NetBSD/games/phantasia/phantasia.6

.\"	$NetBSD: phantasia.6,v 1.11 2004/01/03 13:32:23 wiz Exp $
.\"
.Dd April 1, 2001
.Dt PHANTASIA 6
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm phantasia
.Nd an interterminal fantasy game
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Nm
.Op Fl abHmpSsx
.Sh DESCRIPTION
.Nm
is a role playing game which allows players to roll up characters of
various types to fight monsters and other players.
Progression of characters is based upon gaining experience from fighting
monsters (and other players).
.Pp
Most of the game is menu driven and self-explanatory (more or less).
The screen is cursor updated, so be sure to set up the
.Ev TERM
variable in your environment.
.Pp
The options provide for a variety of functions to support the game.
They are:
.Pp
.Bl -tag -width aaa -offset indent
.It Fl a
Get a listing of all character names on file.
.It Fl b
Show scoreboard of top characters per login.
.It Fl H
Print header only.
.It Fl m
Get a monster listing.
.It Fl p
Purge old characters.
.It Fl S
Turn on wizard options, if allowed, if running as
.Dq root .
.It Fl s
Invokes
.Nm
without header information.
.It Fl x
Examine/change a particular character on file.
.El
.Pp
The characters are saved on a common file, in order to make the game
interactive between players.
The characters are given a password in order to retrieve them later.
Only characters above
.Em level
zero are saved.
Characters unused for awhile will be purged.
Characters are only placed on the scoreboard when they die.
.Sh PARTICULARS
.Ss Normal Play
A number of the player's more important statistics are almost always
displayed on the screen, with maximums (where applicable) in
parentheses.
.Pp
The character is placed randomly near the center of a Cartesian
system.
Most commands are selected with a single letter or digit.
For example, one may move by hitting 'W', 'S', 'N', or 'E',
(lower case may also be used, at no time is the game case dependent).
One may also use 'H', 'J', 'K', 'L',
for movement, similar to
.Xr vi 1 .
To move to a specific (x, y) coordinate, use the
.Ic move
('1') command.
The distance a character can move is calculated by
1 plus 1.5 per
.Em level .
Moving in a compass direction will move the player the maximum
allowed distance in that direction.
.Pp
A player may see who else is playing by using the
.Ic players
('2') option.
One may see the coordinates of those who are the same
distance or closer to the origin as he/she.
.Em Kings ,
and
.Em council of the wise
can see and can be seen by everyone.
A
.Em palantir
removes these restrictions.
.Pp
One can talk to other players with the
.Ic talk
('3') option.
In general, this is a line or so of text.
To remove a current
message, just type
.Aq return
when prompted for a message.
.Pp
The
.Ic stats
('4') option shows additional characteristics of a player.
.Pp
One may leave the game either with the
.Ic quit
('5') option.
.Pp
One may rest by default.
Resting lets one regain maximum
.Em energy level ,
and also lets one find
.Em mana
(more is found for larger levels and further distances from the origin).
.Pp
One may call a monster by hitting '9' or 'C'.
.Pp
Use 'X' to examine other players.
.Pp
One may quit or execute a sub-shell by hitting interrupt.
Quitting during battle results in death for obvious reasons.
.Pp
Several other options become available as the player progresses in
.Em level
and
.Em magic ,
or to other stations in the game
.Em ( valar ,
.Em council of the wise ,
.Em king ) .
These are described elsewhere.
In general, a control-L will force the redrawing of the screen.
.Pp
Other things which may happen are more or less self-explanatory.
.Ss Fighting Monsters
A player has several options while fighting monsters.
They are as follows:
.Bl -tag -width skirmish -offset indent
.It Ic melee
Inflicts damage on the monster, based upon
.Em strength .
Also decreases the monster's
.Em strength
some.
.It Ic skirmish
Inflicts a little less damage than
.Ic melee ,
but decreases the monster's
.Em quickness
instead.
.It Ic evade
Attempt to run away.
Success is based upon both the player's and the monster's
.Em brains
and
.Em quickness .
.It Ic spell
Several options for throwing spells (described elsewhere).
.It Ic nick
Hits the monster one plus the player's
.Em sword ,
and gives the player 10% of the monster's
.Em experience .
Decreases the monster's
.Em experience
an amount proportional to the amount granted.
This also increases the monster's quickness.
Paralyzed monsters wake up very fast when nicked.
.It Ic luckout
This is essentially a battle of wits with the monster.
Success is based upon the player's and the monster's
.Em brains .
The player gets credit for slaying the monster if he/she succeeds.
Otherwise, nothing happens, and the chance to
.Ic luckout
is lost.
.El
.Ss Character Statistics
.Bl -tag -width quickness -offset indent
.It Em strength
determines how much damage a character can inflict.
.It Em quickness
determines how many chances a character gets to make decisions while fighting.
.It Em energy level
specifies how much damage a character may endure before dying.
.It Em magic level
determines which spells a character may throw, and how effective those
spells will be.
.It Em brains
basically, the character's intelligence; used for various fighting options
and spells.
.It Em mana
used as a power source for throwing spells.
.It Em experience
gained by fighting monsters and other characters.
.It Em level
indicative of how much experience a character has accumulated; progresses
geometrically as
.Em experience
increases.
.It Em poison
sickness which degrades a character's performance (affects
.Em energy level
and
.Em strength ) .
.It Em sin
accumulated as a character does certain nasty things; used only rarely
in normal play of the game.
.It Em age
of player; roughly equivalent to number of turns.
As
.Em age
increases, many personal statistics degenerate.
.El
.Ss Character Types
Character statistics are rolled randomly from the above list, according
to character type.
The types are as follows:
.Bl -tag -width "experimento" -offset indent
.It Em magic user
strong in
.Em magic level
and
.Em brains ,
weak in other areas.
Must rely on wits and magic to survive.
.It Em fighter
good in
.Em strength
and
.Em energy level ,
fairly good in other areas.
This adds up to a well-equipped fighter.
.It Em elf
very high
.Em quickness
and above average
.Em magic level
are
.Em elves
selling points.
.It Em dwarf
very high
.Em strength
and
.Em energy level ,
but with a tendency to be rather slow and not too bright.
.It Em halfling
rather quick and smart, with high
.Em energy level ,
but poor in
.Em magic
and
.Em strength .
Born with some
.Em experience .
.It Em experimento
very mediocre in all areas.
However, the
.Em experimento
may be placed almost anywhere within the playing grid.
.El
.Pp
The possible ranges for starting statistics are summarized in
the following table.
.TS
l c c c c c c
l c c c c c c.
Type	Strength	Quick	Mana	Energy	Brains	Magic
_
Mag. User	10-15	30-35	50-100	30-45	60-85	5-9
Fighter	40-55	30-35	30-50	45-70	25-45	3-6
Elf	35-45	32-38	45-90	30-50	40-65	4-7
Dwarf	50-70	25-30	25-45	60-100	20-40	2-5
Halfling	20-25	34	25-45	55-90	40-75	1-4
Experimento	25	27	100	35	25	2
.TE
.\" .Bl -column "Experimento" "Strength" "Quick" "xxxxxx" "Energy" "Brains" "Magic"
.\" .It Sy Charactertype	Strength	Quick	Mana	Energy	Brains	Magic
.\" .It "Magic User"	10-15	30-35	50-100	30-45	60-85	5-9
.\" .It Fighter	40-55	30-35	30-50	45-70	25-45	3-6
.\" .It Elf	35-45	32-38	45-90	30-50	40-65	4-7
.\" .It Dwarf	50-70	25-30	25-45	60-100	20-40	2-5
.\" .It Halfling	20-25	34	25-45	55-90	40-75	1-4
.\" .It Experimento	25	27	100	35	25	2
.\" .El
.Pp
Not only are the starting characteristics different for the different
character types, the characteristics progress at different rates for the
different types as the character goes up in
.Em level .
.Em Experimentoes Ns '
characteristics progress randomly as one of the other types.
The progression as characters increase in
.Em level
is summarized in the following table.
.Pp
.TS
nokeep ;
l c c c c c
l n n n n n.
Type	Strength	Mana	Energy	Brains	Magic
_
Mag. User	2.0	75	20	6	2.75
Fighter	3.0	40	30	3.0	1.5
Elf	2.5	65	25	4.0	2.0
Dwarf	5	30	35	2.5	1
Halfling	2.0	30	30	4.5	1
.TE
.Pp
The character type also determines how much gold a player may
carry, how long until
.Em rings
can overcome the player, and how much
.Em poison
the player can withstand.
.Ss Spells
During the course of the game, the player may exercise his/her
magic powers.
These cases are described below.
.Bl -tag -width "all or nothing" -offset indent
.It Ic cloak
.Em magic level necessary :
20 (plus level 7)
.br
.Em mana used :
35 plus 3 per rest period
.br
Used during normal play.
Prevents monsters from finding the character,
as well as hiding the player from other players.
His/her coordinates show up as '?' in the
.Ic players
option.
Players cannot collect
.Em mana ,
find trading posts, or discover the
.Em grail
while cloaked.
Calling a monster uncloaks, as well as choosing this option while cloaked.
.It Ic teleport
.Em magic level necessary :
40 (plus level 12)
.br
.Em mana used :
30 per 75 moved
.br
Used during normal play.
Allows the player to move with much more freedom than with the
.Ic move
option, at the price of expending mana.
The maximum distance possible to move is based upon
.Em level
and
.Em magic level .
.It Ic power blast
.Em magic level necessary :
none
.br
.Em mana used :
5 times
.Em level
.br
Used during inter-terminal battle.
Damage is based upon
.Em magic level
and
.Em strength .
Hits much harder than a normal hit.
.It Ic all or nothing
.Em magic level necessary :
none
.br
.Em mana used :
1
.br
Used while combating monsters.
Has a 25% chance of working.
If it works it hits the monster just enough to kill it.
If it fails, it doesn't hit the monster, and doubles the monster's
.Em quickness
and
.Em strength .
Paralyzed monsters wake up much quicker as a result of this spell.
.It Ic magic bolt
.Em magic level necessary :
5
.br
.Em mana used :
variable
.br
Used while combating monsters.
Hits the monster based upon the amount
of
.Em mana
expended and
.Em magic level .
Guaranteed to hit at least 10 per
.Em mana .
.It Ic force field
.Em magic level necessary :
15
.br
.Em mana used :
30
.br
Used during monster combat.
Throws up a shield to protect from damage.
The shield is added to actual energy level, and is a fixed number, based
upon maximum energy.
Normally, damage occurs first to the shield, and then to the players actual
.Em energy level .
.It Ic transform
.Em magic level necessary :
25
.br
.Em mana used :
50
.br
Used during monster combat.
Transforms the monster randomly into one of the 100 monsters from
the monster file.
.It Ic increase might
.Em magic level necessary :
35
.br
.Em mana used :
75
.br
Used during combat with monsters.
Increases strength up to a maximum.
.It Ic invisibility
.Em magic level necessary :
45
.br
.Em mana used :
90
.br
Used while fighting monsters.
Makes it harder for the monster to hit, by temporarily increasing the player's
.Em quickness .
This spell may be thrown several times, but a maximum level will be reached.
.It Ic transport
.Em magic level necessary :
60
.br
.Em mana used :
125
.br
Used during monster combat.
Transports the monster away from the player.
Success is based upon player's
.Em magic
and
.Em brains ,
and the monster's
.Em experience .
If it fails the player is transported instead.
60% of the time, the monster will drop any treasure it was carrying.
.It Ic paralyze
.Em magic level necessary :
75
.br
.Em mana used :
150
.br
Used during monster combat.
.Dq Freezes
the monster by putting its
.Em quickness
slightly negative.
The monster will slowly wake up.
Success is based upon player's
.Em magic
and the monster's
.Em experience .
If it fails, nothing happens.
.It Ic specify
.Em magic level necessary :
none
.br
.Em mana used :
1000
.br
Used during monster combat only by
.Em valar
or
.Em council of the wise .
Allows the player to pick which monster to fight.
.El
.Ss Monsters
Monsters get bigger as one moves farther from the origin (0,0).
Rings of distance 125 from the origin determine the size.
A monster's
.Em experience ,
.Em energy level ,
and
.Em brains
are multiplied by the size.
.Em Strength
is increased 50% per size over one, and
.Em quickness
remains the same, regardless of size.
.Pp
Also, nastier monsters are found as one progress farther out from the origin.
Monsters also may flock.
The percent chance of that happening is designated as
.Em flock%
in the monster listing.
Monsters outside the first ring
may carry treasure, as determined by their treasure type.
Flocking monsters, and bigger monsters increase the chances of treasure.
.Pp
Certain monsters have special abilities; they are as follows:
.Bl -tag -width "Assorted Faeries"
.It Em Unicorn
can only be subdued if the player is in possession of a
.Em virgin .
.It Em Modnar
has random characteristics, including treasure type.
.It Em Mimic
will pick another name from the list of monsters in order to confuse.
.It Em Dark Lord
very nasty person.
Does not like to be hit (especially nicked),
and many spells do not work well (or at all) against him.
One can always
.Em evade
from the
.Em Dark Lord .
.It Em Leanan-Sidhe
also a very nasty person.
She will permanently sap
.Em strength
from someone.
.It Em Saruman
wanders around with
.Em Wormtongue ,
who can steal a
.Em palantir .
Also,
.Em Saruman
may turn a player's gems into gold pieces, or scramble her/his stats.
.It Em Thaumaturgist
can transport a player.
.It Em Balrog
inflicts damage by taking away
.Em experience ,
not
.Em energy .
.It Em Vortex
may take some
.Em mana .
.It Em Nazgul
may try to steal a
.Em ring
or neutralize part of one's
.Em brains .
.It Em Tiamat
may take half a player's
.Em gold
and
.Em gems
and escape.
.It Em Kobold
may get nasty and steal one gold piece and run away.
.It Em Shelob
may bite, inflicting the equivalent of one
.Em poison .
.It Em Assorted Faeries
These are killed if attacking someone carrying
.Em holy water .
These are
.Em Cluricaun , Fir Darrig , Fachan ,
.Em Ghille Dhu , Bogle , Killmoulis ,
and
.Em Bwca .
.It Em Lamprey
may bite, inflicting 1/2 of a
.Em poison .
.It Em Shrieker
will call one of its (much bigger) buddies if picked upon.
.It Em Bonnacon
will become bored with battle, fart, and run off.
.It Em Smeagol
will try to steal a
.Em ring
from a player, if given the chance.
.It Em Succubus
may inflict damage through a
.Ic force field .
This subtracts from
.Em energy level
instead of any shield the player may have thrown up.
This is a very easy way to die.
.It Em Cerberus
loves metal and will steal all the metal treasures from a player if able.
.It Em Ungoliant
can bite and poison.
This inflicts five
.Em poisons ,
and also takes one from the player's
.Em quickness .
.It Em Jabberwock
may tire of battle, and leave after calling one of his friends
.Em ( Jubjub Bird
or
.Em Bandersnatch ) .
.It Em Morgoth
actually
.Em Modnar ,
but reserved for
.Em council of the wise , valar ,
and
.Em ex-valar .
Fights with
.Em Morgoth
end when either he or the player dies.
His characteristics are calculated based upon the player's.
The player is given the chance to ally with him.
No magic, except
.Ic force field
works when battling
.Em Morgoth .
.It Em Troll
may regenerate its
.Em energy
and
.Em strength
while in battle.
.It Em Wraith
may make a player blind.
.El
.Ss Treasures
The various treasure types are as follows:
.Bl -tag -width "type twelve/thirteen"
.It Type zero
none
.It Type one
.Em power booster
\- adds mana.
.br
.Em druid
\- adds experience.
.br
.Em holy orb
\- subtracts 0.25 sin.
.TP 1.5i
.It Type two
.Em amulet
\- protects from cursed treasure.
.br
.Em holy water
\- kills
.Em assorted faeries .
.br
.Em hermit
\- reduces sin by 25% and adds some mana.
.It Type three
.Em shield
\- adds to maximum
.Em energy level .
.br
.Em virgin
\- used to subdue a
.Em unicorn ,
or to give much
.Em experience
(and some
.Em sin ) .
.br
.Em athelas
\- subtracts one
.Em poison .
.It Type four (scrolls)
.Em shield
\- throws a bigger than normal
.Ic force field .
.br
.Em invisible
\- temporarily puts the finder's
.Em quickness
to one million.
.br
.Em ten fold strength
\- multiplies finder's strength by ten.
.br
.Em pick monster
\- allows finder to pick next monster to battle.
.br
.Em general knowledge
\- adds to finder's
.Em brains
and
.Em magic level .
.Pp
All the scrolls except
.Em general knowledge
automatically call a monster.
These preserve any spells that were already in effect, but are only in
effect while in battle.
.It Type five
.Em dagger
\- adds to
.Em strength .
.br
.Em armour
\- same as a
.Em shield ,
but bigger.
.br
.Em tablet
\- adds
.Em brains .
.It Type six
.Em priest
\- rests to maximum; adds
.Em mana , brains ;
and halves
.Em sin .
.br
.Em Robin Hood
\- increases
.Em shield
and adds permanently to
.Em strength .
.br
.Em axe
\- like
.Em dagger ,
but bigger.
.It Type seven
.Em charm
\- protects from cursed treasure (used before
.Em amulet ) ;
used in conjunction with
.Em blessing
to battle
.Em Dark Lord .
.br
.Em Merlyn
\- adds
.Em brains , magic ,
and
.Em mana .
.br
.Em war hammer
\- like an
.Em axe ,
but bigger.
.It Type eight
.Em healing potion
\- sets
.Em poison
to -2, or subtracts two from
.Em poison ,
whichever is better.
.br
.Em transporter
\- allows finder to move anywhere.
.br
.Em sword
\- like a
.Em war hammer ,
but bigger.
.It Type nine
.Em golden crown
\- allows the player to become
.Em king ,
by going to (0,0).
.br
.Em blessing
\- cuts
.Em sin
to 1/3, adds
.Em mana ,
rests to maximum, kills
.Em Dark Lord
with a
.Em charm ,
and gives bearer first hit on all monsters.
.br
.Em quicksilver
\- adds to
.Em quickness .
.It Type ten
.Em elven boots
\- adds permanently to
.Em quickness .
.It Type eleven
.Em palantir
\- allows one to see all the other players; used by
.Em council of the wise
to seek the
.Em grail .
.It Type twelve/thirteen
.Em ring
\- allows one to hit much harder in battle, etc.
.El
.Pp
Any treasure type 10-13 monsters may instead carry a type nine treasure.
.Pp
A monster may also be carrying
.Em gold
or
.Em gems .
These are used at
.Em trading posts
to buy things.
A
.Em gem
is worth 1000 gold pieces.
Too much
.Em gold
will slow a player down.
One may carry 1000 plus 200 per
.Em level
of
.Em gold .
A
.Em gem
weighs one half a gold piece.
Monsters of treasure type 7 or higher may carry
.Em gems .
.Pp
The chance of a cursed treasure is based upon treasure type.
The more valuable treasures have a greater chance of being cursed.
A cursed treasure knocks
.Em energy level
very low, and adds 0.25
.Em poison .
.Ss Rings
.Em Rings
are only carried by
.Em nazguls
and
.Em Dark Lords .
They come in four different flavors.
All
.Em rings
rest the player to maximum and cause him/her to hit much harder
in battle with monsters (assuming one has chosen to use the
.Em ring
for battle.)
.Pp
Two types of
.Em rings
are cursed and come either from
.Em nazguls
or
.Em Dark Lord .
After a few times of using these types, the player falls
under the control of the
.Em ring ,
and strange, random things will occur.
Eventually, the player dies, and gives his/her name to a monster
on the file.
Dying before the
.Em ring
is used up also renames the monster.
.Pp
The two remaining types of
.Em rings
are much more benign.
The one from a
.Em nazgul
is good for a limited number of battle rounds, and will save
the player from death if it was being used when he/she died.
The one from
.Em Dark Lord
is the same, except that it never is used up.
.Em rings
disappear after saving someone from death.
In general, cursed
.Em rings
occur much more often than normal ones.
It is usually not a good idea to pick one up.
The only way to get rid of a
.Em ring
is to have a monster steal it.
.Ss King
A player may become
.Em king
by finding a
.Em crown
and going to (0,0).
Players must have a
.Em level
in the range of 10 to 1000 to be able to find a
.Em crown .
When a player with one or more
.Em crowns
reaches
.Em level
1000, the
.Em crowns
are converted to
.Em gold .
.Pp
Once a player is king, he/she may do certain things while in
the Lord's Chamber (0,0).
These are exercised with the
.Ic decree
('0') option.
.Bl -tag -width "collect taxes"
.It Ic transport
This is done to another player.
It randomly moves the affected player about.
A
.Em charm
protects from transports.
.It Ic curse
This is done to another player.
It is analogous to cursed treasure, but worse.
It inflicts two
.Em poison ,
knocks
.Em energy level
very low, and degrades the maximum energy.
It also removes a
.Em cloak .
A
.Em blessing
protects from king's curses.
.It Ic energy void
The king may put a number of these scattered about
his/her kingdom as he/she pleases.
If a player hits one, he/she loses
.Em mana , energy ,
and
.Em gold .
The energy void disappears after being hit.
.It Ic bestow
This is also done to another player.
The king may wish to reward one or more loyal subjects by sharing his/her
riches
.Em ( gold ) .
Or it is a convenient way to dispose of some unwanted deadweight.
.It Ic collect taxes
Everyone pays 7% tax on all
.Em gold
and
.Em gems
acquired, regardless of the existence of a
.Em king .
The king collects the accrued taxes with this option.
.El
.Pp
The
.Em king
may also
.Ic teleport
anywhere for free by using the origin as a starting place.
.Ss Council of the Wise, Valar
A player automatically becomes a member of the
.Em council of the wise
upon reaching level 3000.
Members of the council cannot have
.Em rings .
Members of the council have a few extra options which they can exercise.
These are exercised with the
.Ic intervene
('8') option.
All
.Ic intervene
options cost 1000 mana.
One
.Ic intervene
option is to
.Ic heal
another player.
This is just a quick way for that player to be rested
to maximum and lose a little
.Em poison .
The main purpose in life for members of the council is to seek the
.Em Holy Grail .
This is done with a
.Em palantir
under the
.Ic seek grail
option.
The distance cited by the seek is accurate within 10%, in order
not to make it too easy to find the grail.
A player must have infinitesimally small
.Em sin ,
or else it's all over upon finding the grail.
In order to help members of the council on their quest, they
may
.Ic teleport
with greater ease.
.Pp
Upon finding the grail, the player advances to position of
.Em valar .
He/she may then exercise more and niftier options under
.Ic intervention .
These include all of the council members' options plus the
ability to move other players about, bless them, and throw monsters at
them.
A
.Em valar Ns 's
blessing has the same effect as the treasure
.Em blessing ,
except that the affected player does not get his/her
.Em blessing
flag set.
All
.Ic intervention
options which affect other players age the player who uses them.
.Em Valars
are essentially immortal, but are actually given five lives.
If these are used up, the player is left to die, and becomes an
.Em ex-valar .
A
.Em valar
cannot
.Ic move , teleport ,
or call monsters.
(An exception to this is if the
.Em valar
finds a
.Em transporter . )
This is to allow him/her to dispose of excess
.Em gold .
Any monsters which a
.Em valar
encounters are based upon his/her size.
Only one valar may exist at a time.
The current valar is replaced when another player finds the grail.
The valar is then bumped back to the council of the wise.
.Ss Wizard
The
.Em wizard
is usually the owner of the game, and the one who maintains
the associated files.
The
.Em wizard
is granted special powers within the game, if it is invoked
with the
.Fl S
option.
Otherwise, the
.Em wizard
plays no different from other players.
The
.Em wizard
abilities are outlined below.
.Bl -tag -width "super character type"
.It Ic change players
When examining a player, (game invoked with
.Fl x ,
or use 'X' from within game), the
.Em wizard
may also change the player.
.It Ic intervention
The
.Em wizard
may do all the
.Ic intervention
options.
One extra option,
.Ic vaporize ,
is added to kill any offensive players.
.It Ic super character type
An extra character type is added.
This character starts with the
maximum possible in all statistics, selected from the other character types.
A
.Em super
character's statistics also progress at the maximum possible rate, selected
from the other character types.
.El
.Ss Special Places
Certain regions of the playing grid have different names.
In general, this is only to give the player some idea of
his/her present location.
Some special places do exist.
.Bl -tag -width "Trading Posts"
.It Em Trading Posts
These are located at |x| == |y| == n*n*100 for n = 1, 2, ..., 1000.
Trading posts farther out have more things for sale.
Be careful about cheating the merchants there, as they have short tempers.
Merchants are dishonest about 5% of the time.
.It Em Lord's Chamber
This is located at (0,0).
Only players with
.Em crowns
may enter.
.It Em Point of \&No Return
This is located beyond 1.2e+6 in any direction.
The only way to return from here is a
.Em transporter
or to have a
.Em valar
relocate the player.
.It Em Dead Marshes
This is a band located fairly distant from the origin.
The first fourteen monsters (water monsters) can normally only be found here.
.It Em Valhala
This place is where the
.Em valar
resides.
It is associated with no particular coordinate on the playing grid.
.El
.Ss Miscellaneous
Once a player reaches
.Em level
5, the game will start to time out waiting for input.
This is to try to keep the game a bit faster paced.
.Pp
A
.Em guru
will never be disgusted with your
.Em sins
if they are less than one.
.Pp
A
.Em medic
wants half of a player's
.Em gold
to be happy.
Offering more than one has, or a negative amount will anger the
.Em medic ,
who will make the player worse (add one
.Em poison ) .
.Pp
The
.Em Holy Grail
does little for those who are not ready to behold it.
Whenever anyone finds it, it moves.
It is always located within 1e+6 in any compass direction of the origin.
.Pp
There is a maximum amount of
.Em mana
and
.Em charms
a player may posses, based upon
.Em level .
.Em Quicksilver
is always limited to to a maximum of 99.
.Pp
.Em Books
bought at a
.Em trading post
increase
.Em brains ,
based upon the number bought.
It is unwise, however to buy more than 1/10 of one's
.Em level
in books at a time.
.Pp
Players over level 10000 are automatically retired.
.Pp
A
.Em blindness
goes away in random time.
.Pp
Players with
.Em crowns
are identified with a '*' before their character type.
.Ss Inter-terminal Battle
When two player's coordinates correspond, they may engage in battle.
In general, the player with the highest
.Em quickness
gets the first hit.
If the two players are severely mismatched, the stronger player
is drastically handicapped for the battle.
In order to protect from being stuck in an infinite loop,
the player waiting for response may time out.
Options for battle are:
.Bl -tag -width "power blast"
.It Ic fight
Inflicts damage upon other person.
.It Ic run away
Escape from battle.
Has a 75% chance of working.
.It Ic power blast
Battle spell.
.It Ic luckout
One-time chance to try to win against the foe.
Has a 10% chance of working.
.El
.Pp
Sometimes waits for the other player may be excessive, because
he/she may be battling a monster.
Upon slaying a player in battle the winner gets the other's
.Em experience
and treasures.
.Em Rings
do not work for inter-terminal battle.
.Sh AUTHORS
.An Edward Estes ,
AT\*[Am]T Information Systems, Skokie, IL
.Sh BUGS
All screen formats assume at least 24 lines by at least 80 columns.
No provisions are made for when any of the data items get too big
for the allotted space on the screen.