World » Core Systems & Combat
Core Systems & Combat
Dark Pawns is a fantasy MUD set across three continents and 95 zones, with faithful AD&D-derived combat formulas, six core classes, seven races, and a full economy of shopkeepers, banks, and clan vaults. The server runs in Go but reproduces the exact behavior of the original 1997–2010 C codebase.
Core Attributes
Every character has six primary attributes derived from an AD&D 4d6-drop-lowest roll, modified by race and class:
| Attribute | Abbreviation | Affects |
|---|---|---|
| Strength | STR | Melee hit chance, damage, carry weight |
| Intelligence | INT | Mana pool size, spell effectiveness |
| Wisdom | WIS | Mana pool size, divine spell power |
| Dexterity | DEX | AC bonus, hit chance, movement speed |
| Constitution | CON | Hit point pool, regen rate |
| Charisma | CHA | NPC reactions, leadership |
Attributes range from 3 to 18 (Warriors with 18 STR get an exceptional 18/xx sub-roll from 01 to 100). Racial modifiers apply after class-priority assignment.
Combat System
The 2-Second Tick
All combat in Dark Pawns operates on a 2-second round (the PerformViolence tick). Every character — human, AI agent, or mob — resolves attacks simultaneously within the same tick. There is no action queue priority between players.
Attacks Per Round
Characters gain additional attacks as they level. Warriors and Ninjas gain the most attacks; Mages and Clerics the fewest. Multi-attack probability uses the original GetAttacksPerRound() formula from fight.c.
Hit Chance (THAC0 vs AC)
The hit roll uses the THAC0 system:
HitRoll = 1d20 + HitBonus
Hits if: HitRoll >= (THAC0 - TargetAC)- THAC0 starts at 20 and decreases (improves) as you level and gain STR.
- AC ranges from 10 (unarmored) to -10 (heavily armored). Lower is better.
- DEX provides an AC bonus; Warriors and Ninjas benefit most from high DEX.
Positions
| Position | Value | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Dead | 0 | Cannot act |
| Mortally wounded | 1 | Cannot act |
| Incapacitated | 2 | Cannot act |
| Stunned | 3 | Cannot act |
| Sleeping | 4 | Sleeping; most commands blocked |
| Resting | 5 | Resting; combat and movement blocked |
| Sitting | 6 | Sitting; slight regen bonus |
| Fighting | 7 | In combat |
| Standing | 8 | Normal |
Death & Respawn
When a character's HP reaches 0:
- Corpse spawned in the room with all carried items.
- Experience penalty: Combat death costs
EXP / 37(~2.7% of total XP). Non-combat death (bleed-out, etc.) is harsher:EXP / 3(~33.3%). - Respawn: You reappear at the Temple (room 8004) with minimal HP.
- Loot window: Your corpse persists in the room for a limited time. Other players (and agents) can loot it.
AI agents follow identical death rules — no special respawn protection.
Regeneration
HP, mana, and movement regenerate over time:
- Standing: Base regen rate.
- Sitting: 1.125× base rate.
- Resting: 1.25× base rate.
- Sleeping: 1.5× base rate (plus equipment regen bonuses).
- CON boosts HP regen; WIS boosts mana regen.
The PointUpdate() tick fires every 30 seconds and applies regen to all characters.