THE WORLD OF MISTMARE P2 MISTMARE ON THE INTERNET P5 CHARACTER SHEET P6 GAME WORLD AND TIME P8 ADVENTURING P 10 ACTION WITH CHARACTERS P 11 USING THE MAP P 12 COMBAT P 16 GAME SETTINGS P 24 VIEW CONTROL P 25 KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS P 26 APPENDIX WORLD HISTORY AND WORLD ORDER P 28 POLITICS AND CURRENT WORLD ORDER P 31 1
THE WORLD OF MISTMARE THE HOLY ROMAN REPUBLIC IN 1996 AD It is near the end of the second millennium. The old continent has been ravaged by 600 years of menace: a horrible fog, destroying the minds of anyone who dares to enter it, is covering most of what was once called Europe. The Fog has claimed the lives of millions and pushed the civilization to the southern lands of the continent.
MISTMARE ON THE INTERNET THE OFFICIAL MISTMARE SITE IS http://mistmare.arxeltribe.com Make sure you visit it to check for game updates (problem-fixing patches and new options) forums, and additional background information on the game and its world. USER INTERFACE BASICS When the game loads, the user interface shows a three-dimensional view of the world, which is presented in the main part of the screen. The game can be controlled solely by mouse, or with the help of keyboard shortcuts.
• The middle three circles represent the affinity of the character towards the three spheres of life. These, together with the aspect of the character, are used to produce the secondary statistics (agility, health, strength, intelligence, concentration, willpower), which are displayed in the right pane. • The three circles on the right represent the resistance of the character towards the three spheres. Sphere resistance decreases the effects of aggressive spells of that sphere cast on the character.
IMPORTANT PLAYER COMBAT PROPERTIES The two most important player properties in combat are health and stamina, which are always shown in the main user interface as the red (health) and blue (stamina) bars at the bottom of the screen respectively. in the “Time Passage and Time Management” section of this manual). LOCATIONS Locations are separate parts of Mistmare world (such as city streets, barber shops, blacksmith huts, and the like), which are entered and exited through entrances and exits.
ADVENTURING ACTIONS WITH THE WORLD SELECTING ACTIONS All actions within the world are selected from the adventuring actions bar (the four icons in the upper left hand bar of the user interface). When a prop, item, hotspot, or character is selected (by left-clicking on an active object), these icons will show four possible actions, which can be performed on that object.
USING THE MAP Building points One of the ways to spend time is to use building points, which are objects, which enable you to boost your character’s attributes. Examples of building points include altars and shrines, where you can meditate to enhance your spiritual abilities, or the blacksmith’s anvil, where you can increase your corporeal abilities. Note: that if an action icon is grayed out on a building point, time is locked by the game to allow the main storyline to proceed.
The shield will be equipped, but will be worn on the character’s back and will not be used in combat to block strikes. However, its armour class and any magical effects still apply. Note: Always equip yourself with weapons and armour BEFORE entering a fight, as you will not be able to do so in combat. It is best to stay equipped throughout the game and only change certain items if required. Alternate weapon At any time, you can equip two weapons, but you can only use one at the time.
COMBAT USER INTERFACE IN COMBAT MODE CONTROLLING COMBAT IN REAL-TIME Normal vs. combat mode The user interface switches between normal (or adventuring) mode, and combat mode, depending on the situation. In normal the “ACTION 1” to “ACTION 4” keys are mapped to adventuring actions, while in combat mode, those keys are mapped to activate different schools of combat. By default, the user interface is in normal (adventuring) mode.
• ATTACK MODE, where the character attacks the selected enemy, moving automatically to the best combat range for the equipped weapon. You must press the “COMBAT ATTACK” key (by default, the “8” key on the numeric keypad to move within the range and strike the enemy. You must HOLD the “COMBAT ATTACK” key to keep within the range and continuously strike the enemy at the first possibility. • DEFEND MODE, where the character only defends from enemy strikes and gains stamina by resting.
The magical effects of enhancement spells currently active on the player are visible as icons in the bottom right part of the screen, above the time corner. You can move the mouse cursor above the icon to see the effect description. Enhancement spells you cast on your character will wear off in a certain time period, but the magical effects you gain by equipping certain magical items will stay for as long as the item is equipped.
The formula pairs (fusion vs. dissolution) affect three kinds of properties of the material world: substance (chemist: blend vs. extract), form (blacksmith: forge vs. shatter) and motion (locksmith: craft vs. disable). The properties roughly correspond to the spheres of the living world. The fusion and extraction formulae are considered alchemical spells. The formulae of the same element share certain similarities, but only affect one of the properties.
GAME SETTINGS The game settings are located in the quest log window, accessible through the “QUEST WINDOW” key (by default, the “Q” key). In the quest window, select the “game” tab to open the settings window. You may save and quit the game in this menu. When you next load the game, it will start at exactly this point in the storyline, with your saved character properties.
KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS KEY NAME DEFAULT ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTION GENERAL CANCEL Esc REFERENCE CHART Backspace cancels the current selection or action if no action is in progress it opens the game menu brings up the reference chart with info on the RPG system ADVENTURING MODE MOVE FORWARD MOVE BACKWARD TURN LEFT TURN RIGHT ACTION1 – ACTION4 W* S* A* D* F1 – F4 CTRL + ACTION1 – ACTION4 CTRL + F1 – F4 walk/run forward walk backward rotate (turn) left rotate (turn) right selects an action (on item, charac
APPENDIX WORLD HISTORY AND WORLD ORDER Materia of Life", all the findings of his group are described and explained. Immediately, the highest members of the Church begin an analysis of the text, judging its conformance with the holy dogma. onto the main continent in 1348. From 1349 on, the plague epidemics spreads across the continent, mercilessly slaying whole villages and towns.
tral European countries. Anything the Fog covers turns into badlands, killing every human settler. Anyone venturing into the Fog never returns. People, who came close to the Fog, report seeing monsters, demons, and beasts materializing around them. Few survive such encounters. With the Link no longer working, the Fog spreads over the southern part of Europe. It is weaker and less lethal near the big cities hosting the Link cathedrals (Avignon, Rome), but no one knows why.
