haracters on Mozart Mud are described by a number of numerical attributes. Some of these are innate functions of the character, while others are functions of the character's equipment. These values determine what the character can and cannot do in the game environment, mostly with regard to combat situations. Attributes fall into five broad categories—level, hit/mana/movement points, primary attributes, proficiencies, and equipment-based. Proficiencies are detailed on the Skills page; the other categories are described below.

he most important single measure of a given character's abilities is his level. A character's level is unique among his attributes, in that it is the only one that cannot be temporarily altered by equipment or magic. Most Muds have levels in one form or another, though the degree to which level alone defines a character's capabilities varies. Mozart Mud has a range of 125 levels; of these, levels 1 through 99 inclusive are mortal levels, comprising the majority of the characters of the Mud. Levels 100 through 110 are the levels of avatars—special mortals who have passed grueling tests and earned great power which they can use to help lesser folk. Finally, levels 111 through 125 are the immortal levels, comprising the area builders, coders, questmasters, implementors, and general administrators of the Mud.

Immortals do not gain any benefit from killing monsters—and are in fact forbidden to do so. Instead of taking part in the game, these characters maintain and improve it. However, players of immortals can and often do also play mortal characters, who have no special advantage over any other characters.

Levels are an important indicator of character ability because each of a character's proficiencies has a level—that is, a character does not learn that skill or spell until reaching the requisite level. However, levels only determine which proficiencies a character currently has access to—not the extent of the character's aptitude in those particular abilities.

Characters enter the game at level 1 on creation. Levels 2 through 99 are attained by earning experience points and then training with a guildmaster (a specialized mobile). Experience points are accrued by killing mobiles; the more powerful the mobile, the greater its experience value.

Levels 100 through 110—the avatar levels—require a much greater amount of experience, and also require the character to complete a particular challenge area in the world.

Levels beyond 110—immortal levels—are not gained through accumulation of experience points. A character can only achieve immortality, or promotion within the immortal levels, at the will of the Mud's ranking immortals.

hree more important character attributes are hit points, mana, and movement points. Hit points and movement points increase with each level gained, and mana increases with each level in his best spell-casting class. Hit points, mana, and movement points can all be modified up or down by equipment, and are open-ended, having no fixed maximum scores—higher scores are better, enabling characters to take more punishment in combat, cast more spells, and travel further in between periods of resting or sleeping.

Hit points are the measure of a character's current physical condition, and can be depleted by combat damage, by poison or acid, by extremes of heat or cold, and by hunger. A character who reaches zero hit points is loses consciousness, and will die when his hit points reach -10.

Mana is the measure of a character's magical capability—not which spells the character can cast, but the frequency at which he can cast them. Each time a character casts a spell, his mana is depleted by a fixed amount; if the caster had insufficient mana remaining, the spell could not be cast.

Movement points represents a character's stamina. They are slowly depleted during travel, and reduced more quickly during combat, especially if the character is using tiring maneuvers such as stunning. When a character's movement points reach zero, he is too exhausted to move without rest, and if forced to fight, will do so very poorly indeed.

Hit points, mana, and movement points all regenerate over time after being depleted by use. The speed of replenishment is affected by the character's race and class, and is augmented further if the character is resting or sleeping. Hit points can also be regenerated by healing magics such as Cure Light and Heal Major, as can movement points with such magics as Refresh and Second Wind. Mana cannot be regenerated by spells, but there are other magics imbued into potions and other magic items that can restore it.

he five primary attributes—sometimes referred to as statistics, or stats—of a character are Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity, and Constitution. Each of these starts somewhere between 20 and 40 for a beginning character; they are generated by the Mud during character creation, based on the choices of race and classes, and the character also receives a small number of bonus points whose disposition is at the player's choice.

Subsequent to creation, a character's primary attributes may be temporarily augmented with spells or equipment, and will permanently rise as the character gains levels. With each level gained, one stat will rise by one point (two stats by one point each for single-classed characters). Exactly which primary attribute is increased is based primarily on his classes, but is also affected by his race and a random factor. Each race has a maximum threshold for each of the five stats, which varies from as low as 70 (such as a half-giant's wisdom) to as high as 100 (such as a sprite's dexterity); each avatar level past 100 will add 1 to each of a character's maximum thresholds, and certain specialties such as athletics and vigor can alter these as well, but otherwise, no amount of spells or equipment can increase a character's attributes past their maximums.

Each of the five primary attributes has a number of effects on the character's abilities, whether physical, mental, or magical:

• Strength, a representation of a characters's physical power and might, affects such skills as bash and stun. It also affects how much weight he can carry, what weapons he is strong enough to wield effectively, his chances to strike a foe in combat, and the amount of damage dealt when he does so.
• Intelligence, a representation of a character's mental quickness, magical aptitude, and problem-solving abilities. It is of critical importance to spell-casters, as it affects their concentration, and thus how reliably they can cast their magic spells. It also affects such things as a thief's ability to appraise items, the rate at which experience is earned, and how speedily a character will shake off being charmed.
• Wisdom is a representation of a character's force of will, sense of self, strength of personality, and his ability to take lessons from situations. It affects how quickly a character improves in his mastery of proficiencies, as well as how much experience he can glean from a single combat engagement.
• Dexterity is a representation of a character's quickness, agility, balance, and hand-eye coordination. It affects a character's ability to avoid being struck by his opponents, how many objects he can carry, how speedily he regenerates movement points, and whether he is successful when he tries to flee from combat. It also factors in many skills, such as sneak, hide, stun, steal, backstab, assassination, and disarm, as well as countering all of these.
• Constitution is a representation of a characters overall physical health and stamina. Constitution has a strong effect on the amount of damage a character takes in combat, determines how far he can run, affects his maximum movement points, and factors into how speedily a character regenerates hit and movement points.

quipment-based attributes include hitroll, damroll, and armor class. Certain spells such as Bless and Stone Skin can affect these, but they are primarily determined by your character's equipment—armor, helmet, shield, and the like. Hitroll, along with other factors such as his level and his foe's armor class, determines a character's chance to hit an enemy in combat. Damroll is added to the damage inflicted by the character on a successful hit, and is added to the damage dice of his weapon. Armor class defines a character's protection against being hit. Hitroll and Damroll maximize at 45, and a higher score is better. Armor class is a modifier rather than an absolute, with lower numbers being better; it ranges from 100 for no armor whatsoever, down to -100, for the heaviest protection available.