Table of Contents

The Mossy Player’s Handbook

With all the talk in the TTRPG community about OSR (Old School Revival) and general nostalgia impulse, welcome to an old school online RPG game experience, we call Sitting on Moss and Jumping in Puddles. We’ve attempted to create a cozy and casual game, that is:

  • light-hearted, jovial and whimsical
  • with puzzles and challenges that aren’t difficult, but you can request hints
  • where you find ingredients to make potions … or just jump in puddles
  • and gather on Tuesday evenings to role-play as an interesting character.

Introduction

In this “collaborative storytelling system”, you play as a storybook character who tripped and landed in the middle of a faery circle, and now finds themselves outside time…caught in the Fey Otherworld (for legal reasons, we can’t say Feywild™ domain).

You can play this game in one or more ways, specifically:

  1. Harvesting game, where you collect herbs and other ingredients to brew potions that affect you and other characters in whimsical ways.
  2. Puzzle-solving game, where you attempt to solve old school D&D escape rooms to win curious prizes, like the purse of peculiar doodads.
  3. Home decorating game, where you can craft a home, with money acquired from adventurous quests, or merely gambling with a troll under a bridge.
  4. Exploring game, where you wander this storybook-land uncovering bad puns and ancient references to Jethro Tull lyrics and Monty Python sketches.
  5. Role playing game, where you don a persona, and pretend to be a character in a strange land. You’ll make an interesting character who’s entertaining, and do a “yes, and” improv-style to the characters puppeted by other players.
  6. Mental Health game, where you do very little, but feed strange beasts, blow smoke rings, sit on piles of moss, and jump in puddles…thereby escaping the death-throes of our late stage capitalism hellscape.

With no graphics and a clunky nineteenth century interface, we take no offense if this game doesn’t work for you.

What do we mean by no graphics? This game hearkens back to the nineteen-hundreds when mechanical mice and online graphical interfaces didn’t exist and limited network communication, required typing commands and reading about the world.

This is a modern MUD, a game that grew out of the Interactive Fiction games of yore. Think of this like a specialized chat channel.

Example Experience

Perhaps an example is in order?

You find yourself in an amazing room formed from a ring of living trees. The canopy of boughs above twinkle with the lights of small, glowing orbs. Working the bar, a haughty-looking elf; waiting on tables, a smiling mushroom man, er…person.
You notice a bowl of candy, and a sign above the bar.
You also see the following characters:

  • A quartet of pixies playing music atop a giant mushroom.
  • A shrub nursing a glass of water.
  • A large frog looking dapper in his pinstripe suit and hat.

The pixies atop the giant, red-capped mushroom begin another tune.

And this point, you type the commands, like: 

look sign

The game then responds:

You see a large sign made of wood over the bar, hanging from a branch of one of the living trees. Painted words at the top read, Wyldwood Cocktails, and a list of drinks you can order.

Intrigued, you type the command: 

read sign

Which displays the weird cocktails you can order at this bar:

Cocktails

  • Moonlit Mirage
  • Puck’s Revenge
  • Glimmering Gossamer
  • Whimsical Willow
  • Charmed Chalice
  • Enchanted Elixir
  • Sylvan Serenade
  • Brambleberry Bliss
  • Twilight Tonic

Time to approach this haughty elf bartender and quench our thirst, by typing: 

say Hey barkeep. Can I get one of those Whimsy Willow drinks?

The game then shows:

The bartender looks you up and down.

The elf bartender says, “I see you have one of those tickets that give you free drinks. I sure wish the boss hadn’t given away so many. Sure, one willow coming up.”

The bartender grabs a few bottles from the shelf.

He shakes and strains the drink into a cocktail glass.

As the bartender hands over the cocktail, the garnish of a sprig of mint grows a long twisting vine that he casually clips off.

The bartender gives you a Whimsical Willow.

You start to enjoy the cocktail: 

drink cocktail

Every command you type, elicits a response from the game’s storybook environment:

You relish the fresh mint.

Hrm… did the bartender always have flowers in his hair?

Characters, like all other objects, have layers. We read above about the shrub nursing a glass of water. Let’s get some details. 

look shrub

If a small shrub had the facial muscles to smile and show how much it enjoys itself, this lil’ guy would be it. The short leaves indicates it once was a boxwood, but the way it nurses that glass of water shows those days are way behind. When you look its way, it waves a branch at you. You notice one of its branches clutch a small chalkboard while another holds a piece of chalk.
It has a glass of water

You might want to engage with this character. 

say Hello, Mr. Shrub, how's the water?

And it might take a second for another character to respond.

The shrub uses a branch to brush off the chalk from its small chalkboard, and with another branch, slowly starts to write.

While some characters can speak, this one is a bit more limited. 

read chalkboard

The chalkboard reads: Quite tepid, thanks

As you can see, we each type commands that add to story that emerges in this chat channel. Read the transcripts of some of times from the point of view of this sentient shrub watching the events in this bar:

After logging in, you can wander around the Land of Wyldwood, and decide what to explore. Keep in mind, a portal to the Bar (where we will gather to role-play), opens from 7 to 9pm PST on Tuesdays.

While a character has a name, you won’t see it, but instead know them as “blond-braided elf”, and you also won’t know which player is playing which character. Part of the role-playing experience.

Does this sound fun? If so, think of an interesting character you can use to entertain yourself and others. If the squeaky character you start with become too milquetoast, you can change anything about your character or create a new character (so don’t fear commitment).

This game has two distinct sections:

  • Solo areas, where you can explore the Land of Moss, collect ingredients for potions, as well as find friends to sail a curious boat for escape room-style adventure on distant islands .
  • Party areas, like the Wyldwood Bar, where you interact with others, are available on particular times, like Tuesday evenings from 1900 (7 PM) to 2100 Pacific Time.

The interface I’ve programmed has an online help system and a tutorial to walk you through how to play, but the following document explains how to use this game interface.

Connecting

Log in via https://www.howardabrams.com/cozy and click the Enter button (if you would rather not use a web browser, you can install any MUD application, and connect to howardabrams.com at port 4000).

First time? Create an account by typing: 

create yourname password

You can use your name for the yourname and enter an interesting password.

You will then log into the system each time, by typing: 

connect yourname password

As shown above, you type commands as if you were using a terminal as a grizzled computer programmer from the 80’s, because, that is pretty much what this interface is.

A cockatiel named Bubba Joe Washington will greet you and show you around for a bit, and you can type help at any time, to get details on commands, but let me describe some commands here.

Character Communication

Use the following commands for your character to communicate with other characters, in story …

say

Type say and a phrase to say something so that everyone in the area can hear that. Because we use this command so much, and we want to make the text to read more interesting, you can use some aliases, including:

  • ask, so that it may read: 

    Beardless dwarf asks, “How are you?”

  • reply, so it may read: 

    Tall, blond elf replies, “Well, and you?”
  • respond, yell, and scream, are similar.

  • Remember, " and ' are shortcuts allowing you to type: "Greetings to have it read: 

    Beardless dwarfless says, “Greetings”

whisper

Allows you to say someone to a character that no one else will hear. So typing: 

whisper gnome = Hey there, wake up!

Will send a private message to the character matching the short description, gnome.

emote

This command allows you to state anything else, you want. Essentially turning the chat channel into a bit of a novel. For instance: 

emote grins.

Will show: 

Beardless dwarf grins.

Entering the following command with a /me removes your sdesc from the beginning of the message, and puts it where you want it, for instance: 

From the corner of the room, /me walks over to /elf. "Hello," she whispers.

Would read: 

From the corner of the room, beardless dwarf walks over to tall, blonde elf. "Hello," she whispers.

Why use the /me and /elf? Well, they are shorter, but also plays to how each character views that character. See the next command for clarification.

recog

This command allows you to sort-of rename someone. For instance, if you knew the elf’s name was Shasta, you could type 

recog elf = Shasta

and now the previous example would read: 

From the corner of the room, beardless dwarf walks over to Shasta.

This associates a label to a character for you only. Others may have the Elf labeled only as bitchy elf. So, when you write, in an emote, /Shasta, they might see bitchy elf instead.

mask

Other characters may have labeled you as someone they have met before, but now you look different. Use this to show that they wouldn’t be able to recognize you. 

mask hooded stranger

Once you remove your mask (or hood in this example), return to your regular sdesc with: 

unmask

Player Communication

If you want to talk out of character … you know, player-to-player, uses these commands:

pub

Use this command to send a message to the out-of-character public channel. All logged in users receive these OOC messages, prefixed by your username, not your character.

Typing something like: 

pub Is anyone here yet?

Might show a transcript like: 

[Public] howard: Is anyone here yet?
[Public] rick: Yeah. I just got here.

Yes, for most client apps (including my web version), the in-character and out-of-character messages are interlaced. Not ideal, and I’m going to see if I can do something about that.

I have more commands for getting and drinking Fey cocktails, and exhibiting their effects, but that should give you an idea of how this game will be played. Nope, no audio and no visuals, so feel free to put on your favorite Fey-inspired music and ambiance and casually role play with us.

page (or tell)

Like the pub command above, this allows you to talk to another player directly. I expect we will use this primarily for talking to the GM during the game session. For instance: 

tell howard I am here.

And you might see: 

You paged howard with: 'I am here.'.
Account howard pages: Great.

While both commands do the same thing, page sounds like the user gets a notification even if they aren’t logged in. That’s not how it goes.

Perhaps you should probably create an account with your actual name, so I can keep track of who’s who. 😏

think

This command puts a thought bubble on the public channel. Use this to be cute about commenting what you see as a player, and not as a character. 

think Did he really say that out loud?

May display as: 

[Public] howard thinks aloud... o O ( Did he really say that out loud? )

Exploration Commands

The bread and butter of the text adventure games.

look

If you type look by itself, you will get a description of the area your character occupies. This also happens if you enter a new area. However, you can use this command to get a closer look at something. Items colored in gold text are usually something deserving a closer look. For instance: 

look sconce

Often, by looking at something, more of the world opens up.

get

See something you want, type get and the name of the object. If you can get it, it will be in your inventory. Type inv to see what you’ve got. 

get stick

You can also use this command to take something from someone else. Stealing is frowned upon, so very little items can be taken. You also need to specify who has what you want, for instance: 

get ring from knocker

drop

Use this command to leave something from your inventory in the current location. 

drop stick

give

Use this command to give something in your inventory to someone else. 

give book to elf

use

This seems to be a catch all, that allows you to use some item (which can be in the area or something in your inventory). Examples: 

use rope

Or: 

use rope on hut

push and pull

Like use, these commands operate on items in your environment. Examples: 

pull red book

Or: 

push statue

open and close

To travel from room-to-room and area-by-area, you just type the name of the exits, and all exits are listed. Some, however, are secret doors that might require looking for it, or some action. For instance, if you find a wardrobe, of course, you should open it! 

open wardrobe

Immersive Commands

These commands can change depending on where you are, or what you have. For instance, the cast and reel commands are only available when you have the fishing pole down at the Lazy Dock. You can type help to see all the commands available at any given point.

read

You see that sign in the Bar with the cocktail list? You can read it: 

read sign

This is also how you can read a book in Dabbler’s house.

eat

Did you get some berries from the brambleberry bush, or a scone from Dabbler’s? Use this command to find out what it tastes like. 

eat scone

You can also use the feed command with the beast and other wildlife.

drink

Got a cocktail from the bar, or a teacup from Dabbler’s? Use this command to enjoy it. 

drink

You can only drink so many times before the glass or cup runs out, and you need a re-fill.

That is also when the effects of the potions…er, cocktails kick in.

Character Creation Commands

The first time you log in, you enter the character creator, a text-base wizard interface, where you can type back and next to answer prompts answering questions about your character. You will need to answer the following:

  1. Short Description, like beardless dwarf or tall, blond elf, etc.
  2. Set Gender for pronouns: male, female, neutral or ambiguous.
  3. Character’s “Pose”, like smoking a pipe, or smiling. You will change this often, but if anyone looks around the area, they will see something like: beardless dwarf smoking a pipe
  4. Long Description is a full description that if anyone looks directly at your character, this is what they see.
  5. Character’s Name is for you to keep track of your characters.

You can re-use that system to create a new character at any time, by doing: 

ooc

charcreate

You can also use the chardelete to get rid of a character you don’t want to play, and type ic to switch to a different character.

During the game, you can change everything about your character, using the following commands:

look

Type this to see what other see when they look at you: 

look me

Of course, you can use the look command alone to look around the room, or look at someone or something in particular.

sdesc

Since you won’t know any character’s name, you may know a character as a short description, like “blonde-braided elf” or “beardless dwarf”.

Come up with a punchy short description of your character by typing: 

sdesc hobbit with mutton chops

While descriptive, everyone will see this all the time, so short and punchy should be your goal. 

The hobbit with mutton chops says, "Hello."

pose

Let the world know what your are doing with the pose command. 

pose leaning against the bar

This phrase, shown when someone types look without being specific, shows the room and its contents, for instance: 

You also see the following characters:
A lizardman hungrily looking around the room for a snack
An old gnome smoking a pipe
A shrub nursing a glass of water

You may have a default pose, that can return to. For instance, if you set your default as: 

pose default whistling a tune only dogs can hear

Then when someone cracks a joke, you type: 

pose snickering

Later, you can return your default pose with: 

pose reset

gender

This command sets the pronouns for some situations for your character. Note the simplification, as we have limited this to four in our game: 

gender male

For he and his. 

gender female

For she and hers. 

gender neutral

For it and its. 

gender ambiguous

For they and theirs.

setdesc

If someone looks directly at you, for instance, by typing: 

look hobbit

They will see your description you set with desc.

What do you want them to see? Feel free to get creative and give them a reason to ask you about your character. 

setdesc A small, hunched old man with a gray vandyke and an eye twinkle. Spectacles perched precariously on the end of his hooked nose, wobble with his head. A jaunty crimson cap contrasts with his dark brown cloak.

Character Backstory

Every character has a backstory, and perhaps you want to invent one for your character. While completely option, you might want to think about answering some of the following questions?

  1. Where are you from? Think of the D&D Multiverse (and Beyond), and pick your favorite location. If you are a Fey entity, choose a Domain from cannon or of your own devising.
  2. How did you get here? I have a lot of text about encountering a blue haired gnome with a white, Vandyke facial hair who invited you, but you don’t have to use that.
  3. Character philosophy or religion? Obviously, unless physically noticeable, what does your character think or worship? Don’t worry about what gods are cannon, for while I really like the names that Matt Mercer uses in his Exandria source book, AllFather, Stormbringer, etc. Your god doesn’t have to be “real” for your character to believe in.
  4. Any special Fey-related wishes? Now that you’re here, can you think of anything you want or anyone you hope to meet? What has your character heard about the Plane of the Fey?
  5. Any character-defined events of your past? I suppose all the standard character development features you might find in Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, or from The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide can be applicable.
  6. What story would you like to tell? And I mean, actually telling a story. I would love to have an NPC ask a question or help set up a scenario where you can tell a story from your character’s past.

Summary

While this game isn’t for everyone, we think that if you read this far, the game may just be for you.

Get confused? Try these:

  • Try looking at everything written in gold.
  • Any words written in green, are usually hints about commands you can type.
  • Type hint
  • Type hint followed by words you might have noticed in gold.

Got questions or suggestions?

  • Type pub and your question, and everyone online can answer.
  • Type help to get details on particular commands.
  • Join our Discord, and ask in the #moss-n-puddles channel.
  • DM me with Mastodon … you may also be able to figure out the email address.