Source:SwordThrust Walkthrough
| This page is a verbatim reproduction of original source material and should not be edited except for maintenance. | |
| Description |
Instructions and walkthroughs for the adventure game SwordThrust. |
|---|---|
| Source |
docs.google.com/file/d/0B706A8hYXxv3bzR6UGpkU1hxVTA, as linked from The CRPG Blog |
| Date | |
| Author | |
| License |
Permission has kindly been granted by the copyright holder for this copyrighted item to appear in the not-for-profit Eamon Wiki website. The text grants that it "may be posted on any site so long as nothing is changed." |
| Other versions | |
SwordThrust (Apple II) Walkthrough
October 18, 2013
Version 0.8
| Written by: | Chester Bolingbroke |
| Email: | crpgaddict@gmail.com |
| crpgaddict.blogspot.com |
Use this subject: SwordThrust v. 0.8
This walkthrough is best viewed with a monospaced font, like Courier.
Walkthrough format stolen from Dan Simpson's Baldur's Gate II walkthrough.
Table of Contents
To navigate quickly, double click the code, press CTRL-C, then CTRL-F, CTRL-V and ENTER!
I. [ABTSWT] About SwordThrust
SwordThrust is a commercialized version of Eamon, a modular freeware gaming system created by Donald Brown in 1980. Eamon was unique for its era for several reasons:
- It combined a text-based adventure interface, as in Zork, with role-playing mechanics seen in few contemporary games.
- It offered a persistent hero who the player could lead through multiple adventures.
- It set up a basic rules framework for the game but encouraged other enthusiasts to develop new modules. Dozens of Eamon modules have been developed over the years and are still developed today.
- It was commercial-quality yet still freely traded.
SwordThrust never achieved quite the fame and longevity of Eamon, perhaps because it offered essentially the same gameplay experience as Eamon yet cost a considerable amount of money. Each of the seven adventures retailed for $29.95; the entire set would set you back $209.65 — over $500 in 2013 dollars.
Nonetheless, SwordThrust has some good features that don't appear in Eamon, including the ability to dual-wield weapons, an interface that keeps the character's status and location at the top of the screen, the ability to change armor from the initial purchase, and a bar where you can get hints as to your next adventure. Perhaps more importantly, the seven SwordThrust adventures are of a higher quality than all but the best Eamon modules.
Perhaps the most important thing to understand about SwordThrust at the outset is that death is permanent. The game will save your character in between adventures, but if you die during any adventure, the character is erased from the disk. Thus, care and caution must be the watchwords for any successful adventurer.
II. [EMUFIL] Emulators and Files
SwordThrust was released only for the Apple II, so an Apple II emulator is required to play it. I played using AppleWin.
Two sets of files were released, one set unprotected, the other protected. Disks are not interchangeable, so you cannot (for instance) load the main disk in unprotected format and then switch to an adventure in the protected format.
I have only been able to find the complete set of adventures in the protected (.nib) format. I thus recommend that you seek .nib versions of the game and its adventures rather than .dsk versions. As of September 20, 2013, a full set was available at:
ftp.apple.asimov.net/pub/apple_II/images/games/rpg/misc/swordthrust-all.zip
To play any adventure, you must first load the main disk (adventure1), load or create your character, choose to go (A)dventuring, and then swap in the disk file containing the chosen adventure. At the end of the adventure, you must return to the main disk to save your progress.
III. [COMBEX] Explanation of Combat
Combat is a big part of SwordThrust, and it remains difficult and deadly throughout all of the adventures, so it's worth understanding all of its intricacies. There are several important factors to consider. These are the same no matter whether you are attacking and the enemy is defending or vice versa, though I couch the description below in terms of the character, since you cannot see the enemy's statistics.
1. WHETHER YOU HIT THE ENEMY. The formula to calculate your chances of striking a successful blow with your right hand is:
(A*2+W+S-X-Z+E)*C*F
Where:
A=Your agility W=The weapon complexity S=Your skill with the chosen weapon X=The penalty associated with the armor you're wearing X=The penalty associated with the shield you're carrying E=Your armor experience C=Your encumbrance multiplier. When lightly encumbered, it's 1. F=Your fatigue multiplier. When fully rested, it's 1.
So a character with an agility of 15, wielding a weapon with a complexity of 10 with which he has a skill of 16, wearing leather armor (10%) and carrying a small shield (5%) with an armor experience of 6%, lightly encumbered but weary, has a chance of hitting of:
(15*2+10+16-10-5+6)*1*0.875 = 41.125%
If you choose to wield a weapon in your left hand, the formula is the same as above but multiplied by your "left hand" statistic, a value always lower than 100%.
When you strike successful blows, there's a chance your expertise with that weapon expertise or armor expertise will increase.
Fortunately, you don't need to do all of these calculations yourself. When you view your character in the guild, you can see the percentile odds of hitting with each weapon in your inventory. You only need to mentally account for the fatigue and encumbrance.
Other factors related to the enemy can also affect your ability to hit him, but these are hidden from you so not worth considering.
The computer rolls a number from 1 to 100 to determine if you hit, and if so, what else happens.
2a. WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU MISS. Generally nothing, but if the roll is greater than 90+ one-tenth of your "to hit" score, or 100, you will "fumble" the attack. This generates a separate roll that may cause you to drop your weapon, break your weapon, or hit yourself for varying amounts of damage.
2b. WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU HIT. Several things are possible:
- You may score a critical hit, with odds equal to one-tenth your "to hit" score, though you always strike a critical hit on a 1. Critical hits ignore the enemy's armor.
- You may gain expertise with your chosen weapon
- You may gain armor expertise
- If striking with your left hand, your left hand rating may increase
- The enemy may parry the attack, equal to his "parrying" skill. If this happens, his parrying skill may increase
- Assuming there are no fumbles or parries, you do normal damage to the enemy based on your weapon's "damage" statistic, though this can be blunted by armor or shields. If the damage roll is below the armor's protective rating, the attack will be blocked entirely.
In no case do you see the enemy's or the PC's hit points. Instead, you get a textual description on the following scale:
- In good shape
- Slightly hurt
- In pain
- Badly wounded
- At death's door
- Dead ("drops to the ground" in the case of enemies)
COMBAT STRATEGY Given all of these different variables, there are a few things to keep in mind before entering combat
- Try to maintain low encumbrance. If you're wandering around with high encumbrance, you can always drop items before beginning battle.
- Try to be fully rested. You can't help becoming weary or tired in combat, but between combats, be sure to use the REST command to return yourself to fully rested status.
- Always buy the best type of weapon available. They don't cost much more than shoddier versions.
- Try to maintain a "to hit" rating of at least 50%. If you can achieve that, focus on damage next.
If you want to build skills with new types of weapons, the game offers precious few opportunities for "grinding," but the walkthroughs below indicate what enemies you can spend some time on, and how you can make short paths through adventures you've already explored.
IV. [CHARCR] Character Creation and the Guild
CHARACTER CREATION
You have precious few options during character creation. The game will ask you a name and sex and then will randomly roll your hardiness, agility, and charisma statistics (all between 3 and 24), and your left-hand ability (between 24 and 99). If your combined attribute rolls come to less than 39, you'll be given the option to "commit suicide" and try again. In such cases, you'd have to be crazy, or up for a significant challenge, to continue with that character.
HARDINESS affects how much you can carry, your hit points, and how long you can hold your breath underwater.
AGILITY affects your "to hit" roll and your likelihood of escaping traps.
CHARISMA affects the buying and selling prices of items in town and the reactions of certain monsters and NPCs during the adventures.
All of the statistics play a major role in your success during the game. Characters with low hardiness will die quickly; characters with low agility will rarely strike a blow in combat; and characters with low charisma may not be able to purchase a full set of equipment and will have to fight everything they meet in the dungeons.
Although theoretically, the game rolls between 3 and 24 for each character, it must use some maximum value for the combined total of the rows, because I've rarely gotten a statistic over 20, and when that has happened, it's always been at the expense of low statistics in the other categories.
Once you accept the character, you'll be given the option to trade two points from one attribute for one point in another. This is a bad deal with the exception of the "left hand" statistic. If you don't plan to dual-wield during the game (or to wait to develop that skill until later), it's a good idea to trade out the available blocks in that statistic for better hardiness, agility, and charisma.
Since you have no options to reload during gameplay, and death is permanent, I think it's forgivable to spend some time creating a character with decent statistics. I recommend that you only continue with a character with ALL statistics at least 15, two statistics at least 18, and one statistic at least 20. This may take some significant re-rolling. If you do engage in such "start-scumming," be aware that:
- The game generates the random numbers used for the statistics when it first boots, so you can't use your emulator to create a "save state" during the character creation process and keep re-loading; you have to re-boot.
- The game stores the character to disk the moment you accept him or her. At that point, you'll have to go to the utility option during startup and delete the character if you want to reclaim the space.
Once you're satisfied with the character, you'll be given a chance to
THE GUILD
The guild has several areas that you'll visit repeatedly between adventures. The guild is completely safe, and when you return here between adventures, you will be completely healed. The guild is the only place that you can view your character attributes and buy and sell equipment.
The guild has the following options:
- Weapon Shop: The weapon shop sells axes, bows, maces, spears, swords, armor, and shields.
- Training: To increase your skills with a particular weapon.
- "Hokas," a magic shop.
- A bank, to store gold in between adventures so you don't lose it in the caves. The manual suggests you might want to hold onto some gold for bribing, but I never ran into any place where that was necessary.
- Examine your character.
- Get drinks at the bar. This only helps after the first adventure. Each drink that you buy carries a random chance of giving you a tip for the next adventure. If you order at least four drinks, you're almost certain to get the tip. But you don't see it until you actually begin the adventure. Note that each drink saps your fatigue and has a chance of starting you tired on your next adventure.
- The "leave" command simply stores your character and ends the game.
HAGGLING
Every time you buy something, the shopkeeper will give you a base price on the item's quality and your charisma. You can then engage in a process of "haggling" to lower the price.
If your offer is less than 1/3 of the original asking price (this may vary based on charisma), the shopkeeper will immediately reject it and kick you out.
Otherwise, the shopkeeper will start to come down slowly. If you engage in maximum haggling, each time increasing your offer by 1 gold piece, you'll end up paying a price about halfway in the middle of your original offer and the shopkeeper's original asking price, or about 2/3 of the original value. You can save yourself a lot of time by just offering that price at the outset.
Offering 0 cancels the haggle.
FIRST STEPS
You'll want to take the following steps after character creation, in this order:
- Buy a weapon. Every character starts the game with a spear skill of 20, a club skill of 15, an axe skill of 5, a sword skill of 0, and a bow skill of -10. Not surprisingly, these statistics are in rough ASCENDING order of the damage that they do. Thus, while it may be tempting to buy a spear, if you have a high enough base agility, it may be worth it to start with an axe or sword to take advantage of the greater damage and to start building skill as soon as possible. Always buy a "good" quality weapon.
- Buy armor. If your agility is already low, go with leather and a small shield, which provides a 15% penalty, instead of chain, which provides a 20% penalty. If you plan to dual-wield, consider going directly to chain. Leather is enough to get you through the first adventure.
- If you still have gold left, buy a second weapon. There's only one additional weapon to find in the first adventure, and a useful NPC has to die for you to get it. If your primary weapon breaks, you don't want to end up with nothing.
- If you STILL have gold left (unlikely unless you have a high charisma), go to the (T)raining school and enroll in the "beginner" course for your
chosen weapon.
ON EACH RETURN
When you return from your first and subsequent adventures, you'll find yourself in a much better financial situation than when you started out. Depending on your statistics and available funds, do the following in between sorties:
- Upgrade weapons and armor
- Buy spells
- Visit the bar and buy a couple of drinks
- Train yourself in your chosen weapon
- Store any gold you don't want to carry in the bank.
When you're ready to leave, hit (A) to begin the adventure!
V. [ADVWLK] Walkthroughs for the Adventures
Important information about all adventures:
- Once an adventure is begun, try not to return until victory conditions have been met. Otherwise, you may face a penalty or even die.
- Each module has a standard set of commands, like LOOK and ATTACK, which you can see by typing ? at the prompt. Some scenarios have special commands, which do unique things in that scenario. I've identified them below with the abbreviation "SC."
- It's worth repeating some scenarios multiple times for gold and experience.
- When you return, if you have more than four weapons in your inventory, you will be prompted to sell excess ones before you can even get back to the main hall.
- You absolutely want to get the HEAL spell after the first scenario.
- When you start an adventure, make sure you READY your preferred weapon.
V.1 [STADV1] The King's Testing Ground
| SETUP: | A cave to help the beginning adventurer develop his skills and finances. Though listed as "easy," it can be anything but if you're not careful. |
| COND: | None |
| SC: | Open, Swallow |
| HINTS: | Someone gives you a vision of a two-handed sword and says to "Remember Royalty!" |
This adventure is unique in that you can only do it once. If you screw something up and have to depart, you'll never be able to return unless you roll a new character. Hence, to get the maximum value out of it, pay careful attention to the walkthrough below. You especially want to get out of this level with the sword Excalibur, the gold statue, the bag of gold, and the crown, which together make up the primary treasure.
The map of the adventure is as follows. Lettered locations are explained below. Asterisks are just generic rooms or corridors.
A
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*
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D-* B
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*-*-*-*-*-C
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E-*-*-G-H
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* F *
/ | |
J-*-*-*-I-*-*-K-L
\
\
\
*
\
N-O |
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* |
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R-*-*-*-Q |
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* * |
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U-T-*-*-M-*-* |
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S-*-*-* |
\ \
*--*-*-P Y
\ /
V X
\ /
W-*-*-*.....
A. This is the starting point. Go north from here to return to the guild.
B. North/south corridor with large black spider. This is the first enemy you face in the game. It is always hostile but generally dies in a few hits. The spider has nothing on its body.
C. Small chamber. An NPC named Richard is here, and he is friendly to all but the lowest-charisma PCs. Once you enter the room, Richard will follow you for the rest of the adventure unless he is seriously wounded or killed. He carries a high-quality axe and wears low-quality scale armor. There is also a healing potion in the chamber; it's best to save this until you're at least "badly wounded," because it heals you fully. There's also a packet of food.
D. A small chamber with a mimic taking the form of a chest. There's no way to expose the mimic without opening or attacking the chest; it's better to just immediately attack and get the first blow. The fight is much easier with Richard from Point C. The mimic has nothing and is too heavy to carry.
E. A north/south passage. LOOKing reveals a passage to the east. You have to go this way to get around the knight at point F.
F. The passageway is guarded by a knight in armor. He is hostile even to characters with high charisma, and he is quite hard to kill, even with Richard's assistance. Killing him yields a high-quality sword, a sack with 1,000 gold pieces, some cloth armour, and a large shield.
G. A wolf blocks this corridor. If killed, he has nothing. You can calm him by giving him the food from Chamber C, at which point he'll leave you alone.
H. This small chamber has a small white pill that will allow you to breathe underwater.
I. An east-west passage. If you didn't come here from the north, you can LOOK to discover the secret door.
J. "Below a hole." Climbing up takes you to a small area from which you can go north to return to the main hall, or south to climb down.
K. A chamber next to a lake. A giant plant is here but will ignore characters with a high constitution. A small box here contains a magic crown, but it's not clear what the magic does.
L. Floating on top of the lake. The only way from here is DOWN, which requires either holding your breath (a risky proposition) or SWALLOWing the pill from Point H. Going down from here twice leads to Point P.
M. Entrance to a temple.
N. Chapel. There is a man worshipping an idol. The idol has jewels for eyes and there is a separate bottle of rare spices. The worshipper will be hostile. When killed, he has a mace and a suit of leather armour.
O. Bedroom. A priest is in here, along with a book with a picture of a fish and a gold statue of a mermaid. The priest is hostile. When killed, he leaves a morning star and a suit of chain armor. Do not read the book. It turns you into a fish. The statue, though made of gold, will be very hard to get out because it causes encumbrance and prevents you from returning to the surface of the lake. Take it to point X, drop it temporarily, swim up to get the magic rod, swim back to it, pick it up again, and use the magic rod.
P. In the middle of the lake. You can keep going down or down a passage to the west.
Q. Small chamber with four huge rats. All are fairly easy and make good sword fodder.
R. A small chamber where "Excalibur" is stuck in a stone. You can pull it out. It is a two-handed weapon, so wielding it unreadies your shield.
S. By this point, you can no longer return to the east. There's an octopus here. If killed, it has nothing.
T. Your last chance to exit here is up to a small landing, where you'll be above Point J. If you keep going west to Y...
U. You go over the falls and die.
V. A merman approaches you here. He is hostile. When killed, he leaves a trident.
W. This route features an extremely long east-west tunnel from which you cannot return. Eventually, you can go UP to a water-filled shaft to V.
X. Water-filled shaft. An eel is hostile. It carries nothing. If you have the gold statue, you'll have to drop it here to continue to W.
Y. A small chamber containing a rod labeled "EMOH." Invoking it with "SAY EMOH" will return you to point K. Take it back to where you dropped the heavy gold statue to get the statue and return with it.
Leaving this dungeon with all of the available treasure should give you between 4,000 and 4,500 gold pieces.
QUICKEST PATH TO VICTORY: N/A. There are no victory conditions.
V.2 [STADV2] The Vampyre Caves
| SETUP: | Some villagers hire you to kill a vampire in nearby caves. The moment you enter, you're jumped by a vampire. You wake up in a tomb, having been turned into a vampire yourself! |
| COND: | You must cure your vampirism before you try to leave the caves. |
| SC: | Hit |
| HINTS: | A great, powerful, good spirit also resides in the caves. |
U
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T
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S-*-*
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*
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A-*-*-B
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*
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* F
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E-D-*-C-*-*
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*
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*
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* H
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G-*-*-*-*-*
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*
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J *
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L-K-*-*-I-* M
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J * *
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*-*-*-*
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* R
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* R
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V N
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*
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O
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P
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Q
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V
A. Your tomb. You wake up here. It's best to rest a few turns before leaving.
B. The vampyre's lair. You'll need to kill him to take the body to C as one step on the path of getting cured. It might be easiest to do this at the beginning while you're still hale. He's quite tough to beat for anyone who didn't fully complete the first adventure and/or have good statistics, skills, and items. Once "killed," he will come back to life unless you're carrying him, so get him to C quickly because walking around with him saps your endurance. He has nothing on him.
C. LOOK at this bend to find the western secret door.
D. Great spirit's outer chamber. There's a silver cross, a Star of David, and a copy of the Koran here. If you try to pick up any of them while still a vampire, they will injure you severely. Even after you get cured, you don't want to pick them up, as the great spirit will turn you into a vampire again, with no hope of a cure.
E. The great spirit offers to cure you of vampirism if you bring him the vampyre from Point B, desecrate the temple of Kali at Point L, and find the goddess Victory at Point Q.
F. Chamber of a wolf. The wolf has nothing on his body.
G. This small chamber has a wooden stake. You can presumably use it to kill the vampyre at B permanently, though I haven't verified this.
H. Room with a large black spider. The spider has nothing and there is nothing else in the room.
I. A worshipper of Kali (Worshipper1) blocks the passage. He is hostile. He carries no items.
J. A chamber with four worshippers. If you FLEE out of the chamber, not all of them will follow, making it easier to divide and conquer. None of them carry anything useful, so you could just bypass them, too.
K. Temple's outer chamber. There are three worshippers, two priests, and a maiden named Zara about to be sacrificed. Treasure is a vial of rare spices and an ancient death mask. It's tough to flee this one because more than likely you'll flee into the inner chamber (L) and make things worse. Zara will join you, but she'll probably die in the first round. Each priest has a jeweled dagger, a morning star, and a suit of high-quality chain armour.
L. Temple's inner chamber. When you enter, a guardian statue will activate and attack. The guardian is a tough customer, so be fully healed and rested before you take him on. HIT the idol when he's dead and GET the eye, then return to E to get last quest.
M. LOOKing in this chamber reveals a secret button hidden behind a stone. HIT it to turn off the water separating the two Points R.
N. You get a message that "light flashes from nowhere." Every time you cross this location, a clone gets created in Point O.
O. Clone chamber. You'll encounter a clone of yourself created at Point N. You can theoretically "farm" this location for endless combats.
P. A "lion chamber" holds two lions. Neither has anything.
Q. An inner chamber where two guards and the goddess Victory standing over an unconscious old woman. All are hostile. Both guards carry high-quality swords. Victory carries a magic spear and magic shield. DO NOT try to kill Victory directly; she's extremely tough, and if you kill her, you can't win the level. Instead, kill the unconscious old woman. This will make Victory fall unconscious, and you can pick up her body and take her to E (loot her stuff first).
R. These two rooms are separated by uncrossable water until you hit the button in Point M.
S. Chamber with five rats, none particularly tough, none with anything.
T. In this entry chamber are several characters from "Dracula": Van Helsing, Lord Arthur Godalming, Jack Seward, Jonathan Harker, and Mina Harker. All but Mina will be hostile while you're still a vampire; all are friendly if you've been restored at E. All of the NPCs carry high-quality maces.
U. Cave entrance. If you go north while still a vampire, you'll die.
V. Going south from Q teleports you to the otherwise plain chamber V.
QUICKEST PATH TO VICTORY:
E. E. ATTACK VAMPYRE (repeat until dead). GET VAMPYRE. W. W. W. S. S. S. LOOK. W. W. W. Y. E. E. E. E. S. S. S. S. E. E. E. S. S. S. S. S. E. E. E. N. N. LOOK. HIT BUTTON. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. ATTACK CLONE (repeat until dead). S. ATTACK LION (repeat until both are dead). S. ATTACK OLD WOMAN. ATTACK GUARD (repeat until both are dead). GET VICTORY. S. N. N. N. N. N. DROP VICTORY. W. ATTACK WORSHIPPER (repeat until dead). W. W. W. ATTACK PRIEST (repeat until dead). ATTACK WORSHIPPER (repeat until all are dead). W. ATTACK GUARDIAN (repeat until dead). HIT STATUE. GET EYE. E. E. E. E. E. GET VICTORY. N. N. N. W. W. W. N. N. N. N. W. W. W. W. W. (Get cured). E. E. E. N. N. N. N. N. W. N. N. N. N.
V.3 [STADV3] Kidnapper's Cove
| SETUP: | You're visiting a friend, Baron Gustav Greenleaf, along with the Count of Manchiu. At some point, the count's 16-year-old son, Harold, is kidnapped, and a ransom note demands 10,000 gold pieces. Little do the kidnappers know that Harold has a disease that requires him to take medication every 6 hours or die. The kidnappers have been traced to some caves in the hills. You've been given the ransom. Your mission is to get Harold out alive before he dies. |
| COND: | If you leave without saving Harold, you forfeit half your gold. A timer appears in the status window. You have 2 hours. If you get out without paying the ransom, you get to keep it. |
| SC: | Swallow |
| HINTS: | Kidnapper's name is probably "Thora," who suffers from aquaphobia. Great and powerful magic where you're going, with a "female aura." |
The timer on this one isn't hard to beat.
It's also fairly easy to literally "win" the scenario. You just keep going north from the entrance, drop your equipment (except the drugs and ransom) at point M, climb the cliff, give Harold the drugs, and lead him back to the beginning.
This is a good adventure to revisit frequently for experience and gold. As long as you deposit most of your gold in the bank before entering the scenario, you can enter and exit freely, "failing" if you'd like, and you won't suffer much of a penalty.
I don't know of any way to win the scenario while still retaining the gold except to enter with a very well-equipped character and refuse to drop your equipment at Point M, but I don't think it's possible to survive the trip forward. I also don't know if the dragon has anything useful, as I was never able to defeat him.
Map of the area (starts at bottom):
MAIN CAVES
N---* *-*
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-@- * * *
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* * * S
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*-* M R
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L-*-*
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* Q
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K
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*
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D-C-*-*-*-*-*-O-P
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1 *
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*
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B
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A
UNDERWATER SHAFT
1
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2
SUNKEN TUNNELS
G 3
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J-F-*-*....
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4 E 2
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SEA AND BEACH
...*-G-*...
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3 |
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...*-I-H-*...
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...*-*-Z-*...
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*-Z-*
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-Z-Z-*
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*
SUNKEN SHIP, LEVEL 1
W
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*-*-V
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*-*-*
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5 |
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*-*-*
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U
SUNKEN SHIP, LEVEL 2
* 5 |/ X | Y
A. Entrance to the cave. Go south to exit.
B. LOOK to see a thin wire stretched across the entrance. Once you find it, you'll avoid it automatically. If you fail to find it and trip it, the passage out at A is blocked.
C. Edge of a pool of sea water.
D. Top of the pool. Be careful from the moment you enter the pool, because you can easily run out of air and die. The water will wash off the poisonous dust from Point P.
E. A triton guards the passage. He is hostile and quite difficult. When killed, his body has a high-quality spear.
F. On a ledge, just beneath the surface of the sea.
G. In the sea. You can go up, down, north, east, and west here, but you'll just get generic messages about the sea. All "roads" lead to the beach (on the surface) or back to F (beneath).
H. Beach. Small bottle has a note chastising the player for screwing around on the beach instead of helping free the kidnapping victim. You can go east or west from here, but all paths "south" will eventually lead to the forest south of this point.
I. Beach. Giant crab is here. It carries nothing.
J. A ledge of the sea with the hull of an old ship downward.
K. A cougar charges and attacks. He's pretty hard even for experienced characters. Be ready to flee and heal.
L. A bend in the corridor. Search here to find a secret passage north.
M. Bottom of a cliff. A voice will demand you drop everything else and bring the ransom up the cliff. If you proceed forward with anything but the ransom and drugs, they'll shoot at you. It's almost impossible to make it to the top of the cliff alive, as they get a volley every step.
N. Top of the cliff. Female leader and five thieves. If you show up with the ransom, they'll give Harold to you and tell you to "go away and never come back" and push you one space to the east. You should immediately GIVE DRUGS to Harold and then lead him back to the entrance.
O. Large chamber. Shadowy form to east.
P. Large chamber with some "clinging dust" that automatically causes petrification — fortunately, the PC holds his breath. A statue of a woman has a large diamond and a "golden bra." The golden dust continues to cling to you when you leave; you must rush to Point D to wash it off.
Q. A small chamber with a glowing sword called "Soul Sapper." If you pick it up, it automatically attaches to your hand and you can't wield anything else for the duration of the adventure.
R. Huge chamber containing fire-breathing dragon. The dragon is essentially undefeatable and is perfectly capable of killing the PC in one hit.
S. Small chamber with water breathing pill.
T. A road through the forest will take you back to the main hall passing some silly signs inspired by "Burma Shave." This is the only way to get back to the hall with the gold statue from Point J.
U. Ship's brig.
V. Small room containing a locker. OPENing the locker causes a skeleton to jump out and attack. The skeleton has a high-quality sword.
W. Bridge of the ship.
X. Ship's cargo hold.
Y. Aft Cargo hold. A squid immediately attacks but isn't tough. The prize here is a gold statue. With it in your possession, you cannot return via the shaft at (1). If you go to (G) with the statue in your possession, you'll be dragged inescapably down and will have to abandon it.
Z. Forest path with a series of signs that riff on "Burma Shave" ads. Going west after the final "Z" returns you to the main hall.
@ Chamber has a flawless red opal and a flawless yellow opal. The only way I've arrived here is by fleeing pursuing thieves, so I haven't been able to do much.
QUICKEST PATH TO VICTORY:
N. LOOK. N. N. N. N. N. ATTACK COUGAR (repeat until dead or fled). N. N. LOOK. N. DROP ALL (Y). GET DRUGS. GET GOLD SACK. N. N. N. W. S. S. S. W. N. N. N. W. GIVE DRUGS TO HAROLD. S. S. S. E. N. N. N. E. S. S. S. GET ALL. (READY and WEAR whatever). S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S.
V.4 [STADV4] The Case of the Sultan's Pearl
| SETUP: | The scenario casts you in the role of a medieval private investigator, complete with film noir-style dialogue. You attend a party at a sultan's castle where you meet his three sons, Abdul, Ishmael, and Harry, as well as the powerful Count Rajash. You are awakened in the middle of the night and ushered to the sultan's room, where a guard is dead and the sultan's white pearl is missing. The rule of the kingdom is that whoever holds the white pearl at midnight becomes sultan. |
| COND: | You must solve the case by midnight or you'll be executed by the new sultan. Leaving the castle before solving the case will reduce your charisma. Killing any NPC in the castle will result in your execution within a few turns.
There isn't much treasure in this scenario, so you'll want to make sure you solve it before leaving. Fortunately, it's pretty easy, meaning that it's a good one for getting rich, with the exception of the "walking dead" possibility outlined at the end of the walkthrough. |
| SC: | Interrogate |
| HINTS: | Rajash keeps a rattlesnake in a suitcase to guard against thieves. |
As you explore the area, assassins will attack you in random locations. They are dressed all in black with a small red skull on the chest. If you kill them, they each leave a "small, incredibly sharp dagger."
All guards carry high-quality swords, but the only way to get them is to let one of the tigers kill them.
SULTAN'S CHAMBERS
*---*-*-*-*---*---* | | | \ | | E | 4 | | | | | *-F-D-----C | | | | | | G | | | | | | *---* *----*--I | | | | B-A * | | \ *---*--*--*--H 1
BEDROOMS
4
/
*-*-*-*-*-*
| | | |\
* J M T 3
| | | |
* *---*---* 1
| | | |/
* K L *
| | | \
*-*-*-* 2
CASTLE FIRST FLOOR
*----*--*--*--* | | | 3 | | \ | | *-*-*-*-*-* | | | | | | | R P | | | | *-*-----O---N-Q | | | | | | | | 2 | | | | | \| | | * | * | * | | * | *-----S | | | | *-------*-*-*-*
A. The sultan's study. As you begin, a guard's body lies on the ground. LOOKing reveals a secret door to the south. LOOK GUARD indicates black threads under the dead guard's fingernails. GET them. INTERROGATE Guard 6. The combination to the vault door is 666.
B. The vault. When you enter, two tigers attack. The vault holds the blueprints to the castle with signature of the architect, "Jeeves." The tigers are nearly impossible unless you FLEE and lead them back to guards.
C. Sultan's room. Sultan (Gen-Harouk) and his butler, Jeeves, is here, along with two guards. A bible on a stand is open to Revelations. INTERROGATE the Butler to learn that the guard was alive at 18:00. INTERROGATE the guards to learn the dead guard's name (Sam) along with some nice testimonials about him.
D. Eunuch's room. Entering this room causes the Eunuch to attack and kill you. Approach the bedrooms from the secret corridor to the north instead.
E. Bedroom. Harem Girl3 is in here. INTERROGATE her to learn that the sultan's butler visits frequently and treats the girls better than the sultan.
F. Bedroom. Harem Girl2 simply tells you to go away.
G. Bedroom. Harem Girl1 simply says that you're cute.
H. Eat end of secret corridor. Someone has scratched "Kilroy was here!" in the dirt.
I. The butler's room. LOOKing a couple of times reveals a diary written by someone who lead an unsuccessful revolution against the sultan's father. He was executed and his family banished. LOOKing further at the diary reveals a symbol of a red skull--the same as the assassins wear.
J. Abdul's room. There's a desk in the room containing a book of poetry, written by Abdul, about freedom from responsibility. LOOKing reveals a secret door to the north.
K. Count Rajash's room. Guard10, if INTERROGATEd, refuses to help with the investigation. His briefcase contains a note pledging his support to the sultan and also a deadly scorpion.
L. Your guest room.
M. Ishmael's room. LOOKing at the desk will reveal a map of the sultanship with the name suspiciously changed to "Ishmaelia."
N. Castle entrance. GUARD3 and GUARD4 verify that no one has come or gone all night.
O. Sultan's mail hall. Count Rajash, Ishamael, Boy2, Girl3, and Guard 8 are all here. Guard 8 won't talk. Guard 9 tells you that he's been hearing mysterious voices outside the castle while he's on sentry duty. Girl3 and Boy2 are no help. Ishmael says it's his family's destiny to rule the land. Count Rajash just says he's been there all day. LOOK to find the secret door to the west.
P. Outside the castle. Guard5 just says it's been quiet lately.
Q. Outside the castle. Going east from here takes you back to the main hall.
R. Coat closet. Abdul is here molesting a servant girl (Girl4). Abdul says he doesn't know anything about the theft and the girl gives him an alibi.
S. Kitchen. Five people are here: Cook, Boy1, Girl1, Girl2, and Guard7. None of them have anything useful to say.
T. Harry's room. Home of the black sheep of the family. INTERROGATing him reveals his belief that Ishmael is the culprit. LOOKing in Harry's desk produces a threatening note from his bookie.
The discovery of the diary at (I) proves that the butler is the thief and employer of the assassins, trying to right a family wrong. There's no way to "accuse" the butler except to attack him at (C). If he doesn't die in a single hit, he will "disappear." From this point, the sultan and his two guards will follow you and assist you in combat. However, I don't know how you can win the game at this point, because it appears that the butler never shows up again.
If he dies right away, LOOK at his body to find the pearl and then GET it. The scenario will immediately end and you get 5,000 gold pieces.
QUICKEST PATH TO VICTORY:
N. N. ATTACK BUTLER. LOOK BUTLER. GET SULTAN'S PEARL.
V.5 [STADV5] The Green Plague
| SETUP: | A plague is affecting Diurla that kills its victims after turning them green. A psychic named Yastarda Ram managed to figure out that the source of the plague was in Tsylma before dying herself. The player has found Tsylma castle but has fallen into a long shaft and has woken up with green skin. |
| COND: | You have only about 3 hours to cure yourself before dying of the plague. Fortunately, it isn't that hard. |
| SC: | Hit, Dig, Read, Rub |
| HINTS: | The plague may be the work of the followers of Krypia. |
MAIN LEVEL
A
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*
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B-C
|
*
|
E-D-*-*-*-H-*-*
| |
* *
| |
G-F *-L-M
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* N
|
*
|
J-*-*-I
|
*
|
K
|
O
|\
| P
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*-*
/ |
1 *-X-X-X-X-Y
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*
|
*
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*-W
|
*
|
T-U
|
V
SECOND LEVEL
R 1 | / Q-P-* | S
A. Bottom of a deep well. This is where you start. If you get the rope ladder from (C) and say "GLADIA" here, the ladder will go upright and allow you to climb out.
B. North/south corridor. LOOKing reveals a passage to the east.
C. Secret closet. Get the rope ladder here.
D. Former kitchen. Three rats to defeat. The notes say the door to the west is covered with frost.
E. Freezer. There's a frozen rogue here who looks familiar. I never found anything useful to do here.
F. Study. Two skeletons attack when you enter. There is a red book titled "Of Golems and Artifact Magick" which suggests to destroy a golem, you should just say, "I destroy the [whatever] golem." A second book, "Ringworld Engineers," does nothing but burn two hours of time, which is usually fatal if you haven't cured yourself at (M) yet.
G. Bathroom. Contains a tube of "Vanishing Cream." Once you have it, you can use the RUB command to make enemies or objects disappear.
H. Collapsed east-west tunnel. GET a small shovel here and DIG to move on to the east.
I. Square room. A diamond golem attacks. I can say "I destroy the diamond golem" to kill it instantly or just kill it through normal combat. It leaves several diamonds behind.
J. Lab. Scientific apparatuses. Dead body, wearing a lab coat, is bright green. An evil glowing rock is the source of the plague. To destroy it, drop it into the fountain at (M).
K. North/south corridor. A wraith blocks the path. I don't think there's any way to defeat him. Every attack causes a fumble. However, you can just walk by him.
L. Wide room. A giant beetle attacks when you enter.
M. Round room. LOOKing reveals a secret door to the south. There is a dry fountain with "Vitae" inscribed; you can climb down into it. Turning the valve at (N) fills it. Going DOWN into the fountain after it's full will cure the plague. DROPping the rock from (J) in the fountain causes it to explode.
N. Valve room. A giant spider must be defeated before you can HIT the valve and fill the fountain at (M).
O. North/south corridor. There's a valuable painting signed by the famous elven artist Graybeard, but GETting the painting causes a trap door to open and you'll fall into the spike room at (P).
P. Spike room. The dead body of a monk (early plague) has an orange wand with "Tim" written on it. I didn't find a use for it.
Q. Small room contains two hostile tigers.
R. Small room contains two hostile bears.
S. Small room contains two hostile lions.
T. Outer chamber of a chapel. There are 4 worshippers of Krypia and a priest here. It might be best to FLEE and let a couple follow and pick them off in smaller groups. The worshippers have high-quality axes; the priest has a two-handed battleaxe. Two treasures lie on the floor: a bag of rare spices and a candlestick.
U. Priest's chambers. Three colored opals are on the ground.
V. Inner chamber. Krypia, the Evil One, is here with three golems — stone, clay, and iron. Each golem can be destroyed easily by SAYing, "I destroy the [substance] golem," at which point Krypia vanishes.
W. Small chamber with a goblin, an orc, and a dog, all hostile. The orc just has a club, but the goblin has a spear made of solid gold.
X. East/west corridors. Scribblings on the walls spell out a poem: "Go where thou shall goest, and be where thee must be, but don't disturb the wildlife, unless it attacketh thee."
Y. Small room. The root of a tangler tree attacks.
When you leave the scenario by using the magical rope ladder at (A), you'll get varying points depending on whether you cured yourself, destroyed the source of the plague, and banished Krypia. Your score is compared to that of "Gerald of Denver" in the 1981 Worldcon tournament, who got 3,898. I haven't been able to get that high, suggesting there's something I'm missing, I suspect with the wraith, the rogue, the painting, or the wand.
QUICKEST PATH TO VICTORY (requires you to at least cure yourself):
S. S. LOOK. E. GET ROPE LADDER. W. S. S. E. E. GET SHOVEL. DIG. E. E. S. S. E. ATTACK GIANT BEETLE (repeat until dead). E. LOOK. S. ATTACK SPIDER (repeat until dead). HIT VALVE. N. D. U. W. W. N. N. W. W. W. W. W. N. N. N. N. SAY GLADIA. U.
V.6 [STADV6] The Eternal Curse
| SETUP: | The PC is awakened one night by a ball of light that turns out to be the spirit of a wizard trapped in Tyme Castle. He begs the PC to come rescue him. Tyme castle is rumored to be inhabited by a family of sorcerers who preyed on townspeople. |
| COND: | None |
| SC: | Burn |
| HINTS: | The Tymes used to be well-regarded, but a dark castle suddenly appeared in the middle of their land, and everything went south after that. |
MAIN FLOOR
2
/
*
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H-*-I
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G-*-*
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1 |
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D-*-E
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* F
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C
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B
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A
DUNGEON
L-*-* M
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* 1 *
|/ |
*-*-J-*-*
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* *
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K *-*-N
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O-*-*
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*-*-P
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Q-*-*
UPPER FLOOR
* /| 2 R-V | S-*-U | W-T | X
Because it's easy to leave this one without penalty, the scenario offers a good grinding opportunity. Try out different weapons and spells on the guards near the entrance or the dagger at D. If you're strong enough to get the gold at (I), you can make $5,000 pretty quickly.
A. Path south of the castle. You can go south here at any point to leave. An olive branch lies in the path.
B. Castle entrance. Guard1 and Guard2 attack. When slain, you can loot their bodies for high-quality maces.
C. Fyer of the castle. Guards 3 and 4.
D. Meeting hall. LOOK at the suit of armour to find a dagger and an emerald. If you try to GET the dagger, it comes alive and you'll have to kill it. It will keep coming alive every time you try to pick it up.
E. Gymnasium. Guards 5, 6, and 7.
F. Store room. There's a barbell of solid gold here, but it's too heavy to lift.
G. LOOKing at the end of the corridor reveals a trap door down.
H. Kitchen. An automaton cook is here, but he'll probably ignore you.
I. Guard room. Guards 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 guard 5,000 gold pieces in a bag. FLEE to lead them out in smaller groups.
J. Four-way pathway below a trap door. GET the torch to see your way.
K. Pool room. Go DOWN to enter, but DROP the torch first or it will disintegrate. LOOK while in the pool to find a jade statue.
L. Snake's room. Two snakes attack. Nothing else of value here.
M. Spider's room. A sticky web theoretically makes the battle with the giant spider more difficult. You can BURN it with the torch from (J).
N. Guard's station. Guards 14 and 15 are here along with a deck of marked cards.
O. Jail cell. A dwarf NPC named Kori Irontooth, apparently also summoned by the spirit and captured, joins you.
P. An NPC rogue named Howard joins you.
Q. A beautiful NPC roue named Cynthia.
R. Passageway. Guard13.
S. Den. Bookshelf contains a valuable book called "Ages and Ages." LOOK at the fireplace to find the remains of a diary.
T. Baron's outer chambers.
U. Art gallery has paintings of women. You can BURN them with the torch from (J).
V. Guest room
W. Baron's inner chambers. "Baron" turns out to be an evil wizard who tricks people into coming to his castle with his sendings. When you first enter, a "guardian" whisks you to the "Plains of War" for a battle — made much easier with the NPCs from the dungeon. The second time, you fight a similar battle in the "Fire Pits," and for some reason the NPCs turn on you, so you may want to kill them first.
The third time you enter, you'll be taken to the "Lands of Despair" for a fight with another guardian. This is brutal because the Lands continually sap your fatigue. However, if you FLEE at any point, for whatever reason you'll be returned to "rested" though still in the same place. You can't hit the guardian directly. Instead, OPEN the box and fight "Pain," "Fear," and "Hunger" in succession. They're very hard. As soon as you get wounded at all, it's best to SAY HEAL and then FLEE to restore your fatigue. Eventually, "Hope" will appear and banish the guardian.
When you return to the inner chambers after the third battle, Baron Tyme is there alone with his painting. BURN the painting to kill Baron Tyme (shades of Dorian Gray!). Then LOOK to find a secret door to the south.
X. Treasury. A bag of jewels.
If you dealt with Tyme, his apparition will appear to you after you leave the castle, guiding you to a treasure of an extra $1000.
V.7 [STADV7] The Hall of Alchemie
| SETUP: | The game goofs on "Mission: Impossible" by having the player answer a ringing phone. The voice on the other end, thinking that the PC is someone named "Jim," says that a Master Alchemist has just perfected a "Philosopher's Stone," which turns any object into pure gold. The Alchemist plans to use the funds to raise an army and conquer the world. The PC vows to kill the Master Alchemist and destroy the stone. Upon entry to the alchemist's hall, the player trips over a wire and traps himself in the entryway. |
| COND: | Not 100% sure. The game doesn't let you leave until you've at least confronted the master alchemist. |
| SC: | Swallow, Read |
| HINTS: | The architect used the theories of Stephen Hawking in designing the hall. |
I'm still working on this one. It's a very confusing and difficult scenario. The manual calls it the "most difficult dungeon ever designed."
From what I can gather, there are four beasts that you need to defeat before you can challenge the Master Alchemist: a giant bear, a griffin, a salamander, and a giant black scorpion. As far as I can tell, they're impossible to defeat in melee combat, and some clues suggest that a way to defeat them involves the various items and ingredients that you pick up around the facility. Unfortunately, I can't figure out how to combine them or use them against the creatures; there just aren't enough commands in the game to support anything very complex.
Adding to the difficulty, you cannot leave the scenario until you find the Master Alchemist.
As a side note, I suspect that the Master Alchemist's halls are based on a real institution somewhere. The layout is very precise and many of the descriptions seem to be in-jokes of some sort.
For the first time, the map below uses > to indicate a one-way door. The colon : indicates passages that twist as you move through them, so (for instance) an exit from Room A to Room B that goes east might turn into a north passage from Room B back to Room A.
Because the scenario has so many rooms I've consolidated some letters and have not offered a description for some named rooms if there was nothing to find there.
*-B
^
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A---:
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C
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C
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D-C-D
| | | 1<--*-->2
* E * | ^ |
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F | *-Y-Z |
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F :-->* |
| | |
F W *<--:
| | |
F--W--W-*-T--:
| | ^ |
*-*---* | | *---:
| | | X--X | |
G-* J-V-*-* *-6-*-* 7-9
| | | | | | |
*-I-K---S-U * 8---:
| | | | |
*-H-*-*---R-*-T-*-*-@-*-#-
| | | |
G L-*---* 4-3-*
| | | |
*-M-*---R 5-*-*
| | | |
*-*-*-*---* *-*
| | | |
*-N-N-*---Q
| | |
O-*---*
|
P
A. Entryway. The passage back is blocked with a marble slab. with writing on it that says "Don't give up till you're dead." LOOK to find a secret passage to the east. You can SAY the password given in (F) to bypass the djinn guardians to the south.
B. Dusty secret passage. Two diamonds are here. The entry from (A) is one way, so I'm not technically sure that it twists north. But whatever the case, when you leave, you automatically get teleported to the first djinn at (F). Thus, if you want to get through the djinns without losing any equipment, go to this room last.
C. Various rooms in a hall. They contain, in order from north to south, a fly trapped in amber, a rubber ball, and a gold-embossed playing card. The northernmost room has a picture of an alchemist with a caption below it. READ the caption to get a clue for solving the djinn riddles.
D. Rooms to the east and west of the southern end of the hall contain two sapphires (west) and two catseye gems (east). Both have secret doors to the south, but they automatically teleport you to the encounters at (F).
E. Passageway. Pile of whale excrement (Abergris) and an ace of diamonds and a jack of spades glued together (blackjack).
F. A series of rooms with guardian djinns. The first demands "<A>"; the second demands "<B>"; the third demands "<C>"; and the fourth wants all three. Satisfy them by giving them, in order, a sapphire, a catseye, and a diamond. (And one of each to the fourth.) When you finish dealing with the fourth djinn, he'll tell you that you can SAY MERLIN back at A (or any of the passages before the djinn rooms) to dispel the djinns and skip the puzzle (this also makes the gemstones disappear).
If you're curious what those gemstones have to do with the letters, I think it has to do with their chemical compositions. A sapphire is an (A)luminum oxide; a cat's eye is a (B)eryllium based gemstone; and of course diamonds are composed of (C)arbon. Heady stuff for an RPG player to know without Wikipedia, but you could figure it out through trial and error.
If you try to give the wrong item three times in a row, the djinn will take an item from your inventory and kick you back to (A). You'll later find the item at (P).
G. Restrooms. The one to the north is the men's room and the one to the south is the women's room. Characters cannot enter the opposite gender's room. There doesn't seem to be anything to do here in any event.
H. Great hall. You'll encounter "Jim" here, an NPC who was supposed to get the mission. He's useful to have as an ally, but he has no weapons and armor, so GIVE him your spares or whatever you find in the dungeon. The "empty room" to the west allows you to go W forever, but the moment you hit E, you'll end up back here.
I. The main library contains a crystal sphere.
J. Smeltery. A salamander asks for something to help it warm up. I've tried a few things, but nothing seems to work. There's a pair of tongs here.
K. Specimen room. A "raging grizzly bear" (Ursus Horribilis) guards an adventurer, the Great Marduk, in a cage. I have not been able to defeat the bear.
L. Adept's lab. Defeat Adept1 and Adept2. They each have a set of chain mail, a small shield, and a short sword. There's a brass wand in the room.
M. Adept's lounge contains a brazier and an athanor (a portable furnace). The adept's library to the west has a hole in the north wall that would allow them to look into the women's restroom. I suspect that the brazier and athanor are somehow key to solving the level, but I don't yet know how.
N. Lecturer's office (west) has Adept4 (chain mail, shield, spear) and a copper wand. Lecture hall (east) has Adept3 with the same items.
O. Glassblower's shoppe. Bowl of mercury on the ground.
P. Stockroom. Items stolen by djinns at (F) end up here.
Q. Apprentice's laboratory. Apprentice3, hostile, has leather armour, a small shield, and a hand axe. You'll find five items here: an ebony sceptre, a ball of beeswax, saltpetre, sal ammoniac, and incense.
R. Apprentices are found in these two rooms. Both have leather armour and a small shield. One has a mace, the other a hand axe. Nothing else is in these rooms.
S. A large auditorium. A janitor attacks you. He has only a broomstick, which could be used as a club if you're that desperate. The blackboard in this room, which you should READ, gives some hints as to how to deal with the tougher creatures in this area. You use various "tools" to control elemental creatures represented by color: earth (black), water (white), fire (red), and air (yellow).
T. Guard's stations. Guards of various numbers attack. They have various weapons, such as a short pike and a small mace.
U. Furnace room. There's a large bellows here.
V. Laboratory. There's a griffin here guarding an ivory sceptre and a vial labeled "extract of coal tar."
W. Treasury. Guard 51, with a steel broadsword, stands guard over a vial of "aqua-regia." The vault to the north has a pearl. The anteroom to the west has a scrap of gold on the floor.
X. Guards' kitchen and dining room. The kitchen has a butcher knife. Watch The corridors here. The one going from the dining room back up to the guard post is one-way.
Y. Guards' dormitory. Guard53 attacks with a long-handled battleaxe.
Z. Janitor's closet has a ceremonial gold sword.
1. Guard's dressing room has a gold-studded shield.
2. Dressing room two. Has a jeweled scabbard.
3. Empty room. Apprentice4 has leather armour, a small shield, and a hand axe.
4. Ice house. Room filled with block of ice.
5. Kitchen. Extremely difficult kobold who I have not been able to defeat.
6. Chapel in habited by a Loup Garou (werewolf). He's well-armored but doesn't do much damage, so you should be able to defeat him in a long fight.
7. A water sprite (nixie) guards the barbican. She's not very hard.
8. There's a crux ansata (ankh) at the guard's station.
9. The drawbridge back to the Main Hall, but the Master Alchemist won't let you leave until you see him.
@. Master's laboratory, guarded by a giant black scorpion. A mandrake root, a silver knife with a black onyx hilt, and a silver sphere on a walnut rod are all on the floor. I have not been able to defeat the scorpion.
#. Master's lounge. The Master Alchemist is here along with a small vial labeled "Elixer Vitae." I've only ever reached her by fleeing the scorpion, so I don't know how it plays out. There's an exit to the east that I have not yet been able to map.
VI. [SPLLST] Spell List and Comments
All spells are available from Hokas's. The amount given is the base cost; it varies based on the character's charisma.
All spells are invoked with the SAY command during the adventure. For instance, to cast the "Heal" spell, type SAY HEAL. There is no limit or "cost" to the spells except in fatigue, so be prepared to REST after casting.
Each spell has a hidden "knowledge" attribute associated with it, from 25 to 75, indicating the probability of casting the spell successfully. Every time you successfully cast a spell, this number may increase. Thus, it is a good idea to practice spells in non-time-limit scenarios or on easy creatures.
This also means that it's a bad idea to test out a spell when an enemy is attacking you. If it fails, you'll end up exhausted while getting attacked.
I didn't find many of the spells useful except HEAL.
BLAST ($3000)
Does 1d8 damage. Not worth it. A regular attack has a better chance of success.
HEAL ($1000)
Heals yourself and NPCs. An absolute necessity. Buy it with the proceeds of Beginner's Cave. It has a very low fatigue cost, so you can generally use it in combat without trouble.
SPEED ($5000)
Doubles agility attribute for 5-15 minutes. A potentially useful spell for a single combat, but the fatigue cost is considerable.
POWER ($100)
The effects of this spell are random. I've had it heal me, turn me to stone, and cast any of the other spells. It's not worth the risk.
CHARM ($6000)
Attempts to improve an enemy's disposition and make him an ally, but has a chance of turning an ally into an enemy.
FEAR ($6000)
Causes monsters to make a morale check at half the normal level. If they fail, they flee. The spell eventually wears off.
DEATHSPELL ($10000)
A weird spell. It deals damage to both PC and enemy equal to the OPPONENT'S current hit point total. Thus, it may end up killing the enemy, the caster, or both. It also has a huge fatigue cost that will leave almost every PC unconscious. Generally too risky to use, especially since a failed casting will leave the PC unconscious with nothing to show for it.
FARSEE ($20000)
Allows you to venture through up to three rooms in mind only. Very useful for when you want to explore a potentially instant-death location. But the fatigue cost is very high, and there's a small danger of getting "stuck" in farsee mode.
TELEPORT ($30000)
When successful, 75% of the time it returns you to the Main Hall. 25% of the time, nothing happens. 5% of the time, you're teleported into solid stone and die.
THICKSKIN ($8000)
Increases armor protection for 5-15 minutes.
VII. [CHZEAT] Cheating
If you're playing with an Apple emulator, there are a few ways to cheat. Cheating in this game involves understanding both the random combat rolls and its process for saving your character.
When you load your character in the main hall and head out on an adventure, the game deletes the character from the main disk. So one easy way to cheat is to copy Disk 1 before loading the character. That way, if the character dies, you can simply restore him.
An even easier way to cheat is to use save states in your emulator. As long as you can bring a character into active memory, the game will happily let you play with him and will save him upon return to the main hall. Thus, if you die, just reload a save state.
(Note that save states may not work well in the first scenario, since it's on the same disk as the character file. I've had the game crash when I died and reloaded a save state on Disk 1.)
Save states can also help in combat--though not as easily as you might like, since the game generates its random number rolls well ahead of the combat itself. Reloading a save state in the middle of combat and doing the same thing will produce the same result.
Thus, you've got to break the pattern. Walk around a little. Flee and re-engage. Cast a spell where you attacked before. Get the actions attached to a new random number sequence, and you may enjoy different results.
This document is Copyright 2013 by Chester Bolingbroke
SwordThrust is Copyright 1981 by Donald Brown
I am not affiliated with Donald Brown anyone who had anything to do with the creation of this game. This FAQ may be posted on any site so long as nothing is changed.