You shout 'lvl 6 thief lfg'
**This section is not AI generated, and I feel I should disclose my feelings on AI and how I am using it up front. I am not a coder, I struggled with making even the most basic zmud triggers. I am not a game dev. I have a full time job AND at 45 years old, have my first child due in September, so obviously like any sane human - did the only thing logical, decided to TRY and build a mud. I will spare you the details of the last 6 months, but this would not be even remotely possible without AI. I know people have very strong opinions on this, but, the way I see it, pandoras box is blown open, and the truth is this: I fucking LOVE MUDs. They provided me with the most peak gaming moments of my life, I made friends all around the world, and I just really really really don't want to see it die. This is almost undoubtably a fool hardy and ultimately fatal expedition on my part, but as many a MUD journey begins, not being scared of dying and losing everything is rule #1. So , if you hate AI please don't come, I had to use it extensively to code, but I promise you my 30 years of mud experience and 40 years of gaming starting with com64 phatasie series my dad had bootleg floppy disk copies of(he called it that nerd game, my dude you had a home PC in 1984 and were burning floppy disks, I didn't fall far from your nerd tree) all the way up to today, gaming has been central in my life, and I have always had very clear visions of what a great MUD would be, so I really hope you come poke your head in and at least maybe roast the hell out of me in some reddit post :)**
I'm building a text MUD set in a 1995–2000-era high-fantasy world (D&D / Dragonlance / Forgotten Realms-adjacent, original IP, original engine — no code lifted from any other MUD). 100% custom from the floor up.
Why I'm doing this: I keep finding empty servers, lonely subreddits, and well-meaning attempts to keep 30-year-old games on life support. It makes me sad. I want a place that actually feels alive.
I have zero professional dev/coding/design experience. I'm motivated, I'm slow, and I'm honest about both of those.
**Influences & what this isn't:**
This isn't a remake of an old MUD. I've been shaped by years of MUDding plus a long list of other games — WoW, Guild Wars, Runescape, Rust, Diablo, Path of Exile, BG3 — and bits of each fed into the design philosophy. I want vets and MUD fans to love it, but I'm building it with the QoL and player expectations of 2026, not 1996.
That said: this game has a lot of callbacks to the major MUD I've played from 1994 to today. If you were a MUDder in that window and you were a badass — you might spot a former character of yours lionized in here.
**At beta launch:**
- 8 of the planned classes and 12 of the planned races live; full roster expansion ready by early 2027
- 200 spells / 150 skills / 500+ emotes / tons more
- Only a handful of spells are learned from guildmaster. If a spellcaster wants to grow in power, he must adventure and seek out the knowledge of those who they wish to acquire more powerful magic from(75% of spells and ALL the "good" ones are added to your permanent spell list after studying a spellbook containing 1 spell. the book is consumed about attempt to study. Failure is possible and book must be loaded again. Spells are in circle tiers, and the spellbooks are also in tiers, so each book can drop different spells of that tier, as with everything else, you will have to discover more on your own.
- Hundreds of unique, powerful items - with load limits(best items in game are limit 1 instance) — this is a gear-driven game
- Keyword-driven zone exploration is core to play
- Plenty of solo and small-group content. Some zones are punishingly difficult.
**Stack:** TypeScript / Node.js server, Prisma ORM, Socket.io / WebSocket client layer, custom hardened command bus, full TypeScript front-to-back.
No zone counts, no room counts — that's for you to find.
Open beta announce within a month. If you want to come kick the tires, drop a comment and I'll DM when it's live.