User Guide

to use an item should have a reasonable level of skill as well. The Scribe skill, for
instance, comes into play when using scrolls. The Artifacts skill is used for invoking
the powers of magically charged items. The Music skill is used by the Bard whenever
he or she plays an enchanted instrument.
When you opt to use an item, a list of your character’s possessions will appear. Select
the item you wish to use. Depending on your character’s Scribe, Music, or Artifact
skill, there is also a chance the item’s power could fizzle out or backfire on your party.
Breath
Dracons, because of their genetic makeup, are able to breathe acid upon their
opponents. Select this option to invoke the Dracon’s inborn ability. Breath attacks
require a lot of stamina, so be careful not to exhaust the Dracon.
Run
On occasion, you may encounter something that’s just too tough for your party to
handle. When you do, the Run option may be your only hope. Your characters won’t
get any experience points for the combat, but they may come out with their lives.
Even if one character selects Run, the whole party will follow. Characters who are
running have their backs turned to the monsters, so it’s easier for the monsters to hit
them, and if hit, characters may take extra damage. Monsters may also block your
characters’ escape route, and the party will have to continue combat or attempt
another getaway. Even if your party escapes, there’s a chance that they may run into
another group of monsters.
A good strategy for potential sprinters - keep your fighting characters fighting while
those in the rear run. As they do, the fighters defend their back, and may save you and
your group lots of potential damage.
Move
Occasionally, characters may become hurt or fall asleep, and because of their malady,
they are unable to fight or protect themselves. The Move option allows you to put a
strong and healthy character in front of an injured one to protect him or her. You may
also move a strong character from the back ranks to the front to deliver a deadly blow.
When characters move, they may move to any position. If they advance, all of the
characters behind their new position will retreat one rank. One the other hand, if a
character retreats, everyone moves ahead by one slot. Moving requires extra stamina,
and leaves the character prone to monster attack.
Equip
You have accidentally equipped your prize warrior with a toothpick, and it is his
primary weapon. Obviously, you will need to do something - equip a better weapon!
In cases such as this, select the Equip option. Wizardry takes you to your character’s
review screen where you can change equipment, drop equipment, Assay items, or take
something out of, or put something into, the Swag Bag. Since you are juggling all your
equipment in the heat of combat, you are using up valuable stamina and are more
susceptible to attack.
Equip is also used by characters who need to reload their firearms during combat.
Since the character must first Merge the firearm and its ammunition, reloading
firearms occupies an entire round.
While you are equipping, you may view your character’s spells, but you may not cast
them (use Spell instead). Of course, you can also use Equip to look over your
character’s statistics and other attributes while in combat.
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Crusaders of the Dark Savant