User manual GAMES PC THE BARD S TALE III

[. . . ] The Bard's Tale III The Bard's TM Tale III The Bard's Tale IIITM Contents Introduction Objectives Getting Started The Command Summary Card Pre-Built Parties Creating Characters Viewing Your Characters Onscreen Statistics Special Characters Moving Up In Levels Places Combat Systems Items And Equipment Magic Users Conjurer Spells Magician Spells Sorcerer Spells Wizard Spells Archmage Spells Chronomancer Spells Geomancer Spells Bard Songs 95 94 97 97 98 98 102 104 104 105 106 107 109 110 112 114 116 118 120 121 122 124 The Bard's Tale III The Bard's Tale III The Bard's Tale IIITM INTRODUCTION I lay dying. . . I pray my body does not fail me before I am able to complete this most important missive. I pray as well that, somehow, the heroes who once before saved Skara Brae will find this accounting and act upon it. I leave this record so those who come after will know what horrors that the Mad God Tarjan has perpetrated, and so that they will not be lulled into believing that Skara Brae was his sole target. [. . . ] While you're here, ask the barkeep how things are going. . . · Avoid Potential traps. It will disarm any trap, including the Gas Cloud trap, famous for its toxic fumes. · Make sure all members of your party are fully healed before entering a new dungeon. You'll need all your strength for the next onslaught. The Bard's Tale III COMBAT SYSTEM or not fighting is your fare, prepare to partake in much of it. It offers the primary means by which you can build experience points. And without experience points, you won't advance far. Without advancement, you are little more than a hapless bunch, doomed to wander the world with a purpose forever unfulfilled. You can't physically attack enemies more than 10 feet (10') away. If you feel compelled to fight, you'll have to advance. However, you can't advance on them if there is another group already within the 10' melee range. Whoever is closest in the 10' melee range are the lucky monsters who will get to do battle with your party first. In each round, you need to enter a battle action for each party member. 107 Mapping So your exploring efforts aren't wasted, or unnecessarily repeated, you should map your moves. Each "step" you take equals a graph box (which is ten feet from a character's point of view). To aid your mapping, Thief of Fate has an automap feature (refer to the Command Summary Card for the command). If you're outdoors, you'll see a description of where you are and the general time of day. . If you're in a dungeon, you'll see a sketch of the corridors. Explore and map every square in every maze. There are "Magic Mouths" that will give you hints. Mazes also contain one-of-a-kind magic items and spell regeneration zones. In addition to keeping you alive, carefully drawn maps will show the logical places for secret doors and rooms. 106 Whether The Bard's Tale IIITM Attack Foes: This sends you headlong into battle with weapons drawn. This is only available to the first four characters on the roster. Attacking a foe doesn't equip a character with a weapon; that must be done before combat. [. . . ] If you're in combat, it also does the following: 1) Lowers your armor class, saving throw, to hit, and damage by 20 points; 2) Increases your attack by eight points; and 3) Casts Mangar's Mallet. NUKE, 150, All Foes, N/A Gotterdamurung - The finest in offensive obliteration, this spell annihilates the opponent for 2000 damage points. The Bard's Tale III The Bard's Tale III 4. Bringaround Ballad: In non-combat situations, this rejuvenates the Bard's hit points. During combat, this song will affect everyone in your party, including the Bard. [. . . ]