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1991-01-25
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T H E L A N D O F T H E B A R O N S
User Documentation
Version 4.00
Copyright (c) 1991 by R.A.W. Software
Written by Richard A. Wilkes
Mycroft Systems, P.O. Box 7672, San Jose, CA. 95150 BBS: (408) 927-0105
The Land of the Barons, Version 4.00 Page i
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.0 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2.0 System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
3.0 Object of the Game. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
4.0 Using the Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
5.0 Home Castle Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5.1 Kingdom Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5.2 Visit the City. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5.3 Combat Arena. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5.4 Messengers & Scribes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5.5 Personal Status Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5.5.1 Ranking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5.5.2 Times Here . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5.5.3 Times Died . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5.5.4 Last On. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5.5.5 Last Killed By . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5.5.6 Level. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
5.5.7 Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
5.5.8 Health (current & maximum) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
5.5.9 Orders Left Today. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
5.5.10 Deaths Left Today. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
5.5.11 Monster Combats Left Today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
5.5.12 Quickness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
5.5.13 Hand Weapon Accuracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
5.5.14 Missile Weapon Accuracy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
5.5.15 Armor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
5.5.16 Hand Weapon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
5.5.17 Missile Weapon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
5.5.18 Gold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
5.6 Journey to Mount Olympus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
5.7 Exit the Land of the Barons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
6.0 Kingdom Management Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
6.1 Command Your Armies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
6.1.1 Attack Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
6.1.2 Order Timing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
6.2 Spy Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
6.3 Tax Collection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
6.4 Manage Holdings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
6.5 Holdings Status Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
6.5.1 Normal Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
6.5.2 Summary Report. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
6.5.3 Brief Report. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
6.6 Personal Status Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
6.7 Return to your Castle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Mycroft Systems, P.O. Box 7672, San Jose, CA. 95150 BBS: (408) 927-0105
The Land of the Barons, Version 4.00 Page ii
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TABLE OF CONTENTS (cont)
7.0 The City. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
7.1 Axyl's Armor Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
7.2 Wyatt's Weapon Shop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
7.3 Hire Mercenaries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
7.4 First Bank of the Baronies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
7.5 The Baronial Enquirer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
7.6 Personal Status Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
7.7 Return to your Castle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
8.0 Combat Arena. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
8.1 Fight a Monster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
8.2 Fight another Baron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
8.3 Healers, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
8.4 Personal Status Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
8.5 Return to your Castle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
8.6 Actions within the Arena. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
8.6.1 Moving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
8.6.2 Firing Missile Weapons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
8.6.3 Attacking with Hand Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
8.7 Retreating. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
9.0 Messengers & Scribes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
9.1 View Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
9.2 Send Message. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
9.3 Return to your Castle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
10.0 Journey to Mount Olympus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
10.1 Ask the Gods to Reincarnate You. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
10.2 Change Graphics Setting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
10.3 Toggle Expert Display Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
10.4 View or Download Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
10.5 View Sysop's Opening Bulletin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
10.6 Page the Sysop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
10.7 Return to your Castle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
11.0 Spy Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
11.1 Individual Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
11.2 Town Report. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
11.3 Map of the Baronies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
11.4 Return to Kingdom Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
12.0 Manage Holdings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
12.1 Change Tax Rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
12.2 Change Draft Rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
12.3 Change Town Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
12.4 Raise Fortifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
12.5 Build a Castle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
12.6 Holdings Status Check. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
12.7 Return to Kingdom Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Mycroft Systems, P.O. Box 7672, San Jose, CA. 95150 BBS: (408) 927-0105
The Land of the Barons, Version 4.00 Page iii
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TABLE OF CONTENTS (cont)
13.0 The First Bank of the Baronies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
13.1 Deposit gold in your account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
13.2 Withdraw gold from your account. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
13.3 Transfer gold from your account to another Baron's account . 18
13.4 Return to the City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
14.0 The Baronial Enquirer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
14.1 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
14.2 Who's Who in the Land. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
14.3 Barony Rankings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
14.4 First Appearances and Final Goodbyes . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
14.5 Past Kings of the Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
14.6 Return to the City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
15.0 Barons Change History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
15.1 Version 4.00, released on January 25, 1991 . . . . . . . . . 20
15.2 Version 3.04, released on October 8, 1990. . . . . . . . . . 21
15.3 Version 3.03, released on September 27, 1990 . . . . . . . . 21
15.4 Version 3.02, released on August 2, 1990 . . . . . . . . . . 21
15.5 Version 3.01, released on July 15, 1990. . . . . . . . . . . 21
15.6 Version 3.00, released on June 8, 1990 . . . . . . . . . . . 21
15.7 Version 2.01, released on October 29, 1989 . . . . . . . . . 22
15.8 Version 2.00 and earlier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
APPENDICES
A.0 Limitations in the Unregistered Version . . . . . . . . . . . . . A1
B.0 Bug Report Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B1
C.0 Comments & Suggestions Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C1
Mycroft Systems, P.O. Box 7672, San Jose, CA. 95150 BBS: (408) 927-0105
The Land of the Barons, Version 4.00 Page 1
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1.0 Introduction
================
Welcome to the land of the Barons. Barons is an online multi-player
game designed to run under a number of popular BBS systems. It is a
challenging game of strategic skill as well as interactive combat.
You become a medieval Baron who starts out with a single castle and an
army of 1000 loyal men. Your goal is to become King of the land, which
can only be done through force, as the other Barons will not willingly
bow to you. To achieve this goal, you will need to expand your army by
capturing neighboring towns as well as become proficient at personal
combat to inspire your men to do their best.
The game consists of two distinct areas of play: Kingdom Management
and personal combat. At first glance, the two don't seem to be
inter-related. However, you will find that your ability to effectively
command your armies is limited by how well you do in personal combat.
Mycroft Systems, P.O. Box 7672, San Jose, CA. 95150 BBS: (408) 927-0105
The Land of the Barons, Version 4.00 Page 2
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2.0 System Requirements
=======================
To play Barons, you need a modem, a terminal or a personal computer with
terminal software, and ANSI or VT100 emulation. The game screens are
painted on your display using the ANSI/VT100 cursor positioning and
other control sequences.
Color is not required, but it is an option. You will find that color
will greatly enhance your ability to read the information presented to
you on the screen. The IBM character set is also an option. Although
the game is primarily designed for IBM based machines, making the IBM
character set an option allows those with other computer types to still
enjoy the game.
Mycroft Systems, P.O. Box 7672, San Jose, CA. 95150 BBS: (408) 927-0105
The Land of the Barons, Version 4.00 Page 3
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3.0 Object of the Game
======================
The object of Barons is simple -- conquer every town on the map. The
game will end when either every town is owned by a single Baron or there
are no more neutral towns remaining and a preset number of days have
passed (the number of days is settable by the Sysop, but is set to 15
days after the last town was taken by default).
Mycroft Systems, P.O. Box 7672, San Jose, CA. 95150 BBS: (408) 927-0105
The Land of the Barons, Version 4.00 Page 4
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4.0 Using the Menus
===================
You will interface to Barons through a series of ANSI based menus. For
the most part, you will be using your numeric keypad to accomplish this
task. Since many terminal programs use the arrow keys as well as keys
such as PgUp and PgDn, Barons will expect you to set your NumLock toggle
so that these keys transmit ASCII numeric characters instead of the
extended keycodes. The following is a list of the keys used in Barons
menus:
[7] [Home] This key will move the menu cursor to the first
menu entry.
[1] [End] This key will move the menu cursor to the last
menu entry.
[8] [Up] The up arrow key will move the menu cursor to the
previous menu entry (ie. up on item).
[2] [Down] The down arrow key will move the menu cursor to
the next menu entry (ie. down one line).
[ENTER] The ENTER key will select/execute the current menu
entry.
[SPACE] The SPACE bar will select/execute the current menu
entry.
[CTRL-L] [REPAINT] The CTRL-L key may be used in any menu to cause the
entire screen to be repainted. This is meant to be
used in the event the screen contents are corrupted
due to line noise.
[CTRL-X] [EXPERT] The CTRL-X key may be used to toggle the expert
menu state. This is helpful for players that do
not want to sit through the drawing of the full
menu.
[ESC] The ESC key may be used in any menu to exit the
game and return the user to the BBS.
In addition to these, most menus allow you to select a letter
corresponding to a particular menu choice directly, rather than moving
to it and pressing [ENTER] or [SPACE].
Mycroft Systems, P.O. Box 7672, San Jose, CA. 95150 BBS: (408) 927-0105
The Land of the Barons, Version 4.00 Page 5
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5.0 Home Castle Menu
====================
The Home Castle menu is the entry point to the game, and the central
menu for moving among the various areas of Barons.
5.1 Kingdom Management
----------------------
This function will take you to the Kingdom Management menu where you
you can check on the status of your holdings, give orders to your
armies, use your spy network and manage your towns.
5.2 Visit the City
------------------
This function will take you to the City menu where you can visit the
armor & weapon shops, hire mercenaries, go to the bank, and go to
the enquirer.
5.3 Combat Arena
----------------
This function takes you to the Combat Arena where you can challenge
other Barons to duels and go one-on-one against various monsters.
5.4 Messengers & Scribes
------------------------
This function takes you to the Barons message base.
5.5 Personal Status Check
-------------------------
This function will present a screen showing your current status:
5.5.1 Ranking
-------------
Ranking is the position in the scoreboards that the Baron has
attained.
5.5.2 Times Here
----------------
This is the number of times the Baron has entered the game.
5.5.3 Times Died
----------------
This is the number of times the Baron has died in combat.
5.5.4 Last On
-------------
This is the last game date the Baron entered the game.
5.5.5 Last Killed By
--------------------
The name of the last monster or Baron which killed the Baron in
combat and the game date it occurred is displayed here.
Mycroft Systems, P.O. Box 7672, San Jose, CA. 95150 BBS: (408) 927-0105
The Land of the Barons, Version 4.00 Page 6
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5.5.6 Level
-----------
This is the Baron's status as a warrior. This also controls the
number of orders the Baron is allow to issue to his troops per
day (see 5.5.9 Orders Left Today).
5.5.7 Experience
----------------
Experience is awarded to a Baron for each successful combat and
is a measure of how skilled he is. The following amounts of
experience is needed to obtain these levels:
Level Experience Level Experience
----- ---------- ----- ----------
1 0 12 33000
2 500 13 39000
3 1500 14 45500
4 3000 15 52500
5 5000 16 60000
6 7500 17 68000
7 10500 18 76500
8 14000 19 85500
9 18000 20 95000
10 22500 +1 previous amount needed
11 27500 plus (level - 1) * 500
5.5.8 Health (current & maximum)
--------------------------------
The Baron's current health represents how many points of damage
he can withstand before dying. His maximum health is the point
where healing will no longer increase his current health (ie. he
is fully healed when his current health is the same as his
maximum health). Whenever you fight another Baron, he is
automatically healed to maximum health by the King's healers so
that you do not get an unfair advantage by attacking a player
who is not around to defend himself.
5.5.9 Orders Left Today
-----------------------
This is the number of orders the Baron can give to his troops
today. Each Baron can issue two times his level worth of orders
per day.
5.5.10 Deaths Left Today
------------------------
This is the number of times the Baron is allowed to die on the
same day before he is locked out of the game for the day.
5.5.11 Monster Combats Left Today
---------------------------------
This is the number of monsters the Baron can fight today. This
number is set by default to 15 per day, but can be modified by
the Sysop to be whatever he desires.
Mycroft Systems, P.O. Box 7672, San Jose, CA. 95150 BBS: (408) 927-0105
The Land of the Barons, Version 4.00 Page 7
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5.5.12 Quickness
----------------
Quickness represents how fast the Baron is able to react in
combat. It is compared with his opponent's quickness to
determine who gets the next move. Initial quickness for a
Baron is 15 and it can go up by 1-2 points each level he gains.
Getting killed subtracts 1 point from your quickness rating.
5.5.13 Hand Weapon Accuracy
---------------------------
Hand Weapon Accuracy represents the percentage chance the Baron
has of landing a damaging blow on an opponent. It initially
starts out at 25% and can be increased with each level gained.
Getting killed subtracts 5% from it.
5.5.14 Missile Weapon Accuracy
---------------------------
Missile Weapon Accuracy represents the percentage chance the
Baron has of striking his target. It initially starts out at
10% and can be increased with each level gained. Getting killed
subtracts 5% from it.
5.5.15 Armor
------------
This is what the Baron is currently wearing for armor. All
armor has ratings for how many points of damage it can absorb
from hand and missile weapons. Any damage inflicted on the
Baron will first be reduced by this amount and then applied to
his current health, if it is still greater than 0.
5.5.16 Hand Weapon
------------------
This is what the Baron is currently using for a hand weapon.
Every hand weapon has a damage rating that indicates the range
of damage it can do.
5.5.17 Missile Weapon
---------------------
This is what the Baron is currently using for a missile weapon.
Every missile weapon has a damage rating that indicates the
range of damage it can do. Missile weapons also have a range
(distance) they can travel and still do damage. Ammo is the
number of missiles the Baron can fire before he needs to buy
more.
5.5.18 Gold
-----------
This is the amount of gold the Baron is carrying. Most Barons
will have some gold on them, since the King's law forbids
storing more than 80% of your total wealth in the Bank.
Mycroft Systems, P.O. Box 7672, San Jose, CA. 95150 BBS: (408) 927-0105
The Land of the Barons, Version 4.00 Page 8
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5.6 Journey to Mount Olympus
----------------------------
This function will take you to the Mount Olympus menu, where you can
ask to be reincarnated, change various settings, and view the
opening bulletin and documentation.
5.7 Exit the Land of the Barons
-------------------------------
This function will return you to the BBS after prompting you to
verify that you intended to choose this function. This can be
achieved by hitting the ESCape key as well.
Mycroft Systems, P.O. Box 7672, San Jose, CA. 95150 BBS: (408) 927-0105
The Land of the Barons, Version 4.00 Page 9
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6.0 Kingdom Management Menu
===========================
The Kingdom Management menu allows you to perform all of the functions
necessary to take care of and control your towns and castles.
6.1 Command Your Armies
-----------------------
This function allows you to give orders to your armies. You have a
finite number of orders you can issue per day (two times your level)
which means you must use them wisely. You may only order troops to
move from one town to another town that is adjacent to them. If
the destination is not owned by you, then your troops will attack it
and try to claim it for you. If they fail to conquer the town, they
will then travel back to the town they came from (note: if the town
they came from has been taken while they were away, they will fight
upon returning, but in this case, they will fight until they either
win or are wiped out, since they have no where else to go).
6.1.1 Attack Resolution
-----------------------
An attack is based on the fortification level of the town/castle
as well as the number of troops attacking and defending it. The
fortification level makes it tougher to kill troops within the
town/castle. If it takes one hit from your troops to kill one
man in a town with a fortification level of 0, it will take 3
hits to kill one man in a town with a fortification level of 2.
The actual attack is made by giving the attacker a chance to
"hit" with each man he is attacking with. The number of
attackers and defenders is made into a ratio and, depending on
the results of a random number, a "hit" is scored against one
side or the other. The ratio is then re-calculated (one side
may have lost a man) and repeated for the next man the attacker
has until either the attacker has attacked with every man once
or one side is reduced to 0 men.
6.1.2 Order Timing
------------------
Even though you can give orders at any time, orders are only
executed once every two hours of real time. This does mean,
however, that by giving successive orders to the same troops
over a number of two hour increments, you can move them up to 12
map squares per day.
6.2 Spy Network
---------------
This function will take you to the Spy network menu, where you can
view other Barons' personal status, spy on enemy towns and castles,
and get a map of the Baronies.
6.3 Tax Collection
------------------
This function will send your tax collector through each of your
towns to collect any taxes that have accumulated since the last time
you collected. Only towns will produce tax money.
Mycroft Systems, P.O. Box 7672, San Jose, CA. 95150 BBS: (408) 927-0105
The Land of the Barons, Version 4.00 Page 10
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6.4 Manage Holdings
-------------------
This function will take you to the Holdings Management menu, where
you can set tax & draft rates, raise fortifications and even build
castles.
6.5 Holdings Status Check
-------------------------
This function displays various listings of your current holdings
(towns and castles).
6.5.1 Normal Report
-------------------
A normal report is the longest and most verbose of the three
report formats. It gives information on each town or castle's
fortification level, standing army, population, tax rate, draft
rate, and tax money collected. At the end of the report, a
total is given for each of the categories.
6.5.2 Summary Report
--------------------
A summary report is as concise as possible and manages to fit
all of the information of a Normal Report for each town or
castle into the space of one line for each. It also has a total
at the bottom of the report.
6.5.3 Brief Report
------------------
A brief report merely displays the letter code of each town or
castle and the number of troops stationed there. At the end of
the report, a total of the troops is reported.
6.6 Personal Status Check
-------------------------
This function is the same as that described in section 5.5.
6.7 Return to your Castle
-------------------------
This function returns you to the Home Castle menu.
Mycroft Systems, P.O. Box 7672, San Jose, CA. 95150 BBS: (408) 927-0105
The Land of the Barons, Version 4.00 Page 11
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7.0 The City
============
The City menu allows you to visit the various shops and offices of the
King's City.
7.1 Axyl's Armor Company
------------------------
Axyl's Armor Company provides a place for you to buy and sell armor.
Only non-magical varieties of armor can be found here, but you may
sell any type of armor to Axyl -- he'll cheerfully give you half
what its worth! Each suit of armor sold here has its damage
absorption ratings shown with it (see section 5.5.15).
7.2 Wyatt's Weapon Shop
-----------------------
Wyatt's Weapon Shop provides a place for you to buy and sell hand
and missile weapons. Like Axyl's Armor Company, only non-magical
varieties of weapons can be found here, but you may sell any type
of weapon to Wyatt -- and he'll also cheerfully give you half what
its worth! Each weapon has its damage rating listing next to it.
Missile weapons also have their ranges listed. See sections
5.5.16 & 5.5.17 for descriptions.
7.3 Hire Mercenaries
--------------------
This function allows you to hire mercenaries to supplement your
existing troops. You may only hire mercenaries if you have a
castle to place them at for their initial training. Each man
costs a mere 10 gold to hire permanently...what a deal!
7.4 First Bank of the Baronies
------------------------------
This function takes you to the bank menu, where you can deposit
and withdraw money from your account, as well as transfer it to
other Barons.
7.5 The Baronial Enquirer
-------------------------
This function takes you to the pages of the Baronial Enquirer,
where you can find all kinds of interesting tidbits on the
happenings in and around the land.
7.6 Personal Status Check
-------------------------
This function is the same as that described in section 5.5.
7.7 Return to your Castle
-------------------------
This function returns you to the Home Castle menu.
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8.0 Combat Arena
================
The Combat Arena is the main center of entertainment in the Land. The
King maintains a vast array of monsters, thugs and other sorts to pit
against his mighty Barons on the field of battle. The more capable a
Baron is in the Combat Arena, the more respect he gets from his troops,
and is therefore able to get them to do more (issue more orders).
8.1 Fight a Monster
-------------------
This allows you to fight a monster of a level you pick...you won't
be able to choose the exact monster (the King's Arena Masters do
that), but you will be able to decide the general capabilities the
creature possesses by selecting a level. Generally, monster levels
correspond to Baron levels, so picking a monster of the same level
should result in an even match.
8.2 Fight another Baron
-----------------------
This allows you to fight another Baron. You are forbidden to
fight Barons of substantially lower level than yourself (greater
than 3 levels below you in skill). Keep in mind that the King has
authorized his healers to fully heal any Barons you attack so that
they will have a fair chance to defend themselves.
8.3 Healers, Inc.
-----------------
This function allows you to heal any damage you have suffered
during combat. The price is 10 gold pieces per point you want
healed.
8.4 Personal Status Check
-------------------------
This function is the same as that described in section 5.5.
8.5 Return to your Castle
-------------------------
This function returns you to the Home Castle menu.
8.6 Actions within the Arena
----------------------------
While in the Combat Arena itself, you have three major options:
8.6.1 Moving
------------
In order to move, you must simply press the number on the keypad
that corresponds the the direction you want to move:
7 8 9
\|/
4-*-6
/|\
1 2 3
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The Land of the Barons, Version 4.00 Page 13
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8.6.2 Firing Missile Weapons
----------------------------
To fire a missile weapon, press [F] followed by a movement
direction (see section 8.6.1). Your missile will travel in the
direction you specify until it either goes out to its full
distance or comes into contact with your opponent's marker on
the screen. If it comes into contact, your missile accuracy
will then be used to determine if you struck your opponent.
8.6.3 Attacking with Hand Weapons
---------------------------------
To attack with a hand weapon, press [A] followed by a movement
direction (see section 8.6.1). If your opponent's marker is
next to you in that direction, your hand weapon accuracy will
then be used to determine if you struck your opponent.
8.7 Retreating
--------------
The Arena is a huge rectangle with an exit gate at one end of it,
and several small entry areas around the sides. Once a Baron begins
combat, if he feels he is losing, he may make an attempt to get to
the exit gate. If he makes it there alive, the gates will close as
soon as he gets through them, shutting his opponent behind him.
Mycroft Systems, P.O. Box 7672, San Jose, CA. 95150 BBS: (408) 927-0105
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9.0 Messengers & Scribes
========================
This is the message center. It serves as an area for Barons to talk
with one another, make alliances, boast, or whatever you wish. Both
public and private messages can be sent.
9.1 View Messages
-----------------
When you enter this function, you will be presented with the main
message viewing screen and it will show the message you were last
looking at, or any new messages if you were at the end of the list.
From here you can view messages to you, to all, or from you. You
can reply to any message you can view. You can also jump around in
the list of messages to any given point. In some cases, a message
will not fit entirely on one screen. When this happens, a flashing
MORE prompt will be shown in the lower right hand corner. This
helps to remind you that there is more of the message to be seen.
You can page up or down within the message to view the other parts.
9.2 Send Message
----------------
When you enter this function, you will be asked if you want to send
the message you are about to enter to everyone or to just a single
Baron. If you choose to send it to a Baron, a list will come up
which will let you choose who you send it to. Once you have
selected who the message is going to, you will be placed in a full
screen editor. The editor has all of its commands listed at the
bottom of the screen. Please note that the symbol ^ in front of a
capital letter is meant to represent the control key, so ^A would
mean to strike the control and A keys simultaneously on your
keyboard.
9.3 Return to your Castle
-------------------------
This function returns you to the Home Castle menu.
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The Land of the Barons, Version 4.00 Page 15
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10.0 Journey to Mount Olympus
=============================
This menu is a catch-all for those operations that have no real place
anywhere else. It generally contains items that have no bearing on game
play and are just for the convenience of the player.
10.1 Ask the Gods to Reincarnate You
------------------------------------
If you find you have a hopeless situation in the game (maybe you've
died several times and your chances at personal combat are
pathetic), you can "reincarnate" yourself -- basically erase your
Baron from the game and start fresh with a new one. Be careful
using this, since it is final and cannot be reversed (and you will
lose any and all towns and castles you may have possessed).
10.2 Change Graphics Setting
----------------------------
This allows you to change your graphics setting to one of three
choices: Plain ASCII, IBM, and IBM with color. The last (IBM with
color) is highly recommended, but if your terminal doesn't support
it, you can always fall back to one of the others.
10.3 Toggle Expert Display Mode
-------------------------------
This allows you to toggle between expert and non-expert display of
menus. In expert mode, the menus consist of a top message line, a
title line, and a line listing the letters of the menu choices.
Not all menus will allow expert mode. Those that don't will merely
turn it to non-expert mode while you are within them and restore
your setting when you leave. Control-X can also be used to toggle
expert mode from any menu that supports expert menus.
10.4 View or Download Documentation
-----------------------------------
This function allows you to view or download the documentation (note
that the ability to download is configurable by the Sysop and may
not be turned on). If you choose to download the documentation, you
will be allowed to choose between downloading an uncompressed or a
compressed file as well as whether XModem, YModem or ZModem will be
used for the actual transfer.
10.5 View Sysop's Opening Bulletin
----------------------------------
This function allows you to view the current Sysop's Opening
Bulletin, if there is one.
10.6 Page the Sysop
-------------------
This function allows you to page the Sysop.
10.7 Return to your Castle
--------------------------
This function returns you to the Home Castle menu.
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The Land of the Barons, Version 4.00 Page 16
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11.0 Spy Network
================
The Spy Network allows you to peek at other Barons' personal status as
well as spy on their towns and generate an overall map of the land.
11.1 Individual Reports
-----------------------
This function allows you to view a personal status check (see
section 5.5) of one or all of the Barons in the game.
11.2 Town Report
----------------
This function will produce a report on a single town you request.
The report includes the fortification level, standing army, tax &
draft rates, population, and tax money collected. The fee for
this information is 100 gold pieces.
11.3 Map of the Baronies
------------------------
This function will produce a map showing all of the towns and
castles in the land. In addition, it will show you which ones are
yours, which ones are neutral, and which ones are controlled by
another Baron. The fee for this map is 50 gold pieces.
11.4 Return to Kingdom Management
---------------------------------
This function returns you to the Kingdom Management menu.
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12.0 Manage Holdings
====================
This menu allows you to manage your towns and castles.
12.1 Change Tax Rates
---------------------
This function allows you to change the tax rate of one or more of
your towns. It can be set anywhere from 0 to 50%. Keep in mind
that having a high tax rate will scare away people from your town
and have an overall effect of reducing or halting the growth rate
of your town. Castles do not have civilian populations and cannot
be taxed.
12.2 Change Draft Rates
-----------------------
This function allows you to change the draft rate of one or more of
your towns. It can be set anywhere from 0 to 50%. Keep in mind
that having a high draft rate will scare away people from your town
and have an overall effect of reducing, halting, or actually
reversing the growth rate of your town. Castles do not have
civilian populations and cannot have draft rates set for them.
12.3 Change Town Name
---------------------
This function allows you to change the name of your town or castle.
12.4 Raise Fortifications
-------------------------
This function allows you to raise the fortification level of your
towns or castles. Towns are limited to a maximum fortification
level of 4 (at which time they are eligible to be built into
castles) and castles have a maximum fortification level of 9. The
cost of building one level of fortification is constant, but if
the place already had level 2 fortifications and you were building
them to level 3, you would only be charged the the difference in
price between level 2 and level 3 costs.
12.5 Build a Castle
-------------------
This function allows you to turn a town that has been built up to
4 fortification levels into a castle. There is a drawback to this:
converting a town to a castle causes the population to move away.
However, castles have the advantage of being able to build
fortifications to level 9 and you also receive extra men in each
castle you own each game year.
12.6 Holdings Status Check
--------------------------
This function is the same as that described in section 6.5.
12.7 Return to Kingdom Management
---------------------------------
This function returns you to the Kingdom Management menu.
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The Land of the Barons, Version 4.00 Page 18
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13.0 The First Bank of the Baronies
===================================
The First Bank of the Baronies is the one truly safe place you can store
gold. It is protected by the King, and as such, is untouchable.
13.1 Deposit gold in your account
---------------------------------
This function allows you to deposit your gold into your bank
account. King's Law, however, forbids any Baron from placing more
than 80% of his gold within the Bank.
13.2 Withdraw gold from your account
------------------------------------
This function allows you to withdraw your gold from your bank
account.
13.3 Transfer gold from your account to another Baron's account
---------------------------------------------------------------
This function allows you to transfer gold from your bank account to
another Baron's bank account. King's Law, however, forbids Barons
of less than fifth level from transferring money. There is no
restriction on who is allowed to receive the money, however.
13.4 Return to the City
-----------------------
This function returns you to the City menu.
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14.0 The Baronial Enquirer
==========================
The Baronial Enquirer is a paper run by the King which keeps tabs on all
the activities of the Barons in the land. As such, it provides
interesting tidbits you should be aware of.
14.1 Obituaries
---------------
This is culled from the weekly death reports of Barons who died
while fighting in the Combat Arena.
14.2 Who's Who in the Land
--------------------------
This is a list of all the Barons in the land and their current
level, from high to low.
14.3 Barony Rankings
--------------------
This is a list of all the Barons in the land and it is ranked in
order from high to low based on how well the Baron is doing.
14.4 First Appearances and Final Goodbyes
-----------------------------------------
This is a list of when a Baron first appeared and, if he decided to
reincarnate himself, when he said his "Final Goodbye".
14.5 Past Kings of the Land
---------------------------
This is a list of past Kings of the land. When a Baron whens the
game, he is placed in this list.
14.6 Return to the City
-----------------------
This function returns you to the City menu.
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The Land of the Barons, Version 4.00 Page 20
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15.0 Barons Change History
==========================
Barons was born on December 22, 1988 in a fit of boredom. With the
encouragement of Mike Bayley and the use of his Door Manager Library,
Barons was first released as a shareware game sometime in January of
1989. Unfortunately, the actual date has been lost, since I didn't keep
great records on version history and such until much later.
15.1 Version 4.00, released on January 25, 1991
-----------------------------------------------
- Towns that have their population decimated can now recover if
their tax and draft rates are set to 0%.
- The bank now gives 5% interest.
- Cost to buy mercenaries is now set at a flat 10 gold per man.
- Cost to heal is now set at a flat 10 gold per point.
- Getting town information from the spy network now correctly
charges the player 100 gold.
- Changed the way towns are displayed when taxing. It is now a
little faster and a little nicer looking.
- Towns are now limited to a maximum fortification level of 4.
- Castles are now limited to a maximum fortification level of 9.
- The "Raise Fortifications" process has been changed to reflect
this, along with a new pricing structure.
- The global changing of draft & tax rates has been streamlined.
- Made use of "R" for return to previous menu more consistent
throughout the game.
- Barons now keeps a record of past winners ("kings").
- Removed redundant menu "Command Post".
- Added color to the bulletins.
- Maintenance no longer waits for a keypress on the end of game.
- The end of game now automatically resets the game for you.
- Moved Spy Network menus to Kingdom Management.
- The Sysop Bulletin now only shows up the day it was created and
once on any day after that.
- Added easy selection of Baron names.
- Added (Sysop) flag to all menu titles.
- Players can now convert towns to castles.
- Sped up display of map.
- Improved file sharing dramatically.
- Replaced old monster combat system with a new interactive system.
This also entailed the revamping of the weapon and armor shops.
- Removed the potion shop.
- Added the ability to download the documentation from the game.
- Added version checking on the data files to make sure you don't
attempt to run outdated data files with newer versions. Will also
help for converters for future versions.
- Completely re-wrote the user documentation and sysop documentation.
- Removed the ability to specify where data files are kept for
Barons. They are stored in various sub-directories now. The
ability to specify where bulletins and such are is still present.
- Barons now receive one-tenth the gold they used to during the
first 10 days, for a grand total of 2000 gold pieces.
- The Barons editor can now change the user's BBS name.
- The map now wraps in a more logical manner.
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The Land of the Barons, Version 4.00 Page 21
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15.2 Version 3.04, released on October 8, 1990
----------------------------------------------
- Fixed countdown.
15.3 Version 3.03, released on September 27, 1990
-------------------------------------------------
- Fixed paging problem in town displays.
- Fixed non-ability to sell your weapon & armor.
- Fixed some color inconsistencies in "normal" town displays.
- Various internal structural revisions and clean up.
15.4 Version 3.02, released on August 2, 1990
---------------------------------------------
- Fixed some TIMEGEN problems.
- Fixed local logins for some BBS types that were failing.
15.5 Version 3.01, released on July 15, 1990
--------------------------------------------
- Fix to unauthorized message generation.
- Configuration file reading fixed.
15.6 Version 3.00, released on June 8, 1990
-------------------------------------------
- Support for high-speed modems.
- SHARE compatibility.
- The infamous potion shop bug has been fixed.
- There is no longer a difference between local & remote sysop
login names.
- TIMEGEN now works.
- Added multiple Barons Sysop capability -- you can now specify
three separate "sysop" logins to Barons. They all use the same
password, specified as before.
- Added a little more color to the menus.
- Fixed time sync problem (if you ran Barons with a system time
that was earlier than the last time you ran it, Barons would
update the game as if thousands of years of game time had gone by
-- now it just reports the inconsistency in the error log and
refuses to do maintenance).
- Added global change ability to town tax and draft rates.
- Added authorization code checking for registered users.
- Added a full screen message base.
- Added a sysop bulletin.
- Sysops can now change the monsters around to suit their tastes.
Check out Monsters.TXT for more info.
- Added registered sysop's name and BBS to the title screen.
- The configuration variable GAME_DIR was removed -- all files are
now stored in the same directory as BARONS.EXE. If you want them
someplace else, just specify a full path in the configuration file
instead of just their name (ie. C:\DOORS\BFILES\TOWNS.DAT instead
of just TOWNS.DAT, etc.). The pathname is limited to 80
characters.
- Users can now page the sysop in Barons. The chat mode (when
initiated by the user) is a split screen where both the user and
the sysop can type at the same time.
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The Land of the Barons, Version 4.00 Page 22
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- The maximum number of monster combats per day is now settable in
the configuration file.
- By setting a configuration file variable, sysops can now force
reincarnation or removal of a Baron to also cause all of his
towns and castles to be reset to starting levels.
- Barons now have their initial gold given to them over a period of
10 days, as follows:
Day 1: 5000 Day 3: 3000 Days 5-10: 1000 each day
Day 2: 4000 Day 4: 2000
This gives a grand total of 20000 gold.
- Starting gold is now deposited directly into the Baron's bank
account.
- Large army battles (5000 or more troops on both sides) are now
done in groups of 1000 men, rather than 1 at a time. This should
speed up the "processing orders" delay at startup (although it
won't help daily town updates, which have become fairly long due
to SHARE compatibility).
- Corrected spelling error: "+2 Shord Sword" to "+2 Short Sword".
- Added the following options to the command line of Barons:
BARONS -M Runs maintenance routines only (suggest doing this
every night at midnight in a batch file so users
don't have to wait for the daily town update when
they login)
BARONS -I Initializes Barons without actually entering the
game.
BARONS -E Direct access to the editor without actually
entering the game (or even requiring a login in
the game).
All of the above can either be in the form of "-M" or "/M".
- The name of the error log can now be specified (Barons used to
ignore your specification.
15.7 Version 2.01, released on October 29, 1989
-----------------------------------------------
- Fixed problem with overwriting user's BBS name.
15.8 Version 2.00 and earlier
-----------------------------
Here's where the record-keeping broke down. I do know the release
dates of version 2.00 and 1.31, but other than that, no other
information can be found.
- Barons 2.00 was released on September 30, 1989
- Barons 1.31 was released on April 30, 1989
Mycroft Systems, P.O. Box 7672, San Jose, CA. 95150 BBS: (408) 927-0105
The Land of the Barons, Version 4.00 Page A1
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A.0 Limitations in the Unregistered Version
===========================================
The unregistered version of this door has some limitations. These
limitations are to encourage the registration of the door. If you enjoy
the door and your Sysop has not yet registered his copy, then please let
him know you enjoy the door and encourage him to register it. The
following is a list of restrictions in the unregistered version:
* Unregistered version banner with 10 second delay between menus
after a 30 day trial period has elapsed.
* Occasional unregistered version messages.
Please note that none of the above limitations affects game play
directly, although after 30 days, it will become quite annoying to sit
through the menus.
Mycroft Systems, P.O. Box 7672, San Jose, CA. 95150 BBS: (408) 927-0105
The Land of the Barons, Version 4.00 Page B1
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B.0 Bug Report Forms
====================
Please use this form to report any bugs you find in the program.
========================================================================
PLAYER INFO BBS INFO
========================================================================
Player Name : ____________________ BBS Name : ____________________
Player Address: ____________________ BBS Phone #: ____________________
Player Phone #: ____________________ Sysop Name : ____________________
========================================================================
========================================================================
BUG INFORMATION
========================================================================
Game Menu: ______________________ Menu Command: ______________________
========================================================================
Please describe the bug:
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
========================================================================
Send To: Mycroft Systems
P.O. Box 7672
San Jose, CA. 95150
Mycroft Systems, P.O. Box 7672, San Jose, CA. 95150 BBS: (408) 927-0105
The Land of the Barons, Version 4.00 Page C1
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C.0 Comment & Suggestions Form
===============================
Please use this form to send any comments or suggestions you have.
========================================================================
PLAYER INFO BBS INFO
========================================================================
Player Name : ____________________ BBS Name : ____________________
Player Address: ____________________ BBS Phone #: ____________________
Player Phone #: ____________________ Sysop Name : ____________________
========================================================================
========================================================================
COMMENTS & SUGGESTIONS
========================================================================
Please enter any comments or suggestions you have and mail to the
address below.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
========================================================================
Send To: Mycroft Systems
P.O. Box 7672
San Jose, CA. 95150
Mycroft Systems, P.O. Box 7672, San Jose, CA. 95150 BBS: (408) 927-0105