Software Vault: The Games Collection 1

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-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-- | | | | | | W a r l o r d s of the Balance | | | | | | --=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=- COPYRIGHT 1992-93. B.R.C. Electronics. All Rights Reserved. General Release Version .89 --=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-- BACKGROUND: Isn't BBSing fun? You are now entering your eighth straight hour and your eyes are feeling mighty strange. The Ansi graphics on your monitor begin rythmically pulsating. This wouldn't be so strange except that they are starting to look more like EGA. No more like VGA... I mean SVGA!!! Whoa somebody just made a ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZfffffffffffffffffffTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT Noise. Huh......... What... Well this is strange... Who put this ancient Castle in your living room? Infact, where is your living room, and where is your computer? Where is your Mom? Waaaaaaaaaaaaaa Iek. Well crying isn't helping at all. Maybe you should approach this castle thingy here and see if anybody is home. Bing bong... A large man dressed in plate mail comes to the door. "Ahh, Hello Sir We've been expecting you." "You have?" "Oh yes Sir, for some time now." "Who's WE?" "Well, me Sir... And Uh, the others..." "The Others?" "Uh yes the others.", He points to a mottled group of monsters huddled in the corner. "ACKKK, What the hell are those!" "Those are your soldiers Sir. All volunteers." "My Soldiers!!! What do I need soldiers for... Uhh Ekk Ebbbb" "Now calm down sir. Here sit over here and put your feet up. Here's a nice ovaltine for you... Okay this is what I know..." THE CAPTAINS STORY Two weeks ago I was leading an assault against the sorcerors of the Dragon Island. When Suddenly I lost my footing. I looked up to see a War Axe about to cleave my face. I must have blacked out. I dreamt of a terrible battle, being fought by gigantic beings. All of their faces were too beautiful or too horible to look at. They wielded gigantic broadswords and proceeded to kill each other with them. As they fought, they hurled entire planets at each other killing billions more. Then everything went dark again. I awoke lying in front of this beaten old castle. Everything inside was trashed. Having nothing else to do I set about fixing the place up a bit. Once I started working on it, the castle seemed to help in the process. I'm sure I've passed walls with cracks in them only to find them repaired later. At any rate, I was working in the courtyard a week ago, when I received my first visitor. A young man, in his early teens. He was dressed in a robe and had jet black hair. His face was total perfection. He looked at me with huge soul crushing eyes and then spoke. "You are to serve one of the Chosen. You are to await here until the Chosen One arrives. Only seventeen exist in this realm, to select the one worthy of the greatest prize ever. They must do battle against each other on this world of chaos. Each must recruit allies if they hope to defeat the others. I've also hidden several unique treasures on this world which will surely aid them in their quest." At this point I managed a feeble "But.." "When one army thinks they are strong enough, they must challange and defeat me in my citedal. Only then will the prize be awarded." With that he turned and walked off into the woods. "Well I've done my best to gather some troops, but I havn't been too successful as of yet." All you can think of is "I hope they have coke here." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WELCOME to Warlords of the Balance. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- OVERVIEW: =-=-=-=-= Warlords, in short is a Multi-Player Fantasy Wargame, like nothing else ever attempted for an IBM BBS. It has been inspired by the many DND style Wargames that have been available for tabletop play for years. I've tried to write this game to function like the many complex Combat Sims., that have been available in High Quality Computer games since SSI first brought out it's gold box DND lines. The interface is as simple as possible, so if you hate reading instructions, but have some wargaming experience, you should be able to slip right into the swing of things without any major problems. OBJECTIVE =-=-=-=-= The object of Warlords of the Balance is simple. Travel across a world of chaos, recruiting more and more creatures into your ranks. As your armies increase in size, you can split them into smaller units and thus continue your expansion. If by chance another Warlord's army gets in your way, well thats when the 'War' part of Warlords takes effect. A Warlord can control a Maximum of fifteen armies, holding up to seven creatures in each. For a maximum of 105 creatures in your total force. The ultimate objective being the defeat Arioch, Lord of Chaos, who has also been building his army ever since the beginning of the game. MAIN MENU =-=-=-=-= When first entering the realm, you are shown the title screen, and have several options you can select. [B] Background: This option prints to screen a copy of this text file. [H] Highscores: Lists the Current Supreme Warlord as well as the next 10 best scorers. If a character should die, he continues to keep his highscore until another live Warlord has surpassed it. Also Lists the Lords of Destiny (The Ultimate Winners). [N] News : Gives a list of some of the activities that have taken place in the last 2 days. [X] Expert : Switches to Expert Mode. Should be used as soon as a player has memorized the terrain types, and is comfortable with the controls. [?] Help : Displays the Recruit.Doc Text file, which contains a complete list of best places to recruit, as well as a partial Monster Beastiary. [P] Play : Starts the actual game. [Q] Quit : Quits back to bbs. NOTE: Once you've left the main menu, you can not return until you've completed your turn, and returned to the BBS. CHARACTER CREATION: =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= To start the game you must make several decisions to customize the Warlord of your choice. 1) Choose a Name. 2) Choose a Class. 3) Form the Starting Armies. 4) Name Starting Armies. 5) Select Icon for each Army. The first option that requires a little bit of thought is your Warlord's Class. Each Class has it's own unique advantages, and disadvantages. See chart below for a basic summary. -------------------------------------------------------------- | ABILITY | WARRIOR | RANGER | PRIESTESS | WIZARD | THIEF | -------------------------------------------------------------- | COMBAT | GREAT | GOOD | AVG | AVG | GOOD | | VISION | POOR | AVG | GOOD | AVG | AVG | | HIT POINTS | AVR | GOOD | GOOD | GOOD | GOOD | | SKILLS | POOR | GREAT | GREAT | GREAT | GOOD | -------------------------------------------------------------- Warriors: Warriors start the game at the youngest age of all the character classes, and thus have the lowest starting Hit-Points. However because of they're Superior combat training, they are not as likely to loose those hit points. Warriors start the game with the worst vision of all Warlords, however if they have enough Skill Points they can cast a VISIN spell to help them navigate. Warriors get the fewest spells/skills as they advance levels, but make up for them with their amazing combat abilities. Warriors fight best from Battlements, Mountains, Hills. Rangers: Rangers are probably the best class for New Players, they are fairly average in most respects, but possess the ability to travel without movement restrictions, they have the largest ability for advancement as they share Warrior, and Wizard type skills & spells. Rangers are native to Hills, Woods, and Battlements. Priestess: The only female Warlord, the priestess possesses many abilities that the other classes can only wish for. The priestess starts the game with the best vision and the ability to heal their units to full hitpoints after any battle. The priestess class are the only class able to summon the Lords of Destiny. The Priestess is native to Battlements, Shallow Water, and Deep Water. Wizard : Similar to the Priestess, the Wizard is average in combat, but has the ability to rapidly learn spells, and skills. Also like the Priestess, the Wizard's armies hitpoints are healed to full after any battle. Wizards are only native to Battlements. Thief : Thieves are similar to Rangers, except they don't get nearly as many skills. Thieves are very useful characters to take into games that have been running for a while, as their ability to steal monsters from enemy units can advance them quite rapidly. Combine that with the 5 days of protection a new Warlord recieves and you'll understand why Thieves are so popular as "2nd Characters". Thieves fight best from Battlements and Woods, but they can also deliver a deadly suprise attack from the sheer walls of a Pit. Choosing Starting Armies =----------------------= There are 4 basic creatures that can be used to fill out your two starting armies. Below is a quick summary of their strengths and weaknesses. Giant Spider: These hairy little buggers defend well in brush, and can be almost impossible to kill in a pit. They have Low Hit Points, average strength, and have the special attack "Poison". Giant Spiders are Native to Brush, and can be recruited there. Great Eagle : These Giant Birds can deliver a blow to even the strongest of opponents. Their Movement rate is high, pared with the ability to fly, makes these creatures Highly Mobile. The Great Eagle's main weakness lies in their low hitpoints. They are native to both Woods, and Plains, but fight best swooping down from hills. Lizard Man : These average Warriors are nothing special until they get the chance to fight in Marsh or Swamps. Their knowledge and love of these wetlands makes it easy for them to get around in and very tough to kill. They fight best out of Swamp, but are also tough in marsh. They are only recruitable in Marsh. Orc : The slow stupid orc is a typical warrior. They have the best Hit Points of the four starting creatures, but are probably the worst fighters. Their strength lies in defending Battlements, and charging down hills in a berserk rage. Because of their special attack "Berserk" they sometimes get multiple attacks. Orcs can be recruited in Hills or in Caves. Naming Starting Armies =--------------------= Warlords of the Balance is probably the most versatile game available for IBM BBS's as far as strategy goes. Even the simple act of naming your starting armies can have an important effect on the outcome of play. For example, one of the better gamers on my BBS names his armies after the terrain they are likely to search out. EG. 3 Lizard men might be called "1st Marsh". Others use names that describe their units. EG. 3 Great Eagles might be called "The Flyers", or 3 Giant Spiders "Poison". Still others try to hide the contents of their armies by using a generic name for all their armies. EG. "The Army", thus they can move armies around and protect themselves from you ever knowing who is in what group. Selecting An Icon =---------------= Choosing an Icon, allows for you to pick a design for that particular army to be displayed with for the entire game. Below is a few of the strategies that have been developed around this option. Personally I choose to use one Icon for all of my units. I find that by doing this, it makes it very difficult for people to keep track of my armies and whats in any particular stack. The major drawbacks I've noticed though are: 1) I'm labeled. Although other Warlords don't know whats in each stack, they definitely know they are mine. 2) Occasionally some sneaky Warlord will choose my Icon, and hide his army in a group of mine. This will generally protect him from others, but not from me. Players using Monochrome monitors are advised to use this technique as it keeps straight who's who, and you won't find yourself attacking yourself. A user named "Brain" likes to select an Icon to represent the type of creature in that unit. If a unit is likely to be heading for swamp, he tries to pick an Icon that reminds him of a swamp. "The Associate", another long time player tends to favour the Random technique of holding down the [N] for a while then hitting return Randomly. This technique gives you a complete random factor, and prevents instant knowledge of the player who is controlling those armies. In closing I must admidt that the best strategy is a combination of all of these techniques. I will now often use my generic method on most of my armies, but will usually choose a little used Icon for my Warlord army so as to not to draw any attention to it. PLAYER TURN =-=-=-=-=-= The player turn consists of 3 phases PHASE 1: Resolution: All Offline Activities are resolved and reports are issued from any offline encounters. PHASE 2: Main Turn : Warlords move their armies across the world, seeking The best terrains to recruit in, and defend from. PHASE 3: Offline Activities: Warlord issues orders to each one of his unit that he wants them to conduct while he is offline. RESOLUTION: =-=-=-=-=-= At the beginning of each turn the computer issues reports describing the outcome of your offline activities, current weather in the realm, and any spell effects. NOTE: On your first turn, you will only recieve the weather/spell effect report as there are no offline activities to report on. Weather =-----= Like any world, this one is subject to weather. Favourable Weather in a specific terrain will result in a No Movement cost for traversing that terrain. Likewise, nasty weather might cost you 1 or more additional movement points to enter said terrain. MAIN TURN =-=-=-=-= After passing the Weather/Spell Effect Screen, you should be presented with a grid which covers most of the left side of the screen. To your right at the upper corner should be a box containing the creatures in your ACTIVE army. Just below that is your command list, and just below that are your remaining Movement Points, and Skill/Spell Points. Depending on your character class you should get a view of your current terrain (Castle), with your army Icon in the centre. On the edges of that box should be movement restrictions (See Below), and if you choose any class but Warrior, you should also see the surrounding terrain. Your secondary force should be located just east of your main force, unless an enemy army was already positioned there, in which case it will be one square east of that unit. Notes on Castle =-------------= Each Warlord starts the game in his castle. This is your castle! Just yours. The Castle is a wonderous place with special properties. First of all it is the second best terrain for a Warlord to defend in. (First being Citadel). It's borders are magically guarded so that it may not be occupied by an enemy unit when you've left it empty. It excerts an anti-magic field that prevents most offensive spells. Other secrets are whispered about the castle, but nothing has been substantiated. Main Menu =-------= Below is a brief listing of your options from the main game menu, and what each one does. [M]ovement: Use the numeric keypad to direct your armys around the map. Watch out for movement restrictions. NOTE: Unless specified otherwise by Weather, each square will cost you one movement point to enter. NOTE: Initiating combat requires you have at least 1 movement point remaining, but does not take a movement point from your total. The exception being Random Combat which does subtract normal movement costs. Movement Restrictions =-------------------= < Can move through from either direction. > > Can only move through only from east to west. > | Dead end, can not ever travel through that direction. | Proper movement is essential in advancing your Armies as fast as possible. See the Strategy Section for some hints. Main Menu Cont. =-------------= [N]ext Army: Used to cycle through your armies. NOTE: Armies that have already moved will be displayed in bright blue, whereas inactive armies will be displayed in dark blue. NOTE: It is very important to move each of your armies to avoid Hibernation. Hibernating armies do not conduct Offline activities, and have a low defense ability. [S]kills: Information sheet showing list of armies and whether they have moved or not, Skills & Skill costs, Level, and current experience. [U] from this menu will activate any skill you might wish to use. NOTE: You must possess enough skill points to activate any skill/spell. Skill costs are listed under SP on the skill chart. NOTE: 0 cost skills are free to activate at any time, as long as your Warlord has at least 1 Skill Point remaining. NOTE: Skills that cost AL will take up all your remaining skill points. Effects of these skills are generally based on the amount of SP's you have remaining. EG. using the "TRAIN" Skill with 1 SP will add one experience point to your total, whereas using it with 20 SP's would add 20 experience points. Main Menu Cont. =-------------= [D]one: Ends current turn and proceeds to OFFLINE Activities. NOTE: Do not hit [D] until you have moved as many armies as you could, and used as many skill points as you could. Once you leave the Main Menu, you will not be able to return until the next day. COMBAT: =-=-=-= Often other things happen before OFFLINE Activites. One of these things is the dreaded * C O M B A T *. There are 2 basic types of combat. The first being forced combat. Forced combat happens whilst occupying an empty terrain. Sometimes these squares are not as empty as they seem, and removal of the inhabitants must take place before the square can be gained. The second is chosen combat. These fights are generally far more dangerous and must be initiated by the player. The instructions below are for "Chosen Combat" but "Forced Combat" works much the same way. When encountering another unit one must ask him self. Can I kick ASS? If the answer is NO you might want to hide away from that unit, often a couple of spaces will hide you from your opponent's vision. If the answer is yes then K I L L. To initiate combat, simply move into a square that contains an enemy. The screen then changes to a close up Combat Map. While the Main Map is an above view tactical map where each square is aprox 1 square mile, the combat map is a close up Strategic Battle Map with each square aprox 8 x 8 ft. or 64 square ft. Simply put, the combat maps are zoomed in versions of the main map terrains. Before actually getting into the mechanics of combat I'd like to take this time to explain the 2 forms of attack. The first is standard hand to hand, or Claw to Claw combat. The only requirement that need be met for this type of combat is that your monster be adjacent to his opponent. The second type of combat is a Range Attack. For a creature to Range Attack it must meet certain conditions. The first is that it must possess the ability to Range Attack. EG. An Archer with Arrow. Secondly, the unit you wish to attack must not be out of range. (You can find out the range by using the [I] command). And finally, there must not be any obstructions between you and your opponent. Possible obstructions are other units (Friendly or Enemy), Single Large Trees, and Walls. Other terrain types can effect your attack, but won't prevent it. \|/ -@- An adjacent unit is a creature next to your creature in any of the /|\ eight standard directions. N. S. E. W. NW. NE. SW. SE. Combat lasts a maximum of 7 rounds. Each round is broken up into 4 phases. Below is a brief listing of the 4 phases that take place per round, Followed by a quick walk through of round 1. Combat Round Phases =-----------------= Phase 1: Player Move and Attack (Each creature may be moved up to its maximum movement points. When that creature's movement is exausted it can attack an adjacent unit, or conduct a Range Attack if it is within range and not obstructed. When all moves and attacks have been made the player hits [D] to end this phase.) Phase 2: Computer Rebuttle (After hitting [D] the computer can then counter strike any adjacent unit.) Phase 3: Computer Move and Attack (The Computer then gets to make its moves and can then attack any adjacent unit, or conduct its own range attacks.) Phase 4: Player Rebuttle (After the computer has made it's moves the player can then counter strike any adjacent enemy units.) After the player has finished his rebuttles he hits [D] to end the current round. The whole process then takes place again for a maximum of seven rounds. If the Player Character has not won the battle by the end of the Player Rebuttle on round 7, then the attacking army disbands and all creatures are lost. NOTE: Range attacks can only be conducted on Movement Phases. Only direct adjacent attacks can take place on rebuttles. Round 1 Walkthrough =-----------------= PLAYER MOVEMENT: First bring your creatures onto the map. Use the Numpad to highlight the creature you wish to move. Hit [M] and the monster will flash at the bottom of the screen. Use the Numpad to move the creature to any of the seven most southern squares. Hit enter and the creature will be placed. Then use the numpad to select a direction for the creature to travel in. If the creature has enough movement points a little square will appear acknowledging the move. Hit enter to verify the move. Continue until Movepoints are gone. If your creature is adjacent to another creature, or it can range strike, then your creature can attack. Select [A] at the menu and position the cursor over the creature you wish to attack. Hit Enter to verify your attack. The computer will not let you make and illegal attack. [Q] will escape from movement or combat. When done hit [D] to end this phase OPPONENT REBUTTLE: Your opponent counterstrikes any creatures within range. OPPONENT MOVE: Your opponent moves pieces and attacks if within range. PLAYER REBUTTLE: Player can counterstrike any adjacent creature, but not move. The process is cycled through again, up to a maximum of seven times. Combat Menu =---------= Below are the commands available in "Combat Mode", and what each does. [N] Next Unit: Cycles through the creatures in current army. Current creature is highlighted on the Unit List. NOTE: You can also use the [8 - 2] on the numeric keypad to cycle through your creatures. [M] Move Unit: Activates selected creature for movement. The creature will flash on the map to indicate he can move. NOTE: If the creature you have selected to move is without movement points, the computer will automatically reposition itself on the first unit in your army with remaining movement points. [I] Info: Gives important information on selected creature. See Appendix C. [A] Attack: Highlights the attack icon over the selected creature. You can then move the icon around with the numeric keypad. Hitting enter will proceed with an attack if combat requirements are met. [?] Help: All creatures are displayed with a 4 letter short name on the battle map. Selecting ? and entering the short name will give the full name of the creature in question. [D] Done: Ends current phase/turn. EXPERIENCE LEVELS =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Experience points are awarded after combat, and for other special actions during the game. Enough experience points will gain a Warlord an Experience Level. With each experience level gained a Warlord recieves +1 H.P., +1 Combat Strength, and possibly other goodies. Combat experience is awarded for each creature killed by a victorious attacking army, or each creature killed by any defending army. OFFLINE ACTIVITIES: =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Each Army that moved on a game turn can perform one offline activity. Recruit: Attempt to increase your army size. Depends on Terrain and type of creatures in army. NOTE: All units can successfully recruit 100% of the time in either their castle, or in a city. Search: Search the Area for Artifacts and other intresting info. Heal: Thieves and Warriors creatures do not heal after every battle. This offline activity takes care of that. Ambush: Surrounds the unit in question with various traps to ensare an attacking unit. NOTE: Ambush also protects against Steal. Split: Allows a single unit to breakup into two smaller units. NOTE: Splitting is one of the most important functions in the game. Every new Army you create is another unit which can recruit. etc. ** Congradulations ** Because you were good, and read all the rules you get a special advantage over players who didn't. There is a *secret* offline activity not listed in the log off proceedure. This activity is called Power Struggle. What it does essentially is hold a tournament to establish the strongest (most valuable) piece in that stack. It also makes groups of monsters battle each other with the winner becoming stronger. IE 2 Orcs would fight it out with the winner getting stronger. When the tournament is over all creatures are re-arranged from toughest to weakest. Thus your strongest creatures will be protected from thieves. WINNING THE GAME: =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= When you think your really tough you must find and defeat Arioch in Combat. Arioch is located at the very center of the world, generally surrounded by some of his troops. HINT: Never ever ever, take your Warlord personally in battle against Arioch. GOOD LUCK!! APPENDIX A: Warlord Skills =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- There are 4 major types of skills/spells, below is a partial list. AUTO SKILLS =-=-=-=-=-= An AUTO skill is a skill that takes place immediatly once it is recieved. AUTO Skills do not have to be maintained and can basically be ignored once recieved. WAFLY: Warlord Fly - Gives your Warlord the Special Ability to Fly. COMBAT SKILLS =-=-=-=-=-=-= A combat skill is a 0 point skill. They must be used once and will then take effect until you have replaced them with another combat skill. Combat skills effect Warlord Rangestriking, and Warlord Special Attacks. Each Warlord can have one Range Strike, and one Special Attack active at any time. RANGESTRIKES =----------= SHOOT - Warlord has ability to fire arrows in combat. MAMIS - Warlord has ability to fire magic missile in combat. FROST - Warlord has ability to fire ice strike in combat. FIRBA - Warlord has ability to throw fire balls in combat. LITAN - Warlord has ability to fire lightning bolts in combat. MAGUN - Warlord has ability to fire a machine gun in combat. SPECIAL ATTACKS =-------------= NITEY - Warlord can sleep units. FRNZY - Warlord can berserk for multiple attacks. POISN - Warlord can poison opponents. BASTA - Warlord can assassinate opponents. HEALR - Warlord can heal adjacent friendly units. NOTE: Rangestrikes can be mixed and matched for intersting results. A highlevel thief could take both SHOOT, and BASTA to give himself an Assassin's Arrow, or a Wizard could take LITAN and POISN to give himself a Lightning bolt that sometimes poisons. NOTE: HEALR works a little differently then the other special attacks as it effects your creatures and not your opponents. A creature that can heal in combat can only do so on it's movement phase, and can only heal adjacent units. HEALR can not be combined with a range- strike to give long range healing ablility. PERSONEL SKILLS =-=-=-=-=-=-=-= A personel skill effects the Warlord, and/or his units. They are varied and can consist of basic skills and advanced magic spells. VISIN - Increases Warlords vision. VISMX - Max out vision. MMOVE - Converts skill points to movement points. TRAIN - Converts skill points into experience points. HELUN - Mild H.P. Heal on active unit. HELAL - Total H.P. Heal on active unit. BSTOW - Bestows magical special ability on active unit. CUREM - Cures active unit of minor ills. NOSTO - Cures active unit of stoned creatures. SPRYZ - Protects units from all attacks. SCOUT - Reveals general info on adjacent squares and units. PASWA - Allows unit passage through a one-way pass. FREEP - Allows unit passage through one-way passes for entire turn. TELWA - Teleports active unit to home castle. Fails if castle is occupied. PRAYR - Attempts to summon Lords of Destiny. OFFENCE SKILLS =-=-=-=-=-=-=- Offence skills are powerful spells, and are only available to higher level characters. These spells effect entire units and can be devestating. SPEAK - Communicate with adjacent unit. NOTRA - Removes Ambush & SPRYZ from an enemy unit. STEAL - Nab a creature from an emeny Warlord or Arioch. SLEEP - Sleeps all units in enemy stack that don't make a saving throw. TELAW - Teleports away an enemy unit. (Randomly) PLAGU - Diseases all units in enemy stack that don't make a saving throw. EARQU - Mass damage to an enemy stack. Changes terrain into mountains. CAPLT - Fires Catapults at adjacent unit. (1-2 hps per monster) CCOLD - Cast Cone of Cold at enemy stack. (1-3 hps per monster) FIRST - Cast Firestorm at enemy stack. (2-6 hps per monster) C.O.D - Cast Curse of Death at enemy stack. (Leaves each monster 1hp) The next two offence spells effect every unit in an enemies total. army. These spells generally do more damage to more powerful Warlords. CHAOS - Each step that an enemy takes is as if he were walking through pure chaos. This can help a Warlord, but will generally screw things up royally unless he's mega-lucky. CURSE - Curse makes all units subject to it fight at a -1 strength. Curse also effects every saving throw that unit must make on that day. Real Nasty. APPENDIX B: Terrain Effects & Combat Movement Costs =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= TREE - MOVE : 1 MP for flying or ethereal creatures. COMBAT : Great Bonus for defenders. DESCRP : Large old tree. Can only be entered by flying units or ethereal creatures. Completely absorbs Rangestrikes. HILL - MOVE : 1 MP for native, 2 MP's for non-native. COMBAT : Good Bonus for defenders. Good Bonus for native attackers. DESCRP : Easy to rangestrike over, Good combat position for any unit. MOUNTAIN - MOVE : 1 MP for native, 3-4 MP's for non-native. COMBAT : Great Bonuses for natives. Minor penalties to non natives. DESCRP : Tall rock mountains and cliffs. Difficult to rangestrike over, should be avoided by non-natives. SWAMP - MOVE : 1 MP for native, 3 MP's for non-native. COMBAT : Great Bonuses for natives. Major penalties to non natives. DESCRP : Muck, Mire, and Quicksand. Stay out if your not native. Stay in if you are. No effect to rangestrikes. SAND - MOVE : 1 MP for native, 2-3 MP's for non-native. COMBAT : Minor penalties for non-native attackers. DESCRP : Great rolling dunes. Can be difficult to traverse for non natives. No effect to rangestrikes. DEEP WATER - MOVE : 1 MP for native, 2-4 MP's for non-native. COMBAT : Great Bonuses for natives. Major penalties to non natives. DESCRP : Water deeper then 12 ft. Amazing cover for sea creatures. No effect to rangestrikes. LAVA - MOVE : 1 MP for native, 3-4 MP's for non-native. COMBAT : Great Bonuses for natives. Mega penalties to non natives. DESCRP : Unstable boiling liquid rock. Nuff said. ICE - MOVE : 1 MP for native, 2-3 MP's for non-native. COMBAT : Minor bonus's for natives, Minor penalties for non-natives. DESCRP : Ice, snow, dirt. No effect to rangestrikes. BATTLEMENTS - MOVE : 1 MP for native, 2-3 MP's for non-native. COMBAT : Major bonus's for natives, Minor bonus's for non-natives. DESCRP : Castle Walls with battlements. Major obstical to rangestrikes. SOLID - MOVE : 1 MP for tunneler or ethereal. COMBAT : Major bonus for those who can enter, Unless wall collapses into a pit. DESCRP : Solid Rock, Or City Walls, or Buildings. Completly absorbs rangestrikes. SPARSE TREES - MOVE : 1 MP for native, 2 MP's for non-native. COMBAT : Minor bonus for native attackers, Minor penalties for non-native attackers. Minor bonus for non-native defenders. Major bonus for native defenders. DESCRP : Scattered small trees, and scrub. Fairly Major obstical to rangestrikes. PLAINS - MOVE : 1 MP for all. COMBAT : No effect to combat. DESCRP : From flat grasslands to city streets this terrain has no effect on any combat. SHALLOW WATER - MOVE : 1 MP for native, 2 MP's for non-native. COMBAT : Minor bonuses to natives, Minor penalties to non-natives. DESCRP : Water, no deeper then 12 ft. Easy to rangestrike over. MARSH - MOVE : 1 MP for native, 2 MP's for non-native. COMBAT : Minor bonuses to natives, Minor penalties to non-natives. DESCRP : Ponds, Reeds, Muck, Mire. No effect to range- strikes. CITADEL - MOVE : 1 MP for native, 3 MP's for non-native. COMBAT : Minor bonuses to non-natives, Major bonuses to natives. DESCRP : Raised tower with battlements. Major obstical to rangestrikes. PIT - MOVE : 1 MP for native, 3 MP's for non-native. COMBAT : Major bonuses to natives, Major penalties to non-natives. DESCRP : Dank pits, old wells, chasms. Quick death for non-natives. No effect to rangestrikes. JUNGLE - MOVE : 1 MP for native, 2-3 MP's for non-native. COMBAT : Major bonuses to natives, Major penalties to non-natives. DESCRP : Chokeing weeds & undergrowth. Major obstical to rangestrikes. BRUSH - MOVE : 1 MP for native, 2 MP's for non-native. COMBAT : Minor bonuses to natives, Minor bonuses to non-natives. DESCRP : Thorney Bushes, and scrub. Major obstical to rangestrikes. APPENDIX C: Special Abilities and Attacks =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Below is a list of some of the special attacks, and abilities available in Warlords of the Balance, and there effects on the game. SPECIAL ATTACKS =-------------= ASSASSINATE - Possibility of striking for 99 points of damage. Chances are based on attackers combat skill. BERSERK - Possibility of multiple attacks. Chances are based on attackers combat skill. SLEEP - Possibility of sleeping defending creature. Chances are based on attackers combat skill. Defender saves on constitution. Sleeping units cannot move or attack until they wake up. POISON - Possibliity of poisoning defending creature. Chances are based on attackers combat skill. Defender saves on constitution. Poisoned creatures loose 1 H.P. per combat round and 1 H.P. per day until healed. PARALYZE - Possibility of paralyzing defending creature. Chances based on attackers combat skill. Defender saves on constitution. Paraylyzed creatures cannot move or attack until healed. Small chance that creature will become un-paralyzed on its own. DISEASE - Possiblity of diseasing defending creature. Chances are based on attackers combat skill. Defender saves on constitution. Diseased creatures loosed H.P.'s permenently until healed. STONE - Possiblity of turning to stone defending creature. Chances are based on attackers combat skill. Defender saves on constitution. Stoned creatures cannot move or attack. Must be healed, to recover creature. HEAL - Ability to heal friendly units. Must be adjacent to work. This skill can heal H.P.'s and negative statuses. DISPLACE - Ability to send enemies "flying" with each attack. SPEICAL ABILITIES =---------------= FLY - Creature has ability to fly. 1 MP for any terrain. Excepting Solid Rock. ETHEREAL - Creature has ability to move through any terrain at 1 MP, plus creature can level drain. (Permenently robs creature of H.P's) TUNNEL - Creature has ability to move through solid rock at 1 MP. When tunneling changes solid rock to either Plains, Hills, or Pit. CLONE - Creature has ability to duplicate itself during combat. Creature must have full H.P's. Duplication costs 3 H.P's. POLYMORPH - Creature randomly changes into various creatures. Each polymorph heals creature to full H.P's. RENGENERATE - Creature gains back lost H.P's. EVADE - Creature has ability to completly avoid damage. Evasion is based on creatures combat ability. INVISIBILTY - Creature has ability to dissapear. SUMMON MONSTER - Creature has ability to gate in other creatures. Summoner must have full H.P's to summon. APPENDIX D: Types of Units =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- There are 4 different types of units. Knowledge of which is essential to successful play. Player Units : Player units appear in blue with icons selected by player. Enemey Units : Enemey units appear in red with icons selected by enemy players. Arioch Units : Arioch's units appear in red with either the HA or >> icon. HA << N.P.C. Units : NPC or Mercenary units appear in purple with their own set of icons. APPENDIX E: Creature Status Codes =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= If one of your creatures has been afflicted with disease, poison, etc. That creature will appear in a differnent color on the main map, and will have one of the following codes in its MAX H.P. area. PS - Poisoned PZ - Paralyzed DS - Diseased ST - Stoned ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Warlords of the Balance V.71 Questions and Answers ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q : Okay I moved my first army, and then switched to the next one and didn't have any movement points. Should I have saved some of my Move Points for my other army? A : Yes you should have. Q : I just got into a combat, but the guy I attacked was too tough so I just Stayed back, and then suddenly the combat just ended and everybody in my unit was dead. Even Worse I was declared dead by the game and a big ugly tombstone appeared just to bug me. A : Once a combat has started, you have 7 turns to win or your unit breaks up and deserts you. Basically you loose. If your Warlord was in the army he is left by his lonesome and is quickly killed by your opponents. Q : That 7 turn combat rule is stupid. Why did you do that? A : No it isn't stupid, it prevents people from attacking unless they mean it. Otherwise people would just sit back and wait for a combat to end if they thought they would lose. There is a reason it is called ATTACKING!!! and it is supposed to have some sort of RISK to the ATTACKER. Q : I still don't like that combat rule, but here's something else. I make my first move and then I'm boxed in. I can't get out. A : Except for Rangers, all warlords are subject to movement restrictions. IE. ^^ - One Way North vv - One Way South < _ One Way West > _ One Way East < > Q : How come I can't get into a castle. A : Because it isn't your castle. Each warlord has a castle which has several special properties, one of them being to protect itself from invasion when not occupied. Another one being protection from certain spells and special abilities. Q : I keep getting into battles where I can hardly move. A : When moving about on the world map, it is important to keep in mind what creatures are present in each of your stacks. If you have water creatures and you have the choice of traveling over river or mountain obviously... Whats more if you have a bunch of city creatures and go attacking an enemy who is in possesion of a swamp square, well you deserve to be trashed by those Giant Lizards. Q : I'm not boxed in, but I can't move. A : Turn your num-lock on. Q : I attacked a guy, and while I was fighting some of his monsters turned orange? A : The creature you attacked with had a special attack IE poison, and the orange signifies that the poison has taken effect. Q : I have 15 full units and can't split or recruit any more. I'm tired of being told I have only three cookies by the merchant. Is there anything else I can do besides search and ambush? A : Yes. Read the background. Specifically the log off procedure. Q : Everybody in the game running is too tough. I keep getting killed as soon as my protection wears off. A : Take a thief, and rob them blind. A couple of lucky breaks and you can be recruiting Pit Fiends by turn 2. Q : What are all these Arioch is pleased with you messages, etc, that I get when I take my turn. A : The more Arioch notices you, the more he is likely to visit you. Q : I won the game, Became Lord of Hades. Now What? A : Play again. Thats it for now kids.... BCNU. E. Taylor ----------------------------------------------------------------------------