Commands You Should Know¶

"Anyone can type attack. The players who do well are the ones who typed look first, appraise before they bought, and stance defensive before the second goblin showed up."

The verb cheat sheet has every command, A-to-Z, for when you need to look something up. This page is the opposite: the short list of commands that actually change how you play - grouped by when you'd reach for them, with why each one earns its place. If the cheat sheet is the dictionary, this is the "phrases that matter."

Most commands accept abbreviations and aliases, and the /-prefixed ones usually have a plain-verb form too.

If you learn nothing else, learn these six¶

Command	Why it matters
`look` / `l`	Re-read the room. Free, and you'll miss things if you don't.
`/here`	The full current-location summary - exits, who's here, what's interesting - in one shot.
`examine <thing>` / `ex`	Look closely. Descriptions hide details, hooks and loot.
`appraise <item>`	Find out what something really is before you pay for it.
`stance defensive`	A free action that can save your life. Change it before the swing, not after.
`?<verb>`	Instant help on any verb - e.g. `?sneak`. Faster than guessing.

"Where am I and what now?" - getting oriented¶

The single most useful habit is checking your surroundings before you act. These are all cheap and most are free:

/here - the one-shot location summary. Start here when you arrive somewhere new.
/who - who's in the room right now. /nearby - who's one step away (great for finding a specific NPC).
exits / ex and /map - where you can go. The minimap shows the shape of the town.
/route <town> or /route <place> - preview the path before you commit to a long walk. Saves wandering.
/time, /calendar, /weather - the world runs on a clock and a calendar; shops, NPCs and events follow it. Knowing the phase tells you who'll be where.

NPCs keep schedules - if someone isn't where you left them, /who and /nearby will find them, and /time will tell you why they moved.

"Know thyself" - your character at a glance¶

/profile - your identity surface: who you are, your standing.
/skills - your skill tree and ranks (the heart of the game - see Skills & Training).
/gear / g - equipped items and their condition (watch for gear about to break). /inventory / i - what you carry.
/quest / q and /journal - your task list and the narrative-side view of what's happened. /story - the bigger arc you're in.
/bond - your party and how each follower feels about you.

Conversation has real depth, and it has its own full guide. The commands worth burning into memory:

ask <name> about <topic> - the deep one. NPCs know things; this is how you pull threads (ask marta about the docks).
'<message> - a leading apostrophe speaks to the whole room. "<name> <message> - a leading quote speaks to one person. Two keystrokes, no verb needed.
emote <action> or just :<action> - roleplay a gesture (:leans on the bar). Pure flavor, and NPCs notice tone.
whisper <name> <thing> - for when the room shouldn't hear it.

"Save me time" - the quality-of-life verbs¶

These don't unlock anything new; they just stop you doing things the slow way:

get all - sweep the whole room instead of one item at a time.
A / AE / AM / AH - bulk-accept notices off a board (All / Easy / Easy+Medium / all-Hard). One keystroke vs. a dozen.
/stock - list everything a vendor sells at a glance; /stock <item> for the detail card. Beats opening a menu.
/cookbook (and /cookbook <station>) - what you can craft, and where.
repair <item> - before your favorite sword degrades to useless. Check /gear for condition first.

"Make a living" - the doing verbs¶

The world rewards work. These are how you earn, learn and survive (deep dive: the Making a Living guide, and Skills & Training):

forage / fish / mine / hunt - gather, by location type.
/shift start - commit to a full work shift at a venue for real pay and skill (far better than one-off actions). /shift status tracks it; /shift end bails early.
learn <skill> from <trainer> - buy a lesson from someone who teaches it. practice <skill> - slow solo gains when no trainer is handy.
craft <recipe> at the right station - crafting reliably beats raw materials in value.
rest, camp, sleep (at an inn) - recover fatigue and HP, and sleep off the lighter wounds.

"When it goes sideways" - fights and getting out of them¶

Combat has its own full guide; these are the verbs players most often forget they have:

stance lists your class's stances; stance <name> switches to one. A free action, and the single biggest lever on how a fight goes. Slot passive auras alongside it with /attune, and check the whole setup with /loadout.
attack <target> aim high|mid|low - aim for the head, the body, or the legs (a wounded leg slows them - see Wounds & Healing).
dodge / parry / block - spend your action on defense when you're outmatched.
tend - first aid on a wound (yours or a companion's). With the Medical skill it's a real treatment; either way it beats letting a wound fester.
use bandage / cast heal - heal mid-fight (it costs your action - spend it wisely).
flee and yield - living to fight another day is a valid plan. yield drops your weapon and raises your hands.

"The quiet approach" - stealth & crime¶

Full guide: Crime & Stealth. The toolkit:

sneak [<dir>] and hide - move unseen / vanish in place.
peek <dir> and listen - scout a room before you enter it. Cheap intel.
steal <item> from <target> / pickpocket - the subtle lift. rob is the loud version.
lockpick <thing> (quiet) vs force <thing> (fast, loud).
knock <person> - drop someone from behind. distract - knock something over to pull eyes away.

Class flavor you might be sleeping on¶

If your class has these, they're easy to forget - and they're often the most characterful thing you can do:

pray / bless <target> / donate - Cleric & Paladin faith tools.
meditate - recover mana/focus (Monk, Mage, Cleric, Necromancer).
commune - speak with the dead (Necromancer, once a day).
tinker [<thing>] - inspect a mechanism, spot the hidden (Tinkerer).
track <target> - follow a trail (Ranger, Hunter).