Newbie Guide Making Gold
Newbie Guide Making Gold
This guide written and published by p(Baca/Endo), help from p(Amund)
"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”
Thorin Oakenshield, King Under the Mountain, JRRT, The Hobbit
The goal of this guide is to help newer players to get coins and make gold.
Many parts of this guide reference to the MUME help pages which can be found at:
https://mume.org/help/help_index
Bold words can be looked up in the games help files. Like help sell.
Contents
- 1 Types of Currency
- 2 Where are Coins?
- 3 Tips for Saving Money
- 4 Protecting your Gold
- 5 Manage Your Gear
- 6 Looting Items to Sell
- 7 Making Money by Selling at Shops
- 8 Other ways to make some gold
- 9 Spending Gold: "I Made Money, Now What Do I Do With It?"
- 10 Taking Care of Gear
- 11 Good Purchases
- 12 Some Advanced Money making Tips
Types of Currency
First is about the coins in the game themselves. Depending on what race you play the coins may have names in a different language, such as the elven tongues.
Copper = busc, Silver = Celeb, Gold = Lauren
The rates of conversion between coins. 100 copper = 1 silver, 20 silver = 1 gold
There are other types of treasures as well, such as silver rings, gems, jewels, jewelry, etc...
Many types of treasure in MUME are simply that, treasure to sell. There ARE some magical rings, necklaces, crowns, but they are VERY rare and hard to get.
You can sell rings, gems, silver goblets, gold bars, silver nuggets, etc... in any jewelry shop.
Where are Coins?
One source of earning coins is to complete a quest in the game. Many quests give coins as a reward, or give items that you may end up selling for some money.
Another is looting coins from different areas of the map. Some rooms load coins simply laying on the ground, just type get coins. In other rooms they may be hidden and you have to reveal coin. Sometimes the coins will load in a container, such as a box, crate, chest, etc. You might have to open the container to examine it first, or even need to pick it open if it's locked.
Coins also load on many of the humanoid mobs in the game. They often have copper and silver coins to loot, and rarely gold coins. Other treasures such as gold or silver rings can be found as well. Sometimes these treasures may load in a pouch or a backpack, so you might want to loot those and examine them as well. Get coins corpse will get all of the coins on a corpse.
exam corpse, exam 2.corpse, exam 3.corpse, exam chest, get all sarcophagus, pick chest, open chest
Tips for Saving Money
One way to keep gold in your pocket is to not spend it in the first place. For example several towns in the game have pet shops where you can buy mounts. But some of these mounts are very expensive for a new character. Mounts load for free in many areas of the game, so using free mounts is a fast way to save money. Ponies, donkeys (not a very good mount), mules, and pack horses load on farms, ranches, stables, and other areas. Learning a few mount load spots can save you alot of money.
Rent has been recently adjusted to be more affordable. But you can still do some things to lower your renting costs. Wearing your most expensive gear when you rent, reduces the price of your rent. Also hoarding and holding on to lots of gear or items can raise your rent price. So if you can, sell extra items before you rent. You can always use the offer command at an inn to check to see how much it will cost you.
Free food loads in many places in the game, homes, camps, in stoves, crates, farms, even in towns. There are even berries, fruits, and vegetables that load in many areas. You can always butcher a corpse and eat meat for free. Eating for free saves you a little money. Drinking from wells springs, rivers, and fountains is also free.
Lastly, free gear loads in many areas of the map. A free pail or water skin, free blankets, lanterns, large sacks, rope, torches, whetstones, etc... Even items like saddles, swords, and shields can be found if you know where to look. And if you are not going to use it, you can always sell it.
Speaking of whetstone, you can use them to sharpen and mend swords, daggers, axes, spears, etc for free. Instead of paying to have a weapon shop mend them for you.
Hold the stone in your hand or wear the stone on your belt to use it. Then type whet. When you whet a weapon it is a delayed command and takes a little bit of time and some moves. Whetting also forces you to sit down, so stand back up when you get the message your weapon is finished.
wear stone belt, whet, stand
Protecting your Gold
Several mobs in the game can steal your coins, from a few silver up to many gold coins. The chance for them to successfully steal from you is based off of your Perception and any practices you have in Awareness skill. They can only steal coins from your pockets, so to protect them you can use a moneybag. You can buy a moneybag from some shops, or loot one off of a mob in the game. Moneybags can be put in other containers you have, say a sack or a backpack or worn on your belt. Moneybags can hold up to 100 gold coins, but can even hold other treasures such as valuable gems or rings. If coins are in a moneybag mobs cannot steal those coins from you.
wear moneybag belt, put 12 gold moneybag, get 5 gold moneybag, put gem moneybag
Manage Your Gear
Use the inventory command to check and see what you are carrying whenever you need too.
Use the equipment command to check and see what you are wearing whenever you need too.
Containers
If you are looting alot of items, using containers can be very useful. Backpacks and large sacks are often used for this. You can put alot of light weight or many medium weight items in a backpack or large sack before it is full. That increases the number of items you can carry. Beware this also might lead to carrying too much weight.
put all.dagger backpack, put all.leaves sack, get all.shield sack, put flask pack
Weight
Be careful carrying TOO MUCH WEIGHT!! It is a very very common issue with newbies and new players. Carrying too much weight causes you to:
- fail flee more often, meaning you can't get away from a fight
- lowers your DB or dodge bonus, meaning you get hit more in a fight
- increases how fast you use up movement points, or moves, mps, which means you get tired faster, and need to rest ALOT more
Looting Items to Sell
One thing to keep in mind while selling at shops is an items weight. Some items might sell for a couple of silver, but could weigh over 16 pounds! That is very heavy loot to carry around! It's often much more efficient to carry more light weight items to sell. So a barrel full of beer is worth some money, but not really worth the weight for how heavy it is. A simple chest can sell for 8 silver, but it's very heavy to haul it miles back to town. Same with boats. If you are really hard up for silver, you can still try selling those items if you need to. If you are worried about how heavy an item is for looting you can always consider item, which will tell you it's weight.
You can use con for short abbreviation for consider.
con shield, con sword, con barrel
Mount for Looting Assistance
Using a mount to help you haul loot is also very popular. You can give heavier items to a mount to carry, like shields or axes you've looted. Then later when you are near a store, you can unsaddle those items from the mount so you can sell them. To see what items your mount is carrying, just examine mount. An important part of this process is to label your mount. It is very easy to confuse one pack horse with another, and labeling helps to keep it organized.
Mounts are pretty strong and can easily carry 10 longswords without any problems, for example.
give all.shield mule, unsaddle sack pony, unsaddle all.sword horse
Alias
Alias can make looting to much faster, and you will likely see other players doing this.
Some examples of alias you might want to try:
alias for get coins all.corpse:
alias gc get all.coins all.corpse
alias for exam corpse:
alias ec examine &.corpse
alias for butcher corpse:
alias bc butcher &.corpse
Some players even set alias for get all.shield all.corpse or get all.sword all.corpse
Another, more generic alias would be:
alias loot get all.& room.all
Using it:
loot sword
, which expands to get all.sword room.all
, taking all swords from
all containers in the room, including corpses, chests, skeletons etc.
Just typing loot
will take everything from all containers in the room.
Making Money by Selling at Shops
The primary way, other then looting, for making money is by selling items at shops.
There are many types of shops in the game: weapon shop, armour shop, combination weapon and armour shop, herbalist, grocer, general and/or traveler shops, tailors, and jewelery shops.
There are even some specialty shops that are somewhat more specific like: archery shops, boat captains that buy and sell boats, pet shops (don't buy only sell), pawn shops, bartenders, bakers, smoking shops, or even a poison vendor!
Some shops only sell items, and will not buy anything from you. Some shops are very picky about what the will buy and what they won't. Most specialty shops only buy very specific items, such as boats at a captain, or plants and herbs at an herbalist. Some shops are less choosy about what they buy like some of the pawn shops or grocers. A few shops tend to not buy items from certain races in the game, like most elf shops refuse orkish items. If you are not sure if a shop will buy something or not, there is a command for that. The value command will let you know if they will buy it AND how much money they will offer for it if they will buy it.
buy lantern, sell sword, sell all.shield, sell all.fur, value axe
This is just a list of examples of all the items you can possibly sell at shops: berries, mushrooms, weapons, shields, armour, cloaks, belts, pelts and furs, musical instruments, metal ores (heavy), barrels (heavy), rings, cooked meats, and much much more!!!
One thing to be aware of is the condition of items can really effect the price you can get at a shop. Type help states to learn more about it. Weapons and armour that are fresh and flawless sell for MUCH MORE then the same item that is neglected and old. In fact if some gear is in really bad shape, you might just skip it for looting because the price may not be worth the weight.
For selling shields and armour there are some patterns to the prices. Here is a list of some general guidelines going from cheapest to items with a better price.
armour: cloth -> soft leather -> rigid leather -> chain mail/scale mail -> metal
armour: normal -> sturdy -> fine
So a cheap piece of armour would be a normal soft leather gloves. A very valuable armour would be a fine metal greaves.
shield: target -> small -> large -> full -> large+full -> wall
shield: wooden -> metal
So a cheap shield would be a small wooden target shield. A valuable shield would be a large metal full shield (flawless).
There are many other shields and armours in the game. A good way to get an idea of how expensive some of them are is to type list in an armour shop and look for patterns in cost. Generally the price goes up as the weight goes up for shields and armour. One really good metal shield can easily be worth 9-10 smaller damaged wooden shields.
list shield, list fine leather, list chain, list fine metal, list gloves, list fine boots
Other ways to make some gold
Some other ways to make money other then looting gear is mine, butcher, and fishing.
Butchering
When you butcher animals you'll very often get some meat and maybe some furs or pelts. Furs and pelts are somewhat heavy, but a pile of them can sell for alot of silver. Selling pelts and furs is a very common way for many lowbies to make some silver. Look for animals like deer, otters, martens, stags, lynx, and types of wolves. Tanner shops, trapper shops, general shops, traveler shops, and some grocery shops will buy furs and pelts.
You can also give wolf and warg furs to secretaries in cities for some silver coin rewards.
Meat does not sell for very much. If you cook it to smoke it, or cook it with salt to cure it, the price goes up and it gets lighter to carry. Use a pan and a campfire, and maybe some salt to try to get more copper and silver out of your cooking.
Fishing
Fishing is another slow way of making copper and maybe silver. Get a fishing rod and head to some near by water. You can also cook the fish you catch too.
butcher corpse, butcher 2.corpse, hold rod, fish, use net, get net, cook fish, cook raw
Mining
Mining is another way to make some money, check out help mining. You will need a pick or a mattock to mine, and a way to carry the ore. Alot of ore can get heavy fast. Also check to make sure which shops will buy the ore before you do too much mining. Some shops will not buy raw ore. It takes alot of movement points to do some mining, so you might need to rest now and again. The rooms in caves, mines, and tunnels you choose to mine it has a LARGE impact on the quality of ore. So if you find a room that's a good spot, make note of it. But don't spend too much time in a room that isn't give you very good results. It will mostly waste time and moves. Pack up and move to a new room or even a new cave or mine to try your luck again.
Here the pattern of least to most valuable mining results:
mining: iron ore (most common) -> copper ore -> silver nuggets (rare) -> gold nuggets (very rare)
hold pick, mine, put all.ore sack
Picking Herbs
Another wonderful way to make some money is herbalist shops! Herbs are a great way to make piles and piles of silver. The primary reason is they are very light weight, you can carry alot of them back to town to sell at the herbalist. Some plants you just get right up off the ground, but most plants will need crushed first. Type crush plant when you find one to check to see if it crushes. A picked plant might weight like 3-4 pounds, but after it is crushed the leaves weigh very little and sell for often the same amount, maybe even more. So keep an eye out for plants, a majority of them sell, and some for a very good price. Some flowers and plants won't sell, but you can figure them out as you try to make money.
It may seem silly to carry around 10 clover or 10 water lilies, but when you make a pile of silver, you might change your mind.
Also pipeweed, salt, and pepper sells well at herbal shops!
get plant, crush plant, sell all.leaves, reveal root
Spending Gold: "I Made Money, Now What Do I Do With It?"
The first thing to make sure you have money for is renting. If you are rented at an inn and do not have enough money to cover your rent, the innkeepers will take all of your gear to cover the cost of your rent. You can buy it back but it is expensive and there is a time limit. So be sure you have money enough to cover your rent costs.
When spending money at shops, you really do not need to worry about any thing that costs only copper or a few silver. Those items are CHEAP. Don't worry about the small costs, because selling one sword or shield can probably buy you a brand new lantern and 10 flasks of oil and still have silver left over.
Next buy any adventuring gear you do not have. Make sure you have a belt, a hunting knife or a butcher knife, a water skin, a lantern with a spare flask of oil, a good pair of boots. Being stuck in the dark or not being able to butcher can really slow you down.
buy belt, wear belt, wear knife belt, wear skin belt, wear flask belt, wear lantern belt
Taking Care of Gear
You will also want to make sure you have some money for mending armour and shields at the shop. Cheaper items costs much less to mend, but metal items and some shields can be expensive to mend. Mending can take several minutes while you wait for the shop to finish the work. You can mend multiple items at a time, so if you taking the time many players just mend their entire set of armour at once. Don't forget to return BACK to the shop to pick up your items after mending (and don't sneak, the armour probably can't see you to give you your items back) (or don't shroud they might not see you).
Also mending is very important to get the best benefits out of your items. If your axe or sword is dented or damaged, it will start to do less damage per hit. If your shield is in bad shape, it will give you less PB (parry bonus) then if can if repaired. Same with cloaks, keep them mended to get the most DB (dodge bonus) out of them.
You might also need to resize armour and shields as you find some upgrades, which can cut into your budget a little bit. Resize is very fast and the item will fit you after the shop is done with it.
Next get a good weapon that you are planning on using. That is how you will get most of your starting xp. A shield for defense, it raises your PB (parry bonus) It is just fine if you don't have the best weapon and shield in the game. You'll earn enough over time to upgrade what you do have. You can always sell the old ones at a shop when you are done with them. If you are planning on using a bow, you'll also have to budget for arrows because they can break or become lost. But don't worry too much, over all arrows are pretty affordable. Some areas even have arrows that load for free!
rem all.chain, mend all.chain, rem shield, mend shield, resize boots
Good Purchases
A very popular item that many players save up for is a magical 'red ruby'. It is a somewhat common magical item that is very light weight. You can wear it in a neck slot, freeing up a belt slot, or wear it on your belt. It permanently glows with a magical light, so you can get rid of your heavy lantern and flasks of oil. Which means you can carry more loot! A very useful upgrade especially for lower strength characters.
Shop for red ruby in jewelry stores.
There is a jewelry shop in Blue Mountains, Grey Havens Forlond, Rivendell, and Lorien. There is also one in Tharbad, but you will likely die trying to get to it at low levels.
You might also want to buy a more expensive mount at a pet shop and a saddle for it. Also renting mounts at a stable costs some silver. Stables are very commonly close to the inn in a town. It does save you having to run around and trying to find free mounts, and it's always right there and ready to go as soon as you are. Mounts rented at a stable keep their saddles on as well.
You might need a few silver to cover some travel expenses. There are some ferries in the game that cost silver for a ride. Also coach tickets you can buy to travel from Fornost to Bree to Tharbad, with stops in between. You must have a new ticket every time you enter the coach to ride.
Save up for citizenships. Bree, Fornost, and Tharbad all cost gold to get a citizenship in. Bree and Fornost both cost 1 gold per level, so you can save money by buying them early. There might be some quests you can find that can help you get a Bree citizenship as well. Tharbad citizenship is very expensive, so you'll need to save up if you want that one. Many characters never purchase a Tharbad citizenship.
You can also spend money trying to bribe the guards in Tharbad to see if they will let you in, even if you are not a citizen.
say citizenship, give 4 gold secretary, give 4 lauren secretary
Some players also purchase pets or hire mercenaries to help them in a fight. A mercenary asks for payment every day they are with you. You can hire more then one mercenary. Having a team of mercenaries with you can add up to alot of silver over a few game days... so be sure you have enough gold to afford them!
Pets only cost money the first time you buy them, and if you rent them at a stable, some silver to get them back out. You will be given a ticket for your pet or mount. Trade ticket at a stable to get them back out.
There are many other things you might need to save up money for. Buying lockpicks or even upgrading lockpicks after you buy them. Upgrading your gear in shops, like your cloak, or shield, or armour. Using money to trade with other players for items. Maybe even buying your way into an exclusive guild to practice. Saving some silver for buying a ticket for a trip on the coach, or some silver for a ferry ride.
It is always better to have some extra gold then to run out and not have enough.
Now go out there and make some money!
Some Advanced Money making Tips
A few quick pro tips to making some money, some of these might require not being naked.
Learn the baker herblore from the lonely giant quest in the Shire. If you make bannocks from this herblore, you can sell 8 of them for over a gold. Once you have the herblore it's not much effort to make a gold here and there. You'll need an herbal kit.
Try selling other potions you've made with an herbal kit, or offer your mixing services.
You can sell boats, rafts, canoes to Captains. There is a Captain in GH Forlond, and 3 of them in the Shire. (careful boats are heavy!!)
If you are killing humanoid mobs, many of them load at least some coins, and some gear. Ruffians, bandits, brigands, thieves, muggers, footpads, smugglers, robbers are all good sources of coins. But be ready for a fight, and maybe alot of flees. Some of these mobs are cowards as they get hurt in battle.
Don't waste your time, space on your mount, or weight you can carry on gear or equ that isn't worth much. Clothes and soft leather generally are NOT worth your time to sell. You will only get like 60 copper for some of it anyways. If you are hard up for cash, anything that will sell for over 5 silver was probably worth your time and typing to loot. Just pay attention and learn items worth looting after you sell them.
Try out the Pawn shop in MD in the Shire. Buys several items that other shops will not buy.
There are also some 'shady' shops to try and sell gear at: one in Fornost, one in Bree, and one just east of Grey Havens
Some items in the game are even no sell, and not worth looting at all.
The Tanner mob in the south part of the Shire can make items if you bring him any wolf furs: black, grey, or white. The wolfskin wristbands he makes sell for several silver and are very light to carry. He can also craft a belt from snakeskin. So if you are near Shire and got some wolf furs or snake skin, it's an OK stop. Also takes some time for him to make them, so go get a drink, or better yet, read more hints, help files, and guides!
Some quests in the game are repeatable! Not all quests are, but some of them are. You might be able to get the reward every zone repop in some cases. They don't always give the xp again, but you can often repeat them for more quest rewards.
Link back to the wiki guides: