Jason Aller Floppy Collection/122.img/DWDOC.ZIP/DRAGNWAR.DOC

Text File | 1990-03-12 | 26KB | 463 lines

                                 Dragon Wars
                                 by Interplay

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Side Note: Unfortunately, we didn't happen to receive the Reference Card for
this game so that takes care of that.  However, to do anything in the game,
all you have to do is type the first letter of the command or use the cursors.
You should explore around with the keyboard a little so that you can figure
out what keys go to what commands.

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INTRODUCTION

Orbiting the star Sirius, millions of miles away from any other intelligent
life, a tiny ball of hot water is home to amazing adventure.  Sirius is three
times the mass of our own star, and sixty times brighter; its huge bloated
mass spans the entire horizon of the humid world of Oceana.

Oceana is a world 85% of water and getting wetter, as the baleful fury of
Sirius erodes her diminutive polar ice caps year by year.  Oceana is a world
younger than our own, wedded to a star with but a fraction of the life
expectancy of Sol.  It is a world burning the candle at both ends, enjoying
twice the light in half the time, and spinning all the faster toward
annihilation and the Void.

Her surface is dotted with ten thousand islands.  Some are home to thriving
civilization, while others are all that remain of greater achievements long
since sunk beneath the waves.  Oceana is a violent world of capricious storms,
where natural geographic barriers and hostile sea life hold people and empires
apart.  In no time of her history has Oceana known unified rule.

Of all the islands of Oceana, the most fabled by far is Dilmun, "The Land
Where The Sun Sets".  Located on a score of nautical charts, each time in a
different place, Dilmun is always just over the horizon.  It is the home to
all that is best of Oceana--the home of her eldest empire; the seat of her
finest culture; the lair of her most terrible beasts.  It is an isle of
dragons and a destination of pilgrims.  Beneath Nisir, "The Mountain of
Salvation", is the secret heart of Magan, the Underworld.

As your adventure begins, you find yourself aboard an armored pilgrim's barge,
nosing through the still waters of a silent fjord, nearing the moment you will
drop the plank on an isle you believe to be Dilmun.  Perhaps you are a pilgrim
in search of peace and enlightenment, or an adventurer on the trail of fabled
treasure, or a weary mercenary seeking retirement and eternal slumber in
vaults held high above the waves.  Hopes are high as the incredibly ancient
architect of this isle's lone port swims into view.  Rapture is just off the
bow.

As it turns out, Purgatory is just off the bow...rapture may or may not lay
beyond the walls of the port city.  No sooner does the pilgrim's barge enter
the harbor than she is boarded by city officials, who quickly put all crew and
passengers under arrest.  Stripped of all possessions and wealth, one pilgrim
in every ten is separated from the pack for sacrifice to the Dragons.  Your
party is among the fortunate remainder dropped naked and defensely into the
slums of Purgatory, there to fare as you will.  The armored barge is
confiscated and made a part of Dilmun's rapidly growing navy--a navy that will
one day sally out across the seas of Oceana, at long last bringing her beneath
the heel of a single ruler:  Namtar, the Beast From The Pit.

Back to basics in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods anywhere, you know
only you've been had.  A well-intentioned traveller, you've been treated like
a beast by Namtar, and consigned to a life of perpetual poverty in Purgatory.
No one escaped Purgatory alive, and few know the luxury to die in bed within
her walls.  Starting hip-deep in mud, you must use every trick just to stay
alive, much less worry about sticking it to The Beast From The Pit.

OBJECTIVE

You and your party are adventurers in the magical land of Dilmun, an island of
salvation perverted into a world of horror by Namtar.  You begin the game
armed only with your wits in the savage streets of Purgatory.  You must find a
way to survive in Oceana's most dangerous slum, locate a way out of the same,
and accept the impossible task of toppling Namtar.  Vengeance must be yours!

Examine your reference card to determine how your mundane computer becomes a
portal to the mystic world of Oceana.  The card will show you both how to boot
up your game and what keys to press to execute game commands and summon
various menus.  Once the game is up and runing, you'll find a party waiting to
begin the adventure in the middle of the stinking city of Purgatory.  We'd
tell you to watch your purse--but you don't have one!!  Nor do you have a belt
from which to hang a purse, or pants from which to hang a belt, or...you get
the idea.

THE PARTY

A party can have up to four characters, plus up to three non-player
characters. Non-player characters are summoned creatures or heroic individuals
you may meet in your travels.  Everyone else is one of your own people.

The game provides a beginning batch of characters for your use should you wish
to jump directly into the adventure.  All characters are able-bodied and have
no brain damage--use them, or create your own.  If you'd like to create your
own characters, read the "Creating Characters" section.

It may also be possible to transfer characters from other computer games into
DRAGON WARS--check the reference card for details.  Be warned that such
translation is inexact...characters arriving in this game from other "worlds"
will find none of their magic objects and few of their spells make the journey
with them.

CREATING CHARACTERS

When the game fires up, you'll see the names of the default characters
displayed on the screen.  If you want to create your own characters, you'll
have to delete those already present to make room.  Type the number of the
character you want to delete and follow the screen prompts--when you open a
space in the party, the computer will offer you the chance to create a new
character.

There's also an option to rename the default characters, which allows you to
personalize your party without having to create a whole new batch of heros.

The process of character creation requires you to spend points to custom-
design your character.  You are provided fifty character points to spend on
attributes and skills.  Characters begin with a default value of ten in all
attributes, and have no skills.  By following the prompts, you can page
through the character creation menus to modify attributes and purchase skills.

Character creation is an at, and you'll have to experiment if you want to
arrive at the "perfect" design (if such a thing exists).  To get you started
in the right direction, consider the following design guidelines.

*  No one character can do it all...nor should they.  While everyone will
   benefit from weapon and magic skills, it helps if your characters
   specialize. It's better to have a character who is very good at something
   and useless in other fields than to have one who can do a little bit of
   everything. *  This is a game of slow character growth.  Don't sexpect your
   characters to change very much, even if they earn vast amounts of
   experience. *  When buying skills for beginning characters, it is rarely
   wise to purchase more than one level. Situations requiring skill levels of
   two or higher are rare in the game, and you'll know them when you find
   them.  If you find an instance where your skills are insufficient, you can
   always pursue another path, then return later when you've improved the
   relevant skill through experience. *  Finally, be aware that a character
   must master Low Magic before any other variety of magic can be learned.

CHARACTER PROFILE

See your reference card on how to view a character's profile.  After a
character is called up, you can perform a variety of functions, such as
viewing statistics and managing your inventory of gold and items.  As with
character creation, just follow the prompts.  A few minutes of hands-on
experimenting will show you everything you need to know about the character
profile.

Characters are represented by a series of words and numbers, the significance
of which are illuminated below:

STRENGTH (STR):  The most immediate effect of great strength is the ability to
cause additional damage to foes.  Strength is also useful for breaking things,
lifting heavy objects, and opening stubborn pop bottles.  High strength is
required to use certain weapons; strength in excess of a what a weapon
requires provides additional damage.  Inquiring at a weapons shop will
sometimes tell you the strength required to use certain weapons.

DEXTERITY (DEX):  A high dexterity makes you light on your feet, improves your
chance of hitting the bad guys, and diminishes the chance of getting nailed
yourself.  Dexterity also determines the order in which a character acts in
combat, starting with the highest dexterity and moving down to the lowest.
Consider designing some magic-users with low dexterity, so they can cast
healing spells at the end of a combat round.

INTELLIGENCE (INT):  Ultimately, your characters are only as intelligent as
are you.  This statistic measures a character's abstract intelligence; it is
important for learning spells and solving puzzles.  Intelligence also affects
your chance of successfully hitting an opponent with a spell.

SPIRIT (SPR):  On Oceana, the mundane realm is just one part of life.  Spirit
reflects the strength of a person's soul, and is important for casting spells
and resisting evil spirits.  Spirit also determines the number of power points
retained by magic-users.

POWER (POW):  Power is derived from spirit, and represents spell points used
for energizing magic spells.  Once spent on a spell, power points do not
naturally regenerate...you will need to use a Dragonstone or find some other
means of regenerating Power (magic pools).  For this reason, power points
should be used with discretion.  Power is twice your Spirit.

HEALTH:  Health is terrifically important, for when health is reduced to zero,
the character dies.  Health can be restored only by certain spells, retaining
the services of a healer, or through use of the BANDAGE skill.  Death is
usually permanent on Oceana, but legend holds that somewhere in the depths of
the Magan Underworld can be found the Well of Souls, within which resurrection
is possible.

STUN:  Stun is derived from health, and represents the ability to resist
damage before a character falls unconcious at a stun value of zero.
Characters genearlly run out of stun before they run out of health.  Stun
fully regenerates following every melee--you'll find yourself taking a lot of
stun damage in the game, but it isn't really serious unless the whole party
gets stunned all at once.

SEX:  Male, female, sometimes, or never.

EXPERIENCE:  Experience points are an abstract measure of a character's
activity.  The more things a character does--the more monsters he slays, the
more secrets he discovers--the more experience points will be earned.
Experience points translate into levels.

LEVEL:  Levels are gained automatically as a character earns experience
points. The computer will let you know when a character attains a new level.
Initially your characters will rapidly gain levels, but after the fourth or
fifth level you'll notice character growth is considerably slowed.  This is
because it requires progressively greater and greater amounts of experience to
reach the higher levels.  When your character reaches a new level, he receives
two new character points that can either be saved or spent on skills and
attributes.

ARMOR CLASS (AC):  This rating indicates the quality of the armor.  The more
(and better) armor you wear, the more damage it can absorb before it starts
counting against your health and stun.  Armor does not make it harder for
opponents to hit you.  It does increase your life expectancy by taking damage
that would otherwise be taken by your skull, ribs, etc.  Remember, armor does
not contribute to your DV--it make actually reduce AV.  But your AC will rise
if you wear armor, and it will help you survive.

ATTACK VALUE (AV) & DEFENSE VALUE (DV):  These factors are based on your
dexterity value divided by four, and are the basic statistics influencing
combat.  You'll want these numbers to be as high as possible, as they
determine how often you will hit your enemies with weapons and spells, and how
often you will be hit by the same.  Some items increase or decrease AV and/or
DV.  Weapons usually improve AV, while armor actually decreases your combat
values--armor will encumber you and may impair your performance slightly.

Your AV is different for magical combat and weapon combat, depending on your
magical skills and weapon skills.  These skills do improve your AV but the
improvement is not shown on the AV gauge.  For example, Raggletok has a
Dexterity of 16 and a crossbow skill of 1, and no other weapon skills.  His
base AV is 4; that's his Dexterity divided by four.  When using a mace in
combat, Raggletok's AV is 4, since he has no weapon skills to increase his
combat proficiency.  However, when using a crossbow, his AV is 5 because of
the influence of the crossbow skill.  Remember, whichever skills he may be
using at the time, Dragon Wars will display only his base AV without skill
modifications--modifications for actualy weapons or armor will be reflected.

SKILLS

Skills reflect a character's area of expertise.  Correct selection and use of
skills is the key to completing the DRAGON WARS adventure.

Skills are defined by type and level.  In most cases a skill need not exceed
level one to be useful, but to complete the game certain skills will have to
be higher.  For instance, a single level of skill is perfectly adequate for
most of the LORE skills.  Eventually attaining two or three levels of skill in
LOCKPICK, BANDAGE, CLIMB, and other weapons and magic skills is recommended.
Skills always begin at level one, but can be initially purchased at higher
levels, or improved during play by the accumulation of experience points.

It isn't necessary for every character to have every skill.  You can divided
the labor to your advantage if you decide to have one LOCKPICK specialist, for
example, a couple of characters with BANDAGE skill, and a CLIMBer.  As long as
you work as a team, specialization will help you survive.

SKILL DESCRIPTIONS

BANDAGE:  A very important skill, as healing services are scarce in Dilmun.
With greater skill, more health can be restored to an injured character.

CAVE LORE:  Many of Dilmun's dangerous and exciting places are found
underground, and having this skill may yield important information at
appropriate moments.

CLIMB:  Use this skill to climb over rocks, up into trees, and down to certain
doom.  Some obstacles require high levels of skill to overcome.

FOREST LORE:  Dilmun is largely a wild place, and this skill yields knowledge
of how to operate in a wooded environment.  This skill is impotant to the
Druids, who inhabit the forest lands of Dilmun's wilderness.

HIDING:  If you can't kill something, and you can't outrun it, your only hope
is to hide.  Note that once you're in combat, it's too late.

TRACKER:  While your character's mundane eating and sleeping concerns are
invisibly maintained by the game, you might find it useful to hunt every now
and then.  Using this skill allows you to track various creatures, be they men
or beasts.

LOCKPICK:  Valuable objects are usually locked within chests or behind doors.
Seeing as how Namtar robbed you of all your worldly goods, you'll doubtless
want to engage in a little first hand social reform by robbing from the rich
(everyone else) to give to the poor (yourself).  Knowing how to pick a lock is
important to resolving your quest.

MAGIC SKILLS:  The skills of LOW MAGIC, HIGH MAGIC, DRUID MAGIC, & SUN MAGIC
are required to leanr spells of a specific type.  Furthermore, you must have
the LOW MAGIC skill before you can learn any of the others.  High levels of
magic skill are useful, as they determine the maximum number of power points
you can invest when casting a spell--the higher your applicable magic skill
level, the greater the potential of your spells.  A higher level of magic
skill also increases the chance your spells will accurately hit their targets.

MOUNTAIN LORE:  Fabulous treasures and fearsome beasts reside in Oceana's
mountainous climbs.  Knowledge of the world's high mountain places might save
your life.

FISTFIGHTING:  Adds to your ability to hit when using fists.

ARCANE LORE:  Dilmun is a magical place, and it's important to know about the
worl'd magic, mysticism, and gods.  A well-rounded sorcerer will combine
magical might with arcane lore.

BUREAUCRACY:  To liberate Dilmun from Namtar's foul grip, you will need to
sway hearts and minds.  To this end, skill in public speaking is important, as
represented by the BUREAUCRACY skill.  You might also have success using this
skill on stubborn guards and petty officials.

SWIM:  While it is generally not possible to swim between the islands of
Dilmun, this skill will help you should you find yourself unexpectedly
underwater.  A character who can't swim could find himself in deep water.

TOWN LORE:  You will visit many of the towns of Dilmun in the course of your
adventures--this skill will provide you with local legends and history.

PICKPOCKET:  Times are hard in Dilmun, but there may still be a few unwary
folk that you can practice this age-old skill on.

WEAPON SKILLS:  You need not have the relevant skill to use a weapon, but
doing so will improve your performance with the weapon in question.  Each
level of weapon skill adds 1 to your AV when you use that type of weapon.
Note that the effects of weapon skills are not shown on the display of your
AV, but rest assured the additional effects of your weapon skills are
invisibly maintained by the computer.

For example, if Muskels the Barbarian has a 20 Dexterity, he'll have a base AV
of 5.  Armed with a flail and a Flail skill of 1, his AV with the flail will
be 6, but Dragon Wars will only display his AV as 5, because of the effects of
weapon skills are not shown on the display.

When creating characters, there are several ways to get your AV up.  You can
either have a high Dexteritiy, which will increase both your AV and DV, or you
can choose to add to your weapon skills, which will increase only your AV at a
cheaper cost.  Adding to weapon skills also restricts you to a certain weapon
if you want the additional AV.

SKILL USE

In some cases, merely knowing a skill will be enough to benefit from it.  This
is sometimes the case with the Lore skills, which yield useful bits of
knowledge at the appropriate time if a sufficient level of Lore knowledge is
present.  If one of your characters suddenly notes an odd detail and you
didn't select the USE command, then a Lore skill has kicked in.

Other skills will require that you actually use them to be effective.  If
you're confronted by a puzzle or obstacle which you think can be solved by
skill use, select the skill you want (see the reference card) and follow the
prompts.  You can use items and attributes using the same prompts.  If you
fail, but are still convinced you've used the proper skill, you probably need
a higher proficiency level in the skill in question--come back and try again
after you've learned a thing or two.

COMBAT

Unless you're willing to roll over and die, you're going to have to fight.
Fortunately, you have lots of options during combat, and if you exhibit the
proper mix of prudence and courage you should emerge victorious more often
than not.

You'll know a fight is brewing when a picture of some nasty being appears on
the screen.  The computer will tell you what you've encountered, and set the
range at which the encounter begins.  You'll have to close to within ten feet
of the enemy before you can enter hand to hand combat, but spells and missile
weapons can be used at varying ranges.

When facing a battle you can always run away, but it's more fun to fight.  The
game offers you two types of combat:  Q)uick Fight, and F)ight.

Quick Fighting gives you more limited combat options to speed encounters
along.

If you choose Fight, instead of Quick Fight, you have a few more options.
First off, you'll have the option of striking a normal blow (just like the
quick fight option), a might blow (reduced chance of hitting, but improves
damage done to the target), or a disarm blow (try to knock your opponent's
weapon away without doing much damage).  You also have a chance to rearranage
your party, which is important if one or more characters have been
incapacitated or killed--only the first four characters in the party order can
actually fight in hand-to=hand combat.  Finally, you can attempt to block,
which improves your DV against the attack of a single foe.

In either type of combat, you always have the option to use an item, run
(shame on you!), dodge, or cast a spell.  Dodging is similar to blocking, but
it works against all enemies in the combat and is less effective.

Note that if you run from an encounter, the computer will actually run you
across the map you are on for several moves...if you return to the scene of
you defeat, don't be surprised if you run into the same enemies again.  Just
because you turned tail doesn't mean the bad guys are going to pack it in!

GETTING AROUND

The computer simulates the perspective view available to your characters.
Think of the computer as a window to the world of DRAGON WARS.  Check your
reference card for specifics on how to navigate around the world.

If you lose track of where you are, or start to develop a dangerous case of
tunnel vision, try using the automap feature.  (See your reference card for
how to invoke automap.)  You'll call up a top-down view of your character's
present position, showing exactly where you are in relation to the local
terrain.  Black areas on the map represent areas you haven't explored yet--you
must actually move through a square with your party to fill it in on the
automap.  Black areas that you cannot reach may indicate secret adventure
areas worthy of further investigation.  Then again, they may be solid rock.

Speaking of secret stuff, you'll find plenty of it in the game.  Secret doors
are indistinguishable from normal walls...until you walk through them.  Clever
use of the automap may reveal where secret doors "should" be.  You'll know a
locked door when you bump into it--try battering the door down with strength,
or maybe use your lockpick skill.  The game also features exotic and rare one-
way doors, teleporters, spinners, and...well, find out for yourself.

ITEMS

Almost as important as your attributes, spells, and skills are the items you
will discover during your quest.  An item is anything you can pick up.  A very
few items are worthless, but everything else you find, buy, or steal in DRAGON
WARS could be important to completing the game.  Simple items are things like
weapons (used to do mayhem to the bad guys) and armor (used to prevent the bad
guys from doing the same to you).  Magic armor and weapons can also be found
in Dilmun--and there are no cursed magic items.  Certain weapons could
actually decrease your AV, but this means they're harder to use, not that they
are imbued with evil magic.  As Muskels the Barbarian said of his Crush Mace,
"Yeah, it was harder to swing, but boy did it crack skulls!"

The use of many items may not be immediately obvious.  Sometimes you will need
to discover secret knowledge or clues to determine what to do with an item.
Other times an item may be useful only in some part of the world you have not
discovered.  Keep track of the items your party carries, and try to use them
in novel ways.  The secret to item use is to consider all the things an item
can do...if you find a key, it is probably used to open a lock.  If you
haven't yet found a lock, remember you have a key, and keep your eyes open for
locked doors or chests as you explore.  No character can carry more than
twelve items.

IMPORTANT:  If you "discard" an item, it is gone forever...and along with it
may go your only hope of solving the game, so manage your items carefully.

The various stores in Dilmun can only keep certain mundane, plentiful items in
stock; there is high demand for the unusual.  If you find unique items during
your adventure and sell them to a store, they will be sold to other
adventurers, and you cannot buy them back.

To use an item, follow your reference card's instructions on the "Use"
command, and follow the menus.  Select the item you want to use and give it a
try.  The worst that will happen is you'll look silly, and most of the time no
one is looking anyway.  Actually, that's not exactly true.  Some magic items
have limited uses.  Once you've shot up an item's charges it usually cannot be
recharged, so a certain amount of resource management should be applied to
item use.

A FINAL USE

DRAGON WARS is as much a story as a game.  To complete your quest you must pay
careful attention to your environment, and realize you are in the middle of a
fully-developed antasy world.  Very little happens in this game without a
reason.  Take note of details, consider what motivates your enemy, and keep
your eyes open.  Finally, don't be afraid to take control of your own life.
You are the hero of this saga, and without you there is no adventure.

Good luck.

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