop //item//** — take one back out onto the floor
+Then dress it from what it carries:
+  * **as //mob// wear //item//** — wear a piece of armour or clothing
+  * **as //mob// wield //item//** — wield a weapon (which becomes its damage)
+  * **as //mob// hold //item//** — hold something in the off-hand
+  * **as //mob// remove //item//** — take an item back off
+See what a mobile is carrying with **mob //mob// inv** (equipped items are flagged). Its
+gear is part of it: capture the dressed mobile with **setspawn** and every spawned copy
+comes dressed and armed the same way — and the gear drops as loot when it dies.
+**Rare drops.** By default everything a mobile carries spills into its corpse. Put **data
+droprate //pct//** on an item (either **droprate 10** or **droprate 10%**) and it reaches the
+corpse only that share of the time — a boss's signature weapon at **droprate 10** lands on
+about one kill in ten, which is what makes it worth farming. On a no-drop roll that copy is
+destroyed, but the mobile respawns wearing a fresh one, so registered loot is never lost.
+(A slain shopkeeper still loses ~half its stock in the scuffle, before droprate is even
+rolled.)
+**Coin drops.** A mobile's own coins always spill into its corpse; on top of that you can give it a //gamble// drop, rolled fresh on every kill, with **data coindrop //type min-max chance%//**. //e.g.// **data coindrop copper 10-40 50%** -- on half of all kills, 10 to 40 copper appear in the corpse; the other half, nothing. The //type// is a currency (**copper**, **silver**, or **gold**); the amount is a range (**10-40**) or a single number (**silver 1** for exactly one silver); the //chance// is a percent. It stacks on top of any fixed coins the mobile carries, and a missed roll simply drops nothing -- so a filler mob need not be worth a guaranteed purse. A shambling zombie with **data coindrop copper 1-5 50%** pays out only now and then. Join several specs with **;** for a mixed drop -- **data coindrop silver 1-2 25%; copper 5-20 100%** -- each rolled on its own.
+**Editing a mobile's items.** The plain **item** command only reaches your own inventory
+and the floor, so to edit something a mobile is holding, use **mobitem** — it works just
+like **item**, but over the inventories of mobiles in the room:
+  * **mobitem //item//** — show that item's data
+  * **mobitem //item// name //new name//** or **mobitem //item// desc //text//**
+  * **mobitem //item// data //field// //value//**
+If more than one mobile here carries a match, **mobitem** lists them numbered
+(//1.dagger - a rusty dagger (carried by a goblin)//); pick one with **mobitem 2.dagger
+data …**. //(You can also edit any item by its number with plain **item //#// …**,
+wherever in the world it is.)//
+=== Stackable loot
+If a mobile carries a **stackable** item -- one with a **data stack** key (see **[[All about Items#Stackable items|All about Items]]**) -- you can have each kill drop a //random count// of it with **data dropq //min-max//** set on that item. //e.g.// a sheep carrying wool: **mobitem wool data dropq 1-3** drops 1 to 3 wool per kill, rolled fresh each time (a plain **data dropq 3** drops exactly three). Whatever the roll, it lands as a single merged stack in the corpse, ready to loot.
+=== Trainers
+A **trainer** is a mobile that teaches profession **skills**. Flag it with **data trainer true**, and set the profession it teaches with **data profession //class//** — Fighter, Wizard, Woodsman, or Adventurer (//warrior//, //rogue// and //mage// are accepted too). A player standing with the trainer types **train** to see what's on offer, and **train //skill//** to learn one for skill points. You may write **data class** instead of **data profession** -- they are the same field. (Woodsman is one class wearing three faces by alignment: ranger, woodsman, rogue. A Woodsman's first skill is **identify**, as a Fighter's is //hit//.)
+A trainer usually keeps shop in a **safe** room — a no-combat sanctuary you flag with the room command **room data safe true** — so the guild hall stays peaceful (anyone who tries to fight there is told //"No violence is permitted here!"//).
+A complete Fighter's guild:
+{{{
+room data safe true                  (make this room a no-combat sanctuary)
+mob create Silas Mossthorn           (creates a mob named Silas)
+mob silas data trainer true          (...makes him a guildmaster/trainer)
+mob silas data profession Fighter    (...and able to train Warriors)
+}}}
+Now a Fighter who types **train** here is offered the //hit// skill, and **train hit** teaches it for one skill point. See //Training and skills// in [[How to Play]].
+=== Peaceful NPCs
+Some mobiles shouldn't be fought — trainers, shopkeepers, quest-givers. Mark any of them with **mob //mob// data npc true** and players can't attack it (**kill**, **hit** and **attack** all bounce). Clear it again with **mob //mob// data npc false**.
+=== Spawning and zone resets
+A mobile you create is a single, one-off creature; slay it and it is gone. To make it
+//repopulate//, register it as a zone **spawn**. Zones reset about once an hour, and
+each reset re-creates any registered mobile whose live copy is missing.
+* **zone setspawn //mob// [//room#//]** — register the mobile (here, or by id) to respawn; the room defaults to where you stand
+* **zone setspawn //mob// //spawn#//** — //replace// that spawn: give an existing spawn number instead of a room, and the old mobile (with its gear) is swapped for the one here
+* **zone spawn** — list this zone's mobile spawns (each shows a //#//)
+* **zone spawn //#//** — spawn a copy of that one right now
+* **zone remspawn //#//** — stop it from spawning
+{{{
+mob create goblin
+mob goblin desc A small, mean-looking goblin.
+zone setspawn goblin
+zone spawn            (lists it, e.g. "#3  goblin  (room #42)")
+}}}
+The goblin you registered stays as the first live copy; once slain, the next reset
+brings a fresh one back. Its corpse still counts as "out there", so a spawn never
+double-stacks while an instance remains.
 == How mobiles differ from items