Bards tale manual hint book

Our spirits are healed by the feel of sunlight on our faces. Rumor of our quest has spread through Skara Brae like a fire through the dry grasses of summer. Many seek to join our party, yet our number has not greatly increased.

We separate the wheat from the chaff, and send packing those who lust after gold and not freedom, and thieves and assassins who would add to their purses by pillaging a murdered comrade. I have been advised to allow at least one rogue to accompany us -- he will be of use in disarming traps and detecting danger. I give my reluctant consent. One of our number will keep watch on him at all times.

Our next task will be the invasion of Harkyn's castle in northwest Skara Brae. At last we have breached the defenses and entered the castle from the courtyard on the east wall. The guardians were fierce fighters, but we proved stronger. A jabberwock! Such a magnificent beast -- surely the last of its kind. We skirt its lair with caution, and move on. I notice from the maps provided me by Ghaklah that all the underground complexes in Skara Brae are roughly of a size.

Was Skara Brae perchance built over the ruins of an ancient single complex, the like of which does not now exist, save in the minds of men? We found a sword wrought of a crystal substance as near to perfection as we are ever likely to see. The rogue's nose twitched when we discovered it. I trust not this man. The sword is entrusted to the care of the paladin Isli. She will guard it well. We have done battle with golems, and discovered a throne. No doubt 'tis Harkyn's. We were asked if any of our party wished to sit on this throne, and before I could stop him Corfin, impetuous as bards are wont to be, jumped onto the dais and planted his arse upon the seat.

We waited, horrified, for him to be transmogrified into a wart-faced, slimy swamp creature. Instead, a secret door opened to reveal a passageway. Why do the gods indulge in these curious humours, and reward and punish at such chaotic random? We have just done battle with six men garbed in green robes. We will don their robes, as it is apparent that they are of some considerable value. We waited not long to discover that value. Many guards have passed us by without notice, for they are garbed in green robes identical to those we have donned.

The smirk upon the face of our ignoble bard is too much for mortal man to bear! We find here a wasteful illusion. The stairs at the norther section of the west wall appear to lead down, but actually they ascend. We will follow them, pausing only to remove our cumbersome robes. We encountered another bodiless floating mouth uttering an incomplete poem. When the magician shouted out the word that completed the rhyme, an Ybarrashield appeared from out of the ether, a powerful protective gift indeed.

We will make haste while the gods yet smile upon us. An old man accosted us with this riddle; "Once man alive, now living death, it drinketh blood, and stealeth breath. Need I relate that we continue, very much on our guard? We were teleported to a room where we found a flat square of silver , an odd device of which we will take possession.

A portal in the northwest section will, I am told by my magician, enable us to ascend to the uppermost rooms. We press on. We encountered a doddering old fool who barred our path until we told him the name of the tavern on Archer Street. The answer, Skull Tavern, was found to be disquieting to some members of our party. Ah, pride before a fall. Once again we are challenged to the utmost of our abilities, and emerge not unscathed. The berserkers! They attacked in an endless flowing stream, to slay them akin to holding back the tide with a bottomless bucket.

We found out too late! At last we stumbled, blind with weariness, over hundreds of corpses, four of our slain warriors lying hidden beneath stinking mounds of Baron Harkyn's dead legions. We can spare no time to hunt for them -- may the gods forgive us. I write from within the gates of the wizard Kylearan's Tower , where we were teleported after the battle. AS we approached an old statue in the uppermost level of Harkyn's domain, the eye shaped bauble we had collected floated from Soriac's belt pouch, up, up We fought, desperate for our lives, and finally bested the foul thing.

The archmage tells us that this dreadful foe was Tarjan, the mad god. It is little wonder that the battle cost us dear. We are now but seven in number. And now the mad Tarjan, our fallen comrades, our surroundings -- gone. We will enter the tower and demand an explanation for our presence here. Soriac told us of a ritual that must be followed to enter the tower.

We took one step west, one step south We received two messages here: Made of earth, without soul, as living statue, he is whole," and "As a guardian he must walk, the first part of his name means rock. Remembering the message from the sewers, we approached the magic mouth as Ghaklah is now calling them. It challenged us to answer the riddle: "Name the one of cold, foretold, twofold," and, because we were forewarned, we did so with ease.

We were teleported to a vast dark area where we stumbled upon a second magic mouth. I shuddered and answered, remembering that eerie, enchanted street of Skara Brae. But although our answer was correct, it appeared to have no immediate effect.

It was not 'til later that we found a door in another part of the maze, a door that had hitherto been invisible. We found a triangle of silver , akin to the silver square discovered in Harkyn's castle.

I have given them to the rogue to carry. Perchance he will return our trust with his loyalty. And then perchance he will not -- the silver is of little value, and I am sure he knows this best of any in our company. An inscription warns us to beware of the sting at the end of the serpent's tail. Ghaklah tells us this refers to a room at the end of a snake-like maze of corridors.

We will avoid this area. We have done battle with and slain a golem of crystal. The melee went ill for us until the paladin Isli stepped into the fray, wielding the crystal sword.

A few blows and the golem splintered into tinkling shards. We stumbled upon three rooms, all identical, all with doors leading in every direction. One of these led into a small hallway. Exploring this, we were teleported, to confront the wizard Kylearan.

We readied for battle, but his intentions were peaceful. He approves of our quest, and offered us aid in the form of a key wrought of shining onyx. A noble gift indeed, none other than the key to Mangar's front door! We take our leave of the friendly wizard. And now the final test. Tips from the Underground: Combat 1.

Usually the highest dexterity character attacks first. For particularly nasty monsters like blue dragons attack with your highest dexterity character first.

Your less dexterous characters may not survive long enough to get in a first strike. Use your spells and Bard songs to lower the armor class of your entire party. The lower the better. If you are attacked by more than 2 groups of monsters, concentrate on Magic Users first. If you cannot kill off all the magic-using monsters, you may want to cast anti-magic spells to protect against illusions, possessions and other spells.

You can minimize damage by killing off all but one monster in either of the first two attacking groups. As a general rule, attack groups with only one monster last, unless it is a deadly monster. Many of the undead monsters are capable of draining experience levels, turning characters old and gray or even turning characters to stone.

Treat the undead with respect. In other words, kill them quickly. Be prepared to die a lot with level 1 and 2 characters. Especially at night. Especially when you don't have any weapons and are just walking to Garth's Shoppe. It might even be a good idea to stay close to a Temple at night, so you can quickly heal any wounds. Fill the special slot quickly.

Conjure or summon a monster or create an illusion, if necessary. The special member will take a lot of heat off your fighters. Monsters tend to attack special members first. Monsters are smart. They usually attack your most vulnerable characters first, unless one of your members represents a significant threat. It can make the difference between success and failure in The Bard's Tale. It is not always necessary or wise to rely on magic, though, because magic is by no means foolproof.

There are some places where magic never functions, and some monsters who are highly resistant to spells. Sometimes you just have to wade in with fists flying and get dirty. The best way to tell that your party has wandered into an anti-magic zone is that all residual spells except light spells are cancelled. Residual spells are magic spells that keep working for more than just an instant. Light spells, trap detection, secret door detection, and magical armor are some examples.

Most residual spells cause a graphic symbol to appear in the central blank strip on the screen, to keep the player aware that the duration hasn't yet expired. All spells have a point cost. In other words, all spells cost the mage casting them a bit of his internal energy.

This energy is returned automatically in direct sunlight, and may be regenerated at Roscoe's Energy Emporium or in special regeneration zones you have to discover. There are magical items hidden in the dungeons and carried by the monsters of The Bard's Tale. Magical weapons do extra damage. Magical armor gives extra protection. Other magical items radiate special energies. There are even magic keys and talismans necessary to get into certain important parts of the game. The most powerful magic items are secreted in the most challenging dungeons and are guarded by ferocious monsters.

When you win one, you should be very proud and very happy. They can be the key to success against the wickedest opponents. To cast a spell, you type in 4-letter codes which are a rough abbreviation of the spell name.

The entire list of spells, codes and spell points required begins on page All Magic Users, even Level 1 novices, start the game with knowledge of all level 1 spells in their magical art. Rather than learning one spell at a time, Magic Users always learn whole groups "spell levels" of spells at once.

It's the closest thing to mass production in Skara Brae. Here is a description of the four magical arts. Conjurer spells are potent, but not unlimited in effect, since the exercise of creation takes a large amount of energy to produce even a moderate effect. A conjurer can also produce effects that distort non-solid things to produce new effects, like the distortion of space and time required to teleport human bodies to a new location. MAGIC Magic meaning the art practiced by a magician deals with bestowing magical effects on common objects.

The items do not become magical, but radiate fields of power for the duration of a spell which is usually the length of combat. The gist of Magic is that it can increase an item's capability, give it a totally new capability, or change its form to something totally different. Some examples: making a sword do greater damage, making dungeon walls glow with a magical light, or causing a wall to totally vanish for 1 move. An illusion is an image envisioned by the spell caster, which he then lays over the retinas of all who watch, augmenting this with appropriate stimulation of nerve endings to fool the other four senses.

The human mind, believing an illusionary creation is real, can be hurt or even killed by it, unless it is somehow disbelieved. A sorcerer, with the aid of his art, can also perceive certain special things hidden from view. The wizard has fewer spells than the other three classes, but his are by far the most potent. The creatures he can summon come from another plane of existence, called the Negative plane. They join the special slot in the party, and will fight until defeated.

The wizard has some ability to trap and control normal monsters, as well. Mages who have learned at least 3 spell levels in an art may elect to change to another mage class at any time.

Thus, a level 5 conjurer could choose to become a level 1 magician. His experience points would be reset to 0, but he would retain his previous attributes, hit points, spell points, and all knowledge of his conjurer spells. He would be unable to learn any higher conjurer spells, however; once a mage leaves a magic art, he cannot return to it. A mage can become a conjurer, magician, or sorcerer as a second class.

A mage can become a conjurer, magician, sorcerer, or wizard as a third class. A mage who has knowledge of all 7 levels of spells in all 4 classes is called an Archmage, and is one of the most powerful personages in the world of The Bard's Tale. ARC FIRE A fan of blue flames will shoot from the caster's fingers, doing hits of damage to a select opponent, times caster's level. It will also disarm traps on chests. CODE Pt. Also aids in disbelieving illusions and in turning back magical fire, like a dragon's breath.

But it doesn't always work. Also cures poisoning and insanity. Unable to attack, it will serve to draw enemy attacks to himself. This and other illusions are only effective as long as an enemy "believes" them.

Depending on power and location, the monster may see through the illusion, and cause it to vanish. CURSE Causes a group of your enemies to fear you greatly, lessening their morale and their ability to hit and damage you.

It will also point out any dopplegangers in the party. Useful for possessions. The power to summon is the power to destroy. Combat Short Medium Long Indef. Don't be concerned about losing a Level 1 character. Just make another one. But when your characters reach the 3rd level, back them up regularly using your favorite disk copy program. If your favorite character gets killed, there are several things you can do. You can resurrect him by magic or in a temple by spending spell points or gold.

You can turn off the computer and reboot, and your entire party will be restored, but without the experience, gold and magic items they have won since the last time you save game. Or you can load the character from your back-up disk onto the main disk, after first deleting the dead character from your main disk.

NOTE: you can only restore a character by rebooting if you have previously saved your party by exiting the game when in the Adventurer's Guild. In "rolling" a character's attribute numbers, 17s and 18s can often make a big difference, as follows: Intelligence gives Magic Users bonus spell points; Dexterity gives fighters but not Bards bonus armor protection and first strike capability; Strength allows fighters to do extra damage in combat; Luck allows Rogues to survive even if they accidentally set off a trap; and Constitution gives all characters bonus hit points.

Most character races have at least one attribute they are particularly high in. Pay close attention to starting attributes when designing your party. Develop a Sorceror fast. They are very useful in dungeons.

Wizards are extremely important in advanced levels; they can summon demons, extremely powerful specials. Develop an Archmage, too. You'll need one; you'll want more. Your pre-built party, excellent for beginning levels, may not be the best group for advanced levels.

You may want to experiment with a hunter, because his "critical hit" capability can vanquish superior monsters, and the monk, who is perhaps the best fighter of all after he reaches the 6th level. Warriors and other fighters often play less of a role against higher level, magic-using monsters. But without the protection of their armor and strong arms, your Magic Users would not survive long enough to learn the higher level magic spells.

Beware the Doppelganger monster. It enters your party and looks just like one of your members. Magic 1. Don't venture too far into any dungeon without your maximum spell points. A good rule is to leave a dungeon when you are down to one quarter of your maximum spell points. Manage your spell points carefully. Don't waste a spell if you can accomplish the same thing without magic. Torches, for example, often work as well as magic light spells. On the other hand, don't be shy about using magic in combat.

When in doubt, blast 'em with magic. Locate traps, second sight and sorceror sight spells all identify traps within 30 feet. Trapzap spell disarms all traps within 30 feet. Cast a long lasting Bard spell right before entering a tavern. It's like getting a free spell. MTHR is an abbreviation for Mithril, an elven metal with magical qualities. ADMT is an abbreviation for Adamant, another magical metal. DMND is an abbreviation for Diamond, one of the hardest substances known to man or monster.

Tips from the Underground: Items 1. Generally, the more expensive the item is, the better it works. Almost like real life. There are no cursed or bad items, unlike real life. Don't be stingy. Equip your fighters with the best armor, weapon, shield, helmet and gauntlets money can buy. After all, he can't take it with him.

Experiment with all items you find to determine their capabilities. Magical items are key to success. Ruinous View Profile View Posts. Store page and on the right hand side if you scroll down Azsh. It gives me the right half of a manual. Maybe the other half is DLC? Technotikker View Profile View Posts. The player manual has a secret message on page 20! Originally posted by Technotica :.

The proofreader was a bard and got knock out drunk. He'll be back next round. I'm sure there's going to be something in there because currently I can't count "classes" in the skill trees like the store page describes. So they have to be hidden. Originally posted by Falkon Swiftblade :. Seedy View Profile View Posts.