Load command

Load
Load a ranged weapon such as a bow, crossbow or sling with ammunition. The weapon must be held in your right hand, and the ammunition must be of the type that weapon uses.
LOAD (ammunition already in a hand) You see: You load the <weapon> with <ammunition> in your hand. Others see: <Name> loads <his/her> <weapon> with <ammunition>. LOAD (ammunition at your feet) You see: You reach down to your feet to load the <weapon> with <ammunition>. Others see: <Name> loads <his/her> <weapon> with <ammunition>. LOAD (ammunition in a container) You see: You reach into your <container> to load the <weapon> with <ammunition>. Others see: <Name> loads <his/her> <weapon> with <ammunition>. LOAD (hidden or invisible, unobserved) You see: You remain concealed by your surroundings, convinced that your loading went unobserved. LOAD (hidden or invisible, but noticed) You see: You see <Name> glance at you as you load your <weapon>. You see: You remain hidden in the background, but suspect your efforts drew attention to yourself. Spotter sees: You notice <Name> loading <his/her> <weapon> while remaining hidden.

Syntax

• LOAD

Load the ranged weapon in your right hand with the first suitable ammunition it can find. It looks in your hands first, then at your feet, then in your containers.

• LOAD <WEAPON>

Load the named weapon with the first suitable ammunition found on your character.

• LOAD <WEAPON> WITH <AMMUNITION>

Load the named weapon with the named ammunition.

• LOAD <CONTAINER>

Load using ammunition found in the named container, such as LOAD MY QUIVER.

• LOAD <AMMUNITION>

Load the named ammunition, such as LOAD MY SMOOTH STONE.

• LOAD ARROWS

Dual load two arrows at once. Restricted to Barbarians, Rangers and Thieves who meet the requirements.

• LOAD <TYPE> ARROWS

Dual-load the named arrows, such as LOAD MY WARHEAD ARROWS.

• LOAD TWO <CONTAINER>

Dual-load using arrows from the named container, such as LOAD TWO MY THIGH QUIVER.

• LOAD HELP

Display the helpfile. For guilds that can dual load, it also reports whether you are skilled enough to dual load the bow in your right hand.

Game Helpfile

Load syntax:

  LOAD
    Load first available ammunition found on your character.

  LOAD [WEAPON]        --  LOAD MY LONGBOW
    Load specified weapon with first available ammunition found on your character.

  LOAD [WEAPON] WITH [AMMUNITION] -- LOAD MY CROSSBOW WITH MY BARBED BOLTS
    Load specified weapon with specified ammunition.

  LOAD [CONTAINER]     -- LOAD MY QUIVER
    Load with ammunition found in specified container.

  LOAD [AMMUNITION]    -- LOAD MY SMOOTH STONE
    Load specified ammunition.

Special options:

  LOAD ARROWS
    Dual-load first available ammunition found on your character.

  LOAD [TYPE] ARROWS   -- LOAD MY WARHEAD ARROWS
    Dual-load specified ammunition.

  LOAD TWO [CONTAINER] -- LOAD TWO MY THIGH QUIVER
    Dual-load first available ammunition found in specified container.

The Special options block is only shown to guilds that can dual load.

Roundtime

Every successful load ends with a Roundtime <n> sec. line. The base figure is the weapon's own load time, adjusted by the draw strength of the weapon and by your strength, agility and weapon skill, and then modified by where the ammunition came from:

• Ammunition already held in one of your hands loads one second faster.
• Drawing from a quiver is faster than drawing from an ordinary container. Barbarians and Rangers with good Reflex and Agility can shave a further second off a draw from a quiver.
• Dual loading takes roughly a third longer than loading a single arrow.
• Loading while hidden or invisible adds roundtime, up to three seconds, reduced by one second per 150 ranks of the weapon skill. Thieves past 149 ranks pay no extra roundtime at all.

An arm-worn shield makes a bow harder to load, adding a second for a small or medium shield and five seconds for a large one, along with the message Your <shield> makes the task more difficult. Paladins take no penalty from a small or medium shield, and Barbarians and Rangers take none from a small shield. Crossbows and slings are never penalised by a worn shield, and an arm-worn parry stick never penalises anything.

Notes

• AIM will load the weapon for you if it is empty, then begin aiming.
• Loading while hidden or invisible is a Hiding test against everyone in the room, and awards Hiding experience. Staying hidden is the usual outcome; anyone who spots you is named in the messaging. A creature that spots you gives <Creature> notices your attempt to load your <weapon> while remaining hidden! instead of the glance line.
• A two-handed weapon cannot be loaded while your left hand holds anything other than the ammunition.
• LOAD will not draw on ammunition already loaded into another ranged weapon, nor on ammunition lodged in your own body.
• Some weapons replace the standard loading mechanics and messaging with their own. A repeating crossbow is loaded into a chamber and then readied with PUSH, and siege engines such as the catapult and the magnetic ballista have their own syntax.

Failure Messages

• What weapon are you trying to load? — nothing in your right hand.
• You can't load the <item>, silly! — the item in your right hand is not a ranged weapon.
• You need to hold the <weapon> in your right hand to load it.
• Your <weapon> is already loaded with <ammunition>.
• You don't have the right ammunition for your <weapon>.
• You don't have the proper ammunition readily available for your <weapon>. — or ...readily available in your <container> for your <weapon>. when you named a container.
• You can not load the <weapon> with <item>! — wrong ammunition type for that weapon.
• The <ammunition> must be in your inventory to be loaded onto the <weapon>.
• The <container> must be in your inventory to load ammunition from it.
• You can not load the <weapon> with <item> in your left hand!
• As you try to reach into your <container> for <ammunition>, your hand jams into its closed cover.
• You can only load one arrow. — LOAD ARROWS in a guild that cannot dual load.
• The <weapon> can not be dual-loaded. — dual loading only works with bows.
• You are not skilled enough to dual-load <weapon>.
• You don't have enough arrows to load two at once.
• You don't have enough ammunition in your left hand to load two at once.
• You have too much ammunition in your left hand to load the <weapon>.
• You fumble the attempt to load your <weapon>.
• You don't seem to be able to load your <weapon> right now.

Failing to find ammunition also shows the room <Name> searches frantically for some ammunition for <his/her> <weapon>.

See Also

• AIM
• FIRE
• UNLOAD
• Dual load
• Bows skill
• Crossbows skill
• Slings skill

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