Nightmare LPMud, founded in 1992, was one of the oldest continually running LPMuds still played until its closure on September 12, 2005. Its roots go back to the original LPMud, Genesis LPMud, when Forelock of Genesis along with some students at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine founded Orlith in 1991. This MUD lasted only a year before forking into two rival MUDs, Nightmare and Phoenix. The final incarnation of Nightmare opened October 31, 1992, run by George "Descartes" Reese. It was hosted at nightmare.imaginary.com. There was one major revision in 1996 that required a conversion of players into Nightmare Mudlib's Nightmare IV format. Nightmare never charged players to play. The Nightmare world included multiple player administered city-states. The corecity-state, Praxis, was destroyed in a recent clash among deities worshipped by various Nightmare religions. Each city-state was the home of one or more player races such as elves, humans, apskara, halflings, gnomes, ogres, artrell, fairies, and so on. In some cities, the races got along well; in others there was continuous strife. Player-killing was allowed, but with certain restrictions. Players on Nightmare elected to learn a specific profession that dictated the way they play the game. Professions like fighters were the traditional "hack-n-slash" while professions like fishers were not intended for combat. The base classes available were: fighter, rogue, cleric, mage, kataan, monk, bard, and fisher. Each class had a set of primary skills, which were used to increase the player's level, and secondary skills, which were not required but could still be beneficial to the player as they progressed. Additional character customization was available through joining a "guild"; available guilds included philosophers, witches, and druids, with secret guilds rumored to exist. When players attained higher levels, they could "double-class" and combine the skills and attributes of two classes. The MUD had an innovative biography feature that tracked the milestones of a character's life, providing each player with an individualized personal history.
Influence on MUD development
Nightmare LPMud was the development mud for the initial releases of the Nightmare Mudlib. From about 1992 until 1996, the Nightmare Mudlib was the most common base used in LPMud development. As a result of this influence, a number of later muds reflect elements of the Nightmare play style. Features and innovations included:
