By Thalen
Commands covered: rmob, rwear, rgive, rdrop, rput, rlook, rview, rkill, tfind
These commands all deal with taking mobs and objects you've created, and populating your area with them. Some deal with adding equipment to mobs, or mobs to rooms, and others deal with equipping the mobs you add. And, of course, there's info in there about how to remove the ones you put in the wrong place, and how to find the ones you already placed but can't remember where...
RMOB
Adds a mob reset (M) to the room you're standing in.
rmob <vnum|keyword> <limit|"reboot">
You can use the vnum of the mob you want, or it's keyword. If using keywords, be careful to check that the mob you think you're placing is the one you want (you can use the TFIND command for this) Using keyword will insert the first mob matching the keyword you type in (or use 2.<mob> 3.<mob> etc). Personally, I don't take the chance, I use the vnum.
Also, the 'limit' number is tricky...for each reset of a mob, you put in a reset limit. When the area repops, each line of the reset code is read, and the reset limit is checked as the line is read. If the limit has been reached, that line is ignored. The order that the reset list is read plays an important role when only some of a particular kind of mob are killed, and the reset list tries to refill the mobs. The result is that sometimes mobs will repop in a room that already has that mob in it, and the room where the mobs were killed won't repop them...add to this the fact that the limit can be different for different resets of the same mob. It can get complicated. See me if you want a more detailed explanation of this phenomenon.
If you forget to add a limit, the mud will assume the value of 1.
The 'reboot' option means the mob will only load when the mud reboots, so once he's killed, he's gone for a while. This should rarely be used, and you should probably get permission first.
RWEAR
Adds equipment to a mob that resets in the room you're in.
rwear <vnum|item keyword> <mob keyword> <limit|"reboot">
This will place a piece of equipment onto a mob that was set to reset in the room you're in (ala the RMOB command). The equipment will repop on the mob in the wear location that the equipment is designed for. If the equipment is designed for more than one wear location, SHAME ON YOU and get permission before you go on, that's generally a no-no. In case it is OK, the equipment will load onto the lowest wear location (see flist 11, lower locations have higher numbers on that list). As with other R-commands, you can use keywords instead of vnums, check the TFIND command below on how to best do this.
The default value for limit is 0. Setting this to another number will have unpredictable results (in other words, I'm not sure exactly what this does :P ). If you use reboot as the limit, the object will only load when the mob first resets after a reboot. This is generally not done, get permission before using this.
The use of the RLOOK command will show you exactly what the resets will do once you've placed things where you think they're supposed to go. See the RLOOK command below.
RGIVE
Adds a piece of equipment to a mob's inventory when it loads.
rgive <vnum|item keyword> <mob keyword> <limit|"reboot">
This acts just like RWEAR, in that the item will be placed on the first mob in the list of mobs in a room that matches the keyword/vnum you specify. If there are, for example, 2 guards that reset in the room, you'd need to use 2.guard to place an object in the second guard's inventory. As above, keywords can be used in place of the vnum of the mob or object, but it's less confusing to use the vnums, especially for RGIVE and RWEAR, as several objects can easily share the same keyword. See the TFIND command below if you prefer to use the keyword method. Use RLOOK to see what mobs are loading in the room, and act according to the information there. The limit and reboot values are also as above, generally just leave that part off and let the value be the default of 0.
Please note (if it matters) that objects in a mob's inventory can later be worn by that mob, so if that is an issue, other steps may need to be taken to avoid this. Objects might be placed in a chest or other container that the mob is protecting, or more creative solutions might be worked out (death mprogs, etc).
RDROP
Makes an item repop on the ground.
rdrop <item vnum|item keyword> <0|after-vnum|keyword> [limit|"reboot"]
There are 3 possible parts to this comand: The first is the item vnum or keyword (see the section on the TFIND command for using keywords instead of the vnum).
The second part helps set the level of the object. The way resets work, an object assumes the level of the mob directly preceeding it on the reset list. If the item is resetting on a mob, this is set automatically, but on the ground it just takes on the level of the mob next higher on the list. But, by using the vnum of one of the mobs in your area (all of which have their peveps preset in from the OINDEX command), you can make sure that the object is inserted below that mob on the list, and the level will be correct. Use the vnum of such a mob (or its keyword, and again reference the TFIND command) as the second arguement. Or, type 0 and it will load at the top of the list at level 0 (only do this if the obects is appropriate for a level 0 player, of course).
The third part makes an object reboot only (by entering reboot), or sets a limit on the number of the item that will load. The number of objects that will load on the ground is...tricky. If you rdrop 1 item in a room, with a reset limit of 4, only one of the item still seems to load in that room. But if you put 4 rdrops in 4 different rooms, with a reset limit of 3 on each, only 3 of the 4 will load (in the order they show up in the resets). I don't seem to be able to find a way to reliably get more than one of the same object to load in the same room (if you try to rdrop the same item again in a room, it tells you you can't). So, assume you can't for the time being, and get over it :-)
RPUT
Places an object inside of a container that is loading somewhere in your area.
rupt <item vnum|item keyword> <container-keyword> [limit|"reboot"]
First, you must have a container that has been
RLOOK
Gives a listing of the resets that are present in the room
An example of the output for this command:
Resets for room [13200] Entrance into the Cavern of the Wormskull. 1> [13201] Cavern guard (max 2) 2> <worn around wrist> [13202] L26 mithril bracer 3> <worn around wrist> [13202] L26 mithril bracer 4> <worn on body> [13203] L26 mithril breastplate 5> <wielded> [13204] L26 broadsword
As you can see, the mobs and their respective equipment is listed, along with door resets (which are discussed on the page about rooms). Here, since one mob (Bob) is loading once, but with a max of 2, there will eventually be 2 identical Bob's in that location. You could, alternately, add 2 separate resets (RMOB's) and load each Bob with different equipment. In that case, 2 Bob's would repop at the same time, assuming both were killed earlier. If only one was killed, the first one in the list would repop, even if the second Bob was the one that was killed. The only way to avoid that possibility would be to create 2 mobs with different vnums and have them both load with a max of 1, in which case whichever one was killed, they would both be there on the next repop.
This command also lists the resets for doors (if any), but that info is covered in the Rooms page.
RVIEW
Gives a brief view of all the resets in the area. Very brief. Cute, but not overly useful. Great, though, if you really know resets and want to get a fast list to edit into a script. I don't recommend trying that right away though :-)
<prompt> rview Resets for this area: O 22 1 80 O 20 1 80 O 17 1 74 M 25 1 11 M 32 1 90 M 74 1 74 D 73 0 1 D 10 2 1 D 73 1 1
RKILL
Removes a reset for a mob in the room you're in (also used for equipment).
rkill <number> ["confirm" ["all"]]
This command will remove the number-th reset in the room. You can see the number of a reset by typing RLOOK - it is on the far left (see the example under RLOOK).
You cannot remove mobs if they are wearing/holding any thing (G/E resets, placed with the RGIVE or RWEAR commands). In that case, use the argument ALL to also remove those resets. (i.e. rkill 1 CONFIRM ALL).
If you were to type RKILL 1 CONFIRM, the mob will be removed, but NOT any of its equipment. As this options can wreak havoc in the reset structures, it is currently unavailable.
If you try to remove an object, the server will check if any objects are reset inside it later in the area (using the P reset). There is more info on this in the objects page.
Note that removing mob resets may change level of items resetting on the ground. You should be warned of it though. (Again, reference the objects page for more information.)
TFIND
Finds any mobs or objects in an area with a specific keyword.
rfind <keyword>
TFIND looks through all the mobs and items for the area you're standing in, printing those who have a keyword matching the one you supplied.
Note that TFIND does not look through loaded mobs/objs, but rather those which it knows belong to the current area. Even if no examples of that mob/object are loading, TFIND will still be able to track it down.
This output can be then used in commands like RMOB, where you instead remembering a number, can just type RMOB 2.guard to insert a mob reset here.
An example of the TFIND output, from Quebec:
<prompt> tfind guard 1> [ 701] royal guard 2> [ 702] royal elite guard 3> [ 739] royal guard 4> [ 740] royal elite guard 5> [ 748] royal personal guard
This would be useful if you wanted to add a guard reset in a room, you would know that in order to get the right guard to load, you might have to type 'rmob 3.guard' to get the one you want.
Another note, and this one from personal experience: Once you have your mobs, and you start to populate the mobs with their equipment, some strange things can happen. Items that the mobs wear that have permanent effects (stone skin, detection spells, etc.) can drastically change the stats the mobs have. An area I made had a lot of equipment like that, and I suddenly found my level 60's mobs walking around with 200+ dam roll and 30K hp. The only way to get them back into a realistic range was to set the mobs to load with 0 or less dr and few hp, letting the equipment bring the totals up to par. However, this generally meant that the mobs gave almost no experience, since the exp equations don't take equipment into account. To be perfectly honest, I was never able to rectify the situation, short of removing all the equipment spells, so the area sits unfinished to this day. Go easy on equipment like that, and you'll make your building life a lot easier.
Lastly, and this last bit applies to both mobs and objects: NEVER load a mob into your area that isn't a part of that area. This rarely happens with mobs, but a lot of people have taken shortcuts with objects by loading up existing objects (to fill shops, for instance). This can EASILY bring the mud down, so just don't do it. There are ways to copy mobs and objects if you just want to make something exactly the same, but they're...a little flaky at the moment. More on that some day.