Games PC THE BARD S TALE User Manual

The Bard

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The Bard’s Tale

Contents

The Manual 18
A Quick Overview 19
Characters 21
Places 27
The Combat System 29
The Magic System 32
Conjurer Spells 35
Magician Spells 37
Sorcerer Spells 40
Wizard Spells 42
Bard Songs 44
Spell Key Glossary 45
Tips from the Underground 46
Items 47

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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")

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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.

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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

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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

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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.

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