User Guide

Meeting NPCs
Wandering through the forest, a creature approaches your party. You have never seen
the likes of it before, and engaging it in battle may be a bit hasty. After all, it might
have some information to offer. The creature appears reserved and uncertain of your
ambitions as well.
When you first encounter an NPC, the creature may be neutral toward you and your
party, neither liking nor disliking you. On the other hand, it could be wildly hostile or
generously friendly. It relates to your characters individually and as a group, greeting
some members with pleasure, others with arrogant disdain.
Initially, the creature may allow you only three of the available NPC options: Truce,
Fight, and Leave. However, as you get to know one another and pass through
Negotiations using the Truce option, your options and the NPC’s confidence in you
may increase. Of course, the opposite could be true as well.
Pause - Slowing Things Down
When you meet NPCs, talk to them or listen to their tales; you may want to take
notes for future reference. By pressing the [SPACEBAR], the game will halt the dialog
to allow you to the time to take notes. Press the [SPACEBAR] again, or click anywhere
on the screen to resume the conversation.
The Art of Negotiations
To gain the trust of any creature who isn’t familiar with your party, one or more
sessions of negotiations may be necessary. In general, negotiations try to bridge the
gap between “distrust” and “trust” that separates strangers.
Stepping to the Table
A silver tongue and a dashing personality might get you on their good side quickly. For
lesser skilled diplomats, negotiations may take a little longer.
Negotiations begin when a character skilled in diplomacy, generally a Priest, Bishop, or
Lord, accepts the truce offered, and greets the other party’s leader. At the meeting,
your diplomat will have four different options:
Up-ing the Odds
BRIBE: Before actual negotiations begin, Bribe puts some cold cash into the
pocket of the other party’s leader in an attempt to up the odds of successful
negotiations. Your party’s leader, having had face-to-face contact with the other
party, determines the amount of money necessary for a hopeful bribe and
removes it from the party’s treasury. Remember, however, sometimes it can be
very costly to buy friendship. When the bribe is completed, actual negotiations
may begin (Peace or Force) or more bribes can take place.
GIVE: Just like Bribe, Give works to increase the chances of successful
negotiations. However, Give allows you to pass items and other trinkets that you
select from your party to theirs in hopes of winning favors. After the gift is given,
actual negotiations may begin to (Peace or Force)
Negotiations
PEACE: The straight line method of negotiations that relies on a character’s
diplomacy to improve relations between the party and the other group. Peace can,
of course, be helped along by bribes, gifts, and magical spells such as Charm.
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Crusaders of the Dark Savant