[ PLAY CLIENT ]
DARK
PAWNS
A MULTI-USER DUNGEON ········ EST. 1997

Game Mechanics

Game Mechanics Deep-Dive

This page documents the precise mechanical formulas used by the Dark Pawns server, compiled directly from pkg/combat/ Go sources. All formulas are faithful ports of the original C fight.c and class.c logic.

Combat

THAC0 vs AC (Hit Resolution)

Hit resolution follows the original AD&D THAC0 system:

HitRoll = 1d20 + HitBonus
Hits if: HitRoll >= (THAC0 - TargetAC)
  • THAC0 (“To Hit Armor Class 0”) starts at 20 and improves (decreases) as you level and gain Strength.
  • AC ranges from 10 (naked) to −10 (heavily armored). Lower AC is harder to hit.
  • DEX provides an AC bonus. Wearing armor, casting armor spells, and picking AC-granting equipment all lower your AC.
  • INT and WIS modifiers apply a slight THAC0 reduction (bonus) for Mages, Clerics, and Psionics.
  • Blessed weapons grant a THAC0 bonus. Drunk characters incur a THAC0 penalty.

Attacks Per Round

The number of attacks a character gets per 2-second round scales with class and level (GetAttacksPerRound() from fight.c):

Class Base Attacks Extra Attack
Warrior, Paladin, Ranger 1 +1 at level 10+ (60% + level% chance)
Ninja 1 +1 at level 10+ (60% + level% chance)
Thief, Assassin 1 +1 at level 15+ (30% + level% chance)
Mage, Cleric, Psionic 1 No extra attack from class

haste spell doubles attacks; slow halves them.

Damage Calculation

Base damage formula (CalculateDamage() from fight.c):

BaseDamage = WeaponDiceRoll + DamageRoll
FinalDamage = BaseDamage × PositionMultiplier × ParryReduction
  • DamageRoll: Derived from STR for melee; also modified by level for combat skills.
  • Position multiplier: Sleeping targets take 2× damage. Resting targets take 1.5×. Standing targets take 1×.
  • Parry reduction: Reduces incoming damage by 20–29% (scaling with parry skill level), when the parry stance is active.

Backstab Multiplier

The backstab skill (Thieves and Assassins) and disembowel use this multiplier from class.c:

BackstabMult(level) = level × 0.2 + 1.0
Level Multiplier
1 1.2×
5 2.0×
10 3.0×
20 5.0×
25 6.0×
30 7.0×

Backstab requires a piercing weapon and must be initiated from a non-fighting stance. Disembowel (mid-combat piercing technique) uses BackstabMult / 3.0.

Player Killing (PK)

Dark Pawns has a live PK system with the following rules:

Restrictions

  1. Level gate: Players at level 10 or below cannot be attacked by other players, nor can they attack other players. This protects new characters.
  2. Peaceful rooms: Rooms with the ROOM_PEACEFUL flag block all PK damage (combat still engages but deals 0 damage).
  3. Shopkeepers: Shopkeeper NPCs cannot be killed.

Outlaw System

If you kill a player who is not flagged as an outlaw, you become an outlaw yourself:

  • City guards (mob VNums 8102 and 8103) actively intercept and subdue outlaws who attack non-outlaw players.
  • The outlaw flag persists until it expires or an Immortal clears it.
  • Outlaws can be attacked freely by other players without triggering the outlaw flag on the attacker.

Corpse Looting

When a player dies in PK:

  • A corpse spawns in the room with all of the victim’s inventory.
  • Any player can loot the corpse (there is no loot protection in the base system).
  • The corpse persists for a limited time before disappearing.
  • The victim respawns at the Temple (room 8004) with the standard EXP penalty of EXP / 3.

Economy

Shopkeeper Pricing

Shopkeepers use per-shop profit multipliers defined in the area files:

BuyPrice  = ItemValue × ProfitBuy    # what you pay the shop
SellPrice = ItemValue × ProfitSell   # what the shop pays you

A typical shop has ProfitBuy = 1.2 (you pay 120% of item value) and ProfitSell = 0.8 (the shop pays you 80%). High-end or rare shops may have wider spreads.

Use appraise <item> to see an estimate of what a shopkeeper will pay before selling.

Gold & Banking

  • Gold is carried in your inventory and is dropped on death.
  • The Clan system provides a shared clan bank vault (clan bank deposit/withdraw).
  • Individual player banking is handled by in-game banker NPCs (deposit, withdraw).

Remort System

After reaching level 30 (Hero) on your first character, you unlock the remort system. Remorti allow access to advanced classes unavailable to fresh characters.

Base Classes (available at character creation)

Class Playstyle
Warrior Exceptional frontline melee
Mage AoE spells, high INT
Cleric Healing, buffing, divine spells
Thief Backstab, stealth, picking locks
Ninja Agility, evasion, martial arts
Psionic Mental spellcaster using Mind/Psi pool

Remort-Only Classes (unlocked after first Hero)

Class Based On Specialization
Assassin Thief Maximum backstab damage, silent kill
Avatar Any Hybrid divine/martial
Magus Mage Arcane mastery, widened spell access
Paladin Warrior Holy warrior; lay on hands; guards city
Ranger Warrior Dual wield, nature affinity, shoot
Mystic Psionic Advanced mental techniques

Remort characters retain their level 30 experience base and start the new class from level 1, preserving some of the original class’s skill set.

Experience & Leveling

Experience is gained from killing mobs and (in PK) from killing players. Each class/race combination has its own EXP table governing how much experience is required per level. The penalty for death is:

ExpLoss = TotalExp / 3

This is a significant penalty at high levels. Always flee if your health drops below your wimpy threshold.

To level up, visit your class guildmaster in your starting city after accumulating enough EXP. The guildmaster will grant you a new level and allow you to practice new skills.

Useful Formulas Summary

Formula Source
Hit: 1d20 + HitBonus >= THAC0 − AC fight.c:1783
Backstab: damage × (level × 0.2 + 1.0) class.c:720
Disembowel: damage × (level × 0.2 + 1.0) / 3 fight.c:1108
Death penalty: ExpLoss = TotalExp / 3 fight.c:1675
Buy price: ItemValue × ProfitBuy shop.c
Sell price: ItemValue × ProfitSell shop.c
Regen tick: every 30 seconds PointUpdate()
Combat tick: every 2 seconds CombatEngine goroutine