Games PC THE BARD S TALE User Manual

The Bard
s
Tale
The Bard’s Tale
Contents
The Bard’s Tale
17
The Bard’s Tale
The Bard’s Tale
A Quick Overview
An orientation for beginners, a quick start guide for experts.
How to Use This Manual
This manual has three parts. This Overview is designed to give first-time adventure gamers a quick sense of the overall gameplay and give experience fantasy role-players all they need to know to start quickly
The rest of the manual is reference material about how various parts of The Bard's Tale operate, including character building and development, places and mapping, the combat system and the magic system. There is also a listing and description of all the magic spells and the beginning items available in The Bard's Tale. Finally, there are hints and clues interspersed throughout the manual.
1. Command Summary Card
Inside the front flap of your album cover is a Command Summary Card,
which lists keystroke commands, disk utilities and step-by-step instructions
for starting up. If you are an experienced adventurer, this card gives you
most of what you need to know; the rest is covered in this section.
2. Adventurer's Guild
The ADVENTURER'S GUILD is where you start each. This is the ONLY
spot a party can be formed, characters created, or characters saved to disk.
3. Use the Pre-Built Party
For your convenience, you will find a pre-built party already waiting for you
when you enter the Guild for the first time. The party is called *A Team.
They are even outfitted with weapons and armor affordable to characters of
their humble stations.
4. Use City Map on the Package
On the inside of your album cover is a map of Skara Brae. You'll need it.
Notice:
- 2 walled-off towers (wonder what's in there?).
- A castle protected by Guardian Statues.
- Temples for healing, Equipment Shop for purchasing more weapons, Taverns for drink and gossip, Roscoe's for more spell energy.
- You'll have to find the Review Board (where levels are awarded and magic is taught) on your own.
The Bard’s Tale
19
The Bard’s Tale
The Manual
About Fantasy Role Playing Games. The Bard's Tale is a fantasy role-
playing game. First in a series of Tales of the unknown, this one is set in the city of Skara Brae.
Like other fantasy role-playing games, there are three objectives you will
be trying to accomplish. How you do this is up to you...
Your most important goal is to complete the quest built into the game. In The Bard's Tale the city of Skara Brae is threatened by an evil mage called Mangar. You must find Mangar and "persuade" him to release the once­harmonious city from his evil control.
But Mangar is protected by layers of obstacles, mazes and evil henchmen. Your second goal is to develop characters capable of surviving these barriers. These characters are your alter ego in The Bard's Tale. They act according to your commands, but over the course of the game they change, much as real people do over a lifetime. They improve their skills in magic, combat, stealth, etc. They amass wealth and treasured objects. And they worry about dying too soon.
Your third goal is to explore the entire world of The Bard's Tale. There are numerous goodies, puzzles and special places in Skara Brae. Part of the fun is finding them, and discovering the layout of this fantasy world. How do you get into the walled off towers? What's in the castle? Where are the legendary catacombs of Skara Brae?
So turn the page and get started. Skara Brae awaits.
The Bard’s Tale
18
The Bard’s Tale
7. The Bard
The Bard makes magic by playing music. He needs an instrument, of course. He can play in combat or during exploration, with different effect. Only one tune at a time. And one tune for every experience level. Then he needs to get a drink from any nearby tavern.
You can listen to his music or not. See the COMMAND SUMMARY card for details.
By the way, the Bard is not too shabby as a fighter.
8. Time
Time waits for no one. Even without keystrokes, time passes, from day to night and back again.
Nighttime is especially nasty. The really evil monsters hit the streets at night, looking for characters just like you. And, what's worse, you use up spell points faster, because spell points only regenerate in daylight.
Now you know enough to get started, if you are an experienced adventurer. By the way, the tavern on Rakhir street is the only tavern that serves wine. And that wine "goes down" easily. You may wish to drop by to wet the whistle of your Bard. Good luck!
CHARACTERS
RACES
Humans are not the only race in the world of The Bard's Tale. Others are more magically inclined, stronger and smarter. Part of the fun of a fantasy role­playing game is getting to know these different races, and forming your party accordingly. The races and their descriptions are:
HUMAN: While possibly being of hardier stock, this character is
nonetheless like you or me.
ELF: Patterned after the Tolkien elf, the elf is slight of build, frequently
taller than a human, and very inclined to magic.
DWARF: The Dwarven people are short and stout, extremely strong and
healthy, but not amazingly intelligent (i.e., excellent fighters).
HOBBIT: Hobbits are slightly smaller than Dwarves but are nimble and
dexterous. Just the right make-up for a rogue.
The Bard’s Tale
21
The Bard’s Tale
Mapping the dungeons and mazes is up to you. You even have to figure out how to get into the mazes on your own. One clue: each of the 16 mazes is set up on a 22 by 22 grid. North is to the top of the screen, East is to the right. Be sure to go to every square; there are lots of specials.
For more about the City of Skara Brae see "Places"
5. Combat
Only your first 3 characters and the first 2 rows of monsters can attack in hand-to-hand combat.
There are several new combat commands, including Party Attack, for fighting between party members; Bard Song, for making magic by playing music; Hide in Shadows, to avoid combat.
For more information see "The Combat System"
6. Magic
There are 4 classes of Magic Users, each with unique magical capabilities: Conjurers can create objects and heal adventurers; Magicians can bestow
magical effects on common items; Sorcerers can create illusions and heighten awareness; Wizards can summon and control supernaturall creatures.
Sorcerer and Wizard classes are not available to first level adventurers. To create one of these, you must change class of a Magic User who has achieved 3rd level magic spells in one (for Sorcerer) or two (for Wizard) other magical arts. Class change takes place in the Review Board. A Magic User who successfully learns all 7 levels of spells for each of the 4 Magic Classes is an Archmage, one of the most powerful characters in The Bard's Tale. Once a Magic User leaves a class, he can never return to it.
Magic Users qualify to learn next level spells based on their experience levels, but it takes gold to actually learn the new spells.
Casting spells uses spell points in different amounts depending on the spell. Spell points are regenerated automatically when a Magic User is in the city in the daytime, and may also be regenerated in Roscoe's Energy Emporium, or special Regen squares in some dungeons.
(For more information see "The Magic System")
The Bard’s Tale
20
The Bard’s Tale
abbreviated and so create different magical effects than the full non-combat versions. The shorter combat versions don't endure as long either, only one round of fighting.
Only one Bard tune can be played at a time. If a second one is played while the first is still playing (by the same or a different Bard), the first will end. A Bard can play as many tunes as experience levels before his throat gets dry. Then it's off to a tavern for a drink to rejuvenate his voice. Tough duty, but someone has to do it.
Bard songs vary according to the difficulty of the dungeon. When the going gets tough, the Bard goes drinking.
HUNTER: an assassin, a mercenary, a ninja. The hunter can use most
weapons, and has the ability (which grows with experience) to do critical
hits in combat (i.e., to attack a nerve center or other vital area and
instantly kill an opponent). A good skill.
MONK: a martial artist, an almost inhuman fighting machine trained to
fight without weapons or armor. The monk can use them, but, at higher
levels particularly, often does better without.
CONJURER: one of the 4 classes of Magic Users, Conjurers deal in the
physical creation and manifestation of real things (like fire, light, healing).
MAGICIAN: another of the 4 classes of Magic Users, Magicians deal
with magic as it affects physical objects (i.e., enchanting a sword, making
armor stronger, making a dungeon wall disappear).
SORCERER: Sorcerers are Magic Users who deal with the creation and
manipulation of illusion. Due to the power of sorcerer spells, this class is
not available to newly created characters.
WIZARD: Wizards are Magic Users who are dedicated to the summoning
and binding of various supernatural creatures. These creatures are not
friendly to humankind and trying to control them is extremely hazardous.
The Wizard-class is not available to new characters either.
CHARACTER ATTRIBUTES
Each character you create has five basic attributes which define his physical and mental prowess. When you create a character each attribute is assigned a value from 1 to 18, with the higher number reflecting higher capability.
The Bard’s Tale
23
The Bard’s Tale
HALF-ELF: These crossbreeds are usually blond and fair-skinned, like elves, and get some added size and strength from their human ancestry.
HALF-ORC: An orc is a large, goblin-like creature often found working for evil wizards. The Half-orc, being half human, is not quite as despicable as his orc parent, but you wouldn't want to date one.
GNOME: Gnomes closely resemble dwarves, but have less hair and even shorter tempers. They are also more magically inclined, as a rule.
CHARACTER CLASSES
In fantasy role-playing games, characters choose different "Classes" or professions. There is no single best class; each has its own strengths. Your characters must use teamwork to succeed.
Class selection is the most important aspect of creating a character in The Bard's Tale. There are ten different classes of characters, but only 8 can be selected for a newly generated character. Class types carry with them different abilities and limitations, as are roughly covered below.
WARRIOR: the base fighter-type in The Bard's Tale, warriors can use
nearly every weapon there is. For every 4 levels of experience after the
1st, Warriors get an extra attack ability in combat.
PALADIN: Paladins are fighters who have sworn to abstain from all evil
and to uphold honor and purity in all places. They can use most weapons
and some that no other fighters can. They get multiple attacks at higher
levels. They also have a greatly increased resistance to evil magic.
ROGUE: a professional thief with so-so combat ability, the rogue can
hide in shadows, search for traps and disarm them. Without a rogue your
party will pay very dearly for the booty it wins.
BARD: The Bard is a wandering minstrel. You'll see him with a tankard of
ale in front of him in the less reputable taverns -- the rowdier the better.
Bards were once warriors, and can still use most warrior weapons. But they turned to music instead and now play songs with an almost magical effect on other characters. Bards don't get the warrior's advantage of extra attacks in combat anymore -- but their magic is so unique, it is almost impossible to survive Skara Brae without one.
Any true Bard has six songs on his lips, though to play them he must have an instrument equipped. A song played as the party is exploring is long-lasting and continues even after the party returns from combat mode, even if other songs were played during combat. Any songs played during combat are
The Bard’s Tale
22
The Bard’s Tale
EXPERIENCE POINTS: This measures abilities gained by experience, the higher the number, the better the character. Characters get experience points for successful combat, according to the difficulty of the fight and the number of characters who survive. The amount is indicated after every successful combat. A character's running total of experience points is indicated in view-mode.
GOLD: Gold is the unit of currency in this world. Your characters start with just barely enough gold to buy the armor and weapons they need to survive. There are two ways to get rich enough to buy better equipment: taking gold from the monsters you defeat in combat or selling items you find in dungeons. The first way is more fun.
LEVEL ("LV 1"): Level is a general measure of achievement within a character's class. Level 1 is a novice, Level 13, for example, is required to become a Master of a Magic User class.
The Review Board will promote a character to higher levels based on his experience points, but only upon the character's in-person request. An advance in level is very important because it generally means an increase in attribute scores, hit points, spell points and other abilities.
SPELL LEVELS (e.g., "MAGI 1"): This shows the highest group of magic spells a character can use in any of the 4 classes of Magic Users. There are 7 groups of magic spells for each different class.
To learn a new group of magic spells (a "spell level"), a Magic User must advance two experience levels. (NOTE: spell levels and experience levels are not the same thing!) For any of the four magic classes, a Magic User advances as follows:
Experience Level Spell Level
1 1 2 1 3 2 5 3 7 4 9 5 11 6 13 7 14 and up 7 maximum
The Bard’s Tale
25
The Bard’s Tale
STRENGTH (Shown as "ST" on the screen): Strength is physical power and chiefly affects the amount of damage a character can do to an opponent in hand-to-hand combat. Make sure your fighting characters are strong.
INTELLIGENCE ("IQ"): Intelligence is mental power. A high intelligence will enable your Magic Users to get bonus spell points.
DEXTERITY ("DX"): Measures agility & nimbleness. A high score makes your characters harder to hit and helps them strike the first blow in combat.
CONSTITUTION ("CN"): Measures healthiness. It takes more damage to kill a character with a high constitution score. This is reflected in bonus "hit points," the character's life span.
LUCK ("LK"): Luck is an ambiguous attribute, as it has a number of unseen effects on gameplay. For example, lucky characters are more likely to resist evil magic and avoid nasty traps.
OTHER CHARACTER STATISTICS
ARMOR CLASS ("AC"): This statistic reflects the level of protection a character has from physical attack. In classic fantasy role-playing style, the armor class starts at 10 for a totally unprotected, unarmored character with low dexterity, and goes down to -10 (called LO) as his protection improves by armor, spells, or other means.
HIT POINTS ("HITS"): Hit Points measure the damage a character can take before he is killed. The "Hits" statistic shows his potential at fullest health, rather than current status.
CONDITION ("COND"): Condition shows the character's present number of hit points. For example, if a character with 10 Hit Points is wounded for 7 hit points, his Condition will drop to 3. Another wound of 3 or more hit points will kill him. If he is fully healed, his Condition will return to the full 10 again. (Even though his Condition score changes, his Hit Points stay at 10.)
SPELL POINTS ("SP PT"): This shows current spell point status. Points are used up with each cast of a magic spell. If a Conjurer has 20 spell points and casts a Mage Flame spell at a cost of 2 spell points, his new total would be 18. A character's maximum spell points are listed in his view-character mode.
The Bard’s Tale
24
The Bard’s Tale
Loading...
+ 12 hidden pages