Moons

September 6, 2025
Dougtember 6,
Year 86 2 days until Moxie

The moons in the Kingdom of Loathing, Ronald and Grimace. They could be seen from The LAAAAME Observatory, while it lasted, and their phases affect several things in the Kingdom. There are certain days, called Stat Days, on which stat gains are 25% higher for one particular stat. If Ronald is full, MP gains from resting or relaxing are doubled. If Grimace is full, HP gains from resting are doubled. Other things vary with the amount of moonlight available.

The revolutions of Ronald determine the length of a KoL month in the KoL Year. Ronald takes one KoL month to complete one revolution, while Grimace completes its rotation once every two KoL months. A chunk of Grimace is in orbit around both, through 11 positions, advancing two positions every day. It adds or subtracts light, affecting the effects of moon-dependent equipment, but not changing stat days. The whole cycle repeats once every 176 days (about half a real-life year).

Most moon-dependent equipment works off the total amount of light coming from the moons. The formula for this is as follows:

• Count one for every lit sector of Ronald and Grimace (0 for a new moon, 4 for a full moon).
• If the minimoon is in front of a lit sector it will be dark and block the light -- subtract 1.
• If it's in front of a dark sector it will be lit -- add 1.
• If it's to one side of either moon then it is lit if the neighboring sector is lit -- adding 1 if it's lit, but having no effect if it's dark.
• In the front and center position, it is lit if either the right side of Ronald or the left side of Grimace is lit -- and if both are, it has a doubled effect, adding 2.
• When it's behind a moon it has no effect.

Adding all these together you get a number from 0 to 8, which represents the amount of light from the moons.

Out of the moons' cycle of 176 days, they give an average of 4.27 units of light, giving the following distribution of days at varying degrees of light throughout the cycle:

Degree of light	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Number of days	8	12	12	19	33	42	34	15	1

To give a sense of just how the 16 day/11 day cycle plays out, here's a graphical representation of the light fluctuations over the full 176 day cycle.

Effects of Moonlight

• Temporary Lycanthropy (obtained from blood of the Wereseal) has a base Muscle bonus of 10%, and adds (√light) times 20%.
• Mild Lycanthropy (obtained from the bite of a warwelf) will give +1% Muscle and -1% Moxie for each unit of light.
• Lycanthropy, Eh? (inflicted by a weremoose) will give +2% Muscle and -2% Moxie for each unit of light.
• The Grue will attack if it is 5 or less.
• The Talisman of Baio will give +10% to all stats for each unit of light.
• The Jekyllin hide belt will give +9 to all stats and +15% item drops, minus 1 all stats and plus 5% item drops for each unit of light.

Grimacite Equipment

The Grimacite equipment has a different formula. Being previously a part of Grimace, it is particularly attuned to its motions, but less so for Ronald. The minimoon, as it was also once part of Grimace, also has an effect. For them, count one for each dark segment of Grimace (unless it's blocked by a lit minimoon), plus one if the minimoon is visible and dark.

Out of the moons' cycle of 176 days, the average darkness is 2.2954 units of light, giving the following distribution of days at varying degrees of light throughout the cycle:

Darkness level	0	1	2	3	4	5
Number of days	18	34	46	44	24	10

A graphical representation of the darkness level fluctuations over the full 176 day cycle:

Most of the Grimacite equipment has a constant enchantment, and then gives +10% (early Grimacite equipment) or +5% (later generations) to one stat for each darkness unit. The Grimacite guayabera gives +10 Monster Level for each darkness unit, whereas the depleted Grimacite hammer gives +5 per unit. Any item that gains rollover adventures or PvP fights will grant 1 extra per darkness unit.

While not a Grimacite item, the Periodical Paintbrush and Seasonal Beret are special items whose enchantment also depends on the darkness of Grimace and the minimoon, with +5% to each attribute for each darkness unit.

For a rundown of upcoming moons see Noblesse Oblige's or Coldfront's calendar. You can also enter chat and give a private message consisting of "day" to Chatbot (/msg chatbot day) to be told how many days until the moons have an effect on a stat.

References

• The names of the moons, Ronald and Grimace, are the same as Ronald McDonald and the Grimace, two of the mascots of the McDonald's fast-food restaurant chain. Also, the mini-moon orbiting both larger moons was unofficially named Hamburglar by the Dev team, the name of another mascot of the chain.
• As for the moons themselves, they are very reminiscent of Trammel and Felucca, the moons from the Ultima series of games by Richard Garriott.

See Also

• Full Moon Table
• Moons (before the comet)