textfiles/apple/DOCUMENTATION/xyphus.1b

First Screen: 

HIT POINTS: 
The amount of damage your character can take. 

MAXIMUM HIT POINTS: 
Your character's full potential if unwounded. 

LEVEL: 
This is the measure of your character's experience and expertise. 

ENDURANCE LV: 
This is the indicator of your character's level of fatigue. 

WEAPON-IN-HAND: 
Tells what weapon the character has ready to use. 

ARMOR CLASS: 
This tells you what type of armor the character is wearing. 

GOLD OWNED: 
The amount of gold the character possesses. 

EXPERIENCE: 
This  figure  shows  how much experience the character has earned as a
result of victories in battles and gold found. 


Second Screen: 


SPELLS OWNED: 
(if the character is a Spellcaster)


Third Screen: 

WEAPONS OWNED: 
SELECT  ONE  (This  screen  permits  the  character  to   change   the
weapon-in-hand). 


Permanent Status Display

During  actual  game  play, there are always four lines of information
displayed at the bottom of the screen.  The information shown is: 


CHARACTER  NAME/PROFESSION   RACE/HIT   POINTS:    ENDURANCE   (1-100)
WEAPON-IN-HAND


On  occasion,  such  as  during  combat or when a spell has been cast,
special messages will be shown in this window.  When you have finished
reading such a message, press the spacebar to continue. 


Miscellaneous Commands

There are four other important  commands  to  remember  while  playing
Xyphus. They are: 

Q -
Quit  and save. Pressing "Q" will save the current game status to your
Game Disk, allowing you to  attend  to  frivolities  such  as  eating,
sleeping, or being social. 

W -
Weapon   Selection.   Pressing  "W"  will  allow  you  to  change  the
weapon-in-hand, and costs the character one movement turn. 

S -
Spell. This command allows you to cast spells, and will  be  discussed
in the file on Spellcasting. 

Z -
Change  text delay and movement delay. The text delay is the amount of
time that special messages are displayed on the screen.  The  movement
delay  is  the  amount  of  time  taken  for  response  to  a selected
directional move. Pressing "Z" will get the message: ENTER TEXT  DELAY
(1-9)  CURRENT  VALUE  IS  X;  followed by: ENTER MOVEMENT DELAY (1-9)
CURRENT VALUE IS X. Play with these values until you  have  found  the
right ones for you. 


Movement,Endurance, & Dexterity Factors

Each   character  and  creature  in  Xyphus  is  rated  for  movement,
endurance, and dexterity. What this means is that each  creature  will
move better on certain types of terrain and worse on others, as is the
case for the different races of player characters. 

Furthermore,  depending on the weapon used, each character or creature
will strike more frequently during the length  of  a  fight,  or  less
often.  For  example, a Dwarf wielding a two-handed longsword will not
strike nearly as frequently as an Elf using a hunting knife. (He  will
do  a lot more damage per blow, however). Different monster types will
strike at different rates as well. 

Finally, each character and creature  is  rated  for  endurance.  That
means  that  depending  on  the  weapon being used and the spell being
cast, the player will tire out more quickly or at a slower  pace.  The
effects  of fatigue on player cahracters is that there will be reduced
damage on blows struck or the character may cease to be able to  fight
at  all, and fatigued Spellcasters may not be able to cast some of the
more demanding spells. 


Armor & Weapons

Metal is very scarce is Arroya - The Dwarves are the only true  miners
and  smiths  in  the  whole  land  and there are only a few of them. A
warrior's wealth is often measured by the armor and weapons he or  she
owns.  There  is  no  plundering of corpses for weapons. In fact, when
possible, the  weapons  and  armor  are  buried  with  the  corpse  in
accordance  with  the  dictates  of  Arroyan culture. However, weapons
which are lost and have no  rightful  owner  may  be  claimed  by  any
Arroyan.  Legends  tell  of  many  magical weapons which are scattered
about the Lost Continent. 

The Arroyan warrior uses only one kind of armor,  and  only  the  most
powerful  of warriors have full suits.  The armor consists of a padded
jerkin of cloth, covered with a leather tunic that protects the  waist
and  hips.  The  tunic is in turn covered with a hauberk of chain mail
that covers the torso and protects the arms. Finally, a breastplate of
polished bronze is placed over the hauberk.  Most  Arroyans,  however,
cannot afford this much armor and they must collect it piece by piece.
Fortunately,  each  component  of the armor does provide an additional
degree of protection as it is accumulated. Custom  (and  practicality)
dictates  that  a warrior first purchase a shield, then begin building
his or her armor collection. No armorer will sell armor to  a  warrior
without a shield. 

Should a warrior manage to purchase a full suit of armor, there is yet
another  way of increasing his or her armor class. This is through the
purchase  of  an  enchantment  available  through  any  armorer.   The
enchantment  is  a  two-part  affair called the Veils of Szhaalin. The
first part is called the Inner Veil, and must be in place  before  the
second part - the Outer Veil - can be purchased. 


Weapons

There  are  many  types  of weapons available in Arroya, some of which
cannot be purchased anywhere. The forts and trading posts in different
parts of the continent may offer weapons particular to that locale  as
well  as  common weapons such as swords, maces, and morningstars. Mnay
of the special weapons  are  outlawed  in  other  parts  of  the  Lost
Continent  and  may  be confiscated by garrison commanders there. (The
program will take care of these simply by eliminating  them  when  you
move to a new scenario). 

Many of the creatures found in Arroya are enchanted by nature, and may
only  be  wounded  with magical or silver weapons. Most Lost Continent
veterans will tell you that if the creature  seems  unusual,  it  will
probably require the use of a special weapon to destroy it. 

At  some  time  your  party  may come across enchanted weapons useable
either by Fighters or Spellcasters. Be thankful and grab them! Some of
these weapons will last throughout the  campaign,  while  others  will
vanish  when  their  enchantment  is used up. Be warned that there are
cursed weapons around... 


SPELLCASTING & MAGIC AND  MONSTERS  ARE  IN  FILE  #2.  THEY  WILL  BE
RELEASED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE...