A
MUD (; originally
Multi-User Dungeon, with later variants
Multi-User Dimension and
Multi-User Domain), is a
multiplayer real-time
virtual world, usually
text-based. MUDs combine elements of
role-playing games,
hack and slash,
player versus player,
interactive fiction, and
online chat. Players can read or view descriptions of rooms, objects, other players,
non-player characters, and actions performed in the virtual world. Players typically interact with each other and the world by typing commands that resemble a
natural language. Traditional MUDs implement a
role-playing video game set in a
fantasy world populated by
fictional races and monsters, with players choosing
classes in order to gain specific skills or powers. The objective of this sort of game is to slay
monsters, explore a fantasy world, complete quests, go on adventures, create a story by
roleplaying, and advance the created character. Many MUDs were fashioned around the dice-rolling rules of the
Dungeons & Dragons series of games.