Games PC MASTER OF MAGIC User Manual

Master

TECHNICAL SUPPLEMENT

™

Explore and Conquer Magical Worlds

HARDWARE & SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

To play

• an 80386sx processor or better (for best play, we recommend at least a

• at least 575K of free conventional memory

• at least 2.7MB of free EMS (expanded) memory

• VGA graphics or better

• a mouse

Master of Magic,

33MHz 80386 or faster)

your computer must have:

Software Compatibility Issues

Please note that this list includes only the known conflicts and incompatibilities. Since no test procedure can ever be totally comprehensive, you may run into undiscovered problems. Please consult with Customer Service if you do.

We strongly recommend that you do Windows 3.1 or Windows 95. We recommend running the game in MS-DOS mode.

We strongly recommend that you not have any terminate-and-stayresident programs (TSRs) loaded into memory when playing Not only will they decrease the amount of free memory available, thus slowing the game, but there may be unpredictable interactions.

not

run

Master of Magic

under either

Master of Magic

Configuration

As part of the installation process, you are prompted to select a few settings for your sound configuration. The installation program automatically detects the correct setup for the majority of sound cards, but you may need to change the defaults. If you do not know the correct numbers (DMA, IRQ, and such), please consult the documentation that came with your sound card.

MASTER OF MAGIC

ADVANCES CHART

Master

™

Explore and Conquer Magical Worlds

MASTER OF MAGIC

Revised Edition

Game designed by SimTex Software

This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by mimeograph or photocopy or other

means without permission, with the exception of quoting brief passages for the purpose of review.

Introduction to

Imagine falling through time and space. You land in a world called Arcanus, a world something like medieval earth, yet one where the practiced arts of alchemy and magic are true and powerful. The creatures of fantasy (elves, orcs, klackons and such) that in our world have so far been dismissed as the products of fertile imagination, are reality on Arcanus. Here, these creatures are intelligent beings who, along with species unknown to Earth even in fantasy, form the myriad races that populate Arcanus. Beyond Arcanus there lies a mysterious second world, Myrror. Accessible only through ancient towers of wizardry or through the careful practice of some obscure forms of magic, Myrror is in all senses an alien world full of powerful magic, danger and creatures of the most fantastic ilk. The saying among wizards is that no one can truly rule Arcanus until they’ve cracked the Myrror.

Into these worlds you emerge as a fledgling wizard. Sparsely equipped with but a spell or two, you begin as the ruler of a tiny hamlet and its people. With these raw materials, you must build a thriving city, explore the two worlds of Arcanus and Myrror, expand your empire and learn new spells. In time, you will meet other wizards, each rising from equally humble beginnings, each having the same goal as you, namely conquering the worlds. How well you allocate resources, make use of your races’ potentials, seize opportunities and negotiate with other wizards determines your eventual success. In the end, though, there can be only

one

Master of Magic!

Master of Magic

Getting Started

Mouse Commands

e assume here that you understand basic mouse functionality,

• A “click” refers to placing the pointer over an area of the screen

• A “right-click” is a click with the

• “Opening a menu” requires a click on the name of the menu in the

• “Selecting” means clicking on something.

• You “run” the mouse by moving it over an image or object

• “Pressing a button” with the mouse means clicking on the screen

• “Toggling” means that you have only two options, and clicking the

like clicking and dragging. Since your mouse has two buttons, the interface distinguishes between them. The following definitions refer to their usage in this manual.

and clicking with the

menu bar.

clicking.

button.

button flips back and forth between the two.

left

mouse button.

right

mouse button.

without

The Main Menu

fter installing the

new game, click on the appropriate button.

main menu

game you were running (an option not present the first time you start

Master of Magic

start a new game.

If this is your first time playing

Master of Magic

. This menu allows you to continue playing the last

), to load a previously saved game, and to

new game button

and entering the game, you begin at

Master of Magic

or if you wish to start a

. Otherwise, click on the

CONTINUE

Clicking on this button takes you back to the game you were playing last. Note that any game in progress is automatically backed up every four turns and “autosaved” into a temporary saved game file. The autosave feature writes over the previous autosaved game in this file.

LOAD GAME

Clicking on this button takes you to the you can click on one of the saved game file names to reload that game.

game options screen

. In that screen

NEW GAME

Clicking on this button takes you to the in the following section).

new game screen

(described

QUIT TO DOS

Clicking on this button exits

Master of Magic

and returns you to DOS.

The New Game Menu

f you choose to start a new game in the whisked to this screen. Here you can decide on several parameters

(by clicking on the appropriate buttons to select or cycle through options) that will influence the nature of your new game of

Master of Magic

DIFFICULTY

Choose a difficulty level by cycling through the options (clicking on the difficulty button) until you find a suitable level. Depending on the difficulty level you choose, your wizard is advantaged (Intro and Easy settings), equivalent (the Normal setting), or disadvantaged (Hard and Impossible settings) relative to the computer player wizards. The difficulty level modifies your starting treasury. At Intro level, you start with 125 gold pieces in the treasury, at Easy you have 100 gold pieces, at Normal you start with 75 gold pieces, at Hard you start with only 50 gold pieces, and at the Impossible setting your treasury has a meager 25 gold pieces at the start of the game. The difficulty level also affects your production and population growth rates, as well as the speed with which your wizard researches new spells. In addition, with higher difficulty levels, the skill with which enemy wizards set about conquering the worlds of Arcanus and Myrror increases (at Hard and Impossible levels, they also have more spell picks than you do), while their tolerance toward your diplomatic advances, faux pas and aggressive actions decreases. We warn you, the Impossible setting is aptly named!

main menu

, you are

The Universal Help Button

IMPORTANT NOTE: Regardless of the difficulty level that you choose, on-line help is always available! Right-clicking on almost any area of almost every screen in the game provides you with “HELP” information and definitions. Clicking then takes you back to where you were in the game

OPPONENTS

Choose the number of enemy wizards (from one to four) playing against you by clicking on the how many wizards you are competing against, the number of opponents influences how rapidly you are likely to come in contact with another wizard. While contact with enemy wizards can have positive aspects (for example, being able to trade spells), it also has potential negative aspects, since tensions tend to escalate as you become more powerful. Thus, having time to research useful spells and to establish a few cities for a stronger power base before encountering another wizard definitely has its advantages.

opponents button

. Beside determining

LAND SIZE

The (small, medium and large) and the proportion of the worlds’ surface

land size button

areas that are land. Click on the the options.

In choosing a land size, consider the relative advantages of each option. Land size affects how quickly you establish contact with other wizards. Because small land sizes result in the creation of many islands separated by vast expanses of water, choosing this option generally results in delayed contact with opponents, while choosing large land sizes results in almost immediate contact.

While smaller land sizes delay contact with enemy wizards, they also hamper exploration and expansion efforts. Because new cities must be separated from pre-established cities by a minimum distance of three squares, founding new cities with adequate resources to support a reasonably sized community on small continents may be difficult.

controls the approximate size of continents

land size button

to cycle through

MAGIC STRENGTH

There are a number of sources of magic power in the worlds of

Master of Magic

based sources (such as shrines and temples). Clicking on the

button

(options are Weak, Normal and Powerful) allows you to choose how strong nodes are as a source of magic power (mana). Weak nodes produce half the magic power of Normal nodes, while Powerful nodes produce 50% more magic power than Normal nodes.

. These can be divided into two groups: nodes and city-

magic

Because magic power is vital to the spell researching and spell casting efforts of the battling wizards on Arcanus and Myrror, when nodes are powerful sources of magic, enemy wizards aggressively attempt to gain control of them. When nodes are weak sources of magic, city-based sources of magic power become relatively more important, encouraging enemies to accelerate both expansion efforts and the development of their cities.

OK OR CANCEL

Once you are satisfied with the parameters of your new game, click on the

OK button

you can click on the

to move to the next screen (

cancel button

to return to the

wizard creation

main menu

). Alternatively,

Choosing or Creating Wizards

f you are playing at the Intro (tutorial) or Easy setting, you have to choose (by clicking with your mouse on one of the wizards’

names) one of the predesigned wizards described in Choosing a Wizard. At any other difficulty setting, you have the option of

custom button

information on how to create your own wizard is described in Creating a Wizard.

choosing a wizard or designing your own (by clicking on the

Portrait

when in the

wizard creation screen

). Important

Name

Spell ranks and magic type

Special abilities

CHOOSING A WIZARD

When you run your mouse over the name of one of the fourteen predesigned wizards, you see a display of that wizard’s spell ranks and special abilities under his or her portrait.

that wizard has available for study

Spell ranks are the spell books

. Each book has a mark on its binding

which indicates the kind of magic described in the tome. The more books that a wizard owns in a particular kind of magic, the more rare and powerful spells he or she can learn in that subject.

There are five types of magic in which wizards can specialize:

• Life magic (indicated by white ankhs on the spell book bindings)

is focused on healing, protective and inspirational spells. This magic has healing spells so powerful that the dead can be resurrected. It is also the only type of magic to offer spells that allow creatures to travel between the worlds (planes) of Arcanus and Myrror. This form of magic has elements that strongly oppose death magic and some that mildly oppose chaos magic.

• Death magic (indicated by purple skulls on the spell book

bindings) concentrates on controlling the forces of darkness. This magic provides spells for summoning dead creatures, corrupting enemy wizards’ power bases, instilling fear in the hearts of enemies, blighting land and causing misfortune of all types to befall foes. Because life and death magic are so strongly antithetical, no wizard can specialize in both of these magic types.

• Chaos magic (indicated by red fireballs on the spell book bindings)

specializes in wreaking havoc on the surrounding world by twisting and warping creatures, weapons and nodes. When change alone is not enough, this magic can call forth the destructive elements of fire and lightning to do its bidding.

• Nature magic (indicated by green trees on the spell book bindings)

claims as its domain spells that encourage fertility and growth. Rooted in the land, this magic can call upon the elements of stone and water to smite enemies with earthquakes and ice bolts. This magic may also call upon the earth’s wisdom to explore areas of the worlds and see things that are far beyond the normal range of sight.

• Sorcery magic (indicated by blue diamonds on the spell book

bindings) focuses on creating illusions and controlling the elemental force of air (even to the extent that individual creatures can be endowed with the control of air through flight). When all else fails, however, sorcery magic has another area in which it reigns supreme: meta-magic, or the ability to control and resist other wizards’ spells!

In addition to the five magic types noted above, there is a sixth type, arcane magic, that requires no spell ranks to learn. Arcane magic is available to all spell casters.

• Arcane magic is the most basic of all magic on Arcanus and

Myrror. Its spells allow wizards to summon heroes (see Heroes), to create amazing objects of great power (see Artifacts) and to cast basic magic spells, such as those that remove spells that have been cast on your wizard by enemies.

All arcane magic spells are automatically placed into your spell library to learn when you are ready

. These spells, therefore, require no spell books to learn (i.e.,

you do not choose arcane spell ranks).

Below the shelf containing the spell books, you see any special

abilities the highlighted wizard possesses. These attributes are described in Special Abilities. Brief summaries of these special abilities are also included, when relevant, with the descriptions of the predesigned wizards.

What follows is a list of the fourteen predesigned wizards. If you wish

to play as one of these wizards, click on his or her name. If you wish to design your own wizard, go to Creating a Wizard.

• Ariel is a high priestess who specializes in life magic. With ten spell

books (ranks) in life magic, Ariel can learn all life magic spells. In addition to her extensive knowledge of this field, Ariel is a gifted diplomat. Her special ability (Charismatic) doubles the effectiveness of any positive diplomatic actions she takes and halves the negative impact—that is, how she is viewed by enemy wizards when she commits unfriendly acts. In addition, her charisma allows her to purchase magic items and to hire heroes and mercenaries at half price.

• Freya is an elven nymph who specializes in nature magic. With 10

spell ranks in nature magic, she can learn all the spells in this area. She also possesses the special ability of Nature Mastery, which increases the speed with which she can research nature spells. The ability of Nature Mastery makes Freya’s nature spells twice as difficult to dispel, while allowing her to draw double the normal amount of magic power from any nature nodes under her control.

• Horus is a sorcerer who specializes in both sorcery and life magic

(having five spell ranks in each of these areas). Horus is also an Archmage, which makes him particularly effective at casting spells. This ability also makes his spells twice as difficult to dispel. Interestingly, Horus is the most erratic of the known wizards and is not always fully aware of his potential. Thus, when he is controlled by the computer (as an enemy wizard), he may have radically different areas of specialization than those noted here.

• Jafar is an Arabian illusionist who understands the mysteries of

sorcery magic. With 10 spell ranks in sorcery magic there are few spells in this area missing from his spell library. Jafar is also an alchemist (his special ability is Alchemy), which allows him to interconvert gold and magic power at no cost.

• Kali is a witch who specializes in both death and sorcery magic

(having five spell ranks in each of these areas). She also has the special ability of Artificer, which allows her to draw double the usual amount of magic power from nodes under her control.

• Lo Pan is an oriental mystic who specializes in both chaos and

sorcery magic (having five spell ranks in each of these areas). Lo Pan has developed the ability to channel magic power directly from his location in the enchanted fortress to his troops on the battlefield (special ability of Channeler). This ability allows him to bypass paying higher mana rates for casting combat spells outside of his fortress.

• Merlin is a great wizard who specializes in both nature and life

magic (having five spell ranks in each of these areas). Merlin is also a sage (special ability of Sage Master), which tremendously increases the speed with which he researches (and learns) new spells.

• Oberic is an elementalist who specializes in both chaos and nature

magic (having five spell ranks in each of these areas). He also possesses the special ability of Mana Focusing, which significantly increases the amount of magic power he can obtain for his mana reserves.

• Raven is an Indian shaman who specializes in both nature and

sorcery magic (having five spell ranks in nature and six spell ranks in sorcery). In preference to developing some special skill, Raven has chosen to concentrate his efforts solely on the acquisition of spell knowledge.

• Rjak is a warlock who specializes in death magic. With nine spell

ranks in this area, he has almost all death magic spells in his spell library. Further enhancing his fearsome powers, Rjak has developed the special ability of Infernal Power. This special ability increases the amount of magic power he draws from the shrines, temples and parthenons that have been bent to his worship.

• Sharee is a voodoo priestess who specializes in both chaos and

death magic (having five spell ranks in each of these areas). Sharee is also a Conjurer (special ability), allowing her to summon creatures for far less mana than normally required.

• Sss’ra is a draconian warlock who specializes in both chaos and

life magic (having four spell ranks in chaos magic and five in life magic). In addition, he is a Myrran (special ability) which places him on the world (or plane) of Myrror at the beginning of the game. He also starts with a special race (beastman, dark elf, draconian, dwarf or troll) to control. Not bad!

• Tauron is a demonic being who specializes in chaos magic. With

ten spell books in this area, he can learn all chaos magic spells. Tauron also possesses the special ability of Chaos Mastery, which increases the speed with which he researches new chaos spells. Chaos Mastery makes it more difficult to dispel his chaos spells and doubles the magic power Tauron can draw from any chaos nodes under his control.

• Tlaloc is an Aztec priest who specializes in both nature and death

magic (with five spell ranks in death magic and four in nature). Tlaloc is also a Warlord (special ability), which automatically adds an experience level to each of his units. His units can even surpass the normal highest level for troops (elite).

CREATING A WIZARD

To design your own wizard, click on the

in the

wizard creation screen

. This option is not available if you are

playing at the Intro level or Easy level of difficulty.

Select Picture

After you decide to custom design a wizard, you choose a picture for your wizard from one of the fourteen predesigned wizard portraits. Run the mouse cursor over the wizards’ names to bring up their portraits in the frame on the left side of the screen.

Wizard’s Name

A space appears next to the portrait you chose for your new wizard. The default name of that picture’s predesigned wizard appears in this space. You may choose to use this name or enter a name of your own choosing (it may have no more than ten letters). When you are satisfied with the name, hit the e key to continue.

Spell Picks

After you have chosen a name for your new wizard, you zip to the

spell picks screen

and which special abilities to give to your wizard. You have eleven “spell picks” to divide between spell ranks and special abilities. Each spell pick can be used to get another spell book (the only restriction here is that no wizard may be versed in both death and life magic) or another special ability (some special abilities cost two spell picks; see Special Abilities).

. Here you must choose how many spell books (ranks)

custom button

when you are

Available

special

abilities are

highlighted

Current

spell rank

summary

Spell ranks

already chosen

Remaining

number of spell picks

You can select (or if you change your mind, deselect) a special ability by clicking on its name in the are available to your wizard (this depends on which spell ranks you have already selected) are highlighted in white. All special abilities you have chosen appear beneath the portrait of your wizard.

Spell ranks are selected or deselected by clicking on the “bookshelves” next to the name of the magic type (life, death, chaos, nature or sorcery). For example, to select two spell ranks in life magic, click on the second slot from the left on the bookshelf next to the word “Life.” If, later during the selection process, you decide that you do not want any ranks in life magic, click to the left of the bookshelf (i.e., on the left gargoyle). You can add or subtract ranks (as long as you have enough spell picks to do so) by clicking on different bookshelf slots until you are satisfied with your combined selection of spell ranks and special abilities. When you have used up all of your spell picks to your satisfaction, click on the

spell screen

Relevant factors in choosing spell ranks and special abilities are described in Spell Ranks and Special Abilities.

spell picks screen

OK button

. Special abilities that

to get to the next screen (the

select

Spell Ranks

Note that wizards may only cast spells they know

way to learn a spell is to research it. Wizards may only research and cast spells from those magic types for which they have spell books. Arcane magic spells are the only exception; these can be learned by all wizards and, therefore, require no spell books. Listed below are the six types of magic practiced on Arcanus and Myrror.

• Life magic (white) focuses largely on healing and protective spells.

• Death magic (black) focuses on summoning and controlling the

dead and calling into existence other manifestations of evil. Life and death magic are so strongly opposed in nature that no wizard can learn both types of magic spells.

• Chaos magic (red) can be used to control the element of fire and

the forces of change primarily for destructive purposes.

• Nature magic (green) is used to control the forces of both water

and the earth itself. While largely a constructive magic (focused on growth), nature magic can generate strongly destructive spells.

• Sorcery magic (blue) focuses on the control of the element of air

and all apparently insubstantial things. Sorcery spells can generate and sustain illusions and control the spells of other wizards in addition to more concretely harnessing the force of air for other purposes.

• Arcane magic (gray) is accessible to all wizards. All arcane magic

spells are automatically placed in new wizards’ spell libraries for future research.

. The most common

In addition to belonging to one of the six magic types (colors), each spell has a certain degree of rarity (common, uncommon, rare and very rare) associated with it. Rare spells tend to be more powerful than common spells. To be able to learn the rarer spells of a particular magic type, a wizard must have a greater degree of knowledge (i.e., more spell ranks) in that area.

When creating a wizard, you have to choose which magic types (life, death, chaos, nature or sorcery) your wizard learns and how much understanding (in terms of the number of spell ranks) he or she has in each studied area. Wizards can concentrate on one magic type or dabble in several. The only limitations are that 1) a wizard cannot have more than eleven (minus the number of special abilities you select) spell ranks and 2) a wizard cannot learn both life and death magic spells. The number of spells a wizard of spell books chosen in a particular magic area, is discussed below.

Every wizard in those spells that the wizard can research and learn. This library is composed of spell books (called ranks). Each spell rank contains cryptic information on spells of a specific type of magic (life, death, chaos, nature or sorcery). The more spell ranks a wizard has in a particular area, the more spells he or she can research in that area. Also, a wizard can learn spells of greater rarity if he or she has more spell ranks in the relevant area.

For example, if your wizard has two spell ranks in death magic, he or she automatically gets five common spells, two uncommon spells and one rare death magic spell in his or her library. Although you cannot choose all of the death spells in that library (you can only choose one common death magic spell that is definitely there; the rest are randomly chosen by the program), you can be certain of having this many potential death magic spells to research and learn. The table entitled Spell Ranks shows how the number of spell ranks in a particular magic area affects how many spells (of a particular rarity) a wizard has in his or her spell library.

The number of spell ranks that a wizard has in a particular area of magic also dictates which spells the wizard can acquire through trade or when exploring dungeons, towers, ancient ruins and other places. For example, if a wizard cannot learn (i.e., if the wizard has fewer than three spell ranks of that magic type), then he or she can trade or exploration. Note that acquiring spells through trade and exploration is a quick and simple means both of learning new spells and of expanding a wizard’s spell library. Researching spells can take a considerable period of time.

Master of Magic

never

acquire very rare spells of that magic type through

can

learn, based on the number

has a spell library which represents

any

very rare spells in a particular area

Table A: Spell Ranks in the Appendix shows the total number of spells (of each rarity) you learn and the number of guaranteed choices you lock in, based on the number of ranks you choose in a color or magic type.

Special Abilities

Beside choosing spell ranks when you create a new wizard, you can use one or more of your eleven spell picks to endow your wizard with special abilities. Available choices are highlighted in white. Note that several of the special abilities have prerequisites. As an example, for the special ability Infernal Power to become available (become highlighted), you must have chosen at least four spell books in death magic.

To select or deselect a special ability, click on its name when you are in the yellow with a checkmark next to their names (on the right side of the screen); they also appear below your wizard’s portrait. The special abilities available are listed and described below:

• Alchemy allows a wizard to directly interconvert gold and magic

• Archmage increases a wizard’s spell casting skill by ten. It is also

spell picks screen

power. The conversion process normally results in a loss of 50% of the starting material (you convert 100 gold into 50 mana). With Alchemy, you can convert on a straight one-for-one basis.

twice as difficult for an enemy wizard to dispel an Archmage’s spells.

To become an Archmage, a wizard must have a minimum of

. Selected special abilities are highlighted in

four spell books in one of the magic types.

• Artificer allows a wizard to make powerful magic items at a

significantly reduced cost (33% less than normal). Artificers also start the game knowing the arcane spells of create magic item and

create artifact, so that they can use their ability from the outset.

• Channeler allows a wizard to cast combat spells without paying any

extra costs. Normally, a wizard must pay extra mana to cast a combat spell anywhere other than his or her “enchanted fortress” (e.g., starting city). This surcharge represents the mana that is dissipated over the distance between the wizard’s power base (at the enchanted fortress) and the battle site. Channelers are much more efficient at transferring the necessary magic power and, therefore, do not have to pay extra mana to cast spells during combat in locations outside their enchanted fortresses.

• Chaos Mastery enhances a wizard’s use of chaos magic in many

different ways. This skill doubles the magic power that a wizard can draw from chaos nodes under his or her control and increases the speed with which the wizard researches new chaos spells. In addition, chaos spells cast by a wizard with this special ability are twice as difficult to dispel.

spell ranks in chaos magic to choose Chaos Mastery.

• Charismatic gives a wizard a great advantage in all interactions

with other wizards, mercenaries, merchants and heroes. This ability allows a wizard to purchase artifacts from merchants at half price and to hire mercenaries and heroes at half the usual cost. In addition, a Charismatic wizard obtains twice the normal effect from positive diplomatic actions he or she initiates and suffers only half the normal penalty for negative diplomatic actions.

A wizard must have a minimum of four

• Conjurer allows a wizard to cast summoning spells at 25% less

than the usual cost.

• Divine Power dramatically improves the effectiveness of shrines,

temples, parthenons and cathedrals in cities owned by a wizard. The magic power obtained from these city-based sources is increased by 50%, and the pacifying effects (ability to reduce unrest in a city’s populace) of these institutions are enhanced.

A wizard must have at least four spell ranks in life magic before you can choose Divine Power. This special ability costs two spell picks.

• Famous doubles the rate at which a wizard is approached by

heroes and mercenaries looking for work and by merchants selling valuable artifacts. This effectively increases the options a wizard has in rounding out his or her armies and armory. Famous wizards also start the game with a significant amount of fame (see Fame), while wizards without this ability start with very little!

This special

ability costs two spell picks.

• Infernal Power is the death magic counterpart to Divine Power. All

shrines, temples, parthenons and cathedrals in cities owned by the wizard yield 50% more than the usual amount of magic power. These institutions are also more effective than normal at reducing local unrest.

A wizard must have a minimum of four spell ranks in death magic to choose Infernal Power. This special ability costs two spell picks.

• Mana Focusing increases the effectiveness of the mana drawn

from a wizard’s magic power reserves by 25%. In other words, every four mana the wizard uses to cast spells counts as five.

wizard must have at least four spell ranks in one magic area to select this special ability.

• Myrran places a wizard on Myrror at the beginning of the game

(otherwise, all wizards start on Arcanus). Myrran wizards may choose to begin the game with one of the special races (beastmen, dark elves, draconians, dwarves or trolls) that are otherwise not available to starting wizards. Because Myrror is a world richer in magic than Arcanus, the Myrran wizard’s enchanted fortress generates double the magic power of an equivalent fortress on Arcanus.

This special

ability costs two spell picks.

• Nature Mastery markedly enhances a wizard’s use of nature magic.

This special ability increases the speed with which a wizard researches new nature spells. It also makes nature spells cast by a wizard with this special ability twice as difficult to dispel. Finally, Nature Mastery allows a wizard to draw double the amount of magic power from nature nodes he or she controls.

A wizard must have a

minimum of four spell books in nature magic to choose this ability.

• Node Mastery doubles the amount of magic power that a wizard

draws from nodes of all types.

A wizard must have at least one spell rank each in chaos, nature and sorcery magic before he or she can select Node Mastery.

• Runemaster improves the strength of all spells cast by a wizard

(spells cast by a Runemaster are twice as difficult to dispel than normal). This ability increases the speed with which a wizard can learn arcane (i.e., gray-colored, “generic”) magic spells and also allows a wizard to cast arcane magic spells at a reduced cost.

wizard must have at least two spell ranks each in any three different magic types to select Runemaster.

• Sage Master greatly increases the speed at which a wizard

researches

all

spells.

A wizard must have a minimum of one spell book in at least two different magic areas to qualify for this special ability.

• Sorcery Mastery enhances a wizard’s use of sorcery magic in many

different ways. This special ability increases the rate at which a wizard researches new sorcery spells and doubles the amount of magic power that the wizard can draw from sorcery nodes under his or her control. In addition, Sorcery Mastery makes sorcery spells cast by a wizard twice as difficult to dispel as normal.

A wizard must have a minimum of four spell ranks in sorcery magic to select this ability.

• Warlord improves the quality of a wizard’s troops. All troops under the

wizard’s control gain one extra level of experience over their actual training and experience. While troops cannot normally achieve a level higher than “elite,” equivalently experienced troops under a Warlord’s control fight at an “ultra-elite” level.

This special ability

costs two spell picks.

Select Spells

After you have allocated your eleven spell picks to spell ranks and

special abilities, click on the

screen

to advance to the

OK button

at the bottom of the

select spells screen

spell pick

Number of

guaranteed

spells per

degree of

rarity

Names of

guaranteed

spells

The

definitely

select spells screen

in your spell library. Most of the spells in your spell library (the

allows you to choose which spells are

spells which you can eventually research) are randomly determined by the computer when it creates the game world. However, if you choose enough spell ranks in a particular magic area, you can guarantee the presence of a few specific, key spells in your spell library. Note, these are

not

spells that you know (i.e., can cast) at the beginning of the game;

they are simply spells that you can eventually research.

When you enter the already highlighted in yellow with a check mark to their left. These are the default spell selections. If they are satisfactory, just click on the

button

at the bottom of the screen to continue. If you wish to make your own selections, click on the currently selected spells to deselect them, then select your own choices (a list and description of all available spells is given in the Spellbook supplement) by clicking on the spells you want. The number of spells you may select in each rarity category is indicated on the top line of that category’s section. Chosen spells are highlighted in yellow. When you are satisfied with your guaranteed spell selections, click on the

select spells screen

OK button

to go to the next screen.

, notice some spells are

Select Race

After you have chosen your guaranteed spells, you zip to the

race screen

you chose the special ability Myrran (see Special Abilities). Myrrans start on the world of Myrror and have the choice of beginning the game with beastmen, dark elves, draconians, dwarves, or trolls—as well as any of the remaining nine “regular” races. All other wizards begin on Arcanus and may barbarians, gnolls, halflings, high elves, high men, klackons, lizardmen, nomads or orcs.

To select your villagers, click on one of the highlighted races; races

that are not highlighted are not available.

Although choosing a race at the beginning of the game is an important decision, a “poor” selection for your specific situation should not be viewed as irreversible. You can always set out to conquer neutral cities which are populated by other races more useful to your needs. This allows you to ultimately make use of many races’ special advantages and abilities.

Basic information on the capabilities of most races (and those races that differ from the norm in these areas) is shown below (For specifics see Table B: Race Comparison in the Appendix). The values given for production of an item per person are on a per-game-turn basis. A “person” represents 1000 beings, symbolized by a single figure in the

city screen

. The races available for your starting city depend on whether

only

choose from one of the other nine races:

(see City Population).

select

• Food: All races harvest two units of food per farmer except for

halflings, which produce three.

• Production: All races are equally productive (one production unit

per worker) except for klackons, which are 50% more productive than everyone else.

• Gold: You determine how much gold each town generates by

setting the tax rate. By default, the tax rate starts at one gold per figure, but you can set it anywhere from one-half to three gold per figure, in half coin increments. Dwarf workers produce double the tax rate, and nomads produce 50% more.

• Magic Power: Only four races have an inherent ability to generate

magic power! Beastmen, draconians and high elves can each produce half a unit of magic power per person. Dark elves are the most magical of all races and can produce one unit of magic power per person.

• Maximum City Population: Some races are less tolerant of

crowding than others. Their cities have lower maximum population sizes as follows: trolls and dark elves have four fewer people per city; dwarves have three fewer people per city; draconians, gnolls, high elves and klackons each have two fewer people per city than “normal.”

• Population Growth Rates: Races have different population growth

rates. Normal population growth rates depend mostly on the difference between the maximum size of a city and its current population. The larger this difference, the faster a city grows. The population growth rate can be found on the parenthesis after the actual population. Of the races, draconians, gnolls, klackons and nomads have slow growth rates; dark elves, dwarves, high elves and trolls have the slowest growth rates of all the races. Lizardmen have fast growth rates; barbarians have the fastest growth rates of all. Outpost growth rates reflect the abilities of races to establish new cities. While not identical to population growth rates, outpost growth rates roughly correspond to the races’ population growth rates.

• Natural Dispositions: Some races are inclined to get along with

other races even after they capture one another’s cities or after one of their cities is captured. Others races tend to seethe with anger and rebellion when their cities are taken and have, in general, such an intense aversion to other races that even when other races’ cities, this hatred generates a large rebellious contingent in the populace. Generally, halflings are the most congenial race of all and very little unrest develops among their townsfolk when their cities are controlled by other races, or when they control other races’ cities. Barbarians, gnolls, high men, lizardmen, nomads and, surprisingly, orcs are also pretty easy going vis-à-vis occupation policies. Dark elves, dwarves, high elves, klackons and trolls, however, can create plenty of unrest when their cities are occupied or their race conquers another race’s city among this listing. Particular animosity exists between the high and dark elves, between the dwarves and elves, and among the trolls, dwarves and elves. Any combination of these is likely to require a conqueror to build several religious institutions just to keep the rebel populace in check. (See City Population, Building Types and Imperialism for more information.)

city screen

they

conquer

Select Banner

After you have chosen one of the predesigned wizards, or upon completing the creation of your own wizard, you enter the

screen

. Click on one of the five banners (green, yellow, blue, purple or red) to select the color your troops will follow. After you choose, the program generates the worlds of Arcanus and Myrror according to the parameters you selected in the generation, the program also determines which non-guaranteed spells are in each wizard’s spell library. When creation of the new worlds is complete, you are plunked onto the game, in control of a city bearing a flag of your chosen color.

new game screen

main movement screen

select banner

. During world

of the

Select Home City Name

The last step before starting to play a game of deciding whether or not to accept the default name for your wizard’s home city. After the worlds are created, you have the option to alter the name of your starting city or to accept the default selection. In addition, if you have chosen to play on the Easy setting, you are asked if you wish to use the grand vizier to manage the production of buildings in your cities (see Grand Vizier). With that decided, you are ready to start playing!

Master of Magic

Beginning the Game -

The Main Screen

MAIN MOVEMENT SCREEN

Reduced

map (world

window)

Status

window

Upkeep

summary

window

Next turn

button

Buttons

Main movement view

The main movement screen of

Enchanted fortress

Master of Magic

is where most of the game play takes place. This introductory section contains a very brief description of each area of the main movement screen. The sections that follow describe each of these areas in detail.

There are seven buttons (game, spells, armies, cities, magic, info and plane) across the top of the screen. Clicking on these buttons takes you to new screens or menus.

• The

game button

takes you to the

game options menu,

from which

you can load and save games.

• The

spells button

takes you to a list of spells that you can currently cast. At the beginning of most games, the only spell in this spell book is magic spirit (an arcane magic spell described in the Spellbook supplement).

• The

armies button

takes you to a screen that shows all armies and heroes that you currently control. At the beginning of the game, you have no armies, so this screen is empty.

• The

cities button

takes you to a list of your current cities and outposts. At the beginning of the game, the only city on this list is your starting city (a.k.a. your “enchanted fortress”).

• The

magic button

takes you to a screen where you can examine and modify how your magic power is being distributed over the areas of spell research, spell casting skill and mana reserves. There are a series of empty “mirrors” or gems at the top of this screen that eventually display the faces of any opposing wizards in the current game; these mirrors are the means by which you communicate with all known wizards.

• The

movement screen movement view

gold and mana in your reserves.

mana you are producing every turn. If one of these numbers is colored red, then you are losing the displayed amount of that item each turn! When this happens, you probably want to take appropriate measures to correct this per turn deficit spending (you’re not the US Government, after all!). Note that surplus gold and mana are added to the amounts shown in the status window each turn, while surplus food is converted to gold at a rate of one gold piece per two surplus food units. The

upkeep summary window

for an active unit to move.

turn button

and takes you to the next turn in the game. This updates all of your economic, diplomatic and research data by one turn and allows your units to start a new turn of movement.

main movement view

that represents your starting city (aka “enchanted fortress”). All exploration, troop movement and building of outposts and roads takes place in this viewing area.

info button

advisor buttons

world, your spell library, other wizards, etc.

plane button

Myrror. At the beginning of the game you have no means to travel to a different plane. Eventually you will be able to use the

button

to move troops between these two worlds.

The

reduced map (world window)

The

status window

The

upkeep summary window

In the bottom right corner of the

The largest section of the

. Clicking on this button means you are done with this turn

takes you to a long list of advisors. Clicking on the provides you with important information about the

switches you between the worlds of Arcanus and

. Clicking on a site on this map centers the

on that site.

below the reduced map shows the amount of

is replaced by the

main movement screen

. Here you can see a small town with a flag on top

is on the top-right side of the

shows how much net gold, food and

unit window

main movement screen

when it is time

is the

is occupied by the

plane

main main

Game

licking on the

screen

Save slots

The

game options screen

to quit to DOS and to adjust game settings.

SAVING

To save a game, click on one of the eight slots in the middle of the screen. A cursor appears. Type in a name or short description for the game in progress and then click on the screen. If there is already a name in the saved game slot you selected, you can either save the current game under that name (by clicking on the

save button

the name in the slot by backspacing over the current name and typing in a new one. After hitting the e key or clicking the immediately return to your game.

game button

after selecting the game in that slot) or you can change

takes you to the

can be used to save and load games,

save button

game options

at the bottom of the

save button,

you

To load a previously saved game, click on the slot in which that game was saved. The name or description of that saved game is highlighted. You can then click on the saved game.

load button

to resume playing the

SETTINGS

Clicking on the

screen

. The following list of settings can be toggled on or off (by clicking on them), depending on your preference. A check mark appears in the small box to the left of each setting that is currently on.

settings button

takes you to the

game settings

Sound Effects should be turned on if you wish to listen to the sound

effects. This setting is ignored if your sound card does not support digitized speech.

Background Music should be turned off if you do not wish to have

continuous music playing in the background during your game.

Event Music should be turned on if you wish to hear special music

when various events occur.

City Spell Events should be on if you wish to be notified when city

enchantment spells are cast on your cities or those of other players.

Overland Spell Events should be on if you wish to be notified when

overland enchantment spells are cast on your cities or those of other players.

Summoning Events should be on if you wish to be notified when

summoning spells are cast.

End of Turn Summary should be turned on if you wish to see a

summary scroll at the end of each turn. The information contained in the summary is the same as that obtained by consulting with your Chancellor (see Chancellor).

Automatic Advice should be turned on if you wish the computer to

supply you with suggestions on what you should be doing during your game. Experienced players can turn this option off.

Random Events should be turned on if you wish random events to be

part of your game (see Events).

End of Turn Wait should be on if you wish to be prompted to press the

next turn button

once all your units have moved.

Strategic Combat Only should be on if you wish

place under the computer’s control. Turn this off if you wish to conduct your own tactical combat. Note: with this option on you need never witness combat at all; you are simply informed of the results.

Additional Unit Information should be on if you wish to keep an extra

combat unit display window

provides information on remaining ammunition, mana and health of the active unit (see Combat).

Enemy Moves should be turned on if you wish to view the movements

of enemy troops that are within your range of sight.

Enemy Spells should be turned on if you wish to be informed when

other wizards cast spells.

Spell Book Ordering should be turned on if you wish to have the spells

in your spell books arranged in sections by spell categories (i.e., city enchantments, creature summonings, etc.) rather than by color (life, death, chaos, nature or sorcery).

Spell Animations should be turned on if you wish to view the

animations that apply to any spells that you have successfully cast.

Show Node Owners should be turned on if you wish to see the magic

aura around controlled magic nodes. The magic aura is the same color as the banner of the controlling wizard.

Expanding Help should be turned on if you wish to view help

information (obtained by right-clicking on areas) as a graphic that expands/emanates from the area in question.

open during combat. This window

all

battles to take

Click on the

settings to return to the

OK button

when you are finished adjusting the game

game options screen

QUIT

You can quit to DOS from the

the

quit button

at the bottom of the screen.

game options screen

If you simply wish to return to the game from the

screen

, click on the

OK button

by clicking on

game options

Spells

licking on the

spells that you know

spells such as city enchantments, unit enchantments, summoning spells, etc.) are visible. At the beginning of the game, the only spell in your spellbook is likely to be magic spirit, a common arcane

summoning spell described in the Spellbook supplement.

The casting cost of a spell is shown to the right of the spell’s name

in your spellbook.

spells button

and

that can be cast overland (i.e., noncombat

takes you to your spellbook. Only those

Dog ear:

click here

Casting

Bookmark:

click here to

close book

to turn

page

cost

Length of

time to

cast spell

The length of time (in turns) it takes to cast a spell is indicated underneath the spell’s name by the number of colored symbols (spells that can be instantaneously cast show “Instant” instead of symbols). For example, if you wish to cast a specific nature spell and there are four green tree symbols beneath the spell’s name, then it takes an estimated four turns to cast the spell (the actual time may vary if the amount of mana being spent per turn for spell casting is altered).

To turn to another page of your spell book, click on the dog-eared upper corners. To close the spell book without casting a spell, click on the red bookmark at the bottom of the book.

To cast a spell, click on the name of the spell. To change the spell you are casting, click on the new desired spell. Note that when you change spells, any magic power you have already invested into casting the original spell gets transferred to the new spell; any invested magic power that is “left over” after this transfer (i.e., the new spell has a lower casting cost than the original spell) is permanently lost.

Name of

spell

Type of

spell effect

+ 124 hidden pages