Roleplay On MUSHes
Traditionally, roleplay consists of a series of 'poses'. Each character makes a 'pose' - that is, writes a description of speech actions, etc. which the character performs. Special commands allow players to print OOC (out of character) messages, distinguished by a prefixed tag from IC (in character) action. This medium borrows traits from both improvisational stage acting and writing. Roleplaying is one of the primary activities of MUSHes, along with socializing.
There is nothing in the code base that restricts a new MUSH from being a traditional hack-and-slash MUD-style game. However, the earliest uses of MUSH servers were for roleplaying and socializing, and these early trends have largely governed their descendants. In addition, due to this pressure, code updates have tended to emphasize improvements of value to the roleplayer. MUSH servers have one combat command out of the box, aptly called 'kill'. Despite the name, it simply gives a player a chance of killing another player dependent on how much OOC currency that player put into the effort. If successful, the 'killed' player is sent to his home and given some money for his trouble. If unsuccessful, nothing interesting occurs. This command is frequently disabled by server administrators as it is in practice not conducive to roleplay or theme.
A large number of roleplaying MUSHes have custom combat systems coded by their administrators. However, these are usually intended to provide a vehicle for roleplayed combat, and not as the main objective of the game. Many MUSHes with combat systems in fact discourage their players from using them.
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