[MUD-Dev] Modeling spells/skills as collections of affects

[Caliban Tiresias Darklock]

On Monday, September 15, 1997 5:29 AM, Travis S. Casey 
[SMTP:efindel at io.com] wrote:

> Bubba pulls south and Boffo pulls north:
>   rope pulls north with strength 2

[...]

> This would allow for tug o' war and other such fun things.  :-)

Fun?

 >tug
 You tug on rope.
 Bubba tugs on rope.
 You are stronger. You win.
 Bubba cries like the wimp he is.

You need an element of chance and/or modifiers here. You can manage a lot 
better in a tug o' war situation by just holding the rope and waiting for 
the other person to get tired. I've never seen a good simulation of getting 
tired in a game. It's always 'oops, you are tired, sleep now' and you have 
no way to push yourself onward no matter how great the emergency...

 You see a dragon here.
 >hide
 You attempt to hide.
 The dragon sees you!
 >n
 You move north.
 You hear a dragon's wings flapping from the south.
 >n
 You move north.
 >n
 You are too tired.
 You hear a dragon's wings flapping from the south.
 >n
 You are too tired.
 You hear a dragon's wings flapping from the south.
 >n
 You are too tired.
 A dragon arrives from the south.
 >c 'big nasty vicious spell of doom death and destruction' dragon
 You are too tired.
 The dragon belches flame! *BURP*
 Everything fades to black...