JOUST

Jousting is a popular sport which involves two combatants, mounted on
steeds, battering each other with deadly weapons as they make successive
passes within a confined arena. There are four different arenas types, one
for each of the four different weapons. These weapons are the sword, mace,
hammer and the classic lance.

Before you begin the actual joust, you must first choose your protective armor.
There are three main pieces of armor which include body armor, a helmet and a
shield. The heavier armor gives you better defense but the added weight will
slow you down. Alternately, the lighter armor will protect you less but you
will do a lot more damage.

While jousting it is possible to choose from several combat options. You can
set your speed, using the speed command, to one of five relative settings.
These settings are 1 to 5, with 1 being the slowest and 5 being the fastest.
Keep in mind that these settings are relative so a speed of 5 with heavy armor
is a lot slower than a speed of 5 with light armor.

It is also possible to set what part of your opponent you are targeting. You
may target the body, head or your opponents weapon. The body is the easiest to
hit but is also the best protected location. The head is difficult to hit but
can really injure your rival. The weapon is the hardest to hit and does the
least amount of damage but you have a good chance of knocking their weapon out
of their hands. Once a combatant is disarmed they will have to wait until they
can get a new weapon from one of the arena corners. It may take several passes
before they are able to re-wield. If your opponent is carrying a shield it
will block 25% of any damage to the head and body. Once your opponent's hit
points go below half of their total there is a good chance you will knock their
shield off with a successful hit to the body or head.

While you are jousting, your prompt will change to display joust specific
information. The first number represents your current hit points and works just
like your regular hit points do. The second number is your relative speed. The
last part of your prompt is the name of the body part you are targeting.

To begin a joust simply type "challenge <character name>", where
<character name> is the name of your opponent, in the start room for the
joust.