Your first adventure

How to Play Insomnia

You have arrived in a strange old fantasy world. There are monsters, spells, quests, jokes of uncertain vintage and probably a rat nearby. Here is how to get from “What is going on?” to your first proper adventure.

Open the web clientRead the FAQ

What sort of game is this?

Insomnia is a text-based online role-playing game. Its foundations are traditional fantasy—Tolkien-shaped races, dangerous forests, warriors, magic and monsters—but it has never taken itself terribly seriously. Expect oddities, old jokes, unlikely characters and bits of the real world poking through the scenery.

You explore by reading descriptions and entering short commands. The web client adds art, maps, controls and clickable combat actions, but the living heart of the game is still language. Try things. Read what happens. Ask people when you are stuck.

A shared world with a long memoryFantasy, comedy and several decades of accumulated strangeness.
The first hour

One step at a time

You do not need to learn every system today. This route gets you connected, equipped, into your first fight and started on your first tutorial quest.

01

Connect—nothing to install

The recommended way to play is the bespoke Insomnia web client. It adds room artwork, an explored map, touch controls, inventory panels and combat buttons while keeping the full text game underneath.

If you prefer a plain terminal on Unix, connect with telnet:

telnet insomnia-mud.com 4000Connect directly to the MUD from a command line.
02

Create your character

Choose New character in the web client, or type new at the login prompt. Pick a character name and a password. An email address is optional, but it is the only way to reset your own password later. You can opt out of the regular newsletter from inside the game.

Race, class, stats and skills

Your race is what kind of being you are. It gives your character natural strengths and weaknesses. Your class is your adventuring path—fighter, mage, druid, witch and so on—and shapes the skills, spells and special abilities you can learn.

Stats are broad qualities such as strength, intelligence and dexterity. Skills are learned capabilities such as attack, defence, magic or weapon use. You get three chances to roll your starting stats. Do not agonise over them: a perfect roll is not required for a useful or enjoyable character.

You may choose a class later. Whether you choose one now or skip it, your first session begins in Lucidity Town Square. If you chose a class, ask your sprite to take you directly to its class hall: your professional home, where you can check advancement costs and later spend experience with commands such as train, improve and advance.

03

Meet your tiny guide

New level-one adventurers receive a magical newbie sprite. It follows you, answers simple natural-language requests and can guide you through Lucidity. If you lose it, type sprite to call it back.

say sprite helpAsk what the sprite can do.
read spriteRead its quick instructions.
say sprite, take me homeReturn to your starting place.
say sprite, take me to my class hallFind your professional home again.
When the sprite offers to guide you, type follow sprite. It will walk the route and you will follow automatically.
When you see -- More --: the game has paused a long page. Press space for the next page or q to leave it. Finish or quit the page before entering another command, because anything else will be treated as pager input.
04

Learn to look, move and handle things

Most of Insomnia makes sense once you get into the habit of looking closely. Room descriptions contain exits, objects, people and clues.

lookRead the room again.
northMove through an available exit. Other directions include south, east, west, up, down, in and out.
look at signExamine a person, object or feature.
look skyLook overhead when you are outdoors.
look weatherCheck the current conditions when you are outdoors.
drop weaponPut your simple starter weapon down safely. Do not use the map for this example: it is deliberately lost when dropped.
get weaponPick your starter weapon straight back up.
put <item> in <container>Place an item inside a real container when you find one; there is no imaginary starter bag to use here.
05

Talk to the world—and the people in it

You can speak locally, privately or over shared channels. The newbie line is the best place for first-day questions.

say Hello!Speak to everyone in your room.
tell Mork HelloSend a private message to one player.
shout Is anyone there?Call out beyond the room. Useful sparingly; everyone nearby has ears.
newbie How do I get home?Ask the new-player channel.
chat Good eveningTalk on the general chat line.
linesSee your communication lines, including the private line shared by your class.
chanhist newbieRead recent newbie-line messages.
feelingsList social actions such as smile or poke Mork.

Insomnia also has languages. Type languages to see what you know. speak Hello uses your primary language; to use another, type something like speak in farsi Hello. Other characters only understand as much of that language as they know.

06

Take your first guided trip: Aeloria

Aeloria is a translucent faerie witch who can explain the world in context. Ask the sprite to lead you to her:

say sprite, take me to AeloriaAsk for the route.
follow spriteAccept the sprite’s invitation and travel.
say Aeloria helpSee what Aeloria can explain.
say Aeloria newbieAsk for first-day advice.
say Aeloria combatAsk about surviving a fight.

Aeloria gives young visitors a practical town map. Once you have met her, you can also ask her questions remotely with tell aeloria newbie.

The built-in help system is always available too. Type help for the index or help <topic>—for example, help wield—for detail. Aeloria gives context; help files give rules and syntax.
07

Understand the web client

Click View map above the terminal to open your private explored map. It grows as you discover rooms. Drag or swipe the parchment to move around it, and press Centre to return to your current room. On a keyboard, Ctrl-M switches between map and terminal.

The six command buttons can become your own shortcuts:

/button 1 Attack roar;kill allLabels button 1 “Attack” and makes it run roar, then kill all. Use /button <1-6> <label> <command;command;...>.

Your button choices are saved to your character and follow you between devices.

08

Visit Thorgor and check your starter gear

say sprite, take me to ThorgorAsk the sprite for the route.
follow spriteTravel with it.
ask thorgor for armourYour starter armour is already in your inventory; Thorgor will confirm that, or replace it if it is genuinely missing.
ask thorgor for weaponYour class-appropriate starter weapon is also preloaded; Thorgor can help if it has gone missing.
inventorySee what you carry. i is the short form.
wear armourPut on your armour.
wield weapon in right handReady your weapon.
eqCheck what you are wearing and wielding.

Weapons improve your offence and damage, particularly when they match skills you train. Armour protects parts of your body and reduces incoming harm. You do not need the mathematics yet: wear the armour, wield the weapon, and avoid fighting naked unless it is a very deliberate character choice.

09

See what your character can do

scoreYour main character overview: level, experience, HP, magic, stamina, stats and important skill groups.
skillsYour trainable skills and progress.
spellsYour current class abilities and spells. Templars should use tskills.
help <ability>Learn how an ability works, what it targets and what it costs.

At first, focus on staying alive, the experience needed for your next level, and the handful of stats and skills central to your class. You do not need to optimise every number. During combat, the web client automatically shows currently available class actions as buttons.

10

Set a panic button before you need one

wimpy makes your character try to flee when health falls below a chosen percentage. wimpydir chooses the preferred escape direction.

wimpy 40Try to flee below 40% health.
wimpydir northPrefer to escape north.
wimpyCheck the current threshold.
wimpydirCheck the current escape direction.
Wimpy is a safety net, not immortality. The direction must be a real exit, and one very large hit can still kill you before you flee.
11

Make your first kill

Use the sprite to return to Aeloria in the abandoned mill: say sprite, take me to Aeloria, then follow sprite. From Aeloria on the fourth floor, go down to the third floor, where a small rat is a suitable first opponent. Read the room, inspect it, make sure your equipment is ready and keep an eye on your health.

look at ratInspect your prospective opponent.
kill ratBegin combat by command.
double-tap the rat portraitBegin combat from the web client on a touch device.
get all from corpseCollect the defeated creature’s belongings.

Use one of the abilities shown by spells or on the web client’s combat buttons. If the fight goes badly, leave. Winning teaches you more than dying bravely to a rodent.

12

Return to Thorgor and start your first quest

Thorgor is both a newbie helper and a quest giver. Quests are optional structured adventures: someone gives you an objective, you explore, solve, fight or retrieve something, then return for progress and rewards.

say sprite, take me to ThorgorAfter the rat fight, ask your guide for the safe route back.
follow spriteReturn to Thorgor without guessing through the sewers.
questList the quests offered by the person you are standing with.
quest 1Read the description of the first listed quest, Tools of the Trade. If a longer speech follows, finish it before entering another command.
quest start toolsBegin the equipment tutorial.
ask thorgor for toolsAsk for the next hint if you forget.

Thorgor gives you a class-appropriate practice weapon. Follow his instructions:

inventoryFind the practice weapon.
unwield swordFighters begin with a sword ready. Put it away before trying to wield Thorgor’s practice dagger. Other classes should unwield their current weapon if one is equipped.
wield dagger in right handMost classes use a dagger. Mages use wield wand in right hand; Bards use wield bow in right hand.
eqCheck that it is ready.
unwield daggerPut it away again—substitute wand or bow where appropriate.
quest end toolsReturn it and finish the lesson.

Later quests can send you much farther: follow clues, talk to characters, search locations, defeat enemies and bring discoveries home. Type quest near a quest giver, inspect an offering before starting it, and read the objective carefully.

13

The main game loop

From here, Insomnia opens out. Explore nearby areas, pick fights you can survive, collect what monsters leave behind and turn that progress into a stronger character.

ExploreFind monstersFightEarn XP & lootTrainAdvanceFace greater danger

Experience lets you train skills and improve stats in your class hall. As you advance in level, more class abilities and spells become available. Stronger monsters bring greater experience and rewards—but exploration, quests, crafting and conversation are all part of the world too. Combat is the spine of progression, not the whole personality of the game.

Commands worth remembering

look

Read the room.

inventory

See what you carry.

eq

Check equipped gear.

score

Review your character.

skills

See trained skills.

spells

See class abilities.

help <topic>

Learn a command or system.

newbie <message>

Ask other people for help.

say sprite help

Ask your guide what it can do.

You are ready

You know how to connect, move, talk, get help, find your guides, equip yourself, survive a first fight and begin a quest. That is enough. The rest of Insomnia is meant to be discovered—preferably with a weapon in hand and only a modest amount of panic.

Enter Insomnia