Quest Adventure =============== Game Objective -------------- The object of Quest Adventure is to find a map, hidden in a world inhabited by gruesome monsters guarding their territory and various pieces of treasure. On the way, you must also locate an ancient scroll which will provide you with a valuable clue. The Characters -------------- You may play the role of one of five characters, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. Each character has five attributes which vary throughout the game. These are: 1. Strength 2. Luck 3. Dexterity 4. Constitution 5. Charm The Spectrum determines the initial value of each attribute by rolling three imaginary dice and adding the results. The machine also holds a number, known as the Combat Adds, which is used when fighting. This is calculated by adding one point for each point by which each of the first four attributes exceeds 12, and deducting one for each point by which each attribute is less than 9. Should any attribute other than charm fall bellow zero, your character dies and you must start the adventure again. Each character has a maximum value assigned for each attribute. These are as follows: Character Max Luck Dexterity Constit- Charm strength ution Wizard 25 25 25 30 30 Cleric 25 20 20 30 30 Rogue 30 20 15 50 20 Fighter 50 20 10 50 10 Simpleton 40 15 10 40 40 Combat ------ When your chosen character engages in combat on your behalf, you must name a weapon and an opponent. Once you have done so, the computer remembers them, even if they cease to exist. Thus you start off by saying, for example, "fight the hobbit with the sword" which initiates a round of combat. To initiate the next round with the same opponent using the same weapon, you may say, "fight". If you wish to change weapons to the broadsword for example, you may say, "fight with the broadsword" Similarly you can change opponents by saying, "fight the dwarf" For each round of combat, the computer calculates and compares the combat hits for each side. For the player, the combat hits are calculated by adding together the combat adds of the character, the weapon and the total thrown on the number of dice assigned to the weapon. The combat hits for your opponent is the sum of his combat adds and the total thrown on the number of dice assigned to him. The difference between the combat hits is applied to the combatant who scores the lower number of combat hits. In the case of the player, the difference is subtracted from his constitution, although this may be reduced if a shield is being carried. In the case of your opponent the number of dice thrown and the combat adds for the next round are reduced. If the combat adds fall below zero, your opponent dies. For example, suppose the hobbit has 3 dice and a combat adds of 4, whilst your character has his own combat adds of 2 and a sword with 3 dice and combat adds of 4. In addition, he is carrying a 3 point shield. His constitution is 4 points. Suppose the result of all the dice throws is: Hobbit dice total (3 dice) = 15 Player dice total (3 dice) = 8 Thus the hobbit has 15 (dice total) + 4 (combat adds) @ 19 points. Your character has 8 (dice total) + 4 + 2 (combat adds) = 14 points. Thus the hobbit wins, and your character has 5 points against him. However, his shield takes 3 points, so only 2 points are deducted leaving him with a constitution of 2. He would be well advised to run away! Of course, monsters do not wait for you to start fighting! If they take you by surprise, you get nothing credited for your weapon. In the above example, had the hobbit attacked first, your character would score only 3 points to the hobbit's 15. The character's constitution would fall below zero and hence it would die. You can find out how many dice and adds an object or opponent has by typing 'help'. e.g. 'help sword' 'help hobbit' Wizards can use their magic powers in combat, as we shall see later. Language -------- A string of up to 32 characters can be typed in at any time when the flashing cursor appears on the top line of the screen. This string can consist of one or more commands separated by 'and', '.' or ';'. Each instruction must start with a command. As soon as the machine loses track of what you are trying to say it gives up and will not look at any unused commands e.g. if you type 'get the sword and fight with it' and there is no sword, the 'fight' clause will be ignored. Only lower-case characters are recognised. A list of the main commands is given later. It is not a complete list - you will need to find the others by experiment. Places And Objects ------------------ The locations and their contents are always the same at the start of each game. In general you may collect objects and carry them around or put them down as often as you like. In most cases, things will stay where you leave them. You move from place to place by specifying the direction in which you wish to move. Not all directions are possible in some places, and sometimes routes are blocked by obstructions (doors or monsters). you have to remove them. Magic ----- All the characters can perform a certain amount of wizardry, although of course the wizard is the most able to do this. If you want to use a spell, you must first buy the ability to learn it, which you need do only once. Having done this, you can cast the spell when required, but each has a minimum required dexterity, and costs strength points. The strength used to cast a spell is restored at the rate of one point per minute. The following spells are available: 1. Magicglow - acts as a lamp for the blink of an eyelid 2. Dooropen - unlocks most (but not all) locked doors 3. Magiczap - hits a monster with points equal to your dexterity. The monster does not get any hit points. 4. Longlight - turns an oil-less lamp on for three minutes 5. Healme - increases constitution by one point 6. Firebolt - hits a monster with a firebolt of strength (combat adds + 1 dice) 7. Iceblast - hits a monster with an icesheet of strength (combat adds + 2 dice) 8. Enchantshield - trebles the number of hits taken by a shield. 9. Stoneit - turns a monster to stone 10. Zaphim - destroys a monster outright 11. Superstrength - hits monster with sum of attributes + 25 12. Stealer - increases player's constitution by one point and reduces fighting ability of monster. The cost, minimum required dexterity and strength of each spell are as follows: Spell Cost Min. Dext Strength (gold pieces) used Magicglow 2 8 1 Dooropen 2 8 5 Magiczap 2 7 10 Longlight 2 9 7 Healme 3 9 2 Firebolt 3 10 15 Iceblast 3 10 18 Enchantshield 3 15 20 Stoneit 4 20 20 Zaphim 4 16 25 Superstrength 4 20 20 Stealer 4 20 5 Each character can learn a subset of the full repertoire of spells: Wizard - All spells Cleric - All except stoneit, zaphim, superstrength and stealer Rogue - Magicglow, healme, dooropen Fighter - Magicglow, healme Simpleton - Magicglow, dooropen Supplies -------- There are a small number of objects which you can buy for cash at any time. These are:- a rapier 5 gold pieces a shield 5 gold pieces bread 1 gold piece a stake 5 gold pieces a maze 9 gold pieces Saving The Game --------------- Games can be saved at any point simply by typing 'save'. The machine prompts you as required. You can resume a saved game by typing 'load'. Note that you should not press the SPACE key whilst the tape recorder is being used. Commands -------- The main commands are as follows:- north (or n) drop look (or l) south (or s) eat status east (or e) light inventory (or inve or i) west (or w) buy ready up (or u) fight load down (or d) quit save leave score copy (enable printer output) go help nocopy (disable printer output) open hint spells get cast wait (suspend until a key is pressed) Hints ----- To get you started, there is a lamp in the hut. You will be able to see better with it switched on. Bear in mind that most of the creatures you will meet are distinctly unfriendly, although there are a few dwarves who will give you useful information from time to time. Above all, remember that things are not always as they seem!