Monster Media 1994 #1/monster.zip/monster/BBS_GAME/TLLV17U.ZIP/DOCS.ZIP/CHAR.DOC

Text File | 1993-11-03 | 17KB | 298 lines

                               The Lost Lands
                           Fantasy Adventure Game




                      CHARACTER SYSTEM AND GENERATION





                                                        Written By:
                                                        David A. Cooke





The Lost Lands uses a complex Character System which attempts to give you a
better feel for what your character actually is.


                                 Statistics

The first thing needed to know about the Character System is what exactly
your character is comprised of.  The most important characteristics are
simply listed and given a numerical value to express how "good" your
character is in that certain category.  The range of a normal human
statistics is between 1 and 100.  A 1 represents a pitiful ability, whereas
a 100 represents an incredible skill.  The maximum statistic EVER attainable
is 200, which is considered god-like.  The following list shows all the
categories with a brief description of each:

Strength      - This is raw physical power.  This ability aids in combat
                damage inflicted, carrying capacity, and any other skill
                using brute force.
Dexterity     - This statistic is the ability to manipulate your arms and
                hands to perform detail tasks.  This skill aids in striking
                creatures in combat, stealing, and other skills requiring
                manual coordination.
Agility       - Agility is the ability to manipulate your entire body to
                dodge something.  This is mainly a combat ability,
                especially useful for avoiding opponents blows.
Intelligence  - This score is not only raw intelligence, but the ability to
                learn and general perception.  This ability is useful for
                spell casters, detecting unknown things, and any other skill
                that would utilize perception or intellect.
Toughness     - Toughness is a very important skill for all classes.  It is
                a measure of how much your character is able to "take," and
                his relative stamina.  Toughness is used in calculating
                Fatigue Points (see below), Hit Points, and anything else
                that would use a measure of how sturdy your character is.
Beauty        - Beauty is a measure of not only the physical beauty, but
                the charm and speaking ability of your character.  This
                statistic is in respect to your particular race.  Beauty is
                useful in bargaining, charming creatures, and any other
                skill that would require the use of charm, oration or beauty.


                                   Race

Only four races inhabit Akrinia, these four are Human, Dwarf, Elf and Giant.
Each of the races varies by both ability and appearance, each have their
benefits and weaknesses.  Below is a listing of each race and a brief
description:

Human  -  The primary advantage of a human character is their flexibility.
          Human characters do not receive any ability bonuses, yet they are
          able to be any class, religion and are generally accepted as the
          normal inhabitant of the continent, so are welcome almost
          everywhere.

Dwarf  -  These short, stout creatures come from the high mountains just
          north of NewMar and are generally respected as equals to humans.
          These characters are generally tougher and stronger than a human
          character, yet they are limited in the classes they may become.
          The whole Dwarvish race is very conservative and usually stay in
          large family units.  The few explorers that the Dwarves have
          bred have been fearsome at their jobs, especially wielding their
          beloved hammers and axes.  Yet, the amount of Dwarvish explorers
          is few.

Elf    -  These tall, thin creatures are almost opposite of the
          characteristics of the Dwarfs.  Elves are generally quicker, more
          fragile and more intelligent than other creatures.  The Elves
          come from all over the continent and are usually loners.  The
          Elvish race is famous for the explorers that it produces.  Some
          of the greatest adventurers of the continent have been Elvish,
          including the famed Elvish Presley, as they have a keen sense for
          detecting the unknown.  Some have also attributed this to the short
          life spans of the Elves, which cause them to face the unknown
          without fear.

Giant  -  Arguably the most potent of the character races, the Giant's
          produce a extremely strong and tough character.  They are usually
          between 6 and 8 feet tall, usually weighing twice the amount of
          a normal human male.  Although the Giants have extreme strength,
          their intellect limits them to only two classes, that of a
          Fighter and a Priest.


                                  Classes

There are ten classes that a player may choose from.  Each class has its
differences, some are greater than others.  Below is a listing of each
class and a brief description.

Fighter  -  The fighter class is the class dedicated to the age old art of
            war.  These are the people who like the physical side of combat.
            Fighter's live by their sword, they are the best trained warriors,
            excelling in both weapon and shield fighting.  Their primary
            skills are Melee and Shield.  The fighters gain two abilities
            in combat, the Pump Ability and the Circle Ability.  The Pump
            Ability enables the fighter to summon all of his strength to hit
            his enemies harder.  The Circle Ability enables the fighter to
            use his skills to confuse his enemies briefly.  The fighters start
            out in the Fighters guild which is conveniently located in the town
            square of NewMar.

Priest   -  A priest is an adventurer that is dedicated to the furthering
            of his or her god's wishes.  The priests must choose their god
            at the time of character generation.  The priests never have
            guild heads, as they are dedicated to their god.  Yet the
            advantages of being a priest is that they are able bodied
            adventurers.  The priest starts with good fighting, defense
            and even spell casting abilities.  The priests start in the
            Heart of NewMar and must find where their temple lie, for unlike
            other classes, their temple is where they train.  Priests gain
            spells every level, selecting from a list of spells that
            increases with level.  Each deity has its own spell lists, making
            each priest of a certain deity stronger in different areas than
            other priests.

Ranger   -  Rangers are fighters of the wood.  These special fighters, by
            communing better with nature, are able to grasp onto spell
            casting ability later in their careers.  Rangers gain spell
            casting ability at fourth level.  Rangers start, and train,
            in the edges of the dark forest, near the south side of NewMar.

Paladin  -  Paladin's are the Holy Warriors of Duss.  As a Paladin, you
            are automatically are dedicated to the religion of Duss.
            All Paladins must keep a good alignment and watch their deeds,
            or they will be stripped of all paladin's abilities.  Paladin's
            are the defenders of all that is good and the slayers of all that
            is wicked; keeping a good alignment rests upon the slaying of
            the evil, in the theology of Duss.  The paladins start and
            train in the Paladin's Tower, where they defend NewMar against
            the great goblin and orc tribes of the south.  Paladins gain
            spell ability around the sixth level, and have a ability to
            lay on hands, which relieves the Paladin of fatigue he or she
            may have lost.

Bard     -  The bard is the "jack of all trades, master of none."  A bard
            is a good warrior with the abilities of a thief thrown in.  A
            bard is also able to cast spells, yet not proficient until
            higher levels.  A bard is able to steal things almost as easily
            as a thief, which make it an able character class.  The bards
            start in a building just south of the Fighter's Guild, around
            the town square of NewMar.

Thief    -  The thief is a master at stealing and the shadows.  Although
            all characters have the ability of hiding, the thief does so
            easier than other classes and has an extra bonus.  The thief is
            able to use the Backstab Attack against its opponents from a
            hidden spot.  As the thief gains in ability, this attack form
            may be devastating to an opponent.  The thief, of course, is also
            better able to steal from shops than other classes.  Thieves
            start in the Thieves Guild.  To prove their worth, they must find
            their way out of the Thieves Guild.  In addition, they must be
            able to find their way back in to train.

Monk     -  The monk is the holy warrior of any religion.  Monks never
            attain shield skill, due to their beliefs that their god will
            protect them.  Otherwise, a monk is a vicious combatant.  A monk
            is trained to kill with a deadly martial arts ability.  This
            makes an UNARMED monk a deadly foe.  With the Stun Ability, the
            monk can hit an opponent and stun him so he cannot move or attack.
            While the monk is a disciple of a god, he never gains spell ability
            due to his dedication to combat.  All monks start and train in the
            Monastery, near the Ranger's Guild.

Mage     -  Mage's are the masters of magic.  These characters easily become
            the most potent and exciting of characters IF they are able to
            survive until higher levels.  They gain spells through the
            purchase or finding of spell books.  After reading these books,
            they gain spell ability.  Each level the mage gains spell boost
            points which aids in the casting of a spell.  The Mage's Guild
            of NewMar own a large Keep north of the town.  This keep holds
            a great bookstore which sells spell books.  The mage's train in
            the towers of the Keep.

Archmage -  Similar to a mage,  Archmages are what is also known as a combat
            mage.  These spell casters are truly combat mages.  Their spell
            casting skill is at FLEDGLING level during the first few levels,
            yet their combat abilities are quite potent.  They tend to be
            seen more with a sword than with a staff, and their spells are
            usually the type that enchant their weapons and armor.  This is
            mainly so due to the fact that their spell ability is low
            compared to regular mages.  This makes the combat spells much
            harder to use to effectively.  Archmages are Mage Guild members
            and also train in the towers of the Mages Keep.

Ninja    -  The ninja is the master of the shadows.  Like the thief, he has
            the Backstab Ability that is used to extreme effectiveness at
            higher levels.  In addition, like the monk, the Ninja is extremely
            potent with a martial arts ability which is effective when the
            ninja is unarmed.  The ninja gains in combat ability faster than
            any other class, yet they never gain nor have any shield bonus.
            The ninja never steals anything and must maintain an evil
            alignment.  This means that the ninja must not kill evil things
            and must kill goods things in order to maintain his ninjahood.


                                   Skills

In The Lost Lands, there are only 3 distinct skills, the rest of actions
that would require a "skill" are based directly on your statistics and level.
The three skills that are represented individually are Melee Skill, Shield
Skill and Spell Skill.  The values assigned to these skill categories can
range between 0 and 1000.  A 0 represents NO skill in the category, while
a 1000 represents the Master skill in the category.  Skills are gained by
training and are gained differently by each class.  Below is a brief
description:

Melee Skill  - Determines the effectiveness of your attacks.
Shield Skill - Determines the effectiveness of your defense with a shield.
Spell Skill  - Determines the effectiveness of spell use.  A value of
               100 is the minimum needed to gain the ability to cast spells.


                              Other Attributes

Fatigue   - Fatigue is the representation of how tired you get during any
            strenuous activities.  A strenuous situation is determined by the
            action being performed.  Melee Combat is always considered
            strenuous, yet so is Spell Casting.  The amount of Fatigue Points
            you lose during any activity is based on how tough the activity
            would be to your character.  If the activity is simple for your
            character to perform, you will lose minimal fatigue; yet if it
            is extremely tough, you will lose more.  The amount of fatigue
            points you have is the same as your twice your Toughness rating.
            Lost Fatigue Points are regained normally through time and also
            at an accelerated rate through Resting or the use of many liquids
            designed for fatigue regeneration.

Hit Points- Hit Points are the representation of how much stress and damage
            you can withstand from physical abuse.  As you are damaged by
            other creatures, your hit points will lower.  If at any point
            your hit points reach zero, your character will die.

Level     - All characters begin at level 1.  Level is an indication of how
            experienced your character is.  The higher the number, the more
            skilled your character.  Difficulty of attaining a new level
            is measured by Experience Points.

Experience- Experience points indicate how advanced you are at a more
Points      specific rate.  You will attain experience points in your
            adventures.  When your Experience Points value exceeds your
            Experience points needed value, you must find your trainer
            and ask to be trained.


                                  Religion

In this game, the gods are a real and present influence on your character
and his well being.  There are two attributes of each character that
directly influence how close the relationship between god and character is.
Certain characters MUST choose their religious order on creation, while
others may select a religion by visiting a temple and donating to it.

Piety     - Piety is a measure of dedication to ones deity.  Piety is built
            through donations and other deeds to a god.  A more pious person
            will receive benefits from his deity that other, less pious,
            characters would not.  Piety also helps priests in their
            spell-casting ability.  The amount of piety one has is NEVER
            known by the player, only by the deity.  Only characters
            who are members of a religious order gain or lose piety.

Alignment - The measure of how "good" or "evil" a character is.  This
            statistic is recorded for all characters.  This figure
            varies with time, all good actions will make a person more
            good, while any evil action throws the balance to the side
            of evil.  Be forewarned, it is much easier for one's alignment
            to slip to evil, than it is to become good.


                                   Money

Gold      - Gold is the only form of real money in Akrinia.  The gold coin
            is the standard of exchange on the entire continent.  Each
            character can hold money in his sack.  The limit on amount of
            gold one can carry only limited by the weight of coins.  Coins
            weight approximately 1/75th of a pound.