The World of Computer Software/World_Of_Computer_Software-02-386-Vol-2of3.iso/e/excal37.zip/QUESTHLP.XCL

Text File | 1990-12-30 | 6KB | 100 lines

                              QUESTING
  Now you are on a Quest.  You are able to move around the kingdom and
experience many adventures.  You can capture cities, challenge rivals, or
                     just explore the countryside.

1. Travelling
2. In the City
3. In the Country
4. Meeting Another Player
5. Hiding Out
6. Scouts and Abandoned Knights
7. The DRAGON
Q. Quit
*
* 1. Travelling
   To (T)ravel, just press the T and you will be prompted for the direction
you wish to go.  If that direction takes you off the map, you could wind up
anywhere, and perhaps some of your knights won't survive the experience.  To
move a little faster, you could take a (P)otion, assuming you have one.  In
this manner you can travel to any location on the board using only one move.
Trouble is, you have to have a potion for you, and one for each knight you
want to take with you.  Another funny thing about potions, they seem to react
somewhat strangely in the presence of large quantities of gold.  If you are
carrying a lot of gold with you, the potions are likely to misfire and deliver
you to the wrong place.  Even worse, some of your guards might end up where
they were supposed to, while you end up somewhere else!  Also, potions don't
work in regions of large population density, such as a city.
* 2. In the City
   After you travel, you might wind up in a city.  You may then try to capture
the city from its owner, or from its citizens if it is unowned.  If you can
capture it, you may place guards on it and collect taxes which will accumulate
each day.  The taxes that accumulate depend upon the base tax rate and the
number of knights you have guarding the city.  The knights will collect ten
gold coins apiece out of the taxes, as wages.  But, if you post more
knights than the city can afford, they find a way to survive, somehow.  In
fact, you can leave up to 32,767 knights guarding a single city.  But, of
course, there won't be any taxes left over for you to collect.  For you to
collect your taxes, you must pay a personal visit to the city.
   When you have captured a city, you can elect either to execute the leaders
among the rabble, or spare them.  If you execute them, the tax rate for the
city is cut in half, because you only left the stupid ones alive.  If you
spare the leaders, you collect the full tax rate, but there may be instances
where the peasants strike out at your guards, occasionally killing a couple.
* 3. In the Country
   If you find yourself in the Excalibur countryside, you will become
exposed to many dangers.  In the mountains are bandits who can murder your
knights.  They have little use for potions, though, and sometimes you may find
a few unbroken vials amongst the rocks.  The deserts are harsh and cruel, and
cost you many knights.  Two deserts in succession can be devastating.  If you
should happen to encounter three of them in a row, you'll be lucky if any of
your retinue remain alive.  Swamps, too, are merciless; the going is so slow
that it costs you two turns to get through.  Plains are relatively safe.
Nobody gets killed there, and occasionally you can move so easily that it
won't even cost you a move.  But if you run across a rival in the plains, you
can challenge them to duel, and vice-versa.  Forests are safe, as well, but
beware of the Robbin' Hoodlums, who will take your gold if you have any.  But
if you don't, they will give you some.  Robin Hood and his men won't bother
you if your retinue is large enough.
* 4. Meeting Another Player
   If you should come upon other players, you can try to capture them.  If you
succeed, you will acquire all their gold and potions as ransom, and they will
be returned to Camelot.  However, do not risk your last knight, for if you do,
you yourself may be captured and suffer the same fate, and will have no
further moves left for the day.  If you run away the opponent's forces will
attack you as you run.
* 5. Hiding Out
   If for some reason you find yourself unable to get back to Camelot before
you have used up all your moves, you might leave yourself in a city that is
not owned by you.  You will be invisible there, and the only way another
player can discover where you are is to purchase (I)nformation while in
Camelot.  If they do, they can try to find you by doing a (H)unt, which will
cost them 100 gold coins and five moves, and even then there is a fifty-fifty
chance that you won't be discovered.
   You might also leave yourself upon the plains, where you can't be captured,
but other players may challenge you to combat while you are there, wagering
gold and potions upon the outcome.
* 6. Scouts and Abandoned Knights
   If you get sick of seeing your knights decimated as you march your army
around the board, you might try sending out (S)couts to help reveal the map.
It's much less expensive that way, but maybe not as much fun.  Unfortunately,
scouts can only be sent out to squares which are adjacent to you.  And, of
course, if your retinue is down to zero, you won't have anybody to send out.
   Knights which are left behind when their owner potions away without them,
usually hang around waiting to be hired by the next Lord or Lady passing
through.  It's best to use up your retinue or post them as guards before your
turn is through, or you will have to pay them their wages the next day that
you log on.
* 7. The DRAGON
   Somewhere on the map is a horrible dragon, who moves around the map one
square per day, or sometimes stays in the same place.  If she arrives in your
city, your guards will be destroyed, your taxes stolen, and the city will be
the property of the dragon.  You may fight the dragon, but your chances of
defeating her are small.  You can improve the odds with a large number of
knights, but the odds are still poor, and a loss takes a terrible toll upon
your retinue.  If you should defeat the dragon, however, you will become the
new ruler of the kingdom and will collect all the dragon's treasure.  It costs
three turns every time you attempt to slay the dragon.
                   HAPPY QUESTING!
*