Acre:

An area of land containing 7x7 squares. What you can see around you at any time is an acre; each world sqaure is 7x7 acres.

Anal Spasm:

Each time you visit an outhouse containing a magazine, you run the risk of having an anal spasm. The odds of having one of these nasty afflictions is dependent on the number of pieces of poo that you have pooed within the last hour - the more you poo, the more likely you are to have a spasm. When you have a spasm, you are unable to enter an outhouse for the time specified (this time is also dependent on the amount you have pooed in the last hour). This is because your body needs to recover.

Axe:

Axes are used for cutting down trees, removing tree taps and birdhouses from trees, and cutting down fences . The highest level axe is level 10 (baummorder). Axes are bought at the store.

Bearded Vulture:

A bird which resides in a birdhouse attached to a Western Hemlock tree. Use it on another player to have them transported randomly across the toadwater universe! It will only stay in your hoard for 10 minutes so it cannot be carried far. You can use a BV on any square within your range of vision.

Birdhouse:

An item which can be whittled. Place one on a tree to attract a bird or a squirrel - the animal attracted depends on the type of tree to which the birdhouse is attached. The higher the level of your birdhouse, the sooner you can expect to attract a bird or squirrel. To remove a birdhouse, it must first be empty. Then select your axe and click the tree.

Birds:

Birds can be attracted to trees by placing a birdhouse on the tree. Different types of tree attract different birds.

• Yellow Buckeye - Yellow-Bellied Sap-Sucker
• Quaking Aspen - Sharpie
• Black Tupelo - Wood Duck
• Western Hemlock - Bearded Vulture
• Horse Chestnut - Passenger Pigeon

Each bird has a certain number of uses, the maximum number of uses is dependent on the age of the tree on which it arrives. Once all the uses are used up, you will see an empty birdhouse again - eventually a new bird will be attracted to it.

To use a bird, summon it with a compost worm. Select the compost worm in your hoard and click on the bird. The bird will then appear in your hoard. You cannot use other people's birds.

You can scare away a bird by feeding it a piece of poo - but only if it is your own bird.

Boats:

Boats are used to travel to distant islands. You can only launch your boat, or land it, on a dock . Navigation at sea uses your nautical skill.

Breaking and Scutching (B&S):

The process of obtaining raw hemp fibres (and industrial hemp seeds) from a field of retting hemp stalks. You get a 10% bonus to the amount you reap if you do the B&S when the field is optimal: This is indicated by a raised 3D effect picture and the tooltip no longer says (-) or (+). The length of this optimal period is dpendent on your textile skill (10 seconds for each level of your skill; so if your textile skill is 30 you get 300 seconds = 5 mins).

B&S is done using a scutching sword; the higher level the scutching sword, the more you will harvest.

Cherry Belle:

A type of radish, each one you eat increases your construction skill by one percent (up to 10%), temporarily. The amount of time left on the increase is shown in the tooltip when you hover over the construction skill in the info center . 15% of your radish crop is likely to be cherry belles, and each one is worth 1.5 gold pieces.

China Rose:

A type of radish, each one you eat increases your farming skill by one percent (up to 10%), temporarily. The amount of time left on the increase is shown in the tooltip when you hover over the skill in the info center . 15% of your radish crop is likely to be china roses, and each one is worth 2.5 gold pieces.

Clog:

Clogs have no use at present, however in the future they may allow you to move faster or with less health cost. They are the hardest item to whittle but are worth a lot when sold.

Cloth:

Cloth is created by weaving yarn on a loom. It can then be used with more yarn to create items such as milking gloves.

Cloth comes in 3 different grades: Beggars, Middling, and Imperial. Higher grade cloth is more difficult to weave, you need more of it to create an item, and it is harder to create that item. However, if you are successful, the item you create is better!

Cloud World:

When you start a new character in Toadwater, you will begin by living in your own private cloud world. This is a small but safe place where you can work on your skills, build up a stock of fencing, and get ready for the dangers of the real world. To leave cloud world, you just need to jump off the edge. You can either cut down one of your fences and step through the gap, or put a gate on it and walk across!

Combat:

This skill is not yet in use in Toadwater. It can only be raised by placing a combat magazine into an outhouse and pooing there.

Compost Worm:

These are found in and industrial hemp crops. Each worm is equivalent to 10 pieces of poo for fertilization. They can also be used to attract birds from their birdhouses into your hoard. They reduce your health by 5 if you eat them! If you die by eating worms, you will not lose your money, so if you need to commit suicide for any reason, worms are the best way!

Construction:

The skill required to turn planks into fences, outhouses and gates, and to turn fences into fence repair materials. It is also used (and improved) by building outhouses (placing them on the ground), digging holes (until your construction skill reaches 25), pounding in fences, and building roads. You can increase your construction skill temporarily by eating Cherry Belle radishes.

Coordinates:

Your coordinates are displayed in the TWC "Info Center". They consist of 4 pairs, each containing one letter and one number. In general, all the letters correspond to your North/South position, and all the numbers correspond to your East/West position. The exact position you are in is broken down into 4 levels of detail, one denoted by each pair.

The first pair denotes your continent. This is normally D4 or C3, where D4 denotes the 'old world' which is the original toadwater landmass, and C3 is the 'new world' which was added more recently. The bridge between these two areas also extends a little way into D3 and C4.

The second pair denotes the world square you are currently in. When you first begin playing Toadwater, you will appear in one of 4 world squares which have been designated for new players to learn in. In these lands, you are not allowed to build any fences or use birds etc.

For example, you might begin in D4 A1; if you go far enough east you will enter D4 A2, or if you go far enough south you will enter D4 B1. If you go north, you will enter another "starter" world, C4 G1, or if you go west you will reach "starter" world D3 G7.

The third pair of coordinates denotes the acre you are in, within that world square. The letter represents how many acres down you are, and the number how many acres across you are, from the top left corner of the world square. Similarly the fourth set of coordinates denotes your position within that acre.

Creeping Red Fescue:

These seeds grow into grass, on which a statue can be placed. You need 100 seeds per square, and they have to be planted in fully fertilized soil. If planted in soil fertilized with EBP , they will grow in half an hour instead of an hour. There is no skill involved in growing a lawn, once you plant the seeds you can relax! You will always be successful!

To remove a creeping red fescue lawn, you can plant a tree in it and when you cut the tree down, the grass will be gone too.

Crimson Giant:

A type of radish, each one you eat increases your forestry skill by one percent (up to 10%), temporarily. The amount of time left on the increase is shown in the tooltip when you hover over the forestry skill in the info center . 15% of your radish crop is likely to be crimson giants, and each one is worth 2 gold pieces.

Death:

If your health goes down to zero you will die. When you die you lose your money and are transported into one of the starter worlds with just 100 gold pieces to help you get home. You also lose 1 point from each of your skills - permanently! If you die by eating compost worms then you do not lose your money but you still lose a skill point.

If you die 10 times then on your 11th death your accound will be deleated and you will be forced to start all over from level 1

Death Cap Mushroom:

The death cap mushroom can be found in radish and hemp crops, but it is extremely rare. When you eat a death cap mushroom it will reduce your deaths by one.

Eating a Death Cap costs 50.0 life and fills your poo bar.

Digging:

Digging a hole is necessary if you want to build an outhouse, this can be done with your hands by deselecting your current item (click on it again) or with a shovel if you don't want to be doing it all day!

Dock Construction Kits:

You need 5 Dock Construction Kits to build a dock. Each kit consists of 20 planks, 100 yards of rope, and 10 posts . A dock kit's level is equal to the sum of the plank level and the post level which are included in it. To make a Dock Construction Kit, click on "Dock Workshop" in the actions menu on TWC.

Docks:

A Dock is a place to land or launch your boat! It is built from 5 Dock Construction Kits. A dock's level is equal to the sum of the levels of the five dock construction kits used to build it - these may be of different levels. Once you have created the five kits, you can place them on a coastal square and then you need to put a worker to work on it. The worker will take a long time to complete it, so choose one with a high construction skill!

Docks decay gradually over time, the higher the level of the dock, the less likely it is to decay.

Donate:

You can donate $5 to help keep the game running, just click the paypal button at the bottom of the homepage. Each time you donate, you will receive a FREE personalised level 100 staff which will allow you to move around the world at maximum speed!

Enriched Bird Poo(EBP):

This is obtained from statues. It is used to fertilize squares for planting trees, seeds etc. Using EBP as your fertilizer gives a greater boost to your odds when growing trees, than if you use poo or compost worms. Things also grow faster in EBP.

Experience (XP):

This is gained by performing most actions. There are two types of experience, overall XP which affects your level, and skill XP which goes into a specific skill depending on what type of action you did. This is used to calculate your level in that skill, and your ranking in that skill.

Farming:

The skill required to grow radishes and industrial hemp . Boost your farming temporarily by eating china rose radishes.

Fencing:

Construct this from a plank. Fences protect your base from raiders. To build a fence, place the fencing on the ground next to you, and then hit it with your mallet until the construction icon turns to a fence panel.

You can cut down a fence using your axe: When cutting your own fencing, each hit with your axe causes (axe level) points of damage to a fence. So if you are cutting down a level 5 fence (500 hitpoints) with a level 5 axe, it will take 100 chops. You can also assign a worker to cut down your own fence.

However, when chopping down someone else's fence, all axes do just one hit point of damage each hit. Each chop takes (fence level)/10 health points so watch out!

Fences decay over a period of 66 days - every 6 days the fence moves to the next stage of decay. This does not make the fence any more vulnerable to attackers, however, after 66 days the fence will disappear. The 66 day timer can be reset at any time by clicking the fence while your staff is selected. This costs gold and health points.

Fences are strengthened by Fence Protection when you are online. This means that it is harder for a raider to chop through your fences. After you log off, the protection decreases gradually over a period of one hour.

Fence Repairs:

Fence Repairs can be constructed from two pieces of fencing . If successful, you will obtain 100 fence repair materials per level of the original fence, so if you make fence repairs from level 5 fencing, you will obtain 500 fence repair materials. These can be used to repair damage to an existing level 5 fence - but be warned, constructing fence repairs is twice as difficult as constructing the fences.

Fertilizer:

There are 4 different types of fertilizer: Dried Poo, Grandma's Homemade poo, Compost Worms, and Enriched Bird Poo. To fully fertilize a field, you will need 100 pieces of any one type of poo, or 10 compost worms. You cannot mix different types of fertilizer. Crop/Garden seeds (ie radishes, Industrial Hemp, and Creeping Red Fescue) require fully fertilized land, while trees can be grown in any level of fertilization from 0 to 100%. The more fertilizer you put down, the bigger the bonus you will get to your growing odds for that type of tree.

Flaming Fungus:

These fungi are found in radish and hemp crops, but they are very rare indeed. A Flaming Fungus can be placed on the ground, then when a worker is assigned to it the worker will go around refreshing all your fences so they go back to stage 1. When the worker finishes, the fungus is used up.

Edit: right now (11.11.2003) this Fungus dose nothing!

French Breakfast:

These radishes are worth 10 gold pieces each and make up 5% of your radish crop. When eaten, each one restores 10 points of health . You can eat as many as you like but once you are at full health, they will not give you any bonus at all.

Forestry:

The skill required to grow trees. This skill is raised by planting and chopping down trees. You can temporarily boost this skill by eating Crimson Giant radishes.

Fungi:

These rare items can occasionally be found in radish or hemp crops. There are two types of fungi available: Flaming Fungus, and Death Cap Mushrooms.

Gate:

Gates are constructed from two planks. A gate is your doorway through a fence . Once you have constructed a gate, place it on a completed fence to build the gate. A gate has a set number of uses (10*wood level) after which it disappears, leaving the fence that was there previously. You can only place a gate on your own fence, and you can normally only pass through your own gate. You can however let someone in to your base by standing on the gate (holding the gate open). This is the only time that two active players can occupy the same square in Toadwater.

Gold Pieces(gp):

The currency in Toadwater.

Gold Radish:

Gold radishes make up 0.1% of your radish crop! They are worth 1000 gold pieces each and for good reason: When you eat a gold radish, every skill is increased by 10 percent for one hour, your health is completely regenerated, your poo level is filled to the unbuffed maximum, and the length of time you have to wait in an outhouse after pooing is halved. If you drink squirrel milk while buffed by a gold radish, you also get the benefits that your axe power is doubled, you can fertilize 50% with each click, ret an industrial hemp field 50% with each click, break and scutch 20% with each click, and when you wipe a statue you only get level 30+ seeds !

Grandma's Homemade Poo:

This is a type of fertilizer, which can be bought from the store. It is more expensive than making your own poo, but is available in unlimited supplies!

Ground hoard:

These can be bought from the store. They cost 10000 gold pieces and once placed on the ground, can hold up to 10 different types of item. You can remove your own hoard from the ground if it is empty, but you cannot remove someone elses.

Hackling:

This is the process of turning raw hemp fibres into sliver. To do it you need to buy a hackling machine from the store and place it on the ground. Then select your fibres (100 at a time) and click the machine to hackle them. The amount of sliver you get depends on your textile skill and your luck! You can also hackle sliver, to obtain the next highest grade of sliver.

Hackling machine:

The machine required to turn raw hemp fibres into sliver . It can be bought at the store and lasts for 1000 uses before it must be replaced. There is at present no way to remove a hackling machine other than to use it 1000 times.

Health:

Your maximum health is shown in the info center, and is dependent on your level. Each action uses health, the amount used is dependent on the action. Walking on sand costs 1 health point per square, but if you walk onto a tree it costs 1+(tree level/10) health points. You should always keep an eye on your health level because if it gets to zero, you will die !

Health Bar:

Your health level is displayed in a bar near the bottom of your Info Center. Your current and maximum health are also given in figures above. You can set the levels at which your health bar turns yellow and red, on the TWC options screen.

Hemp Stalks:

Hemp Stalks are obtained by growing and harvesting Industrial Hemp seeds. They are used to get raw hemp fibres as follows: Place 100 hemp stalks on the ground to ret. Then (ideally at the optimum stage) use your scutching sword to break and scutch the field. You will obtain raw hemp fibres and industrial hemp seeds.

Hoard:

Your hoard is the name for your inventory, a list of everything you are carrying. It contains 20 slots, and always seems to be full up!

The term 'Hoard' also refers to ground hoards. These can be bought from the shop, and placed on the ground. If you step onto a ground hoard and click yourself, the hoard screen opens up, this is used to transfer items between your ground hoard, and your personal inventory.

To remove a ground hoard, stand next to it, select your shovel, and click the hoard. This will cost you 10 health points. You can only remove an empty hoard that belongs to you.

Holes:

Holes can be dug using your hands (de-select your current item by clicking it), or more quickly by using a shovel. Holes gradually fill in if you leave them alone for a while.

Idol:

Idols can be whittled from wood. They are very hard to whittle, and cannot be waxed. Once you have whittled your idol, you can attach it to a tree (of the same type as the idol) to gain seeds of the next level, and to try to become the tree lord for that tree type.

To get a seed of the next level, you must sacrifice (new level)x2 seeds to the idol. For example, to get a sugar pine(6) seed from a willow(5) idol, you need to sacrifice 12 seeds. Watch your health when sacrificing seeds. It costs 0.1 health per seed sacrificed, so in the above example it would cost 1.2 health.

There are 3 factors which determine the power of your idol: The number of seeds you have sacrificed to it, the age of the tree to which it is attached, and the length of time for which it has been attached.

Industrial Hemp:

Industrial hemp seeds can be bought at the store. You need 100 seeds to plant a crop, and they must be planted in fully fertilized soil. When they reach maturity, you will harvest Hemp Stalks and compost worms (10% of crop). You need a farming skill of 300 to get a full crop.

Info Center:

A window in TWC which gives you lots of information about your current status:

• Your Name: You can change this on your profile screen on the website.
• Age: An hour in real life is a day in toadwater. When you first register you are
10 years old, each 365 hours you will gain another year.
• XP: Your overall XP total.
• XP to Level: The amount of XP needed to get to the next level and increase your maximum health by 1.
• Gold: Your current balance of gold.
• Skills: Your levels in each of the 8 skills.
• Heading: The direction you last moved in.
• Speed: This is normally zero, it only increases when you walk on a road. The greater your speed, the less the delay between steps and the lower the health cost of moving.
• Coords: Your current position in the toadwater world. See coordinates.
• Health: Your current and maximum health levels.
Green/Yellow/Red bar: Visual indication of your health level.
• Blue bar: Your thirst level (currently not in use).
• Blank/Brown bar: Your poo level.
• Blank/Red bar: Your queued actions.

Level:

Your level is determined by your amount of overall XP, and it is equal to your maximum amount of health. It does not contribute to the rankings but of course, the more health you have, the better.

Loom:

The machine used to turn yarn into cloth . Available at the store for 33000 gold pieces, it is good for 1000 uses. Once you have used it 1000 times it will disappear. There is no other way to move or remove a loom than to use it up.

Magazines:

A magazine can be placed into an outhouse to give you extra experience in a particular skill each time you go in there. Magazines are available for combat, construction, forestry, management, poo and whittling skills. The magazine disappears when the outhouse explodes. There is no way to remove a magazine from an outhouse once it has been placed there. Magazines come in different levels, from 1 to 5. The magazine level you should use is dependent on your level of skill in the subject the magazine relates to. If your skill is between 0 and 50 you should use a level 1 magazine, 50-100 level 2 etc. You will still get some experience points if you use the wrong level magazine, but not as many points per piece of poo that you drop into the outhouse. Magazines are bought at the store.

(the following is copied from the forum -link if the link no longer works then the post has gone missing.)
Magazine can be too simple or advanced for you so stick within your skill range.

101 is for 1-50 skilled people
102 is for 50-100 skilled people
103 is for 100-150 skilled people
104 is for 150-200 skilled people
105 is for 200-205 skilled people

Mallet:

Mallets are whittled from wood. Mallets are used for pounding in fences. You can increase the power of your mallet by waxing it. However, with each hit you do with your mallet, it wears out by 0.001 points.

Management:

This skill determines how quickly workers will work for you, and much wood and how many seeds they will find when cutting down trees. The maximum number of seeds and wood that can be found is is dependent on the tree age. However, for each seed, and for each piece of wood other than the first one, there is a percentage chance that you will get the item, this percentage is calculated from the average of your management skill and the worker's forestry skill, and the tree level. This means that if your own forestry skill is higher than this average, then you are likely to get more seeds/wood if you chop the tree down yourself.

You get management skill points when you hire workers, and while workers are doing work for you.

Metric Time:

Toadwater uses a metric time system. In this system, a day and a year are the same length as they are in 'old time', but each day contains 10 hours of 100 minutes (millijours or mj) each. A millijour contains 100 metric seconds - each metric second is a little shorter than an imperial one. The metric year is broken up into weeks (dekajours); these contain 10 days each.

The time display you see on the ToadWater message boards is of the following format: (yyy-ww-d) h:mm:ss, where the year is since 1790 (the birth of metric time). A new year begins when the earth is closest to the sun, this is in January sometime.

The metric system may seem complicated but once you get used to it you will realise it is much more logical than our old system. A metric minute is about 1.4 old minutes. 10 metric minutes is a centijour, which is a good length for a break from work!

Within the game, a day from your character's point of view is one centijour.

Milking:

The process of obtaining milk from a squirrel. Select a milking glove in your hoard and click the squirrel. The amount of milk you get is dependent on your glove level and luck!

Milking glove:

Used to milk squirrels! You can milk each squirrel once per (real life) day. The number of drops of milk you get is dependent on the quality of your milking glove and your luck! Milking gloves are created from cloth and yarn - the quality of the gloves depends on the quality of the cloth and yarn.

Mount Olympus:

A message board/forum which can only be accessed by the Toadwater Gods .

Oar:

An oar is an item which can be whittled from wood. Oars currently have no use within the game but in the future they will be needed to row your boat with.

Outhouse:

A place to relieve yourself! To build an outhouse you need to construct some outhouse materials from a plank, and use your shovel to dig a hole which is 100 millimetres deep per level of the outhouse materials you wish to use (1 m for a level 10 outhouse). Then select your outhouse materials in your hoard and click on the hole. When an outhouse is full, it explodes leaving a pile of poo in its place. This can be shovelled up to use as fertilizer . The amount of poo needed to fill an outhouse is 100 times the outhouse level.

Beware, the more you poo, the more likely you are to suffer an Anal Spasm!

Passenger Pigeon:

A bird that lives on a horse chestnut tree. When you summon a passenger pigeon to your hoard with a compost worm, it will stay there for up to 24 hours. If you place it on the ground next to you, it will pick you up and carry you back to its birdhouse , from wherever you are. A free ride home when you have been out exploring! Passenger pigeons can also be lodged on to ponderosa pine trees, they will stay there until they are summoned at which time, they will return the user to their home chestnut tree. You do not need a birdhouse to do this. Any player can use a passenger pigeon they find on a ponderosa pine tree, not just the owner - so be careful where you leave them!

Plank:

An item whittled from wood. Planks can be waxed to increase their level. They are used to construct fences, gates and outhouses, and can be laid on the ground to create a road .

Plum Purple:

A type of radish, each one you eat increases your management skill by one percent (up to 10%), temporarily. The amount of time left on the increase is shown in the tooltip when you hover over the management skill in the info center . 10% of your radish crop is likely to be plum purples, and each one is worth 3.5 gold pieces.

Poo:

Poo is obtained when an outhouse explodes, it must be collected using a shovel. It is used for fertilization, or can be used to scare away a bird (if you are the bird's owner). You get one unit of poo in your poo bar each time you eat something: This is emptied out by using an outhouse!

Poo Bar:

Your current poo level is shown in the poo bar which is near the bottom of your Info Center. When this bar is full you will need to use an outhouse before you can eat any more.

Post:

An item whittled from wood. Posts can be waxed to increase their level. They are used to make Dock Construction Kits.

Queue:

You can queue up to five actions to perform in TWC. Your queue is shown at the bottom of the Info Center by a bar which fills up in red as you queue actions. If you queue too many things by accident, you can clear all but the current action by hitting the stop button or pressing 'Esc'.

Radishes:

To plant radishes, first fertilize a square to 100% using poo, worms or EBP (for faster growth). When the crop is fully grown, stand on the square and click yourself to open up the crop view and see what you have grown. To pick a radish, click on it. Once your farming skill reaches 100, clicking on a radish will pick allradishes of that type.

To eat a radish, select it in your hoard and press 'E'. Be careful though - you don't want to eat a compost worm!

Radishes can be used to temporarily increase your skills. For Cherry Belle, China Rose, Crimson Giant, Plum Purple, Red Devil, and White Icicle radishes, each one you eat will increase one of your skills by one percent, and you can eat up to ten at a time. The increase lasts for 10 metric minutes for the first one you eat, 9 for the second, etc down to 1 metric minute added for the tenth and subsequent radishes. If you eat any more before the timer runs out, your skill will not increase any further and you will only get an additional one minute on the timer. Other radishes you can get are French Breakfast, Round Black Spanish, and Gold Radishes. You also get Compost Worms in each radish crop.

Radish Mnemonics:

• Cherry Belle: Use cherry wood for constructing sturdy items!
• China Rose: Grow better crops in your Rose Garden!
• Crimson Giant: Grow giant trees!
• Plum Purple: Make your workers' faces turn purple!
• Red Devil: Fight like a devil!
• White Icicle: Whittle more accurately!

Follow the links for details of their effects.

Raiding:

This means going to someone else's area and taking things that belong to them. Raiders can chop down your fences and come into your base, chop down your trees and take everything from your ground hoards. They can even use a bearded vulture on you if they have one within 10 minutes travel of your base! Your best defence against raiders is to build strong fences.

Ranking:

Your ranking is determined by your worth. Worth is a figure derived from your skills, compared to the skills of others in the game. If you get into the top ten, you get a statue of yourself (a picture of your choosing, provided it is suitable). You also get Toadwater God status which gives you access to a special forum, Mount Olympus .

Raw Hemp Fibres:

These are the product of Breaking and Scutching, and are used on a hackling machine (100 at a time) to obtain sliver .

Records:

Records are kept for certain Toadwater achievements such as "Most Gold Radishes Found", "Most Fibres Scutched". There is no prize for getting a new record other than the respect of the Toadwater community.

Red Devil:

A type of radish, each one you eat increases your combat skill by one percent (up to 10%), temporarily. The amount of time left on the increase is shown in the tooltip when you hover over the combat skill in the info center . 10% of your radish crop is likely to be red devils, and each one is worth 3 gold pieces.

Red Squirrel:

Squirrels live on Butternut trees in birdhouses. They can be milked once every day to obtain milk . A squirrel has a set number of uses, based on the age of the tree it appeared in and a random factor. Once these uses have been utilised, you will have to wait for another squirrel to be attracted to your birdhouse.

Retting:

The process of laying down hemp stalks in preparation for breaking and scutching. Once 100 stalks are laid down, it takes about two hours of retting for them to reach the optimal stage for breaking and scutching. The retting field goes through a number of stages before it reaches the optimal stage, each of which lasts a random amount of time between 5 and 15 minutes. Each time the field moves on to the next stage, the picture gets slightly darker. Before the optimal stage is reached, the tooltip on the square will contain (-), while it is optimal the picture will have a 3D effect, and after the optimal stage has passed the picture goes flat again and the tooltip contains (+). If you do your breaking and scutching at the optimal time, you get a 10% bonus to the amount of raw fibres you obtain. If you B&S too early or too late, your amount is less depending on how many stages away from the optimal stage the field is.

Road:

Roads can be built by laying planks on sand. If you move in a straight line on a road, you gain speed - the more speed you have, the less the delay between steps and the smaller the health loss for each step. In fact, above a certain speed you can even gain health! However, if you change direction you lose speed. Roads have a chance of being broken each time you step on them. Higher level roads have less chance of breaking.

Rope:

Rope is used for building docks and boats. It is created from imperial sliver, using a rope machine. This requires a high textile skill!

Round Black Spanish:

A type of radish, each one you eat fills up your poo level by 10. 10% of your radish crop is likely to be round black spanish radishes (RBSR), and each one is worth 4 gold pieces.

Round Table:

A message board/forum which can only be accessed by the Toadwater Dev group - people who are involved with the development of toadwater and/or TWC.

Sap:

Sap can be obtained from any tree by placing a tree tap on it. Once you have collected 10 drops of sap from one type of tree, you can use them to wax certain whittled items: Mallet, Plank, Shovel, Post and Scutching Sword. Waxing an item increases its power by the level of the sap. It also increases its value. Sap is collected by stepping onto the tapped tree, or by using a yellow-bellied sap sucker . The basic length of time between drops of sap appearing on a tree is 6*(tree level) hours. However, this is decreased by a percentage equal to the level of the tap used; E.g. a level 10 tap reduces the time between drops by 10%.

SapSucker:

See Yellow Bellied Sap Sucker

Scutching Sword:

This item can be whittled from wood. It is used for breaking and scutching hemp . Be warned: the scutching sword is four times as hard to whittle as most items! It wears out with use, similarly to Staffs, Mallets, and Shovels. Each use weakens it by 0.001 points.

Seed Bag:

This item can be woven from cloth and yarn . When activated, any seeds you collect from statues, chopping down trees etc will go into your seed bag (provided there is a free slot, or seeds of that type already in the seed bag).

Seed bags can be made in three different levels: Beggars, Middling and Imperial. A beggars seed bag has 10 slots, middling 20 and imperial 30.

To activate your seed bag, you must place it on the ground, and poo onto it! The amount of poo required is 10 times the level of the seed bag, so 10 poo for a beggars seed bag, etc.

To pick up your seed bag, you must wear milking gloves!

Seeds:

There are many different types of seeds available in Toadwater. They come in two main types: Tree seeds and Garden seeds. Tree seeds can be planted to grow trees of different levels, and are obtained by sacrificing (tree level)x2 seeds to an idol of the level below (e.g. sacrifice 4 seeds to a balsam idol to get a ponderosa pine seed), or by scraping statues (seed levels 11 upwards). Plant one seed on a square which may or may not be fertilized or may be partially fertilized, to attempt to grow a tree. Whether the tree reaches maturity depends on your forestry skill, the level of the seed, the amount of fertilizer used, and luck! Garden seeds are Radish, Creeping Red Fescue, and Industrial Hemp seeds. They can only be planted in 100% fertilized soil, and you need 100 seeds per square. Your garden seeds will always grow to maturity but the crop you obtain (in the case of radish and hemp) is dependent on your farming skill.

Sharpie:

This bird resides on Quaking Aspen trees and can be attracted into your hoard using a compost worm. When put on the ground next to you, the sharpie informs you of all other players in your current world square , whether they be online or offline.

Shovel:

This item can be whittled from wood. It is used for digging holes for outhouses, shoveling up poo after an outhouse explodes, and removing statues and unfinished fences . Your shovel will wear out by 0.001 points each time you use it.

Skills:

The levels you have reached in different areas, such as forestry, whittling, construction, etc. Skills are used to determine your ranking in the game. Your skill level is dependent on the number of experience points you have gained in that area - as your skill rises, you need more skill points to gain a level in that skill.

Sliver:

This is the product of hackling. It comes in three grades, depending on the number of times the fibre has been hackled. A single run through the hackling machine will give you low grade sliver, put this back through the machine for medium grade, and once more for imperial. It can be spun into yarn or made into rope (imperial sliver only).

South Winter Island:

The place where wood ducks take you! It is mainly used for private trade between players, and is intended one day to hold player-owned shops.

Spinning:

The process of turning sliver into yarn. The amount of yarn obtained is dependent on your textile skill and luck!

Spinning Wheel:

The machine required to turn sliver into yarn. It can be bought at the shop for 22000 gold pieces and will last for 1000 uses. Once placed on the ground it cannot be moved or removed, except by using it up.

Squirrel:

See Red Squirrel

Squirrel Milk:

Squirrel milk is obtained by milking Red Squirrels, using a milking glove! Drinking milk gives you special powers which last for 5 metric minutes (over 7 minutes). These powers allow you to fertilize twice as quickly, and much more!

Staff:

This item is needed to move around in Toadwater: You are given one when you set up your Toadwater account, and another one each time you donate using the PayPal link on the Toadwater homepage. See Walking for more information.

Statue:

Each time a new player gets into the top ten, a statue of them is created and 100 of them become available in the store. They are in very high demand and they disappear quickly from the store. Statues are the only way to obtain EBP (other than by buying it from another player), and one of the best ways of getting high-level seeds.

You can also earn statues by signing up for the SETI@home program and contributing your CPU time to the search (join the toadwater team). You will be given one SETI statue after your first 100 hours of CPU time, the next at 300 hours, then 600 etc. Hours completed before joining the Toadwater team will not be taken into account.

Once you obtain a statue, place it on a fully grown Creeping Red Fescue lawn. Each statue, once placed in the ground has a time displayed on the tooltip. This is the time in between bird 'visits' - however, for each bird visit, you only have a one in ten chance it will leave a dropping! Occasionally a dropping will contain a high-level seed (though you cannot get one of the ten highest level seeds from a statue) - if not you will get some enriched bird poo instead. To collect your droppings and see if you have got any seeds, just step onto the statue.

The time between potential droppings depends on the ranking of the player of whom it is a statue, for each level they rise in the rankings the statue timer will decrease by 10 minutes. The time is also reduced by a small amount depending on how long the statue has been in the ground. If you leave it long enough, the time between 'visits' can be reduced to a minimum of 5 minutes.

To remove a statue, use your mallet on it. Don't forget to wipe it first though or all your droppings will be lost.

StatWater:

StatWater is an Excel spreadsheet, originally created by Jarak to help you work out your chances of success in various Toadwater activities. The latest version is usally available in one of the sticky threads at the top of the message boards. If not, do a search on the message boards to find it.

Tavern:

The tavern is the main message forum. It is named after the player who is currently ranked number one.

Textile:

The skill required to ret, hackle and spin hemp into yarn .

Tree Lord:

The person with the highest powered idol attached to a particular type of tree, is the tree lord of that tree. They get a bonus to their odds when they do any whittling or construction using that type of wood. They can also walk over their own tree with no delay. To see who is tree lord for each type of wood, check on the trees page.

Trees:

Trees are the basis of your life in toadwater. They are grown from seeds, which are obtained from idols or by scraping statues, or from the store (balsam only). There is a full list containing the name and level of each tree, along with the number of that tree that are currently in existence in toadwater available by clicking the link near the top of the homepage.

When you cut down a tree, you may obtain seeds and wood of the same level as the tree. The amount you get depends on the age of the tree, your forestry skill, and luck. You can get one seed per one hundred days old the tree is, and you can get one piece of wood per year old the tree is plus one piece which is guaranteed.

Tree Tap:

A tree tap can be placed on a tree to collect sap of the same level as the tree. Higher level taps collect sap more quickly - the base time per drop is one metric hour - this time is reduced by a percentage equal to the tap level. To get the sap from the tap, walk onto the tree, or use a Sap Sucker.

Remove a tap by hitting it once with your axe . Collect the sap first or you will lose it!

Toadwater God:

Someone ranked in the top ten. When you become a god you get your own statuemade, and gain access to a special forum, Mount Olympus.

TWC (Toadwater Client):

The windows application which is needed to play the game. It is a small download, available from a link at the top of the website .

TWView:

This is an additional program available which will show you a map of the Toadwater Universe. However, you can only see areas which you have already explored - all other areas will be gray! It also only shows you what was on a square, last time you saw it. So if you see a tree in TWView, it might not still be there because someone else may have chopped it down.

To obtain TWView, check the sticky threads at the top of the message boards, or search for it on the message boards.

Walking:

To walk or move around at all in Toadwater, you'll need a staff. You are granted a free level 100 staff when you start the game (although you won't be able to use it until you reach level 10, for reasons of safety!) Each step you take costs health, one health point is the basic cost, plus 0.1 per level of tree if you step onto a tree. When walking on roads you can gain speed , the more speed you have the less health it costs to walk. However this speed disappears as soon as you step off the road or stop to chop a tree or anything.

You will soon find travel getting very slow with your starter staff, as it wears out at the rate of .1 level per step. This staff won't wear out past level 1, and you can use it indefinitely. (Remember: The higher the level of the staff, the faster you'll walk!!) If you get sick of moving like molasses with your level 1 staff, you can make a donation of $5 to Toadwater through PayPal. (see the 'Donate' link at the bottom of the toadwater homepage) Each time you donate $5, you will be given a new personalized level 100 staff!, this staff will wear out A LOT SLOWER than your newbie starter staff. (it loses 0.001 points per move on most land types, .002 on trees, and ZERO POINTS when travelling on roads or grass!).

Waxing:

This is the process of applying 10 drops of sap to a whittled item, to increase its power. The increase in power is equal to the level of the sap used (the level of the tree from which the sap came). The items which can be waxed are: Mallet, Post, Plank, Shovel, and Scutching Sword .

New!: Sap power increases by 1 full point every 10 Tree Years (or game years) (Link to Forum Topic) this increeases in power is added to the power it has from tree level.

Weather:

Weather does not affect anything at the moment. Later it may affect your trees, fences etc .

Weaving:

The skill required to turn yarn into cloth, and cloth into items such as a milking glove or a seed bag.

White Icicle:

A type of radish, each one you eat increases your whittling skill by one percent (up to 10%), temporarily. The amount of time left on the increase is shown in the tooltip when you hover over the whittling skill in the info center . 15% of your radish crop is likely to be white icicles, and each one is worth 1 gold piece.

Whittling:

The skill required to turn wood into mallets, planks, shovels, tree taps etc.

Wood:

Wood is obtained whenever you (or a worker) chop down a tree. It can be sold to the store, or used as the raw material for whittling .

Wood Duck:

This bird carries you to South Winter Island when you summon it from its tree using a compost worm. It will then stay in your hoard for up to 20 minutes - after this time it will carry you back to its birdhouse . If you want to go back before this time is up, just place it on the ground next to you and it will carry you back.

Workers:

Up to 3 workers at a time can be hired to do jobs around your base. Each worker has three skills, Forestry, Construction, and Farming. Their skill levels determine the cost to hire them, and the speed at which they work. This is also affected by your management skill level (eat Plum Purple radishes to make them work faster). Workers can cut down trees, cut down or build fences, fertilize land, construct docks, and remove roads. To assign a job to a worker, select a tool in your inventory (axe for trees and roads, fertilizer for farming, or mallet for fences) and select the worker in the 'workers' window. Then click the square you want them to work on. This can be any square within your field of vision.

To stop a worker from working on a job, you can either take over the job by starting to do it yourself, or walk onto the square where they are working to stop them. For fencing, you just have to walk into the fence to stop the worker. This applies to all workers, not just your own.

World Square:

The world square you are in is denoted by the second of the four sets of coordinates shown in your info center. A world square is 49 squares wide and 49 high. It is split into acres , each of which is 7 squares wide and 7 high. There are 4 starter worlds where new players arrive, plus 48 world squares to the south east of this area (which, with the southeasterly starter world, made up the whole of the toadwater landmass until recently), and another 48 world squares to the north west of the starter worlds.

Worth:

Your worth determines your ranking . Worth is calculated by adding together 1/(your rank) in each skill (except combat and poo), dividing by 7 to get the average, and then multiplying the result by 1000.

XP:

See Experience.

Yarn:

Yarn is produced when you spin sliver using a spinning machine. It can then be woven into cloth or used (with cloth) to make items such as milking gloves .

Yellow Bellied Sap Sucker:

A bird which lives on the Yellow Buckeye tree. Summon one into your hoard using a compost worm: when you place it on the ground it will collect all the sap from all the trees in the area that you can see (provided there is space in your hoard).