Ten years ago I found myself weeping in the dark. My parents had been killed in a terrible accident, leaving me to look after myself in a city that could be as cruel as any enemy one might face in the wilds. I struggled for weeks, near starvation, and cold from a lack of clothing. Then one day I awoke and asked myself why. Why should I walk in the mud and accept scraps from someone else's table. I deserve better. I began looking for ways to make something of myself and earn a living. I then noticed a piece of parchment laying on the road beside a crowded tavern. The document read: "Money and fame awaits those who fight in the arena. Prove yourself a hero by defeating the many creatures taken during defense of the surrounding lands". All of this seemed interesting to me, but the last line of text on the document would change my life forever. It read: "Anyone who can defeat all the creatures of the arena, shall be awarded with the position of Captain of the Guard". Money is something I needed greatly, I will not deny this. But becoming Captain of the Guard, and making a name for myself, was something I desired more than the money. I immediately set out training for the event.
I worked for months, sparing with those who would tolerate me. I was no stranger to a sword, my father taught me how to use one when we were traveling with the great caravans. I spoke with every adventurer and guard member I could about sword techniques. After three months, I finally signed on to fight in the arena. As expected, I was laughed at, even refused entrance at first. Finally, they allowed me to sign up.
I not only did well in the arena, I defeated each creature they threw at me. After each fight I would take the money I earned and spend it on more powerful weapons, armor, potions or magic. I won the right to become Captain of the Guard on that day, and have served the city well ever since. Now the city itself is being threatened by a being named Torque. He is from another plane, or so the sages say. I only know that he has ammassed a great army outside the walls of the city and will begin the attack at any time. I have made assignments to each of my men and have taken key assignments myself. Once battle begins, I will be outside the wall, attempting to defeat the enemy before they can bring down the walls of the city. His Lordship feels this plan best since Torque has great creatures capable of pulling down the walls. We must stop them before they near the city. Once they reach the walls, the city will soon fall.
About "Siege of Darkwood"
"Siege of Darkwood" is a fantasy roleplaying game set in a medieval era. As Captain of the Guard, you must fight and destroy an army that has ammassed outside your city. You start with modest weapons, but can improve them as the game progressess. There are a total of ten combat phases that must be completed to win the game, each more difficult than the previous. In addition to destroying the creatures, your must keep an eye on the city walls. Any time an enemy gets within striking distance of the walls, there is a chance of damaging them. If enough damage is dealt to the walls, the city will fall and the enemy will pour into the city, destroying everything they get their hands on. It is unknown why Torque wants to level the city, but level it he intends to. You are the only one who can stop him.
"Siege of Darkwood" is Shareware. Feel free to distribute it to your friends as long as this document accomanies the game. If you or your friends use the game and decide you like it, please honor the Shareware agreement by sending $10 to the address shown below. This is a small fee, but is incentive for me to development other software products. "Siege of Darkwood" is a follow on to another game I released called "Darkwood". "Siege of Darkwood" represents what happens when users pay the Shareware fees. I will be improving this product as well as developing others. I will keep all registered users informed on updates.
Robert Chancellor
963 Cedar St.
El Segundo, CA. 90245
I would like to give special thanks to Thomas Chan who was instrumental in testing the game. He spent many hours laboring over strategies and improvements. Thanks Tom.
"Siege of Darkwood" requires a Macintosh running at least System 6.0.7 and 8-bit color. It is 32-bit clean and has been tested on a variety of Macintosh models. RAM requirementss are minimal, with the game requiring only 640K. There are a number of sounds effects and music segments used in this game. Be sure and turn your sound level up before playing.
The Character
You play Derek, a Captain of the Guard for the city of Darkwood. Derek is represented by six attributes: strength, intelligence, wisdom, dexterity, constitution, and charisma. These attributes range from a minimum of 3 to a maximum of 18, higher being better. The only exception to this is what is known as exceptional strength. When a character has a strength of 18, he receives a bonus called exceptional strength. This is the equivalent of being a super-hero. Characters with exceptional strength can hit more often and deliver more damage than those without. At the start of each game, Derek starts with the same set of scores. These scores may be raised throughout the game by purchasing certain potions from the alchemist.
In additional the six attributes, your character possesses something called "hit points". This number represents the amount of damage your character can take before dying. Obviously, the greater the number, the more damage your character can take. As combat progresses, the creatures will surely damage Derek. When this happens, a random amount of damage is generated based on the creature. This damage is subtracted from Derek's total hit points. When these hit points fall at or below zero, Derek dies.
Derek is not a fixed set of scores. Like any living person, Derek can improve himself through the use of his skills. As your character wins combats, he not only gains gold, he also gains experience. These experience points are analyzed at the end of every combat. When Derek has reached a certain total of experience, he will advance one level. Level advancement makes it easier for Derek to hit opponents, and gives Derek more hit points with each level advancement.
The strength, dexterity, constitution, and charisma attributes each give your character various bonuses when any of them exceed 14. Below is a brief description of that bonuses these attributes provide:
Strength
Bonuses derived from strength provide your character with better chances to hit your opponents and the ability to do more damage when landing a blow. Damage is calculated as normal for the weapon your character is using, but then the bonus is applied to the damage, giving your character a better chance of killing his enemies.
Dexterity
Bonuses from this attribute improves the character's armor class. Armor class is the ability to dodge or resist being hit by an opponent. The lower the number, the harder it is to hit you. For each point of dexterity above 14, a bonus of one is added to your armor class.
Constitution
Constitution bonuses give you additional hit points each time your character advances a level. For each point of constitution above 14, 1 hit point is added to the random range of hit points given to your character. Hit points represent how much damage you character can take before being killed. When you hit points reach zero or below, your character dies.
Charisma
Charisma represents how well your character is liked by those you meet. This is particulary usefull when dealing with shopkeepers. If a shopkeeper likes you, you are more likely to get a better deal on the item you wish to purchase. For each point of charisma bove 14, you receive a discount on purchases at the weapon shop, armorer, alchemist, and magic item shops.
The City Walls
The walls of the city are made of stone, but can only stand so much damage before they tumble into a pile of rubble. Torque has many creatures powerful enough to attack and damage the walls. If is important that you keep creatures away from the city walls. Whan a troop is standing next to the wall, it may land an attack, damaging the wall a little. The city walls have a number of hit points, just as your character does. Once these points reach zero, the city walls fall and you loose the game.
Buttons Used In "Siege of Darkwood"
The following is a list of buttons used in "Siege of Darkwood", along with a brief description of what each button does:
  Character Button
This button allows you to view detailed information about your character. A dialog window will display things such as your characters level, hit points, armor class, attributes, weapons, potions, and magic items. You must go to this window if you wish to drop an item.
  Temple Button
This button can only be used when you are not currently engaged in combat. The temple provides healing services to those who make a small donation. Cure Light Wounds will heal 2-8 points of damage. Cure Serious Wounds will heal 3-18 points of damage. Heal will fully heal your character up to his maximum hit points. In addition to healing, you may pay a small donation to find out how many charges a magic item has left.
  Weapon Shop Button
This button can only be used when you are not currently engaged in combat. You may purchase weapons here for use against Torque and his troops. Weapons vary in price according to their damage and magical abilities. Any weapon listed with a "+1" or other plus number is magical. Magical weapons add the number indicated to both the chance of hitting the enemy, and the amount of damage done if a hit is scored. Be sure and visit the weapon shop after each combat phase since new weapons are being created all the time.
  Armorer Button
This button can only be used when you are not currently engaged in combat. You may purchase armor here. The more negative the "AC Adjust" value, the better you armor class will be. You want your armor class to be as low as possible, making it more difficult for the enemy to do damage to you.
  Alchemist Button
This button can only be used when you are not currently engaged in combat. This is where you buy potions. Many different types of potions are available, some heal your character while other may cause damage to the enemy. Some potions have even been known to increase one's strength or dexterity. An increase of charisma is always good when purchasing items from various shopkeepers. Don't be afraid to experiment with various potions if you can afford them. Your character will probably not have enough money to purchase them right away, but don't worry, greater challenges yield greater rewards.
  Magic Item Shop Button
This button can only be used when you are not currently engaged in combat. You may purchase a variety of magic items here. Rings, wands, and staves are among these items. Most are self-explanitory, but others may require experimentation. It is important to remember that although potions affect only one creature at a time, magic items can affect all creatures in a troop.
  Gaming Hall Button
This button can only be used when you are not currently engaged in combat. Here you may try your luch at a variety of dice games. Some are more risky than others, but for the luch, great rewards can be had here.
  Engage Button
This button should be clicked on once you have selected a troop to engage in the map area of the menu. Click on one of the orange dots to view the creatures making up a troop, and then click on this button to initiate the combat once a troop you wish to fight has been selected. The status indicator at the upper right of the window will show whether you are curently engaged in combat.
  Attack Button
This button may only be used during combat. Once combat has been initiated by use of the Engage button, this button works to attack the first creature in the troop. If you wish to attack one of the other two possible creatures, simply click on the creature icon instead of clicking on this button.
  Retreat Button
This button may only be used during combat. Sometimes retreating and coming back when healed is a good combat tactic. This button will give the character a chance to evade combat and make it back to the city alive. There is only a small chance that this can occur, so use it wisely.
  Use Potion Button
Click on this button to use any potions you character may have purchased at the alchemist. You may use this button in or out of combat, although some potions such as "Fiery Breath" can only be used in combat.
  Use Magic Item Button
Click on this button to use any magic items you character may have purchased. You may use this button in or out of combat, although most items such as "Wand of Fire" can only be used in combat.
  Surrender Button
This button may only be used during combat. If you must quit the game and can not wait for combat to finish, this button will end combat. It also surrenders your character to the enemy, so use it only if you have to. Use of this button causes you to loose the game.
Potions
Potions play an important role in the game. Potions may be used at any time of the game, even during combat (although potions that do damage to any enemy can only be used in combat). The ability to use a potion in combat can be extremely useful when the potion is one of the healing potions. When you find yourself near death, simply drink one of the healing potions to restore hit points to your character.
Attribute increasing potions are a wonderful way to improve your characters skills. Bweare thougth, for attributes can only be raised to 18. Do not purchase additional potions beyond this increase, since doing so simply is a waste of gold.
Magic Items
Magic items are very inprortant in the game. They are very powerful and expensive items that can quickly change a loosing combat into one of success. Most magic items however, possess charges. Each time it is used, one charge is subtracted from the ttotal number of charges. Once the item reaches zero charges, the item crumbles to dust. Not all items possess charges though. The Ring of Protection +1 and similar items do not possess charges and are always in effect to lower a character's armor class.
Unlike potions and weapons, magic items that damage opponents do damage to everyone in the troop you are fighting. This makes then very valuable for fighting larger groups of creatures. For example, your character runs into a troop consisting of one Hill Giant, one Ogre, and one Weaponmaster. Rather than attacking one creature and then progressing to the next one the first creature is dead, you may use a magic item such as the Wand of Fire to do damage to all three creatures at once.
Winning The Game
To win the game you must do the following:
[1] Defeat all the creatures in the game
[2] Stop the city walls from falling by destroying those creatures near the city.
If you perform these actions successfully, you will surely win the game.
I hope you enjoy this game. I have tried to keep the interface simple, while attempting to provide a strategy-type roleplaying experience. If you have any suggestions on this or other games, please feel free to write me at the address listed in the Shareware notice at the top of this document.
Although I have tested this game thouroughly, there are always the possibility of bugs. Should you find any, please send me what information you can about them. I greatly appreciate them since they are a key method of improving the software.
Tips From The Author
There are many strategies that you can use in this game. One I have found particularly usefull is to purchase "Potions of Charsima" as soon as possible. This potion will increase your charisma one potion for each potion (to a maximum of 18). For each point of charisma you have above 14, your character will receive a 10% bonus on all items purchased at the weapon shop, armorer, alchemist, or magic item shop. Without this discount you may find it difficult to afford the weaponry and items needed to complete the game.
Another important thing to remember, is that magic items affect every creature in a troop each time you use it. Once you get to the fifth combat phase, you may find it necessary to consider the purchase of one of these items. A "Wand of Fire" is always a nice place to start.
One final word. It is always fun to experiment, but save your money as often as possible. The price of the more powerful items is steap. In combat phase eight or none, you will be given the opportunity to puchase a very powerful weapon. This weapon is not cheap, but will make destroying Torque much easier.
