This is a listing of the character variables that Age of Chaos’ mobprogs supports. A character variable is simply a variable that all mobs support. There are six such variables, and the following shows what each is and also how to express certain aspects and pronouns of the variable for mpechos and the like. All of these variables can be expressed in mpecho or mobprog command format on any mob.
Example: mpadd mpecho $I says, ‘$N and $s big mouth.’
The thug says, ‘Bill and his big mouth.’
$i (var-me)
This is the mobile itself, noted by the character variable $i. It is the same as if the mob was interacting with “me” or “self.” It is often used in expressing the name of the mob in mpechos, since it works just as well to have a mob “cast ‘sanctuary’ me” as “cast ‘sanctuary’ $i”
$i - the short name of the mob, for instance “guard”
$I - the long name of the mob, such as “Blake the Guard”
$j - he/she of the mob
$k - him/her of the mob
$l - his/her of the mob
$n (var-actor)
This is the actor character variable, $n. What it signifies is the person triggering the mob currently, or often the character potentially triggering the mob. It is the character that the mob is currently interacting with in some way. Note that $n can be either a player or another mob. Often $n is the target of a mobprog as well, as in commands such as “kill $n” or “mptransfer $n 10045”
$n - the short name of var-actor, for example “dragon” or “Bob”
$N - the long name of var-actor, such as “Bob the Human Squire”
$e - he/she of var-actor
$m - him/her of var-actor
$s - his/her of var-actor
$t (var-victim)
Although it sounds like this may have the same purpose as $n, it is quite different. This is probably the least commonly used character variable. What it means is the victim of something that caused the mob to trigger. An example of this might be if the mob had an “act_prog p giggles at~” The $t of this act-prog would not be the person who giggled, nor would it be the mob, but it would be the person who was giggled AT.
$t - the short name of var-victim, for example “troll” or “Henry”
$T - the long name of var-victim, for example “Henry the Elven Burglar”
$E - he/she of var-victim
$M - him/her of var-victim
$S - his/her of var-victim
$r (var-random)
This is $r or var-random. It signifies the random player or mob, usually in the room with the mob. It is hard to tell what will fill the random variable, since it is, well, random. However, it seems that most of the time player characters in the room with the mob will take precedence and become $r. The $r character can be useful on entry_progs in particular.
$r - the short name of var-random, for example “goblin” or “Sven”
$R - the long name of var-random, as in “Sven the Shade Warrior”
$J - he/she of var-random
$K - him/her of var-random
$L - his/her of var-random
$o (var-object)
This character type, $o, is used for objects. Generally this variable is given to an object that is triggering the mob, for instance, the item given to a mob in a give_prog. It can also be the variable given to an item that the mob has just loaded.
$o - the first keyword of var-object, for example “black”
$O - the name of var-object, as in, “a black helmet”
$a - a/an of var-object (not normally used)
$p (var-victobj)
This is a very rarely used character function, $p, the secondary object variable. This is used in instances such as “A puts B into C” where B is $o and C is $p. Because act_progs do not support variables, however, the uses are fairly small. You could have a mob on a give_prog all, for instance, put $o $p. But the instances in which this would actually work are few and far between. It is probably best not to even bother with it, but is provided here just in case someone does find a use for it someday.
$p - the first keyword of var-victobj, for example, “large”
$P - the name of var-victobj, such as, “a large bucket”
$A - a/an of var-victobj (not normally used)
Reference Chart:
mobile actor victim random object victobj
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name $i $n $t $r $o $p
desc/title $I $N $T $R $O $P
he/she $j $e $E $J -- --
him/her $k $m $M $K -- --
his/hers $l $s $S $L -- --
a/an -- -- -- -- $a $A