User manual GAMES PC THE BARD S TALE

[. . . ] The Bard's Tale The Bard's TaleTM The Bard's TaleTM Contents The Bard's Tale The Bard's Tale The Manual A Quick Overview Characters Places The Combat System The Magic System Conjurer Spells Magician Spells Sorcerer Spells Wizard Spells Bard Songs Spell Key Glossary Tips from the Underground Items 18 19 21 27 29 32 35 37 40 42 44 45 46 47 17 The Bard's TaleTM The Manual The Bard's TaleTM A Quick Overview About Fantasy Role Playing Games. First in a series of Tales of the unknown, this one is set in the The Bard's Tale city of Skara Brae. Like other fantasy role-playing games, there are three objectives you will be trying to accomplish. Your most important goal is to complete the quest built into the game. [. . . ] At the outset of combat a list of foes will be given, broken down into the number of foes in each group. The maximum is 99 monsters per group, with up to four groups. 29 The ROSCOE'S ENERGY EMPORIUM If your spell points aren't recharging fast enough, go see Roscoe. But be prepared for electrifyingly high fees. 28 The Bard's TaleTM Combat is divided into a series of "rounds, " like a boxing match. At the start of each round, each of your characters must decide what action he will undertake in the upcoming melee, unless, of course, your party decides to run away. These options are as follows. The Bard's TaleTM give their fellow members a breather. At the end of combat, treasure and experience points will be split among the battle's survivors. The Bard's Tale SPECIAL MEMBERS The special slot (marked "S") is for monsters who can become part of your party. They can join by: 1) Being summoned or created as an illusion, or some other artifice related to a cast spell, or 2) Introducing themselves to the party and offering their services as a comrade. Specials cannot be controlled in battle; they choose their own attack mode and generally go after the primary group of monsters the party is facing. Illusionary specials (created by a sorcerer) are cleared out if any foes disbelieve them. If a non-illusionary special is attacked by another member of the party for any reason, it will turn immediately hostile and fight until defeated. The Bard's Tale Attack foes: To physically assault foes in the first or second group of monsters. Party attack: To assault another member of the party, including special members. Use an item: Make use of a magical item held in the character's inventory and currently equipped. Bard Song: Bards can play a short tune to affect the party or the foremost group of monsters in some fashion Cast a spell: Cast a spell at the party or a group of foes. Hide in Shadows: A rogue can try to avoid combat altogether by hiding and, if successful, will be skipped as a target of attack in the upcoming combat round. The first three characters in your party can be attacked physically by monsters, and can attack back. The last three characters can only be struck by magical attacks, and can only attack back with magic. This simulates your first three characters being up on the front line of attack, with the last three characters acting as backup in case one of the first three is killed. The first two groups of monsters are in a similar position; they are the only monsters who can attack or be attacked physically. Once all the choices for your characters have been entered, the round begins. The most dexterous characters or monsters usually make the first strike, but luck, character level and character class also affect this. In evenly matched fights, the outcome often depends on which side gets in the first blow. The rate of scrolling of the combat messages can be speeded or slowed. [. . . ] You can turn off the computer and reboot, and your entire party will be restored, but without the experience, gold and magic items they have won since the last time you saved game. Or you can load the character from your back-up disk onto the main disk, after first deleting the dead character from your main disk. NOTE: you can only restore a character by rebooting if you have previously saved your party by exiting the game when in the Adventurer's Guild. In "rolling" a character's attribute numbers, 17s and 18s can often make a big difference, as follows: Intelligence gives Magic Users bonus spell points; Dexterity gives fighters (but not Bards) bonus armor protection and first strike capability; Strength allows fighters to do extra damage in combat; Luck allows Rogues to survive even if they accidentally set off a trap; and Constitution gives all characters bonus hit points. [. . . ]