REALMZ FAQ by Ivans Chou
Updated 11/13/97
Latest Version/Patch Level: 4.3.2
The author of Realmz is Tim P. Phillips
The game is brought to you by those nice people at Fantasoft
This page has been accessed
times since April 18, 1996
The author of Realmz is Tim P. Phillips
The game is brought to you by those nice people at Fantasoft
This page has been accessed
times since April 18, 1996
----
| 0.0 | You need to read this only if you are the kind
of person that will sue. Please do read this, because I cannot afford to
be sued. |
| 0.1 | I am not the author of Realmz. I am not the author of any
of its scenarios. I am not responsible for the inappropriate use
of any information provided in this document. If you decide to
hack your version of Realmz and discover that you've trashed your
game, you computer, your marriage, or your life, please do not
blame me. I do not claim that the information in this document
to be true or accurate. Any opinions I express in this document
are mine and mine alone, unless otherwise quoted, then, of course
they are someone else's. I am not to be held responsible for any
injuries-- physical, mental, emotional, or financial--, loss of
job or spouse, damage to your computer such that it is no longer
useful for anything but to make toast, or anything else that may
result from reading this document or playing Realmz after reading
this document. |
| 0.2 | Thank you for your time. Now on to the info... --ed. |
1.1 Description of Realmz and where to find it
| 1.2.1 | Q) What are the system requirement's for Realmz? A) The following information is valid for Realmz Scenario Driver V3.1:
Also IMPORTANT: Author also states there are problems running Realmz on AV macs. Some players have found the game "runnable" with the system extensions off. For AV mac owners, downloading Realmz may, itself, be a game of chance. Suggestions for players who own AV macs (not bad for everyone else too) Try to turn off any extensions you don't need (all of them if you can), disable screen savers, turn on "fast trade" option in preference menu (this will avoid a commonly reported bug) or use the shift key to trade items. |
| 1.3.1 | Q) Why should I register? Do I have to pay for additional scenarios of
I register? A) There are advantages to registering. Be aware that Realmz is a fully functional package even if you don't register, _BUT_ here's what do get when you register and what you don't get if you don't register: | ||
| 1.3.1.1 | You can create characters up to 12th level of experience. | ||
| 1.3.1.2 | When you save a game, the character files in the character folders are
also updated so that when you play an new scenario, you can create a
party of characters that retain all their material possessions from
previous adventures | ||
| 1.3.1.3 | You can install and play new scenarios. But you will have to register
for each scenario to play _all_ of that scenario. You will have to pay
$5-$15 per scenario depending on the complexity of the scenario (and
the greed of the scenario's author =). | ||
| 1.3.1.4 | You no longer have to see that annoying registration screen. | ||
| 1.3.1.5 | You will be supporting Tim Phillips and encouraging the continued
bug squashing and new scenario development and new feature development
that Realmz is known for. | ||
| 1.3.1.6 | You will no longer be riddled with guilt as you are enjoying yourself
playing this great game while knowing that the hard-working author is
continuing to squash bugs and work on new scenarios and features and
not getting a penny from you. | ||
| 1.3.2 | Q) A new version has come out. Do I have to register again? A) No. | ||
| 1.3.2.1 | If a patch is released. You needn't do anything special. Just
apply the patch as per the instructions that accompany the patch. | ||
| 1.3.2.2 | If a complete new version is release (such is the case with version
2.2) because the patch would be almost as large as the entire
entire application, you should download it. Unstuff/uncompact it and
install it. Do not delete your old version and do not install it in
the same folder or on top of your current version! Run new version and
at the registration screen, enter: '911' (without quotes) in the field
for registration code. A dialog box will pop up allowing you you to
enter a serial number. Enter the serial number of your previous
version of Realmz (which can be found on your registration documents).
and Viola! You can now enter the same name and registration code as
for your previous version. Please note that after you have registered, your copy is no longer shareware. Please do not give any copies of your registered application away.
1.3.3 | Q) How much does it cost to register Realmz? | A) The following is a table of prices for various parts of Realmz: Realmz scenario driver and "City of Bywater"...................$25 "Prelude to Pestilence"........................................$15 "Assault on Giant Mountain"....................................$15 "Castle in the Clouds".........................................$10 "Destroy the Necronomicon".....................................$12 "Search for the WhiteDragon"...................................$15 "Griloch's Revenge"............................................$14 Realmz Character Editor (on disk)..............................$10 |
| 1.4.1 | Q) The dark menus really bother me. Is there any way to fix this? A) There are preferences which allow you to turn off black menus and the script font for menus. There is also a "reduced" sounds option for mac users that are annoyed by the sounds or get a lot of pops and crackles. |
| 1.4.2 | Q) Sometimes when I play, the screen gets all messed up and I can't see
the character's attribtes. What can I do? A) There's a feature in the same menu as the preferences that allows you to refresh the screen. This will clear up any funny blocks, strange screens, etc... from the play screen. |
| 1.4.3 | Q) How can I consult the manual or spell list while playing Realmz? A) You can send Realmz to the background by selecting the "Hide Realmz" in the Application menu. This will allow you to open another application. Descriptions for spells that are "non-damage" inflicting can be seen in the area below the play screen by selecting the spells description option in the preferences menu. |
| 1.4.4 | Q) How can I print out the spells database without half of it getting
cut off? A) Try changing your Page Setup from Portrait to Landscape (thanks to Marc Nimchuk, Univ. of Alberta). And you'll probably have to select scale by 85% in order to fit it on a standard 8 1/2 x 11 letter page. The whole thing printed out takes something like 27 pages. |
| 1.4.5 | Q) I have put the scenarios in the Scenarios Folder but they still
don't show up [in the Adventure menu]? What's the deal? A) When you put those scenarios into the "Scenarios" folder. Make sure you don't have an extra level of folder. i.e. Inside the scenarios folder should be the actual scenario folders. And inside those should be the data files. Make sure there is not an extra level of folders or the game will not be able to find them. |
| 1.4.6 | Q) How come I used to be able to save/load a game [without problem] and
now all of a sudden it gives me errors? A) Make sure you have enough free hard drive space. It takes about 500K to save a game and another 500K for temporary files that Realmz needs while your playing. The temporary files will be erased when you quit Realmz but you still need a little breathing room during play. |
| 1.4.7 | Q) Who is the author and what's his e-mail address? A) The man responsible for this wonderful piece of programming is Tim P. Phillips (not to be confused with some other Tim Phillips): (email address has been deleted because Tim is tired of getting mail asking stuff like "When's the next patch/scenario coming out?" Technical questions and driver bug reports can go to: Fantasoft1@aol.com Please READ THIS DOCUMENT, the tip sheets, the Scenario FAQ's and the MANUAL before e-mailing Tim!!!!! (Sheesh, you wonder why it takes forever for a new scenario to come out when people are harassing the author with annoying questions. =P --ed.) |
| 1.5.1 | Q) Can I edit the portraits and sounds in Realmz? How do I edit the
portraits in Realmz? A) The first thing we need to do is to explain to you what NOT to do: DO NOT use ResEdit to hack open your Realmz application because you will not be able to apply patches to upgrade to future versions because the ResCompare program that is used to apply patches will not be able to patch your application because it will find differences between your app and the one it thinks it's trying to patch from. Okay, with that established, do do the following: Create two files in the same folder as your Realmz application using ResEdit called "Realmz Portraits" and "Realmz Sounds" [no quotes, of course]. Each 'cicn' or 'snd ' resource you place in these files respectively with the same resource ID number as in the Realmz main application will be loaded at startup time, and replace the one in the main application. To figure out which resource ID is for which picture or sound you will have to open your Realmz application (or preferably a copy of it) and look around. If you open your original application be *VERY* careful not to accidentaly save any changes that might have occurred. | ||||||||||||||
| 1.5.2 | Q) How do I use/change the music in Realmz? Where can I find more
MOD files for Realmz? A) First, you put "MOD" files into the "Realmz Music" folder and re-name it to "Indoor Music", "Outdoor Music", "Temple Music", etc... and that file will play when you are in that area. If you are looking for more MOD files you might try http://www.watson.org/mods/ | ||||||||||||||
| 1.5.3 | Q) Realmz runs incredibly slow on my machine [and it didn't use to].
What is the problem? A) The first thing you can try is look below at the list of programs that are known to be incompatible with Realmz, and disable it. The second thing you can try is restart with extensions off, and slowly sift through your extensions over a series of re-boots and determine which extension is incompatible (and then report them to Tim and also myself!). The last thing you can try is to zap your PRAM. If you do not know how to do this -- consult someone who does because I forget [but it has to do with holding down 'P', 'R', and two modifier keys (which two keys, I don't remember) as your machine boots up -- you will know you have successfully zapped your PRAM when your machine re-re-boots. Be aware that everything you have stored in PRAM will be erased -- your location, 32bit memory addressing, AppleTalk settings, Chooser Settings...) You will have to reset everything. | ||||||||||||||
| 1.5.4 | Q) What are the known incompatiblities Realmz has with extensions and
other programs?|
1.5.4.1 | Aaron(2)
|
1.5.4.2 | Faxcilitate by PSI
|
1.5.4.3 | Flightstick Pro extension
|
1.5.4.4 | Global Village software FAX
|
1.5.4.5 | Greg's Buttons(1,4)
|
1.5.4.6 | MS Office Manager v4.1(3,4)
| Footnotes:
|
The most commonly asked question(s) are:
The most
commonly asked question(s) are:
And a tip sheet can be found at:
http://www.outreach.com/realmz/asogm.html
The following are commonly asked questions:
Otherwise, commonly asked questions follow:
2.1 Combat in Realmz
--ed.
2.1.1 Q) How do I use a missile weapon?
A) Equip the character with it (most characters can be holding a melee
weapon and a missile weapon). When in combat mode, click on the little
icon next to the character's weapon. It is a small rectangular icon
just right of the character's weapon icon and it has a small scimitar
and a bow in it. Click on it, and you'll switch weapons. The weapon
icon of a missile weapon will be "raised" and you can click on it and
you target it like a spell. See targeting spells, below if you do not
know how to target your missile weapon.
click here to read about targetting.
2.1.2 Q) What's the difference between Guard, Delay, and Finish?
A) You can end a character's attack turn in one of the following ways:
attacking something, cast a spell, or one of the above options. Guard
will "save" your attack for later when a poor unsuspecting monster
wanders too close to you. Delay should be done before you move. It's
good when the character is trapped behind other characters, you can
"wait" to move until after another character has moved. Finish simply
ends the round with no attack.
2.1.3 Q) What is a rogue's sneak attack? How do I use it?
A) For certain character castes, there is a percentage of the time
that they can inflict double or triple damage. Take sneak attack for
instance. You don't need to do anything (like "getting behind" a
monster) in order to attack it. Simply attack as usual, and a
certain percent of the time, depending on what level you're on, your
rogue's skillful ability to impale it's victim in a vulnerable and
"physiologically" crucial spot, your rogue inflicts triple damage.
Fighters, archers, crusaders, and monks can inflict "major wound"
which implies that the character inflicted some sort of major wound
(eg. crush skill, decapitate, maim, etc...) which causes double the
"normal" damage.
2.1.4 Q) How can I check to see what abilities and stamina a monster has
[left]?
A) Use command-click and where normally you're player's combat info is
displayed, the monster's combat info will be displayed.
2.1.5 Q) The text during battles is too fast! I can't read everything! What
can I do?
A) You can slow the game to a crawl if you change the preferences
setting. What I find helpful when attacking with spells and missile
weapons is to look at the text box when hitting the space bar. Sure
you miss out on seeing your spell/weapon hit the monster, but you can
see the text if you're attention is on it. (I work in a vision lab,
trust me, you can see if if you try.)
Version 1.3.2 and later "slowed" text during battle with a "speed up"
option in the preferences menu.
2.1.6 Q) How do I find enemies that are off the screen without moving around
to find them?
A) You can use the "Reveal Friends" button, or you can "Move" the view
screen. (See 3.3.1)
2.1.7 Q) Why do I have negative experience points?
A) Because experience in this game is counted down not added up. You
attain the next level when the counter gets up to zero and then it
resets to a more negative number.
2.1.8 Q) Sometimes when I play, all of a sudden, one or more of my characters
develop a mind of their own and start playing for themselves. What
gives? Is this a bug? How can I stop them and regain control?
A) You characters are "in retreat". This is not a bug. It's a
condition that can be brought on by certain monsters's attacks. It is
similar to your character getting charmed. To regain control, cast a
dispel magic spell on that(/those) character(s).
2.1.8 Q) My monk does a lot of damage with his bare hands, but many monsters
require a magic weapon to hit. Will the Gloves of the Seasons +2 cause
the monk's hands to be +2 weapons?
A) No! Get a clue. Sheesh. =)
2.2 Spell casting
Spells come in many shapes and sizes. There are three things to remember about
casting spells:
1) Target: Do I cast it on friends, foes, or under some "special circumstance"
Does it require line of sight? Is it an individually targetting, a
wall, an area, or a ray?
2) Range: Am I close enough to cast this spell?
3) Power: What does increasing the power level do? (besides use up more spell
points) Does it increase the area affected, the duration of the spell,
the range, the damage (done/healed)? --ed.
2.2.1 Q) How do I target spells (or missile weapons for that matter)? How
do I target stuff that's off the screen? How do I rotate spells that
can be rotated?
2.2.1.1 A) After you select the spell (or the weapon) you get a line that
starts at your character icon and ends in a little box) or big area
depending on the spell). The number in the box tells you how many
targets you may select. Move the box onto the icon of the monster and
hit "T" for "T"arget! If you are allowed more than one target, repeat
this step. If your target is off the screen and yet still within
range, pull the target box to the edge of the screen and click the
mouse button. This will scroll the screen over in that direction.
(warning: some users have complained about crashing the program by
trying to hit targets off screen, though this has never happened to
me.) When you're done targetting, hit the space bar to cast the spell
(or to launch the missile weapon).
2.2.1.2 Hit "RETURN" to rotate spells like Wall of Fog, Wall of Force, Wall of
Ice before targetting.
2.2.2.3 Feature as of v1.5. Spells requiring line of sight (ie. can be
blocked by walls, trees, mushrooms...) are signified with a little eye
in the targetting box in the spell selection screen.
2.2.2 Q) Sometimes a magic-using character is not given the opportunity to
cast spells even when they are conscious and have plenty of spell
points. What gives?
A) Ah ha! I guess it's hard for a character who has been hit during a
turn to cast any spells. If you think of all the things that happen in
one "round" of a combat as simultaneous, then I suppose it would be
hard to concentrate on casting a spell while someone is beating you to
a pulp.
But they can use a scroll (either a pre-made scroll or one in their
scroll case) instead of a spell if they've been hit.
2.2.3 Q) Why am I a 3rd level priest with only 2nd level spells?
A) Priests get all the spells for a certain level all at once, but they
only get new spells something like every other level. Consult the
appendix in the manual for advancement.
2.3 Scrolls and scroll cases
2.3.1 Q) How do I put [the] scrolls [that I find/buy] in scroll cases?
A) You can't put the scrolls you find into scroll cases. You can USE
them whenever you want. But you can create your own scrolls, buy
yourself some blank parchment. Set up camp and the character with the
scroll case and the parchment will have a create scroll button. Then
create the scroll and it will give you the usual spell window and you
cast the spell as you would usually. A scroll will appear in your
scroll case. It takes twice as many spell points to make a scroll than
to simply cast it, but it's good to save up scrolls.
2.3.2 Q) Why can't I use scrolls [that I find/buy]? Can I use a scroll more
than once?
A) Some characters can't use some scrolls. I think priests can only
use priest's scrolls (a priestly spell in scroll form). See above
about putting scrolls into scroll cases. To check whether a character
can use a scroll (or any item for that matter) go to trade and put that
character in the left side and start clicking on stuff. A red stop
sign will show up on the item and you'll get a little clunk sound. Try
giving the scroll to a character of a different caste, or one with
more wisdom/intelligence (depending on whether priest or sorcerer).
Scrolls are good because they can be created before a battle. During
the fight, when a spell-caster runs out of spell points, he/she can
then use scrolls, which already used spell points to create and now
can be used. Each scroll in a scroll case disappears after being used.
The nX number before it simply tells you the spell's power level, but
picked up scrolls will have an nX after it to tell you how many times
it can be used.
Crusaders can use priestly scrolls and rogues can eventually use magic
user's scrolls. And you can also option click on an item at anytime to
see an information window that tells you all about it and who can use
it. (Thanks to Dave Wetzel - Editor: "Oh yeah... totally forgot about
that, but I often determine who gets what after a fight when I'm
dividing up the plunder in the trade screen".)
I've discovered that my 8th level crusader has a 100% chance of
successfully reading sorcerers' scrolls. Go figure.
2.4 Money and item management
2.4.1 Q) When I'm buying and/or trading, I want to sell something I'm
wearing. Do I have to go back to the items screen every time I want to
unequip an item?
A) You can equip/unequip anything by clicking on it with the command
key down (command-click) and you can "quick trade" it by clicking on
it with the shift key down (shift-click).
2.4.2 Q) How can I get information on items to see whether a certain
character can use it or what it's attributes are?
A) Use option-click to look at info on items before picking up or
buying the item on the shop/item screen, on the character's inventory
screen, and on the treasure screen.
2.4.3 Q) My party has kicked butt, earned lots of gold. With that gold we
have armed ourselves to the teeth. But now my characters are so
weighted down that I only have one move per turn. What can I do
without any of my precious armor or hard earned gold?
2.4.3.1 A) The weight is more likely due to the gold than anything else you may
be carrying around. Go to a shop or temple and have the gold changed
to gems (or jewelery... don't recall if that's possible). Gems are
worth more than gold so you will get fewer gems than gold, thus
lightening your load. There is a nominal fee for converting gold to
gems but if your gold is becoming a weight problem, it's likely that
you will not mind loosing a few gold pieces per gem. There is no fee
for converting back, though. To convert click on the bag with the
jewels directly under your party's amount of pooled gold.
2.4.3.2 A) You can also take advantage of the new banking feature that is
available in Realmz 2.1.1. You can now leave your money at the shops
and it will be there when you come back.
2.4.4 Q) After I go to a shop all my money dissappears! What happened?
A) You have to remember to "share" your money before you leave (since
you had to pool your money to buy stuff when you came in). Turn the
"Forget money protection" ON in the preferences menu so that it will
ask you if you want to get the money before you leave.
Version 1.3 and later have an option in the preferences to
automatically convert your gems to gold if you don't have enough to
buy something.
2.4.5 Q) What the heck is an luck stone for?
A) Each color of luck stone is for a different caste of character. You
can equipt it to increase that character's perfornace.
COLOR CASTE
aqua fighter
copper crusader
yellow archer
green rogue
purple monk
blue enchanter
red sorcerer
speckled priest
2.5 Basic concepts of special abilities
--ed.
2.5.1 Q) When I'm picking locks (bending bars, breaking down doors...), and I
see these yellow/green bars and the timer, what does it mean? Is there
something I am supposed do during this to increase my chances of
success?
A) (After being informed by Benjamin Porter that I should read the
manual more carefully) The bars change color based on the character's
ability. There is a certain amount of time the bars flash. If you
hit return or click the mouse when they are all yellow or green you
will have successfully completed the task. Or for those of us that do
not have good hand-eye coordination, we just sit and hope the
percentiles are in our favor and all three will be green at the end of
the time allowed.
2.5.2 Q) Do monks and rogues increase their ability with levels?
A) Hmm... I know monks fight better. As far as I can tell, improvement
depends on your ability scores. Characters with good constitution tend
to get more stamina points at advancement time. And I also know that
my rogue has improved from 9% to 14% success to sneak attack someone.
I assume all her other scores have improved too (note that I chose a
female rogue because of the dexterity bonus).
Something else to keep in mind: more constitution gives more stamina at
promotion time, more wisdom for priests/crusaders for more spell points;
more intelligence for enchanters/sorcerers more spell points and
more spells. Dexterity for rogues...
2.6 Personnel management
2.6.1 Q) For one reason or another (encumbrance bug, missed quest...) I want
to drop a character and add another one and it says levels exceeded, or
I want to take my characters back through the same adventure and keep
all their possessions, what do I do?
A) Register your game! When you do; there will no longer be a
restriction on levels (although the number will still be there to
indicated the difficulty of the scenario) so you can put any level
character back into the party and they keep their possessions when
saving the game. That is, the "character" file is update as well as
the save file.
2.6.2 Q) Why should I use a archer insead of a fighter/an enchanter instead
of a sorcerer, a monk instead of a rogue, etc...? What are the pros
and cons of each character?
A) I've added this one in answer to the recent debate of: Why does my
archer suck?
The following are the pros and cons of each caste, and things you can
consider in determining their usefulness. (Comments courtesy of Eric
W. Anderson -- edited by me.)
2.6.2.1 Fighters:
The name says it all. A nice balance of ability to dish out
damage and to take it. They can use almost anything, get extra swings
quickly, and have very little in the way of side talents.
2.6.2.2 Monks:
While they are a bit weak at low levels, at high levels they
are among the most effective fighters. They are the quickest caste to
get multiple attacks, and the Robe of Speed makes them truly impressive
at dishing out damage. Once you pickup some of the better bracers of
defense (AC4 or 8) their AC is about as good as anyone's. When rolling
a monk, hang in there until you get a good constitution -- a d6+3 per
level gives them plenty of hit points.
Monks are to fighters and rogues what Crusaders are to fighters
and priests. They combine elements of both castes.(--Chris Baginski?)
So why bother with any of the "base" castes? (--ed.) They get lots of
Special abilities at higher levels, like regeneration.
2.6.2.3 Archers:
Good at low levels, when those extra hit points really help
(they start out better than fighters but wind up somewhat lower);
having a missile weapon puts them above Crusaders at the start. At
high levels, they fall off. Even with the Shalomar (unique Bow +2)
missile weapons are no big deal. They are slow to get extra blows.
(It is even worse when you look at how much experience they need to get
extra blows rather than just how many levels -- the high EP needed to
advance at high levels is an obvious holdover from some game where they
get spells).
Both monks and archers get some limited rogue skills, but even the
locks and traps abilities of true rogues are of limited value, so I
don't count them for much. There is rarely anything that a rogue can
do that can't be done easily some other way. Why disarm traps? -- use
knock and take the damage if necessary; why steal the keys? -- attack
the guards and take them.
2.6.2.4 Rogues:
Not bad in City of Bywater. There are a few traps that can
actually hurt a low-level party and they are not that much weaker at
fighting than other one-swing types. But once the fighters start to
accumulate metal armor, magic weapons, stamina and swings the rogue
starts to look worse and worse. Sometimes it is nice to have someone
who can plunk an arrow or apply a healing unguent, but on the whole I
don't find them much us[e] beyond CofB. Theoretically they can read
scrolls, but the odds are so bad that it is not usually worth wasting
a turn, let alone a scroll, to try.
I've found rogues to be let down after let down. I have now
replaced the rogue with a monk because my rogue would invariably be the
one to bite it a tough battle. I'll take one more pair of hands out
there pulling some weight in a fight than a rogue's abilities. (--ed.)
2.6.2.5 Crusaders:
The last mainly fighting caste, I have mixed feelings about.
For the first few levels, they are basically fighters. Not having a
missile weapon is an annoying limitation at low levels, but at higher
levels where the damage from even a magic bow is so small relative to
melee, that annoyance disappears. I find their priestly abilities
useful in three ways. At low levels, I have had them turn undead that
the priest missed, or had them get the chance to turn before the priest
did (maybe saving the MU or Ench). Second, there are times when even a
Cure Light Wounds can bring a character back into battle and turn the
tide. Finally, they can read scrolls written by the priest, so even
if they have only 1st level spells they can use an extra swing to read
a Festering Wounds x7 or a Blade Barrier that the party's priest
put on paper. Besides, the more people who can cast charm person, the
better your odds of not getting hacked to pieces by your own people.
On the whole, I think that the extra abilities of Palidinhood make up
for the limitations and the slower advancement.
Personally (--ed. speaking now) I love 'em. First, because I
just think the "Knight" leading my part is just way cool (though a bit
traditional in thinking, I admit). But if you spend more time during
the rolling of a crusader (look for high strength and wisdom, and with
some special conditions to boot -- extra +'s on hit to something) you
can end up with a fast moving really strong character, that can cast
healing spells (a big plus when all you characters are gone and you're
the only one left... you have two attacks or three out of two and you
have a moment to give yourself a little extra juice to throw yourself
back into the fray). My consistent choice for spot #1 in my party.
(--ed.)
2.6.2.6 Priests:
What can I say? Every party needs one. The healing is
essential, and at higher levels they get a nice selection of offensive
spells as well. Beyond CofB, I have rarely used them in combat, though
with a potion of speed they can get enough swings to help. Plus, you
can then go (swing, swing, spell) and all the weapon damage is extra.
2.6.2.7 Sorcerers:
Though you have to protect them, in many battles they
kill more of the enemy than do the fighters. I have been somewhat
disappointed by their contribution compared to high level priests and
enchanters as I near the end of AoGM. Maybe I have chosen spells
poorly -- I have picked at least two that I doubt I'll ever cast (Mass
Charm and Portable Hole).
2.6.2.8 Enchanters:
Who is it that keeps asking for Druids (ooh! ooh! me! me!
--ed.)? These are clearly the druids (okay then give some enchanter
spells to the archers! --ed.)-- look at the spells (Bark Skin, Call
Lightning errr make that Lightning Strike) and the allowed armor and
weapons (Leather, Scimitars). (yeah, but I remember AD&D druids are
limited to the same "dull" weapons as priests? --ed.) You can play
them through CofB and if they do nothing but cast Bark Skin
continuously they have pulled their weight. At intermediate levels I
have found them less useful than MUs, but once they get Cloudkill they
resume making a big contribution to killing the enemy.
I agree and disagree. I always find them much more useful than
sorcerers, because in the end, against a horde of small foes, they
can hack away at the bad guys with the best of 'em. Better armor and
better weapons definitely gives these guys an edge over sorcerers at
lower levels because they can stand their own in a fight when they
don't have many good spells cast or many spell points to use. (--ed.)
2.7 Miscellaneous & Bug Alerts
Here is where information that I felt was important but I couldn't find
anywhere else to put goes. Most important are bug alerts for major versions.
2.7.1 INFORMATION ALERT: There is a change in the location of the file Data
CD. If you use an updater to patch to version 2.3 or higher from
version 2.2, then you should move the file Data CD from the DATA folder
to the CHARACTERS folder. It will save you many headaches. Do it
right after you finish patching to version 2.3, before you fire it up
for a test drive.
2.7.2 BUG ALERT: If you are downloading the entire version of 2.3, then you
MUST also download the updater to version 2.3.3. There is a bug that
prevents the game from remembering your serial number when you transfer
your registration.
2.7.3 BUG ALERT: If you are using version 1.0 of the Griloch's Revenge
scenario, you MUST download version 1.1 and restart the scenario
immediately! A bug in version 1.0 prevents you from being able to
receive your reward and completing the scenario.
2.7.4 BUG ALERT: Users that downloaded version 4.3 or 4.3.1 of the Realmz
engine must also download the 4.3.2 patch. Bugs exists in the 4.3 and
4.3.1 versions that causes the names of all the items that pre-4.3
characters are carrying to be invalid after conversion to 4.3 and the
new races to work properly, respectively.
3 Questions dealing with Strategy
3.1 Difficulty settings
Choosing a difficutly setting will affect your strategy. At novice, you can
become brave to the point of fool-hardiness. If you choose MEGA monsters and
veteran levels, I warn you to be careful in all your battles and encounters
3.1.1 Q) What's the main difference between novice to veteran difficulty? Is
the veteran mode have harder monsters but less treasure and experience
or is it harder monsters with more experience and treasure?
A) It's the latter. You get more experience, more gold, the same
"magic" items but I noticed that the shops carry better stuff
(especially Madam Otik's Magic stuff shop). I found it much easier to
attain higher levels and hoard treasure near the beginning of the game.
You will attain levels faster if you have low level characters in a
veteran's game. Each scenario has a "recommended number of levels".
For the City of Bywater it is '6', which means best for 6 1st level
characters or one 6th level character. As you exceed the recommended
levels, you will not get as many XP.
3.1.2 Q) What does the "Monster Set" settings do?
A) It determines what monsters you will face. Some are the same across
settings, others are different. It will affect the both which monsters
you get as well as how hard the monsters are. The difficulty settings
will increase/decrease the difficulty within the set of monsters you
have selected. For example, goblins in the "normal monster set" may be
trolls in the "monster monster set".
3.2 Encounters
3.2.1 Q) I get a dialog box that asks if I want to do something, and I decide
I don't want to do it because my party is too wimpy. When I return the
monster or situation is gone! What gives?
A) You only get one shot at nearly all of the quests. If at any point
you get these types of dialogs, say "YES"! Risk it! You won't have a
second chance if you run away. Just save more often, and you can
restore to the previous state before you get killed be the quest. You
can say no to random encounters like giants, orcs, kobalds, goblins,
shantiles... But never pass up an opportunity to fight a demon,
dragon, wizard...
Same thing holds true if you take the dagger from the old woman, her
shop stays closed for the rest of the game. High price to pay for
being greedy. How do you select the answer to the questions? Try to
choose the most noble, proud, brave, fool-hardy thing. Don't be afraid
to take risks, but don't be unkind.
"It's better to be dragon chow than to sit in the tavern at the city
of Bywater telling everybody that you were the one that got away"
-Matt Hicks
There are a FEW exceptions to this rule. The beastmen corral will ask
if you want to do it later. You can do it later. There are many ways
to get into the spider tower. If you refuse to help the king's priest,
you can still do a frontal assult through the front door or a sneak
attack through the secret passage. You can also decide to leave and
come back later to the town brothel.
If you've already blew it on some of them and want a second chance,
register your game and restart the adventure with your old characters
in a "new" party. You'll feel more confident with your entire arsenal
of weaponry and armor.
3.2.2 Q) I'm stuck (somewhere: eg. Finger mountains in Prelude to Pestilence)
and I've tried everything. -OR- I'm (somewhere) I'm supposed to be, and
I can't use (some item) like (someone said I could).
A) Look around for the "suspicious" locations. You will find that you
can click the "Encounter" button at those locations and then cast a
spell, read a scroll or use an item.
3.3 Combat strategies
3.3.1 Q) Is there a better way to kill monsters that are separated from you
by a wall or a mountain than to wander all over the screen to track it
down?
A) Of course! If you are intent on hunting it down and killing it by
hand, there is a button called "Move". While the cursor is an arrow,
you normally click to make the character move in that direction. If
you press "M" you can scroll the window in that direction without
moving your character, so you don't have to wander aimlessly looking
for a break in the wall. Keep in mind that the battle map is just a
zoom in of the dungeon/surface map. If you remember the terrain before
you enter the combat, you'll find that it's pretty much the same after.
Another thing that helps is that sometimes the monsters aren't even on
the screen and you don't know which way to wander... try "R" for reveal
friends. You'll find that it also reveals your enemies too. If you
have a fairly strong spell caster, you could blink over to the bad guys
too.
If you just "F"inish each character's attack turn, and repeat for 4 our
5 rounds, the battle ends anyway. (Thanks to Richard Drysdall) I've
noticed that you get no (that's right ZERO) experience points if you
bag out of a fight this way.
But the best way to kill monsters from far away, that I've found is to
have an enchanter in the party able to cast Lightning Strike. This
spell's range is up to 20 units away and if you have enough spell
spell points can inflict up to 24 points of damage (if I recall
correctly). Very efficient. Cannot be blocked by walls, slagtites,
mountains...etc. Other good low level spells for range killing
include Flame Spikes and Cosmic Blast.
3.3.2 Q) I've been hacking away at [monster x] for ages. It it possible to
kill it?
A) Of course! Maybe you need stronger characters? (Come back when you
are.) Perhaps a different strategy? Better weapons?
In version 1.5 some monsters need magical weapons with a minimum plus
value to even score a hit.
3.3.3 Q) Can I retreat from a hopeless battle?
A) Yes, but you must run far enough away. If your characters has more
moves/turn than the monster, you might make it, otherwise, you're
better off standing your ground and take your shellacking like a
man (er.. apologies from un-PC-ness). There is a new button called
escape that lets you bail out of a hopeless fight, but you have to be
at least 10 spaces away.
3.3.4 Q) My characters often bleed to death and I hate to have to use up one
turn of one of my characters' attacks to bandage them. Besides, often
monsters are too close and pummel me after I finish bandaging. What
can I do?
A) I keep a weakling rogue around for tasks like picking locks,
acrobatic maneuvers, and launching arrows from a long distance. The
character can dish out much more than it can take. It often misses
when in melee, so I hide it behind everyone else. I use it to safely
bandage bleeding characters without feeling that I've wasted a valuable
attack.
3.3.3 Q) My characters are being slaughtered all the time. Am I doing
something wrong?
A) Don't ever underestimate or overlook the use of priests (and even
crusaders and enchanters) to to do a little healing on some of your
characters during a fight. It may seem like you're "wasting an attack"
but it can really pay off. Sometimes you get a lot of stamina back
sometimes you only get a few, but part of the fight is defense.
Before you get into a fight that you know is about to happen, cast some
protective spells: speed (or is it haste?), vorpal plate, bless...
During the fight, keep an eye on the stamina of your "slugger" (the guy
that ends up putting away most of the bad guys. If he/she's hurting,
then heal him/her up. If he/she is the last one standing after a fight
then he/she get's all the experience, then he/she get's even better at
his/her job. It's worth it.
3.4 Strategies for beginners
3.4.1 Q) What's the best combination of character castes for a party? How
do I stay alive at the beginning of the game? I've wandered all around
the City of Bywater and the surrounding woodlands, now what?
A) I've finally broken down and decided to answer these questions.
Most RPG veterans can skip this.
The best party is a well balanced with at least one rogue, one strong
"fighter-type", and one spell caster. The remaining three are up to
your choosing: usually two more fighting characters and one spell
caster or vice versa. What I mean by fighter-type is fighter, crusader,
archer or monk. I usually start with a crusader/fighter for their sheer
strength and fighting ability. They get all the best offensive weapons
and the most of the armor. I put them right in front to take hits and
protect spell casters and use them to carry most of the gold and junk
to be sold. A rogue is good for the occasional lock pick, acrobatic
maneuver, or trap detection. Most are fairly weak but very dextrous so
I usually arm them with bows and arrows and hide the behind the others.
The first caste of spell casters that I don't leave home without is a
priest. They can wear any armor and cast healing spells. Both are big
plusses. The remaining members of a party is really up to taste. My
next choice in fighting characters is a archer and then a monk. My
next choice for spell casters would be an enchanter because they can
wear a little more armor and carry short swords, unlike sorcerers,
who basically only fight with daggers. My current party of choice thus
consists of: Crusader, Archer, Priest, Enchanter, Sorcerer and Rogue.
Monks just don't seem worth the effort for me, and fighters and archers
are comparable, so why not go with the more exotic? Besides, I've had
really good results from archers, better stamina, hit %, damage, and
missile weapon hit %. More recently I've replaced rogues with monks
because they're more effective in a fight and also have lock pick
abilities
When you enter the world of Realmz the first time you are poor and
naked. The first thing you should do is get into the castle by any
means you can. You probably should avoid brute force and bribes since
you will probably be weak, unarmed, and broke. Once in the castle, you
will be employed by the king to rid Bywater of the evil arachnids that
live in the spider tower. But he won't send you away empty handed, he
will let you go through the castle's armory before you go.
Once armed and a little more confident, wander around the buildings of
Bywater, visit with the orcs in the northeast, the goblins in the south
west and wander the entire visible map. Once you're done you can begin
wandering around in caves and looking for secret places to go to. If
you're still lost consult the City of Bywater tip sheet and try to
visit all those places.
4 Scenario specific questions and strategies
--ed.
Note: the "main plot" policy does not hold true for many of the following
sections because I already finished the section before I instituted the policy,
and the Bywater scenario has no plot per se.
4.1 Strategies for City of Bywater
A tip sheet exists for this scenario. It can be found at:
http://www.outreach.com/realmz/bywater.html
4.1.1 Q) How do I know when I finished/beaten the City of Bywater scenario?
A) You won't. Due to the non-linearity of the game (you can complete
quests in any order) there is no way of knowing if "you're done".
EXCEPT for the Bywater scenario, there is a "tip sheet".
If you've done everything on the list, then you've done everything
there is to do. So now what? Start over with a different party.
Start over with a smaller party. Start over and do everything
differently than you did before (agree to fight the orcs instead of the
goblins; fight your way into the Spider Tower instead of finding the
Undead Army...).
This tip sheet used to be included with the scenario. Now it's not,
but it's available at all the usual sites. See: Where to get Realmz.
4.1.2 Q) What are some of the "hard" monsters [in the City of Bywater
scenario]? Where can I go for a good fight?
A) The following is an incomplete list of "good fights" in Bywater and
surrounding areas. (My definition of a "good fight" is one in which I
felt like I stood to have or did have all my character's wiped out at
one point or another. --ed.)
4.1.2.1 in Waterford:
The "Beholder" in the temple at the sunken town of Waterford, as
well as the his "guardians". If you choose right (or wrong, as it were
if your goal is not a "good fight" but to quickly get through all the
bad guys) you can get 2 fights from the orb.
Also elsewhere in Waterford is the Wizard's tower. The wizard is not
as big of a deal as the guardians in front of the stairs. Remember
that there are guardians on both sides of the stairs.
4.1.2.2 in the Underdark/Kobold Caverns
Two Red Dragons in the Kobold Caverns. Lots of dinosaurs and 4 Green
Dragons in a different part of the same cave. You can also summon
Rewop, a demon, and his guardians at the pentagram in the same cave.
Also in the Kobold Caverns (Underdark) is some grand wizard and a group
of ogres.
4.1.2.3 The Skeletal giant and skeletal beasts that's locked behind the iron
door.
4.1.2.4 And you can find a good fight at the Spider Tower. v1.5 and later has
a Queen Spider (Widow of the web) and guardians too.
4.1.2.5 A Blue Dragon just out side of town.
4.1.2.6 A band of Mind Slayers that appear in town. These guys are _tough_ for
an "in town" encounter. If you don't have the firepower, don't mess
with them.
Where [, specifically,] are these places? You'll have to wander around
yourself to find them. (Geez do you want everything to be spoon fed to
you? --ed.)
4.1.3 Q) I've got wimpy 1st level characters. How can I get some gold to buy
some awesome weaponry and armor before venturing forth?
A) There are ways to "get" magical items without a fight. The King
will give you a lot of generic stuff for just agreeing to go on his
quest. But how do you get past the magistrate to get into the castle?
Well, don't ignore poor little beggars in the streets. If you scratch
her back (or her dog's back) she'll scratch yours (in a manner of
saying). And besides, you could bribe the magistrate? Or maybe show
him a bad forgery and then apologize for it? He might find it funny
and let you in anyway. There's a lame giant that has a stash of magic
armor/weapons that he'll let you in on if you help him. (He's near the
lake where all the other giants are. If you take the dagger from the
old woman being attacked in the town, you'll have one awesome weapon,
but you're better off letting her be, and buying the dagger from her
later. The arena is always good for 50 gold pieces (and whatever the
monster might be carrying) a shot. Also, pick up as many weapons and
armor as you can carry and sell it back to the shops (if your mac
doesn't crash when doing so). You can accumulate a lot of money this
way.
4.1.4 Q) I can't find the orc king's daughter (the lame giant, ...). Where
do I look for them?
A) Most of these are random encounters. You have to be wandering in
the general vicinity to "find" these encounters. ie. The orc princess
is somewhere in the forest just east of the city of Bywater. Were
exactly depends, but turn on constant search and you'll be more likely
to find these, and also more likely to get attacked by random monsters.
With the exception of the Gazer from Beyond, which some people have
trouble finding. He's at the altar in the north eastern corner in the
ornate temple in the sunken city of Waterford. When you find him, put
the characters you most want to keep alive in the circle, and do not
smash the orb or be too brash with him. You'll find he has a bit of
an ego that is easily bruised.
4.1.5 Q) What do I do with the Book of Turnians(sp?)?
A) Sell it. As far as I can tell, it doesn't do anything, no one else
really wants it. Just take the 250 gp for it.
4.2 Prelude to Pestilence
A tip sheet and FAQ exists for this scenario. They can be found at:
http://www.outreach.com/realmz/ptp.tips.html and
http://www.outreach.com/realmz/ptp.faq.html respectively.
4.2.1 Q) I'm trapped!! I've tried everything!! How do I get out of the
Fingertip Mountains/Spider's Nest?
A) Have you tried the Encounter button? Try flying or spider climbing
or something.
4.2.2 Q) How do I save Tessandra?
A) Try that nifty Encounter button again. Make sure someone in your
party's got some spell points and a few good tricks up their sleeves.
4.2.3 Q) Why won't the guards let me back into town?
A) You have to get permission to leave first, and second, if you are
carrying or wearing a Griloch's necklace, then get rid of it!
4.3.4 Q) Why does it hang at the end of this scenario when I try to fight
the army of Grilochs?
A) Scenario bug? Try dropping your NPC's before you start this fight.
4.3.5 Q) Why can't I get into the castle in the south?
A) In version 1.0, the castle was just a red herring. You can see it
but you couldn't get to it. Now there is a secret entrance through
the mountains, but once you get to the castle, you must not be wearing
a Griloch's necklace. (You might need to be wearing a necklace of
Berthune.)
4.3 Assault on Giant Mountain
A rough page of info is available at:
http://www.outreach.com/realmz/realmz.asogm.html
4.3.1 Q) What does the boulder with the 2 indentations do?
A) Nothing. Tim was going to use it for something, where you put two
coins or your hands into the indentations or something, but ran out of
time, and just released the scenario with the boulder in place. It's
a red herring. Move on.
4.3.2 Q) How do I get past the Glowing dog?
A) Use your encounter button and give him some food (aka. iron ration).
4.3.3 Q) Am I finished? Where's the all the fanfare and hoorahs?
A) Go to the Baron in the east of the city. The king is does nothing.
4.3.4 Tip) Don't kill the hag that's foaming at the mouth. Later you'll find
her body in town, and on it will be a gloomy ring. Take it to the
King's Graveyard. You'll have to figure out the rest.
4.3.5 Q) What other uses does the Horn of Annoyance have?
A) Aside from summoning the "Vermin" at the cave in the west, you can
also use it at the gorge where all the hill giants hurl stones down on
you. If you click the encounter button just before you get to the
fortress, and "Use" the Horn, it will cause them to plummet to their
death, and you will no longer have to deal with them when you go past
that way.
4.3.6 Q) Where are the dwarves?
A) They're in a cave just south east of the town. When you enter
you will find "lots of foot-prints". Go to the edge of the lake and
click on the encounter button and cast some spell (fly, teleport...)
and you will be transported to the island in the middle of the lake.
Walk around on the island.
4.3.7 Q) Where is Lequetus [the father of all giant-kind]? -or- How do I
get to him/that castle on the other side of the moat?
A) You must return the Axe of Ashbelt to the dwarves. Get the Anvil
of Pain from the Dwarves, find the sword: Giant Slayer and smash it
by "using" the anvil. Then a little rock will sprout up in the moat
arount Lequetus's island allowing you to cross over. The island is
located in the south eastern most corner of the scenario. (Go past
the hill giant citadel, go through the mountain passage and head east.
4.3.8 Q) I've finished the hill giant's citadel, destroyed the ice and fire
giant's citadel, killed Lequetus and co., went back to the king and the
Baron, and got NOTHING! Where is the end of the game message? How do
I get the Flail of Doom +5 that everyone is talking about?
A) There is some bug in versions of this scenario up to v.2.2.1 I have
not played through v.2.3 to confirm if the bug still exists. You must
destroy Lequetus _first_, before you do anything else (kill off any off
the other giants), and return to the Baron's castle. The King will
reward you with the Flail of Doom +5 and you will get the "You have won
the game" message. You can go back and do the rest of the scenario
after this and obtain the usual hoorahs. Or if you want to do things
in "partial right order" do everything, but do not finish the "last
room" in the hill giant's citadel. Do everything else in order, and
after you defeat Lequetus, go back to the Baron, then come back and
finish off the giants. This is the way to get maximum good stuff from
this scenario. (Thanks to Thomas Weigle)
4.4 Castle in the Clouds
Tip sheet available at:
http://www.outreach.com/realmz/citc.tip.html
4.4.1 Q) How do I get out of Hell castle? I can't get out the door on the
second level?
A) In version 1.0 of CitC, there is a bug in which the door on the
second level is one way. Use the Encounter Button/home trick. (see
trick 5.2.3)
4.4.2 Q) What happens when you shoot that buck in the woods?
A) If you manage to hit it, eat it and you will be permanently
protected from 1st level spells.
4.4.3 Q) I'm at the end of the scenario, and the lake tells me that "a path
that was previously closed is now open." What path is it talking
about?
A) The path is to Cross Island.
4.5 Destroy the Necronomicon
Tip sheet available at: http://if.bidmc.harvard.edu/~ichou/archives/realmz/dtn.tips.html
4.5.1 Q) Where is X deadstone? How do I get X deadstone? Which coming of
doom is X deadstone for?
A) What follows is my comprehensive spoiler list for deadstones:
4.5.2 Q) Where is the Xth coming of doom? How do I get to Xth coming of
doom?
A) What follows is the comprehensive spoiler list for the locations of
each coming of doom.
1st: On the island in the middle of the map. You get across to the
island by crossing the rocks @X52,Y30. The pyramid itself is
@X:49,Y:42. It arrives around midnight on the 35th day.
2nd: In a clearing in the Northwest of the map. The cave entrance to
the clearing is @X:19,Y:7. The pyramid is @X:7,Y:9. It
arrives around midnight on the 45th day.
3rd: In the middle of Starling village @X:83,Y:11. It arrives at
midnight on the 54th day.
4th: In the area past the red "2-faced gate" the location is @X:86,Y:41
and it arrives around midnight about 10 days after you finish
the 3rd.
4.5.3 Q) Is the axe in the third bastion necessary for the completion of the
scenario? How do I get the axe in the third bastion?
A) No, the axe is not neccessary. But it's a pretty awesome axe. You
can get it by drinking a gaseous form potion, which you can purchase
from the shop @X:7,Y:78.
4.5.4 Q) How do I use the portals to get into and out of the Abyss?
A) The word "shastik" (in pre-v4.0 version is "shirak") will activate
the portal in the 4th bastion and get you into the abyss. The word
"vistock" will activate the portal in the bastion in the abyss to get
you home.
4.5.5 Q) What's the deal with the guard in the weapons shop in [Queen
Selene's] castle?
A) Hit the encounter button and cast a charm humanoid spell. He'll
give you some weapons. One is not magical. Take a look at it before
you decide to chuck it.
4.5.6 Tip) NPC's are plentiful in this scenario. Some of which are pretty
nifty: giants, titans, tigtaurs... but it becomes obvious fairly
quickly, that the "large" NPC's are not always an advantage. In tight
places, they just get in your way, and being that they have more
"surface-area" they tend to get beat up pretty quickly. (contributed
by Rick Decker, confirmed by --ed.)
4.5.7 Tip) This scenario has some wraiths. If you turn them, they are pretty
good NPC's to keep. They're small (see above), they have lots of
stamina, and they charm almost anything they hit. (also contributed by
Rick Decker, and I agree --ed.)
4.6 Griloch's Revenge
Tip sheet available at: http://if.bidmc.harvard.edu/~ichou/archives/realmz/gr.tips.html
4.6.1 Q) Where is the [top/middle/bottom] piece of the Spear of Light?
A) The middle piece is found inside the burning bush dungeon. The
bottom pice is on 'K' Island, but you need the Staff of Seeking. And
the top piece is given to you when you return the Icon of Ahcrahn.
4.6.2 Q) How do I get the Staff of Seeking?
A) You need to figure out how to get inside the dwarf's shifting shack
in Cheltin.
4.6.3 Q) Where is the Icon of Ahcrahn?
A) It's in Lonum Keep. You will need the dingy to get to and from
Lonum Keep. If you use the teleporter in Cheltin Castle, you will not
have a way back.
4.6.4 Q) Where is the dingy?
A) The brother tells you where the dingy is. He needs to give you a
map to a secret tunnel that leads to the dingy, however he forgets to
give it to you when he gives you the oars.
4.6.5 Q) What do all the levers in Griloch's Castle do?
A) The upper three is a combination, and the lower one activates a
portal depending on the combination of the upper three. The correct
combination takes you to the underground maze.
4.6.6 Q) Why can't I find any of the things needed?
A) Try turning the SEARCH button on.
4.7 Search for the White Dragon
Tip sheet available at: http://if.bidmc.harvard.edu/~ichou/archives/realmz/sftwd.tips.html
Sequel to Castle in the Clouds. (BIG WARNING -- BIG SPOILERS TO FOLLOW)
4.7.1 Q) I was minding my own business, and all of a sudden I'm dead.
What should I do?
A) Save! Save often!
4.7.2 Q) What is that couple of white squares that stick out into the lake?
A) Well, you must be a faithful Realmz patcher, and have been
patching for some time. I'm sad to inform you that it's time to
download a full copy of Realmz and replace your "Data"
folder. One of the updaters omitted a few important graphics,
namely a dock and a ship, which those three little white
squares should be.
4.7.3 Q) What the *@%#$ do all the *#&%*$! levers do?
A) Which one(s)?
4.7.3.1
4.7.3.2
4.7.3.3
4.7.3.4
4.7.3.5
4.7.3.6
4.7.3.7
4.7.4 Q) Where is the "man to the south" that the gryphons were talking
about? I've searched every house south of the battle with the
dragons and the gryphons.
A) You got to go a lot further south than those houses. You're no
where near where the man actually lives.
4.7.5 Q) I'm at the dock and the boat, and the man tells me I can't
sail because and that there's no wind. What do I do now?
A) Well, there's one other task that you have not yet done.
Look to the northeast. There's some gryphons who could use
your help first.
4.7.6 Q) What do I do with the sword in the tree?
A) Pull it out. One out of twenty will successfully yank it out.
But it's not important to the scenario, so don't worry if you
don't manage to get it.
4.7.7 Q) How do I get past the canyon where you get blown back by the strong
winds?
A) If you can't get past it, you're not ready to get past it.
4.7.8 Q) I lost [insert name of some special NPC here]. Do I need
him/her later to complete the game?
A) Depends... The only NPC I'm sure you'll need is Blake, and perhaps
Chloe.
4.7.9 Q) I'm stuck in the maze Zaphres' castle. How do I get out?
A) Ahh, an unfortunate soul who pulled that third lever.
The answer is... trial and error... it can be done, but might
be easier to do if you had "Wizard's Eye".
4.8 Mithril Vault
No information available -- we just know it's coming because we see it in the
list of scenarios and it's greyed out.
Work halted on this scenario until next spring.
4.9 Siege at Natari
No information available -- we just know it's coming because we see it in the
list of scenarios and it's greyed out.
Work halted on this scenario until next spring.
4.10 Blood Ties
No information available -- we just know it's coming because we see it in the
list of scenarios and it's greyed out.
Work halted on this scenario until next spring.
5 Tips and tricks of the trade
5.0.1 Q) What are some "neat" bugs, cheats, or "pro" strategies for this
game?
A) WARNING!!! THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS (for the purists).
Granted that some of these are just bugs that may be done away with
soon, and others are just little tricks that I've learned. But either
way, they can really make the game boring if you use some of these
tricks or cheats.
5.1 Tips from other players
--ed.
5.1.1 Tip) Characters wearing rings of regeneration don't need to be
bandaged: the lose a stamina point per round and they gain a stamina
point per round.
5.1.2 Tip) Don't you hate it when a magic using monster charms one of your
party and you have to kill him/her? Just charm him/her back if one or
your spell casters has a charm spell. I believe dispel magic works in
Version 2.2 and better.
5.1.3 Tip) Good way to deal with archers and magic using characters: they
tend to deal with attackers that are near by before launching arrows or
spells. If you don't have a character with a missile weapon, but have
a 1st level Enchanter, you can Summon a monster to do your bidding and
place it near the archer/spell caster. It will keep it busy for you.
(Thanks to Dave Wetzel)
5.1.4 Tip) (CoB) Okay, so you want better weapons and armor, but can't afford
to buy it? Get into the castle; agree to go on the quest for the
spider tower (this should be the first thing you do anyways). The king
let's you take what you want from the castle's armory, right? Well,
heck, clean 'em out! Take as much as you can possibly carry.
EVERYTHING if you can manage it. Go to the store and sell everything
you don't plan on keeping. You'll have enough gold to buy the stuff
you really want. It's a useful strategy in CoB, but I think you also
get stuff in AoGM.
5.1.5 Tip) Tired of constantly getting jumped by random kobold attacks?
Can't get wink of rest because hill giants keep jumping you? Cast
yourself a Sentry spell (this is a fairly high level spell) becuase it
does away with all surprise attacks. On the down
side, I think it also prevents "good" random encounters.
5.1.6 Tip) Here's a combat strategy by Chris Baginski(?): At the beginning
of any fight, as the Monk is usually one of the first to go on my side
(again, standard robe of speed/boots of speed combo) I target enemy
spellcasters with my Biting Vipers. Not only do they not get to cast
spells this round if they haven't yet, but because they are poisoned
they won't be casting spells in any other rounds. This allows time for
my Priest to drop an Insect Plague/Wall of Thorns and for my MU to lay
down a Wall of Ice. At this point, the troops of my archer, crusader
(with the might big sword... BTW, did anyone else realize that the
Sword of Voltar is only a one-handed weapon, but has the damage and
caste restrictions of a Two-handed sword?) and my Dwarven Fighter
(with the mighty big axe) to start picking the baddies to pieces.
5.1.7 Tip) Here's a combat tip from Max Fellwalker:
I always cast 'Festering Wounds' ASAP in large battles. It whittles
away at the out-of-reach emenies while I'm busy with the ones nearby.
I also keep my rogue supplied with Ring of Monster summoning and a
scroll case full of 'Monster Summoning'...throwing extra people on the
field as extra attackers/body shields/cannon fodder. It also helps to
take out any magic-using enemies first thing, but that becomes pretty
obvious.
Tip) Bonus, in version 2.2, you get 4 NPC's (non-player characters)
which can be summoned monsters that will follow you around until they
are killed off. (--ed.)
5.1.8 Tip) Here's a combat tip from Ian Russell Ollmann
I'm a devote of the Wall of Paralysis (Priest lvl 5). A lot of high
level monsters are fairly magic resistant and one-shot spells like
festering wounds are usually shrugged off by most of the enemy.
However, a wall of paralysis lingers for a few rounds and hits all
within at the beginning of every round _and_ every time they move a
space withing the area covered by the wall. Once they are paralyzed,
they tend to stay that way and even a first level MU wielding a wet
noodle can finish off a paralyzed creature in a single blow. It
doesn't matter if the monster has 90% magic resistance. With the
strange random way that monsters who are stuck behind a barrier move,
they will usually bounce in and out of the wall five or six times
during their movement, usually resulting in eventual paralysis. So,
what you do is cast the wall inbetween you and the monsters during the
first round and have your entire party (even the MU!) line up on the
edge. Take note of which monsters are paralyzed and then kill them in
a single blow! This is the sort of spell which can allow you to defeat
veteran mind slayers. The only caveat is not to try to cross the
barrier yourself! (Oh yes, also a big hooray for annihilate when above
level three. Level one has certain unfortunate drawbacks, since the
spell's range at that low power level is too limited to allow the spell
caster to escape the spell's effects! The range at level two and
sometimes three is usually too limited to allow all of your party to
escape the spell's effects, since your MU is usually cowering at the
rear.)
5.1.9 Tip) Note above reference to boots of speed/robe of speed combo:
The robe of Speed is sooooooo cool on a monk (I [I believe that Richard
means his monk character. Here is a clear example of what happens when
you play Realmz too much. The first symptom is the inability to
distinguish between fantasy and reality. Sad, isn't it? --ed.) went
from 2 attacks per round to 4!) -- Thanks to Richard Drysdall.
5.1.10 Tip) Here's a long and informative tip by Li-Te Cheng on usage of
spell casters in a tough battle against other spell casters:
That fight [the fight with all the undead mages in CitC. --ed.] took me
a few (painful) tries to beat. One thing that really helps is good
constitution. Hp's are precious for any spell caster, especially in
this battle, as I realized.
My strategy was:
1. prepare scrolls with (in order of decreasing priority)
2. have spell casters prepare arcanic bubble
3. then set up protection spells : (in order of decreasing priority)
4. in combat, try to prevent any kind of damage from being inflicted
on your spell casters, while you hit the enemy casters BEFORE they
can cast (which would get rid of the majority of those pesky cosmic
blasts). The main tactic I used was to blink my Priest into the
wall a little north of the horde of monsters, then cast insect plague
(which doesn't require line of sight and can affect a bigger area
than a wall spell) on the whole lot. Similarly for the sorcerer and
enchanter. I have them give the undead a taste of their own medicine
by constantly pounding them with high intensity cosmic blasts (again,
which doesn't require line of sight). Since they're in a wall, they
can't be physically hit.
5.1.11 Tip) Neat thing to with your NPC's from Robert Boyle
It looks like lots of folk caste adrenalin/haste prior to combat if
they know its coming up. Unfortunately, this doesn't affect your NPCs.
I have noticed, though, in playing CoB with Realmz 4.0 that if you cast
adrenalin on your NPCs they stay permanently hasted. Kinda nice to
charmed some wicked monsters, like a flesh fiend, with poison or
paralysis attacks and see them get six hits a round in.
5.2 Tricks/beneficial bugs in the game
-ed.
5.2.1 Trick) Neat thing with "Wall of.." spells: Although you cannot cast
them if you are blocked by an obstacle (wall, tree, stalagmite) the
wall will still extend through the obstacle to the other side. One fun
thing to do is; blink yourself onto the other side of a thin wall
(works great at the arena and in the looted graveyard) then cast a
Wall of (Force/Ice/Thorns) and orient it such that you are casting it
on your side of the wall, but a part of it is on the other side. Sit
back and relax as dumb monsters kill themselves trying to get to you.
Great fun.
5.2.2 Trick) Cool thing that I've found that I've yet to discover a use for:
You can blink yourself inside a wall! Very safe place to be to hide
yourself from conventional melee and missile attacks, but you can't
move or cast spells that require targetting except for another blink
spell.
5.2.3 Trick) A useful trick that is available in (I think --ed.) all of the
scenarios is the ability to get yourself back to the main map at any
time. Just click on the Encounter button and then on the Speak button.
Speak the word, "home", and you will be transported back to the main
map.
5.2.4 Hack) Frustrated because your crusader can't use missile weapons?
You can hack the character's save file by: give the character the
missile weapon you want him to use. Use a Hex editor and find that
weapon [and it's accessories if applicable] and then "equip" it by
changing it's equiped/unequiped flag. See below.
5.2.5 Trick) to quickly gain levels (the cheater's way):
1. Begin new adventure in Assault.
2. Set diffuculty to veteran, this should cause lower level groups to
gain experience at 250%.
3. Get horn of deafening [does he mean 'Annoyance'? --ed.]
4. Go to square near hill giant citadel, just before gaints throw rocks
at you. I think it is Y:85 X:86, or vise versa.
5. Unequip all items on first charachter, and tade[?huh? -ed.] so the
horn is first on his list. [this is probably not necessary --ed.]
6. Press E (encounter), click on items, press U (use), click mouse
twice, click done. All charachters gain 5000 experience.
7. Repeat.
Its takes me about 15 min. of doing this to get my full party to gain
one level, which includes a MU and Enc., both level 19 - 375,000 exp.
per level. In this time, my level 25 rogue gains 25,000 short of 2
levels. (Contributed by "SolVenT")
5.2.6 Trick)If you're willing to trade large quantities of money for
hard-to-come-by items, shops will "recharge" things for you. Sell an
item like a used-up staff or Prism of Power, then buy it back and it's
fully charged! This also works for potions and things like the Arrow of
Lightning or Biting Vipers: split it up into separate items. Sell each
of the items in a shop. As the shop buys a single arrow/potion/item, it
turns to a group of items again--in other words, a single dose of Cure
Critical Wounds potion turns into 3 doses, which you can then buy back.
You can repeat this as many times as you like; I have characters with
60 Arrows of Lightning and 80 doses of Cure Critical Wounds!
(Contributed by Andrew Sasaki)
5.2.7 Tip) From time to time (especially in DtN against Greckles) you will
find yourself hit with so many "Entangle" spells that your characters
are permanently entangled. Until now, the solution has been to use a
hex editor to "fix" your characters because dispel magic and remove
curse doesn't work when trying to "legitimately" fix your character.
You can try casting a "Haste" spell to unentangle your characters.
(Contributed by Ace via Quanah Harjo)
6 The Realmz Hacker's Guide!
--ed.
6.1 Realmz Character save format
--ed.
Hex offset(s) Attribute
0000-0003 Age in days (currently unimplemented --ed.)
0004-0005 To hit AC 0
0006 Dodge missile
0007 Missile adjust
0008 Two handed adjust
****
000a Attacks per round (this value divided by 2)
****
000e Number of Items (max = 1e = 30[dec])
****
Basic stats: Works at least up to 19 (25[dec]). But related abilities
don't change when you hack these (e.g. changing Strength to 25 doesn't
increase damage or hit).
001a Brawn (formerly Strength)
001b Knowledge (formerly Intelligence)
001c Judgement (formerly Wisdom)
001d Agility (formerly Dexterity)
001e Vitality (formerly Constitution)
**** (formerly Karma now unused)
0020 Luck
****
0022 Armor Rating (without any armor, 0-100 scale)
0023 Magic resistance
0024 Damage (rolls over at negative 100[dec])
[I'm not sure what the original author meant by "rolls
over". --ed.]
0025 Race:
01 human
02 shadow elf
03 elf
04 orc
05 furfoot
06 gnome
07 dwarf
08 half elf
09 half orc
0026 Religion
01 lawful good
02 chaotic good
03 neutral good
04 neutral
05 neutral evil
06 chaotic evil
07 lawful evil
0027 Gender
01 male
02 female
0028 Current Skill Level
****
002a Movement
****
0034-0035 Weight of current load
0036-0037 Weight of maximum load
0038-0039 Current stamina (hit points)
003A-004B Maximum stamina (hit points)
****
0040-0041 Current spell points
0042-0043 Maximun spell points
0044-0047 Victory points (as a negative)
Victory points (formerly experience points) is stored
as a negative using two's complement format. Beginnin
with "00 00 00 00", the hex equivalent for the next
level requirement is subtracted. So a first level
fighter who needs 2000[dec] experience [points] to
reach the next level will be set to "FF FF F8 39".
Don't set this to zero. Set it to something just less
than that.
0048-005d Character's name
****
0066-0677 Number of gold pieces
0068-0069 [Number of] gems
006a-006b [Number of pieces of] jewelry
When you change [the] amount of money, weight of
current load is automatically affected.
006c Character's caste (formerly class)
01 fighter
02 monk
03 crusader (formerly paladin)
04 archer (formerly ranger)
05 rogue (formerly thief)
06 sorcerer (formerly mage, formerly magic user)
07 priest (formerly cleric)
08 enchanter
If you change a fighting caste character into a magic
using character, give it spell points and spells, then
it keeps its fighting attributes such as readied
weapons/armor and hits per round
006e-0096 Conditions. (contributed by Yu-chiao Hsueh and
Brad Wilson) [Herein lies the conditions. The original
author did not figure out the exact addresses, and I
haven't had the time to figure them out myself, but
they are here and they take the following form:
00 off
FF on
0A temporary --ed.]
006e In Retreat
006f Is Helpless
0070 Entangled
0071 Cursed
0072 Magic Aura (formerly Blessed)
0073 Stupid
0074 Moving Slowly
0075 Shielded from Normal Hits
0076 Shielded from Projectiles
0077 Poisened
0078 Regenerate
0079 Shielded from Heat Attacks
007a Shielded from Cold Attacks
007b Shielded from Electrical Attacks
007c Shielded from Chemical Attacks
007d Shielded from Mental Attacks
007e Pro' from 1st level spells
007f Pro' from 2nd level spells
0080 Pro' from 3rd level spells
0081 Pro' from 4th level spells
0082 Pro' from 5th level spells
0083 Strong
0084 Protection from Foe
0085 Speedy
0086 Invisible
0087 Animated
0088 Turned to Stone
0089 Blind
008a Is Diseased
008b Confused
008c Reflecting Spells
008d Reflecting Attacks
008e Attack Bonus (formerly Does Bonus Damage)
008f Absorbing Energy
0090 Losing Energy
0091 Absorbing Spell Energy
0092 Hindered Attacks
0093 Hindered Defense
0094 Defense Bonus (formerly Increased Defense)
0095 Silenced
0096-00e9 Spells known
00 not known
01 known
They begin with first level spells and go sequentially
through to the seventh level. This field is the same
for all magic using characters. If you give a non-
magic using character spells and spell point[s], they
will NOT be able to cast any spells, with the one
exeception of "Detect Magic" in the items screen.
****
00ea To hit magic using
00eb To hit undead
00ec To hit demonic
00ed To hit reptilian
00ee To hit evil creatures
00ef To hit intelligent
00f0 To hit large creatures
00f1 To hit non-humanoid
These all take the format of +x to hit y. The value
you enter becomes x. I don't know how many [special
abilities] one character can have, but only 4 [four]
will be displayed.
****
0126-01cd Items.
Items begin at 0126. Each [item] takes 6 bytes
("00 00 00 00 00 00") [which is] divided as follows.
The first 2 bytes identify the item. Item ID numbers
are below [in the following sections]. The third byte
is either 00 for not readied, or 01 for readied. The
fourth byte is either 00 fornot identified or 01 for
identified. The final two bytes either give the number
of uses or contain the falue FF FF for items that have
infinite uses. Important: if you add an item, you
must adjust the value at location 000e or it will be
lost when you begin the game.
Example: the following signifies a readied, identified
Speckled luck stone:
02 6e 01 01 FF FF
Cursed items sometimes have different icons...
01ef Hand to Hand Damage - stored in 1 byte 2's complement
form. (Courtesy Rick Decker)
01f1-01fe Special abilities (courtesy of Tim Ambler)
01f1 Sneak Attack (formerly Backstab)
01f2 Hide in shadows
01f3 Sucessful Resurrection
01f4 Cause Major Wound (formerly Critical hit)
01f5 Detect secret area
01f6 Acrobatic act
01f7 Detect trap
01f8 Disarm trap
01f9 Hear noise
01fa Force Lock (formerly Bend Bars/Force door)
01fb Move silently
01fc Pick lock
01fd Pick pocket
01fe Read sorcerer scroll
6.2 List of Weapons
--ed.
HEX
VALITEM
0001 Dagger +1
0002 Dagger of Shielding +2
0003 Dagger -5
0004 Dagger of Styx +2
0005 Dagger of Penetration +2
0006 Sting +3
0007 Dagger of Anti-Magic +1
0008 Dagger of Spells +1
0009 Frozen Viper +2
000a Longsword
000b Longsword +1
000c Longsword +2
000d Longsword +3
000e Longsword +2 Flameheart
000f Longsword +2 Frostblade
0010 Sword of Resistance +2
0011 Longsword of Protection +2
0012 Sword of No Redemption -2
0013 Sword of The Lost Soul -3
0014 Broadsword
0015 Broadsword +1
0016 Broadsword +2
0017 Penetration Broadsword +2
0018 Two-Handed Sword
0019 Two-Handed Sword +1
001a Two-Handed Sword +2
001b Two-Hand Electro Sword +2
001c Sword of The Voltar +2
001d Sword of Ill Repute -2
001e Sword of Defense +1
001f Scimitar
0020 Scimitar +1
0021 Scimitar +3
0022 Scimitar of Speed +2
0023 Scimitar of Trickery -2
0024 Scimitar of Dodging +2
0025 Mace
0026 Mace +1
0027 Mace +2
0028 Mace of Destruction +3
0029 Nethermace +2
002a Mace of Evil Heroism -2
002b Mace of Resistance +2
002c Nunchuka
002d Nunchuka +1
002e Nunchuka +2
002f Nunchuka of Speed +2
0030 Nunchuka of Dexterity +2
0031 The Sleeping Dragon -2
0032 The Four Winds +4
0033 Nunchucka of Kanfir +3
0034 Jo Stick
0035 Jo Stick +1
0036 Jo Stick +2
0037 Jo Stick of Speed +2
0038 Jo Stick of Protection +2
0039 Jo Stick of Rygar +4
003a Jo Stick of Tragedy -3
003b Morning Star
003c Morning Star +2
003d Morning Star +4
003e Throwing Stars
003f Morning Star of Defense +2
0040 Morning Star of Pain -2
0041 Flail
0042 Flail +2
0043 Flail of Cat Tails +4
0044 Flail of Doom +5
0045 Flail of No Hope -3
0046 Flail of Devilish Dare +4
0047 Tip Sword
0048 Tip Sword of Stench -2
0049 Sword of The Powers +4
004a Penetration Tip Sword +2
004b Short Sword
004c Short Sword of Speed +2
004d Short Sword +3
004e Short Sword of Defense +2
004f Sword of The Omen -3
0050 Sword of Regeneration +2
0051 War Axe
0052 War Axe +1
0053 War Axe +2
0054 War Axe +3
0055 War Axe of Weakness -2
0056 War Axe of Strength +2
0057 Throwing Stars +1
0058 Biting Vipers +1
0059 Throwing Axe
005a Throwing Axe of Sketch +1
005b Throwing Axe +2
005c Battle-axe
005d Battle-axe +1
005e Battle-axe of Varg +2
005f Battle-axe of Strength +2
0060 Battle-axe +3
0061 Battle-axe of Death -2
0062 Quarter Staff
0063 Quarter Staff +1
0064 Staff of Merlin +3
0065 Quarter Staff +2
0066 Quarter Staff
0067 Quarter Staff +3
0068 Bow
0069 Perrin's Eye +3
006a Bow of Thumbs -3
006b Bow of Shalomar +2
006c Bow +1
006d Darts
006e Dart of Hornet's Nest
006f Dart of Frost
0070 Dart of Mental Terror
0071 Dart of Poison
0072 Battlestaff +4
0073 Staff of Protection +2
0074 Staff of Spells +2
0075 Staff of FireBalls +1
0076 Staff of Stones +2
0077 Staff of Missiles +1
0078 Spear
0079 Spear +1
007a Spear of Piercing +2
007b Spear of Might +3
007c Spear of Wondrous Might +5
007d Club
007e Club +2
007f Club of Pummeling +4
0080 Arrow of Saphron +3
0081 Arrow of Seeking
0082 Arrow of Lightning
0083 Arrow of Death
0084 Flaming Arrow
0085 Arrow Storm
0086 Exploding Arrow of Antioch
0087 Staff
0088 Stone Hammer
0089 Stone Axe
008a War Hammer
008b War Hammer +1
008c Pike Axe
008d Pike Axe +1
008e Halberd
008f Halberd +1
0090 Throwing Daggers
0091 Throwing Daggers +1
0092 Poison Throwing Daggers
0093 Throwing Hammer
0094 Throwing Hammer +1
0095 Throwing Hammer +2
0096 Throwing Hammer +3
0097 Battle Hammer
0098 Battle Hammer +1
0099 Battle Hammer +2
009a Battle Hammer +4
009b Bag of Rocks
009c Bag of Boulders
009d Cross Bow
009e Cross Bow + 2
009f Cross Bow of Thumbs
00a0 Death Dealer
00a1 Double Dragon +2
00a2 Dagger +1
00a3 Stormbringer +5
00a4 Holy Venom +6
00a5 War Hammer +5
00a6 Bow of Champions +4
00a7 Sword of the Paladins +4
00a8 Hammer of Thor +7
00a9 Shuriken
00aa Sling of Bullets +3
00ab Throwing Knife +5
00ac Deaths Head Axe +4
00ad Blade of the Underworld
00ae Blade of Blackpool +5
00af Dumbfounder +3
00b0 Cobra Strike +4
00b1 Excalibur +7
00b2 Bull Whip +1
00b3 Bull Whip +4
00b4 Snake Bite +3
6.3 List of Helms, gloves and boots
HEX
VALITEMS
0190 Helm
0191 Helm of Pain -1
0192 Helm of Might +2
0193 Helm of True Sight +3
0194 Helm of Defense +5