GETTING STARTED --------------- First off, there are a few things you need to know to move around the realm and survive. When you first enter the game, you will be in the safest room in the entire game: Town Square. Town Square is safe haven, which means that you cannot be attacked at all while in the room. There are other safe havens throughout the realm, but Town Square is unique in that whenever you are there, your body, fatigue and magic points all regenerate to 100% Awesome! This will aid you when you first start out. An additional benefit to being on safe haven is that no monsters can follow you there, so safe haven is always a safe place to run. Now for movement... The directions of travel are North, South, East, West, Up, Down, and Out. Some rooms also have special exits, such as "a locked door". In order to go to the locked door, you would type "go door". You can also abbreviate your movements, such as "n" for north or "o" for out. When you first enter the game, the area you will be in is known as Elfhelm. In Elfhelm, should you ever get into trouble, you can call the town guard to save you (unless you attack first). To call the town guard, just type "guard". When you first start exploring, we recommend that you begin east of Town Square (we will abbreviate Town Square as TS from now on). This area of Elfhelm is generally safe, and if you ever get into trouble, just make your way back to TS and you will be safe to try again. When you kill monsters, they will drop items which you can take and use or sell for money. You will need money to train for quests. Completing quests is how you level up in the game. When a monster is killed, you will see what items if any they have dropped onto the ground. You can see a list of items currently on the ground by typing "items". To pick up an item, type "get -the name of the item-". You can see what items you are currently carrying by type "inventory" or "inv" for short. When you type "items" to see what items are on the ground, they will be listed in numberical order one through twenty. You can also pick up items by typing get and the number of the item on the floor, such as "get 1". You can repeat the last command you enter into the game by typing a single period, such as "." For instance, if you want to pick up all the items on the ground, you could type "get 1" and then keep typing "." repeatedly until you have picked up all available items. Once you have items you want to sell, you have to go to the Merchantile to sell them. There are many merchantiles around the realm, but the one you should be concerned with is very close to TS. To sell your items, travel E S from TS. You can then type "menu" to see what you can buy or sell. Now lets talk about fighting and killing monsters. When you first entered the game, you had to choose a class and a race. Based on your choice, you are more or less classified into 2 categories: a fighter or a caster. For instance, barbarians, duelists, warriors, and thieves are fighters. Clerics, mystics, and sorcerers are casters. Let's say you chose to be a fighter (if you chose to be a caster, skip down to the next paragraph. The commands you use to attack a monster are: parry, hit, greatblow, and bash. You can start fighting by going E of TS. If there are no monsters currently in the room, you can call them by typing "yell". When a monster shows up, for instance a Shopkeeper, you can attack him by typing "greatblow shopkeeper" or "gr sho" for short. As noted above, you can also use parry or hit to attack as well. For information on the different types of attacks, type "help greatblow" or "help parry" or "help hit". The command "bash" does not necessary attack the monster, but it tries to knock him down. If the monster is knocked down, it won't be able to attack you for 8 seconds. Now let's say you chose to be a caster. The one caster class that can start with offensive spells is the sorcerer. Mystics and clerics must either find items to cast with, learn the offensive spells, or use the attack commands as noted above when first starting out. Sorcerers start off knowing the Lightning spell (spell 17)and the Langour spell (spell 2). The command to cast lightning on a monster is: "cast lightning on -monster name" or "c 17 on -monster name-" for short. For instance, if you go E of TS and type "yell", a monster will appear, let's say a Shopkeeper appears. You can attack it by typing "c 17 on sho". You can then type "." to repeat until the Shopkeeper is dead. Now let's talk about experience. As you kill monsters, you will gain experience points which will be applied to your quests. You can list your current quests and the experience required to complete them by typing "experience" or "exp" for short. The first 5 quests are known as your Stat Quests. When you type "exp", you will see how many more stats you need to attain the next level. You can see what your current stats look like by typing "stats". Lastly, let's talk about other players. You can see all the players currently in the game by typing "where". You can talk to all the other players in the game by using the SEND command, such as "send hello!". You can say something only to the other players in your current room by using the SAY command, such as "say can you help me?". You can see what players have been online today by typing "dayfile". And you can see the top 20 players by typing "poobahs". If no one is online and you have a question, you can leave a message for people to read and answer when they log on by typing "mail". This was a basic tutorial on how to -get started- in the game. The easiest way to learn is to just play and ask other players for help. You can get a list of all the game commands by typing "help commands" and you can get specific information on each command by typing "help -command-" for instance "help greatblow". You can get general help by simply typing "help" or reading the information on this website. Continue reading this guide and the entire website for in-depth knowledge on how the game is played. To exit the game, type a single "x". DECISIONS, DECISIONS, DECISIONS.... ----------------------------------- When you first elect to explore the Realm you will be asked for a name for your character. Once you select a name you will be offered a selection of classes and races. There are advantages and disadvantages to each type. Once you choose a character type, you live with it for the rest of the game. SUGGESTION: You might want to test drive a few character types before you finally decide on what type you want to be forever. Get the feel of one for a bit and then if you are not happy with it, SUICIDE it and start over with another. If you want to know more about the different classes and races now, go check out that help document at the main menu. WHERE AM I AND WHAT AM I DOING HERE? ------------------------------------ When you first enter the game you will be in "Town Square". You already have some armor and a weapon. Type "inventory" (or "inv" for short) to see what you are carrying. Items don't last forever. They eventually break or get lost. But, you can get more by going to the Mercantile. The directions to the Mercantile from Town Square are east, then south. Just type the direction you want to move. You can quickly get to the mercantile by exiting back to the main menu and selecting "Mercantile" as your destination. SPECIAL NOTE: Town Square is a special kind of room. Whenever you go to Town Square, all of your body, fatigue and magic points are restored to full. So, if you've been hurt and want a quick fix, go to Town Square! THE MERCANTILE -------------- In the mercantile you can buy and sell things. Buy weapons and armor when you lose the ones you have, and sell the stuff you find when you kill monsters. You need money to pay for increases in your character's stats, so whenever you find an item, pick it up, bring it to the mercantile and sell it. To access the mercantile menu, simply type "menu" (or "m" for short) once you get inside the mercantile. You can then list the items for sale, buy something or sell something. Once finished with your transactions, press "X" at the menu prompt to return to the main game prompt. When you buy something, it is placed into your inventory. To use something you purchased, you'd type something like "use scimitar" or "use armor" (depending on the name of the item you want to use). You can also refer to an item by it's inventory number, e.g. "use 1" to use the first item in your inventory. NOVICE MODE ----------- Your character has a number of personal preference settings called "options". To see what they are, type "options". To turn an option on or off, you simply type "option X", where X is the number of the option you want to change. Notice that option #12, Novice Mode, is turned *ON*. Swords of Chaos is a fairly complex game, and not always easy for new players to get started in. Novice Mode helps make things easier for you (more on the specifics later). EXPERIENCE QUESTS ----------------- Whenever you kill a monster, you earn a number of "experience" points. These are applied to "experience quests". When you complete an experience quest, one of your stats will increase (thus making you more powerful). To see your character's stats, type "stats". To see how you're doing on your experience quests, type "experience" (or "exp" for short). In Novice Mode, you don't have to worry about training for specific experience quests. The game will take care of all that for you. Basically you just have to concern yourself with killing things and getting gold (the gold pays for your stat increases). If you don't have enough gold, your character won't earn any more experience until you do get enough. FINDING A MONSTER TO FIGHT -------------------------- Just east of Town Square is a room called "The Mall". In the mall you will encounter monsters that should be fairly easy for you to kill. Now, you want to surprise your enemies. Hiding seems like a good idea for a surprise battle. Type "hide", and in this heavy cover you will find yourself hidden with an "H" indicator on your prompt. You need something to fight! You can just sit there patiently, waiting for something to wander in. Or, if you want to attract something you can yell to attract monsters. Type "yell". As a new player you have to be a little careful what you attack. Like Goldilocks, you want the monster that is not too little or too big but just right. You can see the level of a monster by typing LOOK and the first two or three letters of the monster's name. The higher the level, the tougher the monster. So, you yell and a monster comes. It is a Shopkeeper. You look at it (l sho) and see that it is a level 3 Shopkeeper. Monsters in SoC are real monsters. They are not kind... even to new players. A level 3 Shopkeeper is at the top of the heap in the mall. So you wait. DO NOT YELL AGAIN. If you yell again, the Shopkeeper will attack. This is true of every room with monsters already present in them. But, monsters like company, so more will come. So you wait a bit. Ah... here comes a clerk. You look at him (l cl) and see that he is a level 1 monster. That clerk is YOUR enemy. KILL OR BE KILLED ----------------- You have choices on how to try to kill Mr. Clerk. You can: BASH: This is an attack where your goal is not to injure the opponent but to set him up for your next attack. If you succeed, you may stagger the monster or knock him to the ground. A stunned or floored monster is somewhat easier to deal with. Of course you can fail to bash him at all. Command: bash clerk (or "ba cl" for short) HIT: Hit performs a basic attack on a monster. Your chances of hitting successfully are based on your combat bonus, your weapon, your target's armor and your luck. Command: hit clerk (or "hi cl" for short) GREATBLOW: Greatblow is useful to kill weak monsters or monsters that are almost dead. If you hit, you do double the damage of a simple "hit". There's a catch. You are vulnerable to return strikes and you tire faster. Command: greatblow clerk (or "gr cl" for short) PARRY: The parry command is useful when attacking monsters that are a higher level. It is a defensive attack. When parrying, you only do 1/2 of your normal damage. But your chances of getting hit in return are greatly reduced. If you are hit, you only get 1/2 of the normal damage from the enemy. Finally you do not lose any fatigue points when parrying. Command: parry clerk (or "pa cl" for short) MAGIC: Only the Sorceror class starts with magic spells that are useful in attacks. These are langour and lightning. Langour slows a monster down so that he is easier to attack. Lightning attacks will damage the enemy. Magic spells must be "cast", and make use of your psychic powers. To see what spells you have learned, type "spells". Notice that Langour has a 2 in front of it and Lightning has a 17. You can use these numbers to help cast spells. Magic can be combined with physical attacks. Using magic is not as important for new players as it is for more advanced players. As you become more powerful and learn more about the game, you will eventually come to understand the importance of magic. For now, slice'n'dice will probably be your main strategy. Command: cast lightning on clerk (or "c 17 on cl" for short) NOTE: It is possible to fight using two weapons, or a weapon and a shield. However, as a brand new player you may find it difficult to perform these rather complex tasks. Try it out- you'll feel like a clutz, fumbling and tripping all over the place. Until you get your stats up a bit higher, you should probably stick to fighting with just one weapon and no shield. You choose to hit this enemy clerk. Enter "hit cl". After that, the computer takes over for you and continues to attack the monster until you kill it, or it kills you. From here on, your duel with the clerk is on automatic pilot; you can sit back and watch. You can temporarily interrupt the combat or change your attack method by typing a new command. As you watch the fight you will see a set a numbers on your main prompt, e.g., [BP 12 Ftg 13 MP 10). BP is your body health points. Looks like the clerk nicked you. Ftg is your fatigue points. Fighting monsters is tiring work. These change depending on fighting method and time and of course enemy attacks. Whoa! The clerk tripped! Good news. Type Gr (for greatblow). You hit and the clerk is weak. Arrgh! The clerk just hit you for 6 and you think you might be bleeding bad. Now type pa (for parry). If the clerk is not dead and your BPS shows 7 or lower, type w (for west) immediately. If the monster is nice he will let you get to the safety of Town Square. However, he may smell your imminent demise and physically stop you from leaving the room. In this case type FLEE. The command will bring you to a random safe area close by in town. Once you make it back to Town Square, you will be back to full health. If you fled, you'll have to head to the Mercantile to purchase a new weapon. A "flee" action causes you to lose it. Don't forget that you need to USE the items after you buy them. If you see **PUNCH** you are engaged in a barefisted fight and not one that will go in your favor! When you are ready, go back to the Mall. Type hide. Yell. Another clerk! Begin to battle again as before- hit cl. As the battle progresses you see you are winning. The clerk dies! And he drops all his possessions and he gives you experience towards your experience quests! Great job! ITEMS FROM A KILL ----------------- A monster you kill will drop its possessions. They are yours for the taking. To get the items, type "get 1" (to pick up the first item on the ground), or else type "get X" where X is the name of the item you want to pick up. Type "inv" to check your inventory. You can hold 20 items. Take the items to the mercantile and sell them. The money from the loot you sell will go directly into your bank account. However, if you picked up bags of money or coins, you need to deposit them in the Bank. From the Mercantile go out (o) then north (n). Once in the Bank you will be asked whether or not you want to deposit your cash. Just answer yes. There are a couple of goodies from your kills in this room you might want to keep: A) A staff of strength. Keep this in your inventory. When your fatigue points go down, type "use staff". This will restore some or all of your fatigue points. B) A pure ring. Type "use ring". This increases the rate at which both fatigue and body points are restored. It has a limited life so if you are selling things or taking a rest, type "use ring" again to take it off and save its energy. Suppose you have three pure rings? Go to the Mercantile and notice that there is a closet. Each player has a closet. Enter the closet by typing "go closet". In the closet, drop from your inventory (using the "drop" command), whatever you want to store in your closet. Exit by typing out (o). Later when you enter your closet, all sorts of things may be scattered on the floor. To GET something type "items" (or "ite" for short) and they will be arranged neatly by number. If the Pure Ring you want is item number 3, type get 3. It will then be placed in your inventory, ready for use. WEEP! I DIED! ------------- When you die you lost 1 stat point from: Strength Dexterity Constitution Psychic Ability Intelligence You also lose your possessions in your inventory. And you lose whatever experience you may have gained toward a quest. If your physical attribute stats get below 5 and your money is low, using the SUICIDE command may be advisable. You may be better off in the long run starting over. But wait, you completed several quests, you like this character and you have money in the bank. If your stats in the 5 areas listed above do not go below 5, then take your death gracefully and move on to another quest. Here's a nice surprise for you though. Visit the scene of your death first. You will find your own smoldering corpse PLUS all the items you were holding at the time. Take them... you died for them! UH OH! WHAT'S WRONG? THE MONSTERS ARE FLEEING FROM ME? ------------------------------------------------------ When this happens you have done your job well! The monsters will flee the Mall when you are too AWESOME to fight in that room. BUT BEFORE YOU GO FURTHER! -------------------------- The Mall is for beginners. It has kinder and gentler enemies most other areas of the game. It also can be a good area to get into bad fighting habits. More often than not you will be able to escape a threatening situation by heading south into the safe Mercantile, or west into Town Square. You might even forget that your 100% chance of getting out of a tough situation alive is fleeing. FLEE is your friend. It will save your life. Sure, you leave behind your weapon and shield, but that's a small price to pay to save 5 stat points. The death toll of our noble adventurers in Swords of Chaos would be reduced significantly by use of a four letter word.. this one.. FLEE. Suppose you want to see what is beyond the small area you have been playing in. Roaming around as a low level player can be hazardous to your health. However, IF you stay in town and do not enter any buildings or other areas, there is a safety measure in addition to FLEE. Elfhelm is a mean town. Some monsters attack without provocation. They are EVIL. Should you encounter one of these on your stroll, type GUARD. We have a few trustworthy guards left in the hamlet who will haul away the offender for you. Do not attack the monster and do not linger. Call the GUARD quickly or flee. Finally, TALKING to other people in the game is fun. In Novice Mode, anything you type that is not a command will be sent out to everyone else playing the game. PLAYER-VS-PLAYER ATTACKS, OR WHY IS THIS BIG GOON POUNDING ON ME? ----------------------------------------------------------------- Swords of Chaos takes place in an unnamed land, situated somewhere between those noted realms, Anarchy, Chaos and Bedlam. There are no official rules of conduct and decorum, except for the very few that are enforced by cold, hard program code (safe havens, for example). In general, you're on your own out there. Not only do you have to deal with mindless, mayhem-dealing monsters but you might also find yourself in conflict with nigh mindless, mayhem-dealing *players*. For those of a law-abiding, non-aggressive nature it can come as quite a shock to have some other player slice your guts out for little or no reason. Your sysop has a number of configureable options available to him or her for placing limits on player-vs-player attacks. If the game has been configured for wide-open play, with few or no limits on PVP, then it's best to just adopt a low profile and try not to upset the powerful people. Loud mouthed, obnoxious, whining beggers usually don't last too long on the mean streets of Elfhelm. 'Nuff said! OK, I DON'T FEEL LIKE A NOVICE ANYMORE -------------------------------------- If you think you're ready to tackle the more complex aspects of gaming in Swords of Chaos, feel free to turn off Novice Mode. If you feel comfortable with the game, you won't need it anymore - it will have done it's job. Take off the training wheels and live happily ever after!