Games PC THE BARD S TALE III User Manual

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The Bard’s Tale III
The Bard
s
Tale
III
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Contents
Introduction 94 Objectives 97
Getting Started The Command Summary Card 97
Pre-Built Parties 98 Creating Characters 98 Viewing Your Characters 102 Onscreen Statistics 104 Special Characters 104 Moving Up In Levels 105 Places 106 Combat Systems 107 Items And Equipment 109 Magic Users 110 Conjurer Spells 112 Magician Spells 114 Sorcerer Spells 116 Wizard Spells 118 Archmage Spells 120 Chronomancer Spells 121 Geomancer Spells 122 Bard Songs 124
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OBJECTIVES
You must assemble a group of adventurers who will travel to the seven
dimensions in search of the source of Skara Brae’s destruction. Along the way, you’ll gather words, spells, and items that will help you in your final battle against the repugnant Evil One. If you successfully destroy the Evil One, Skara Brae will be released from the bond ofruin.
Using logic is key to surviving in each of the dimensions. Let’s say you’re trekking around in some icy, arctic-like zone and a monstrous snow wolf steps into your path, bares its teeth, and then proceeds to chew off your ankle. You have a bag of spells to choose from, but one type of spell would be especially effective. (Hint: Trying to freeze the snow wolf in an ice stor m is not the best choice.)
Throughout the game, you’ll need to make important decisions about how to accomplish certain tasks. You won’t want to proceed in the usual “whatever works” method. It will pay to think it out.
GETTING STARTED
THE COMMAND SUMMARY CARD
The first thing you need to do is read the Command Summary Card,
which tells you how to get Thief of Fate running on your computer. It also tells you how to use the disk utilities and how to transfer characters from The Bard’s Tale I, II, Ultima III, IV and Wizardry I, II, III (The option to transfer characters may not be available on all computers). In addition, it lists the keystroke commands you’ll be using.
Once you load Thief of Fate and start the game, the first place you’ll be is in the Refugee Camp (See “Refugee Camp” for more details on this important place). From here, you’ll create your characters and decide who you want in the party. After you select the party members, it’s into the wilderness you go.
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INTRODUCTION
As I lay dying... I pray my body does not fail me before I am able to
complete this most important missive. I pray as well that, somehow, the heroes who once before saved Skara Brae will find this accounting and act upon it. I leave this record so those who come after will know what horrors that the Mad God Tarjan has perpetrated, and so that they will not be lulled into believing that Skara Brae was his sole target.
How can I describe that day. Nay, it did not begin like all others, for on that day we celebrated the victory over Mangar that had so recently liberated our city. Bards from the world over arrived in Skara Brae to play and herald the brave deeds of those heroes who saved us. The townspeople danced in the streets with happiness, and the great festival filled all with an overwhelming joy of life and renewed hope for the future.
Then Mangar’s Master, The Mad God Tarjan, arrived to reduce our day of celebration into a day of mourning. His shadow sank the city into pitiless black oblivion. Foul creatures that had festered in his flesh like maggots burst forth to assault fair Skara Brae. People ran, but could not run swiftly enough to escape. Tarjan’s minions left none untouched.
Forgive the shakiness of my script, for life ebbs painfully from my body as I write. Tarjan, mocking my death curse, told me Skara Brae was merely one in a series of conquests he had long contemplated to complete his revenge. He laughed when I said heroes would come to destroy his mad plan, yet I sensed fear in his voice when I promised that the legendary Hawkslayer, and those who defeated Mangar, would return again to triumph. As payment for my threat, he gave a swift twist of his jewelled sword into my belly.
Tarjan must be stopped. Whosoever reads this, you must get word to the heroes. This will be their greatest challenge, for upon their efforts rests the fate of more than Skara Brae, more than the Six Cities of the plains. Their failure will mean the extinction of all life - save for the wretched Tarjan and his servile parasites. Pray for success... and life renewed.
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Dwarf: Stout and short, these people are amazingly strong and healthy. Brightness, however, is not a shining attribute of theirs.
Hobbit: The Hobbit is deft and clever, which are ideal traits for thieving. Their favorite boast is “A locked door is soon no more.”
Half-Elf:The result of an Elf and Human friendship, Half-Elves acquire their fair hair and light skin from Elves, and their physical bulk from Humans.
Half-Orc: Orcs are the henchmen of evil wizards who are capable of little more than following orders for physical dirty work. Half-Orcs are tempered with Human blood, so while they’re still dangerous, they aren’t completely mindless drones forever in search of necks to wrench.
Gnome: Gnomes are much like Dwarfs, but a little more anti-social due to a deficit in beauty. Because they’ve spent so much time studying alone, Gnomes have developed a certain flair for magic.
Character Attributes
As you create your characters, these attributes appear above the race categories at the top of the screen. They’re your character’s vital statistics. These values will determine how successful your character perfor ms in his or her class (or “profession”).
Strength (ST): Nobody really wishes to be light on might, but strength is
especially important to fighters.
Intelligence (IQ): If you don’t have brawn, then you better have brains.
Magicians get bonus spell points for high intelligence scores.
Dexterity (DX): This helps determine how fleet of feet and nimble of
hand you’ll be. A high score makes you harder to hit and helps you land
the first blow. For Rogues, the higher this value, the less likely they’ll get
their fingers snapped off in traps.
Constitution (CN): This represents your overall health. The higher this
is, the more damage your opponent must inflict on you before you need to
start thinking about death. Should you be blessed with strong constitution,
you will get bonus hit points.
Luck (LK): Luck is ambiguous and unpredictable; you never know what
alliance it has made with fate. One thing is known about luck: lucky souls
are more likely to resist evil magic and avoid traps.
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PRE-BUILT PARTIES
When you enter the Refugee Camp, you’ll find a group of adventures
called *INTERPLAYERS ready to do your bidding. They’re not the most seasoned of adventurers, but they’re good enough for you to sample Thief of Fate with. Use these characters to find out how commands work, what different races and classes do, how it feels like to get repeatedly attacked, and, in general, what the Realm is like. When you’re ready, you can create your own characters. Refer to the Command Summary Card to find out how to enlist their services.
CREATING CHARACTERS
Creating characters who can effectively do their jobs is one key to your
success. Use the following guidelines to create your character:
1. Select a sex.
2. Select a race.
3. On the next screen, you’ll see the attributes. If you’re not satisfied with these attributes, press <ESC> and you’ll return to the screen with the races. Start over again.
4. If you’re satisfied with the attributes, choose a class.
5. Name the character, and he or she will be saved on your character disk.
6. To use the character, you must add him or her to the party with the “Add a member” command.
Sex Choose between male or female.
Sex doesn’t affect your abilities to carry out your tasks; it only affects how
you look on your Character Profile screen.
Races
Humans: Their strength and inventiveness make them one of the best survivors. Never lacking in aggression, they can handle themselves in just about any adverse setting.
Elf: Fair of hair and skin, the Elves are slightly taller, faster, and more agile than humans. Although weaker, they make up for this by being more skilled in magical arts and war strategies.
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Sorcerer: These mages weave weighty illusions, ones that a newly-made character surely couldn’t handle. You must know at least three spell levels from the Magician and Conjurer classes.
Wizard: Rumor of the Realm is that these mages have the power to summon and bind creatures of the supernatural, creatures who react foully to being dragged out of their worlds on someone else’s whim.
Archmage: Archmages must have mastered all the spells of any three magic classes. With this hefty experience requirement, Archmages are undoubtedly the most auspicious among those who cast spells for a living.
Geomancer: Fighters who want to convert to a life of a magic can become Geomancers. Once they choose to change, they can still use the armor, weapons, and magic items that the fighter classes use. Beware: Bards lose their songs, Warriors lose their multiple attacks, Hunters lose their critical hit ability, and Monks lose their armor class bonus and multiple attacks. It’s part of the trade off. To become a Geomancer, you must find the one special location that performs the rite of passage to this mage class.
Chronomancer: Chronomancers are the travel experts of the magic users. Before becoming one, a magic user must master all the spells of any three mage classes. And once you become a Chronomancer, you lose the power to use all the spells you previously learned. It may sound unfair, but the Chronomancer needs to focus all of his or her attention on the important dimension teleport spells. Don’t think you can get around without this spellcaster, because you just can’t.
Tips from the Refugee Camp - Characters
Don’t worry about losing a level 1 character; just make another one if he
or she dies. However, when your characters reach level 3, regularly back up your character disk with your favorite disk copy utility or prepare to shed tears over a lost character.
If your favorite character is killed, you can resurrect him or her with
magic, or with gold if you can find a shrine that raises the dead. You can also turn off the computer, reboot, and reload your party from the point where you last saved them to disk (which means all the characters lose any gold or experience points they may have earned since the last time you saved them). Or, you can delete the dead character from your main character disk and replace that character from your backup disk.
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Classes
No one class, or profession, is nobler than the next. As the mix of strings on the Bard’s mandolin makes for a richer sound, so will a mix of classes make for a richer journey. Create a party with no Rogues or Bards, and you’ll have nobody to steal flowers for your grave and sing at your funeral. While there are 13 classes to your choosing, only eight are available to the first-time adventurer.
Warrior: It’s a rare weapon that this king of fighters can’t handle.
Warriors gain an extra attack capability for every four levels of experience
after the first; a reward for becoming more adept in battle.
Paladin: This fighter swears to battle all evil and uphold honor and purity.
Due to their virtuous nature, the Paladin can handle some enchanted
weapons that others can’t and also have greater resistance to spells cast on
them.
Hunter: These are the skilled assassins. Their combat approach is to aim
for the vital organs or nerve center and do away with an opponent with as
little swordplay as possible.
Monk: These are no ordinary, somber, brown-robed, porridge eaters.
Monks are actually adept fighters skilled in the ways of martial arts. While
Monks with more experience prefer to fight with their bare hands, they can
also use traditional weapons. A Monk’s armor class improves as he or she
gains levels.
Bard: Any Bard will tell you that music can do more than soothe the
savage beast. The Bard can do a number of things from creating light to
regenerating spell points with a mere stroke of the strings.
Rogue: This dexterous thief makes a living out of picking locks and
neutralizing traps. If you plan on traveling without a Rogue, prepare to pay
a high physical price for your spoils. A Rogue also has the ability to
identify mysterious items. And perhaps most important, a Rogue can be an
excellent killer due to his or her ability to sneak up close to an opponent
before he or she attacks... and you’ll soon find out just how important this
thief is to your fate.
Conjurer: Conjurers have the ability to heal wounds and create physical
phenomena like fire and light.
Magician: A Magician’s specialty is to change the properties of physical
objects, such as enchanting a sword, turning an enemy to stone, or making
a dungeon wall vanish.
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Spell Points: This category only pertains to those who cast spells. It shows the most spell points you can ever have, or your spell point potential. Compare the SpPt value on the Onscreen Statistics against his to see how you’re doing. For instance, if you have 20 spell points, and the SpPt value is 18, then you have almost all of your maximum spell points. If, however, you’re down to 3 SpPt, then you’re almost out of power to cast spells. You’ll have to wait until they regenerate. To regenerate spell points, you have to be under the healing rays of the sun. They don’t regenerate at night, so cut back on unnecessary spell activity during this time. They also won’t regenerate in dungeons unless you stand on a magic square, use a spell-regenerating magic item, or play a spell-regenerating Bard’s song.
Experience: The more fights you get into (and live through) the more experience you’ll gain. When you acquire enough experience points, you can move up a level. How many experience points you need depends on your class. The Old Man in the Review Board will let you know if you have
enough, and if not, how much more you need.
Gold: The more the merrier. You acquire gold by killing your enemies and cleaning out their pockets. Gold lets you pay the Old Man his fee for giving you spells, bribe folks for clues, buy drinks, and do a number of other useful things. Don’t worry about buying equipment - you can’t. (Tarjan doesn’t believe in free enterprise so he put Garth’s Equipment Shoppe out of business with an awesome incendiary spell.) You’ll start out with the weapon and armor that you need. Whatever else you want, you’ll have to find.
Pool Gold: Press P to pool gold, and all the other characters will give this character their gold.
Trade Gold: Trade gold lets you trade gold to any other character on the roster. Press T, enter the roster number of whom you will give the gold to, and then enter how much.
Inventory: On the next screen, you’ll see the character’s inventory (the items he or she is carrying). See the “Items and Equipment” section for more details.
Special Information: On the third screen, you’ll see any special information pertaining to your character. Rogues can view their ability percentages for things like disarming traps, identifying chests, hiding in shadows, etc. Bards can view the number of tunes they have left. Magic users can view a list of their spells. Hunters show critical hit percentages. Not all characters will have this third screen of information.
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When you roll for attributes, shoot for 16’s, 17’s and 18’s since they can
make a big difference. For example, high dexterity gives you bonus armor
protection and first-strike capabilities; luck often lets you survive if you
accidentally spring a trap; constitution provides all characters with extra hit
points; and high intelligence gives mages bonus spell points in later turns.
Certain races rely on certain attributes being strong. A mage who is
strong but not intelligent is at a far greater disadvantage than a mage who
is intelligent but weak.
Develop a Sorcerer quickly to use in dungeons. Wizards, too, are
important because they can summon extremely powerful special members.
Work toward Archmagedom. You’ll also need to prepare at least one
character for the role of Chronomancer.
Experiment with Hunters. They can often kill superior monsters quickly
because of their critical hit capabilities. Rogues also have excellent critical
hit abilities, but only when they hide in the shadows. And don’t dismiss the
Monk as a lightweight best left chanting in the monastery; after the sixth
level, they’re probably the best fighters of all the classes.
You can always enlist the services of special members and save them to
your party.
Beware of certain magic squares. Keep an eye on your character’s
statistics while exploring. If you see that your character’s spell or hit points
are dropping for no apparent reason, your character is probably on a
magic square that drains power - jump off the square before he or she is
sapped of all strength.
VIEWING YOUR CHARACTERS
At almost any time during the game, you can call up a character to see
what his or her status is and what he or she possesses. To do this, enter the character’s number. (To view a character’s status without bringing up his or her picture, press <Shift> and the character’s number.) On the first screen, you’ll see the following:
Level: The higher the value, the better your character will perform in his
or her role. All newly-made characters start out as level 1. As you gain
more experience, you can advance in levels (see “Moving Up in Levels”).
Sex, Race, Class, Attribute Values: You learned all about these when
you created your characters.
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MOVING UP IN LEVELS
All newly-made characters start out as level one. As you adventure,
fight, and gain experience, you can go up in levels. The higher your level, the better you’ll perform in the profession you choose: magic users cast more spells, fighters fight more skillfully, thieves steal more successfully, and so on. To advance, you must go to the Review Board where the Old Man will review your accomplishments and let you know if you are fit for advancement. Or you can go to any of the Wizard Guilds.
Spellcasters need to advance in levels to acquire more spells. What spellcasters would wish to dedicate years of study only to dabble in the same handful of tepid spells all of their lives? The following table shows at what level spellcasters can use certain level spells. For instance, a Wizard with an experience level of 3 can only use spells up to the second level. Spellcasters can reach up to seven spell levels.
Experience Spell Level 1 1 2 1 3 2 4 2 5 3 6 3 7 4 8 4 9 5 10 5 11 6 12 6 13+ 7
You can advance to a new, more powerful mage class once you learn enough spells from enough mage classes. Just how many spells and just which mage classes you must learn depend on which mage class you want to advance to. When you go to the Review Board, you’ll find out exactly which classes you can advance to at that time.
For those seeking to change classes, your experience points will reset to zero, but your other attributes such as hit points, spell points, and gold remain unaffected. A warning to magic users: once you advance to a new mage class, you don’t get the chance to learn the magic classes and spell levels that
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ON SCREEN STATISTICS
The following information always shows on the screen next to your character’s name:
Armor Class (AC): This is the level of protection that a character has against physical attack. For a totally unprotected character whose dexterity is low - which is about as bad as it gets - armor class is about ten. As a character’s armor class improves, the number gets lower. There are also spells, songs, and items that you can use to lower armor class.
Hit Points (Hits): Hit points represent the amount of damage a character can take before dying. This number represents the character’s potential at full health.
Condition (Cond): This is the character’s total points for his or her current condition. Compare this value to hit points to determine what condition your character is in. For instance, if hit points is 20, and condition is 17, then you’re in good shape because your actual health is close to your potential health. However, if your condition is 5, then you’re much closer to death than to life.
Spell Points (SpPt): This is the number of spell points that a magic user has left. When it’s down to zero, the magic user can’t cast any more spells. Pray no monsters come your way...
SPECIAL CHARACTERS
You may meet special characters during your travels, or summon them
with a spell or magic article (the summoned characters are also known as illusionary characters). You can invite as many of these special characters to join your party - granted you have the space in your party. You can save special characters to disk once you return to the Refugee Camp.
Special characters choose their own method of attack and usually go after the first group of monsters. Illusionary characters disappear from the party ranks when they are killed or when a foe disbelieves its existence. If a nonillusionary special character is attacked by another party member for any reason, the special character immediately turns hostile and fights until defeated. Dead special characters can be resurrected and healed just like your regular characters.
Special characters can carry items for your party, but they can’t find them or use them. Only the characters you made are capable of this.
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Places No More
If you’ve traveled the roads of the Realm before in The Bard’s Tale I or II, you’ll remember casinos, Roscoe’s Energy Emporium, Garth’s Equipment Shoppe, and Bedder’s Bank for the Bold. During the destruction, all these places were put out of business, and remain closed to date. This means that you’ll have to find alternatives to each institution. In some cases, there are no alternatives, so find what you can and prepare to live without.
Review Board
Once, this housed the representatives from each of the ten different classes from all over the Realm. They were responsible for advancing adventurers with enough experience points to higher levels. During the dark days, all fled or perished in the attempt. Now, the Old Man sits on the Board, and he alone will answer to your call for advancement.
Tips from the Refugee Camp - Places
Your first adventure should be in the Mad God’s dungeon in Skara Brae.
Here you’ll build your savvy for fighting, spellcasting, and adventuring.
Avoid Potential traps. Use the Trap Zap spell when in doubt. It will
disarm any trap, including the Gas Cloud trap, famous for its toxic fumes.
Make sure all members of your party are fully healed before entering a
new dungeon. You’ll need all your strength for the next onslaught.
COMBAT SYSTEM
Whether or not fighting is your fare, prepare to partake in much of it.
It offers the primary means by which you can build experience points. And without experience points, you won’t advance far. Without advancement, you are little more than a hapless bunch, doomed to wander the world with a purpose forever unfulfilled.
You can’t physically attack enemies more than 10 feet (10’) away. If you feel compelled to fight, you’ll have to advance. However, you can’t advance on them if there is another group already within the 10’ melee range. Whoever is closest in the 10’ melee range are the lucky monsters who will get to do battle with your party first.
Combat is broken down into rounds. In each round, you need to enter a battle action for each party member.
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you skipped. For instance, if you become an Archmage without having studied the Sorcerer spells, you can’t go back to learn those Sorcerer spells.
PLACES
Despite the fact that much of the Realm was crushed, some places still
stand. The Scrapwood Taver n, for one, still does good business.
Refugee Camp
Once, there was a home to travelers called the Adventurer’s Guild. Wayfarers stopped there when they wanted to slake a thirst, engage in merriment, or just rest their weary feet. Now that the plague has descended and Skara Brae has been shattered, the Refugee Camp serves as the gathering point for travelers.
Although lacking the niceties of the Adventurer’s Guild (tables, heating, vermin-free bedding), you can still do the same things in the Refugee Camp. Come here to create characters, form a party, and save characters to disk. This is where you will begin every game and where you will be returned should all your party perish during the quest.
Scrapwood Tavern
Drink up! This is the only tavern in the vicinity. You may want to fill up a wineskin here so your Bard will not have to go thirsty in some of the more inhospitable, tavernless areas. While you’re here, ask the barkeep how things are going...
Mapping
So your exploring efforts aren’t wasted, or unnecessarily repeated, you should map your moves. Each “step” you take equals a graph box (which is ten feet from a character’s point of view). To aid your mapping, Thief of Fate has an automap feature (refer to the Command Summary Card for the command). If you’re outdoors, you’ll see a description of where you are and the general time of day.. If you’re in a dungeon, you’ll see a sketch of the corridors.
Explore and map every square in every maze. There are “Magic Mouths” that will give you hints. Mazes also contain one-of-a-kind magic items and spell regeneration zones. In addition to keeping you alive, carefully drawn maps will show the logical places for secret doors and rooms.
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Tips from the Refugee Camp - Combat
Don’t underestimate the value of dexterity. Use high dexterity and high
level characters to attack especially fearsome monsters. Less dexterous characters may not survive long enough to get in the first strike.
Remember, lower is better when it comes to armor class. Use spells or
Bard songs to lower it further and give you an advantage during combat.
If you’re attacked by more than two groups of monsters, focus on the
magic users first. If you can’t kill all the magic-using monsters, cast magic­repellent spells to protect your party from illusions, possessions, and other spells.
As a general rule, attack groups containing only one monster last, unless
it contains a particularly deadly monster. In that case, get rid of it while your party has the strength to.
Undead monsters such as zombies are especially troublesome. They can
drain experience points, rapidly age characters, critically hit, or even turn characters to stone. Kill them quickly or be killed quickly.
Keep a well-stocked supply of missile weapons (arrow, spears, etc.) so
you’re prepared to attack monsters who hide behind other monsters.
ITEMS AND EQUIPMENT
Acharacter can carry up to 12 items. There’s a variety of items you
can use, including weapons, shields, armor, helms, gloves, musical instruments, figurines, rings, and wands. With a few exceptions, you must equip the character with the item in order for him or her to use it (see your Command Summary card for the Equip command). You can equip more than one item from each type, unless they’re identical. For instance, you could equip a bow and a knife (two different items) at once, but you can’t equip two bows (the same item) at once. Refer to the Command Summary Card to find out what the symbols in front of certain items mean.
There are hundreds of items you can find, and you just won’t be able to carry them all. Some items you have to carry to progress in yourquest; if everybody is shouldering a maximum load, be prepared to make critical choices about who will drop what.
About magic items. You’ll find many - and need many - of these items during your quest. Some, like the magical weapons, will inflict extra damage
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Attack Foes: This sends you headlong into battle with weapons drawn. This is only available to the first four characters on the roster. Attacking a foe doesn’t equip a character with a weapon; that must be done before combat.
Defend: This lets you defend yourself during the round. You’ll pass on the opportunity to perform any action, which may be a wise move if you’re injured.
Party Attack: You will turn on a member in your party, including special members. Useful if one of your characters has been possessed and needs a good beating or if somebody who has joined your party is giving you trouble.
Cast a Spell: This lets the magic users cast a spell. Enter the spell code and, if necessary, specify your target.
Use an Item: You will use a magic item or missile weapon that you’ve prepared for use.
Bard Song: Instructs a Bard to play a tune. Hide in Shadows: Rogues will slip into the shadows to avoid combat.
Your presence might go undetected as the combat round commences and you’ll get to advance 10 feet. If you attack an enemy in the next round who is at your range or less, you have a good chance of getting a critical hit (one that kills) because you’ll be striking at the monster from behind.
The first four characters in your party can be physically attacked by monsters and can also retaliate. The last three characters can only be attacked with magic, and can retaliate only with magic. The most powerful and dexterous characters and monsters usually strike first. In evenly matched battles, the outcome often depends on who lands the first blow (hope you have good dexterity). The monsters that you kill during combat are removed from your foe’s ranks so their bodies don’t pile up and interfere with battle. If anybody dies in your ranks, they are moved to the end of your party list. When combat ends,treasure and experience points are distributed among the survivors.
You can increase or decrease the scrolling speed of the combat messages. See the Command Summary Card for details on how to do this on your computer.
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The range of effectiveness is measured in number of game squares, with each square equivalent to 10 feet (10’). The following explains what each range affects:
View Line of sight. ##’ Anything in the direction the spellcaster is facing for the number
of feet specified by “##”.
Wall A wall in the direction the spellcaster faces. Level The entire level that your party is on. 1 Object A single object. 1 Foe A single monster, regardless of the number your party faces. Group One of up to four monster groups. All Foes All the monsters your party faces. Self The spellcaster only. Party Your party. Char The party member (character) you designate. Special The special character you designate. * Hits with full effectiveness up to the listed range, and at
reduced effectiveness when it hits at double the listed range. For instance, if your spell has a range of 30’, and you use it against foes 60’ away, the spell will hit with reduced effectiveness.
N/A Not applicable; used where range is not a factor in the spell. In addition to range, many spells have a duration. The following explains how
long each duration lasts: Combat Until combat ends (when either you run away, you win, or the
monster wins).
1 Move Exactly one move. 1 Round The entire round of combat. Short A few minutes only. Medium Several minutes. Long Twice as long as short spells. Indef Until the party enters the Refugee Camp or an anti-magic
zone.
Misc Has multiple or variable ranges. N/A Not applicable; the result of the spell is immediate.
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on the opponent. Others, like magic keys, will permit passage into a special area. Many are necessary for you to complete the game with. Certain items can only be used by specific characters. For instance, only Bards can use magical musical instruments. Someone else can carry it, but only the Bard will be able to use it.
Tips from the Refugee Camp - Items
There are no cursed or bad items, but some may be useless.
Experiment with anything you find to determine its capabilities. An item
may only work with a certain class, so be sure to trade something that
doesn’t seem to work for a certain character. Some items will work only
in certain areas or under certain conditions.
If you can’t pick something up, it may be because you’re carrying a full
load. Make your choice and drop something.
Save your party to disk when they find something interesting or
powerful. If disaster strikes, you can always reboot with your saved
goodies.
If you find an item and you can’t figure out what it is, give it to the
Rogue in your party to identify, or a mage who has a spell that identifies
items.
MAGIC USERS
Without magic, the end of your quest will remain forever elusive.
However, magic is not the adventurer’s panacea. There are some places where magic won’t work or you may meet monsters who will, in response to a spell, laugh and then spit fire in your face. In such cases, only the simple act of knife-to-belly will work. But, when you do need a magic user, you have several who can answer your call.
Book of Spells
This section lists and describes the spells known to exist for each of the six mage classes. The section is organized as follows:
Mage Class
LEVEL #: CODE, PT. COST, RANGE, DURATION Spell Name - A description of what the spell does and any special instructions for use.
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Level 4:
INWO, 6, Party, N/A Elik’s Instant Wolf - Summons a giant and extremely fierce wolf to join your party.
FLRE, 6, Char, N/A Flesh Restore - A powerful healing spell that restores 10 to 40 points to a party member, curing those stricken with insanity or poisoning.
Level 5:
GRRE, 7, View, Long Greater Revelation - Operates like Lesser Revelation, but illuminates a wider area for a longer period of time.
SHSP, 7, Group/30’, N/A Shock Sphere - Creates a large globe of intense electrical energy that envelops a group of enemies and inflicts 10 to 40 damage points.
Level 6:
FLAN, 9, Group, N/A Flesh Anew - Works like Flesh Restore, but affects every member of the party.
MALE, 8, Party, Indef Major Levitation - Operates like Levitation, but it lasts until the spell is terminated by some event like the activation of an anti-magic square.
Level 7:
REGN, 12, Char, N/A Regeneration - A health spell that revives all the hit points for one lucky member of the party.
APAR, 15, Party, N/A Apport Arcane - Teleports the party within a dungeon to any location that’s not protected by a teleportation shield.
FAFO, 18, Group, N/A Far Foe - Pushes a group of foes 40 feet further away from your party, up to a total distance of 90 feet.
INSL, 12, Party, N/A Elik’s Instant Slayer - Materializes a slayer who joins your party. What’s a slayer? The name speaks for itself...
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Conjurer Spells
From fireballs to magic compasses, Conjurers can create objects and effects out of thin air. Conjurer spells take up a lot of energy to create even moderate effects; that’s why these magic users don’t involve themselves with huge magical productions.
Level 1:
MAFL, 2, View, Medium Mage flame - A small flame floats above the spellcaster as he moves about, illuminating the immediate area.
ARFI, 3, 1 Foe/10’, N/A Arc Fire - Fiery blue flames spray from the spellcaster’s fingers, inflicting 1 to 4 damage points, depending on the Conjurer’s level.
TRZP, 2, 30’, N/A Trap Zap - Disar ms any trap within 30 feet in the direction that the spellcaster is facing. Trap Zap also works on chests for the same amount of spell points.
Level 2:
FRFO, 3, Group, Combat Freeze Foes - Binds your enemies in a magical force, slowing them down and making them an easier target for your itching sword.
MACO, 3, N/A, Medium Kiel’s Magic Compass - A compass of shimmering magelight appears above the party and shows the direction they face.
WOHL, 4, Char, N/A Word of Healing - With the uttering of a single word, this heals a party member from 4 to 16 points of damage.
Level 3:
LERE, 5, View, Long Lesser Revelation - An extended Mage Flame spell that also reveals secret doors.
LEVI, 4, Party, Short Levitation - Partially nullifies gravity, letting the party float over traps, or up and down through portals.
WAST, 5, Group/20’, N/A Warstrike - An electric spell where a stream of energy shoots from the spellcaster’s finger, frying a group of foes for 5 to 20 damage points.
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Level 4:
SPTO, 8, 1 Foe/70’, N/A Spectre Touch - Drains a single enemy of 15 to 60 hit points as if it were touched lightly by death.
DRBR, 7, Group/30’, N/A Dragon Breath - Lets the spellcaster belch a breath of fire at a group of monsters, inflicting 8 to 64 points of damage on each monster.
Level 5:
ANMA, 8, Party, Combat Anti-Magic - Causes the ground to absorb a portion of the spells cast at the party by monsters, giving the party a chance to escape unharmed. This spell also aids in disbelieving illusions and shielding against magical fires such as Dragon Breath.
GIST, 10, Party, Combat Giant Strength - Instills tremendous power in your party, increasing their strike ability by 10.
Level 6:
PHDO, 10, Wall 1, Move Phase Door - Vaporizes any wall that’s not protected by an Anti-Phase Door aura or spell into air.
YMCA, 10, Party, Indef Ybarra’s Mystical Coat of Armor - Works just like Ybarra’s Mystic Shield, but lasts indefinitely.
Level 7:
REST, 25, Party, N/A Restoration - Regenerates the body of every party member to perfect condition; even cures insanity or poisoning.
DEST, 16, 1 Foe/10’, N/A Death Strike - Instantly kills a selected enemy, which certainly categorizes this spell as one that doesn’t fool around.
ICES, 11, Group/50’, N/A Ice Storm - Pummels a group of monsters with chunks of ice, causing 20 to 80 points of damage.
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Magician Spells
Magicians can bestow magical effects on common objects. This, however, doesn’t mean that the item becomes magical. It only takes on the magical effects for the duration of the spell.
Level 1:
VOPL, 3, Char, Combat Vorpal Plating - Causes the weapon (or hands) of a party member to emit a magical field that inflicts 2 to 8 points of additional damage.
QUFI, 3, Char ,N/A Quick Fix - Regenerates 8 hit points for a character, up to the character’s maximum hit point level.
SCSI, 2, Party, N/A Scry Site - Causes a dungeon wall or wilderness pathway to reveal the party’s location.
Level 2:
HOWA, 4, 1 Foe/10’, N/A Holy Water - Holy water sprays from the spellcaster’s fingers, inflicting 6 to 24 points of damage on any foe of evil or supernatural origin.
MAGA, 5, Char, Combat Mage Gauntlets - Makes the hands (or weapon) of a party member more deadly by adding 4 to 16 points of damage to every wound it inflicts on a foe.
AREN, 5, 30’, Short Area Enchant - Causes the dungeon walls within 30 feet (3 squares) of a stairway to call out if the party is headed towards the stairs.
Level 3:
MYSH, 6, Party, Medium Ybarra’s Mystic Shield - Causes the air in front of the party to form an invisible shield that’s as hard as metal. The shield moves with the party.
OGST, 6, Char, Combat Oscon’s Ogre Strength - Endows a specific party member with the strength of Elik’s Ogre for the duration of the battle.
STFL, 6, Group/40’, N/A Star Flare - An electrical spell that ignites the air around your enemies, scorching them for 10 to 40 damage points. A real hair curler.
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INVI, 6, Party, Combat Kylearan’s Invisibility Spell - Invoke this spell to render the entire party nearly invisible to the enemy. SESI, 6, 30’, Medium Second Sight - Heightens awareness so the spellcaster can detect all traps and tricks that lie directly ahead.
Level 4:
CAEY, 7, View, Indef Cat Eyes - Endows the entire party with perfect night vision for an indefinite period of time.
WIDR, 12, Party, N/A Wind Dragon - Creates an illusionary red dragon to join the ranks of your party.
Level 5:
DIIL, 8, All Foes, Combat Disrupt Illusion - Destroys any illusions among the ranks of the enemy and prevents new illusions from appearing.
MIBL, 10, All Foes/30’, N/A Mangar’s Mind Blade - An electric spell that strikes every opposing group within range with an explosion of energy capable of inflicting 25 to 100 points of damage.
Level 6:
WIGI, 11, Party, N/A Wind Giant - Creates an illusionary elemental giant that joins your party and fights up a storm.
SOSI, 11, 30’, Indef Sorcerer Sight - Operates like the trap-detecting Second Sight spell, but lasts indefinitely.
Level 7:
RIME, 20, All Foes/40’, N/A Rimefang - Rakes enemies with shards of ice, inflicting 50 to 200 points of damage.
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STON, 20, Char, N/A Stone to Flesh - Takes a character who has been tur ned to stone and restores him to his natural flesh state.
Sorcerer Spells
Sorcerers rely on illusions in their magical repertoire. A neat and tidy mage class, Sorcerers prefer to work on peoples’ minds than with tangible (and dirty) objects or monsters.
Level 1:
MIJA, 3, 1 Foe/40’, N/A Mangar’s Mind Jab - Casts a concentrated blast of electrical energy at one opponent, inflicting 2 to 8 points of damage for each experience level of the spellcaster.
PHBL, 2, Party, Combat Phase Blur - Causes the entire party to become blurry in the eyes of the enemy, making your party tougher to strike.
LOTR, 2, 30’, Short Locate Traps - Heightens the spellcaster’s awareness for trap detecting. Works for 30’ in the direction that the spellcaster is facing.
Level 2:
DISB, 4, Party, N/A Disbelieve - Reveals an attacking illusion for the true nonphysical object that it is, causing it to vanish.
WIWA, 5, Party, N/A Wind Warrior - Creates the illusion of a battle-ready ninja in the ranks of your party. The illusionary ninja will fight until defeated or disbelieved.
FEAR, 4, Group, Combat Word of Fear - An incantation that causes a group of enemies to quake in fear, thus reducing their ability to attack and inflict damage.
Level 3:
WIOG, 6, Party, N/A Wind Ogre - Like Elik’s Instant Ogre, it summons a mean, illusionary ogre to join your party.
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Level 4:
HERB, 13, Party, N/A Summon Herb - Summons Herb to join your party. Herb is pretty busy, but he’ll hang out with your party for a while if you need him.
ANDE, 14, Char, Combat Animate Dead - Reanimates a dead character with living strength so he or she attacks enemies as if truly alive.
Level 5:
SPBI, 16, 1 Foe, N/A Baylor’s Spell Bind - If successful, this spell possesses the mind of an enemy and forces him or her to join and fight for your party.
SOWH, 13, 1 Foe/70’, N/A Storal’s Soul Whip - Whips out a tendril of psionic (mind) power to strike a selected foe, inflicting 50 to 200 damage points.
Level 6:
GRSU, 22, Party, N/A Greater Summoning - Operates like Prime Summoning but causes a powerful elemental creature to appear and fight for the party.
BEDE, 18, Char, N/A Beyond Death - Brings a dead character back to life and gives him or her one hit point as a welcome back gift.
Level 7:
WIZW, 16, Group/50’, N/A Wacum’s Wizard War - An electric spell that creates a pyrotechnical storm over a group of monsters, inflicting 50 to 200 damage points.
DMST, 25, Group/50’, N/A Demon Strike - Unleashes the terrorizing power of demons into the enemy ranks, causing 200 to 400 points of damage.
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WIHE, 16, Party, N/A Wind Hero - Creates an illusionary hero with the power of hurricane winds to join your party.
MAGM, 40, Group, N/A Mage Maelstrom - Assaults a group of opposing spellcasters and may do one of the following: inflict 60 to 240 points of damage, turn them to stone, or kill them outright. However, because the maelstrom is illusionary in nature, a disbelieving enemy can totally nullify it. PREC, 50, All Foes, N/A Preclusion - Keeps the enemy from being able to summon any creatures.
Wizard Spells
Wizards can summon and control supernatural creatures and energies. The Wizard has fewer spells to choose from than the other classes, but their potency makes up for it.
Level 1:
SUEL, 10, Party, N/A Summon Elemental - Creates a fire-being from the raw elements of the universe to join and fight for your party.
FOFO, 11, Group/10’, N/A Fanskar’s Force Focus - Lands a cone of gravitational energy on a group of your foes, inflicting 25 to 100 points of damage.
Level 2:
PRSU, 14, Party, N/A Prime Summoning - Coerces a powerful undead creature to unwillingly join your party.
DEBA, 11, 1 Foe/30’, N/A Demon Bane - Inflicts 100 to 400 points of damage on a single creature of evil or supernatural origin.
Level 3:
FLCO, 14, Group/30’, N/A Flame Column - Creates a cyclone of flame that lashes out and delivers 22 to 88 points of damage to a group of your foes.
DISP, 12, Char, N/A Dispossess - Returns a possessed party member to the normal state of consciousness.
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Level 7:
MAMA, 80, All Foes/90’, N/A Mangar’s Mallet - Inflicts 200 to 800 bone-crushing damage points against every monster group you face.
Chronomancer Spells
The key to distant lands, Chronomancers help the party move from dimension to dimension with their special teleport spells. They also have a number of vicious offensive spells.
Level 1:
VITL, 12, Char, N/A Vitality - Invigorates a character by healing 4 to 8 hit points times the spellcaster’s level.
Level 2:
WIFI, 20, Group/20’, N/A Witherfist - Crushes a group of enemies under a huge fist of power for 300 to 600 points of damage.
COLD, 20, Group/80’, N/A Frost Force - Blasts the enemy with a deadly frost for 50 to 400 points of damage.
Level 3:
GOFI, 25, Group/80’, N/A God Fire - A holy spell where blazing red fires are sent from the angry gods to roast the enemy for 60 to 240 damage points.
STUN, 30, All Foes, N/A Stun - An electric spell that gives the enemy a high-voltage zap for 50 to 200 damage points.
Level 4:
LUCK, 45, Party, Combat Luck Chant - Increases your chances of hitting or defending by eight points.
FADE, 50, 1 Foe/30’, N/A Far Death - A long-range spell that drops a distant foe dead in its tracks.
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Archmage Spells
Archmages are the wise ones who have learned at least all the spells for three of the previous mage classes. This gives the Archmage the ability to pick and choose from a huge batch of spells.
Level 1:
HAFO, 15, All Foes, 1 Round Oscon’s Haltfoe - If successful, this spell causes every attacking group to miss all their attacks during the next round.
MEME, 20, Group, N/A Melee Men - Pull an attacking group into melee range (10’) regardless of how far they were when they began attacking.
Level 2:
BASP, 28, Party, Misc Batch Spell - Executes the following batch of spells: Greater Revelation, Ybarra’s Mystical Coat of Armor, Sorcerer Sight, Major Levitation, and Kiel’s Magic Compass.
Level 3:
CAMR, 26, Party, N/A Camaraderie - Has a 50% chance of calming all monsters in your party that have turned hostile.
Level 4:
NILA, 30, Group/60’, N/A Fanskar’s Night Lance - Launches a chilling ice missile against a group of foes, inflicting 100 to 400 damage points.
Level 5:
HEAL, 50, Party, N/A Heal All - A Beyond Death spell that resurrects every dead party member (except those turned to stone), and heals all wounds, paralysis, and insanity.
Level 6:
BRKR, 60, Party, N/A The Brothers Kringle - The brothers are always ready to help friends in trouble. Enough brothers appear to fill the empty slots in your party.
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Level 2:
TREB, 10, All Foes, N/A Trebuchet - Fries all foes with wickedly hot flames for 150 to 600 points.
EAEL, 15, Party, N/A Earth Elemental - Summons an Earth Elemental, which is a creature created from the raw elements of the earth.
WAWA, 15, Wall, Misc Wall Warp - Works like Phase Door until the party leaves.
Level 3:
ROCK, 18, 1 Foe/60’, N/A Petrify - Turns an enemy up to 60 feet away into the hardest stone.
ROAL, 20, Level, N/A Roscoe’s Alert - Reveals to the party where the anti-magic areas are.
Level 4:
SUSO, 20, Level, N/A Succor Song - Shows all heal-party squares, so your party can put an end to their weakness and pain. SAST, 25, Group, N/A Sandstorm - With a violent swirl of sand, all foes are whipped back 60 feet.
Level 5:
SANT, 30, Level, N/A Sanctuary - Shows all mage regeneration squares, so your spellcasters can be refreshed.
GLST, 40, 1 Foe/90’, N/A Glacier Strike - Impales the enemy with an icy stalagmite, causing 400 to 1600 points of damage.
Level 6:
PATH, 40, Level, N/A Pathfinder - An instant map, this shows the entire maze that the party’s in.
MABA, 50, Group/50’, N/A Magma Blast - Burns a group of foes with a blast of hot, fiery magma for 300 to 1200 points of damage.
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Level 5:
WHAT, 60, 1 Object, N/A Identify - Cast this spell on something to find out just what the heck it is.
OLAY, 60, 1 Char, N/A Youth - Coats a character with a light, fragrant lotion to cure oldness.
Level 6:
GRRO, 65, 1 Char, Misc Grave Robber - Casts Beyond Death and Regeneration for a life-giving combination of spells.
FOTA, 70, Group, Misc Force of Tarjan - Casts Witherfist and Sandstor m for a double offensive punch.
Level 7:
SHSH, 60, Party, Indef Shadow Shield - Casts a gray shadow around the party, and lowers their armor class by 4
FAFI, 100, All Foes, N/A Fatal Fist - Crushes the enemy under an unearthly gravitational force for 400 to 1500 points of damage.
Geomancer Spells
The most physically adept of all the spell casters, Geomancers can handle most weapons that fighters can. Their combative nature shows in their repertoire of predominantly offensive spells. To become a Geomancer, you must find the one special location that performs the rite of passage to this mage class.
Level 1:
EADA, 5, Group/40’, N/A Earth Dagger - Cuts down the enemy with holy daggers for 200 to 800 points of damage.
EASO, 5, Level, N/A Earth Song - Reveals all booby-trapped areas that can injure the party.
EAWA, 8, Level, N/A Earth Ward - Casts the Trap Zap spell on the entire level.
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while those played during combat last only one round. Only one song can play at a time. If you’re playing an exploration song, but suddenly need to play a battle tune, the exploration tune will stop playing for the duration of the battle, and start once battle is over. On the other hand, if you’re playing an exploration song and start another one, the first song will end and the second will start.
A Bard can play as many tunes as he has experience levels before his throat dries and fingers stiffen. For instance, if your Bard has five experience levels, he can play up to five tunes. To rejuvenate your Bard, give him or her a drink, be it water from a wineskin or ale from a tankard. Never forget, “When the going gets tough, the Bard goes drinking...”
1. Sir Robin’s Tune: This lets you run away from attackers as long as the combat has not yet begun. During combat, this keeps the monsters from calling for additional help.
2. Safety Song: Sets up an an anti-monster aura, so foes won’t randomly attack you.
3. Sanctuary Score: Lowers the party’s armor class level up to a maximum of 15 points.
4. Bringaround Ballad: In non-combat situations, this rejuvenates the Bard’s hit points. During combat, this song will affect everyone in your party, including the Bard.
5. Rhyme of Duotime: In non-combat situations, this regenerates the mage’s spell points. During combat, it gives the party an extra attack.
6. Watchwood Melody: This creates light so you can find your way around. May even work in anti-magic zones.
7. Kiel’s Overture: In non-combat situations, this calls up a compass so you can get your bearings. During combat, this casts the monster-frying Trebuchet spell for one round.
8. Minstrel Shield: In non-combat situations, this lowers your armor class. During combat, it also partially shields your party so they only take half damage from monster attacks.
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Level 7:
JOBO, 60, All Foes, N/A Jolt Bolt - Wrenches the earth below the enemy, smashing them to the ground and gives them a jolting electrical shock to cause 400 to 1600 points of damage.
EAMA, 80, Group/50’, N/A Earth Maw - Commands the ground beneath the enemy’s feet to open wide and drop the foes in, so they’re never seen again.
Miscellaneous Spells
These spells are available to all magic users. The catch is that you’ve got
to find them before you can use them. GILL, 10, Party, Medium
Gilles Gills - This survival spell lets your party breathe under water. It is cumulative in effect; casting it more than once will extend the amount of time you can spend underwater.
DIVA, 250, All Foes/Party, Misc Divine Intervention - This powerful spell earns its name by doing the following:
1) Turns illusionary characters into real characters;
2) Cures characters of all illnesses but age; and
3) Restores all hit points to the party.
If you’re in combat, it also does the following:
1) Lowers your armor class, saving throw, to hit, and damage by 20 points;
2) Increases your attack by eight points; and
3) Casts Mangar’s Mallet.
NUKE, 150, All Foes, N/A Gotterdamurung - The finest in offensive obliteration, this spell annihilates the opponent for 2000 damage points.
The Bard Songs
The Bard has eight songs to sing. He or she starts the journey knowing six, and must find the other two. Since Bards can’t make music without an instrument, and since whistling doesn’t count, make sure they don’t drop or trade away their livelihood.
There are two categories of songs: those played during exploration and those played during combat. Songs played during exploration are long-playing
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Tips from the Refugee Camp - Magic
Spell points are the life blood of the magic user. Don’t venture too far
into dungeons without full spell points. When you’re down to a quarter of
your maximum spell points, you should leave the dungeon before you’re
bled dry of your remaining spell points.
Spell points don’t regenerate that fast, so don’t squander them away.
Don’t use a magic light spell when lighting a torch will do. Use your spells
when you need them, like when that bad-breathed miasmal cur takes an
interest in clawing your face off.
Find those nasty traps. Second Sight and other Sorcerer sight spells can
identify traps within 30 feet (3 squares). The Trap Zap spell disar ms all
traps within 30 feet.
Play a long-lasting Bard’s song before entering a tavern. It’s like getting a
free spell.
In darkness zones, try using a light spell or the Bard’s Watchwood Melody
song. Though the spells won’t last, it gives a brief flash of light which helps
you get your bearings. This trick occasionally works with ordinary torches
and lanterns.
The screen flashes when your party gets teleported. Keep this in mind,
because many dungeon corridors look alike and unless you catch the flash,
you’ll never know you were teleported.
O O
O O O O O O O
O O O O O O O O O O O O
O O
O
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