From: conner@qucis.queensu.ca (Mike Conner)
Subject: [ADMIN]:FAQ - Updated January 21, 1993
Organization: Computing & Information Science, Queen's University at Kingston
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1993 23:45:23 GMT



                       FAQ- Frequently Asked Questions
                       A.P.C-S - Alt.Pub.Cloven-Shield

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                         Compiled By Michael Conner

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History: In the beginning someone created alt.dragons-inn ... and then they
         forgot about it, neglected it, discarded it like some trash,
         leaving it to rot in the polluted decay of all abandonded ALT groups.

         But then some bright spark thought they would tack the name PUB 
         before the Dragon's Inn in order to attract a crowd. Well somehow it
         worked and ALT.PUB.DRAGONS-INN has been up and running ever since.

         Poor old ALT.DRAGONS-INN, nobody loves it, but wait [KNOCK, KNOCK
         KNOCK, SSSSQQQQQUEEEEKKKKKKK] someone has openned the Dragon's Inn's
         door and breathed a breath of fresh air inside. In the imortal words
         of someone I can't remember ... "It has begun ...".

         We will soon be moving our posts to alt.pub.cloven-shield.  This
         group was created to put all dragons-inn groups under the PUB
         heading and to give us our own identity.  Two Dragon's Inns is a
         bit much for such a small universe.

Present: Well it's now official, alt.pub.cloven-shield is now open for
         business.  We will still crosspost to alt.dragons-inn for the
         benefit of those that can not receive alt.pub.cloven-shield.
         Never forget your roots ...
         
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Subject Format:  Inorder to keep things running smoothly, use the following
                 subject format for each of your posts to this group:

                 {RE:}{[ADMIN]}[Thread Name]:Brief Description

                 Meaning: {~~}          - Optional components of the subject
                                          header.
                          RE:           - Refers to an old post.
                          [ADMIN]       - Administrative post outside of the
                                          game.
                          [Thread Name] - A brief (2 word) thread name.
                          Brief Desc.   - A brief description of the contents
                                          of the post.

                 An important thing to remember when using RE: is not to
                 include the ENTIRE old post.  Just include those lines that
                 are relavent to your post.  By keeping the bandwidth low
                 we keep sys. admins. happy and don't draw too much attention.

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         (Some questions/answers may be offensive.  Read at own risk.)
 
FAQ: Q: Where am I?
     A: You are in the ALT.PUB.CLOVEN-SHIELD adventure group.  A fully automated
        gameing adventure that takes place in the Kingdom of Ull in a village
        called Trelham.  We will assume a time period around the Dark Ages.
        See [ADMIN][LANDS] for a complete description.

     Q: How do I start?
     A: You must do two things.  One, introduce your character in the
        Dragon's Inn.  No. No. complete handshakes all around are not called
        for but a brief description of yourself and your intentions is a
        must.  Two, E-MAIL to (J.E. Mason) a COMPLETE description of you.

           Include the following:

           1. Real Name: (Your real identity)
           2. E-Mail: (Your e-mail address)
           3. Character: (Your Character's Name)
           4. Race: (What are you?  human, elf, etc.)
           5. Type: (What do you do? warrior/fighter, mage, Theif, etc.)
           6. Physical Description: (What do you look like?)
           7. Appearance: (What are you wearing, carrying, holding etc.? )
           8. Other Comments: (Anything you wish to note about yourself.)

     Q: Who is in charge?
     A: No one.  Everyone is in charge of their own character.  Anyone
        posting [ADMIN] information is doing it for your sake so NO FLAMES
        ALLOWED.  Basically, if you don't like how things are run, GET THE
        HELL OUT.

     Q: Is there really an ED-209 factory inside the stables of the
        Dragon's Inn?
     A: No. There are no beings with an almighty ability to destroy all
        that are around them.  Just the same, you simply can't open the door
        to the Inn, toss in a nuclear warhead, and the run and hide in the
        nearest fallout shelter.  There will be great battles fought and
        many will feel the touch of death but any interaction should be dealt
        with through E-MAIL to all those involed first.
  
     Q: How do I know where to go and who everyone is?
     A: There are several special posts that you will see now and again.
        Here is a list of what to look for:

        CLIST_FULL: Complete character descriptions.
        CLIST_QUICK: A quick reference of all PCs and NPCs.
        FAQ: This post. (Your reading it now.)
        CLOVEN: Floor plans of the Cloven-Shield Inn.
        TOWN: A map of the village of Trelham.
        LANDS: A map of all known towns and villages etc.
        ARCHIVES: A brief, weekly report of the happenings in a.p.c-s.
                  (Not yet available)
        MINI_FAQ: A quick reference quide for the beginner.

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Improtant: GOOD, EVIL, AND THE LAW (c) Phil Stracchino a.k.a Alaric

The Cloven Shield is a real-world inn, in a real-world setting, and the
barkeeper doesn't ask too many unnecessary questions of his customers.
He's in business to sell ale and food and rent rooms, not pass moral
judgements.  You want moral judgements, go find a priest.

However, as in any real-world setting, this doesn't mean that anyone
can casually get away with murder - figuratively or literally.  If you
start breaking up the place, or killing off his customers for no reason,
you're costing him money, and he doesn't like that.
(Neither do the Guards, for that matter.  The King of Ull is a benign and
compassionate monarch, but he doesn't take kindly to his laws being
flouted - and robbery and murder are still crimes in Ull, just as they
are almost anywhere else.)

In any real-world setting, anyone who behaves with total disregard for
the law will soon find themselves attracting unwanted attention from
those whose duty it is to enforce the law.  The Kingdom of Ull is no
different.

What you do out in the wild is your own business, and self-defense is
always permissible - not only permitted, but expected.  However, if you
come into the Cloven Shield and start openly behaving like a homicidal
psychopath, expect to pay the consequences.  It's a stupid thing to do
in New York, Chicago, or Denver, and it's a stupid thing to do in Ull.

(In plainer terms:  Don't come in and start randomly butchering people,
or build a bonfire in the middle of the floor with the furniture, to show
off how bad-ass you are.  You won't impress anyone.)

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NOTE: E-mail all your comments about the game to me (Mike Conner) and I will
      deal with them appropriately.

***** If you FLAME me for whatever reason your character will suffer an
      unspeakable death never before witnessed in the history of this game.
      I'm not in charge, I'm just being helpful.

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Keepers:

Andrew Williams .... awilliam@qucis.queensu.ca ...... MINI_FAQ, ARCHIVES (ftp)
Michael Conner ..... conner@qucis.queensu.ca ........ FAQ, TOWN, LANDS, CLOVEN
John Mason ......... jempci@ultb.isc.rit.edu ........ CLIST_FULL, CLIST_QUICK
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Newsgroups: alt.pub.cloven-shield