he first step in creating a character is to connect to the Mud. This can be done by clicking on the Play link on any page. For those people who already have and wish to use better client software, connect to mozartmud.com 4500. Windows XP finally includes a fully functional telnet client (something Unix has gotten right for three decades!), so there should be no longer be any need to waste time searching for a free Mud client or money purchasing one just to be able to play, though many players still choose to do so for features such as command-line editting.

On connection, the Mud will give you a welcome screen and ask you for your name. (If you just see Login: you have reached the wrong place, probably as a result of omitting the port number, 4500.) Choose a name—which should be original and appropriate to a fantasy setting—and it will ask you to confirm your name. (If it simply says Password: you have chosen a name already owned by an existing character. Break the connection and start again.) You will then be asked for a password, so that only you have access to your character.

Once your name and password have been accepted, the Mud will ask you to choose a gender (male, female or neuter), a race, and a class. The available races are divided into Surface and Underdark options; you can only choose an Underdark race by first logging on an existing character of level 50 or above. The subsequent class choice gives you only the class options available for that race.

The final step is for the Mud to generate your starting attributes, based on your class and race, which you can then customize with a small number of bonus points.

The character is then free to enter the game and begin to explore. How the character progresses from then on will depend on whether he is a denizen of the Surface or of the Underdark.