Communication

Syntax and examples for speech, channels, private messages, emotes and mail.

Speech in Rogue reaches three distances. say, whisper, emote and their relatives reach the room you stand in. Channels reach everyone in the world who is tuned to them. A tell reaches one named player wherever they are. Mail reaches someone who is not logged in at all.

The table at the foot of this page covers colors, filters and blocking people.

Speaking in the room#

say#

Speaks aloud to everyone present. It can be aimed at one person in the room; that does not make it private, but it makes clear who you are talking to.

say good evening to you all
say to marla have you seen the gate guard

NPCs listen. Many react to words said in the room, so say is often how you get an NPC to do something. While you use the shadow skill your name is hidden, and the room hears only a voice from the shadows.

speak#

The same, with a language. Each race has its own tongue, and someone who does not know the language you use hears the words garbled. With a language and no message, it changes the language you speak by default.

speak good evening
speak in edhellen good evening
speak in edhellen

whisper#

A private word to one person in the same room. Everyone else sees that you whispered to them, but not what you said.

whisper to marla the guard is watching us

emote#

Puts what you type straight after your name, so the room reads it as your action. ; at the start of a line does the same in one keystroke. If the message begins with an apostrophe, no space goes in, which is how you write a possessive.

emote smiles warmly.
;waves.
emote 's eyes glow faintly in the dark.

The room reads "Yourname smiles warmly.", "Yourname waves." and "Yourname's eyes glow faintly in the dark." You need at least one point of stamina to emote, though it spends none. While you use the shadow skill, your emotes are hidden from others unless they laugh.

emotes#

Lists the emotes the game provides, such as smile and bow, which you use by name instead of writing the action yourself. The list is long, so it takes the first letters of the ones you want, and help <emote> shows the lines any one of them prints.

emotes
emotes sm
help facepalm

Each emote has a line for use alone and a line for use at somebody:

lol
lol lestat
smile at lestat

The person has to be in the room with you. They see their own version of the line and everyone else sees a third. Anything more you type after an emote is added to its line:

lol that was great
lol lestat so hard
laugh at the whole room
wow that was close

Those read "laughs out loud that was great!", "laughs out loud at Lestat so hard!", "laughs at the whole room." and, for an emote that says something, "breathes, "Wow. That was close.""

On a channel or in a tell, put a semicolon straight in front of the emote. There it can be aimed at any player who is online:

chat ;lol
chat ;lol lestat
chat ;lol that was great
tell lestat ;wave lestat

pmote, omote, tmote and premote#

Four ways to write your own action when it should not start with your name. All of them are seen by the room only.

pmote hand rests on the hilt.
omote Leaning on the bar, ; sighs.
tmote lestat ; nods to - and sits.
premote Yourname's hands are shaking.

pmote starts the line with your name as an owner ("Yourname's hand rests on the hilt."). omote puts your name where you type a semicolon. tmote is about you and one other person in the room: the semicolon is you and the dash is them, and they read "you" where everyone else reads their name. premote prints the line exactly as you write it, and your own name has to be in it somewhere; : at the start of a line is its shortcut.

racialemotes lists the emotes of your race, which work the same way as the others.

shout#

Reaches your own room and every room within two exits of it. People in your room hear your name; those further off hear only which direction the shout came from. Only players hear a shout. It takes no language, so everyone understands it.

shout is anyone near the west gate

yell#

Reaches your own room and every room next to it. People in your room hear your name; those a room away hear only that someone of your race and sex yelled. A yell is in a language, as speak is, and you cannot yell in one you do not know.

yell fall back to the bridge
yell in malkierien fall back to the bridge

Talking to NPCs#

ask#

The general way to get something from an NPC: an answer, an item or a service. Many NPCs answer particular topics.

ask marla about the gate
ask marla for a rope
ask marla to open the door

request <item> from <living> does the same as ask for. consult is for books and other reference objects rather than people, and gesture to <person> means something to a few NPCs.

introduce#

Until you introduce yourself, other players see you described rather than named, as a male elf or the like. Introducing yourself gives them your name, or a name of your choosing. They have to be in the room with you, and you cannot do it while disguised. introduce all introduces you to everyone in the room who does not know you yet, and introduce list shows everyone you know by the name they gave you. If you die, you lose every introduction.

introduce to marla
introduce to marla as the Grey Wanderer
introduce all
introduce list
introduce clear

Private messages#

tell#

A private message to a named player anywhere in the game. Only you and they see it. A semicolon in front sends an emote instead of words.

tell akram do you want to run a quest
tell akram ;wave

reply#

Answers whoever last sent you a tell, without typing their name.

reply give me a minute, I am mid fight

rtell#

The other way round from reply: it sends another message to whoever you last told something, which suits you when you are the one keeping the conversation going.

rtell meet me at the north gate

Channels#

A channel reaches every player tuned to it, wherever they are. Each channel has a purpose; use the one that fits what you have to say. Type the channel's name and then your message.

chat good evening
newbie how do I wield two weapons

chat#

The general channel, heard by every player who has it on. It is for friendly conversation that is not about the game. Do not discuss mechanics, stats, levels, experience, builds, gear, quests, progress or roleplay events there.

chat good evening all

mechanics#

For focused questions and answers about how the game works, such as what a stat does or how blocking works. Keep answers helpful and on topic.

mechanics what does strength affect

Do not announce or compare your own levels, experience, gains or achievements there, or ask what level another player is. Personal progress and general game chatter belong in the Discord channels for them, when those exist.

newbie#

For new players asking for practical help getting started, and for anyone answering them.

newbie where do I buy a waterskin

channels#

Lists the channels you have. It also turns all of them off, or all back on, in one go.

channels
channels on
channels off

tune#

Turns one channel on or off, or all of them at once, and lists the ones you hear. tune notify turns the notices of guild members coming and going on or off.

tune
tune chat
tune in
tune out
tune notify

mute#

Silences channel messages without changing which channels you are tuned to.

mute on
mute off

gag#

Stops you speaking on channels, so you cannot talk on one by accident: while you are hiding, playing a silent character, or switching between characters.

gag on
gag off

earmuff and unmuff#

earmuff stops you hearing a player: their tells, their talk and what they say on channels. They are not told. On its own it lists the players you have earmuffed. unmuff lets a player through again.

earmuff
earmuff akram
unmuff akram

If a player is harassing or threatening you, report <name> <what happened> sends it to the staff.

Guild channels#

Every guild has a channel only its members hear, and the guild's name is the word that speaks on it. A mage types mage and a message; a warrior types warrior. Typed on its own, the guild's name lists the members who are online.

mage does anyone have a spare mana potion
warrior forming a group at the east gate

The guild channels are assassin, bard, diplomat, explorer, healer, mage, merchant, necromancer, psion, ranger, rogue, templar, thief and warrior. Explorers, who have not joined a guild yet, use explorer. There is no fighter channel; warriors use warrior.

Clerics and paladins have no guild channel. They belong to a faith rather than a guild, and speak on their religion's channel.

City channels#

Every character is a citizen of one city, and each city has a channel for speaking in character that only its citizens hear, named for the city: aurin, olympus or morrigan. Everyone starts in Aurin, and citizen changes your city once every seven days. Typed on its own, the city's name shows which of its citizens are about.

aurin the market bell has rung early
citizen

Clan, faith and militia channels#

Clans, religions and the militia each have a channel, reached through the organization's own command. Typed with no message these show who is online; typed with a message they speak.

clan the abode needs restocking
religion the rite begins at dusk
militia trouble reported near the docks

Channel conduct#

Chat is for conversation that is not about the game. Mechanics is for focused questions and answers about game systems. Personal levels, experience, progress and general game chatter belong in the Discord channels for them when those exist; their names and purposes will be announced when they are made. Until then, keep that talk off the public channels in the game. A Discord channel linked to Chat in the game follows Chat's rules too.

Be kind and respectful. Do not antagonize, bait, belittle or attack other players. Hostile tirades, rants, harassment, spam and repeated provocation are not acceptable. Disagree calmly, and do what staff ask when they tell you to stop or move a conversation. help rules and help channels have the full policy.

Reading back#

hist#

Shows the recent history of a channel, or of one kind of speech, with an optional count.

hist chat
hist chat 30
hist tell
hist say
hist whisper

last#

The short version: the last ten messages of whatever you name.

last chat
last clan
last tell
last shout

missed#

Shows what the game told you while your connection was down: the last five minutes by default, or a number of seconds up to an hour. The web client asks for this by itself when it reconnects.

missed
missed 600

Mail#

mail#

Reaches players who are not logged in. On its own it opens the reader for your inbox; with a player's name it starts a letter to them. To finish writing, put a single full stop on a line by itself and press return.

mail
mail akram

Settings that affect all of this#