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- (1996-03-17, version 0.15)
-
- Usurper the Game
- ----------------
-
- Welcome to Usurper, a fantasy game filled with fastpaced action, violence
- and instant death. This game has only one purpose : to give you a good time
- without the need of reading any lengthy documentation. You can actually
- enter the game and go berzerk straight away. However, you can consider
- continue to read and perhaps learn something that can keep you alive for
- a while.
-
- You can choose to play as a lonewolf adventurer/warrior who seek gain only for
- yourself, and care little for anything else. You can also form teams in which
- you and your comrades fight for each other. In either case you should always
- concentrate your efforts on the dungeons. It's in these huge cave
- areas that your fortune can be made, or your life end...
- There are over one hundred dungeons stretching from the top of the huge
- mountain, down to it's deepest level. It may be said at once that no creature
- has ever returned from the deeper levels. The ancient legends say that on
- Durunghins bottom there is a "thing" so powerful that the worlds destiny
- can be altered with it. But the legends also say that the guardians of this
- "thing" goes beyond everything your worst nightmares can bring forth...
- Well, no one has ever reached beyond the magic 90 level, you might be the
- first. You can take your team with you to the dungeons. It is almost always
- better be more than one to face those monsters.
-
- Completing the final challenge at the bottom of the huge mountain will reward
- you with immortalization in the chronicles. Your name will live forever.
-
- It is important to note that in the dungeons, many strange creatures lurk
- around. Some will eventually approach you and offer different things. Your
- respons will ultimately lead to either riches or to death...
-
- If you don't fancy strolling down the dungeons, you can do other things.
- You can visit the Dormitory, where many of the characters take their rest.
- You can kick them out of their beds and challenge them for a fight, or perhaps
- try to murder them while they sleep...
-
- You will always have opponents in this game, not just the monsters you
- challenge in the dungeons, but also computer controlled characters.
- These guys are not always nice. Some will try to slain you just for the
- hell of it! The dungeon monsters, on the other hand, are always there
- waiting for you.
-
-
-
- Team Play
- ---------
-
- A nice feature of Usurper is the team function. If they wish, players can
- form gangs/teams and seek their luck together. The gangs can be used to
- gain control of the town, which in its turn can add income to the members.
- Controlling the town brings your team money, but remember that everything
- has a price. Every gang wants to beat the leaders. You not just have to
- worry about other player gangs. There are also computer teams that just
- are waiting to whip the senses out of you and your comrades. If you don't
- trust the other players you can hire in computer characters to fight for
- your team. Don't trust them too much though as most of them can be turned
- when offered the right sum of money...
- Other teams can at all times challenge the town controllers. Gangfights are
- mostly short, bloody and dirty. It is recommended that you let your teammates
- know before you take them out to a street massacre where they risk to lose
- everything, including their lives.
-
- Teams can also enter the dungeons together. This can be a good way to
- help fellow members to raise their experience. After a successful battle
- you can take them to see their levelmaster, and raise their level.
-
-
-
- Character Creation
- ------------------
-
-
- Upon the creation of a new player you will be given the opportunity to
- choose between different races and classes. This selection is vital to
- the type of game you will be involved in. First of all every race and
- class has different abilities according to strength and defence, but
- they also have different values when it comes to 'valor' and 'darkness'.
-
- Take a paladin for example. This character is aimed for goodness, and should
- be played good. That means that you should spare innocent victims, perform
- quests of valor and thereby raise your valor. However, the paladin can also
- be played bad, and perform violent acts as murder innocent creatures and
- visit whorehouses. Unfortunately your characters deeds will eventually catch
- up with him. In the case of the paladin this will cause his soul to darken,
- and eventually something terrible will happen. But of that i will not discuss
- anything more here.
- If we take another character like the troll, this creature can and should
- be played bad. To be vicious and commit evil deeds will raise the trolls
- darkness score, and eventually reward him. But it must be said that
- you can experiment whith different combinations, as none is totally
- predictable. If you want the ultimate killing machine, consider the
- choice of Troll as race, and Barbarian as class.
-
- Also remember that every race and class has their own special abilities.
- The Gnoll has a poisoned bite. The Paladin can at extreme situations
- use a so called soul-strike, this is a blow where he use some of his
- hitpoints to create a kind of superblow. The Paladin has this ability
- due to his strong virtue. In difficult situations he can concentrate
- this force and use it to achieve maximum performance. However, a good
- Paladin can achieve greater than a dark paladin. The strike can be used
- when you want a quick solution in a battle against a stubborn foe, or
- in a situation where you have little hope to stay alive. The 'soulblow'
- is a VERY risky business though. If you use all your hitpoints in a
- strike, an enemy can easily defeat you...
-
- Races :
- Humans - good overall choice.
- Hobbits - great rangers.
- Elves - builds mana faster than other races.
- Half-elves - more robustly built than the elves.
- Dwarves - make great warriors.
- Trolls - big and strong.
- Orcs - great as fighters and magicians.
- Gnomes - good in combination with alchemists and assassins.
- Gnolls - poisonous bite. unfortunately with a rather weak constitution.
- Mutants - ...?
-
- Professions :
- Alchemists - can poison their weapons.
- Assassins - backstabbing is their trade.
- Barbarians - raw strength is favored among the barbarians.
- Bards - "masters of soft voices". In the beginning the bards are
- fairly innocent. However, with accumulated experience, the
- songs learned from the singmasters will prove as
- useful as the sorcerors spells. Bards are invaluable in
- team-play, since they can boost morale.
- Clerics - spell masters.
- Jesters - jesters are very hard to hit.
- Magicians - spell masters
- Paladins - should be played GOOD. Have soulstrike as special weapon.
- Rangers - excellent stealth qualities. Hard to hit.
- Sages - spell masters.
- Warriors - the standard fighter class.
-
-
- (M)=Affects whole group of monsters.
-
-
- *Cleric* SPELL-BOOK
- Level=Spell==============Effect==========Duration=========Mana.needed==
- 1.....Cure Light.........+4-7 hps........1.turn...................10...
- 5.....Armor..............+5 protection...whole fight..............20...
- 10....Baptize Monster....enemy.freezes...random...................30...
- 15....Cure Critical......+20-24 hps......1.turn...................40...
- 20....Disease............random disease..1.turn...................50...
- 25....Holy Explosion.....20-30.damage....1.turn...................60.(M)
- 30....Invisibility.......+15-25 prot.....whole fight..............70...
- 40....Angel..............100 damage.... whole fight..............80...
- 50....Call Lightning.....80-89 damage....1.turn...................90...
- 60....Heal...............+200 hps........1.turn..................100...
- 70....Divination.........+110 prot.*.....random..................110...
- 80....Gods Finger........220-250.damage..1.turn..................120...
- (* the DIVINATION spell will also reduce players darkness with 50 and
- increase chivalry with the same amount.)
-
-
- *Magician* SPELL-BOOK
- Level=Spell==============Effect==========Duration=========Mana.needed==
- 1.....Magic Missile......4-7 damage......1.turn...................10...
- 5.....Shield.............+4 protection...whole fight..............20...
- 10....Sleep..............enemy.freezes...random...................30...
- 15....Web................enemy freezes...1.turn...................40...
- 20....Power Hat..........regains.60-20...1.turn...................50...
- 25....Fireball...........60-70.damage....1.turn...................60...
- 30....Fear...............enemy freezes...whole fight..............70...
- 40....Lightning Bolt.....60-70 damage....1.turn...................80.(M)
- 50....Prismatic Cage.....absorbs 20......whole fight..............90...
- 60....Pillar of Fire.....100-112.damage..1.turn..................100...
- 70....Power Word KILL....220-265.damage..1.turn..................110...
- 80....Summon Demon.......200-300.damage..whole fight.............120...
-
-
- *Sage* SPELL-BOOK
- Level=Spell==============Effect==========Duration=========Mana.needed==
- 1.....Fog of War.........+3 protection...whole fight..............10...
- 5.....Poison.............enemy level+1...whole fight..............20...
- 10....Freeze.............enemy.freezes...1.turn...................30...
- 15....Duplicate..........your attack*2...whole fight..............40.+25 hps
- 20....Roast..............50-65 damage....1.turn...................50.(M)
- 25....Hit Self...........70-80.damage....1.turn...................60...
- 30....Escape.............enemy freezes...1.turn...................70...
- 40....The Giant..........+25dmg,.........whole fight..............80...
- 50....Steal..............enemys money....1.turn...................90...
- 60....Energy Drain.......130-141.damage..1.turn..................100...
- 70....Summon.Demon.......100-120.damage..whole fight.............110...
- 80....Death Kiss.........240-290.damage..1.turn..................120...
-
-
-
-
- Dungeon Events
- --------------
- In the dungeons you will sometimes bump into individuals and creatures
- with not just fighting on their mind.
- Some will just be out to make fun of you. Others will try to trick you
- into an early grave. Most encounters will be short, but there are a few
- exceptions where you will have the opportunity to participate in a mission
- where often high politics is involved. Your success on these missions is
- vital for the chance to ever get another chance. So, keep your mission record
- on the plus side (it can turn negative). Don't play with spies and diplomats
- when you are a low level character. And never lie to Ragmoth.
-
-
-
- The King
- --------
- *not implemented in 0.14*
-
-
- The Gods
- --------
- *not implemented in 0.14*
-
-
- What to become
- --------------
- God, QuestMaster or retire.
-
-
-
- Shortcuts to Success
- --------------------
-
- * Are you the type of player who want to achive faster progress than the
- normal monster and team bashings can result in?
- * Are you the type of player who can do almost anything just to beat
- the others?
- * Are you willing to risk everything in these attempts?
-
- If you answered yes to all of the questions above you should read further.
- If you answered no to one or more of the questions : why not read this anyway?
-
- First of all there is good and evil acts that can give you experience and
- money. They can of course give you pain and death to, but most important of
- all they influence your soul. Every bad act darkens your soul, and every good
- lightens it. Swinging either side over the limit will give you some
- unpredictable and sometimes fatal consequences. Some races can withstand good
- or evil better than others, and can therefore benefit longer.
-
- Usurper is not a normal and restricted Fantasy game. It includes some more
- modern features too. Ever heard of drugs and steroids? Well, here they are.
- There are many different types of drugs in this game. They all have two things
- in common though. Firstly, they send you into dreamland where you can receive
- hallucinated experiences which adds to your earlier experience. Drugs also
- increase your addiction to narcotics. You should be very careful not to
- turn into a junkie, cause if you start to stuff yourself full with drugs
- every session you'll soon enter your final dreamland. Keep an eye on your
- -Drug Addict- parameter and also remember that drugs occassionally give
- you bad trips, or even can kill you with an overdose...
-
- Steroids will not give you any experience. They will however give you
- what you always going to need in these kind of games : MUSCLES.
- Wouldn't it be nice to be able to crack those enemies bones just as easy as
- you pull the wings of a fly? Well, buy some steroids and you will (never)
- regret yourself. Steroids comes in many different types. The results on
- your body will show at once! Just keep an eye on your -Mental Stability-
- parameter. It will show when you're about to crack. And please try not to
- fool yourself with these pills. Psychos are not treated kindly in this game.
-
-
- Good Luck in Your Quest!
-
- (Oh, by the way: don't allow the egg to hatch.)