Source:The Wonderful World of Eamon
| This page is a verbatim reproduction of original source material and should not be edited except for maintenance. | |
| Description |
"The Wonderful World of Eamon", an article by Donald Brown published in Recreational Computing magazine. |
|---|---|
| Source | |
| Date |
July 1980 |
| Author |
Donald Brown |
| License |
It is believed that the use of this copyrighted item in Eamon Wiki qualifies as fair use under the copyright law of the United States. |
| Other versions | |
The Wonderful World of Eamon
by Donald Brown
The troll smirks at you as you raise your puny sword and prepare for battle. His mood quickly changes when he sees a bright flame appear around your blade. The battle lust is upon you once more; you attack!
If you have never experienced this type of excitement in your life, you have missed one of the newest types of games around. This is a scene from a Fantasy Role-Playing game (FRP for short).
Unlike most games, there is no clear single goal in an FRP. Instead, you are directing the actions of a character to achieve the goals you want him/her to achieve. Although most people accept normal goals such as "make lots of money" or "become a feared warrior", you can choose any yardstick you want to measure your success. After all, it's your life – you ARE the character. (For a more complete explanation of role-playing games, see the May-June 1979 issue of Recreational Computing, "What Is All This Stuff?").
The first major FRP was Dungeons and Dragons, created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. Since then many other sets of rules have appeared on the market: Runequest, Tunnels and Trolls, The Fantasy Trip, and others. They all work in roughly the same way; a special player called the Dungeonmaster or Referee beforehand secretly designs a building or cave complex and places monsters, traps, and treasure inside of it. Then, the other players join in the game and they direct their characters through the dungeon, receiving descriptions of what they see and describing what they do. In conjunction with the rules, the Dungeonmaster determines who survives the inevitable combat and how much loot they bring home.
It has occurred to some people that at least the second part of Dungeonmastering (the interaction with the players) is ideal for a computer, and thus they set forth to adapt the games for their own systems. Unfortunately, troubles arose. In addition to piddling questions of copyright infringement, the simple fact is that these systems do not adapt well to computers.
The first major problem is in combat. In these games, when Grimy the Gnome decides to swing at an orc (or vice versa), the Dungeonmaster has to consider a large number of factors and calculate the chance of Grimy actually hurting the little beggar. Since humans by and large do not enjoy doing half a dozen major additions or multiplications, the games usually use large tables to calculate chances to hit. Unfortunately, while the computer has no objection whatsoever to heavy arithmetic, storing tables uses up definitely limited memory.
Even more of a problem, however, is magic. Since these games are set in places where strange things happen, the players want in on the power of magic, too. Thus, a wide set of spells are developed for the game. These range from the widely useful, such as throwing fireballs, to spells that are only effective against blue-eyed dragons. For all of their wonderful memories and lightning-fast computational abilities, computers are incredibly stupid and teaching them how to handle all of these spells is a frightening thought indeed.
This, something new was needed. So, with your kind permission, I present a new set of rules to be used freely by anyone who cares to: EAMON!
Eamon is a world at the center of another galaxy – instead of revolving around any star, all of the stars revolve around it! Those huge bodies exert strange effects on the world of Eamon, bending light, gravity, time, even the laws of nature themselves! The "normal" world of Eamon is a rough, bruising, swords-and-sorcery society where the standard job is fighting Black Knights and dragons. However, at times reality shifts and you may find yourself facing Billy the Kid or Darth Vader!
Your character has three basic numbers that determine where his or her physical abilities lie. These attributes are all rolled on 3D8, and represent your Hardiness, Agility, and Charisma.
(A special format is used to describe random numbers. It is written xDy, and means that you generate "x" random numbers from 1 to "y", and sum them. This 3D8 gives you a number from 3 to 24. This notation comes from the strange dice used in manually-run FRP games where there are indeed eight-sided dice.)
Your Hardiness is a combination of strength and constitution. It has two major effects: it determines how much damage your body can take before it dies, and it limits the weight you can carry. A player can carry up to ten times his/her weight in gronds. A grond is a measure of weight, which is also subdivided into ten dos. With the stellar tides varying weights so much, the exact metric equivalent of a grond cannot be determined; however, an average weapon weighs about three gronds, and a coin weighs about a do. If your character has the maximum Hardiness of 24, he/she can carry a great deal, which makes a do about nothing.
Your Agility measures you quick your reflexes are, as well as how accurate. High Agility helps you in combat.
Your Charisma may be the most important attribute. Although it is strongly related to physical beauty, Charisma also includes how persuasive a talker you are, and other things. High Charisma will get you lower prices on your purchases, higher prices on your sales, and help you make friends among the denizens of the dungeons.
All three of your basic attributes will not normally change through adventuring, although special magic items may raise or lower them. Although the average value of your attributes should be around 16 or 17, the normal citizen of Eamon has Hardiness, Agility, and Charisma all equal to 10. This is to reflect the fact that only people who are a cut above other would normally go adventuring.
At least in the parts of Eamon that you will be exploring, Eamon is a rough and violent world. Thus, the mechanics of combat are very important.
Roughly speaking, all weapons can be divided into five classes: axe, bow, club, spear, and sword. These all attack in different fashions, and knowing how to use one type of weapon (such as a club) does not help you use another (such as a bow). Furthermore, some weapons are easier for the inexperienced person to use than others (the novice who picks up a club is more likely to hit his target than if he uses a bow and arrow).
Thus, we have the concept of weapon expertise. For each type of weapon, you will have a number that is added to your chance of hitting. These numbers are different for each type of weapon, and start out at the following values: axe = 5%, bow = -10%, club = 20%, spear = 10%, and sword = 0% weapon expertise.
Your weapon expertise will rise as you learn how to use your weapons. Every time you successfully strike a blow, it may be possible to learn something new about the way to use that weapon. Since obviously all you can learn about is what keeps you from being perfect, your chance of learning from a blow is the same as your chance of missing. When you learn something, your weapon expertise in the class you are using will go up by 2%.
The second factor is the quality of the weapon, called the "weapon complexity." A weapon that has been forged with good balance and of fine quality steel is more likely to hit than a cheaply made rush job. (Of course, it will cost more too!) Basic weapons can be bought with either 10% complexity (good quality), 0% (fair), or -10% (poor). Weapons with higher complexities still may be found in the caves and buildings around Eamon, and you may take them as soon as you kill their previous owners.
The third major factor that affects your chance of hitting is your agility. Twice your agility is added to your chance to hit. Except under the influence of magic, under which all things are possible, this will never change.
The last normal adjustment to your chance of a successful blow is based on the armor you are wearing. Armor will usually absorb some of the damage of blows that strike your body. However, there being no free lunch, you pay for this protection by lowering your chance to hit (due to the constricting effects of the armor that you are wearing).
There are three different types of armor you can wear – Leather, which will absorb one hit from every blow but lowers your chance to hit by 10%; Chain which absorbs two hits but lowers your chance of hitting by 20%; and Plate which will take five hits in every blow but lowers your chance of hitting by a full 60%. With any of these armors (or with no armor at all), you may also carry a shield which absorbs an additional hit per blow, while lowering your chance to hit by 5%.
These adjustments are for the player who has never worn any armor before in his/her life. Experience can train a person to compensate for these effects. Thus, each player also has an armor expertise, which starts at zero, and rises by 2% jumps just as weapon expertise does. However, you armor expertise can only cancel out the effects of armor – if you are wearing Leather armor and your armor expertise is 10%, any further attacks will not raise your expertise, unless you put on more armor. Furthermore, if you have built your armor expertise up to 20% while wearing chain armor and you move back to Leather, the net effect of armor will be 0, not increasing your chance to hit by 10%!
Once your total chance to hit has been determined, the computer will generate a number from 1 to 100. If the number is less than or equal to your chance to hit, you got him! Now the question is, what did you do?
Both players and monsters (the generic term for non-player characters in Eamon – not all monsters are bad!) have a Hardiness figure, which is from 3 to 24 for humans. This number represents, among other things, the amount of damage the fellow can take before dying. On every successful blow, a random number is determined – this number varies according to the weapon and is expressed in NDN format. Any damage absorbed by armor is subtracted and if the result is greater than zero, it is taken off the target's Hardiness. This damage is not permanent, as it can be healed by appropriate magic or rest at the player's home. However, if the player's Hardiness ever hits zero, he/she dies.
All of that, of course, is what usually happens. Sometimes, however, your weapon strikes a sensitive spot, making a critical hit. Sometimes your weapon strikes the ground, making a fumble.
Fumbles take place about 4% of the time, regardless of your chance to hit. What happens next is up to the gods: 35% of the time the fumble is recovered from with no bad effects; 40% of the time the weapon is dropped. (Monsters are subject to fumbles. If a monster is using his natural weapons, such as teeth or claws, and drops his weapon, he simply recovers.) The weapon being used is broken 20% of the time, with a 50% chance of hurting the one using it. The last 5% of the the time, the user strikes himself.
Critical hits take place 5% of the time, again no matter what the chance to hit is. A critical hit will slip through your opponent's armor 50% of the time so that he receives all of the damage done (the armor does not absorb any hits this round). Otherwise, a critical hit does more than usual damage: three-halves of normal damage is done 35% of the time, twice normal 10% of the time, and three times normal 4% of the time. One percent of all critical hits have the effect of instantly killing the opponent.
To see all of this in action, hear now the tale of Hedric and the Troll.
Hedric was a starting character with a Hardiness of 18 and an agility of 20. (Unfortunately, he had a Charisma of 4, but that's not relevant here.) Being a beginning character, he spent his starting gold to buy a good quality axe (complexity = 10%) which does 1D6 of damage. He also bought himself a suit of leather armor. Thus, his chance to hit was 5 (weapon expertise) + 10 (weapon complexity) + 40 (twice his Agility) - 10% (the effect of armor), or 45%.
Hedric was strolling down a dark corridor when suddenly he was attacked by a fierce Troll. Although Hedric didn't know this, the troll had a Hardiness of 30. He used his fists to do 1D4 with a 40% chance to hit. The troll's rock-hard skin acted as a natural armor, taking 2 hits per blow. (All monsters have worn their armor long enough to have raised their armor expertise to the maximum; thus, no calculations for armor are done.)
It took Hedric no time at all to realize that he had to fight this thing, and the two began attacking. In the first round, the computer came up with a 23 for Hedric's battle roll, so he hit! Unfortunately, only one point of damage was done. The troll's armor took this with ease and the troll was unhurt. However, there was a 55% chance of axe expertise and armor expertise going up by 2%. The computer generated random numbers of 12 and 54, so both attributes did indeed go up. Thus, on his second blow, Hedric's chance of hitting will be 49%.
Simultaneously, the troll attacked Hedric. However, this battle roll was 100 – a fumble! The computer gives a random number, checks its table, and comes up with the result of a dropped weapon. Since the troll cannot drop his fists (well, you know what I mean), he recovers without any problem.
The battle continues. Hedric makes most of his blows strike home, raising his armor expertise to 10% and his axe expertise to 8%. Thus, his new chance to hit is 58%. He has gotten 20 points through the troll's armor, leaving him with 10 points.
However, the troll has not been lagging either. Hedric has taken 15 blows, leaving him with only 3 points before death! He has also managed to raise his chance of hitting to 52% (monsters also learn from experience).
None of this, of course, does Hedric know. He has been told that the troll is "very badly injured" and that he himself is "at death's door, knocking loudly." He has no inkling how much, if any, his armor and weapon expertise have risen.
On the next round, Hedric gets a critical hit! The result is doubling damage. Hedric does 11 points of damage, which after 2 are taken off for armor, leaves the troll with only 1 point. The computer checks to see if his axe expertise goes up (his armor expertise cannot, since it is at its maximum), and the troll gets his attempt.
Luckily for our hero, the troll fumbles again, this time breaking his weapons. As his fists disintegrate, one of the pieces hits him in the forehead, doing two points of damage. (After all, this is FANTASY role-playing.) This brings the troll's Hardiness down to -1, and he is dead.
Now that Hedric has defeated the troll, he will have ready access to the troll's treasure. No matter what it is (almost), he will be able to sell it and use the gold pieces for something. One of the best uses is to learn a few magic spells.
On the whole, magic in Eamon is a very tricky thing. Due to the constantly shifting forces that power the strange happenings on Eamon (called magic for lack of a better word), a spell that always does a certain thing in one location may do something entirely different just two-hundred feet away! Thus, there are no Gandalf-like wizards with a thousand spells wandering around the countryside.
However, after years of careful experimenting, four spells have been developed that do work in almost every part of the normal Eamon world. (In the parallel worlds that one can fall into, the laws of magic are usually quite different, if magic exists at all!)
Any player who can hire a wizard to teach him/her can learn these spells. For each spell, a player gets a spell knowledge between 25% and 75%. This is his/her chance of successfully casting the spell the first time. Every time the spell is successfully cast, there is a chance of the spell knowledge going up by 2%, just as with weapon expertise. However, every time a spell is attempted (successfully cast or not!), the chance of casting that spell is cut in half for the rest of the day, down to a minimum of 5% chance of casting. There is also a 1% chance of overloading the brain and forgetting the spell completely every attempt.
For example, assume that Hedric has, through a lucky starting knowledge and some experience, brought his knowledge of a spell to 80%. The first time he attempts to use the spell during the adventure, his chance of casting it successfully is 80%. Assuming he gets it to work, he has a 20% chance of the spell knowledge going up by 2%. If the spell knowledge does not rise, the next time he tries to use the spell, he only has a 40% chance of success. Unfortunately, he blows it this time and nothing happens. On his third try, his chance of casting the spell is only 20%. If it is successful, his chance of his spell knowledge going up is 80%. Obviously, this means that spell knowledges can go above 100%. Assuming that Hedric's spell ability never rises, the sixth attempt would normally only have a 2% chance of success; however, until the end of the adventure, Hedric's chance of success will remain at 5%.
The first spell that can be learned is the Blast spell. This sends a magic flaming arrow at your target. If the spell is successfully cast, the arrow will always hit the target and do 1D6 points of damage, ignoring armor. The normal cost of the spell is 3000 gold pieces.
The second spell (the ordering is just for convenience; spells may be learned in any order) is Heal. This can only be used on the person casting it, and will restore 1D10 points of damage. Of course, you cannot cure more points of damage than you have taken. The normal cost is 1000 gold pieces.
The third spell is Speed. This spell will double your Agility for 10 to 35 turns (a turn being the time to do any action). Its major effect is to increase your chance to hit (remember, Agility affects hit probabilities!). It is not always noticeable when a Speed spell wears off. If the Speed spell is successfully cast again while the first spell holds, the duration of the spell is increased by 10 to 35 turns – your Agility is NOT quadrupled. The normal cost of this spell is 5000 gold pieces.
The last spell is the Power spell, and it is both the most dangerous and yet sometimes the most powerful spell available. There is no set effect of the spell; it is simply a call for the Gods to do something. What they do will vary with time, location, and anything else the dungeon designer wanted to consider. Due to the extreme variableness of this spell, it has a normal cost of only 100 gold pieces.
So far, Eamon has only be implemented on the Apple II (due to the fact that it is the computer I own). It requires either an Apple II Plus or an Apple II with the Applesoft ROM card. A disk is definitely required. Although some of the parts of Eamon can be run on a 32K system, the assumption for dungeon designers is for 48K.
One diskette called the "Eamon Master Diskette" is needed. Additionally, each adventure scenario goes on a separate diskette. At the moment I know of five additional adventure diskettes. Finally, there is a diskette called the "Dungeon Designer Diskette" that lets people create their own scenarios almost easily. These diskettes are being legitimately freely traded in many places, including the program libraries of computer clubs such as the Apple Pi club of Denver, Colorado.
If you can get copies from such places, it would be preferred. If you cannot find Eamon locally, send an order to Donald Brown, c/o The Computer Emporium, 3711 Douglas Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50310 and include $5.00 for diskette and postage.
Although many programs are included on the Eamon Master Diskette, the most important is called Main Hall. This program (whose listing is to be found with this article) is where the player can equip himself, find out his/her current weapon expertises and other important information, and head out on individual adventures.
(A word on the DOS used on the Apple for those of you who want to make sense of this program for adapting Eamon to your own uses. Since Applesoft does not have any disk commands built into it, a special kind of software kludge was developed. The DOS is watching all output from the program. If a line begins with a Control-D, the line is assumed to be a disk command and is not printed on the video screen. Two commands that need explaining are READ and WRITE. When a READ command is executed, all of the inputs to the program will comes from the file specified, until another disk command is executed. This command can be simply the null command (printing just a Control-D). A WRITE command sends all output of the program into the text file specified instead of to the video screen. In my programs I use a string variable called DK$ to hold a Control-D, so that any print statements that begin with DK$ are flagged as disk commands.)
When the Main Hall program is entered, there are two important data files expected on the Master Diskette. The first is called THE ADVENTURER. It is a sequential file. It simply has the name of the current player and the record number of the CHARACTERS file where his/her data are stored.
The second important file is called CHARACTERS. It is a random-access file with a length of 150 bytes per record. Record zero holds the total number of records that have been used. In each subsequent record, the first item in the record is a string. If it is the null string (" "), it is a signal to the program that this record is empty and can be used by the NEW CHARACTERS program to place a new player into.
If the first string in a record is not the null string, it is the name of the player. After that are stored the numbers that describe the player – Hardiness, Agility, Charisma, the four spell abilities (Blast, Heal, Speed, and Power, in that order), and the five weapon abilities (axe, bow, club, spear, and sword, in that order). The next items are the player's armor expertise, a one-character string that gives the player's sex ("M" or "F"), the number of gold pieces that the character is carrying, the number of gold pieces that the character has deposited with the bank, and a number describing the armor the player is wearing. If the number is odd, the player is carrying a shield. Dividing the number by two and ignoring the remainder gives the armor worn: 0 = none, 1 = leather, 2 = chain, 3 = plate. Finally, the player's four weapons are listed, giving for each the name, weapon type (a number from one to five, signifying which weapon class it belongs to), weapon complexity, the "x" part of the xDy damage of the weapon, and the "y" part. If the player is not carrying a weapon, the name of "NONE" is used and the numbers given with that weapon are irrelevant.
When a player buys or sells something, the reaction of the seller or buyer is determined by coming up with a "secondary Charisma," which is gotten by adding or subtracting a random number from zero to five to the player's Charisma. This number is divided by 10, and normal prices are divided by this factor while buying and multiplied by it while selling.
When the player goes on an adventure, he/she is first removed from the CHARACTERS file, so that if he/she doesn't return he/she will be presumed killed. The player is then instructed to switch diskettes. On the adventure diskette a file called EAMON.NAME is opened, and the adventure name is read in (this is why there is only one adventure per disk). The computer then creates a file called FRESH MEAT into which he first writes in the record that the player used to occupy in the CHARACTERS file, then all of the information that was in the record.
After the adventure is finished, the program must have the player switch diskettes back. If the player died, all that must be done is to run THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF EAMON, which will start up a new character. However, if the player survived, the program must recreate the file of THE ADVENTURER, restore the player's record in CHARACTERS, with the altered information (hopefully higher weapon expertises and more gold), and run the MAIN HALL program.
To get a feel for Eamon, observe the terrible struggles of Jason of the Boar Ring –
Jason was a starting character with a Hardiness of 12, Agility of 21, and Charisma of 14. When he got to the Main Hall, he first decided to buy a weapon.
AS YOU ENTER THE WEAPON SHOP, MARCOS CAVIELLI (THE OWNER) COMES FROM OUT OF THE BACK ROOM AND SAYS, 'WELL, AS I LIVE AND BREATH, IF IT ISN'T MY OLD PAL JASON! SO, YOU WANT TO BUY A WEAPON, SELL A WEAPON, OR GET SOME BETTER ARMOUR? (HIT THE KEY, B S OR A) B MARCOS SMILES AT YOU AND SAYS, 'GOOD. I GOTTA THE BEST. YOU WANTA AXE, BOW, MACE, SPEAR, OR SWORD? (HIT THE KEY(S), A B M SP OR SW) SWORD MARCOS SAYS, 'WELL, I JUST HAPPEN TO HAVE THREE SWORDS IN, OF VARYING QUALITY. I'VE GOT A VERY GOOD ONE FOR 67 GP, A FAIR ONE FOR 33 GP, AND A KINDA SHABBY ONE FOR 17. WHICH DO YOU WANT?' (HIT THE KEY, G F OR P) G MARCOS HANDS YOU YOUR WEAPON AND TAKES THE PRICE FROM YOU. HE NOW ASKS YOU, 'NOW HOW ABOUT SOME ARMOUR?' (HIT Y OR N) Y MARCOS TAKES YOU TO THE ARMOUR SECTION OF HIS SHOP AND SHOWS YOU SUITS OF LEATHER ARMOUR, CHAIN ARMOUR, AND PLATE. HE SAYS, 'I CAN PUT YOU IN ANY OF THESE VERY CHEAPLY. I NEED 67 GOLD PIECES FOR THE LEATHER, 167 FOR THE CHAIN, AND 33 FOR THE PLATE. WELL, WHAT WILL IT BE?' (HIT N FOR NOTHING OF L C OR P) N MARCOS SMILES AND SAYS, 'NOW HOW ABOUT A SHIELD? I CAN LET YOU HAVE ONE FOR ONLY 33 GOLD PIECES!' (HIT Y ON N) Y MARCOS TAKES YOUR GOLD AND GIVES YOU A SHIELD.
He also bought a Power spell for 53 gold pieces. This, before he went on his first adventure, his character could be described in the following manner:
YOU ARE THE MIGHTY JASON YOUR ATTRIBUTES ARE: HD=12 AG=21 CH=14 YOU KNOW THE FOLLOWING SPELLS-- POWER YOUR WEAPON ABILITIES ARE-- AXE BOW CLUB SPEAR SWORD 5% -10 20% 10% 0% ARMOUR: SKIN AND SHIELD AE=0% GOLD IN HAND=47, BANK=0 WEAPONS CMPLX DAM SWORD 10% 1 D 8 (HIT ANY KEY TO CONTINUE)
He went to adventure in the local testing ground called "The Beginners' Cave", which is where almost all adventurers first go. He was in a large chamber when things started happening–
YOUR COMMAND?E YOU ARE IN A SMALL SIDE CHAMBER TO THE EAST OF THE LARGE CHAMBER. IT IS VERY COLD HERE, AND THE ONLY LIGHT COMES IN DIMLY FROM THE LARGE CHAMBER. THERE IS A GRIZZLED OLD HERMIT (WHO SMELLS AS IF HE HASN'T TAKEN A BATH IN FORTY YEARS) IN THE ROOM. THERE IS A BOTTLE HERE WITH A STRANGE POTION INSIDE! YOUR COMMAND?SMILE NOTHING HAPPENS. YOUR ARE STANDING IN THE EAST SIDE CHAMBER HERMIT IS HERE. YOU SEE BOTTLE
(Citizens of Eamon are rather simple-minded; if they like you they will follow you around and attack your enemies. Otherwise, they will attack you!)
YOUR COMMAND?GET BOTTLE GOT IT. YOUR ARE STANDING IN THE EAST SIDE CHAMBER HERMIT IS HERE. YOUR COMMAND?W YOUR ARE STANDING IN A LARGE CHAMBER HERMIT IS HERE. YOUR COMMAND?W YOUR ARE IN A SMALL SIDE CHAMBER TO THE WEST OF THE LARGE CHAMBER. IT IS VERY COLD HERE, AND THE ONLY LIGHT COMES IN DIMLY FROM THE LARGE CHAMBER. THERE IS A HUGE BLACK RAT WITH SHARP WHITE TEETH HERE! THERE IS A HUGE BROWN RAT WITH SHARP WHITE TEETH HERE! THERE IS A HUGE TAN RAT WITH SHARP WHITE TEETH HERE! HERMIT IS HERE THERE IS A PILE OF DIAMONDS HERE! YOUR COMMAND?ATTACK RAT JASON ATTACKS TAN RAT --A CRITICAL HIT! TAN RAT IN DEAD! BLACK RATE ATTACKS JASON --A MISS. BROWN RAT FLEES OUT AN EXIT. HERMIT ATTACKS BLACK RAT --A MISS. YOU ARE STANDING IN THE WEST SIDE CHAMBER BLACK RAT IS HERE. HERMIT IS HERE. YOU SEE DIAMONDS. YOU SEE DEAD TAN RAT. YOUR COMMAND?ATTACK RAT JASON ATTACKS BLACK RAT --A MISS. BLACK RAT FLEES OUT AN EXIT. YOU ARE STANDING IN THE WEST SIDE CHAMBER HERMIT IS HERE. YOU SEE DIAMONDS. YOU SEE DEAD TAN RAT.
(Rats aren't too courageous, are they?)
YOUR COMMAND?GET ALL DIAMONDS TAKEN. DEAD TAN RAT TAKEN. BLACK RAT FLEES OUT AN EXIT. YOU ARE STANDING IN THE WEST SIDE CHAMBER HERMIT IS HERE.
He and his new friend the Hermit had no trouble mopping up on the two rats that had escaped them. He also made another friend, a fighter named Heinrich. All was going very well for Jason before he entered this small room–
YOUR COMMAND?E YOU ARE IN A SMALL, STARK CELL WITH A DOOR ON THE WEST SIDE. HERMIT IS HERE. HEINRICH IS HERE. THERE IS A LARGE CHEST IN THE CENTER OF THE ROOM. YOUR COMMAND?OPEN CHEST AS YOU APPROACH THE CHEST, IT SUDDENLY BECOMES ALIVE AND TWO TENTACLES COME OUT OF THE SIDE, HOLDING YOU FAST. ANOTHER TENTACLE RISES FROM THE TOP AND ATTEMPTS TO HURT YOU. YOU ARE STANDING IN AN EAST CELL HERMIT IS HERE. HEINRICH IS HERE. A CHEST-SHAPED MONSTER IS IN THE ROOM, HOLDING YOU WITH TWO TENTICLES AND ATTEMPTING TO DISASSEMBLE YOU WITH A THIRD. YOUR COMMAND?ATTACK CHEST ATTACK WHO? YOU ARE STANDING IN AN EAST CELL HERMIT IS HERE. HEINRICH IS HERE. MIMIC IS HERE. YOUR COMMAND?ATTACK MIMIC JASON ATTACKS MIMIC --A HIT! MIMIC IS VERY BADLY INJURED. HERMIT ATTACKS MIMIC --A MISS. HEINRICH ATTACKS MIMIC --A MISS. MIMIC ATTACKS HERMIT --A MISS. YOU ARE STANDING IN AN EAST CELL HERMIT IS HERE. HEINRICH IS HERE. MIMIC IS HERE. YOUR COMMAND?ATTACK MIMIC JASON ATTACKS MIMIC --A MISS. HERMIT ATTACKS MIMIC --A FUMBLE! WEAPON DROPPED! HEINRICH ATTACKS MIMIC --A MISS. MIMIC ATTACKS HERMIT --A MISS. YOU ARE STANDING IN AN EAST CELL HERMIT IS HERE. HEINRICH IS HERE. MIMIC IS HERE.
Donald Brown became a personal computing fanatic almost three years ago when his father brought home one of the first Apple IIs. He also permitted the infamous William Fesselmeyer to lure him into fantasy games over two years ago. He now spends his time in Des Moines writing computer programs, playing games, and incidentally working towards a Bachelor's Degree at Drake University. He can best be contacted through the Computer Emporium of Des Moines.
YOUR COMMAND?ATTACK MIMIC JASON ATTACKS MIMIC --A CRITICAL HIT! MIMIC IS DEAD! AS THE MIMIC DIES, IT ROLLS OVER AND YOU FIND A RING UNDERNEATH IT. YOU ARE STANDING IN AN EAST CELL HERMIT IS HERE. HEINRICH IS HERE. YOU SEE AXE YOU SEE RING YOU SEE DEAD MIMIC YOUR COMMAND?GET ALL AXE TAKEN. RING TAKEN. DEAD MIMIC IS TOO HEAVY YOU ARE STANDING IN AN EAST CELL HERMIT IS HERE. HEINRICH IS HERE. YOU SEE DEAD MIMIC
Eventually, though, Jason made it out of the adventure with his treasures intact. He sold them and had himself analyzed again. This time, his attributes and abilities were as follows:
(HIT THE KEY FOR YOUR CHOICE, 1-6)5 YOU ARE THE MIGHTY JASON YOUR ATTRIBUTES ARE: HD=12 AG=21 CH=14 YOU KNOW THE FOLLOWING SPELLS-- POWER YOUR WEAPON ABILITIES ARE-- AXE BOW CLUB SPEAR SWORD 5% -10% 20% 10% 6% ARMOUR: SKIN AND SHIELD AE=6% GOLD IN HAND=657, BANK=0 WEAPONS CMPLX DAM SWORD 10% 1 D 8 AXE 0% 1 D 6
Notice that through experience both sword ability and armor expertise went up by 6%, or increased three times. Until Jason buys heavier armor, his armor expertise cannot increase any more. He also has 657 gold pieces, which should permit him to buy a new spell.
Although Eamon has a reasonably complete background set, there is still room for infinite expansion. Jason may have been able to handle small problems like the rats and survive little traps like the chest-mimic, but surely in the depths of your imagination you have nastier things in mind! Furthermore, so far all of the adventures written for Eamon have resembled the Woods and Crowther's ADVENTURE, but Eamon is more flexible than that. Consider a game where you are leading an army into battle, with morale affected by your Charisma! The possibilities are endless. There is a full universe out there, and it is up to you to pull it into your computer!