Jason Aller Floppy Collection/413.img/BT3DOX.ZIP/SOLVE/GENERAL.TXT

Text File | 1990-11-26 | 17.6 KB | 374 lines

                   ===> BARD'S TALE III: Thief of Fate <===


[< PREFACE >]  As I lay dying...

I pray my body does not fail me before I am able to complete this most
important missive.  I pray as well that, somehow, the heroes who once  before
saved Skara Brae will find this accounting and act upon it.  I leave this
record so those who come after will know what horrors that the Mad God Tarjan
has perpetrated, and so that they will not be lulled into believing that
Skara Brae was his sole target.

How can I describe that day.  May, it did not begin like all others  for on
that day we celebrated the victory over Mangar that had so recently liberated
our city.  Bards from the world arrived in Skara Brae to play and herald the
brave deeds of those heroes who saved us.  The townspeople danced in the
streets with happiness, and the great festival filled all with an
overwhelming joy of life and renewed hope for the future.

Then Mangar's Master, the The Mad God Tarjan, arrived to reduce our day of
celebration into a day of mourning.  His shadow sank the city into pitiless
black oblivion.  Foul creatures that had festered in his flesh like maggots
burst forth to assault fair Skara Brae.  People ran, but could not run swiftly
enough to escape.  Tarjan's minions left none untouched.

Forgive the shakiness of my script, for life ebbs painfully from my body as I
write.  Tarjan, mocking my death curse, told me Skara Brae was barely one in a
series of conquests he had long contemplated to complete his revenge.  He
laughed when I said heroes would come to destroy his mad plan, yet I sensed
fear in his voice when I promised that the legendary Hawkslayer, and those
who defeated Margar, would return again to triumph.  As payment for my
threat, he gave a swift twist of his jewelled sword into my belly.

Tarjan must be stopped.  Whosoever reads this, you must get word to the
heroes.  This will be their greatest challenge, for upon their efforts rests
the fate of more than Skara Brae, more than the Six Cities of the plains.
Their failure will mean the extinction of all life - save for the wretched
Tarjan and his servile parasites.  Pray for success...and life renewed.


[< OBJECTIVES >]

You must assemble a group of adventurers who will travel to the seven
dimensions in search of the source of Skara Brae's destruction.  Along the
way, you'll gather words, spells, and items that will help you in your final
battle against the repugnant Evil One.  If you successfully destroy the Evil
One, Skara Brae will be released from the bond of ruin.

Using logic is he key to surviving in each of the dimensions.  Let's say
you're trekking around in some icy, arctic-like zone and a monstrous snow
wolf steps onto your path, bares its teeth, and then proceeds to chew off
your ankle.  You have a bag of spells to chose from, but one type of spell
would be 'especially' effective. (Hint: Trying to freeze the snow wolf in an
ice storm is not the best choice.)

Throughout the game, you'll need to make important decisions about how to
accomplish certain tasks.  You won't want to proceed in the usual 'Whatever
Works' method.  It will pay to think it out.


[< PRE-BUILT PARTIES >]

When you enter the Refugee Camp, you'll find a group of adventurers called
INTERPLAYERS ready to do your bidding.  They're not the most seasoned of


adventurers, but they're good enough for you to sample Thief of rate with.
Use these characters to find out how commands work, what different races and
classes do, how it feels to get repeatedly attacked, in general, what the
Realm is like.  When you're ready, you can create your own characters.


[< CREATING CHARACTERS >]

I'm sure most of you know how to do this, so there's no need in the key
pressing situation ... so listen up:

RACES
-----
HUMANS: Their strength and inventiveness make them one of the best survivors.
Never lacking agression , they can handle themselves in just about any adverse
setting.

ELF: Fair of hair and skin, the Elves are slightly taller,faster, and more
agile than humans.  Although weaker, they make up for this by being more
skilled in magical arts and war strategies.

DWARF: Stout and short, these people are amazingly strong and healthy.
Brightness, however, isn't a shining attribute of theirs.

HOBBIT: The Hobbit is deft and clever, which are ideal traits for thieving.
Their favorite boast is 'A locked door is soon no more.'

HALF-ELF: The result of an Elf and Human 'friendship', Half-Elves acquire
their fair and light skin from Elves, and their physical bulk from Humans.

HALF-ORC: Orcs are the henchman of evil wizards who are capable of little
more than following orders for physical dirty work.  Half-Orcs are tempered
with Human blood, so while they're still dangerous, they aren't completely
mindless drones forever in search of necks to wrench.

GNOME: Gnomes are much like Dwarfs, but a little more anti-social due to a
deficit in beauty.  Because they've spent so much time studying alone, Gnomes
have developed a certain flair for magic.


CHARACTER ATTRIBUTES
--------- ----------

As you create your characters, these attributes appear above the race
categories at the top of the screen.  They're your character's vital
statistics.  These values will determine how successful your character
performs in his or her class (or 'profession').

STRENGTH (ST): Nobody really wishes to be light on might, but strength is
especially important to fighters.

INTELLIGENCE (IQ): If you won't have brawn, then you better have the brains.
Magicians get bonus spell points for high intelligence scores.

DEXTERITY (DX): This helps determine how fleet of feed and nimble of hand
you'll be.  A high score makes you harder to hit, and helps you land the
first blow.  For Rogues, the higher this value, the less likely they'll get
their fingers snapped off in traps.

CONSTITUTION (CN): This represents your overall health.  The higher this is,
the more damage your opponent must inflict on you before you need to start
thinking about death.  Should you be blessed with strong constitution, you
will get bonus hit points.

LUCK (LK): Luck is ambiguous and unpredictable; you never know what alliance
it has made with fate.  One thing is known about luck: lucky souls are more
likely to resist evil magic and avoid traps.


CLASSES
-------

No one class, or profession, is nobler than the next.  As the mix of strings
on the Bard's mandolin makes for a richer sound, so will a mix of calls
make for a richer journey.  Create a party with no Rogues or Bards, and
you'll have nobody to steal flowers for your grave and sing at your funeral.
While there are 13 classes to put your choosing, only eight are available to
the first-time adventurer.

WARRIOR: It's a rare weapon that this king of fighters can't handle.  Warriors
gain an extra attack capability for every four levels of experience after the
first; a reward for becoming more adept in battle.

PALADIN: This fighter swears to battle all evil and uphold honor and purity.
Due to their virtuous nature, the Paladin can handle some enchanted weapons
that other can't and also have greater resistance to spells cast on them.

HUNTER: These are the skilled assassins.  Their combat approach is to aim for
the vital organs or nerve center and do away with the opponent with as little
swordplay as possible.

MONK: These are no ordinary, somber, brown-robed, porridge eaters.  Monks are
actually adept fighters skilled in the ways of martial arts.  While Monks with
more experience prefer to fight with their bare hands, they can also use
traditional weapons.  A Monk's armor class improves as he or she gains levels.

BARD: Any Bard will tell you that music can do more than sooth the savage
beast.  The Bard can do a number of things from creating light to
regenerating spell points with a mere stroke of strings.

ROGUE: This dexterous thief makes a living out of picking locks and
neutralizing traps.  If you plan on traveling  without a Rogue, prepare to
pay a high physical price for your spoils.  A Rogue also has the ability to
identify mysterious items.  And perhaps most important, a Rogue can be an
excellent killer due to his or her ability to sneak up close to an opponent
before he or she attacks...and you'll soon find out just how important this
thief is to your fate.

CONJURER: Conjurers have the ability to heal wounds and create physical
phenomena like fire and light.

MAGICIAN: A Magician's specialty is to change the properties of physical
objects, such as enchanting a sword, turning an enemy to stone, or making a
dungeon wall vanish.

SORCERER: These mages have weighty illusions, ones that a newly-made
character surely couldn't handle.  You must know at least three spell levels
from the Magician and Conjurer classes.

WIZARD: Rumor of the Real is that these mages have the power to summon and
bind creatures of the supernatural, creatures who react foully to being
dragged out of their worlds on someone else's whim.

ARCHMAGE: Archmages must have mastered all the spells of any three magic
classes.  With this hefty experience requirement, Archmages are undoubtedly
the most auspicious among those who cast spells for a living.

GEOMANCER: Fighters who want to convert to a life of a magic can become
Geomancers.  Once they choose to change, they can still use the armor,
weapons, and magic items that the  fighter can use.  Beware: Bards lose their
songs, Warriors lose their multiple attacks, Hunters lose their critical hit
ability, and Monks lose their armor class bonus and multiple attacks.  It's
part of the trade off.

CHRONOMANCER: Chronomancers are the travel experts of the magic users.
Before becoming one, a magic user must master all the spells of any three
mage classes.  An once you become a Chronomaster, you lose the power to use
all the spells you previously learned.  It may sound unfair, but the
Chronomancer needs to focus all of his or her attention on the important
dimensions teleport spells.  Don't think you can get around without this
spellcaster, because you can't.


SPECIAL CHARACTER TIPS FROM THE REFUGEE CAMP
------- --------- ---- ---- --- ------- ----

* Don't worry about losing a level 1 character; just make another one if he
or she dies.  However, when your characters reach level 3, regularly back up
your character disk with your favorite disk copy utility or prepare to shed
tears over a lost character.

* If your favorite character is killed, you can resurrect him or her with
magic, or with gold if you can find a shrine that raises the dead.  You can
also turn off the computer, reboot, and reload your party from the point
where you last saved them to disk (which means all of the characters lose any
gold or experience points they may have earned since the last time you saved
them.)  Or, you can delete the dead character from your main character disk,
and replace that character from your backup disk.

* When you roll for attributes, shoot for 16's, 17's, and 18's since they can
make a big difference.  For example, high dexterity gives you bonus armor
protection and first strike capabilities; luck often lets your survive  if
you accidentally spring a trap; constitution provides all characters with
extra hit points; and high intelligence gives mages bonus spell points in
later turns.

* Certain races rely on certain attributes being strong.  A mage who is
strong but not intelligent is at a far greater disadvantage at an opposite
attribute... being weak but with high intelligence.

* Develop a Sorcerer quickly to use in the dungeons.  Wizards, too, are
important because they can summon extremely powerful special members .  Work
toward Archmagedom.  You'll also need to prepare at least one character for
the role of Chronomancer.

* Experiment with Hunters.  They can often kill superior  monsters quickly
because of their critical hit capabilities.  Rogues also have excellent
critical hit abilities, but only when they hide in the shadows.  And don't
dismiss the Monk as lightweights best left chanting in the monastery; after
the sixth level, they're probably the best fighters of all the classes.

* You can always enlist the services of special members and save them to your
party.

* Beware of certain magic squares.  Keep an eye on your character's
statistics while exploring.  If you see that your character's spell or hit
points are dropping for no apparent reason, your character is probably on a
magic square that drains power - jump off the square before he or she is
sapped of all strength.


[< SPECIAL CHARACTERS >]

You may meet special characters during your travels, or summon them with a
spell or magic article (the summoned characters are also known as illusionary
characters).  You can invite as many of these special characters to join your
party-granted you have the space in your party.  You can save special
characters to disk once you return to the Refugee Camp.

Special characters choose their own method of attack and usually go after the
first group of monsters that you party if facing.  Illusionary characters
disappear from the party ranks when they are killed or when a foe disbelieves
its existence.  If a nonillusionary special characters is attacked by another
party member  for any reason, the special character immediately turns hostile
and fights until defeated.  Dead special characters can be resurrected and
healed just like your regular characters.

Special characters can carry items for your party, but they can't find them
or use them.  Only the characters you made are capable of this.  When special
members are killed, anything they were carrying disappears, so don't have
them carry your favorite family heirloom.


[< MOVING UP IN LEVELS >]

All newly-made characters start out as level one.  As you adventure, fight,
and gain experience, you can go up in levels.  The higher your level, the
better you'll perform in the profession you choose: magic users cast more
spells, fighters fight more skillfully, thieves steal more successfully, and
so on.  To advance, you must go to the Review Board where the Old Man will
review your accomplishments and let you know if you are fit for
advancement... [Art possibly?]

Spellcasters need to advance in levels to acquire more spells.  What
spellcasters would wish to dedicate years of study only to dabble in the same
handful of tepid spells all of their lives?  The following tables shows at
what level spellcasters can use certain level spells.  For instance, a Wizard
with an experience level of 3 can only use spells up to the second level.
Spellcasters have seven spell levels that they can acquire.

EXPERIENCE LEVEL/SPELL LEVEL

1/1         8/4
2/1         9/5
3/2         10/5
4/2         11/6
5/3         12/6
6/3         13+/7
7/4

You can advance to a new, more powerful mage class once you learn enough
spells from enough mage classes.  Just how many spells and just which mage
classes you must learn depend on which mage class you want to advance to.
When you go to the Review Board, you'll find out exactly which classes you
can advance to at that time.

For those seeking to change classes, your experience points will reset to
zero, but your other attributes such as hit points, spell points, and gold
remain unaffected.  A warning to magic users: once you advance to a new mage
spells, you don't get the chance to learn the magic classes and spell levels
that you skipped.  For instance, if you become an Archmage without having
studied the Sorcerer spells, you cannot go back to learn those Sorcerer
spells.


[< PLACES >]

Despite the fact that much of the Realm was crushed, some places still do
stand.  The Scrapwood Tavern, for one, still does good business.


[< REFUGEE CAMP >]

Once, there was a home to travelers called the Adventurer's Guild.  Wayfarers
stopped there when they wanted to slake a thirst, engage in merriment, or
just rest their weary feet.  Now that the plague has descended and Skara Brae
has been shattered, the Refugee Camp serves as the gathering points for
travelers.

Although lacking the niceties of the Adventurer's Guild (tables, heating,
vermin free bedding), you can still do the same things in the Refugee Camp.
Come here to create characters, form a party, and save characters to disk.
This is where you will begin every game and where you will be returned should
all your party perish during the quest.


[< SCRAPWOOD TAVERN >]

Drink up!  This is the only tavern in the vicinity.  You may want to fill up
with a wineskin here so your Bard will not have to go thirsty in some of the
more inhospitable, tavernless areas.  While you're here, ask the barkeep how
things are going...


[< PLACES NO MORE >]

In the previous scenarios of Bard's Tale, you may of found places like
Roscoe's Energy Emporium, temples, casinos, but... here, you may not be so
fortunate.  So you may have to search out for alternatives, if there are any.


[< REVIEW BOARD >]

Once, this housed the representatives from each of the ten different classes
from all over the Realm.  They were responsible for advancing adventurers with
enough experience points to higher levels.  During the dark days, all fled or
perished in the attempt.  Now, the Old Man sits on the Board, and he alone
will answer to your call for advancement [Art, again in aid.]


[< MORE TIPS FROM THE REFUGEE CAMP - PLACES >]

* Your first adventure should be in the Mad God's dungeon in Skara Brae.
Here you'll build your savvy for fighting, spellcasting, and adventuring.

* Avoid potential traps.  Use the Trap Zap spell when in doubt.  It will
disarm any trap, including the Gas Cloud trap, famous for its toxic fumes.