I've been playing CthulhuMUD now for about a year and find it really addictive and enjoyable. The game is highly original and very rich in its structure. It has a ton of Lovecraftian elements to keep HPL fans happy. There's lots of skills, magic, professions, clans and combat to keep you busy. The game is huge, and there are a lot of secrets, deeds and quests to work out. Some of it is still in progress, so there is room in the future for people to write new content.

Come sign up and play!

I've played this game since 2004. I've been several different races and explored several areas. Even with this amount of play time, I'll be the first to admit that I haven't done everything there is to do in this game.

One of the things that I absolutely adore about this game is the way skills work. The game gives you access to certain skills through your profession, but there are plenty that can be learned and gained through other means. Your profession doesn't limit your character and it is encouraged to switch professions once you hit the capstone. But back to the skills. Let's say for example that I want to learn forging. I could find an NPC who teaches it or join a profession which opens it up or I can roll the dice and debate an appropriate NPC. What's more, is that I can improve this skill through practices (called pracs for short) or simply try the skill over and over. Both are feasible ways to improve the skills.

The player base is one that is super helpful. If you are stuck in a bad room and can't get out, typically someone can and will help you out.

There is a lot of room to roleplay here. Player killing is allowed, but typically people will have to have good reason. In a lot of ways, you will find people teaming up to fight the monsters instead of fighting each other.

I cannot stress how much fun I've had with this game. Every six months or so I will hear its siren call and feel the need to spend hours upon hours in this environment that has been lovingly created and curated by fans. Other MUDs simply pale in comparison.

I'll let the log do the talking. My friend and I are looking for a mud to play, so we made characters here and were reading the help files when this happens:

(OOC) An Immortal gossips 'The fun thing about snooping folks with identical ip addresses is watching that there's a gap between the amount of time it takes one person to type a command and the other to type a command..'

(OOC) Marcus gossips 'There are actually two people here. My friend is trying to figure out how to post to the general board. Can you help us with the syntax?'

(OOC) An Immortal gossips 'Yea I noticed you read the rules and he promptly went to board research'

(OOC) An Immortal gossips 'and the idle time between your actions is hideously suspicious looking'

ooc Do you do this to all groups of friends who play together? Are there any active players in this game?

(OOC) Marcus gossips 'So do you do this to all friends who want to play together?'

(OOC) You gossip 'Do you do this to all groups of friends who play together? Are there any active players in this game?'

(OOC) An Immortal gossips 'watch ip's sure. and there are active folks'

(OOC) *an Immortal points excitedly at Bugbo!*

(OOC) Bugbo gossips 'yeah, i play the game fairly ferquemtly'

ooc I mean that is some pretty hostile right-off-the-bat interaction there. And when friends play together, do they usually type commands at exactly the same time to not seem suspicious?

(OOC) You gossip 'I mean that is some pretty hostile right-off-the-bat interaction there. And when friends play together, do they usually type commands at exactly the same time to not seem suspicious? '

ooc We can probably coordinate our commands to be at the same time, but is that necesary?

(OOC) You gossip 'We can probably coordinate our commands to be at the same time, but is that necesary?'

who

--- The Gods of Cthulhumud ---

--- The Players of Cthulhumud --- [ 84 288 0] Hero Bugbo the hopeful [Cabal Du Quixotic] [ 3 3 0] Newbie Marcus the hopeful [ 3 3 0] Newbie Chester the hopeful

GODS found: 0 Players found: 3

(OOC) An Immortal gossips 'no but if it ever becomes apparent that it cant be done that's an indicator of an issue'

ooc Do we still need to post a message about the same IP?

(OOC) You gossip 'Do we still need to post a message about the same IP?'

(OOC) Marcus gossips 'I can understand that multiplaying is a bad thing in an RPI, and that you are enforcing that by watching account/char IPs. We are two friends who play games while hanging out in the same house on the weekend. It is the only day that we are in the same house together, and I rarely get the time to play while my friend usually plays more often. What sort of evidence would you want that we're not the same person multiplaying?'

(OOC) An Immortal gossips 'given it is listed as a requirement in the rules I would. but, i tend to follow rules wherever i go.'

(OOC) An Immortal gossips 'Pop a note up. I will ping another immortal and discuss it. I've never watched two ips that had this consistent of a gap per command so it's a tough one to call :)'

ooc So another IP had a regular human typing speed gap in between commands?

(OOC) You gossip 'So another IP had a regular human typing speed gap in between commands?'

(OOC) An Immortal gossips 'meaning, when i check Bugbo and I have no idle time, the other immortal has logged some decent idle time. chester had none marcus had 3 when chester did any action. when marcus does any action chester has idle time of 2 or greater'

(OOC) An Immortal gossips 'It just comes across like the one person operated ipshare not two person. pop up a note on general board'

(OOC) An Immortal gossips 'board 3 and then note write'

ooc We have a group of 6 players looking for a suitable MUD to play together, we came to check this one out since we're die-hard CoC fans. But I think I see why this place is empty.

(OOC) Marcus gossips 'No thanks, don't worry about it. We'll make your decision easy and go elsewhere.'

(OOC) You gossip 'We have a group of 6 players looking for a suitable MUD to play together, we came to check this one out since we're die- hard CoC fans. But I think I see why this place is empty.'

CthulhuMUD is one of the best muds i have found and played. The races are unique, such as the deep ones live underwater and can breathe underwater. Yithians bodies are weak, but they possess other people and 'adapt' skills from them.

It is full of awesome features such as The Dreamlands, where you can get to if you sleep and dream. The need to eat and drink also adds some gameplay, so you have to earn money and be active. It is Roleplay encouraged but not enforced, so it is good for everyone! It is a full PK server, but there has to be a reason.

The only downfall is the small amount of players - so you can fix that by joining CthulhuMUD! You don't have to know the books either to play.

This mud has an atmosphere that can really suck you in at times. The player community is fairly diverse. You have your good along with the bad. Some people will rub you one way, while others will have an entirely different effect upon you. There are plenty of spelling and grammar... oddities... in the mud, but I have come to learn that some of the developers didn't speak English as their first language. Basically, if you don't nitpick at it all day, you'll look right past it and meld right into the atmosphere.

One thing that people will notice about the quests and getting around in general is that you have to do a lot of in and outside the box thinking in order to accomplish anything. The kicker to all of this is the fact that a lot of ordeals can be overcome by a rather simple answer to a seemingly cryptic puzzle. I've often been advised not to overthink the obstacles that appear before me.

All in all, if you just kick back and come in with a 'here to have fun' attitude, you will find yourself in a very immersive environment that is very well constructed and healthily populated.

Just don't go killing any of the cats, ok? :)

Although i consider myself a newbie, (not only when it comes to mudding in general, but more specifically) on CM itself, i enjoy CM a great deal. I have tried all kinds of Muds and never in my experience has a mud matched the kind of playability of CM.

The players are generally great, and will help you. The areas ARE vast and exploring everything would take quite some time, let alone trying to actually remember everything. The skills and character creation are superb. The learning curve is a little steep, but as with most things, patience pays.

Starting off is easy by yourself, and now that the help files have been updated and the website renovated, it is easier than ever to learn things on your own.

However, there will be certain subjects you will need help or hints with. Not to worry though, there is almost always an older player or Imm available. Most will stop whatever they are doing to help you.

I'm going to go play right now! Join me! -bishun

This is the best MUD I have found anywhere on the internet. Let me get that clear up front, because I am going to do a lot of complaining about it and the complaints should be understood in the context of me being a miserable old cus who is never happy with anything.

What’s right with it:

First, this sucker is *original*. Ever get the feeling that every darned MUD is the same? Then try CthulhuMud. CthulhuMud is based on the writings of horror author H.P. Lovecraft and the default setting is the USA in the 1930s. You won’t find stock MUD areas here – the setting is lovingly described and beautifully detailed.

All of the skills that should have been there were. Your character can learn to speak Latin, study Ancient History and master Physics. The Debate skill is truly inspired. When you debate someone, you engage in a sort of verbal combat, with the game keeping track of which way the argument is going until someone finally wins. If you win, you get some experience and may improve your skill in the subject you were debating. If you lose, you may lose some xp. I found this a wonderful way to advance skills and much more appropriate to the setting than advancing through physical combat.

The players were all very friendly and extremely helpful. Despite the fact that some of them were playing “evil” races, no one ever tried to ruin my fun and mortals and immortals alike bent over backwards to help me. They were unfailingly polite even when I needed the same thing explained to me several times in quick succession. Special thanks to the guy who (though it is considered a terrible sin on most MUDs) gave the newbie some decent equipment. Speaking as someone who didn’t come to Lovecraft country to loot treasure or work out what had the most pluses, but who just wanted to be able to survive long enough to wander around and read the flavor text, having good equipment just handed to me added a lot to my fun.

I always found interesting places to go and interesting things to do. Just wandering around always led me to some new and intriguing place and eventually would lead me to adventure. I solved some interesting puzzles and soon had more leads to significant quests than I could shake a stick at. Great stuff! Certainly, wandering around often got me killed, but…

This game has a great attitude to death. Up until level 25 (I think…something like that), death just busts back to the experience you needed to make the level in the first place and requires a quick trip to the morgue to get your stuff. That is to say, unless you are on the cusp of making a new level, death really isn’t particularly inconvenient. That’s certainly not true to the genre, but it added a lot to the gaming experience. A world based on the writings of Lovecraft should be filled with horrible danger, and this world was. A Lovecraft hero should have a horrible death awaiting him, and I got lots of them. At the same time, because I wasn’t punished for dying, I wasn’t afraid to explore, despite the fact that I was no combat monster.

What’s wrong with it:

The number one problem with CthulhuMud is that despite the great number of changes made, its still basically running on a fantasy engine, and a D&D version of fantasy at that. If you want your character to be effective, you have to kill lots of things in order to level, and after you kill things, you have to loot them for all of the magic equipment you will need to survive. That’s not how it was in Lovecraft. I spent way too long slaying hordes of zoogs for no in-game reason, just so that I could get my academic skills up and accumulate enough hit points to survive. Much worse yet, at earlier levels I had to run around Miskatonic University slaying the students and teachers like a demented psychokiller. Oh, and when I was low on money, I had to eat their corpses too. Sure, up to a point, I could just debate the staff and that was much more fun and appropriate, but eventually if you want to be able to do things you need to turn to butchery. What I saw of the magic system (and most PCs seem to study magic at Miskatonic) was straight out of D&D too. As for the treasure – I had magic items galore, but nothing very Lovecraftian, and nary a forbidden tome.

Despite the wonderful atmosphere of the rooms, I saw very little roleplaying going on. PCs had silly names and humans and aliens mixed openly. Migo wandered the halls of Miskatonic University like Elves wander the streets in Shadowrun.

Do I recommend it? Yes – very highly. For all its faults, it is the most interesting Mud I have found, and while it does not live up to it’s promise, it’s promise is vast.

Cthulhumud is easily the most entertaining mud I've ever played. This is for a number of reasons:

One: Very changeable characters. Even a character that begins with bad stats can become powerful with time and work; you train your stats as you go up levels, so you can steer your character any way you choose. The skills are myriad, and also very configurable.

Two: Many, many deeds and quests. Sometimes you have to work for 'em, sometimes you have to search for 'em...they're not always gonna jump out and bite you on the nose, but they're there. :)

Three: Beautiful descriptions of places and mobs. Some places are more detailed than others, but it's always fun to explore.

Four: Replayability. I've logged so many hours it's not even funny. *blush* :)

A few caveats:

This is a thinking mud. If you want a hack and slash, you can certainly find a lot to hack and slash here, but you'll get more out of it if you think, and explore, and enjoy. RP is nice to see, but it's not enforced.

Help is often offered to newbies, but don't expect it. *grin* Enjoy it and thank the helpers when they help you, but it's not always going to come.

Take notes: you'll find they come in handy later. The help files are under renovation, so use the website for a good help-guide...

All in all, have fun, show common courtesy, and don't take things too seriously. If you can do these things, you'll have loads of fun on Cthulhumud. I have, for quite a few years...I've made loads of online friends that I keep in touch with even when we're not mudding.

Hope to see you there...

Silvia

I have yet to find the perfect mud that everyone loves and agrees how it should be designed and played, but Cthulhumud is the one that no matter how my opinions vary with it's day to day functions I go back and play. There are the skills and spells and concepts you can blatantly see and there are the ones you have to think about to figure out their use, and yes they all have a use. If you like solving puzzles and riddles their quests and deeds are a challenge and always rewarding once you do manage to figure out where each hint was leading you. If you just like walking in and smashing ugly beasts they are there. The newer areas have been overlooked by a vast majority of players but they are out there and they are drool worthy. If you are an ask questions, listen, learn and retain person you will do exceedingly well. If you are looking for roleplay, for that you are depending on players other than yourself and that you have to weed through, the human interaction element. For a solid year of playing, I had never read the first Lovecraft work and after a while I did finally pick up a book or two and I have to say it's areas are a tribute to a great deal of his works. But again, it's based on an individuals perception and placement of another mans writing so it should be expected there had to be some leeway from a writers creativity to a MUD. As far as players helping players, a little appreciation goes a long way. If you remember that you will have a blast.

As for a mud it stands on its own merit. As for playability lets say it stinks. Now why would it stink you ask? It is this: 1. Lack of thought-out help files 2. Players that think they can do anything to anyone. 3. Imms that will play favorites. 4. Quests that have little to no meaning to anything at all. 5. Deeds that make no real sense at all. 6. Newbie friendly it is, but user friendly (NO) 7. No straight answers from most of the older players. 8. Belittling people for asking questions of the simplest kind. 9. The spells are not well thought out, but that is to be expected. 10.Not enough areas for people of 100 - 300 to level at or mobs.

As to why it is a good place to play:

1. Some players and Imms are very helpful and they do tend to try to help because they want to see you make it. 2. Skills and char creation are well thought out. 3. Losely based on H.P.Lovecraft (nuff said) 4. Some interesting areas with a nice finshed look. 5. Roleplay or in truth a try to rp game but not much rp.

Please understand this is a nice game but the bad apples do make the game a bit rough. When straight forward cheats like equipment sharing of a char that is deleting to that same persons alt is allowed, and the imms say it is normal for a high level char to give out items like two rings of talent and such to a newbie then that is a problem. On the other hand the big players tend to do a lot to help new people out. This is a good game with that case of a few bad apple spoiling the barrel.

Overall it is well run but it does need some tweaks to give it a truly unique flavor.

This is in my personal opinion and it is no way connected to anyone else. I have seen big players go so far as to summon an imm and make them mortal and kill them for fun. Now I know that this is a very small group of people that do this, but left like it is it has made the fun of the mud almost to a point of new people wanting to leave.

Welcome MUDders and Lovecraft Fans alike! Cthulhumud is the best MUDding experience I've had in my years of MUDding. 95% of the people on are friendly and funny, and you will most likely receive hookups from the beginning if you don't get on anyones nerves(which is really only possible if that is your goal).

The whole engine on Cthulhu is excellent, the spell system is really fun, and the skills system is really enticing. In the beginning, don't give up because you will get up there with the best of 'em with time and patience. CM supports remorting and the experience and leveling is like nothing else. Words can't describe the addiction received while playing CM.