Monastery Options
Now that you are familiar with the screen displays, you can plunge into the world of Lamarge.
The adventure begins in the monastery of Mooncity. Monastery options will be available in all monasteries of the country, yet only there. You can now assemble your party with the help of the options Create a Hero, Recruit a Hero, Dismiss a Hero and Delete a Hero.
Creating a Hero
You can create a character to your liking. The process involves:
a) Naming the Character
You enter a name using the keyboard. If you wish to change a name already typed or want to eradicate a typing error, delete previous letters by pressing Backspace. Confirm your choice of name by pressing enter.
Should you want to alter a character's name after having input return, press N. You can then type the name you prefer. All character names are limited by 7 characters.
b) Choosing a Character's Class
The inhabitants of Lamarge can be roughly divided into four classes, depending on origin, education and interests. Male and female representatives of a class have an entirely equal standing.
A class is chosen by clicking on its icon or by typing the first letter of the class name (i.e. M for Magician, G for Goddess, W for Warrior, A for Amazon, P for Priest, F for Fairy, S for Samurai or B for Banshee).
Magician and Goddess
Members of this class have dwelt upon the history and ancient lore of Mount Melfur from childhood on. Hoping that magic will be restored to all creatures of Lamarge, both magician and goddess are bent on using their mental power to further the cause of good in the world. Their inclination towards magic equips them well against mental attacks.
Warrior and Amazon
Children who love to romp, explore and fear no fight are destined to become brave warriors or amazons when they grow up. Most of them will have been trained by weapon masters or other Lamargians with a life of fighting experience. Both the male and the female fighter tend to solve problems with their sturdy weapons. Combining sheer force with an elegant stroke neither meddle with mental attacks.
Priest and Fairy
Like Magician and Goddess, these two have a magical bent and are familiar with rune magic. They tend to step back in physical combat and cannot lead mental attacks. However, their healing powers and diplomatic skills make Priest and Fairy invaluable members of Lamargian society.
Samurai and Banshee
Samurai and Banshee have taken a catholic interest both in physical struggles and magical dealings from childhood on. They embody a well rounded mixture of combat skills and mental powers. Being extremely dexterous, they can wield two weapons at a time. Also, they tend to land the odd lucky stroke, otherwise extremely rare.
c) Choosing a Character's Race
The races on Lamarge have evolved due to varying climatic influences and conditions of life. The cold northern lands with their constant winds and harsh winters have brought forward a sturdy, steadfast breed of men, entirely different from the tall, nimble southerners with their proverbial tall growth and dexterous hands. Having mingled over the centuries, though, the races have been enriched by a variety of aptitudes and skill mixes.
A character's race is chosen by clicking on it or by typing the first letter of its name on the keyboard (i.e. O for Odinary, T for Tidician, D for Dyce or A for Allany).
Odinary
The Odinary originate from the north. An adverse environment let only the strongest members of this people survive. Hence the assertion that the Odinary are the planet's strongest inhabitants. On the other hand, tenacious rumors spread word of their supposed clumsiness and stupidity.
Tidician
The Tidician are at home in the woodlands of Lamarge. Of superior strength and constitution, the Tidicians often lack charisma and dexterity.
Dyce
These Dyce are city born and bred. They specialize in the sciences and, foremost, in magic. Their intelligence and magical skills are slightly superior to those of the other classes.
Allany
The Allany are town dwellers, too. Yet while they are endowed with exceptional charisma and intelligence, their strength and constitution definitely are below average.
d) Determining the Character's Skills
Having given your character a name, class and race you will be shown his or her attributes. They are rolled by the computer under consideration of race and class. The attributes have the following meaning:
- Name
- What your character is called.
- Body
- This attribute denotes physical condition. the higher the mark, the better the health. If the character sustains injury, those damage points are subtracted from his or her constitution points. The character will die when hit points drop to naught. Only strong magic can then resurrect your companion.
- Mind
- Mind reflects your character's mental prowess. Mental attacks or damage reduce this attribute. If it decreases down to naught the character will also die. Here, too, powerful magic is known to work wonders.
- Magic
- A character wishing to create or use rune spells needs magic points.
- Strength
- A hero's strength tells you what he or she can physically achieve. As the physical damage a character can inflict upon adversaries depends on his or her strength, this attribute perceptibly influences combat. Other actions requiring brute force should also be performed by the character with the greatest strength.
- Dexterity
- Dexterity and body control are vital for disarming traps, picking locks or performing other delicate tasks. An agile character will be more likely to avoid enemy attacks and thus suffer fewer injuries in combat.
- I.Q. (Intelligence)
- The intelligence of a spell caster determines the effect of rune spells and the damage he or she can do with mental attacks. Some tasks in Spirit of Adventure can only be fulfilled by highly intelligent characters.
- Charisma
- Personality helps the party when negotiating with others. A person's charisma exercises a strong influence on the course of conversations. It is helpful to have one party member with great charisma. This companion can convince others and turn exchanges in favor of the party. Finally, the power of some rune spells is influenced by the caster's charisma.
- Gold
- This indicates the wealth of a character.
- Magic Skills
- The inhabitants of Lamarge are endowed with different magic skills. Each person can pursue up to six talents. The type of ability is determined by the character's class. You will learn more about magic skills later on.
e) Accept, Retry and Quit
If you are satisfied with your character, confirm your choice by clicking on Accept or by typing A. You can then proceed to creating the next character.
If you wish to change a character's race or class while maintaining his name, click on Retry or type R.
After having created a sufficient number of characters you can leave Creating a Character and return to the Monastery Options menu by clicking on 'Quit', typing Q or Esc.
Recruiting a Hero
A dark portrait window at the bottom of the screen indicates a free place in your party.
In order to add a character to your group, choose 'Recruiting a hero' either by clicking on it or by typing 2.
This will cause a list of all characters you have created to appear. Characters already added to your party are marked with a diamond.
Free, unmarked characters can join the group by being clicked on or by the line number being typed. The character chosen last will move to the leftmost free window. Each character can only be member of the party once.
If a person you have created does not appear on the list, try scrolling up or down with the respective arrow keys or by clicking on the arrow icons. Clicking on a chosen name or typing the line number adds this character to the party. He or she will then be shown in the last free icon window to the left. You can continue adding characters until the party of six is complete.
No character can be added more than once. Click End or type B to return to the Monastery Options menu.
Dismissing a Hero
If you wish to remove somebody from your party in order to accept another character, type 3 or click on Dismissing a Hero. A list of characters currently in the party will be displayed. You can now remove a character by typing the number of the line he or she is in (e.g. 1)or by mouse clicking on the line. While the list is on display you can also dismiss a person simply by clicking on their portrait. Click on End or type B to go back to the Monastery Options menu.
Deleting a Hero
Characters who are not members of your party can be deleted from the list. They will disappear forever, making way for new characters you might want to shape with the Create a Character option. Delete a person by typing 4 or by clicking on the monastery option Delete a character with your mouse.
A list of up to nine characters created by you will appear. It can be scrolled up or down to reveal more names with the up or down arrow keys or by clicking on the arrow icons.
Typing the character's line number or clicking on the respective line will now irrevocably delete him or her from the list. Make sure you really want to drop this person before giving the command.
Again, type B or click on End to enter the Monastery Options menu.
Loading a Game
You can load a saved game with the Monastery Options at any monastery. Obviously, you can only load a game if you have played and saved one before.
In order to load a game, type 5 or click on Load a Game.
Saving a Game
If you are in a monastery and happy with the condition and progress of your party you can save their game. Type 6 or click on Save a Game with your mouse. You will then be asked whether you really mean to save the game. If you confirm by typing J or by clicking on Yes the game will be saved. Remember that this will erase a game saved earlier.
If you are not sure you want to save the game and wish to leave the 0 option instead, type N or click on No.
B or End will return / you to the main Monastery menu.
Amiga and Atari owners should have a formatted disk handy for saving their progress. You can save as many games as you have formatted disks.
Leaving a Monastery
We recommend that you read main section IV before leaving the monastery and entering life on Lamarge.
If you feel ready to embark on your journey straight-away, though, enter the dangerous roads of Mooncity by pressing 7 or by clicking on Leave.
Conversations
The superior of a monastery is of eminent importance to the community's political and religious life. You might wish to talk to him or her while at a monastery. The information you gather might well be worth taking notes of…
Press 8 or click on Conversation in order to talk to the father or mother superior.