Realms of Darkness
Commodore 64/128 Version

To load the game, type LOAD"*",8 and when the screen says READY, type RUN.
The movement and menu selections can be done from either the keyboard or the joystick. Moving the joystick forward and backward moves the cursor up and down the menu. Pressing the fire button while simultaneously pulling back on the joystick exits the menu.

Use the following keys when not using a joystick:

A or  for north/up
Z or = for south/down
Up/down cursor or * for west/left
Left/right cursor or [UP ARROW] for east/right

Note also that the <- key is used in place of the ESC key.

Copyright 1987 by STRATEGIC SIMULATIONS, INC. All rights reserved.





Introduction

Prepare yourself for a fantastic journey - a journey to worlds inhabited by great heroes, powerful wizards, mythical beasts, and, of course, fabulous treasures. Prepare to enter the Realms of Darkness.

Realms of Darkness is a fantasy-adventure game. As in other fantasy games, the player creates characters who gain power and riches by defeating monsters, To complete the quests in this game, however, the player solves puzzles that are more elaborate and complex than those in most fantasy games.

The game consists of many scenarios of increasing difficulty. Similar to a subplot for a larger story, each scenario requires several hours of playing to be completed.

The setting includes cities, dungeons, caverns and other types of dwellings. The sights of the outside world, including the cities, are more like those found in an adventure game, while the views for the dungeons and caverns are more commonly found in a fantasy game.

Let us now take the first step to countless hours of fun.



Equipment

Before you start playing Realms of Darkness, please make sure you have all the following:

C64/C128.
A monitor. A colour monitor or TV is recommended, but a monochrome monitor will work fine.
A disk drive.
A joystick is optional.



The game package

Please make sure your game package contains all of the following:

* The Boot Disk - you start the game with this boot disk
* The Adventure Disk - you save the progress of your game on this disk
* The manual - you read the manual to learn how to play the game
* Map and command cards - to assist you on your quest
* A map pouch - an item found in the dungeons



The manual

You do not need to read the entire manual before playing Realms of Darkness. Chapter I is an interactive introduction to the game. As you read Chapter I, you learn some of the essential features of Realms of Darkness by playing the game. Once you have completed Chapter I and are somewhat familiar with the game, you can set aside the manual until you encounter a difficulty. At that time, use the Table of Contents to find the appropriate chapter to consult.

Throughout this game and manual, we have assumed some conventions.

(1) In many instances, you need to initiate an action by pressing a key. This is denoted by a capital letter in brackets, For example, [A] means you should press A on your keyboard.
(2) The space bar will be denoted as [SPACE]. and the left and right arrow keys will be symbolised by <= =>, respectively.
(3) To abandon a task or menu, press [ESC]. In most instances, this allows you to return to the menu you were in previously.




I: The Quick Overview

The quick overview is designed to acquaint you with Realms of Darkness in the shortest amount of time. Therefore, we will be discussing only things which are of immediate importance.

Chapter I is divided into four sections:

SECTION 1: Playing the Game in 11 Steps
SECTION 2: Casting Spells
SECTION 3: Fighting Monsters
SECTION 4: Ending the Expedition

Read section 1 first; this outlines the eleven steps of your first expedition in the Realms of Darkness. Section 2 and section 3 describe two of the most important parts of a fantasy game: casting spells and fighting monsters. Section 4 discusses what to do when you are ready to end an expedition.

Throughout this manual, especially in section 1 of Chapter I, we define special terms to help you to understand the use of certain commands. The term is defined first and then, in the next step, used to explain the relevant command. For example, in section 1 under step 2, we explain "SELECT" and then tell you to select the proper option.


SECTION 1: 
PLAYING THE GAME IN 11 STEPS

This section describes eleven steps which will get you started quickly. The eleven steps are as follows:

STEP 1 STARTING THE GAME
STEP 2 USING THE MAIN MENU
STEP 3 CREATING CHARACTERS
STEP 4 STARTING THE ADVENTURE
STEP 5 STEPPING THROUGH THE HALL OF HEROES
STEP 6 LEARNING THE COMMANDS
STEP 7 REARRANGING THE CHARACTERS
STEP 8 MOVING AROUND
STEP 9 TOURING THE CITY
STEP 10 EXPLORING THE UNDERGROUND
STEP 11 USING THE ADVENTURE MODE

NOTE: If combat occurs at any time, go to section 3 - FIGHTING MONSTERS. Whenever you wish to cast a spell, go to section 2 - CASTING SPELLS. In either case, don't forget to return to where you were.



STEP 1:
STARTING THE GAME

Follow these simple instructions to start playing Realms of Darkness
[1] Turn off your computer
[2] Insert the BOOT DISK into your disk drive
[3] Turn on your computer
[4] Type LOAD"*",8,1 and press [RETURN].


STEP 2:
USING THE MAIN MENU

The MAIN MENU consists of four options: CONTINUE A SAVED GAME, CHARACTER UTILITIES, DISK UTILITIES, and VIEW TITLE SCREEN.

The first option is used to continue a previously saved game. The second option is used to create characters and form parties. The third option is an advanced feature to be discussed in Chapter III. The fourth option is used to see the title page again. For now, we will be concerned only about the CHARACTER UTILITIES option.

[1] Throughout the game, we will use the term "SELECT" to mean selecting one option in a menu by positioning the selection pointer at the desired option. To move the pointer up, press the left arrow key. To move it down, press the right     arrow key. Once the pointer is at the desired option, press [RETURN]. FOR THOSE OF YOU USING A JOYSTICK, PLEASE REFER TO THE END OF CHAPTER 5, UNDER JOYSTICK OPTION.

[2] Select the CHARACTER UTILITIES option.


STEP 3:
CREATING CHARACTERS

NOTE: For your convenience, we have eight pre-generated characters on the disk. If you decide to use these characters, skip to step 4.

If you wish to use these characters at a later time you must make a back-up of the game disk now as explained in the section on disk utilities. Creating new characters will erase the pre-generated characters.

To abort creating a character (or almost any other function, for that matter), simply press the [LEFT ARROW] key. If you press this key unintentionally, repeat your previous commands.

Before you can play Realms of Darkness, you need to create a character, an imaginary being. The steps below describe this process.

[1] Select the CREATE A CHARACTER option.
[2] Characters are similar to people; they have traits and abilities. For a character, these are defined by six attributes, which have a range of 1 to 20 each.

* Wisdom is useful for casting priest spells.
* Intelligence is important when one is casting sorcerer spells.
* Agility is a thief's most desired ability.
* Strength is critically important to a fighter.
* Vitality determines how much damage a character can take before dying.
* Luck simulates the fickleness of fate.

[3] In addition, the characters have professions which are known as classes. Before a character can belong to a class, he must have minimum scores in certain attributes. The table below summarised what the minimum scores for the eight     classes are.

           WISDOM  INTEL  AGILITY  STREN  VITA
FIGHTER      ?       ?       ?      14      ?
SORCERER     ?      14       ?       ?      ?
PRIEST      14       ?       ?       ?      ?
THIEF        ?       ?      14       ?      ?
CHAMPION     ?      13      10      14      ?
KNIGHT      14       ?      10      14     10
BARBARIAN    ?       ?      14      14     14
FRIAR       13       ?      15      12     10

To read the table above, simply find the class on the left and read the scores on the right. For example, a character who wishes to be a friar would need a 13 wisdom, an unknown intelligence, a 15 agility, a 12 strength, and a 10 vitality. Remember, there is already a pregenerated score for LUCK.

[4] For those who wish to read a complete description of the classes, read Chapter II and then return here. For those who wish only a brief description, read the short paragraphs below.

* Fighter is a warrior - very proficient with weapons.

* Sorcerer is a poor warrior but overcomes that handicap with the ability to cast devastating spells.

* Priest is a spellcaster who specialises in learning healing and restorative spells.

* Thief is a character who has dedicated his life to learning about traps and disarming them.

* Champion is a warrior who can cast sorcerer spells.

* Knight is a warrior who can cast priest spells.

* Barbarian is a warrior-thief.

* Friar is similar to a martial artist.

[5] Consult the minimum scores table. Find the class you want your character and note the appropriate minimum scores.

[6] Assign the ability scores to the various attributes of your character.

[a] To place a score in an attribute, position the vertical arrow using the [A] and [Z] keys and press [RETURN].
[b] To remove a score from an attribute, position the vertical arrow beside the desired attribute and press [SPACE]. The score will return to the bottom of the screen, waiting to be placed in another or the same attribute.

Hopefully, you have done everything correctly and your character is accepted into the desired class. If not, press [LEFT ARROW] and return to step 1. Otherwise, move on.

[7] At this point, decide on a RACE for your character. There are four races in all.

Gnome: Cute, highly talkative, and extremely agile; gnomes constitute 50% of the thief population.

Dwarf: Short, strong, and very tough; dwarves live for the thrill of combat. Some of the best fighters are dwarves.

Elf: Soft spoken, very polite, and highly intelligent; elves are very adept at using magic.

Human: Varied as the stars in heaven, humans are hard to categorise. They seem to be equally distributed among the eight classes.

[8] Choose a SEX. Afterwards, press [Y] if you wish to keep this character; otherwise, press [N].

[9] To add the final touch, name your character. Your character's name can be up to fifteen letters long, including spaces. Press [RETURN]; your character will be saved to disk, and the CHARACTER UTILITIES menu will appear.

[10] We suggest that you create eight characters because this is the maximum number of characters allowed in a party. The ideal starting party should consist of the following mixture of classes:

(a) Four fighter types (fighters, barbarians, knights, friars, and champions)
(b) One thief
(c) One sorcerer
(d) Two priests

[11] To see the characters you have created (along with the pregenerated characters already on the disk), select the CHARACTER DIRECTORY option on the CHARACTER UTILITIES menu.


STEP 4:
STARTING THE ADVENTURE

Once you have created the eight characters, you need to assemble them into a party before you can start adventuring.

[1] Select the START THE ADVENTURE option from the CHARACTER UTILITIES menu.

[2] Throughout the game, the term "MARK" means all of the following:

[a] You can select several items by selecting each one individually.
[b] Pressing [RETURN] toggles between including or excluding an item for the desired action.
[c] You need to press [SPACE] to proceed when you are done marking.
[d] In all menus that support the mark function, [A] moves the pointer up, and [Z] moves the pointer down.
[e] The <= => keys perform different functions in different menus.

[3] Mark all the characters that you wish to include in the party you are forming. The <= => keys allow you to flip through the character directory, much like a phone book.

[4] At this stage, verify that the party is composed of the desired characters. Afterwards, remove the BOOT DISK and insert the ADVENTURE I DISK into the disk drive. Press any key to enter the Hall of Heroes, you first stop in the Realms of Darkness.

NOTE: Once the party has been transferred to the Hall of Heroes, the characters are saved on the ADVENTURE DISK and are no longer available on the BOOT DISK.


STEP 5:
STEPPING THROUGH THE HALL OF HEROES

Every time you use the START THE ADVENTURE OPTION and assemble a party, you are transported to the Hall of Heroes. This is a building, in the city Grail, where adventurers meet to start their journey into the Realms of Darkness. At the Hall of Heroes, you are given two options:

* RETURN TO THE BOOT DISK
* ADVENTURE IN GRAIL

The first option allows you to return to the boot disk to assemble a new party.

The second option allows you to exit the Hall and start playing the game; proceed to step 6, if you choose to ADVENTURE IN GRAIL.


STEP 6:
LEARNING THE COMMANDS

Because there are a vast number of commands, only a few of them will be introduced at one time. Basically, only the commands which are applicable to the existing situation are discussed. For example, [P]urchase is discussed in STEP 9: VISITING THE CITY, since the city is the most likely place you will buy something.

NOTE: During game play, you can press [H] for help with recalling the commands. If you prefer, you can use the command card provided in the game.


STEP 7:
REARRANGING THE CHARACTERS

Since most of the time only the front four characters (positions 1-4) can fight, it is a good idea to place the fighter types at the front of the party. The party may be rearranged whenever you are not in combat.

Follow the steps below to rearrange the party.

[1] Press [F].

[2] For now, we will concern ourselves only with selecting the MODIFY CHARACTER POSITIONS option. The other options on the menu will be explained later.

[3] Select the new order for your party by pointing the character you wish to be first, second, third, etc. Ideally, fighter types should be placed at the front of the party (positions 1-4) because, for physical combat, they are the most     qualified (high hits, good fighting skills, etc).

[4] To make certain that you have done everything correctly, press [SPACE]. You will see the new order of the characters. Again, don't worry about the other displayed information just yet. To close the window, press [Y].


STEP 8:
MOVING AROUND

The first thing you need to know is how to move around. The movement commands are as follows.


CITY AND OUTSIDE MOVEMENT KEYS



        NORTH

          W

          |
          |
WEST A ------- S EAST
          |
          |

          Z

        SOUTH





NORTH    NORTH
 WEST    EAST
    J    K
     \  /
      \/
      /\
     /  \
    N    M
SOUTH    SOUTH
 WEST    EAST


NOTE: The letters on the screen indicate the directions (north, south, east and west) of possible movement, but not the keys required to make the movement. Use the movement command indicated above.




STEP 9:
VISITING THE CITY

NOTE: If you are using the pre-generated characters, you can skip substeps 2 and 3. When you need to purchase something, feel free to return to these substeps.

With each substep, we have included the directions on how to reach the shops listed. If you wish to visit the entire city, please consult the included city map.

Now we're going to visit some of the more important locations in Grail. Between expeditions, you should visit Grail to rest your characters and restock your supplies.


[1] TALK TO THE GUARD TO LEARN VALUABLE INFORMATION.
 
(a) To reach and enter the guard house from the front of the Hall of Heroes, move west twice (press [A] twice) and north once (press [W] once).

(b) To talk to somebody, simply press [RETURN], which opens a window with a small pulsating cursor. You are now in the adventure mode. The full capabilities of this are discussed in Chapter VI.

(c) In summary these are the steps you should follow to talk to the guard.

(1) Go inside the guard house.

(2) Press [RETURN] to activate the adventure mode.

(3) Type in "TALK TO THE GUARD" and press [RETURN] 

(4) Press [ESC] when you are done talking to the guard.


[2] VISIT THE BLACKSMITH TO BUY WEAPONS AND Armor.

(a) To reach and enter the blacksmith shop from the inside of the guard house, move south twice (press [Z] twice), east once (press [S]), and north once (press [W]).

(b) Once you are here, it would be a good idea to buy some weapons for your party. The table below summarises what you should buy for which character.


Character      Weapons     Armor
in position
   1-4        bullwhip     cloak
   5-8          staff


(c) To purchase something, use the [P] command, which is explained below.

[P] Purchase is used to buy or sell something: food, weapons, shields, etc.

(1) Select the character who wishes to approach the counter.

(2) Select one of the following options.

* BUY AN ITEM
* SELL AN ITEM
* LEAVE THE COUNTER
* GET ANOTHER CHARACTER
* POOL SILVER


[3] If you select one of the first two options, then select the item you wish to buy or sell. if you select the last option, then all the party's silver will be transferred to the character that is at the counter.


[4] To buy things quickly, follow the steps below.

(a) Pool the silver to the character at the counter.

(b) Buy all the items which that particular character needs.

(c) Get the next character.

(d) Repeat steps (a) through (c) until you have bought everything you need. Make sure you have at least 24 silver pieces remaining even if you have to sacrifice buying a cloak or two.


[5] To make sure you have purchased everything you need, inspect each character by pressing (1) through to (8). For each character, select the option EXAMINE YOUR INVENTORY (don't worry about READ YOUR SPELL BOOK just yet), Press [ESC]     to return to the game.


[3] VISIT THE PROVISIONER TO BUY SOME ITEMS.

(a) To reach the provisioner shop from the blacksmith shop, move south once (press [Z]), move east once (press [S]), and move north once (press [W]).

(b) Have your sorcerer and your thief buy a torch each. The torches will come in handy when you are exploring the underground.

(c) Now that you have bought everything that you need, equip your party. This is the most complicated command, so please bear with us.


[E] Equipping the characters is arming them with weapons, fitting them with Armor, and so forth. Follow the steps below to equip the characters.


[1] Mark all the characters you wish to equip. Recall that mark means to select all the characters that wish to perform a particular action at once; each character selected will be marked with an "X". If you wish, you can equip the entire party at once.


[2] Select and mark the items for the characters you wish to equip. The <= => keys switch between columns, while [A] and [Z] moves the pointer up and down. The order of the item category is as follows:

(a) Select the weapon.

(b) Select the armor.

(c) Select the shield.

(d) Select the piece of jewelry.

(e) Mark up to four miscellaneous items.

If you do not have any equipable items in a particular category, then the next category will appear. For example, assume that you do not have any weapons, in this case, the first category that will appear is armor.


[3] If you have marked more than one character to be equipped, then the next character will appear. This cycle will repeat until all the marked characters are equipped. If you wish, you can press [ESC] to abort equipping any special     characters which have not yet appeared.

(d) To make sure you have properly equipped everybody. Press [9]. The following information is displayed:

    Name of the character.

    Class of the character (abbreviated).

    Armor class [AC], indicating how well protected he is.

    Hits, determining how much damage he can take before dying.

    Food.

    Silver.

    Weapon with which he is equipped.

    Status, indicating whether the character is OK, poisoned, paralysed, etc.

Notice that the order of the characters in this summary is the same as the order in the [SPACE] summary.



STEP 10:
EXPLORING THE UNDERGROUND

NOTE: Once you are outside the city, go directly to the ruins. Don't wander around since your characters are not powerful enough to survive many of the encounters. However, if combat does occur, go to section 3 for a brief discussion on combat. Afterwards, return here and continue.

After having bought your brand new weapons, you should try them out. An almost ideal place to test them is your local, not-so-friendly ruins.

[1] Visit the ruins. From the city gate, go east twice (press [S] twice) and north once (press [W] once). Press [D] to descend into the underground.

[2] Before you can see your surroundings, you need to light a torch. This is accomplished by [I]nvoking it.


[I] Invoking an item takes advantage of any special properties the item may possess. For example, to light a torch or lantern, you need to invoke it. A character must be equipped with an item that he wishes to invoke. Follow the steps below to invoke an item.

[1] Select the character who wishes to invoke an item (in this case, select the sorcerer or the thief).

[2] Select the item to be invoked (select the torch).

[3] Once you can see where the walls are. You may want to move around. Use the keys below to wander around.


UNDERGROUND MOVEMENT KEYS

              MOVE
             FORWARD
                W
                
                |
                |
TURN LEFT A <-------> S TURN RIGHT
                |
                |

                Z

              MOVE
             FORWARD


               OR
 

  TURN LEFT <-   -> TURN RIGHT
               /
             MOVE
            FORWARD



Notice that you can see only 30' ahead of you. If you have trouble with the view, please consult the included ruins map fragment.

Also, notice that movement is slightly different when you are underground. You can only move forward - you cannot move left and right. Rather, you have to first face the direction you wish to move toward and then move forward in that direction. This contrasts with movement in the outside which is independent of the direction you are facing.

[4] Eventually, you will find stairs (or a similar structure). To go up and down, use the following keys.
   [D] Down is used to descend stairs and ladders or climb down ropes.
   [U] Up is used to ascend stairs and ladders or climb up ropes.
[5] It won't be long before you encounter one of the many doors available. To bypass these annoying obstacles, use the following commands.
   [O] opens an unlocked door. Afterwards, it is assumed the party walks through the door.
   [L] unlocks a non-magically locked door. If the party has the right key. Afterwards it is assumed the party walks through the door.



STEP 11:
USING THE ADVENTURE MODE

You can't expect to solve the game by simply wandering around and stomping on monsters. You have to examine locales often, to gather clues to further your progress in the game. Gathering clues is one of the many activities possible while in the adventure mode.

[1] Before you can use the adventure mode, you need to activate it by pressing [RETURN]. Afterwards, type in what you wish to do. For example, if you wish to look at a skeleton, type in, "LOOK AT THE SKELETON". Or, if you wish to move an altar, key in, "MOVE THE ALTAR", and so forth. The adventure mode has many more capabilities and characteristics, which are fully explained in Chapter VI.

[2] Below is an example of using the adventure mode to gather clues.
    [a] Go to the area marked RUBBLE on the included ruins map fragment.
    [b] Enter the adventure mode by pressing [RETURN].
    [c] Try the following commands with the rubble.
        [1] Search rubble
        [2] Move rubble
        [3] Climb rubble
[3] Remember, to exit adventure mode, press [ESC].



SECTION 2
CASTING SPELLS

In this game, there are two types of spells: sorcerer and priest. Below are the steps to cast spells.

[1] This first step depends on whether you are in combat or not.
    [a] To cast a spell in combat, select the option CAST SPELL.
    [b] To cast a spell outside of combat, press [C]. Then select the character is going to cast the spell.
[2] The second step is to select a spell. This stage has many steps, and they are as follows.
    [a] Use the [A] and [Z] keys to select the spell level. Once you have selected a particular spell level, press [RETURN].
    [b] Use the [A] and [Z] keys to select the spell and conclude this action by pressing [RETURN].
[3] You can return from step 2b to step 2a by pressing [ESC].

The column of numbers at the top of the screen are the spell points: these determine how often you can cast the spells you know (spells known), which are shown in the lower boxes. There are seven sets of spell points to correspond with the seven levels of spells known. This means that you can expend one first-level spell point when you cast a first-level spell. You can regain spent spell points by resting at inns.

For the description of spells, consult Chapter VIII.



SECTION 3
FIGHTING MONSTERS

On occasion, your party will meet hostile monsters. These monsters are either hungry, interested in your silver, or just plain mean. In order to teach these brutes a lesson, you must resort to combat.

[1] The Monster Summary Screen. The first display is the monster summary screen, which shows the number of monsters versus the number of characters (that are capable of combat, i.e. OK and POISONED characters only).
    [a] The various screens displayed during combat are based on a common time delay. You can either wait for the screen to automatically update or you can press [SPACE] to proceed. You can change how long it takes for the screen to         update by selecting the option CHANGE DELAY.
    [b] At times you may want to freeze the screen to analyze any information you deem important. You can freeze the screen by pressing any letter key ([A] to [Z]). To proceed, press any other key. Note that you can freeze the screen only when the pointer is NOT present.
[2] The Party Options Screen. These options apply to the whole party, rather than a single character. For instance, HIDE means the whole party, not just the character, will attempt to hide. For your first encounter, select the option FIGHT MONSTERS which is explained below with the other party options.
    Fight Monsters - selecting this option allows you to select what each character is going to do in this round of combat. Go to step 3, if you select this option.
    Everyone Fight - everyone who can fight will fight and everybody else will automatically pass his turn.
    Bribe With Silver - some monsters are greedy and can be bribed to leave the party alone.
    Bribe With Food - some monsters are hungry and can be bribed to settle for some food rather than the characters.
    Run - in the face of overwhelming odds, this is a good idea. Be careful not to get lost!
	
    More Options - this option presents you with another screen of options, and they are as follows:
    Character Summary - this shows a summary of all the characters. Among other things, it lists what weapons the characters are equipped with, how well-armored they are, etc. This is identical to the [9] command which we mentioned in        step 9 of section 1.
    Monster Summary - this shows the monster summary screen again. It shows how many monsters and how many OK and POISONED characters are left. Characters which are PARALYZED, DEAD, or similarly afflicted are incapable of combat and therefore, are not counted.
    Surrender - because the consequences of this option are detrimental, use this command only as a last resort, i.e. after you have already tried running AND bribing the monsters.
    Change Delay - this affects how long it takes to update the screen with new information. The higher the value, the more time you are given to read the text. If you don't want to wait for the text, you can press [SPACE] to proceed at your own pace.
    More Options - this returns you to the other party options screen.
    Act Friendly - this option rarely appears - it allows the party to smile at the monsters and hope for the best.
    Hide - This option rarely appears, it means your party has seen the monsters and decided to give them lots of room.
[3] If you have selected the FIGHT MONSTERS option for the party, then each character will be prompted for what he is going to do for the current round. The steps below are guidelines you should keep in mind when fighting the monsters. 
    Read these steps first and keep them in mind. Do NOT perform the steps below until you are asked to.
    [a] If the character is a fighter type, select the option FIGHT.
    [b] If the character is a spellcaster, do one of two things:
	[1] If the character is a sorcerer, cast one of the following spells: ABSENT-MINDEDNESS, FIREBALL, or IGNITE.
	[2] If the character is a priest, cast HEAL on anybody that has been wounded. Obviously, this step is trivial if nobody is wounded.
	    For more information on casting spells, see section 2.
    [c] If the character is neither a fighter nor a spellcaster, select the option PASS, unless the option FIGHT is present, in which case select FIGHT.
	At this point, select the appropriate option for each character with the above guidelines in mind.
	Fight - this comes in handy when you need experience and silver.
	Pass - this passes your turn to the next character.
	Equip - this is the same as the [E] command that we discussed earlier in section 1 under STEP 9, VISITING THE CITY.
	Dispel Undead - this is used to banish extra-dimensional monsters.
	Cast Spell - see section 2, CASTING SPELLS, for more information.
	Inspect - inspect allows you to see your character's characteristics.
	Invoke - this is identical to the [I] command that we had discussed earlier in section 1 under step 10.
	Character Summary - see step 2 above for details on this.
	Monster Summary - see step 2 above for details.
	Change Delay - see step 2 above for details.
		
NOTE: For simplicity, we have not listed all of the options. Refer to Chapter VII for a complete list of combat options.

[4] At the end of each round, check the status of your party by selecting the CHARACTER SUMMARY option. If the party is too wounded to continue combat, select one of the non-violent combat options: RUN, BRIBE WITH FOOD, or BRIBE WITH SILVER. Afterwards, return to the city and go to the next section.
[5] If you feel the party is tough enough to defeat the monsters, continue combat. Afterwards, heal the wounded characters and move on. When the characters have been too grievously wounded, return to the city and go to the next section.




SECTION 4
ENDING THE Expedition

This section tells you
1. what you need to do before temporarily suspending the game
2. how to suspend your game (save your game)
3. how to resume your game (continue a saved game)
4. how to go on after you have completed Chapter 1-4

Resting and restoration
After your fighters have been hurt and your spell casters have used up their spell points, return to the city for rest and restoration.

[1] Rest at the inn. This will restore your hits and spell points to maximum. Note that you are not charged for this service (don't look a gift horse in the mouth).
[2] Check your food. If the party's average is less than 30 food units, visit the tavern to buy more food.
    [a] Press [P] to purchase, and select who is going to approach the counter.
    [b] Pool all the silver to the character at the counter.
    [c] Buy as much food as the party needs. Spare about 20 silver pieces, if possible. When you are done shopping, press [ESC].
    [d] Press [F] and select the option EQUALIZE FOOD.
	This takes all the food in the party (food the party was carrying and the food recently purchased) and returns equal shares to each character.
[3] If you have silver to spare, buy better weapons at the blacksmith shop (the sequence of steps is similar to the steps shown above). Incidentally, don't forget to buy more torches at the provisioner to replace the ones you've used.

Saving and continuing the game
To save a game, press [F] and select the SAVE A GAME option. Note that you may save the game regardless of where your party may be: in a shop, in a swamp, or even underground! To continue a saved game, select the CONTINUE A SAVED GAME option in the main menu.

Defining your immediate goals
As we approach the end of this chapter, you may be wondering what you next goals ought to be. We suggest the following to get you started properly.
[1] Visit all the rooms that are shown on the included ruins map fragment.
[2] Map the rest of the level.
[3] Keep in mind that what the guard told you is of utmost importance.
[4] When you need help, consult the manual.


II: Character Background

This chapter defines basic fantasy gaming terms, such as character, attribute, class, etc.

WHAT IS A CHARACTER?

A character is an imaginary being created by the player and then sent adventuring in a game. Each character is defined by his personal attributes. These are described below.

Wisdom indicates how much worldly experience a character possesses. This is the most important personal attribute to a priest.

Intelligence measures how educated a character is. For a sorcerer, nothing is more important than a high intelligence.

Agility is a reflection of how good a character's reflexes are. A character with a good agility usually lands the first blow in combat. This personal attribute is most important to a thief since he has to be nimble to avoid the many perilous traps in his line of work.

Strength measures how strong a character is in combat, a strong character can inflict more damage than a weak one. This is the most important attribute to fighters although it is also important to other classes, since EVERY character has to participate in physical combat sooner or later.

Vitality is equivalent to the endurance of the character. It is not related to any specific class: every character can benefit from a good vitality.

Luck is the most mysterious of the six attributes: how it helps a character, nobody (well, almost nobody) knows. Suffice to say, a character with good luck is more desirable than a character with bad luck.

Each character also possesses many additional attributes, and they are described below.

Race. The character may be one of four races:

  Gnome: Cute, highly talkative, and extremely agile, gnomes constitute 50% of the thief population.
  Dwarf: Short, strong, and very tough, dwarves live for the thrill of combat. Some of the best fighters are dwarves.
  Elf: Soft spoken, very polite, and highly intelligent, elves are very adept at using magic.
  Human: Varied as the stars in heaven, humans are hard to categorize. They seem to be equally distributed among the eight classes.
  
Sex: Male or female.

Age: How old a character is.

Hits: This is a measure of how tough the character is. Every time the character is struck by a monster, an amount is subtracted from this value and when this value is zero, the character will die. The number inside the parentheses is the character's maximum hits while the other number is the current hits. A character can recover his HITS up to his maximum potential by mundane means, such as resting at inns, or through the use of sorcery.

Spells Known: This and the next attribute are valid only if the character can cast spells. This one shows how many spells the character knows for each spell level. Note that there are seven different levels of spell magnitude, level 1 being the weakest.

Spell Points: Are a measure of how many times the character can cast the spells that he knows. For instance, to cast a first-level spell, a character needs a first-level spell point. A spell caster can regain all of his spell points by resting at the inn.


CHARACTER CLASSES

Now that we have described the attributes of characters, let us talk about character classes or simply classes. A class is a profession for the character, but in a fantasy game, one does not set out to be a doctor, lawyer or even a nuclear sanitation engineer since all of these professions are somewhat mundane. Rather, one can choose to be something he would not be in reality, such as a thief, a barbarian, or a sorcerer.

Armor Class: Shows how well protected the character is. This takes into consideration magic, natural skill and other factors. ARMOR CLASS ranges from 0 to an unspecified upper limit: 0 is equivilant to a character wearing a loincloth, while 20 is probably a character wearing magic armor with a magic shield.

Silver: The amount of currency the character is carrying.

Experience and Level: These two things are related. Experience is awarded for slaying monsters. The character gains a level when he has accumulated a certain amount of experience. At first, it is a simple matter to gain a level, but it becomes increasingly more challenging. With each level acquired, the character reaps many rewards: more hits (added to his present maximum): better fighting ability, and, for some classes, the ability to cast old spells more often and maybe even learn new ones.

Food: Shows how much food the character has before he starves. It is a good idea to continually replenish this since the character is perpetually consuming it. When a character has no food, he dies.

Status: This is a reflection of what the character's condition is. Hopefully, it is OK but sometimes disasters do happen and the character's status may be BLINDED, POISONED, etc.

There are eight classes and they are as follows: fighter, sorcerer, priest, thief, champion, knight, barbarian, and friar. Each class has its own advantages and disadvantages; these are listed with the respective class description.

Before a character can be a member of a particular class, he must have a minimum value in each personal attribute. The range for each personal attribute is one to twenty.


Fighter

No fantasy game is complete without this class. The fighter is similar to a well-trained soldier because he spends most of his time training in physical combat: therefore, it should not be surprising that the fighter is the toughest character in the party. Also, because of his training, he is the most proficient of all characters in using weapons and armors. In fact, his is the only class capable of using ALL of the weapons and armors. In order to be a fighter, the character needs a strength of 14.


Sorcerer

The sorcerer is akin to a mastermind with solutions to almost any problem through the use of his spells. Memorization of these spells is not for the simple minded, the fact that a would be sorcerer needs an intelligence of 14 reflects this.

Most of the sorcerer's spells are offensive in nature, that is, they inflict physical damage. While a fighter can slay but one monster with the swing of his sword, the sorcerer can defeat small armies with his spells.

With these spells, the sorcerer is a powerful character; but unfortunately, he does not start life with all of them. In fact, he starts with only a handful of spells, and he can obtain the rest only through hard work and misery. Until then, the sorcerer has to depend almost solely on physical combat, of which he is no master. He can only use a few of the weapon types; and he can wear but the weakest sets of armor. Finally, since the sorcerer hardly spends time conditioning his body, he is very weak and can not take much punishment before passing into oblivion.


Priest

The priest is a spell caster who has concentrated on studying healing spells. The priest is a very important character in the party because he is usually the only one who can restore lost hits to other party members. The priest can also cure his fellow characters in other senses of the word: he can restore sight, weaken and neutralize poison, etc.

His special skill in healing does not mean that he possesses no offensive spells, however, in physical combat, the priest is a better warrior than a sorcerer because he undergoes a mild form of combat training when he is not studying his spells. Consequently, he can use quite a few weapons and wear many types of armor. For a character to be a priest, he must have a wisdom of no less than 14 needed for the invocation of the spells.


Thief

Of all the classes except maybe the barbarian, the thief is treated with the least respect. This is probably due to the heavy connotation of the name of his profession. Whatever the case, the thief is an almost critically important character in the party since he is about the only one who has a good chance of disarming the deadly traps which often guard the fabulous treasures.

Since the thief spends a substantial amount of time learning how to render traps harmless, he does not excel in combat although this does not mean that he is helpless. Actually, the thief is slightly less effective than the priest in the fine art of combat.

As part of his training, the thief learns how to tread lightly. With his skill, the thief surprises his opponents frequently; this allows him to be the first one to strike a blow during combat.

About halfway through his hopefully illustrious career, the thief acquires the unique ability to perform a sneak attack; basically, he sneaks up to his adversary and strikes with blinding speed. Due to the unexpectedness of the attack, if he lands the blow, he will do significantly more damage than normally. There are some limitations to prevent the thief from sneak attacking everybody (or everything) he meets, and it is left up to the player to find out what they are. In order to be a thief, the character needs an agility of 14.


Champion

The champion is a combination of the fighter and the sorcerer, roughly 65% of the former and 35% of the latter. This means that his weapons proficiency is closer to that of the fighter than his spell casting is to the sorcerer. The champion can use all but one or two of the weapons and armor types.

At a relatively early stage of his profession, he learns how to cast sorcerer spells. Keep in mind that because he does not spend as much time as the sorcerer does studying ancient tomes, he obtains new spells at a much slower rate. Incidentally, he cannot cast his spells as frequently as sorcerers can.

For a character to be a champion, he needs to meet many requirements. He must have an intelligence of 13, an agility of 10, and a strength of 14.


Knight

The knight is a combination of the fighter and priest; however, he is more of a fighter than a priest. He can use almost all of the weapons and he can wear any set of armor.

If the knight perseveres, he will gain the ability to cast priest spells. As in the case of the champion, he can neither cast his spells as often nor learn new spells at as great a pace as can his counterpart.

The would-be-knight needs a 14 wisdom, a 10 agility, a 14 strength and a 10 vitality.


Barbarian

While the other classes are professions, the barbarian class is more like a way of life. In order to survive the torturous life that a barbarian leads, the character must be of sound body (barbarians are not famous for being bright or worldly wise). More specifically, the character needs an agility of 14, a strength of 14, and a vitality of 14.

Because of the barbarian's upbringing, he is no stranger to combat. In fact, his fighting skills and weapon proficiency are second only to the fighter's, though he disdains almost all types of armor, considering them for cowards.

As the barbarian progresses and matures, he will gain the berserker fury, which is named after the barbarian's behavior during a fight. Using this fury, the barbarian can release all of his savagery in one battle; all thoughts of compassion and mercy are pushed aside as he tears into the ranks of his foes. During this time, he does substantially more damage. This ability is usable once per expedition, since it tires him out immensely.

Another useful skill which the barbarian possesses is the ability to disarm traps skillfully, although the thief is more adept at this task.


Friar

Not too many characters succeed in becoming friars because the minimum requirements are 13 wisdom, 15 agility, 12 strength, and 10 vitality. However, if a character can be a friar, he will have many unique abilities.

After a small amount of training, the friar can do a flying kick, assuming he has gone through the trouble of equipping himself with his hands and feet (kind of hard to kick with your hands only, wouldn't you say?), by the way, only the friar can equip himself with the previously mentioned weapons. If the flying kick is successful, the damage done is quite great.

The next skill that will emerge is the ability to heal himself or others; this is made possible through his experience and mental discipline.

Another ability the friar will demonstrate is knowing how to stun his opponents. The chance for success and the amount of time his opponents will remain stunned are dependent on how powerful he is. Since the friar's foes are incapable of retaliating during this period of semi-tranquility, he is free to choose how to dispose of his non-friendly acquaintances.

Only the most dedicated friars can obtain the final ability, the ironwill. Through sheer will power, the friar can block out all damage that he normally would have received from a physical blow. However, there are three limitations to the ironwill ability.

First, with the ironwill, the friar can avoid the damage from only one blow. Second, the friar is not made spell-proof. Finally, the friar must choose to exercise this ability before entering combat since it is slightly difficult for him to concentrate with total chaos around him during combat. 

Keep in mind that until the friar can attain the above abilities, he has to win battles without them. To elaborate, he can employ only about half of the weapons and he can not wear any armor that prevents him from using his skills (it has been reported that it is quite impossible to perform a flying kick while being weighted down with approximately 300 pounds of plate mail).


MINIMUM SCORES TABLE

The minimum requirements for each class are summarized in the table below.

# is the minimum score needed for an attribute
? is an unknown score (i.e. you have to figure it out)

           WISDOM  INTEL  AGILITY  STREN  VITA
FIGHTER      ?       ?       ?       14    ?
SORCERER     ?       14      ?       ?     ?
PRIEST       14      ?       ?       ?     ?
THIEF        ?       ?       14      ?     ?
CHAMPION     ?       13      10      14    ?
KNIGHT       14      ?       10      14    10
BARBARIAN    ?       ?       14      14    14
FRIAR        13      ?       15      12    10

To read the table above, simply find the class on the left and read the scores on the right. For example, a character who wishes to be a friar would need a 13 wisdom, an unknown intelligence, a 15 agility, a 12 strength, and a 10 vitality.

Remember, there is already a pregenerated score for LUCK.


GENERAL CHARACTER ABILITIES

While there are many skills which can be acquired by only one particular class, there are also some which can be learned by all characters. Of course, some classes specialize in certain skills; for example, the thief is best at detecting traps. Below is a list of the abilities.

Detect Magic is the ability to determine if an item is magical or not. Be warned that it is possible for a character to fool himself into thinking that a non-magical item is enchanted.

Detect Traps is the ability to detect if a chest is trapped or not; it is not unheard of for a character to think that a trapped chest is not trapped.

Disarm Traps allows the character to bypass any traps that may be present. If the character is not careful, the trap will trigger, in which case the character will wish he had left the chest alone.

Dispel Undead gives the character a chance to banish extra-dimensional monsters.

Weaken Poison allows the character to weaken the toxic substance that is present. A character can only use this ability once for each time he is poisoned.


III: The Main Menu

This is the first menu you see when you start. It has four options, which are: CONTINUE A SAVED GAME, CHARACTER UTILITIES, DISK UTILITIES, and VIEW TITLE SCREEN. Each option is described under the appropriate section.


CONTINUE A SAVED GAME

This option allows you to continue the game from the last session with everything in the exact same condition as you left it. Simply stated, it was designed for the player who does not feel like playing the game for ninety days consecutively.


CHARACTER UTILITIES

All in all, there are six functions and they are listed below:
- CREATE A CHARACTER 
- INSPECT A CHARACTER 
- RENAME A CHARACTER 
- DELETE A CHARACTER 
- CHARACTER DIRECTORY 
- START THE ADVENTURE 


CREATE A CHARACTER 

Of all of the choices presented on the CHARACTER UTILITIES menu, this one is probably the most involved. Once you are here, you should see a screen similar to the one below.

      WISDOM  <=
INTELLIGENCE
    STRENGTH
     AGILITY 
    VITALITY 
        LUCK (there is already a number here)


A, Z, and the <= => keys

The following keys are used to move the two pointers.

A (or the up arrow) moves the vertical pointer up
Z (or the down arrow) moves the vertical pointer down
<= moves the horizontal pointer left
=> moves the horizontal pointer right

When the pointer can move vertically AND horizontally, you must use the [A] and [Z] keys to move it up and down, respectively, and the <= => keys to move it left and right, respectively. When the pointer can move only horizontally OR vertically, the [A] and [Z] keys can be used in place of the <= => keys and vice versa.


Creating a character

This section shows you how to create a character. It assumes you have read the section above for the control keys. The text inside the brackets at the start of some of the steps is what the computer is going to ask you once you are at that step. When a step has a letter subheading, it means there may be more than one possible choice, though only one will show up at any one time.

NOTE: If you press the [ESC] key (located in the upper left hand of the keyboard) at any step while creating a character, you will return to the CHARACTER UTILITIES menu. In fact, the [ESC] key is used exclusively to abandon (almost) any task in the game. However, there are some things which you cannot abandon halfway, such as combat.

[1] Consult the minimum scores table and see the minimum known scores for the class you want your character to be.
[2] Place the ability scores in the attributes you wish.
[3] Repeat step 2 until all scores are placed in the desired attributes. Along the way, if you wish to remove a score from an attribute, simply point the vertical pointer to the attribute and press [SPACE]. This places the score back to its original location.
[4] DO YOU WISH TO CHANGE THE PLACEMENT OF YOUR SCORE? (Y/N) [Y/N] stands for "yes/no" question; you should press [Y] for "yes" and [N] for "no". If you wish to change the placement of your scores, press [Y], which will return you to     step 1. Press [N] to proceed.
[5] 
   (a) [SELECT A CLASS] Your character qualifies for more than one class. Select the class you want for  your character.
   (b) [THIS CHARACTER MUST BE A <CHARACTER CLASS>] This means your character only qualifies for one class and the computer has selected the class for you.
   (c) [NO CLASS WILL ACCEPT THIS CHARACTER! LET'S REROLL....] This means your character does not qualify for any class, which means the character does not meet the minimum scores for any class. Return to step 1.
[6] [SELECT A RACE] Select your favorite humanoid type. The possible types are dwarf, elf, gnome and human.
[7] [SELECT A SEX] Select the sex of your character.
[8]
   (a) [WILL YOU RETAIN THIS CHARACTER (Y/N)] If you do not wish to keep this character, press [N]. Return to step 1 if you wish to create another character.
   (b) If you wish to keep this character, press [Y]. Afterwards, give your character a name, which has the following restrictions:
       It can only contain 15 characters, including spaces.
       It can not contain any numbers or special characters, such as &, :, (, ), etc.
       It must be unique, that is, there cannot be another character with the same name.
[9] At this point, your character will be saved to the disk. Afterwards, the CHARACTER UTILITIES menu will appear.


Inspecting, renaming, and deleting character(s)

The three options, INSPECT A CHARACTER, RENAME A CHARACTER and DELETE A CHARACTER have features in common. To avoid needless repetition, we list these features below.
[1] One character - when you wish to inspect, rename or delete one character, type in the character's name and [RETURN].
[2] Many characters - when you wish to inspect, rename, or delete many characters, follow the steps below.
    [a] Type in CD and [RETURN].
    [b] Throughout this game, the term "MARK" means all the following:
	(1) You can select several items by selecting each one individually.
	(2) Pressing [RETURN] toggles between including or excluding an item for the desired action.
	(3) You need to press [SPACE] to proceed when you are done marking.
	(4) In all menus that support the mark function, [A] or the up arrow key moves the pointer up, and [Z] or the down arrow key moves the pointer down.
	(5) The left and right arrow keys perform different functions in different menus.
    [c] Mark all the characters. Use the <= => arrow keys to flip through the character directory as you would a phone book.
    [d] Press [SPACE] to start inspecting, renaming, or deleting the group of marked characters.
    [e] Press [ESC] to return to the CHARACTER UTILITIES menu at any time.
	

INSPECT A CHARACTER

NOTE: Before consulting this section, please read the Inspecting, deleting and renaming character(s) section.

This option allows you to see what your character is equipped with, how much food he is carrying, what spells he knows (if any), etc. These are described further in Chapter II under the WHAT IS A CHARACTER? section.

In the lower left of the screen, you will be given two or three choices, depending on whether or not the character can cast spells. These options are described in detail below.


Examine Your Inventory

This option allows you to examine what is in the character's backpack and his equipment.

The inventory screen is divided into two sections. The top section shows what items the character is equipped with and the bottom shows what items are in the backpack. Each character can have up to twenty two items in his backpack.

In the top section, the following abbreviations are used.

W weapon
A armor
S shield
J jewelry
MI miscellaneous item

Notice that each character can equip with one weapon, one armor, one shield, one piece of jewelry, and up to four miscellaneous items.


Read Your Spell Book

This option shows up only if the character can cast spells. To read the spells, use <= =>.
Notice that as you are moving up and down spell levels, the window in the lower left shows you the spells that the character knows for that particular level. Obviously, if the window is blank, it means the character does not know any spells for that level.


Exit

If you are inspecting one character, this option ends your inspection. If you have marked more than one character, then this option skips to the next character.


RENAME A CHARACTER

NOTE: Before consulting this section, please read the Inspecting, deleting and renaming character(s) section.

This option is useful when you have mistyped your character's name during character creation or when you wish to rename the characters that are already on the disk. Make sure your character's new name is not already in use; that is, there is not already a character which has that name.


DELETE A CHARACTER

NOTE: Before consulting this section, please read the Inspecting, deleting and renaming character(s) section.

Do NOT ever delete characters for fear of insufficient space, because up to eighty characters are allowed. Once a character is deleted, there is no way of bringing the character back.
For every character you want to delete, you will be given a chance to confirm your action. Press [N] and nothing will happen. Press [Y] and this is the final farewell. If you are deleting more than one character, you can press [ESC] to save the characters that have not been deleted.


CHARACTER DIRECTORY

This option allows you to see all the characters currently in the character directory. Each character is listed with his NAME, LEVEL, CLASS and STATUS. Notice that you may not mark any characters with this option.


START THE ADVENTURE

This option allows you to form a party to begin adventuring.
[1] Mark all the characters you wish to be included in the party.
[2] Verify that the party is composed of the desired characters.


WARNING

When you are asked to remove any disk and substitute another one, do NOT turn off your computer because this will TOTALLY WIPE OUT the characters you have chosen to start the adventure with. Also, do NOT press the [RESET] key either because the consequences are identical. In fact, do NOT ever turn off your computer until you have saved your progress (one of the options to be discussed later).

[3] Remove the BOOT DISK and insert the ADVENTURE 1 DISK into the disk drive. Press a key to proceed.


DISK UTILITIES

The disk utilities menu consists of four options:

MAKE A LIBRARY BACKUP
RESTORE A LIBRARY BACKUP
REINITIALIZE THE GAME
REPAIR DISKS


MAKE A LIBRARY BACKUP

Remember the old saying that anything that can go wrong will go wrong? Well, unless you want your lost characters to be proof of this proverb, use this option; it copies your characters to another disk. Follow the instructions below to make a backup.

[1] Have a blank disk or one you do not mind seeing erased ready. The data on the backup disk WILL BE DESTROYED so make sure the information on the backup disk is expendable.
[2] As you are following the screen prompts, keep in mind that you can abort making a backup by pressing [ESC].


RESTORE A LIBRARY BACKUP

If an accident happens (power failure, leaving the disk near a magnetic source, etc.) and your characters are destroyed, use this option to restore them. Once you have selected this option, follow the screen prompts to finish restoring a backup.

In restoring a backup, the following things will happen:
(1) The characters are restored to the state they were in when the backup was made, that is, the characters on the backup disk are written over the characters on the boot disk.
(2) Any characters deleted since the backup was made will be "resurrected".
(3) Any characters created since the backup was made will be deleted.


REINITIALIZE THE GAME

Let us suppose that your quest was to find a special book, which is guarded by a powerful entity. Using a magical sword which you found, you defeated the guardian and acquired the book but later, however, you accidentally burned the book.
DON'T PANIC! Realms of Darkness has a feature which allows you to solve predicaments such as the one described above. It is the REINITIALIZE THE GAME option. The best way to understand this option is to imagine the following scenario. Suppose there is an orderly room with many items. Person A then comes in and takes a few things and also rearranges the room in the process. Person B then comes along a places all the items in the room back in their original location and replaces whatever was taken.

The room is your game disk, where everything is originally set to a certain condition. Person A, who comes along and rearranges everything, is you playing the game and changing its status (by picking up and dropping items). Person B, who comes along and restores the room to its original condition, is the REINITIALIZE THE GAME option.
Now that you know what this option does, follow the steps below to use it.
[1] Insert the Adventure 1 disk in the drive. Press [ESC] to abort or any other key to proceed.
[2] Remove the Adventure 1 disk and insert the boot disk in the drive. Press the [ESC] to abort or any other key to proceed.
[3] Remove the boot disk and insert the Adventure 2 disk in the drive. Press [ESC] to abort or any other key to proceed.
[4] Remove the Adventure 2 disk and insert the boot disk. Press any key to return to the DISK UTILITIES menu.

In the above example, the following things happen when you reinitialize the game:
(a) The book is restored and placed back in its original location.
(b) The entity is resurrected and is guarding the book again.
(c) Everything else is set back to its original location.

NOTE: This option will restore everything and in some cases, this may be undesirable. For example, suppose you have finished the first three scenarios and you then reinitialize the game. After reinitializing the game, to reach the fourth scenario, you must replay the first three. Therefore, use this option with care.


REPAIR DISKS

NOTE: This option will not repair physically damaged disks.

Use this option whenever you think that any of the Realms of Darkness are not working properly. This option verifies the disks and fixes certain disk errors.

[1] After selecting this option, select the appropriate disk to be repaired:
- The boot disk
- The adventure 1 disk
- The adventure 2 disk
[2] Insert the disk you selected in step 1. Please be patient because this process will take several seconds.
[3] Afterwards, the program will respond with one of three things:
    (a) NO ERRORS FOUND - the disk is fine.
    (b) ERRORS FOUND AND CORRECTED - the program fixed the errors and reinitialized the game on this disk. Note that some characters on the disk may have been lost forever.
    (c) UNCORRECTABLE ERROR ON TRACK # - please consult the warranty notice for returning the disk(s) to SSI.
	

VIEW TITLE SCREEN

This option allows you to watch the title screen.



IV. A Tour of the Locales

While exploring the Realms of Darkness, you will encounter four types of terrain: outside, city, temple, and underground. The cities and temples are, technically, part of the outside, but they are important enough to warrant their own sections.

The outside and the city have the same movement keys. The underground has a different set of keys while the temple does not have any movement keys, since the priests do not allow anybody to wander around. Thus, consult chapter V for the movement keys for the terrain you are travelling in.

Included with each terrain description is a map. Again, no map is included for the temple, since... well, you'll understand when you visit one. Please note that none of the maps are complete.


THE CITY

The cities were built by the inhabitants as protection from the monsters, consequently, they are quite well guarded. The city patrol allows few to enter, but you shouldn't have any problems entering any city.

Each city has various shops which are operated by the inhabitants. Some of the shops include the blacksmith, the tavern, and the provisioner. These shopkeepers are very fickle - they change the prices constantly; therefore, when you see a bargain, buy it before the shopkeeper changes the price.

Below is a list of the shops and what they have in stock or what services they perform.


Hall of Heroes - This is where adventurers, hungry for glory and riches, assemble. This is your starting location if you select the START THE ADVENTURE option on the CHARACTER UTILITIES menu of the boot disk.

Once inside the hall, you are given two options.

- RETURN TO THE BOOT DISK
- ADVENTURE IN GRAIL

The first option returns you to the boot disk. Note that you must return to the boot disk to assemble a new party. For more info, see the DISK UTILITIES section in chapter III. The second option is for leaving the hall.


Guard House - The guard is the unofficial city official. He maintains order and keeps the city peaceful. In times past, however, he has offered employment to adventurers to deal with important matters. Who knows? He may be looking for adventurers right now.


Tavern - With liquor having been outlawed a few years ago, the tavern owner now sells food for livelihood. Since the owner is still adjusting to this drastic change in his profession, the food he sells may hardly be called gourmet, but it's fine for expeditions.


Inn - After a rough day of adventuring, there are few things more welcome than a good bed to rest on. At the inn, you can rest free of charge. Resting at an inn restores your hits, spell points, and other characteristics. If you are poisoned or magically asleep, then the owner, a priest himself, will cast the necessary spell to rid you of your affliction. This service extends to all adventurers to repay the age old debt of Grail to the now disbanded Adventurers Guild for their many noble sacrifices in the past.


Blacksmith - Here you may purchase or sell weapons and armor. All the goods are non-enchanted, since blacksmiths consider enchanting an item as a poor substitute for craftmanship. Because of this, you will, at best, be able to sell your magical items for only as much as their non-magical counterparts (for a more thorough discussion on magical items, see chapter VII).

Below is a list of what the blacksmith in Grail has in stock.

- Dagger
- Staff
- Bullwhip
- Knife

- Cloak
- Padded shirt
- Fur
- Buckler
- Round shield

If you search diligently enough, you will find blacksmiths with a better selection of goods.


Provisioner - The provisioner carries miscellaneous items, which he acquires from mysterious sources. Some of his wares are rumored to perform miracles, but, as most know, rumors are seldom true.

Below is a list of his inventory.

- Rainbow potion
- Depoison balm
- Torch
- Lantern
- Rope and hook

Being somewhat fair, the provisioner does allow you to return unused goods; but don't expect a full refund.

Note that shops are not found in cities exclusively. There are some in the outside as well as underground.


THE OUTSIDE

The outside is an untamed wilderness consisting of dense forests separated by winding rivers and rolling hills. There are even some mountains along the north, which are impassable to all. Inhabiting the outside are many nasty beasts. If you meet any of these, don't expect a fireside chat. Don't go around attacking everybody you meet outside, however, since there are some inhabitants who will be very helpful.

NOTE: The outside is much more vast than what is depicted on the included map fragment.


THE TEMPLE

The temple is run by an alliance of mysterious priests who possess incredible powers. They will, for a price, cure a character of any ailment, be it paralyzation, a cursed item, or anything else. Of course, the exact fee depends on the severity of the ailment (and other things).

Below is a list of the services offered at the temple.

- LEAVE THE TEMPLE
- HEAL A CHARACTER
- RESTORE SIGHT
- REMOVE PARALYZATION
- DEPOISON A CHARACTER
- RESTORE SENSES
- UNPETRIFY A CHARACTER
- RESTORE ASHES
- RESTORE DUST
- UNCURSE AN ITEM
- MAKE A DONATION
- POOL SILVER

Note: the character that wishes to be cured must be carrying silver.


THE UNDERGROUND

The underground includes twisting labyrinths ("dungeons"), ancient ruins, and treacherous caverns. Since you are underground, you need to have a light source (a torch, lantern, etc.) before you can see where you are going. Even with the help of a torch, you can only see 30' ahead of you.

While you are underground, compass directions are not used - only relative directions (right, left, forward) apply. You do not move right and left; rather you TURN right and left. For example, suppose you are walking down a hallway and you reach the center of a four-way intersection. If you want to walk down the left hallway, you have to first turn to that direction and face the hallway. Then, you can move forward down the hallway.

Even though the outside is filled with many ferocious monsters, it is relatively safe compared to what you have to endure once you are underground, which is filled with traps and tricks, designed exclusively to bewilder you. Some of the more common traps include:

One-Way Wall: walls which only exist when you look at them at a particular angle.

One-Way Doors: doors which disappear once you pass through them.

Illusionary Walls: also known as secret doors, illusionary walls are openings which are designed to look like walls. If you suspect a wall is illusionary, try moving forward once you are facing it. If you are wrong, the worst that can happen is you lose your good looks.

Teleporters: locations which will move you to another area of the underground without you being aware of it. This makes mapping quite a challenge.

Pits: these are basically holes in the ground which you have to watch out for. The rope and hook is a very useful device for defeating these traps. Incidentally, some pits are rumored to lead to otherwise inaccessible areas of the underground.

NOTE: The included map is incomplete. The ruins are larger than what is depicted on the map. Keep in mind that the map was expanded for clarity. In other words, don't use the same scale, or your map will be the size of a wall poster.



V: The Command Keys

To issue a command, press a key in the brackets without pressing [RETURN]. The commands have not been listed in alphabetical order; rather, they have been grouped into a "logical order".

NOTE: If you have only one character in a party, disregard any mention of selecting the characters to perform the action. For example, suppose you have a party with only one character and you decide to equip the party, you will not need to select the character to be equipped because the program already knows there is only one character present.

Also, only OK and poisoned characters will show up on the menus because they are the only ones capable of performing the tasks. For example, a dead character can not [G]et an item.



MOVEMENT KEYS

Use these keys to move around in the realms. Note that the outside and the city use the same movement keys while the underground uses another set of keys.


CITY AND OUTSIDE MOVEMENT KEYS

        NORTH
		
          W
          |
WEST  A <---> S  EAST
          |
          Z
		  
	SOUTH
		
		
NORTH    NORTH
 WEST     EAST

     I  K
      \/
      /\
     N  M

SOUTH    SOUTH
 WEST     EAST



UNDERGROUND MOVEMENT KEYS

              MOVE
            FORWARD	
	   
               W
	       |
TURN LEFT  A <---> S  TURN RIGHT
               |
	       Z
		  
	      MOVE
	    FORWARD

NOTE: Apple IIe and Apple IIc owners can use the four arrow keys in place of the WASZ keys.



CHARACTER INSPECTION KEYS

These keys allow you to inspect your characters. Some apply to one character while some apply to the whole party.

[1] .. [8] These keys allow you to inspect any character that is currently adventuring. The results are identical to the INSPECT A CHARACTER option of the CHARACTER UTILITIES menu. Each number corresponds to the character's position in the party. The characters' positions are listed in the [9] and the [SPACE] summaries, which are detailed below.

[SPACE] This opens a summary window which shows only members of the present party (see the [B] command for information on multiple parties). For each character, the following information is shown:

NAME     CLASS     CURRENT
                     HITS
(MAX     ARMOR
HITS)    CLASS

Under status, "NO" means that the character is afflicted with something. To see the exact condition the character is in, use the command below.

[9] This presents a screen wide summary, which shows all the characters, regardless of which party they may belong to (see [B]reak up for more information on multiple parties). This command shows everything that the [SPACE] command does (see above) and the following: the Weapon the character is equipped with, the amount of Food and Silver the character is carrying, and the exact condition of the character.


ITEM RELATED KEYS

All of these commands involve items: getting them, dropping them, and so forth.

[E] Equip means to outfit the characters with selected items such as weapons, armor, jewelry, etc.
    [1] Mark all the characters you wish to equip and press [SPACE] to commence.
    [2] You now need to select and mark the items for the characters you wish to equip. The <= => switch between columns, while the [A] and [Z] moves the pointer up and down. The order of the item category is as follows:
	[a] Select the weapon.
	[b] Select the armor.
	[c] Select the shield.
	[d] Select the jewelry.
	[e] Mark up to four miscellaneous items.

If you do not have any equipable items in a certain category, then the next one will appear. For example, suppose you do not have any weapons; in this case, the first category that will appear is armor. If you have marked more than one character, the next one will appear. This cycle will repeat until all the marked characters are equipped. If you wish, you can press [ESC] to abort equipping any characters which have not appeared.

[G] Get any visible object(s). When you are at a location with items that can be picked up, a window with VISIBLE objects will appear.
    [1] Mark all the characters that wish to get something.
    [2] Mark all the items that the first character wishes to get, then all the items the second character wishes to get, and so forth. Each character can carry up to thirty items - this number includes items in the character's backpack and what he is equipped with.

You may not get structures (such as stairs, ladders, etc.) or characters from another party. These characters and structures also appear in the visible objects window; you can go [U]p and [D]own the structures and [R]egroup with the characters.
	
[I] Invoking an item activates any special properties which the item may possess. For example, to light a torch or lantern, you need to invoke it.
    [1] Select the character.
    [2] Select the item to be invoked. A character can only invoke items with which he is equipped with (see [E]quip for more details).
	
[P] Purchase is used in shops to buy or sell something; food, weapons, armor, shields, etc.
    [1] Select the character who wishes to negotiate with the shopkeeper.
    [2] Select one of the following options:
        BUY AN ITEM
	SELL AN ITEM
	LEAVE THE COUNTER
	GET ANOTHER CHARACTER
	POOL SILVER
    [3] If you select one of the first two options, you need to select the item you wish to buy or sell. Note that when you are buying, there may be more items that can be shown on one screen; in this case, press [SPACE] for the next screen. If you select the last option, then all the party's silver will be transferred to the character at the counter.
	
[T] Transfer is used when you wish to hand things from one character to another.
    [1] Select the character that wishes to transfer something.
    [2] Select the character that is to receive whatever is being transferred.
	[a] FOOD - you can transfer all your food except for the last ten food units.
	[b] SILVER - you can transfer all your silver away.
	[c] ITEMS - using the [A], [Z] and <= =>, mark all the items that need to be transferred. Press [SPACE] to conclude the transferring.
		
[X] Allows the characters to drop e[X]tra or unwanted items.
    [1] Mark all the characters that want to perform this action.
    [2] Mark all the items to be dropped. Equipped items can not be dropped.
	
[:] Occasionally there may be more items that can be displayed in the visible objects window. This command shows all the visible objects in one screen.



UNDERGROUND RELATED KEYS

These keys are commonly used in the underground.

[D] Descend stairs and ladders or climb down chains.

[U] Climb up chains or ascend stairs and ladders.

[L] This command allows the player to unlock non-magically locked doors. If the party has the right key, it may proceed. Be aware that there are various types of keys and various types of locked doors. Once the party has unlocked the door, it is assumed it has passed through the doorway. Afterwards, the door will lock shut again.

[O] Opens the door the party is facing so the characters can proceed without ruining their facial features. Once the party has opened the door, it is assumed they have gone through the doorway.	


MULTIPLE-PARTIES KEYS

These commands are used to create and manage multiple parties.

[B] Break up is used to split the party into smaller ones.
    [1] Mark all the characters that are to be included in the newly formed party.
	From now on, the party you are currently controlling will be referred to as the "PRESENT PARTY" and any other successive party will be referred to as the "NEXT PARTY"; these terms will be used extensively.
	Each party can be composed of one to eight characters. Be warned that multiple parties are difficult to manage for the novice, and it is not overly simple even for the experienced.
	After an amount of time (which can be altered through the [F] command), the program will switch from the present party to the next party's view after it has temporarily suspended the present party's actions. Remember that any 	        command issued will affect only the present party; the others are untouched. For example, suppose you have two parties at two different locations and you are currently controlling party 1. If you command the party to move north, 	        only the present party will move north. Just remember that any action applies only to the present party.
	When a party splits up, each resulting party should have its own light source since the light can not be shared when the parties are not at the same location.

[Q] This passes all of the remaining turns of the present party and switches to the next one. If you have but one party, this key does nothing.

[R] Regroup parties. When you party meets another band of characters, this command merges the smaller parties into one larger party. If your party did not have light but the party you have just merged with does, you will share their light.


MISCELLANEOUS KEYS

The following keys allow you to perform miscellaneous tasks.

[C] Cast a spell.
    [1] Select a character. This step is necessary only if there is more than one character capable of casting spells.
    [2] Select a spell. This stage has many steps and they are as follows.
	[a] Select the spell level and press [RETURN].
	[b] Select the spell and press [RETURN].
    [3] You can return from step 2b to step 2a by pressing [ESC].
	Should you cast a spell in an inappropriate time (such as casting a heal spell when nobody is wounded or try to throw a combat spell when no monsters are present), you will see a message saying so, no spell point is used in this case.
	
[H] Help! Use this when you forget these commands. There are several help screens and you can see the next one by pressing [SPACE] or you may resume your game by pressing any other key.

[V] View. If you want to remove the directions located along the bottom of the screen, press this key. Should you wish to bring them back, press this key again. This command is only usable outside.

[Y] This command closes all open window(s) of text at your location. If you wish to see the window(s) reopened, you must move away and return to where you were.

[RETURN] This command activates the ADVENTURE MODE, which is discussed in Chapter VI. Press [ESC] to exit the adventure mode.

[ESC] Allows you to abort most commands and menus.


THE [F] SUBMENU

This command summons an additional menu of miscellaneous options, which are listed and described below.

Change Screen Delay - changes the length of time it takes to update the old screen with a new one of information. It is set to 80 when the game is started.

Change Time Between Party Switches - is for changing the number of turns before switching to the next party. It is set to 20 turns when you start.

Modify Character Positions - rearranges the marching order of the characters. Select the character you wish to be first, the one you wish to be second, etc. It is a good idea to place fighters (and the related fighting classes) in the front to take the brunt of combat.

Pool Silver - takes all the silver from the party and gives it to one character.

Equalize Food - takes all the good in the party and hands back equal portions to each character. If the number of food units is not divisible by the number of characters, then the remainder will be given to the last character.

Use Weaken Poison Ability - a character can use this ability to decrease the intensity of the venom that may be coursing through his veins. A character can use this ability once for each time he is poisoned.

Use Ironwill Ability - use of this is restricted to a powerful friar. For specific details, see the friar class section.

Use Detect Magic Ability - useful if a character wants to know if an item is magical or not. Even sorcerers, who are the most skilled with this, can sometimes be fooled into thinking that a non-magical item is enchanted or vice versa. For a full discussion on magic items, consult Chapter VII.

Save the Game - suspends the game until the next game session without affecting anything in the game. Now you know what the CONTINUE A SAVED GAME from the MAIN MENU is used for. After you have issued this command, you may resume the game, reboot or turn off the computer. To save you untold grief, remember to use this game befoe you power off. Note that may save the game at any location; no more hiking out of several levels of the underground before you can go to sleep.

Turn Off Sound - basically allows you to play without any audio features. When you have turned the sound off, this option will change to TURN ON SOUND to allow you to change your mind.


THE JOYSTICK OPTION

For this option to work properly, your joystick must be centered; that is, when you release the joystick, it should return to the center. If it does not, consult your joystick instructions on how to engage the self centering springs.
Note that the joystick does not replace the keyboard; you can use the joystick and the keyboard together. If you wish to "shut off" the joystick, hold down the [CTRL] key and press [O]. Press these keys again if you wish to "turn on" the joystick.

NOTE: The program automatically detects if there is a joystick plugged in. The way the joystick functions depends on where you are.

Positioning the pointer in menus
Pushing the joystick up moves the pointer up, pushing the joystick right moves the pointer right, etc.
Button 0: functions as [RETURN] in selecting and marking.
Button 1: functions as [SPACE] in marking.

Moving around outside
The keyboard layout below shows which directions you should push the joystick to move in the desired direction. Note that U-RIGHT means upper right, D-LEFT means down left (or lower left, if you will).

        NORTH
          UP
WEST      |      EAST
LEFT    <--->    RIGHT
          |
	 DOWN
	SOUTH


NORTH    NORTH
 WEST     EAST

U-LEFT  U-RIGHT
      \/
      /\
D-LEFT  D-RIGHT

SOUTH    SOUTH
 WEST     EAST

		
Button 0: activates the adventure mode. Note that you still need to type using the keyboard and you still need to press [ESC] to exit the adventure mode.

Button 1: is inactive.


Moving around underground
The keyboard below shows the direction you should push the joystick to move in the desired direction.

              MOVE
            FORWARD	
	   
               UP
TURN           |           TURN
LEFT  LEFT   <---> RIGHT   RIGHT
               |
	     DOWN
		  
	     MOVE
	   FORWARD
	

Button 0: activates the adventure mode. Note that you still need to type using the keyboard and you still need to press [ESC] to exit the adventure mode.

Button 1: opens unlocked doors. It is the same as the command [O].
		

		
		
VI: The Adventure Mode

The adventure mode is thus named because it takes care of the actions that are usually found in adventure games; among other things, it allows you to manipulate objects (such as MOVE THE TALL STATUE) and to talk to somebody (such as TALK TO THE GUARD).
Note that the adventure mode does not include getting and dropping items, which are accommodated by the [G] and [X] commands respectively.

The adventure mode requires that you activate it before you can use it. Also, instead of pressing a letter to issue a command, you usually have to type out a short sentence. Often the sentence may contain only a verb (such as SWIM) but sometimes the verb may need a direct object (we hope you haven't forgotten your basic English grammar) such as SEARCH THE SKELETON.

The following sections describe how to activate and use the adventure mode and how to use it to perform two specialized tasks; talking to somebody and manipulating objects.


ACTIVATING AND USING THE ADVENTURE MODE

Before you can use the adventure mode, you need to activate it. The process is described below.

[1] Press [RETURN] when you are NOT in a menu, i.e. in the middle of combat, reordering a party, casting a spell, etc. When the adventure mode is active, you should see a window along the top of the screen. The window should be similar to the model below.
<name of first character> ACTIONS
(The rest of the window is called the INPUT AREA)
[2] Type in an action which you wish a character to perform. Keep in mind that the action is almost always a verb.
[3] When you are done using the adventure mode, press [ESC], or press [RETURN] when the input area is blank.

The adventure mode can understand about a hundred verbs and even more nouns. Ideally, we should list all the verbs and nouns but this obviously would ruin the fun; therefore, we have listed only the most commonly used verbs and no nouns.

ASK       ATTACK      BUILD
CLIMB     EXAMINE     FIGHT
INSERT    KILL        LOOK
MAKE      MOVE        PUSH
PUT       READ        SEARCH
SAY       SHOUT       SWIM
TALK      TURN        YELL


SELECTING THE CHARACTERS

When you enter the adventure mode, it automatically selects the first character as the one who is going to do something. If you wish someone else to perform an action, follow the steps below.

[1] Press [/]. This moves the cursor beside the name of the character.
[2] Use the <= => arrow keys to flip through the party until the desired character is beside the word "ACTIONS".
[3] Press [RETURN]. This returns the cursor back to the input area.
[4] Now type in what you wish the character to do, such as, "READ THE BOOK".
[5] To leave the adventure mode, press [ESC] or press [RETURN] when the input area is blank.

Notice that only ONE character, not the whole party, is performing the action you had inputted. Therefore, any knowledge gained is usually beneficial only to the character who learned it, not the whole party. The example below clarifies this point.

Let us suppose there is a table which the characters need to build (never mind why) but they do not have the instructions. Later, they see what they need written on a wall, and they decide to let the first character (which we will call Alpha) read it. They then return to where the table is and decide to let another character build it.

This will not work because the other character does not have the knowledge needed for the task; only Alpha does. This does not mean that the other characters could not have read the instructions earlier; it is just that they did not bother to. Had they done so, they would have the knowledge to build the table also.

NOTE: Only OK and POISONED characters can use the adventure mode.


MANIPULATING OBJECTS

The adventure mode is also useful for another task, namely manipulating items. The example below illustrates this point. The text inside the parentheses are the action(s) which the player has to perform.

[1] The party finds a flask in a room.
[2] One of the members, Rita, gets the flask (use the [G] command).
[3] She then examines it (press [RETURN], select Rita, and then type in "EXAMINE FLASK").

An often overlooked technicality is that the person wishing to manipulate the object usually has to be carrying it. This is, in the example above, Rita could not have examined the flask if she weren't carrying it. Of course, every rule has an exception. For instance, a character can push a button on a wall without having the button in the character's possession.


TALKING TO SOMEBODY

One of the best ways to explore the myriad realms is to talk to people who know it best, the inhabitants. To talk to somebody, follow the steps below.

[1] Press [RETURN] to activate the adventure mode.
[2] Type in "TALK".
[3] Sometimes the person you are talking to may say so much that you need to press a key to read the next screen of information.
[4] When you are done talking, press [ESC].



VII: COMBAT

While exploring the various realms, you will encounter many friendly entities and many not-so-friendly entities; the latter are collectively referred to as "monsters", a misleading term at best.

These monsters believe in a simple philosophy: "Kill or be killed". Therefore, when you meet any of these monsters, be prepared to fight them. Coincidentally enough, fighting monsters allows your characters to become more powerful and richer.

Combat is conducted in a number of rounds, like a boxing match. At the start of each round, you will be presented with a MONSTER SUMMARY SCREEN, which shows how many characters there are (capable of combat) and how many monsters there are. At this time, you have to decided on what the party will do.

NOTE: When combat occurs in the outside, the combatants will move to a clearing where they can settle their differences without interference from nearby trees. Once combat is over, the characters will move back to where they have been before the battle started.

NOTE: To freeze a screen during combat, press a letter key ([A] to [Z]) when a pointer is NOT present. To proceed, press any other key.


DECIDING ON WHAT THE PARTY WILL DO

At the start of each combat round, you have to decide on what the party will do, i.e. RUN, SURRENDER, etc. Keep in mind that these options apply to the entire party, not just a single character. Therefore, when you decide to HIDE, the entire party will HIDE, not just one character.

Fight Monsters - means your party sees the monsters as walking money bags and you wish to collect. After having made this selection, you need to specify the option for each individual character, which leads to the CHARACTER OPTIONS screen (explained after the party options).

Everyone Fight - Every character that can fight will fight. Note that sometimes the entire party will fight, while sometimes only the first four characters will. For more information, see the paragraphs following the character options.

Bribe With Silver - Some monsters are greedy and can be persuaded to leave the party only.

Bribe With Food - Some monsters are hungry and can be persuaded to settle for food instead of the party.

Run - In the face of overwhelming odds, this is a good idea. Be careful not to get lost!

More Options - This option presents you with another screen of options, and they are as follows:

  Character Summary - This shows a summary of all characters. The summary shows:
  [NAME]  [CLASS]  [AC]  [CURRENT HITS]
  [MAX HITS]       [FOOD]      [SILVER]
  [EQUIPPED WEAPON]  [STATUS]
  It is the same as the command [9], which is explained in Chapter V in the Character Inspection Keys section.
  
  Monster Summary - This shows the MONSTER SUMMARY screen again. Note that only OK and POISONED characters are listed in this summary.
  
  Surrender - Because the consequences of this option are detrimental, use this command only as a last resort, i.e. after you have already tried running and bribing the monsters.
  
  Change Delay - This allows you to change how long it takes to update the screen with new information. The higher the value, the more time you are given to read the text. If you don't want to wait for the text, you can press [SPACE] to   proceed at your own pace.
  
  More Options - This returns you to the first party options screen.
  
Act Friendly - This option allows the characters to smile and hope for the best. This option rarely appears, and if it does, it appears only on the first PARTY OPTIONS screen.

Hide - This means your party has seen the monsters and decided to give them some room. Like the previous option, this appears only on the first PARTY OPTIONS screen.



DECIDING ON WHAT EACH CHARACTER WILL DO

If you have selected the FIGHT MONSTERS option (from above), you will need to specify the action for each character for the present combat round. The possible options are as follows.

Fight - comes in handy when you need money and experience.

Pass - is used to pass your turn to the next character without doing anything productive.

Equip - is discussed in Chapter V under the Item Related Keys section.

Stun - is a friar ability and will appear only if a character possesses the skill. See the friar class for more details on this ability.

Weaken Poison - is present only if the character is poisoned. The character can use this to try to reduce the intensity of the venom. It is identical to the option of the same name in the [F] submenu.

Dispel Undead - is used to banish extra-dimensional monsters. Some classes are better at it than others.

Cast Spell - is the same as the [C] command.

Sneak Attack - is a thief ability and will appear only if the character possesses the skill. See the thief class for the details on this skill.

Inspect - is discussed in Chapter III under the Inspect a Character section.

Invoke - is the same as the [I] command.

Flying Kick - is a friar ability and will only for a member of this class. The friar must be already equipped with his hands and feet to use this ability. For more information, see the friar class section.

Berserker Fury - is a barbarian skill. Once invoked, the barbarian will automatically attack until the end of the present battle. For more information, see the barbarian class section.

Character Summary - is explained in the party options section above.

Monster Summary - is explained in the party options section above.

Change Delay - is explained in the party options above.

If the above three options do not fit on the screen, the option MORE (options) will appear to allow you to select more options.

Exactly which options appear depends on several things:

(a) the character's ability (for example, CAST SPELL will not appear for a character that cannot cast spells or for one who does not have any spell points left).

(b) how crowded the room is (which does not necessarily mean how large the room is); quite often, only the front four can FIGHT and, in turn, be struck physically.

(c) the character's status (unless the character is OK or POISONED, the character cannot do anything but PASS and INSPECT and EQUIP).

At the end of each combat round, the program will present the characters with another party options screen and sweep out the deceased monsters so the rest can settle their differences. Should the characters win, they will see a VICTORY screen with the EXPERIENCE GAINED from this battle and the EXPERIENCE TOTAL for each character.

Next, each character is checked to see if he has gained a LEVEL. If he has, then a congratulatory message will appear with the following rewards: an increase in the character's MAX HITS, SPELL POINTS (if he has any), new spells (if he can cast them) and maybe even new abilities.

Finally, a check is made to see if the monsters carried any worthwhile items or a chest. If items are found, simply [G]et them. If a chest is found, things will get really interesting.



OPENING CHESTS

First, select a character to approach the chest. Next, decide what the character will do. A list of options will appear with the exact ones dependent on the character's skills. The possible options are:

Open the Chest - means the character is ready to play victim to any trap that may be present.

Leave the Chest Alone - means what it says, this does not trigger any traps, but it means the party leaves without much compensation.

Examine the Chest - means the character is going to determine if the chest is trapped or not. Even though all characters can do this, some have a better chance of being correct than others.

Disarm Any Traps - means a character tries to bypass any traps that may be present and get the treasure inside. Note that the character may trigger the trap if he is not careful. Some classes are better at disarming traps than others.

Cast Trap Detection on the Chest - appears only if the character knows the spell. It allows the spell caster to see if the chest is trapped or not. For more information, see the priest spell of the same name.

Cast Disarm on the Chest - appears only if the character knows the spell. It disarms any traps that may be present. For more information, see the priest spell of the same name.

Cast Disarm and Identify - appears only if the character knows the spell; it disarms any traps and also identifies the item(s) found inside. For more information on identify, see the first level sorcerer spell, IDENTIFY AN ITEM.

Have Another Character Approach - means the character does not want to risk his neck and prefers to let somebody else fiddle with the chest.



APPRECIATING WHAT'S IN THE CHESTS

Even though the party will find many things lying around, waiting to be picked up, the most valuable treasures are the items that are found in chests. These items may be magical, or they may be normal. Admittedly, magic items are quite useful, but most of them possess three annoying features: limited charges, resemblance to normal items, and a potential for being cursed.

First, magic items can only be invoked a limited number of times before they run out of charges. When an item has run out of charges, it crumbles to dust and is gone forever.

Second, a magical item is physically indistinguishable from a non magical counterparty. This means that the characters can not tell if a sword is magical or not simply by looking at it; they need to use the DETECT MAGIC to be reasonably sure if the item is enchanted or not. A better alternative is to use the first level sorcerer spell, IDENTIFY AN ITEM, because this has a greater chance of success and it also reveals the item's name (e.g. ring of fire, dagger +2, etc). In some cases, the items name may shed light on its capabilities but some items possess characteristics which will surface only through experimentation.

Finally, some magical items are CURSED. When a character has equipped with a cursed item, he is attached to the item until it has been UNCURSED in which case it disappears, uncursing an item is but one of the many services offered at the temples. To avoid equipping with potentially cursed items, identify all items found.

Non-magical items do not possess any of the preceding characteristics. However, there are three non-magical items which have limited uses and they are as follows: the rope and hook; the torch; and the lantern. The rope and hook allows the party to climb out of a pit. The torch and lantern lights are quite useful when the party is exploring the underground. Each of these items can only be invoked a few times before they become useless. The rope weakens and the hook dulls, the lanterns become battered, and the torch burns out.



VIII: Spells Descriptions

Magic plays an important role in the lives of the characters; it is a powerful tool in the hands of those who know how to use it effectively. Obviously, the ones most proficient with magic are the sorcerer and the priest. However, with the aid of magic items, other classes can cast spells also.

The spells are divided into two different categories to correspond to the two spell caster classes, the sorcerer and the priest. Each spell class is further divided into seven increasing levels of power, with level 1 being the weakest. The following pages describe all the known spells.

Each spell entry consists of three parts: the spell name, the effective time and the spell description. The effective time is the time during which the spell can be cast; if no effective time is listed, it means the spell can be cast anytime, during or outside of combat.

The Category SPECIAL means the spell can be used only on chests, which can be found only after combat.

Incidentally, the caster does not have the option of selecting which monsters are affected when he casts an offensive spell. For example, when a sorcerer casts a fireball spell, he does not have the privilege of commanding the fireball to affect this monster here, but not that monster there. This simulates the fact that, during combat, the monsters continually move around and are not organized into nice groups which the spell caster can devastate with a single spell.


Sorcerer Spells

LEVEL 1

Absentmindedness (combat only) - This wipes out the monsters' memories for a short period of time, during which the beasts will not bother the party.

Ignite (combat only) - Use of this incantation causes a few monsters to erupt in combustion.

Unlock (noncombat only) - Not all doors are locked by normal means. This spell will unlock one particular type of magically locked door. Open Sesame is a more powerful version of this spell.

Fireball (combat only) - A small fireball flies out of the caster's hands into the midst of the monsters.

Light - creates a magical light which lasts for a modest amount of time. Note that it can be cast in combat also, for all the good it does the party.

Identify an item (noncombat only) - This spell allows the caster to try to determine the true nature of an item. For example, when you find a sword, all you know that it is a sword. However, it may actually be a +2 sword, a -7 sword, a spirit sword, or almost any other type of sword. This spell determines which sword the sword really is. Of course, this spell can identify other items besides swords.


LEVEL 2

Protection (combat only) - The caster has the option of enhancing the armor class of any one character in the party. This means that the monsters will have a greater difficulty striking that character.

Charge Detection (noncombat only) - The caster can determine how many charges are left in an item. Because of the difficulty of the spell, there is a chance of failure.

Frost Byte (combat only) - Some monsters can not be seen very clearly by the players; this spell brings them into focus and gives the party a better chance to strike them.

Paralyze (combat only) - If affected, some monsters will be rendered harmless for a short amount of time during which the party can easily dispose of them.

Neutralize Gravity (noncombat only) - When the characters find themselves in a pit, they will appreciate having this spell, it cancels the fundamental force which surrounds the characters and levitates them out of the pit. Afterwards, the party can proceed, but be careful not to fall in the pit again.


LEVEL 3

Flames (combat only) - A wall of flames is created, blanketing the monsters in a warm embrace.

Open Sesame (noncombat only) - This spell unlocks all types of magically locked doors, including ones which can be negated by unlock.

Fighter Strength (combat only) - The normally unskilled sorcerer is transformed into an awesome warrior.

Instant Lantern - The light produced lasts slightly longer than a lantern.

Make Illusion (combat only) - If affected, the monsters will see their worst fears manifested, the normal response is to run for the hills.

Invisibility (combat only) - The caster deflects all light waves from the recipient, rendering him invisible to all concerned. However, the invisible should not be confused with invincible.


LEVEL 4

Party Protection (combat only) - The armor class of every character present is enhanced.

Mass Paralysis (combat only) - If successful, this spell reduces the monsters to a collection of still models.

Spell Diversion (combat only) - After the sorcerer has completed this chant, any and all spells directed toward him will always miss.

Lightning Bolt (combat only) - The sorcerer can use this to simulate an atmospherical phenomenon or to shock the daylights out of the monsters.

Snail Spell (combat only) - The monsters affected will attack only half as often.

Insanity (combat only) - One group of spellcasters will go bananas. In more practical terms, the affected monsters can not cast any more spells.


LEVEL 5

Mass Invisibility (combat only) - This spell is similar to invisibility, except it affects the entire party.

Valhalla Power (combat only) - The sorcerer can bestow twice the number of attacks upon himself or another. Note that the effects of this spell are not cumulative.

Ion Explosion (combat only) - Electrons are transferred from one locale to another, resulting in a powerful explosion which affects only the monsters.

Unpetrificiation - With the aid of the spell, the sorcerer can return a petrified character to his normal status.

Defensive Field (combat only) - A field of energy is created around the party. The field prevents any low level spells from affecting the characters.


LEVEL 6

Valhalla Spirit (combat only) - The beneficiary is transformed into an inhuman fighting machine, a true berserker.

Blizzard (combat only) - A very accurate simulation of the North Pole environment is bestowed upon the monsters.

Disarm and Identify (special) - This spell disarms any trap that may be present in the chest and identifies any item that may be inside.

Reflection (combat only) - This spell reflects the monsters' incantations back at them, and they suffer the damage which the sorcerer would have.

Teleport - This handy spell allows the entire party to bypass the conventional modes of transportation or to flee from an encounter. The party will be asked to which level they wish to teleport. Be warned that the spell is not perfect; sometimes, it will teleport the party to the wrong level. The party should be careful not to teleport out of the boundaries of the dungeon (by teleporting deeper than the deepest level), if this happens, the party may find the situation slightly painful.


LEVEL 7

Destruction (combat) - This aptly named spell allows the caster to concentrate all energies that are present into pure destructive force directed at the monsters. If the monsters are still standing after this one, the characters may consider running for it!

Improved Teleport - This spell is an improvement over the normal teleport, it always teleports the characters to the level they want. However, the characters should still watch out for teleporting out of the dungeon boundaries!

Fight Power (combat only) - The caster undergoes an incredible transformation, metamorphosizing from a meek sorcerer to an inhuman fighting machine equipped with an incredibly powerful sword, which is forged out of air.


PRIEST SPELLS

LEVEL 1

Restore Sight - With this spell, the caster can restore any other character's sight, but not including his own.

Pray (combat only) - By casting this spell, the priest affects the fickle whims of fate to make one character harder to hit.

Heal - The caster can use this to restore some lost HITS to the beneficiary.

Peace (combat only) - This spell allows the party to have more than one chance to ACT FRIENDLY with the monsters.

Crossfire (combat only) - Rays of energy will fly out of the caster hands and catch the monsters in the crossfire.

Light - This spell creates a magical light is created, which lasts for a modest amount of time.


LEVEL 2

Tower of Protection (combat only) - A form of magical protection is created, which includes the caster and the priests that are present in the party.

Trap Detection (special) - This spell allows the caster to see if a chest is trapped or not.

Gnihton Spell - Upon completion of this chant, the party will feel invincible.

Blind (combat only) - When the monsters are blinded, their fighting ability is considerably hampered.

Instant Lantern - This spell creates a magical light, which lasts for a considerable amount of time.


LEVEL 3

Chameleon (combat only) - This spell camouflages the beneficiary into the surroundings, thus enhancing his armor class.

Restore Senses - With the aid of this spell, the priest can unstun a character.

Heal Wounds - This is simply a more powerful version of the heal spell.

Weaken Poison - The intensity of a poison is reduced considerably.

Disarm Chest (special) - This spells allows the priest to disarm a trap with no chance of the trap setting off.


LEVEL 4

Earth Attack (combat only) - At the command of the priest, the earth will animate and attack the monsters.

Magic Mace (combat only) - This spell brings into being a mace of great power which the priest can wield during the battle.

Depth Direction - This spell informs the characters how far they are from the surface.

Poison (combat only) - The priest can try to poison monsters as they have done to him in the past.

Remove Paralyzation - The priest can cure a paralyzed character with this spell.


LEVEL 5

Depoison - With this chant, the priest can cure a poisoned character.

Dispel Undead (combat only) - This incantation augments the priest's chance of dispelling extra-dimensional monsters.

Restore Life - With this spell, the priest can try to restore life to a dead character. Be warned that if the spell is unsuccessful, the dead character will deteriorate to ashes, a much worse condition which requires a more powerful spell.

Shock (combat only) - The monsters are subjects for a famous experiment, compliments of the priest.


LEVEL 6

Acid Rain (combat only) - The priest condenses the moisture present into rain surrounding the monsters; unfortunately (for the monsters), the rain has very corrosive properties.

Restore Ashes - The priest can make another attempt to cure an unfortunate character. If this spell fails, the character in ashes will be turned to dust, a worst condition still which requires (you guess it) a more powerful spell.

Restore Lost Levels - Some monsters have the dreaded ability to drain levels from characters; with this spell, the priest can try to restore a lost level. If the spell fails, the level is irrevocably lost.

Cell Rejuvenation - speeds up the healing process of the beneficiary to the point of miraculousness. In jargonless terms, the spell restores a character's hits to his maximum.


LEVEL 7

Restore Dust - This spell allows the incompetent priest to make yet another attempt to cure a character. If the spell fails, the character remains dusty.

Safety - This spell teleports the party to the nearest city with no chance of failure.

Annihilation (combat only) - The priest will reduce the monster population considerably.





IX: Tips and Common Questions

This chapter is divided into two sections. The first one discusses some time saving (and life saving) tops and emphasizes points which we have already discussed in the manual. The second one answers some common questions which players (as well as a certain manual author) may have.

TIPS

Follow these tips to save yourself time and maybe to save a few characters.

(a) The Realms of Darkness are best explored with a well-balanced party of 8-characters. The ideal party should be composed of four fighter types (fighters, barbarians, friars, etc.), two priests, one thief, and one sorcerer.

(b) Under normal circumstances, only the first four characters can be struck physically; therefore, place the fighter types in the front and the spell casters in the rear. This way, the ones with the higher hits will take the brunt of the attack, while the ones with the lower hits will be able to cast spells without worrying about being struck.

(c) Always carry more than one light source because 1) the torch that you are carrying can burn out at a most inconvenient time and 2) should the party split up into many parties, no party is left in the dark.

(d) The inhabitants know some useful information, therefore, talk to everybody you meet to learn all you can about the environment. This information will help you on the mission.

(e) When your party is wounded severely, return to the outside and rest. Your characters will survive longer if you don't use the "Just one more battle" motto.

(f) When you need to return to the inn to rest, nothing is more important than an accurate map. Beware of the many tricks and traps that are designed solely to confuse your attempt to map: illusionary walls, teleporters, one way doors, etc. For more information, consult the underground section of Chapter IV.

(g) One of the best ways to map accurately is to walk over every square. For example, when you walk into a 30' X 30' room, don't just draw that on your map and exit the room; WALK OVER EVERY SQUARE IN THE ROOM. This allows you to see messages, items, and other things which you otherwise would have missed.

(h) Some items, such as keys, are very rare. Characters who have these items should not be deleted or left in the character directory without first transferring these items to characters who are adventuring. In some cases, if these items     are lost, the adventure will become unsolvable. If this happens, the game will have to be reinitialized. See the DISK UTILITIES section of Chapter III for more details.

(i) Never drop keys behind the doors which they unlock; this may make it impossible for you to explore that area of the underground. Often the game will have to be reinitialized. See the DISK UTILITIES section of Chapter III for more details.

(j) Don't give rare items (such as keys) to any of the first four characters because they have a higher chance of perishing, and you cannot transfer items to and from dead characters. They have a higher chance of perishing because they engage in combat more often than the trailing characters. In most cases, you need to reinitialize the game (see the disk utilities in Chapter III) or, if you can afford it, have the character resurrected at a temple.

(k) A real time-saver is the ability to quickly distribute equal shares of food to every character. The steps below outline this process.
   (1) Go to the tavern and stand before the counter.
   (2) Press [P] and pool all the silver to the character at the counter.
   (3) Buy as much food as the party needs.
   (4) Press [F]. Select the EQUALIZE FOOD option.
   Now wasn't that much faster than each character buying food individually?

(l) When you need to outfit more than one character with new items (items which you need to first buy), follow the steps below.
   (1) Approach the merchant.
   (2) Pool the silver to the character at the counter.
   (3) Buy all the items which that particular character needs.
   (4) Get the next character.
   (5) Repeat steps 2 to 4 until you have bought everything needed.
   (6) Equip the desired characters by marking them.

(m) When you are asked to exchange disks, do not press [RESET] or turn off your computer because this will wipe out your characters, since they are stored in memory. In such an instance, the only thing you can do is create new characters.

(n) This may be the most important thing we have to say: NEVER turn off your computer or press [RESET] to exit the game. Use the SAVE GAME option found in the [F] menu. And - never press [RESET] or turn off your computer when the red light of your disk drive is on because there is a good chance of the disk being destroyed.






Common Questions

These seem to be the questions players (and manual authors) ask most frequently.

Q: I don't understand this. Sometimes I can use <= => to move the pointer up and down but sometimes I can't. Why?

A: Okay, keep these points in mind and you won't have any problems.

(a) The [A] and [Z] always moves the pointer up and down, respectively. The only exceptions are the combat menus.
(b) Since the Apple II+ does not have the up and down arrow keys, the [A] and [Z] are used in place of them. Therefore, whenever we mention the [A] and [Z], we also mean the up and down arrow keys on the Apple IIe and IIc.
(c) If the pointer can only move vertically (up and down), then the <= will move the pointer up and the => will move it down.
(d) If the pointer can move horizontally and vertically, then the up and down arrow keys will move the pointer up and down, while the <= => will move the pointer left and right, respectively.
(e) A good rule of thumb is as follows: if you press => and the pointer does NOT move down, press [Z], since the pointer can move horizontally and vertically.

Q: What is the difference between mark and select?

A: Select means that you can select only one item. As soon as you position the pointer and press [RETURN], you are done with whatever you're doing. An example of select is during [T]ransfer - you can select but one character who wishes to transfer something. Mark means that you can select more than one thing. You need to press [RETURN] at all the choices you want and then press [SPACE] to go on. An example of mark is when you wish to equip more than one character.

Q: I have a party I'm currently adventuring with, but I'd like to replace some characters in this party with others. How can I do this?

A: Perform the following steps.
   [1] Take the characters back to the Hall of Heroes and select the option, RETURN TO BOOT DISK.
   [2] Select the option, START THE ADVENTURE.
   [3] Mark all the characters you wish to include in this new party.
   [4] Follow the screen prompts.
   
Q: The text that is displayed is going by so fast that I can't read it. How can I fix that?

A: There are two ways to overcome this problem. The first way is to set the screen delay to a high value - this option is found in the [F] submenu; note that you can always [SPACE] to update the screen even after having changed the screen delay. The second option is to press a letter key ([A] to [Z]) when you wish to freeze the screen. Press any other key to proceed.

Q: I have a joystick plugged in, but the program does not seem to be recognizing it. What can I do about it?

A: This problem could be caused by
   (1) Somehow you accidentally pressed down one or both of the buttons on your joystick when you were booting the game. In this case, to fix the problem, press [CTRL O] (hold down the [CTRL] and press [O] at the same time). That should        switch you to joystick mode.
   (2) The joystick is not self centered. In this case, follow the instructions that were included with your joystick to engage the self centering springs.

   




Credits

Game Program
Gary Smith

Computer Graphics
Duong Nghiem

Game Design
Gary Smith & Duong Nghiem

Manual Text
Duong Nghiem & Gary smith

Product Development
Keith Brors

Product Management
Chuck Kroegel & Dick Vohlers

Playtesters
Arlon Harris, Jeff Johnson, Jim McPherson & Russ Smith

Art & Graphic Design
Louis Hsu Saekow, Kathryn Lee, David Boudreau, Ben willemsen & Meg Pelta

Typesetting
Abra Type & Kathryn Lee

Printing
A&a Printers and Lithographers

The authors wish to thank
Steve Gold & Norma Sailer for their assistance.




Graphics routines from The Graphics Magician by Polarware were written by Mark Pelczarski, Steven Meuse, David Lubar and Chris Jochumson, and are copyrighted 1984 by Polarware. All rights reserved. Polarware is a trademark of Polarware/Penguin Software, Inc. The Graphics Magician is a registered trademark of Polarware.





Class Descriptions

Fighter is a warrior - very proficient with weapons.

Sorcerer is a poor warrior but overcomes that handicap with the ability to cast devastating spells.

Priest is a spellcaster who specializes in learning healing and restorative spells.

Thief is a character who has dedicated his life to learning about traps and disarming them.

Champion is a warrior who can cast sorcerer spells.

Knight is a warrior who can cast priest spells.

Barbarian is a warrior-thief.

Friar is similar to a martial artist.





Minimum Scores Table

The minimum requirements for each class are summarized in the table below.

# is the minimum score needed for an attribute
? is an unknown score (i.e. you have to figure it out)

           WISDOM  INTEL  AGILITY  STREN  VITA
FIGHTER      ?       ?       ?      14      ?
SORCERER     ?      14       ?       ?      ?
PRIEST      14       ?       ?       ?      ?
THIEF        ?       ?      14       ?      ?
CHAMPION     ?      13      10      14      ?
KNIGHT      14       ?      10      14     10
BARBARIAN    ?       ?      14      14     14
FRIAR       13       ?      15      12     10

To read the table above, simply find the class on the left and read the scores on the right. For example, a character who wishes to be a friar would need a 13 wisdom, an unknown intelligence, a 15 agility, a 12 strength, and a 10 vitality. Remember, there is already a pregenerated score for LUCK.





Character Definition
(Personal Attributes)

Wisdom indicates much worldly experience a character possesses. This is the most important personal attribute to a priest.

Intelligence measures how educated a character is. For a sorcerer, nothing is more important than a high intelligence.

Agility is a reflection of how good a character's reflexes are. A character with a good agility usually lands the first blow in combat. This personal attribute is most important to a thief since he has to be numble to avoid the many perilous traps in his line of work.

Strength measures how strong a character is. In combat, a strong character can inflict more damage than a weak one. This is the most important attribute to fighters although it is also important to other classes, since EVERY character has to participate in physical combat sooner or later.

Vitality is equivalent to the endurance of the character. It is not related to any specific class; every character can benefit from a good vitality.

Luck is the most mysterious of the six attributes: how it helps a character, nobody (well, almost nobody) knows. Suffice to say, a character with good luck is more desirable than a character with bad luck.





General Character Abilities

While there are many skills which can be acquired by only one particular class, there are also some which can be learned by all characters. Of course, some classes specialize in certain skills; for example, the thief is best at detecting traps. Below is a list of the abilities.

Detect Magic is the ability to determine if an item is magical or not. Be warned that it is possible for a character to fool himself into thinking that a non-magical item is enchanted.

Detect Traps is the ability to detect if a chest is trapped or not; it is not unheard of for a character to think that a trapped chest is not trapped.

Disarm Traps allows the character to bypass any traps that may be present. If the character was not careful, the trap will trigger, in which case the character will wish he had left the chest alone.

Dispel Undead gives the character a chance to banish extra-dimensional monsters.

Weaken Poison allows the character to weaken the toxic substance that is present. A character can only use this ability once for each time he is poisoned.



Realms of Darkness

Command Summary


MOVEMENT KEYS

Movement Keys for the Outside and the City

        NORTH
		
          W
	  |
WEST  A <---> S  EAST
          |
	  Z
		  
	SOUTH
		
		
NORTH    NORTH
 WEST     EAST
     I  K
      \/
      /\
     N  M
SOUTH    SOUTH
 WEST     EAST



Movement Keys for the Underground

              MOVE
            FORWARD	
	   
               W
	       |
TURN LEFT  A <---> S  TURN RIGHT
               |
	       Z
		  
              MOVE
	    FORWARD

			

TURN LEFT <- -> TURN RIGHT
       
            /
       MOVE FORWARD




BASIC DEFINITIONS

Select: Position the pointer beside the desired option and press [RETURN].
Mark: Select all the desired options and press [SPACE] to proceed.
[ESC]: Can abort most menus and commands.


MISCELLANEOUS KEYS

[C] Cast a spell.
[F] Summons the additional functions menu. Among other things, this menu contains the save game feature.
[H] Shows the help screens similar to this command summary card.
[V] Displays/hides the directions along the bottom of the screen.
[Y] Closes the visible objects window at the current square.
[RETURN] Activates the adventure mode. Useful for talking to people, examining things, and gathering clues.
Press [ESC] to exit the adventure mode.



MULTIPLE-PARTIES KEYS

[B] Divide the party into smaller groups.
[Q] Pass all the remaining turns to the next party.
[R] Regroup all the parties at the current location into one party.



CHARACTER INSPECTION KEYS

[1]...[8] Inspects the character in the corresponding position.
[9] Shows a detailed summary of all the characters, regardless of which party they may belong to.
[SPACE] Shows a summary of the characters in the current party.



ITEM RELATED KEYS

[E] Equip character(s).
[G] Get the items which are listed in the VISIBLE OBJECTS window.
[I] Invoke an item. Useful for lighting torches, lanterns, etc.
[P] Purchase something; usable only at counters.
[T] Transfer thing(s) between characters.
[X] Drop something.
[:] Shows all the dropped items at the current location in one screen.



DUNGEON RELATED KEYS

[D] Descend stairs and ladders or climb down ropes.
[U] Ascend stairs and ladders or climb up ropes.
[L] Unlock a non-magically locked door, assuming the party has the right key.
[O] Open an unlocked door.



(C) 1987 Strategic Simulations, Inc. All Rights Reserved.






Back cover

Fame, fortune, and power. These are the spoils of victory awaiting those smart and strong enough to survive this incredibly challenging and multi-faceted fantasy adventure game. 

Recruit up to eight courageous companions to help you explore an immense and highly detailed magical world. Guide them as they travel across wilderness, cities, and thirty levels of underground dungeons, all teeming with powerful wizards, mighty heroes, menacing monsters, and of course, shimmering treasures. 

Your band must fulfill seven different quests, each more perilous - and potentially more rewarding - than the one before. Brawn may conquer the monstrous hoards, but only brains can solve the increasingly elaborate and difficult puzzles that block your path to ultimate glory. 

You can split up your party into as many as eight different sub-groups. You're free to switch back and forth among these sub-groups, remaining with any one of them for as long as you want! 

Although this is a complex game, considering the sheer size of the world and its labyrinthine catacombs, it is extremely easy to play. By using either the keyboard or joystick, you can effortlessly switch between a menu-driven fantasy game or text adventure game. In the latter mode, you can "talk" in simple sentences, interact with people and objects, and solve puzzles. 

For the novice adventurer, a tutorial is included on the disk that takes you step-by-step through a sample game. You'll be amazed at how fast you can start playing a real game!






Hint Book excerpt

SPECIAL MAGIC ITEMS

Below is an alphabetical listing of all the magic items which can cast spells in Realms of Darkness.

ITEM NAME         CAST SPELL           IS EQUIVALENT TO
Artic pole        Blizzard             +1 staff
Atom wand         Ion explosion        +1 staff
Blade of escape   Teleport             +1 dagger
Blue sky potion   Heal wounds          potion
Brick             Destruction          brick
Chilly scroll     Frostbite            scroll
Confusion cloak   Confuse              +1 cloak
Depoison balm     Depoison             balm
Devenom staff     Depoison             +1 staff
Earth ring        Earth attack         +1 gold ring
4-leaf clover     Remove curse         clover
Friendly dagger   Peace                +1 dagger
Illusion cloak    Make illusion        +1 cloak
Heal scroll       Heal wounds          scroll
Knife of life     Restore life         +2 knife
Looking glass     Reflection           glass
Loony sword       Insanity             +1 sword
Lost buckler      Restore lost levels  +1 buckler
Magic beans       Weaken poison        beans
Magic meter       Charge detection     meter
Magic wand        Party protection     +1 staff
Miner miracle     Depth protection     +1 staff     
Mushroom ring     Destruction          gold ring
Old dusty ring    Restore dust         +1 gold ring
Power dagger      Fighter power        +5 dagger
Rainbow potion    Heal                 potion
Rocky's ring      Earth attack         +1 ring
Safe earrings     Safety               earrings
Safety staff      Safety               +1 staff
Shocking ring     Shock                +1 ring
Spirit sword      Valhalla power       sword
Staff of flame    Flames               +1 staff
Staff of health   Cell rejuvenation    +1 staff
Staff of life     Restore life         +1 staff
Thunderbolt*      Lightning bolt       +1 staff
Unlock scroll     Unlock               scroll
Unlocking key     Unlock               key
Useful wand       Gnihton spell        +1 staff
Weather wand      Acid rain            +1 staff
White robe        Heal wounds          +3 cloak

* The thunderbolt can only be invoked outside.





ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS

1. Either feed the cheese to Ronald the Rat or search the bed to get a green key.
2. Insert the metal card (found in the goblin chief's treasure room) in the slot.
3. Turn the sword.
4. Cixvii.
5. Give both parts of Zabin to one character. Stand on the square where the "V" is and shout "Magma".
6. Wear the sunglasses.
7. Rescue the dwarf's wife and return her to the dwarf. He will give you a stairs kit. Then go read the instructions in the maze. Afterwards, return to the square marked "Future home of stairs" and have the character read the instructions carry the kit and assemble it.
8. Break up the party into two groups of four. Have one group cross the bridge at a time and re-merge into one party on the other side.
9. You bowl there (using the large black ball).
10. Either write a program (read the tome on the third level) or breakdance (read the tome on the first level).
11. Turn on the electric fan to blow it away.
12. Either drop it under the boulder, step back one square and pull the lever on the seismic device, or sell it to Mr. Chess' pawn shop.
13. Go to the square marked "Remember the robot for directions" and move right twice (through two secret doors).
14. Mow the lawn with the lawn mower to find the gold key.
15. Add the milk to the strange flask to get a bubbling flask. Go stand before the demon and shake the flask.
16. Pull the plug.
17. "Kilroy was here".
18. Play golf using the golf club.
19. Toss the bone to the dog. Note that there are two bones but only one will result in the desired action.
20. Split the party into one group of five and one group of three. Have someone in the group of five fly the magic carpet across the chasm. Split that character out of the party and have him fly back. Merge the party on the other side and fly across the chasm and merge with the rest of the party.
21. Stand under it and inflate the balloon.
22. Read the book of clouds.
23. Place the Bass shield, Bass sword, and Bass armor in the trophy case.
24. Toss the boomerang.
25. Tap the cane to the lake.
26. Triangle.
27. Purchase the magic hat from Moe's magic shop. Then go to the crack and pull the rabbit out of the hat.
28. Circle.
29. Because you're carrying the machine gun.
30. Square.
31. Combine the pyramid, sphere and cube; this will form a teleporter. Then go to the magic star in the forest and type "Spellbinder".
32. Knock on the door.
33. Have all but one character stand before the metal door. Have the remaining character go to the lever and pull it.
34. Release the cats.
35. Wear the ugly mask.
36. Have someone who is an operator press the button. The number of characters in the elevator controls how far it descends.






Realms of Darkness - Solution

Because of the text adventure component of Realms of Darkness, this guide will give hints for the puzzle solutions, instead of outright spoilers.


CITY OF GRAIL
First of all, locate the walled city of Grail, this is where the party starts the adventure. Enemies east of Grail are weak, and this area is where the party should adventure first. Enemies west of Grail are significantly stronger.



SCENARIO I
The guard says: "Greetings, travelers. Would you be interested in an adventure?" "The royal sword, Zabin, was used by our first king, but was lost during an ancient battle. Recently, we found a scroll which leads us to believe that it is currently residing in the ruins to the northeast of the city. If you brave adventurers can return Zabin to us, you will be well rewarded."


The north-east ruins - Floor 1

As the manual instructs you, experiment using the text parser on the pile of rubble, that is found in the room east from the entrance. You will get a useful hint for this floor.

Get to the corridor and head south. Examine the messy bed for a key that will allow opening any locked door in these ruins. In a nearby room to the west, get the cheese. You can feed it to a rat. You will obtain another copy of the previous key.

To the south, you can meet a fearsome ghost. Talk to it, and you will learn an important hint about the royal sword, Zabin.

To the west is a magically locked door: leave it alone. You can circumvent it by using two teleporters, thus saving one spell point. In order to activate the first teleporter, examine the altar just east of the starting room. In the "arrival" cave, step into the bubbling pool to get teleported back to the altar room.

Beyond the altar room is a locked door, that can be unlocked by the key you already found. Defeat the goblin chief in the room, then remember the hint obtained experimenting with the rubble. At the end of the corridor, a miscellaneous set of items can be found.

Use the altar teleporter now, and start exploring the north portion of this floor. Pay the old wizard, and he will reveal a secret door. Proceed north to find part of Zabin. Continue to the east, but your path will be blocked by a metal wall. Nearby, a slot in the wall will accept one of the items from the goblin chief's secret stash. When you solve this puzzle, you can proceed to the second floor.


The north-east ruins - Floor 2

You can cross the river the first time by performing an obvious action, but then you will meet a ferryman. A voice suggested that you can cross the river without spending money, but how? (Stub: more information required)

In the eastern tunnels, the Rogue Alliance is mentioned for the first time. This corresponds to the localized Japanese title of the game, therefore it might be relevant.

A sword is embedded in the wall: you have to get it without using the "get" command. Think of some similar verb or some action you would do in reality. When you solve this puzzle, you can proceed to the next floor.


The north-east ruins - Floor 3

The first room is described as very colorful, but this also corresponds to the buttons found in the three adjacent rooms. Since you are exploring downwards from above, start from the ceiling color, and end with the floor color.

Whenever you press a button, you will be teleported to a different area. When you arrive there, a door is in front of you: these are actually magic portals to the colorful "hub".

- Red area: the second part of Zabin can be found here.

- Green area: talk to the goblin for a cryptic hint, then ask the librarian about it; you will obtain further information.

- Blue area: two important things should be done here. First, employ the knowledge from the library to restore Zabin; then, explore deeper to find a map pouch, that reveals how to read the maps included with the game.

Conclusion: Once Zabin has been restored, backtrack to the city of Grail and give the royal sword to the guard. The reward is 200 Silver Coins to the sword's wielder, and 100 experience points to each party member. The guard will also prompt you to the beginning of the next scenario.



SCENARIO II

The nobleman says: "Oh, you must be the famous adventurers I have been hearing about. Perhaps you can help me with my problem. My father, in his quest for arcane knowledge, acquired this crystal ball. Shortly afterwards, it drove him mad, and I fear the same fate. Would you adventurers rid me of this cursed crystal ball?" "Using the power of the sphere, I have discovered that the curse can be lifted by travelling to the ruins which are southwest of Grail. Here is the crystal ball. Return to me upon completion of your journey for your reward. Farewell and may the stars favor you."


The south-west ruins - Floor 1

Start and go straight, and the first landmark is writing on the floor. Just beyond it is a wall of flashing lights. One item found on the floor can be used here. Beyond the wall is the key to access the room with the next floor.

Another item can be collected, and it can be used on the deepest floor of this dungeon. The key opens another door where you can read a book teaching the art of breakdance.


The south-west ruins - Floor 2

The corridor has a "teleport door" that makes it feel like an infinite loop. The trap door (grey arrow) actually brings to another part of the same floor.

The focal point of this floor is the "future location of stairs". In the south-east corner of this floor, any character can learn how to assemble stairs. Near the center, a dwarf asks help to save his kidnapped wife. He gives you a key to open a locked door. Explore that area, find the woman dwarf, and lead her back to her husband. The reward can be used to get to the next floor.

A chest holds a chain mail armor. The dwarf sell studded maces, more effective than any weapon so far.


The south-west ruins - Floor 3

Easy to miss: a false wall is near the stairs. You can find a dime in that room. Examine it and use it at the appropriate location, and you will be told how to solve this quest.

Beware of the weak bridge: [B]reak up the party, cross, [Q]uit the current half-party, cross with the others, [R]egroup into a single party.

Another book teaches programming (although it is anachronistic).

The painted "ten towers" represent a bowling alley. Hold the appropriate item, found earlier on this same floor, and type a single verb in the text parser.


The south-west ruins - Floor 4

Near the starting room, a magical statue has to be "impressed". Show it what you learned from one book in the dungeon.

There is a true role-playing choice here:

1. Easy, but somehow evil: sell the crystal ball to the pawnshop goblin.

2. Complicated, but more virtuous: destroy the crystal ball. You need the balanced boulder at the end of a corridor. A frantic gnome (that keeps running between four different spots) asks whether anyone has seen his seismic device, and there is one location where it is hard to see because of mist. A specific item can blow it away. Later, leave the "e[X]cess" crystal ball under the boulder, step away, and activate the quake-maker. Examine the device, and think of which verb can be typed in the text parser, according to the description provided in-game.

Conclusion: After you got rid of the sphere, go back to the nobleman. Your reward will be a staff of healing and permission to cross the river bridge.



SCENARIO III

The guard says: "I have recently heard that there is trouble beyond the river".

Sitting on a rock near the river bank is an old man fishing. The old man says: "If you value your lives, do not go beyond the river because Gorth rules the land with an iron hand".

Before entering the next dungeon, purchase long swords from the weapons dealer. Note that only five classes can use this weapon.


Gorth's dungeon - Floor 1

There are four pit traps in the middle of the stage. Three of them can be easily accessed, but the north-west one requires a longer detour or to pass through one of the others. Therefore, that one should obviously have some special relevance. In fact, the stairs downwards are hidden there.

Gorth is invincible: run from it!

- The south-east pit leads to a completely optional area.

- The south-west pit leads to an area where a plot item can be found.

- The north-east pit leads to a larger area. Talk with the elf for a clue. Pull the rope for a blessing. Remember the locked door for later.

- The north-west pit leads to the largest area. The stairs to the next floor are hidden; the clue on the sign is cryptic. Consider the other clue heard on the main part of the floor and the initials of this one.


Gorth's dungeon - Floor 2

Nothing relevant here. Just be warned that a "teleport door" simply turns the party backwards.


Gorth's dungeon - Floor 3 (main)

The first room on this floor has four doors. One of them, close to the stairs, leads shortly to a dead end.

Another door opens up to an underground garden, where you can obviously guess the use of an item found on the first floor. You will obtain the key, and it can also open one locked door on the north-east pit of the first floor.

The third door is the one in the alcove. In that larger area, you can find a cursed jewel and a laboratory with a plot item. You can also find the stairs down to the small fourth floor.



Gorth's dungeon - Floor 4

If you found the key on the previous floor, you can enter the storage room and get one item.



Gorth's dungeon - Floor 3 (north east)

This portion of the floor is blocked off by a demon. An item found on this same floor has the solution to pass by it, but you also need the item from the deeper floor.

After pressing a button, the door to a teleporting maze will become visible. A skeleton in there reveals the solution to navigate this area. The last few rooms converge towards the control center of Gorth. The final solution should be obvious, once you read the text.

Epilogue: The guard in Grail will thank you, and introduce to the next quest.



SCENARIO IV

Stealth the thief is sitting on a cell bed. "I was unjustly accused of having stolen the bartender's silver. There is but one way I can prove my innocence: I need the amulet of truth. Will you help me?" (Yes) "The owner of this legendary amulet is my brother, Eldritch the sorcerer. Deliver this letter, which explains my predicament, and he will pay you. Eldritch lives across the mountains and, since none of you can fly, you may consider using the subterranean passageway beyond the river. Here is the letter and an item that may aid you. Beware of the Rogue Alliance, a group of fanatics who are determined to rule the world."


Subterranean passageway - Floor 1 (north)

1. Lady in booth: the character who holds Stealth's ticket should talk to her; on the way out, anyone else should talk to her for a shortcut to the exit.

2. Floating immortal: there are writings on the walls on this floor, as well as a locked door. Find Luke (on this same floor) and pay him to unlock the said door; the password required by the floating immortal is beyond.


Subterranean passageway - Floor 2

1. Subterranean golf course: use the obvious item found lying on the floor in a room on this floor.

2. Three-headed dog: dogs like bones; use all such items you found on this floor.

3. Chasm: use the item obtained from the floating immortal; you will need more uses to carry all the party members across the chasm.

4. Hole in the ceiling: first, you need to find the check; then, bring it to the place where it is required, and exchange it; come back under the hole and do the obvious thing with the deflated item.


Subterranean passageway - Floor 1 (south)

First of all, locate the trophy case, just south of the access to this floor.

1. Shield: it lies on the floor in a room to the north.

2. Armor: find a runic book in the north-west, and experiment with it; go straight south and use it to pass; the armor is just beyond a door.

3. Sword: keep exploring the floor beyond the armor; sign a guest book when instructed to; beware of a pit trap: it sends you back to the first part of this dungeon.

Once you have all the three trophies, go back to the alcove, put them down, and the dungeon exit will be revealed.


Baddel valley

When you emerge from the subterranean passageway, travel 2 miles south, then 2 miles east (1 mile = 1 screen), and enter the city of Baddel. Find Eldritch the Sorcerer and let the character holding the letter talk to him. He will reward you with several items, and fly away.

Notes:
- From now on, you are supposed to stay on the Adventure Disk 2. If you go back to disk 1, Stealth and the guard are still waiting for you to complete this quest.

- Eldritch the sorcerer will be back in Tangled Tales, the spiritual sequel to Realms of Darkness. He will be older and more experienced, and he will hold the title of Archmage.



SCENARIO IV - PART 1

Unlike any scenario so far, no character sets you on a specific quest.


Baddel

At the blacksmith, buy armor parts only. From now on, it is better to rely on the magical weapons found during the adventures: some enemies can only be harmed by these.

A dwarf in the north warns you against attacking the Rogue Alliance straight away. He refers to a dungeon 2 miles north from Baddel, that also has a clear sign straight after the entrance. Avoid it!


The dungeons - Ladder 2 miles West of Baddel

The clue most similar to a quest goal is at the end of this small dungeon. Just read it.


The dungeons - Chain 4 miles NNE of Baddel

- The gnome gives a clue useful to find the three answers to the three riddles.

- The two buttons: one of them is a trap that crazily increases enemy encounter rate; the other button restores things to normality. Alternatively, the same result is obtained by leaving the cave.

- The man: look at him before you talk to him. You might need to split up the party.

- The riddle: think about the words of the gnome, the clue in the irregular-shaped dungeon, and the map of this dungeon.


The dungeons - Stairs 2 miles SE of Baddel

- The ledge: examine it, then use something (found in this same dungeon, of course).

- The lake: just listen to the radio for the clue.

- The riddle: think about the words of the gnome, the clue in the irregular-shaped dungeon, and the map of this dungeon.


The dungeons - Stairs 5 miles SW of Baddel

- The lever is a trap.

- The locked door: you need an item from the peddler; purchase and examine everything. One of the items can be used at the crack. Afterwards, you will be able to open the locked door.

- The riddle: think about the words of the gnome, the clue in the irregular-shaped dungeon, and the map of this dungeon.

Epilogue: Simply strictly follow the clue found in the irregular-shaped dungeon.



SCENARIO IV - PART 2

The dwarf wakes up and, after clearing his eyes, tells the party: "Know this, my friends, the Rogue Alliance is protected by charms. These charms prevent normal weapons from affecting them. If you wish to destroy the Alliance, you must find the bones of dragon".


Dragons dungeon - Floor 1

- False walls and teleporting doors: these obstacles were actually introduced in the first dungeon.

- Sherlock's Shield Shop: buy upgraded shields for everyone.

- Bronze and metal door: one door has a "welcome" mat with a key underneath; the key is useless; just act as if the door was a normal home door. The second door requires to split the party.

- Collect three items: find a magic "weapon", an item that will be necessary on the next floor, and a useless one.


Dragons dungeon - Floor 2

- The mirror and Gertrude: an item found on the upper floor should be used at one of these locations. You will obtain a new item that, by exclusion, will be necessary fo the other puzzle.

- The quickest route to the next floor is: from the upper floor stairs, go left, enter the (teleporting) door and go back. On the way back up, do the same, but also open the (teleporting) door at the end of the same left corridor.


Dragons dungeon - Floor 3

A skulking thief just outside Baddel holds important information about an elevator. You need at least one officially appointed operator (from the previous floor).


Dragons dungeon - Floors deeper than 3

You can explore each sub-floor with a progressively smaller party (it is a nice challenge), or you can spend more time moving the elevator up and down and transport everyone to each specific floor.

Despite the fact that you take an elevator downwards, the "Depth Detection" spell will always state that you are on floor 3. This was probably done to prevent abusing the two "Teleport" spells.



SCENARIO IV - PART 3

Rogue Alliance headquarters - Floor 1

The entrance to the last dungeon is three miles (screens) straight north from Baddel.

- Labyrinth: it is a tradition of Adventure games to feature a pure maze as a final dungeon. Indeed, the first part of this dungeon is a square-shaped 10x10 labyrinth, free from monsters, but featuring several pit traps. False walls allow getting past this section avoiding any pit.

- The magic ogres: after the initial square section, the party will navigate a few passages and reach a large hall. A magic teleporter-door sends them to the secluded quarters of the "magic ogres". They set the rules: one character only. There are no random encounters, just one fixed combat.

- The final area: after you encounter the rhyming skeleton, visit the the "hero's closet" before you open the other door. When you open said featureless door, the final battle against the Rogue Alliance will start.


Ending: Once you defeat all the Rogue Alliance, you can see the ending sequence.






Cracker's note:

- Deprotected (Non-standard GCR encoding, long-sync, and weak-bits)
- PAL compatible
- SuperCPU/TC64 turbo mode compatible
- REU support
- Any device number support
- 1541/71/81 w/fastloader support
- CMD FD-2000/FD-4000 support (in 1581 emulation mode)

Annotations:
- Read-caching was also added to the character utilities (independent of REU caching).
- The manual describes "Repair Disk" and the "Backup/Restore" under the Disk Utilities section of the main menu. These were removed from the crack, as they were no longer needed.
- Regarding the "light" trainer: It only adds a light source to character 1. Usually this is fine, but if you split up the party, you might think that the trainer is not working when you switch to the other group and you can't get any   light out of it.
- Do not write-protect your disks, as the game saves frequently. If the disk cannot be written to, it will stop with an orange screen.


Credits:

- Cracked by Lord Crass
- Loader is based on the Covert Bitops IFFL (with significant modifications)
- Tested by Bieno
- Map graphics by Fabs
- Documentation sourced from:
  [a] C64/128 Reference Card
  [b] Command Summary
  [c] Hint Book
  [d] Manual
  [e] Solution
  and then preserved to text and C64 format by Jazzcat



http://onslaught.c64.org