Realms of Kaos

Realms of Kaos (commonly abbreviated to RoK) is a text-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game that was released in 1996 by developer and “DungeonMaster” Lance Hoskins under the name Up All Night Entertainment, or UAN.

or a MUD client such as zMUD. Also as a graphical MUD, it is probably the most popular of its kind and has inspired many similar games which are linked below.

Players create characters based on ten races and twelve classes, each with unique attributes and skills. The game world has been developed into thousands of rooms, items, and monsters, creating a rich environment complete with a well-developed history and religion system. PvP combat is a strong focus in the game, and is not optional although new characters are protected from the attacks of other players until they reach level 9. While the game is by definition an RPG, the RP community in RoK has dwindled in recent years, and combat, leveling, and trade have taken the primary focus.

The game is still considered to be in the Beta stage of development. It has always been free of charge to download and play when it is active. The game went offline in July 2005 due to server failure. Preparations to return the game to public access were announced in early 2006. The game was heavily tested by limited users in October 2006. It was planned for a release before the start of 2007. But this was not to be due to the discovery of more, major bugs.

As of January 2007, the new Realms of Kaos is up and running.

etting

RoK is set in a D&D-style universe on the fictional continent of Syndar. A second continent, Tanjir is now in game and available to all players. All players begin the game in the city of Terra with a new starting city in Tanjir, Gaia. The game's creator Lance Hoskins penned the many aspects of the game setting, and various staff members called Builders have expanded the game world over the years.

Races

"copied with permission from RoKWorld.com"

*Humans:
"Humans are the easiest and most well rounded characters, and do well for any class."
Special Abilities: None
Class Restrictions: None
Personal Opinion: Humans lack any "special" bonuses, but make very solid overall characters in any class. They are the most balanced race for Druids. A Human Elder Druid with maximum strength, agility and wisdom has 28 strength and 28 agility when morphed. Humans are also good for Paladins or Clerics, possibly Rangers as well.
Maximum Statistics: 20-Str | 20-Int | 20--Agi | 20-End | 20-Wis | 20-Chr

*Elves:
"While not as strong as the average human, Elves are often more Intelligent and wise. A slender, graceful folk, Elves do well as spellcasters and clerics, and the more agile ones can make good thieves."
Special Abilities: None
Class Restrictions: None
Personal Opinion: Elves are arguably the best race for spellcasters, and make excellent Sorcerers and Clerics with high intelligence and wisdom, but also average strength and good endurance. They also do very well as Druids and Thieves. The average strength limits how effective they are in fighting classes, but the high charisma makes for a great Ranger.
Maximum Statistics: 18-Str | 21-Int | 21-Agi | 19-End | 21-Wis | 22-Chr

*Half-Elves:
"More intelligent and wiser than the average human, Half-Elves are not quite as intelligent as elves, although they tend to be stronger. A well rounded race, suitable for most any class."
Special Abilities: None
Class Restrictions: None
Personal Opinion: With the increased strength and endurance over Elves, Half-Elves make great Druids, Paladins and Rangers. They are still quite good as Thieves or Clerics, but are not as suited to fighting classes as those races with higher strength, agility and/or endurance.
Maximum Statistics: 19-Str | 20-Int | 21-Agi | 20-End | 20-Wis | 21-Chr

*Dark Elves:
"Not as friendly as their surface dwelling cousins, Dark Elves are a dark and cunning race that live in immense underground cities. They are well versed in ancient magic and make well rounded characters in just about any class."
Special Abilities: Infravision (the ability to detect heat in the absence of light)
Class Restrictions: Cannot be Paladins, Druids, or Bards
Personal Opinion: Dark Elves' increased strength and lower agility over Halflings makes them a well balanced race. They make great Thieves, Assassins and Monks, and decent Barbarians and Knights. Dark Elves have very good magic resistance, but lack the hit points that other fighting races have to give them much lasting power. The increased magic resistance and a muscular build make them formidable foes for most magic users.
Maximum Statistics: 20-Str | 20-Int | 22-Agi | 17-End | 20-Wis | 15-Chr

*Halflings:
"Almost as smart and agile as gnomes, but hardier and better fighters. Halflings make great thieves and druids."
Special Abilities: None
Class Restrictions: None
Personal Opinion: Halflings are second only to Gnomes when it comes to magic resistance. They are the most agile race and seem to have an above average hit rate when they have 23 agility. They do well for any class, but make excellent Thieves, Druids, and Rangers and good Assassins, or Monks. The high agility is balanced with lower endurance, only giving 649 hit points at level 25 with the maximum 17 endurance. Also, because of their size like Gnomes they can fit through small places.
Maximum Statistics: 18-Str | 20-Int | 23-Agi | 17-End | 20-Wis | 22-Chr

*Gnomes:
"Even more agile and intelligent than Elves, Gnomes make great spellcasters or even thieves. They tend to be a small folk (about 3 feet tall), and with low endurance, but their small size and high agility make them difficult targets to hit!"
Special Abilities: None
Class Restrictions: Cannot be Barbarians
Personal Opinion: With the highest intelligence and wisdom of all the races, Gnomes make excellent Sorcerers and Clerics, but sacrifice much with their low endurance. As a Sorcerer compared to an Elf, they sacrifice 124 hit points for 13 more damage and a slight increase in magic resistance. They don't seem to dodge well, and only having 600 hit points at level 25 makes them easily taken down in one round of attacks by Assassins or Monks and many high level NPC's. Gnomes, like Halflings and Goblins, are small in size which allows them to fit in tight places.
Maximum Statistics: 16-Str | 22-Int | 21-Agi | 16-End | 22-Wis | 20-Chr

*Dwarves:
"Strong and stout, Dwarves make excellent warriors, although they can be weak as spellcasters. Stronger and more hardy than an average human, but not generally very agile."
Special Abilities: None
Class Restrictions: None
Personal Opinion: Dwarves seem to have a naturally high dodge rate, but also seem to have a poor hit rate like Half-Orcs. In comparison, Dwarves lower strength is balanced with a great deal of wisdom and natural magic resistance. Because of their decent intelligence and wisdom along with high strength, they make amazing Druids, and tank-like Clerics with 825 hit points at level 25.
Maximum Statistics: 21-Str | 16-Int | 19-Agi | 22- End | 19-Wis | 16-Chr

*Goblins:
"Not the brightest or most attractive of races, but agile and hardy. Goblins make excellent thieves."
Special Abilities: Poison Resistance
Class Restrictions: Cannot be Paladins, Druids, or Bards
Personal Opinion: Goblins are probably the best race for Thieves and make good Assassins, and decent Barbarians or Knights. They are a well rounded race with average magic resistance and high agility. Maximum strength is low but Goblins can hold their own with 750 hit points at level 25. You may hear the term "Old Goblin" or "Old School Gobby," which means a Goblin with 22 endurance, which was lowered to 20 in an effort to balance the races. Goblins are also small enough to fit in small places like air shafts and cracks.
Maximum Statistics: 19-Str | 17-Int | 22-Agi | 20-End | 17-Wis | 15-Chr

*Saurians:
"Saurians are large reptile humanoids that resemble a large upright walking lizard. These lizard warriors are extremely strong, and incredibly swift and agile. They are not extremely intelligent and tend to make better fighters than mages."
Special Abilities: None
Class Restrictions: Cannot be Paladins, Sorcerers, Necromancers, Druids, or Bards
Personal Opinion: Saurians are probably the best race for Assassins, although their lacking in magic resistance makes them easily targeted by spellcasters. Saurian Monks with natural class magic resistance do quite well. High agility and high strength make them the 2nd strongest race in the game, and probably the best fighting race overall. Saurians also make good Barbarians, Knights and Thieves.
Maximum Statistics: 22-Str | 14-Int | 22-Agi | 19-End | 14-Wis | 14-Chr

*Half Orcs:
"Half-Orcs are generally not the brightest beings in the world and are terrible with magic, making them poor spellcasters. On the other hand, Half-Orcs possess great Strength and endurance, making them great for fighter roles, such as warriors and barbarians."
Special Abilities: Poison Resistance and Regeneration (4 times faster than normal, includes hit points and mana points, as well as spells, hunger or thirst, etc.)
Class Restrictions: Cannot be Paladins, Sorcerers, Necromancers, Druids, or Bards
Personal Opinion: Half Orc hit things go BOOM! :) The regeneration can be a great boon to them when faeriefired or sapped, but in most other respects, it can be as much a hamper as a help. With maximum 19 agility Half Orcs tend to have a fairly poor hit rate but when they do hit, you'll know it. They do very well in classes that have a naturally high dodge rate like Monks and Assassins. They also make good Barbarians or Knights.
Maximum Statistics: 23-Str | 14-Int | 19-Agi | 22-End | 14-Wis | 14-Chr

Classes

"copied with permission from RoKWorld.com"

*Fighter > Knight > Cavalier
Requirements: 16 str, 200 million exp
Difficulty: Easy
Knights only take 200 million experience points to reach Cavalier. As one of the fastest classes to reach level 25 with the ability to equip nearly any weapon and armor and one of the best hit rates in the game, they are a great basic fighting class. With the bonus of 4 additional hit points per level, they are tank-like and can do a great deal of overall damage. This class is recommended for anyone who is new to the game, or looking for a quick easy level 25 character.

*Rogue > Thief > Brigand
Requirements: 16 Agi, 200 million exp
Difficulty: Easy
A class who depends on the stealth of autosneak and the ability to hide, Thieves can't really do a lot of damage, even when using the backstab attack. They have the ability to rob other characters, and can spot and disarm traps in some locations. Important statistics for this class are agility for robbing and intelligence for hiding. Autosneak allows this class freedom of movement that is ideal for exploring new areas. Recommended for the passive player, with a sneaky streak, who's looking for a few extra gold pieces.

*Healer > Cleric > Priest
Requirements: 12 Str, 12 Int, 12 Wis, 270 million exp
Difficulty: Easy
Don't let the innocent name fool you, once a cleric gets Vanos, these heavily guarded defense machines are nearly unstoppable, but lack in the offensive department. They can equip most armor, but can only use blunt weapons such as hammers, staves or claws, and have Ray, a moderate offensive spell. Level 20 Clerics have the ability to endow armor and weapons with a blessing from the god of their divinity, increasing it's potency and at level 12 a Cleric can, using a moonstone, bind an object to the soul of its bearer. For this class I would recommend the subtle and defensive type, who wouldn't like trouble but can stand up to it and who maybe enjoy helping others with an occasional heal.

*Rogue > Bard > Minstrel
Requirements: 16 Str, 12 Int, 16 Agi, 16 Chr, 330 million exp
Difficulty: Moderate
A Bard is a regular 'jack of all trades' type of character. Good at fighting, stealing, singing, and telling a tall tale, the bard is always the life of the party. While you'll likely be robbed blind in the meantime, it's often a small price to pay for the entertainment he will provide you! Bards may not equip shields and helms, and their robbing abilities are very elementary, but they are balanced with useful skills like the Ballad of Belzur that provides a temporary light source. Bards require a wet throat (don't forget your waterskin!) and a musical instrument to play a song. Songs also require mana points, so aiming for high Wisdom when rolling is advised. More ballads and songs are currently in development. Recommended as great role playing characters and those who would like to supplement a party with a useful addition.

*Fighter > Barbarian > Berserker
Requirements: 18 str, 270 million exp
Difficulty: Moderate
Although Barbarians currently have few special abilities, they have been known to do more average damage than any other class. One marked advantage is that Barbarians gain an extra 2 hit points per level. While limited on armor, Barbarians are still widely played, and favored over Knights for a basic fighting class. Recommended for the patient (Update Soon!) and slightly aggressive or offensive player.

*Fighter > Paladin > Guardian
Requirements: 16 Str, 11 Int, 14 Wis, 16 Chr, 330 million exp
Difficulty: Moderate
These holy warriors are not known for their attacking power, but more for their defense. With the ability to equip a wide variety of armor and weapons and the 2nd strongest healing spell in the game, Paladins are hard to knock over but cannot knock over much. Their most noted ability is Protect, which enables the Paladin to jump in front of any blows directed at their charge and attempt to save them from attack. Level 23 Paladins may endow weapons and armor with a blessing from their god. Recommended for the kind of player who prefers defense over offense, but still wants the ability to fight back.

*Fighter > Ranger > Stalker
Requirements: 16 Str, 16 Agi, 13 Chr, 330 million exp
Difficulty: Moderate
Rangers may not do a lot of damage and are somewhat restricted on armor, but are quite useful nonetheless. They have the ability to Tame NPC's based on their Charisma, causing the monster to join the Ranger's party, and if ordered, to attack anything not in that party. Other abilities include Stalk, Forage and the ability to wield two weapons like Monks and Assassins. The ability to brew Amber potions allows Rangers to make a powerful brew that temporarily increases the drinker's strength stat by one point. Amber potions are made of Troll Ear, Soybeans, and Garlic. Using ranged weapons like bow and arrow and hunting are future skills that are not yet available. Rangers have very useful abilities, but are not the best for Player versus Player battle on their own. Recommended for a defensive/neutral type of player.

*Fighter > Monk > Ninja
Requirements: 16 Str, 16 Agi, 400 million exp
Difficulty: Moderate
Formidable fighting machines, Monks have natural armor (+2 ac per level), natural magic resistance, high dodge rate, poison resistance and can equip two weapons at once. Although lacking variety in the armor department, Ninjas with fully blessed and enchanted antskins or a gi will have 98 armor. Monks can equip any weapon, but get a bonus for using a staff or their hands. If a Monk successfully lands three attacks in a row, the third attack will launch a flying roundhouse kick that causes up to two times their regular maximum damage. Monks also have the ability to brew Sapphire potions, a highly sought after drink that causes a temporary increase to agility and nullifies the Druid spell faeriefire during its effect. Sapphire Potions are made of Coffee Beans, Rosemary, and Moon Plant. This class recommended for the offensive or aggressive player.

*Rogue > Assassin > Slayer
Requirements: 16 Str, 16 Agi, 400 million exp
Difficulty: Hard
Assassins are deadly denizens who can equip backstabbing weapons and swords at the same time, sacrificing the use of their shield. Assassins are able to hide and sneak like a Thief, stalk like Rangers and Druids, and have a powerful backstab that is up to 4 times their normal damage. A caution though, this class is deadly with the right weapon but highly unpredictable. They have anywhere from an incredible to lousy hit and dodge rate. They are unpredictable but generally feared. I would recommend an offensive person with a mean streak to them for this class.

*Mage > Sorcerer > Enchanter
Requirements: 16 Int, 12 Wis, 460 million exp
Difficulty: Hard
Sorcerers favor offense on top of most things, but also have the ability to beef up other characters using Mingster and Stoneskin. They have high armor and weapon restrictions and can only wear cloaks and padded armor and equip staves and daggers. While Zot hits for only 156 damage with 22 intelligence, it hits more consistently that any fighter, getting even minor hits on such an opposing player as a warden. Sorcerers have a wide range of useful spells like Iwuganti, Sap, Airwalk, Burst, Warpdoor, Unkelming and Mightshield (see the Academia for more information) and the very important ability to Enchant items. The Enchant spell gets stronger as you increase levels starting with a dully glowing enchant, progressing to a brightly glowing enchant that endows items with higher damage or better protection. This class requires the second most experience to gain level 25. It would be recommended for Power Players.

*Healer > Druid > Elder Druid
Requirements: 15 Int, 15 Wis, 16 Chr, 330 million exp
Difficulty: Hard
These defenders of Nature are a complicated mix of Spellcaster and Fighter. High restrictions on armor and weapons are balanced with the most varied abilities of any class. Spells range from simple and very useful spells like Boire and Nouritu that relieve thirst and hunger, to Animorph which morphs the Druid into an animal form, depending on what god they follow. Animorph is a very powerful spell, increasing Strength, Agility, and Armor Count (all based on the caster's Wisdom), as well as restoring the caster to full health no matter how many hit points they have. Druids are the one class where all 6 stats are very important. While they start out as Healers, they only have two basic healing spells, Curel and Venin. Other spells include Ray, Plantcall, Faeriefire, Charm and Haste. Druids also have the ability to Stalk and brew Amethyst potions. Amethyst potions are made of Star Fruit, Ginger Root, and Mint Leaves. See the academia for more information on these spells and abilities. Druids are great fun and have many offensive as well as defensive advantages. I would recommend them for any player who is up to the challenge of balancing the skills of mystic with muscle.

*Mage > Necromancer > Death Mage
Requirements: 16 Int, 16 Wis, 500 million exp
Difficulty: Hard
Perhaps the most difficult of all classes to play, Necromancers devote themselves to the study of life, death, and arcane magics. Necromancers are powerful spellcasters and able to perform a variety of death magics and even raise the undead, which makes them very formidable foes (and quite unpopular at parties). With spells that drain life from the target to the caster, or those that cause a sickening poison to take hold in the target Necromancers truly are very powerful. They have a special affinity with the undead, being able to tame or call the most vile creatures to their aid. New Necromancer spells are currently in development. They have the same weapons and armor restrictions that Sorcerers do. Recommended for anyone who has the patience to level 500 million experience points!

Divinity

Realms of Kaos features a religion system in the form of a divinity circle. New players are required to choose one of five gods to follow when creating their character based on aspects of fire, night, earth, storm or ice. The majority of the creatures in the world are also aligned with one of the five divinities. The deities are: Targos God of Fire, Nallyssa Goddess of Night, Hommet God of Earth, Valkyzar God of Storm and Alustria Goddess of Water. These divinities bestowed certain unique characteristics upon their followers. For example: Followers of the Night-Goddess Nallyssa received XP bonuses during the night hours of the game. A sixth divinity, Kaos, calls claim to all non-player characters and creatures that have no other god. Plans to allow players to follow Kaos have long been in the works, but have not yet been implemented.

Followers of each divinity have advantages against followers of one other divinity and weaknesses against followers of another in a circular "rock-paper-scissors" arrangement. For example, followers of the fire god Targos gained bonuses when fighting followers of the Night goddess Nallyssa, but suffer penalties when in combat with followers of Alustria. By scattering different divinities on monsters, areas became less congested as different players had different strengths and weaknesses and as such would spread out to find monsters that suited their divinity.

Leveling

Currently the maximum level attainable by player characters is level 25. Characters gain level by completing quests or defeating monsters to gain experience. They start out as one of four base classes, depending on their selected class at character creation. Clerics and Druids start as Healers, Sorcerers (spelled as is in game) and Necromancers begin as Mages, Assassins, Bards and Thieves are Rogues and Knights, Barbarians, Paladins, Rangers and Monks all start as Fighters. Characters attain their full class name at level 8, and at level 25 they gain Third Tier status with yet another title. See the Class section for details.

Development

RoK's development had been sporadic at times over the years, but each new feature brought with it an innovative new aspect of the game that kept fans eagerly waiting the next development. Major updates occurred roughly twice a year up until 2004 when development essentially stalled completely.

New areas and items have been consistently added to the game over the years. Generally, most new areas are aimed for the players that had hit the "level 25" cap, and gave them something challenging to do. These areas included the desert Wastelands and the trader-town of Donas Dobhar and the untamed streets of the jungle city Tiaei. Eventually, new lower level areas were added as well. Some areas were redesigned or relocated to fit with the overall balance of the game.

In late 2000 a new movement system was implemented that necessitated a shift from the previous system of ten possible exits from each "room" (northeast, southwest etc) to only six (North, South, East, West, Up and Down). The game's Build staff went to great lengths to rearrange the entire world to remove these intermediary exits. The goal of this new movement system was to have first-person images for every view in each room, and players could navigate using the arrow keys to turn and face different directions. The idea was eventually abandoned, possibly due to the amount of work needed to create new artwork for each perspective in every room of every region of the game. However, the changes implemented to exits were not wasted, since they were required for the automap feature that was released in the Beta client.

2002 marked the official shift from Alpha to Beta status, and included a new client that introduced an integrated automatic map which plots a player's movements as they explore new areas. The resulting map was displayed in a tab within the client's upper left corner and had special icons for different kinds of rooms, like taverns, arenas and academias. The new client also added graphical bars for the life, magic and "remaining actions" stats.

2003 saw the addition of two new classes to the game: the Bard and the Necromancer. Bards were a rogue-based class, able to rob gold from monsters and other players as Thieves, but with the ability to use a musical instrument to perform "songs" that has magical effects. Necromancers were mages equipped with spells based on death magics, which included summoning undead minions and draining the life of targets.

A major shift in the game was seen in 2003 with the implementation of simple repeatable autoquests assigned by key NPCs that reward both gold and experience. Quests would, for example, involve King Grunthow of Terra charging players with locating his youngest son lost in the sewers beneath the city, or demanding the head of a Goblin leader enacting a strike at the city's gates. [http://www.rokworld.com RoKWorld] , a player-run fansite and resource, has a complete [http://www.rokworld.com/guides/aqs.htm guide to the autoquests of Terra] which gives some examples of the format. Quests were also given out by Queen Portencia of Duskan, with many more planned but never implemented due to lack of building software development.

Another implementation of note around the same time was the "Play a Monster" feature, which allowed players to participate in special autoquests as specified monsters, battling players in arenas and across the continent. "Monsters" could speak to each other but were unable to communicate directly with players. As more quests were completed, the player accumulated experience in the form of "monster points" which allowed them to unlock additional monster quests, including some time-specific events (zombies could only be played at night, for instance). Unfortunately, due to server problems, this feature had to be disabled shortly after it was implemented. However, now it is fully operational, with many more missions in the works.

In early 2002 the development of a full 3D version of RoK was announced. A few screenshots were released later in the year and players who donated money to the game (via the "Charter" program) were promised spots in the early alpha stages of the new game. Little has been heard about Kaos3D since.

Starting in 2006 in preparation for a re-release to the public, DungeonMaster once again started addressing new features and old bugs, and has taken on Josh Thornton, aka Acumen, to help with coding in some aspects. Acumen has started with a complete redesign of the Build software, which will allow Builders to more easily add more autoquests and areas to the game.

A new character creation process has been developed, doing away with the old random "roll of the dice" method for generating character stats. The new system allows players to allocate a given number of points into the various stats, within the max stats for the race and no lower than 10 on any stat. This system also incorporates a "bonus" wherein players may sacrifice 6 points to get one additional point over the racial max for any stat. This has the potential to open up previously unavailable classes for races that were limited by their maximum possible stats. Changes to the stats of some races have been implemented, most notably, the decrease in endurance of Half-elves.

With the coming of February 2008, the game's creator announced that the game would be available and maintained for as long as there are still people playing it, but development updates would minimal. He is currently working on an entirely new online gaming project with a new engine and some similarities to Realms of Kaos (although a completely different genre). He announced that new game to have a target alpha date of July 2008 with open alpha to starts a few months later.

Charter Memberships

In early 2003 a Charter Membership program was introduced where players could make a donation of money to help support the costs of operating the game and they would receive donor-only benefits in the game as a thank you. These benefits included customized houses, coupons for a free item improvement (enchants), an increased number of concurrent characters logged on, linked bank accounts between characters, and priority selection for the Kaos3D beta test. The Charter Member program was plagued with problems as memberships were tied to a single computer, so loss of that computer resulted in the loss of the charter membership. Additionally, some Charter Members never received the benefits they had been promised.

The re-launch of Realms of Kaos did not include the Charter program.

Games Similar To RoK

Links to independent games similar to Realms of Kaos:
* [http://www.aleveria.net Aleveria] , also see Aleveria
* [http://www.aluraonline.com Alura] , also see Alura Online
* Eidolon Online
* [http://www.nightmist.co.uk NightMist]

Related Links

* [http://www.realmsofkaos.com Realms of Kaos: Official Website.]
* [http://www.realmsofkaos.com/forum/index.php Realms of Kaos: Official Message Boards.]
* [http://www.rokworld.com RoKWorld Informational Fansite]
* [http://www.rokworldforum.com RoKWorld Fansite Forum]
* [http://www.rokworld.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page RoKWorld wiki]