POOL OF RADIANCE: RUINS OF MYTH DRANNOR TM is a Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing
game set in Myth Drannor, the death-shrouded ruins of a once great city, where elves and
dwarves had come together to create a monument to art, beauty, friendship and peace. They
thought their city would flourish forever. They were wrong. Now it is a time of turmoil
in the FORGOTTEN REALMS world: the old leaders and heroes have come and gone; the ruined
region is rife with conflict. A new power has risen, bringing with it a threat to all of
Faer√n. Enter your adventurers - hearty men and women, a party formed of mutual interests
and the desire to Set Things Right. Something evil has awoken in Myth Drannor. Will you be
the ones to stop it?
Installing the Game
Before you get started, please make sure your system meets the minimum system requirements
listed below. You must install the Pool of Radiance demo to your hard drive in order to
play this game. To install the demo, double click the Setup.exe. Follow all on-screen
prompts to complete the installation.
System Requirements
To run POOL OF RADIANCE: RUINS OF MYTH DRANNOR Demo you need the following minimum system
requirements:
Windows 95/98 or Millennium Edition (ME)
Pentium II 400 Mhz PC or compatible
350 MB of hard disk space
64MB RAM
8X CD-ROM
3-D video card with D3D support including Voodoo 2 (12 MB) or higher, TNT 1 (16MB)
or higher, Geforce series, and Radeon Series
DirectX compatible sound card
Windows(95/98/Me compatible pointing device)
In addition to the basic system requirements, the game requires that DirectX 8.0a
or higher be installed to your hard drive. DirectX 8.0a is not included with
the Pool of Radiance Demo.
The following are the recommended system requirements:
Windows( 95/98 or Millennium Edition (ME)
Pentium III 500 Mhz PC or compatible
128 MB RAM
8X CD-ROM
3D sound card
**Pool of Radiance does not support anti-aliasing. If you are having graphics problems, we
recommend you turn it off in your video driver settings.
Uninstalling the Demo
Select Settings from the Windows Start menu and select Control Panel. In the Control Panel,
select Add/Remove Programs, left-click on Pool Demo and click on the Add/Remove button.
Starting the Demo
The game can be started by opening the Start menu, selecting programs, choosing the folder
where the demo was installed and clicking on the POOL OF RADIANCE: RUINS OF MYTH DRANNOR
Demo program item.
For complete and specific "how to play" information, please refer to the appropriate
sections of this document.
Once the introductory movie has played, the POOL Demo Main Menu appears.
Single Player Game
Let the adventure begin! This brings up the Single Player Menu panel. Choose New Game
to start the demo. Select Main Menu to return to the main menu of the game.
Slide Show
Select this button to see a slide show of other areas of the game.
Quit
Exit the game and return to your Windows desktop.
Who is the Dungeon Master?
The Dungeon Master is your guide to the dark passages and forgotten secrets of Myth
Drannor. He will describe the items you find and the areas you explore, communicating
with you mostly through text on the screen, but occasionally through spoken dialogue
as well. As your characters perform actions, he informs you of their results. Sometimes
the information he provides is brief and quickly scrolls off the bottom of your screen.
For example, as the Dungeon Master is running combat, successes and failures alike are
reported and discarded rapidly. But be assured, any vital information he gives you can
be read at your own pace, typically in the upper right hand corner of the screen.
You would be wise to pay attention to the Dungeon Master. Amidst his narratives will
be many clues, vital to solving the mysteries of the Pool of Radiance!
Cursors
The mouse is used to control almost all aspects of the game. The cursor changes as you
move the mouse, to reflect the action that will be taken if you left-click on that area.
For example, the Move cursor appears when you run the mouse over land the party can walk
to, but it changes to the Use cursor when the mouse passes over a barrel that you can
smash or search. Right-clicking on an area will either give you more possible actions,
additional information on the item, area or character you are clicking on or information
about the selected character, known as the Character Menu.
Move
When the Move cursor is active, left-click to send the selected character, or party, to
the designated spot. If you right-click while the Move cursor is active, you bring up the
Character menu for the active character.
If the characters walk, travel takes longer, but there is more of a chance of the party
noticing important details such as monsters waiting in ambush. Pressing the Right Shift
key toggles Run mode on and off. When characters run, they move much more quickly, but
are more likely to be surprised by monsters. Even when a character is running, they are
assumed to be actively searching the area for clues.
Pressing the Left Shift key toggles Move and Act mode on and off. When this mode is on, you can initiate actions from a distance, and your characters will move to that location and then perform the action. When this mode is off, your characters will approach items or objects that are clicked on but will not perform any further action unless directed to afterwards.
During Combat, different movement rules apply.
Transition
The Transition cursor signifies a movement between levels in the game, such as going up
and down stairs between dungeon levels. Whenever the cursor is placed over an object
that allows you to move between areas of the game(such as stairs), the cursor will change
to a doorway. Left-clicking on such an object, or right-clicking and selecting the option
from the pull down menu will cause the game to transition to the next level.
Use
The Use cursor appears over objects that can be used in some way. Left-click to initiate
the most likely action - for example opening the door. Right-click to display additional
possible actions. If the party is standing outside a wooden door with an inset, small,
barred window, the possible actions might include "open," "look" and "break open." The
Use cursor will only be present if you are standing next to an object that can be
interacted with in some way, unless the Move and Act mode is on. Objects that can be picked
up, such as treasure, can be left-clicked with the Use cursor to open up the Treasure
Screen. Right-clicking on the treasure icon will display what the treasure contains.
Target
The Target cursor appears when an action, such as a skill being used or a spell being cast,
needs to designate a target. The Target cursor will have a X through it if the area under
the cursor is not a valid target for the skill or spell. Left-click with the Target cursor
on a valid subject to use the skill or spell, or right-click to cancel the action completely.
Talk
Most of the time, NPCs will talk to you when you approach them. If you wish to initiate a
conversation, move the mouse over the NPC. The Talk cursor will appear over any NPC the
party can talk to. Left-click to talk to the NPC or right-click to find out more
information about them. If the Talk cursor does not appear, the NPC has nothing more to
say to you at this time, but you would be wise to come back later and try again. Certain
NPCs will have new things to tell you at later points in the game, so remember those
figures who seem to possess a wealth of knowledge as you run across them.
When you have the opportunity to speak to an NPC, the dialogue appears in the upper right
of the screen while your conversation options appear in the lower left. Select one of the
options to direct the conversation onto that topic. Left-clicking on the responses will
forward you onto the next piece of the dialogue. Use the Space Bar to continue the dialogue
and bring up further topics. As the conversation progresses, some options previously
available will vanish while new ones appear.
Talk to the locals whenever you can. They will have valuable information for you, items
to possibly sell or trade, or favors to ask . People will know that your party has been
adventuring in the area, so don't hesitate to go back to someone you've already talked
with to see if they have advice for your current endeavors.
Attack
The Attack cursor appears both inside and outside of combat when the cursor passes over
a hostile NPC. During combat, the cursor only appears when the selected character is close
enough to the target to launch an immediate attack or if Move and Act is turned on.
Outside of combat, you can left-click on any hostile NPC in the area with the Attack cursor
to begin combat. If you right-click, limited information about the target is displayed.
Note: a left-click on a sword cursor may also cause an enemy to initiate dialogue and such
dialogues often result in combat - but you may find out a useful tidbit or two. But be
careful, allowing an enemy to draw you into a long conversation may result in more enemies
joining the ensuing combat.
Trade
At times you will be given the option to trade with other characters. Placing the cursor
over the person to trade with will bring up the trade menu. Items may be bought by
left-clicking and dragging them onto the appropriate character in your party. To sell items,
left-click on your party member who wishes to sell items, then left-click and drag the
item to the trader. The gold you receive for the sale will be added to the total party
gold. Right-clicking on any item in the trader's inventory will display information about
the item and its cost.
No Option
When the No Option cursor appears, nothing can be done with that area. It cannot be moved,
used or attacked. If you left-click, nothing happens; if you right-click, the Character
menu appears.
Select
The Select arrow appears over game interfaces like control panels and other selectable
objects on the screen such as your party members. Left-click to select whatever is under
the cursor.
Indicators
Indicators are on-screen overlays that provide more information for you. Most indicators
are turned off by default, except during combat. To turn indicators on, simply press the
Left Alt key. This will display a set of colored rings that correspond to the character's
color on their health bar. The number of rings give you an idea of how healthy the
character is: three rings means within 1/3 of full health, two rings means within 2/3 of
full health, and one ring means the character is on their last 1/3 of hit points and
nearing unconsciousness.
Loot Icons
Throughout the course of the game players will encounter a vast array of treasure. To help
players identify what type of treasures they may have found, loot icons have been placed in the game. There are three basic types of loot icons: the sword and shield icon, the coin icon, and the bag of gems icon. The sword and shield icon refers to weapons or armor that may be present in the pile. The coin icon refers to gold. The bag of gems icon refers to a mixed assortment of coin, wands, staves, potions, gauntlets, boots, and other non-weapon related items. Right-clicking on any loot icon will reveal the contents in the pull down menu.
Hotkeys
Hotkeys are shortcuts for often-used interface items. For example, pressing a number
between 1 and 6 selects the corresponding character. Other shortcuts include:
Tab Brings up the basic popup menu for the selected character.
Backslash (\) Brings up the Character Sheet for the selected character.
s Brings up the Skills popup menu for the selected character
i Brings up the Inventory popup menu for the selected character
a Brings up the Arcane Spells popup menu for the selected character,
if the character can cast Arcane spells
d Brings up the Divine Spells popup menu for the selected character,
if the character can cast Divine spells
c Brings up the Combat Options popup menu for the selected character
(in combat only)
Left Shift Toggles Move and Act mode on and off
Right Shift Toggles Run mode on and off
Left Alt Toggles Indicators on and off
Right Alt Toggles dice rolls on and off
Numpad Enter Toggles Group Movement mode on and off when the party is not in
combat
Esc Skips a movie in progress; brings up the In-Game menu
Space Bar Skips a movie in progress; advances dialogue; skips the rest of
the current character's turn in combat
F1 Shows in-game keymap
p Pauses/Unpauses a movie in progress
Arrow keys Provides secondary control of the camera, allowing you to change
your view of the map, separate from your party's movement.
In addition to these hotkeys, you can map commonly performed actions to the function keys
(F2 - F10). Each character can have up to 9 hotkeys assigned to commonly used spells,
skills, or combat abilities. To map a function key to an action, simply press and hold
the CTRL key along with the function key you wish to map to (F2 - F10).
The In-Game Menu
Click on the Pool of Radiance symbol in the left control panel to pause the game and open
the In-Game Menu. From here can exit the Demo.
Resume Game
This exits the In-Game Menu and returns to play.
Keeping Track of Quests
As your party adventures and encounters other inhabitants of Myth Drannor, a variety of
quests will be offered to your characters, ranging from simple favors to solving the
mystery of the Pool of Radiance itself. In order to keep track of your progress on various
missions, you can access the Quest Log by clicking on the book icon in the left control
panel. This pauses the game.
On the left side of this screen is a list of your current Quests, missions you have not
yet finished. Click on a quest's name to view the latest information your party has
encountered so far relating to that quest. You can use the arrow buttons to scroll either
the quest list or the quest details. You may also review quests you have completed by
clicking on the Review Accomplishments section of the quest log. When you are finished,
click on Close to return to the Adventure screen.
Telling Time
Although the problems in Myth Drannor are quite urgent, there is no specific date by
which all problems must be resolved. Therefore, game time is tracked only as a series of
day and night cycles. The third icon in the left control panel shows the relative position
of the sun, giving you the approximate time of day.
Also, the lighting of the world changes as dusk turns to night and dawn to day. When the
sun goes down, be wary, for sinister monsters flourish in the shadows. Unless you need to
travel by night, you may wish to rest in a secure location, safe from the chill hands of
the undead.
Viewing the Maps
As your party travels the world, maps of the areas you explore are automatically created.
You can view these maps at any time by clicking on the Map icon in the left control panel.
This brings up the Maps screen. The map of the area you are presently exploring is shown by
default, or you can click on Current Map to bring it up in the Map window. Click on World
Map to bring up the map of Myth Drannor, showing how much you have explored thus far.
The region's name appears at the top of the screen. You can zoom in and out on the map by
clicking the + and - symbols, and you can scroll around by left-clicking and dragging the
map to reveal the areas you are interested in. You can also view other maps within a
multi-level dungeon or building by clicking on the arrows located to the right of the
Map View window.
You can add a notation flag to the map by left-clicking on the Note icon (a flag) and
dragging the flag to the place on the map you wish to label. Releasing the flag opens a
text window, where you can type in any comments you have. This text may be no more than
four lines worth of type on the screen. To read the notes you've made, right-click on the
flag on the map and the window appears. You can read the notes, or you can edit them by
backspacing through existing text and inserting new notes. You can move the location of a
flag that is already placed by left-clicking on it and dragging it to the new location.
To delete a flag you've placed, left-click on it and drag it off the map.
Managing Your Party
The panel in the lower right corner of the Adventure screen allows you to keep an eye on
your party's health and control their movement by selecting the leader and setting a
movement formation. You can also order your party to rest from this panel.
Party Health
The colored bars on the left of the panel display each character's health.. If a character's bar is full, they have all their hit points. As the character takes damage, the bar lowers. If the bar empties, the character has fallen unconscious and may soon be dead. Keep in mind that just because two characters' bars are the same level doesn't mean they both have the same number of hit points remaining. If a Fighter has a maximum of 60 hit points and a Sorcerer has a maximum of 30 hit points, and their bars are both at half, the Fighter has 30 hit points remaining, while the Sorcerer has only 15!
Characters can gain back hit points by resting or being healed. You can use the health
bars to select individual characters, simply by clicking on them. You may also use them
to target a character with a skill or a spell; select the skill or spell, then target the
cursor over the health indicator of the character you wish to affect.
Follow the Leader
The leader of the party is indicated by a triangle under their health bar. The leader is
the active member of the party, and when the characters are in Group Formation, described
below, they follow the leader wherever he or she goes. You can make any character the
leader of the party by clicking and dragging the triangle underneath their health bar.
Players may find some advantages in choosing who is the leader of their party.
Rest for the Weary
In order to heal and regain spells, characters must rest. The party always rests for eight
hours at a time, unless disturbed. If they are not awakened prematurely, they will be fully
healed and have regained all spells.
It is assumed that watch is rotated among the members of the party. If your party is
disturbed while sleeping, the character on watch is awake and available for combat
immediately. Others wake up according to a combination factors, including whether they
are attacked and injured. Once they awaken, they can join combat immediately. Note that
a character who is already awake may strike a non-damaging blow on his or her turn to
awaken another party member. This is a Combat Option.
Since Myth Drannor is a monster-infested ruin, not everywhere is a safe place to rest!
The closer you are to monster lairs or other danger zones, the more likely your party
will be awakened in the night by a sneak attack. The Rest icon (tent) in the lower right
panel switches color as the area becomes more safe to rest in. Red icons indicate areas
so unsafe that your party cannot sleep. Yellow indicates an area you can rest in, but is
still susceptible to ambushes. When the icon is green, usually inside structures, shelters,
caves, or other hidden enclosures, it is completely safe to camp.
Knowing Your Characters
Understanding and utilizing your characters' individual abilities will be a key part of
success or failure during your quest. In particular, taking the time to become familiar
with the menu system will save valuable seconds in combat later.
The Character Menu
You can have full access to your characters' skills, abilities and inventory at any time
simply by right-clicking on their miniatures on the Adventure Screen. This opens the
Character menu for the selected character, with their name, current hit points and armor
class. From this menu you can also select from one of the options explained below. Keep in
mind that some options are not available at all times. For example, the Combat Options menu
is only available during combat, and some spells and skills can only be used in combat, or
only when the character is not in combat. Spells or skills that can only be used in combat
will only show up in a player's list during such an occurrence.
Character Sheet
The Character Sheet is the place where you can check out your character's inventory,
spells, skills, feats, special class abilities, and vital game statistics. It is also the
place where you can find the Drop icon, which allows you to remove items from your
inventory, and the row of party miniatures along the bottom of the screen, which let you
quickly switch between Character Sheets or trade items among party members. However, such
swapping between characters may only be performed outside of combat.
Remove from Party
This option removes the selected character from the party. Any of the character's items
that are not first moved to other party members are taken with them. Characters that are
removed from the party often remain in the area for a short time, just in case you change
your mind. However, characters that you create and later remove from the party will wander
off in search of other opportunities for adventure if you leave the area (for example,
going to another level of the dungeon). These characters are lost forever.
[I]nventory
If you select [I]nventory, a submenu appears, breaking the character's inventory down into
its subcategories: Weapons, Armor and Magical Items (potions, rings, wands, etc). Choosing
one of these submenus opens a list of the specific items in that character's inventory.
Once that list is on the screen, selecting an item acts as it would from the Inventory
window of the Character Sheet. For example, if you choose as follows:
Inventory / Weapons / Long Sword, the game swaps the long sword for the weapon the
character is currently using. Now the character is armed with the long sword. Similarly,
if you select a potion, the character drinks it, or if a scroll is chosen, the character
reads it. Keep in mind that some items, such as wands and staves, must be equipped before
they can be used. To use such an item you may have to select it twice from the Magical
Items section...once to equip it and a second time to use its power. Currently worn and
wielded items appear with a + sign next to the name. Items whose name might be longer
than the pull down window can be moused over to extend the name of the item in a floating
window.
[S]kills
This brings up a list of the currently usable skills for the character. Select a skill
from the list, then click on a target on the Adventure Screen to use the skill.
A character's skills depend on his or her class and level.
[D]ivine and [A]rcane Spells
Similar to the Skills option, these choices bring up lists of the character's available
spells, if any, organized by level, in both types of magic. The number of spells available
to the character is set by their level, class and ability scores. Click on a spell name to
cast the spell.
[C]ombat Options
This menu item is only available during combat.
Your Character's Backpack
Each character is assumed to be carrying a backpack that holds their items and equipment.
This pack is represented in the game by an inventory grid of squares displaying the backpack
's contents. If a character's grid ever becomes full, a 2nd page is created, accessed by
the down arrow to the right of the grid. In order to move objects from one page to the other
, you must first make room in the destination page, drop the item you want to move, and then
pick it up again. Multiple pages can exist depending on how much equipment that character
is currently holding. Once you are in your inventory, you can use and manipulate inventory
items in several ways.
Using Items
To equip a character, drag an item from the inventory grid onto your character's paper doll. Items such as armor and boots automatically appear on the character. If the character is already wearing the sort of item being equipped, the two are swapped, and the item previously being worn is placed in inventory. The same rule applies to weapons, wands and shields: one swaps for the other. Two-handed weapons are a special case: equipping a two-handed weapon may cause both a one-handed weapon and a shield to go into inventory. Bows are considered two-handed weapons.
Items such as rings and amulets must be placed in appropriate "in use" boxes associated
with the part of the body such items are worn on. In the case of putting on an amulet, if
one is already being worn, the two swap. The player may also drag a ring to a particular
hand slot, and if that slot already has a ring on it, the two swap, as with amulets, etc.
Potions are useable simply by selecting the item from your inventory and dragging it onto
the paper doll. Other consumable items, such as salves and scrolls, must be used from the
main game screen, using the Magical Items submenu under Inventory.
Items that cannot be equipped nor consumed are assumed to be in your character's hand when
they are needed. For example, if a key is needed to open a locked box, and you have the
key, simply right-clicking on the box gives you the option to open the box. If you try to
open the box and you don't have the right key, the Dungeon Master will let you know that a
special key is needed. Once doors or objects that require a key have been opened, the key
is automatically removed from your inventory.
Certain items cannot be used by select classes. If you ever try to equip an item for which
your class is restricted from using, a dialogue box will appear informing you of this fact
and the item will not be equipped.
To trade an item from one character to another, click on the item in inventory, and
drag it to the miniature of the target character. To drop an item, drag it to the Drop icon. This removes the item from inventory and leaves it on the ground. Keep in mind that items that you drop may not be there when you return. It might be better to find someone to sell your excess items to, rather than lose them to the local inhabitants. Be careful what you sell! Merchants stay in business by reselling items - an item you choose to sell may not be available to purchase back later.
Encumbrance
All items have both bulkiness and weight. When a character is carrying too much weight it
slows them down, making it hard for them to react with much speed and agility. This is
known as encumbrance. The larger a character's encumbrance, the more slowly and awkwardly
they move around in combat.
One way to manage your party's encumbrance is to sell your extraneous equipment whenever
possible. Gold does not add to encumbrance.
Entering Combat & Initiative
Combat is entered when one or more of the party members ventures within range of an
enemy, either deliberately or accidentally, or when you initiate an attack by
clicking on an opponent with the Attack cursor, or sometimes when conversations turn
unfriendly.
Combat is a special case of the Individual formation. If the party is grouped, it
immediately enters combat in the formation in which it was set. Once the party is in
Individual formation (or if it already is), gameplay becomes "timed initiative based," with the turn order determined by initiative die rolls.
At the beginning of each combat, initiatives are rolled for every combatant in the
combat, adjusted according to their Initiative bonus. The initiative order that is
generated lasts for the entire combat. It can be seen at the upper left of the
Adventure screen, with red dragon-head icons representing enemy attackers in the
initiative order. The currently active character is highlighted.
In order to maintain the pace of the combat, each character is allotted a certain
amount of time in which to take an action. A thin green line underneath the cursor
that shrinks as the time counts down represents this. If the time window expires
before an action is chosen, the game moves on to the next character in the initiative
order, ending the current character's turn. This time window can be set in the Game
Setting panel. For a list of possible combat actions, see below.
Combat Actions
There are many different things your characters can do during combat. A partial list
includes:
* Move
* Attack
* Defend
* Cast a spell
* Use an item
* Go into inventory
* Awaken a party member
* Use a skill (including Heal)
Most of these options are accessible from the character popup menus. Tab opens the
Character Menu, S opens the Skills menu, I opens the Inventory menu and D and A open
the Divine and Arcane spells menus. Press C during combat to open the Combat Options
menu, detailed below.
Note: Items cannot be picked up during combat. Bear this in mind when deciding to drop
something from the Inventory screen.
The Combat Options Menu
The Combat Options menu is available during combat on each character's turn by pressing C
or by right-clicking on the selected character and selecting Combat Options from the
Character Menu. It lists possible combat actions besides simply moving or attacking.
Defend
This option instructs the character to concentrate on his or her own defense. This grants
the character a +4 bonus to their Armor Class for that round, making them harder to hit.
Delay
This option delays the character's turn until the end of the combat round. This can be a
strategic choice; sometimes going first isn't as valuable as going last. For example, you
might delay the actions of your Fighter until after your Sorcerer has cast her sleep spell. This allows the Fighter to attack an opponent that wasn't affected by the spell, instead of an enemy at random. Any character that delays, however, will always act at the new place in the initiative order unless they use the Refocus ability explained below.
Refocus
This option requires the character to give up all actions and movement for that turn while
they look around and appraise the flow of the battle. After they complete this action, the
character moves up in the initiative count, and is positioned as if they had rolled a 20
on their initiative roll. This advantage remains until the end of the combat.
Awaken Party Member
This option allows the character to awaken another party member who is sleeping either
because of a magical effect, or because of a surprise attack while the party is camped for rest. Awakening a party member requires the character to strike a non-damaging blow, so the character must be fairly close to their intended target.
Special Combat Options
In addition to the options described above, other choices may be available in the Combat
Options menu as special attacks.
Movement in Combat
During combat, movement is different from normal play. The Move cursor is used to indicate
whether a specific destination is within the character's movement range for that turn. If
the Move icon is a walking stick figure with a plus sign, the area is within the character's
range which enables the character to still take an action such as making an attack or a
second move. If the Move cursor is a walking stick figure, without a plus sign, moving to
the selected area will take all the character's actions for that turn. If the Move cursor
becomes a running stick figure, moving to that area will cause the character to run the
maximum distance they can move in a round. Characters that run lose their Dexterity bonus
to AC for that round. If the Move cursor turns to the No Option cursor, the distance is
too far for the character to travel in one turn.
Special Combat Situations
There are several special circumstances that can arise during combat allowing a combatant
to get off a special attack. Often these attacks do more damage than normal attacks.
Attacks of Opportunity
In melee, if an opponent breaks off combat to take another action (cast a spell, fire a
missile weapon, use an item), the attacking monster or character receives a "free" attack,
known as an Attack of Opportunity. These can be devastating to your party if you don't take
care to avoid them whenever possible. Keep your spellcasters out of hand-to-hand combat,
and have your Fighters focus on a single opponent until the they are killed before moving
on to the next. Note that pivoting in place to face another opponent does not constitute
breaking off fighting in this way, and therefore does not result in an Attack of
Opportunity.
Sneak Attacks
All attacks by Rogues against an opponent who does not receive a Dexterity bonus to Armor
Class are called Sneak Attacks and do extra damage to their target.
(Note that in the first round of combat, the opponent receives no Dexterity bonus if
attacked before its initiative has come up.) It is easiest to get off a Sneak Attack
by making sure the target is engaged in combat with one or more of your party before
bringing in your Rogue to attack their undefended back.
Critical Hits
If any attacking character rolls within the threat range for the weapon they are using
(usually a natural 20), followed by another successful attack roll, he or she is assumed to have made a "Critical Hit." Like Sneak Attacks, Critical Hits require that the character be able to locate the target's vital organs in order to deal extra damage to an opponent, potentially killing them in a single blow. Creatures such as constructs and undead, however, lack vital organs and are immune to this extra damage. There are some common weapons that only require a 19 to initiate a critical threat, and the Improved Critical feat can decrease that minimum threat number to 17!
Character Damage and Death
A character does not die immediately when his or her hit point total reaches zero or lower. Someone whose hit point total goes negative is still alive, but unconscious and bleeding. If the character is bleeding, or losing hit points, he or she must be tended to quickly to prevent bleeding to death. A bleeding character loses one hit point per round until bandaged or otherwise stabilized; there is a 10% chance each round for a bleeding character to stabilize naturally. When a character reaches -10 hit points they die. Successful use of the Heal skill or a healing spell will stabilize a character that is dying. If healing spells increase the character's hit point total to greater than zero, the hurt character becomes healed enough to resume fighting. You can ascertain the status of a fallen character by right-clicking on them on the Adventure Screen. Dead characters can only be brought back to life by casting a Raise Dead or Resurrection spell; normal healing spells will not bring them from 'dead' to 'unconscious.'
When a combat ends, characters that are bleeding and unconscious must be treated immediately, or they may still die. An unconscious but stabilized character must rest or be healed with spells or salves to become conscious again. Other lasting effects, such as poison, paralysis, fear, and so on either remain with the affected character until removed, or do progressively more damage until the character's hit point total reaches zero. At that point, unconsciousness occurs and the effect remains present. Characters so affected must have the effect removed directly by a Cleric.
If a party member does die, you can choose to remove the character from the party using the right-click Character menu. However, if you do this, the character disappears from the game and can never be raised or reclaimed. A dead character can be raised if the party finds the appropriate spell, or if a powerful NPC can be found to cast the spell.
Gaining Experience
Experience points (XP) measure how much your character has learned and how much he or she
has grown in personal power. Your character earns XP by defeating monsters and other
opponents, by successfully solving quests, and by using some skills, like Open Locks.
The Dungeon Master will tell you when your characters earn experience. When your
character's XP total at least reaches the minimum for a new character level, he or she
goes up a level.
A character can only advance one level at a time. If, for some extraordinary reason, a
character gains enough XP to advance two or more levels at once, he or she instead advances
one level and gains just enough XP to be 1 XP short of the next level. All characters can
advance up to 16th level in any one class, with a combined multiclass level cap of 32.
Most characters have only one class, and when such a character achieves a new level, it is
a new level in that class. If your character has more than one class or wants to acquire a
new class, however, you choose which class goes up one level. The other classes stay at the
previous level. See the multiclass rules following, for more information.
When your character goes up a level, you are asked to choose either to raise up one of the
character's existing classes, or to start a new class entirely. Once you make your choice,
several changes may occur. The character's base attack bonus or base save bonus may improve. Your character gains hit points equal to a random roll of the hit die for their class, plus or minus their Constitution modifier (but never less than 1). Spellcasting characters gain the ability to cast more spells as they advance in levels. (In the appendix are "Spells per Day" tables for each spellcasting class, showing how many spells of a given level a character can cast.) Also, many characters gain feats or new special abilities as they advance in levels.
If your character has just achieved 4th, 8th, 12th or 16th level, you will also be
instructed to raise one of his or her ability scores by 1 point.
(It is okay to go above 18.) For a multiclass character, it is the overall character level, not the class level, that counts.
Multiclass Characters
All characters start out with a single class. However, whenever a character gains a level,
you may choose to increase the level of their class or pick up a new class at 1st level.
The character gains all the features of the new class, as well as a Hit Die of the
appropriate type. For example, when Garrick, your 3rd level human Fighter, amasses 6,000XP,
you can choose to have him either become a 4th level Fighter, or add a class and become a
3rd level Fighter/1st level Rogue, for example. If he becomes a Rogue, when Garrick has
10,000XP, you can choose to make him a 4th level Fighter, a 2nd level Rogue, or take a
different class at 1st level. Thus, multiclassing improves a character's versatility,
but at the expense of focus.
Developing and maintaining skills and abilities in more than one class is demanding. If
any two of your multiclass character's classes are 2 or more levels apart, your
multiclass character suffers a -20% XP penalty for each class that is not within 1
level of his most experienced class. These penalties apply from the moment the character
adds a class or raises a class's level too high. For instance, a 4th level Sorcerer/3rd
level Rogue gets no penalty, but if that character raises his Sorcerer level to 5th, then
he receives the -20% penalty from that point on until his levels are nearly even again.
A race's favored class does not count against the character for purposes of the -20% XP
penalty. Also, when determining whether a multiclass character's classes are even, do not
count the character's favored class. A dwarven 7th level Fighter/2nd level Cleric suffers
no penalty, nor does he when he adds 1st-level Rogue to his classes since his Cleric and
Rogue classes are only 1 level apart. Note that in this case Cleric counts as his highest
class, not Fighter, because Fighter is favored for dwarves. A human's or half-elf's
highest-leveled class is always considered his or her favored class.
Weaponry
Your party's effectiveness in combat is dependent on the quality of their weapons and their skill in using them. The types of weapons a character can use are based on class.
Armor
The armor your characters wear can make a big difference in whether they survive a battle, or end up being carried home on their shields. Effective protection isn't simply a matter of finding the thickest, strongest armor your character can carry. You must also take into account whether the benefits for wearing heavier armor outweigh the penalties.
Magic Items
Along the course of adventuring, characters will encounter a multitude of magical items, from magical suits of armor to enchanted weapons, wands, staves, potions, etc. Magical items that have charges, or a limited number of uses, will have this number listed in parenthesis after the item's name (i.e. wand of cure light wounds (10)). Many items need to be equipped before they can be used, such as armor, weapons, wands, staves, gauntlets, rings, amulets, and boots.
Spell Library
The POOL OF RADIANCE: RUINS OF MYTH DRANNOR Demo supports the D&D 3rd edition spell
system as closely as possible. Sorcerers have spells that are learned through inborn
talent. Sorcerers of the same level may have different spells, depending on the choices
made during spell selection at the beginning of each level. Clerics, Rangers and Paladins
have deities that they pray to for spells, and the number of spells they know is set by
class and level. Each time a caster chooses to cast a spell, you must select a spell from
the spell menu (press A or D to bring up this menu as appropriate). The number of spells
available at each level is listed. Once all of a character's spells for a level have been
cast, he or she must rest to regain the ability to cast more at that level. A character's
spell selection may also be limited by circumstance; some spells can only be cast in combat, for example.
Some spells have durations that last while a character is within combat, or even after it
has ended. These durations are represented by six different persistent spell effects that
float above a character's head. Players can look at the different types of spell effects to
gauge whether a spell is having a beneficial or negative result, whether they are charmed,
held, or silenced. The following are the six persistent spell effects and a sample of the
types of spells that fall under their category:
Persistent Spell Graphic Type of Effect Sample Spells
Black-Green Cloud Negative Effect Bane, Fear, Prayer on Enemies
