User Guide

characters. Death results when a character’s Hit Points are reduced too far
below zero. Dead characters may only be revived using the
Resurrection spell or by paying a temple healer to perform the service.
Weakness: Characters become weak from fatigue or hunger. Some
attacks and spells can also cause this effect. Weak characters have
lowered maximum Hit Points and are less able to perform actions and
fight. Weakness can be cured by resting or by the Purify spell.
Poison and Disease: These very similar effects can be caused by traps
or certain spell and creature attacks. Both reduce character attributes,
reduce their combat efficiency and lower Hit Points over time. They
can only be cured at temples with potions, or by casting the Purify spell.
Insanity/Afraid: Some attacks make characters Insane or Afraid. Both
of these conditions affect character attributes and may be cured at
temples with potions, or by casting the Purify spell.
Cursed: Some spell attacks can curse characters. Cursed character
actions fail 50% of the time. The Purify spell takes care of this condition.
Paralysed: Characters can become frozen by being Paralysed. If this
happens, they cannot perform any actions. These conditions can be
cured using the Purify spell.
Combat ✦ 72
REAL TIME VS. TURN–BASED COMBAT
Game time moves without pause, or in real time. Each action your
characters perform, like casting spells or swinging a sword, takes a
certain amount of time to accomplish; this fact is reflected by their
Ready Lights (see Adventure Screen), which darken while the characters
recover. While a character is recovering, he or she cannot do anything
else. Normally, this is not really noticeable, but during combat the effect
can be quite pronounced. Attacking creatures may be able to attack
more efficiently than the party due to the time it takes you to think,
select characters and target attacks.
The game can be put in Turn–based Combat mode by pressing the
‘Enter’ key. The ‘Enter’ key toggles between Real Time mode and
Turn–based mode. In Turn–based mode, combatants act one at a time
and in order, depending on their Speed and Recovery. Combat is
divided into rounds lasting a few seconds. Characters and creatures that
are particularly fast can perform multiple actions in a round. The game
pauses before each character’s turn so you can calmly execute its action.
Press the ‘TAB’ key to skip a character’s action turn.
At the end of each round, action pauses and you can move your party a
short distance using the movement keys. After that, creatures move and
then the next round begins. Attack, or press the ‘TAB’ key to skip the
character’s turn.
When you are in Turn–based mode, a hand icon appears in the
lower–right corner of the screen. The icon changes to reflect the
different round phases.
DAMAGE
Your characters receive damage from many sources: combat, spell effects,
traps going off, or falling, just to name a few. They may also be affected by
other conditions like fatigue or weakness. Ill effects can always be removed
by various healing spells or, for a price, at temples.
Physical Wounds: Weapon strikes, explosions, falls and most offensive
spells wound characters directly by taking away Hit Points. Physical
damage may be healed using various curative spells, potions, or by resting.
Unconsciousness/Death: If a character’s Hit Points fall to or below zero,
the character becomes unconscious or dies. Unconscious characters are
knocked out of action and cannot perform any actions until their Hit
Points heal to a positive value. Resting and healing revive unconscious
71 ✦ Combat
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